boone Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 I don't belive that there has been much info on bootleggers during prohibition.......This was published in Courier Journal Jan. 21, 1952.........Nation's Bootlegger King of Prohibition Times Dies......George Remus, $20,000,000 Fourtune gone, lived simply at Covington; Killed his wife........Covington, KY., Jan. 20 (AP)----George Remus, the "King of Bootleggers" who was reputed to have piled up a $20,000,000 fortune during Prohibition days died at his home here today.The 78 year old former, Chicago attorney had suffered a stroke August 9, 1950 and had been in poor health since.Remus whose turbelent career was splashed on newspaper front pages came to Cincinnati early in the Prohibition era and built up a bootleg-liquor business which reportedly netted him $15,000 a day.Pool Cost $100,000He lived suptuously at a palatial home in the Price Hill section of Cincinnati. His swimming pool cost $100,000.The fortune Remus ammassed in the early 1920's disappeared quickly after October 6, 1927, when he shot and killed his wife Imogene in Eden Park, Cincinnati.He spent a fortune during the long trial for murder and the legal squabble over his sanity which followed and in trying to recover funds he claimed his former associates filched from him.Won Murder CaseHe won the murder case against him after pleading temporary insanity.Remus served terms in Atlanta Penitentiary, the Lima (Ohio) Hospital for the Criminal Insane and in Georgia, Kentucky, and Ohio jails.In his last years, he lived in upretentious rooming houses in Covington. He was operator of the Washington Construction Company Cincinnati, at the time of his death. He was a native of Germany.Settled In ChicagoRemus came to this county with his parents at the age of 3. They settled in Chicago and George became a pharmicist at 19, but he didn't like the occupation and switched to law. He practiced in Chicago 20 years, dealing mainly in criminal cases.Came Prohibition and Remus law practice boomed, but he soon noted that it was his clients who were making the big money. He saw bootlegging as a more profitable game than law and took to it.Remus envisioned Cincinnati as a good distributiong point, chiefly because of its proximity to large liquor warehouses in Kentucy. Refuge From PublicityHe also saw it as a refuge from publicity following a Chicago Police Court case linking his name with that of a Mrs. Imogene Holmes, Evanston, ILL., who recently had been divorced. The publicity led the then Mrs. Remus to bring a divorce action against him.The bootleg king moved to Cincinnati in 1919, beginning the illegal traffic of whiskey in a small way. His business expanded rapidly, but hijacking began and he had to bring in confederates.Remus married Imogene, purchased the luxurious Price Hill home and began giving parties that were the talk of Cincinnati.Raid Led to PrisonIn 1921, a raid was staged which led to his conviction May 16, 1922. He and 12 associates were packed off to Atlanta in 1924, and there his troubles began.First it was a 2 year sentance in Atlanta, then a dispute with immigration officals then conviction of conspiracy in a case in St. Louis bringing another one year jail term.To cap it he was notified that Imogene had filed suit for divorce claming much of his Cincinnati property.He finally completed all his jail terms in 1926...Trailed wife in carThe following year on October 6, 1927, he trailed a taxicab in which his wife was riding through Eden Park. Suddenly he forced the car to the curb and hurled his 220 pounds from his flashy touring car.Imogene leaped from the taxi and fled, but George overtook her exchanged a few words, then shot her fatally.The murder trial that followed was a national sensation. Remus pleaded temporary insanity and won his case.Fell for Dry AgentHe told the jury his wife had transferred her affections to a prohibition agent, Franklin L. Dodge, who had caused him to be sent to Atlanta. Imogene and Doge plotted to rob him of his millions, he claimed.Remus was sentenced to Lima State Hospital for the Criminal Insane and it was months later before he again won freedom.His money was gone, however and his confederates had deserted him. He lived a simple life from that time until his death...............Bettye Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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