Chicago to Springfield:: Crime and Politics in the 1920s (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) (14 page)

Gov. Small’s administration was filled with crooks. W. H. H. Miller, director of the Illinois Department of Registration and Education, sold a thousand fraudulent medical, dental, and pharmaceutical diplomas to people who couldn’t pass the exam. As he was booted from office, he took a stack of blank diplomas and the official seal and continued selling. He ended up going to prison. William Malone, chairman of the Illinois Tax Commission, stole $59,574 in income taxes and took $330,000 in payoffs from corporations. He also went to prison. Clifford Sawyer, a state representative from 1921 to 1927, was appointed to the parole board in 1927. Sawyer and his son Thomas were on the Kankakee Park Board and were indicted in 1936 for selling land they owned to the park district at inflated prices and for stealing funds from the estates of widows and orphans. Both men spent the rest of their lives on the lam from the FBI. Clifford fled with his wife to California, where he married a wealthy widow named Edith, who didn’t know he already had a wife. Edith (second from the left) and Clifford (fourth from left) are pictured in a studio where
Lydia Bailey
was being filmed in 1951. (Courtesy of Nancy [Sawyer] Wagner.)

Governor Small was made a tribal chief and adopted brother of the Sioux Indian Nation in 1927. He was given the name Chief Swift Bird. “He is, to them, the reincarnation of a departed chieftain, who once ranked high in their tribunals,” the Small-owned
Kankakee Daily Republican
newspaper reported. However, this title was bestowed by “Indians” from a touring circus as a publicity stunt for their Springfield appearance. O. D. Odom, manager of the circus, praised Small for his road-building program, which meant his wagons could travel more miles to more engagements. (ALPLM.)

From left to right, six Illinois governors appeared at Chicago’s World’s Fair in 1933: Henry Horner, Edward Dunne, Joseph Fifer, Len Small, Charles Deneen, and Louis Emmerson. (KPL.)

Governor Small is seen voting in Kankakee. The rival
Kankakee Daily News
editorialized on July 21, 1921, “His leadership constantly kept the party embroiled in factional strife. A ‘rule or ruin’ policy was his favorite method, and his tactics drove the better element of the party from his leadership until he was able to hold in line only those who profited personally in acknowledging his kingship.” (KCMPC.)

In 1924 and 1928, the Republican Party sought a man who could beat Small for the Republican nomination. In 1924, they chose state senator Thurlow Essington; he did not win. However, the party succeeded in 1928 when Secretary of State Louis Emmerson beat Small in the primary. Emmerson was popular, and the public was finally fed up with Len Small. Emmerson was elected, and when he entered the governor’s mansion in January 1929, he found that Small had stolen the silverware and several truckloads of other valuables. (KPL.)

U.S. senator Otis Glenn poses with fellow Republican Len Small. Glenn was elected senator in 1928, defeating Anton Cermak. Referring to Small’s royal claim in 1921, Glenn said, “The ruler of Illinois is King Len, the Small.” Before the gubernatorial primary in April 1928, Glenn said, “By all means, give Small another term. But we may disagree as to where he should serve it.” Commenting on Governor Small in its July 16, 1921, edition, the
Kankakee Daily News
wrote, “Some men go into politics with the idea of leaving footprints on the sands of time. And others are lucky if they get out without having their thumbprints taken.” (ALPLM.)

Gov. Henry Horner is in the Panama hat, signing autographs. Horner defeated Small for governor in 1932. Campaigning in Kankakee, Horner mentioned the Grant Park Bank, state jobs for jurors, and the pardons, “You know the shameful story of the pardon for Harry Guzik and his wife Alma, convicted as panderers and white slavers, and freed by Small because of the political influences wielded by Al Capone and his chief lieutenant, Jack Guzik. You know the story of other criminals pardoned by Small, not by scores but by hundreds. You even know that when Small left the executive mansion, the $25,000 silver set that had been donated by former Gov. Lowden was not found by Gov. Emmerson, and you know that it has not been returned.” (ALPLM.)

Pictured above from left to right on New Year’s Eve 1923 in the governor’s mansion are Gen. Carlos Black, Governor Small, Ida May Inglesh, Lt. Gov. Fred Sterling, Speaker of the House David Shanahan, Secretary of State Louis Emmerson, treasurer Oscar Nelson and wife, and superintendent of public instruction Frank Blair and wife. Below, Small relaxes with friends at the Sims Ranch in Michigan in 1927. (Both ALPLM.)

Small frequently railed against rich tax dodgers. But the
Chicago Daily News
discovered Small declared to the assessor in 1920 only three Holstein cows valued at $90 when he really owned 50 cows worth $20,000. Pictured here is part of the herd on his Kankakee farm. Small also swore to having just $1,000 in the bank and personal property totaling $4,485. And Small paid no income taxes on the interest money from the Grant Park Bank, leading the newspaper to ask, “Who are the rich tax-dodgers?” (JR.)