Famous mobster lived and worked in Quincy
By Michele Barletta
“Scarface” Al Capone was no stranger to the quiet, simple life people enjoy in Quincy, Illinois. Many residents of the “Gem City” don’t know about the connection their hometown has to one of America’s biggest gangsters.
It seems as though every time the name “Al Capone” is brought up around this town, a few people stop in their tracks and a mysterious aura fills the room. The relationship of this town to Al Capone is rather unique. What business did America’s most infamous gangster have in a small city along the Mississippi River?
Kelly Little, a lifelong resident of Quincy, says she heard first heard about Al Capone’s connection to the town when she was 25.
“I would ask my friends if they knew that Al Capone used to come and stay here and they would look at me as if I was crazy,” Little said.
It’s believed that Al Capone used Quincy as a place where he could lay low for a while and take a break from his life of crime in Chicago, especially when the cops were hot on his tail.
It’s believed that Al Capone spent a lot of his time in Quincy at the Monckton Mansion, located at 1419 Locust Street. No one seems to be living there at the moment, but the house did belong to local people of Quincy as of April 2015.
There are a number of rumors about underground tunnels being built in Quincy so that Al Capone could continue his “work” whilst here. However, Little’s son and current QU student, Mckinney Little, doesn’t believe that was the case.
“I’ve heard my parents and all their friends try and convince me that Al Capone built underground tunnels in and out of Quincy so that he could continue his gangster business, but I don’t believe it,” Mckinney said.
Mckinney believes that Al Capone only visited Quincy because it was a getaway from his life of crime, just a few hours away in Chicago.
“He only came here to catch a break, I don’t know why he chose Quincy when he had the money to go anywhere he wanted, but I guess he enjoyed the small-town life,” McKinney said.
Quincy University student, Cole Hayes thinks it’s cool to have an association with someone of Al Capone’s fame.
“A lot of my friends don’t even know about Al Capone’s life here. I think it’s pretty cool that a town as small as this can be associated with arguably the biggest gangster our country has ever had,” Hayes said.
What Al Capone truly did in Quincy remains a mystery and it’s a story that will be passed down by locals for generations to come.
My dad told stories about Capone’s bullet proof car, with body guards holding tommy guns standing on the runners, driving down Broadway on their way to the cat houses.
Wow! That’s an interesting story!
My family lived there for 10 years from the early ’70’s into the ’80’s. My parents bought th he house from Mildred Monkton. We had heard that Capone there, but never saw any evidence. It’s a beautiful old mansion!
My father n law grew up across the street from the Monkton House and I remember him telling me him and his siblings would sit and watch the cars roll in and out of the driveway and he did mention Al Capone.
I’ve heard these rumors before but what evidence do you have to support your claim that Al Capone was a friend of the Moncktons? Are there any pictures, news articles, etc. and how did these people in your article know the Moncktons anyway?
There was a photo I saw of Al Capone with someone else (maybe Leo Monckton?) in front of the front door that I and a few relatives had seen, but none of us know where it is.
The current owners / residents were vacationing around the time this article was published. They have owned the house since 2012 and lived there since 2015.
I have always told Quincy was Little Chicago. It is was told to me by family my Grandfather was a bootlegger and Quincy was referred to as Little Chicago. I have a pic with people in it. I always have said looks like gangsters in it. Never have been able to find out who people are, except for a relative, or where it was taken. Email me and I can send pic to anyone who thinks they can help.
Joan, Would you please email that picture to me Leo Monckton was my uncle.
Pam, I used to live at 3rd and Kentucky in 70s and 80s spending summers with my dad. a friend and i would deliver newspapers to your aunt Mildred when she lived at 2nd and Kentucky. the house she lived in was small and surrounded by bushes. Had I known back then as a young lad and what i know now, i would have had lots of curious questions. my email cupofjoe1926@gmail.com
Yep my Grandads brother bootleged off the island and own a bar on front street called the bloody bucket. Yep my mother born and raised in Quincy ( father as well) referred to it more then once as little Chicago.
Fascinating, I’d like to here more…
I have stories of my Grandpa & his brothers bootlegging. They’re from Kingston, then moved to Quincy. Found this article looking into it.
My mom and dad was born and raised here I remember hearing all kinds of stories and was told about what it was like back then and that it’s always been known as little Chicago and who lived there! Some of the things I’ve heard blew my mind! If you never heard stories in this town your family definitely wasn’t from here After Al Capone crime went down over the years and it seems like history is repeating itself cause crime is going back up shootings Drug busts wreckless driving people being murdered left and right! At times it scares me to walk the streets these days knowing what I’ve heard over the years I feel it’s repeating history all over again
I had friends of the Owners in the Early 80’s. There was a Huge Safe in the Basement.
My great grandma hazel was a hoot. She told us stories about going to that home and going to the basement and gambling . She played cards. But she said they had gambling machines as well. She took her three oldest granddaughters there to serve drinks to all the people there. One of the girls was my mother . Hazel told me she knew AL Capone. Also told me whoever owned the house at the time also owned the scoreboard bar that his son ran . They would take the money from the mansion and take it to the scoreboard , by driving up to the window in the restroom and dropped off the cash there.. Hazel also told me that there was lawyers and judges that would be there gambling as well. Now my great grandma was a hoot even In her older years she had money on one side of her bra and a little gun on the other side . Now I don’t know if it’s true I’m just telling u what she told me 25 years ago..
My dad told me stories about my grand father gambling in the uptown Quincy area. I’m guessing that’s why Al Capone came to Quincy. I have been in the house several times. The safe still remains in the basement. As well as the refrigeration units that kept the beer cold. There are no tunnels leading out of the basement. The house is truly a piece of artwork.
My sister was kidnapped and murdered in Quincy Illinois in 1970 Patty Ann Smith 😭 We lived in Quincy Illinois all of our lives, I moved in 1988 ..
My Leo Monckton was my Uncle Leo. I spent time in the Monckton home at 1419 Locust from the mid1940’s to the late 1960’s. Leo married my Aunt Mil. I was told that Uncle Leo went to England at 17 to fly for the British in WW I. And he joined the US Army Air Force in WW II and became a Major in charge in charge of a pilot training facility in Oklahoma. Meanwhile after returning from England the US passed the Proabicion (spelling) law and in the early 1920’s Leo ran a successful bootleg business. After Proabicion he moved into the slot machines and it was very successful. so successful that in the early 1950;s Gov. of Illinois Adil Stevenson put him out of business.
At one time Colliar’s Magazine ran a cover story of Leo calling him Blackly Monckton. Needless to say it sold out in Quincy.
Leo was born in 1899 and died in 1959 of Lung Cancer. Was he friends was he friends with Al Calpone? I doubt it the years were not right. I believe Capone died in 1931, before Leo owned the home at 1419 Locust. But never let truth get in the way of a good story. I liked Uncle Leo, he was bright, and was a wonderful entertainer to his family, including, me his nephew. He always hosted a family Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner and a BBQ in the Summer. He also owned the State Theater and my Aunt Mil would take me there and we would go the ‘cry room” upstairs and watch films it was private. Leo was a wonderful host and my Aunt Mil and wonderful cook. The home was beautiful. I enjoyed spending the night there growing up and swimming in the family swimming pool. So happy that Aunt Mil and Uncle Leo were part of my life growing up in Quincy.
May he rest in peace
James Ellerbrake
Carmel, CA.