Danny Hogan
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"Dapper" Danny Hogan (c. 1880-December 4, 1928) was a charismatic underworld figure and boss of St. Paul's Irish Mob during Prohibition. Due to his close relationships with the officers of a deeply corrupt Saint Paul Police, Hogan was able to act as a go between, overseeing the notorious O'Connor System. Known as the "Smiling Peacemaker" to local police officials, Police Chief John "The Big Fellow" O'Connor of St. Paul allowed criminals and fugitives to operate in the city as long as they checked in with police, paid a small bribe and promised not to kill, kidnap or rob within city limits.
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[edit] Early life
Daniel Hogan was born in California about 1880. He was first arrested in Los Angeles in 1905 for breaking and entering and sentenced to a prison term in San Quentin. He seems to have moved to the Midwest after his release and switched to robbing banks and stealing furs.
[edit] Arrival in St. Paul
Around 1909, he permanently settled in Saint Paul and turned to organising major crimes from the sanctuary of the city. He would become so closely connected to Saint Paul's political machine that the police not only feared him, but actively protected his associates. Despite repeated attempts, the Department of Justice always failed to put him in prison.
He based himself at the Green Lantern saloon on Wabasha Street and was involved in planning armed robberies in the towns surrounding the Twin Cities. As well as money laundering and casino gambling in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area.
Hogan, who the Justice Department said was "one of the most resourceful and keenest criminals" in the nation, acted as an "ambassador" for Chief O'Connor and the visiting mobsters. Hogan himself owned the Green Lantern saloon in St. Paul, where gambling and liquor sales were ongoing. His organization was also believed by the Justice Department to be responsible for a large number of robberies in the communities outside Saint Paul.
[edit] Gangland murder
On December 4, 1928, Dapper Dan stepped behind the wheel of his Paige coupe and turned the ignition. A bomb located beneath the floorboards detonated and blew off his right leg. He slipped into a coma at the hospital and died nine hours after the blast. He was given a funeral worthy of Prohibition-era Chicago before being buried in Calvary Cemetery. His widow, Leila Hogan, was heard to say, "I am sure there will be justice. If Danny had lived, he would have gone on the one leg they left him and taken care of it himself."
Hogan's death was especially notable because it was one of the first instances of death by a car bomb. The most likely culprits in his assassination were rival mob figures.
Although the murder is still considered unsolved, recently declassified FBI files reveal that the most likely person responsible was Harry Sawyer, Hogan's underboss. According to declassified FBI files Sawyer, a Jewish gangster known on the streets as "Harry Dutch," felt that Hogan had cheated him out of his cut from a nearby casino. In addition, Sawyer also resented the fact that Hogan had never repaid him the $25,000 which he had contributed to bail Hogan out of prison in 1924.
Hogan's death signaled the end of an era in Twin Cities crime. The rise of "Harry Dutch" would signal the arrival in Saint Paul of flamboyant psychopaths like John Dillinger and Machine Gun Kelly. The FBI would follow on their heels and the world that Dapper Dan had worked so hard for would crumble into dust.
[edit] References
- Maccabee, Paul. John Dillinger Slept Here. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1995.
