Front and back views of a postcard written but never sent by young George Hackett (pictured on horse) to a friend in Blue Island. Harold Schneider's father was an employee of Jim Hackett.

Happy Hollow, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Al Capone and his wife at Happy Hollow

Happy Hollow, Hot Springs, Arkansas

 

While Adeline benefited from the theraputic steams, vapor cabinets, and wraps offered by the elegant bath houses and Jim made business contacts, Frances and George had fun posing at Happy Hollow. Frances and George are at either end, I don't know who the people in the middle are.

Spike O'Donnell Has a Theory

On May 9, 1931, the Tribune reported
Edward (Spike) O'Donnell, south side gangster, who was questioned in connection with the purported kidnaping, said that Hackett's story was a gesture to defraud the government.
O’Donnell came right out and claimed that Hackett had staged his own kidnapping so that he could cry poverty and avoid paying back taxes.
Was there a connection between the kidnapping and Hackett’s tax status? Shortly before the 1931 kidnapping federal internal revenue service agents placed a tax lien on Hackett, with acting collector Robert E Neely claiming he owed $354,639 to the government. The debt was for the years 1914 - 1929 during which time his income was allegedly more than $2,000,000. Hackett had recently compromised with the collector's office. O'Donnell's theory was that Hackett's payment of a large ransom would let him off the hook for paying his settlement. Another plausible connection between his debt and his kidnapping is that an insider at the IRS leaked news of these vast sums to criminal persons. Hackett’s agreement with tax authorities involved a large payment that would clear his liens. If he had enough to pay the government he had enough to pay a ransom.

My dad told me that his mother and grandmother often characterized deeds of his as things Jim Hackett would or would not have done. Adeline's sense of security and well being was destroyed by the 1931 kidnapping and the thought that her son George was a potential target of kidnap gangs. Such a deliberate destruction of his wife’s peace of mind falls into the category of something Jim would not have done.

Up North at Calvert Camps

Sometimes in the fall, Jim Hackett went fishing for muskellunge in Lake of the Woods.  A day's journey from Chicago, this vast body of water encompasses thousands of islands and sheltered bays. Lots of bootleggers operated in Lake of the Woods, transporting alcohol across the lake in the wilderness between Ontario, Canada, and Minnesota.

Muskies perk up at the beginning of autumn, after summer sluggishness, and look around for something to eat. Anglers sought the big 'lunge, warrior fishes lurking in the glacial waters, grown to greater proportions than anywhere else. Lake trout had been known to grow to over thirty pounds. The black bass could chew the bottom right out of your boat, the muskies would gnaw the bark off of trees, and pike had a strong habit of gobbling up spoon lure like candy. It was a sportsman’s haven as well as a hub of criminal activity. No wonder when Jim took his son George up there for a little hunting and fishing he brought along bodyguards.

1931 kidnapping continued

Ask About Prospects.

"When they kidnapped Chamberlain in January they asked him who else in Blue Island had money and the named of all those in the rackets. They only got $600 from him. They asked me the same thing and I didn't tell them.

"'You can't hold out anything on us,' one of the men said to me. 'We get information about how much dough you fellows have from the income tax office. We know how much a tap you can stand and you'll have to pay $150,000."
"Outside of the first abuse the men were courteous to me, calling me Jim and telling me I could have anything I wanted to eat, drink or smoke. They put a box of cigars beside me. I couldn't eat and I didn't want any of their drinks, although they said they had any kind of whiskey, beer or wine I wanted. When I wouldn't eat they told me not to be afraid, that they were not going to poison me.
“They had handcuffs on one of my wrists and the other link was attached to a bed post. When I complained that my hand was becoming numb they would change the cuff to the other wrist. They offered to shave me and they wanted to get me a clean shirt, but I didn't want either.
"They called my wife that night, Friday, and said to her, 'Adeline, we have a message from your husband and it is going to cost you one hundred and fifty G.' She didn't understand at first but soon found out what they meant. They told her unless she furnished the money she would never see me in the same old form as she last saw me. She was frightened and said she would get what money she could. They warned her not to call the police. They said they were afraid our home telephone would be tapped so she was to go to the place of business of a friend of mine in Chicago next day and wait there for a call from them. When she finally got together $150,000 she agreed with them on a password by which she would know she was giving the money to the right parties.
They told her to have our boy George drive her to the meeting place. She wouldn't do that, saying she was afraid they would harm the boy. She asked permission to have Jimmy Blouin, my former partner, to go with her and they said that would be all right, but they must drive in my son George's car. They knew all about George's car, its license number, kind and so forth, and they knew the name of our dog as well as my wife's first name.

