Terre Haute's Red Light District in 1917-18 - Part IV

The saga embracing Terre Haute's Red Light District was never-ending.

Each week during 1918, new developments resulted in new political maneuvering.

Frank "Buster" Clark and Eddie Gosnell were the acclaimed Red Light District kingpins. Yet criminal charges were filed against them in 1917 related to receiving stolen tires and slot machines at the Oak View Club, Gosnell's roadhouse at 13th Street and Haythorne Avenue.

Elected Republican Prosecutor William E. Horsley publicly sought to spearhead the campaign to "clean up Terre Haute." Once federal charges filed against him for failing to counsel county conscription bonds were dismissed, Horsley demanded special prosecutors James O. Piety and Thomas F. O'Mara resign but they refused.

Arguing that he had not received cooperation form police under the administration of Democrat Mayor James Gossom, Horsley emphasized that he had filed 163 slot machines cases after a private detective had been engaged to assist him.

Republican Mayor Charles S. Hunter, who defeated Gossom in November 1917, kept houses of ill fame and saloons in check for awhile. Abatement cases filed against brothels in May were initiated by Piety and O'Mara but the police made raids in June.

Among those arrested in May was Edith Brown, then operating two resorts.

Attorneys Charles Whitlock, Felix Blankenbaker, "Tom" Walker and Albert Owens mounted a vigorous defense for Clark and Gosnell, attacking jury commissioners John S. Cox and Earl Houck, the form of the indictments and prosecutorial methods.

The case against Clark was tried first before Special Judge Charles D. Hunt of Sullivan, successor to Judge William Bridwell who refused to qualify. The defense subpoenaed some members of the revised "Committee of Twenty" as witnesses including Cox, Paul Bogart, Walter E. Ely, James S. Royce, Milt Herz and Fred Waldron.

Late on Saturday night, July 20 -- a few days after the state began evidence against Clark -- federal marshals apprehended 20 west-side residents for multiple violations of narcotics laws. Only a "police leak" prevented more from being arrested. Many were known associates of Clark or Gosnell.

Among those taken into custody on the first night were George "Hominy" Godsey, Beasley and Mark Gordon, Ernest and Gertrude Minton, Frank "Footboard Pete" Lockwood, Frank "Bugs" Dailey, Louis "Speck" Nelson and his wife Peggy, George Harris, Harry and Della Rogers, Dow and May Finlayson and Thomas McCarthy.

Two days later, "Big Henry" Wilsman, alleged head of a nationwide drug combine and the source for illegal narcotics in Terre Haute, was captured at his St. Louis home.

Clark testified on his own behalf at trial, denying association with the stolen tires or slot machines. The slot machines found in his saloon at Second and Cherry streets, he said, were placed there by a repairman named "Halsey" who needed a space to work.

Only one of four men Terre Haute police claimed stole the merchandise for Clark and Gosnell testified favorably for the state. Two exercised their Fifth Amendment rights.

The state introduced Clark's criminal record which included 31 arrests dating from Sept. 25, 1894, and only two convictions: (1) on Oct. 25, 1898, for grand larceny of copper from a local distillery; and (2) for election fraud in 1914. On the last occasion, he spent five months in prison.

On July 29 -- after deliberating 41 hours -- the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

Meanwhile, on July 15, Special Judge Frank M. Rawley doled out a stiff sentence to chronic liquor violator John McCrocklin: a $250 fine and 90 days at the State Farm.

A week after the Clark trial, attorneys Whitlock and Walker defended Charles DePeugh, co-owner of the Smoke House at 2073 N. 13th St., on a slot machine charge before Special Judge Clarence Royse. The jury found DePeugh guilty and Judge Royse fined him $10 and costs. Due to the length of the trial, court costs exceeded $1,000.

The next week, Blankenbaker represented Lukie Fogle before Judge Royse in a similar case. With the consent of Horsley and the special prosecutors, Fogle pleaded guilty along with 93 other slot machine defendants. Each was assessed $25 and costs.

A Spanish flu epidemic, which closed theaters, churches and several downtown businesses, postponed trials of several cases in October and November.

Despite Prosecutor Horsley's frantic effort to clear the docket with convictions prior to the election, he was defeated by Perry Douglas in what was close to a Democratic landslide. Political analysts credited a strong anti-Hunter speech by highly respected Superior Court Judge John E. Cox a few days before the election.

In late November and early December, federal Judge Albert B. Anderson of Indianapolis confronted 58 defendants from western Indiana accused with transporting liquor across state lines. It was a pattern which would continue through Prohibition.

In early December, attorney Louis Reichman represented Fogle in front of Judge Charles Pulliam on a liquor violation charge. After two days, Fogle pleaded guilty and was fined $100 and costs and received a 30-day sentence in the Vigo County Jail.

On Dec. 9, 1918, at Horsley's request, Pulliam dismissed 116 cases which had been pending since the summer of 1917, asserting that key witnesses were gone and memories were faulty.

The most significant vice raid in late 1918 occurred at the Keith Hotel on North Fourth Street. Manager Walter Hall and six "chambermaids" -- two assigned to each floor -- were arrested. Pansy Foreman, the widow of Charleston, Ill., millionaire John P. Foreman, purportedly was the most notorious.

What happened to the criminal charges filed against Clark and Gosnell in 1917 and 1918?

After at least two trials resulted in hung juries, on Dec. 30, 1919, Prosecutor Douglas voluntarily dismissed 10 cases -- ranging from receiving stolen property, grand larceny, conspiracy to commit burglary and perjury -- pending against the two men in the Vigo Circuit Court.

Stay tuned. Further chapters about Terre Haute's notorious west side are sure to appear in this space soon.