Holdup at Sharkey’s!

Long before MGM built its casino in Springfield, persons interested in gambling had to seek out illegal sites to place their bets. One of these was Sharkey’s, which was located on Longmeadow Street at the state line.

A century ago, in December 1920, Sharkey’s made the news. At 3:15 in the morning on December 20, seven masked bandits held up a gambling party which was being held at Sharkey’s café and they got away with about $15,000 in cash and $5,000 in jewelry. Twenty-six gamblers, many of them high rollers from Springfield and NYC, were robbed. Here is the story from one who claimed to be “on the inside” as reported in the Springfield Republican of December 20, 1920:

“The gunmen were led to the second floor and three of them stood outside, the other four entering the room. Much gun play followed and the gamblers were told to ‘shell out and damn quick about it.’ There was some hesitating by the gamblers. One of them approached ‘Blue Patton’ and relieved him of $300. Joe Marshall, another player, handed over a diamond ring worth $1200. John Madden gave up a valuable watch and chain and $1000 in cash. About $400 was Herman Manner’s contribution and Jack Roache lost $1200 in bills.

The bandits met some opposition from Terry Goldberg. He gave them $300 and one of them asked for a ring that Goldberg was wearing. Not wishing to lose the ring Goldberg pretended he couldn’t get it from his finger.

“Give me the hammer,” shouted one gunman and a wicked looking wrench was produced. Goldberg received a blow on the hand and immediately gave up his ring.

“Sam the Baker”, an Italian, put a valuable ring in his mouth and managed to hang on to it. When the robbers found nothing on the Italian, they struck him on the head with a revolver.

The man who ran the game and the roll hid behind a curtain but was detected in the act by one of the robbers, and badly beaten for his attempted detection.”

The robbers then quickly left the building, took the spark plugs from the car in which they had come, cut several telephone wires, then left in a car with New York plates. The gamblers returned to Springfield.

The article asserted that these gambling sessions have been regular features of the night life of Sharkey’s. Most of the gamblers had made their fortunes through the sale of liquor, an illegal activity during Prohibition. John Sharkey charged $10 for rental of his back room.

Not surprisingly, the state police visited Sharkey’s after this incident and arrested John when they found that he had a gambling device. This device was a slot machine, but it was not a slot machine like you would find at MGM today. This was a small, portable machine that accepted pennies. And, if you won, you won a cigar. Sharkey pled guilty to this crime and paid a $50 fine.

Aside from hosting these nefarious activities, Sharkey's had a dance pavilion and sold gasoline and fuel.

Contributed by Beth Hoff, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Originally published July 14, 2022

Sources:

Springfield Republican, December 20, 1920; January 5, 1921

Longmeadow’s Governor: Foster Furcolo

John Foster Furcolo was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 29, 1911. He dropped the use of his first name in the late 1940s. Before becoming Massachusetts’ 60th Governor in 1957, Foster Furcolo was a lawyer, Naval Officer in WWII, writer and a Democratic politician. He was raised in Longmeadow where he attended public schools.

Furcolo’s mother, Alberta Foster, was one of 12 children of English and Irish immigrants. Furcolo’s father, Charles, emigrated with his family from Italy in 1900. Charles and Alberta were married in January 1909 while Charles was a medical student at Yale University. The family moved to Springfield when Charles started his medical training at Mercy Hospital. He eventually completed general surgical training and became a very successful attending surgeon at Mercy Hospital and Wesson Memorial Hospital. Dr. Furcolo was also an active leader in the Italian-American community in Springfield and became involved in local Democratic politics.

In 1919 the Furcolo family moved from Springfield to Longmeadow after having built a home at 187 Longmeadow Street.

Foster Furcolo’s childhood home at 187 Longmeadow Street

In Longmeadow, Foster Furcolo attended the Converse Street Elementary School and the Junior High School which was then located on the Green. As there was not yet a high school in Longmeadow, he would have attended high school in Springfield. Furcolo graduated from Yale University in 1933 and Yale Law School in 1936.

Furcolo married his first wife Kathryn Foran in 1936 and moved to Springfield and started his law practice. Eventually, they moved to Longmeadow where they raised their five children. They lived first at 609 Longmeadow Street, as seen reflected on his Draft Registration card, and then moved to 812 Longmeadow Street.

Home at 609 Longmeadow Street

During World War II, Furcolo served in the U.S. Navy as a junior officer on the USS Kershaw, an attack transport vessel in the Pacific, which was involved in the invasion of Okinawa.

Draft registration card

After the war Foster returned to his law practice and tried to launch a political career. He unsuccessfully ran for District Attorney in 1942. In 1946 he ran as the Democratic candidate for U.S Congress and lost but ran again in 1948 and won.

In 1951 while in Congress he was appointed to a special committee to investigate the mass killings of Polish officers in the Katyn Forest by the Soviet Secret Service in WWII. This work would inspire a novel he wrote and published in 1973, Rendezvous at Katyn.

Furcolo Home at 812 Longmeadow Street, purchased in 1951

Furcolo served in Congress until 1952 when he resigned to become Massachusetts Treasurer and remained in this position until 1955.

He was elected as the 60th Governor of Massachusetts in 1956 and served two terms from 1957-1961.

Mr. Furcolo was influential in the development of the Government Center and the Prudential Center in Boston. He established the community college system and expanded the University of Massachusetts.

Boston American, October 26, 1958

There were controversies and hints of corruption during his term. Two scandals involved the construction of a parking garage under Boston Common and collusion between state public works employees and land owners along proposed interstate highways. Furcolo was indicted on charges of having conspired to arrange for a bribe to be paid to members of the Governor's Executive Council in 1960. The indictment was dismissed in 1965 for lack of evidence. He lost his second bid for the U.S. Senate in 1960 and failed to get the nomination for State Attorney General in 1966. Furcolo returned to the private practice of law in eastern Massachusetts and taught at the Portia Law School and served as an administrative judge from 1975 to 1989.

A small gavel made of wood taken from the original White House during renovations between 1948-1952 was presented to Foster Furcolo by President Eisenhower. This gavel was presented to Williams Middle School in 1982 where it remains today.

Foster Furcolo died on July 5, 1995 and is buried in Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts.

-

Contributed by Lenny Shaker, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Originally published July 7, 2022

Sources:

Springfield Union News

Springfield Republican

Patriot Ledger

New York Times

Boston American

Wikipedia

A Soldier's Letter Home: Thomas Francis Cordis, 1843-1915

Thomas (Tommy) Francis Cordis was born in Longmeadow in 1843 and enlisted in the 46th Mass. Volunteers in September of 1862, at the age of 18. Enrolled as a private, he was honorably discharged in July of 1863 with the rank of sergeant.

During his time in North Carolina, Tommy wrote letters to his parents at home in Longmeadow. Here is an excerpt from a letter written April 6, 1863 to his father.

"When I was out scouting I went over to see the Rebel Pickets and had quite a long talk with them. We go down to the river and lay down our guns and they do the same. Then we talk with one another. They have five on a post. They are very large fellows dressed in butternut-clothes and look like thunder. I asked them how they was and they said that they wished they were out of it. We asked them all kinds of questions. They say they don’t like Old Lincoln’s proclamation. They have got good rifles and carbines. They don’t offer to fire on us so we can talk with them all we want to without any fear of being shot at."

Contributor: Betsy McKee, Longmeadow Historical Society Board Member

Originally published June 30, 2022