    "I was mortally afraid something would happen to my wife. I knew of the proposed meeting and I thought she might call the police and then there might be some shooting. Drops of perspiration as big as my thumb were falling from my head as I waited there those few hours while the gang went to meet my wife. But everything worked out all right. She drove down a road as she had been directed and finally she was signaled to stop. The password was given and the money was handed over.
    "The men came back and told me the money had been paid and I was to be freed. What a relief! About 2 o'clock Sunday morning they brought me out into an automobile and drove around and around for a half hour. Finally they got out and told me not to do anything for five minutes. When that time had elapsed I took the bandage off my eyes, the only time it was off since they had captured me, excepting on one or two occasions, when they brought food and newspapers and told me I could read for a few minutes if I wished.
    I was in my own car and I was somewhere near Melrose Park. I drove home and here I am, not so much the worse physically but broke financially. I never saw any of the kidnapers before and I have no idea who they are or where they came from, excepting that they were all Americans, with no hint of any foreign nationality about any of them."
    Saturday evening a telephone call came for Blouin.
    "Have you the money?" a voice asked.
    "It's all ready," Blouin replied.
    "Then leave Blue Island about 10:15 o'clock  and drive west in 127th street till you cross the bridge over the Sag canal," the caller directed."There'll be somebody there to tell you what to do."
    The bridge is two miles east of the Navajo Fields Country club.
    Blouin and Mrs. Hackett wrapped up the money - $500 and $1,000 bills - in a newspaper and set out at the hour directed. At the western end of the bridge another automobile drew along side and a spotlight flashed into their car.
    "Drive slowly along about a mile west," one of the occupants of the other car ordered. This automobile followed Blouin and Mrs. Hackett to the spot designated. Another car was parked by the side of the road there. A man got out of the parked car.
    "Have you got the money?" he asked. Blouin nodded and handed over the package of bills.
    "We've done our part,"Blouin said. "Now you return Hackett unharmed."
    "We're men of our word," the kidnaper replied. If the money's here Hackett will be home. It'll be several hours, though."
    With this the kidnapers departed and Blouin and Mrs. Hackett returned home. They greeted Hackett when he arrived, driving the car in which he had been abducted.

1931 kidnapping continued

Hackett was driving to the club and on the way a car containing three men passed and they waved at him. Later he passed this car and did not recognize any of the occupants but thought they were casual acquaintances. This car followed him into the club grounds.
While he was parking his car in a stall a man came to the side of the car and pointed a gun at him and said “Don’t move or make any noise or I’ll kill you as sure as there is a God above. You’re going for a ride.”
"I looked to the other side and there was another man there with a gun pointed at me,” said Hackett yesterday in relating his experience. "Then I looked behind and there were men in a car behind with a machine gun and sawedoff shotguns. I knew it was useless to resist. The first fellow told me to move over and keep quiet and he climbed into the car and  I moved over to the other seat. He drove it out of the yard and down the road, the other car following.”

Blindfolded in Car.

"A mile or so down the road I was told to get in the kidnaper's car and lie on the floor. They wound gauze bandage all around my head so I couldn't see. I judge that I was driven fifteen or twenty miles before we stopped. One of the men was abusive, calling me vile names and threatening to bang me on the head with the butt of his gun, but I said there was no need of violence, that I would do what I was told.
"They took me into a house and on the way I heard the leader blaming the fellow who had abused me. He told him that such treatment was unnecessary because I was a good fellow.
"Inside the house they had put handcuffs on me and told me to lie on the bed. Two men stayed in the room all the time. I heard a lot of their conversation and it convinced me they were old timers in the kidnapping business and that these gangs worked together all over the country, one gang helping another.