OK here is a good one.

The ECM hub was sent to me with the ID of Ed McMahon, 214 Jefferson St, Jeffersonville, IN, 1938. Wow, 2nd new Jeffersonville chip in a month. That doesn't happen often. I immediately sent it off to our resident IN expert, Paul Bender.

Paul: ECM chip mailed to Edward McMahan in 1938 214 Jefferson St, Jeffersonville IN. See what you can dig up.

From Paul.
Well, here we go again…….
No such address in the Criss cross: 1935-36 - 1937-38 - 1939-40

Also no listing for Edward McMahan in any of the above. It is interesting to note that only odd number addresses are listed. Such as 213,215, 217 but not even numbers. I’m guessing that the flood wall now occupies that property. I’ll go down tomorrow and scout it out.

It is adjacent to the Howard Steam Boat Museum and I’ll be checking with them whenever they are open. It may be time to call in your “Friend” Yes, the fun is in the hunt.
Paul Bender

My note: Hello Friend: Looks like we need help!

From our "Friend of the hobby"

Been looking into the ECM. Like Paul said, there was no 214 Jefferson St. in Jeffersonville. Couldn’t find anyone named McMahon anywhere on Jefferson Street in the late 1930’s or any Edward McMahon anywhere in Jeffersonville or Louisville at the time—I tried all kinds of spelling variations and came up empty. Couldn’t find anyone named McMahon involved with gambling in the area.

Then I thought, well, if the street address is wrong, maybe the city is wrong—and I think that may have solved the problem. Can you have the card re-checked because I think the chips might have been delivered to Jefferson City, Missouri rather than Jeffersonville, Indiana.

My note: I very seldom accept new to me, hub ID's from anyone other than the Mason records. I did this time, big mistake. I sent for the ECM record card. Somewhere along the line a mistake was made and Jefferson City, MO. was mistakenly changed to Jeffersonville, IN. in the ID. OK, now let's see what the ECM is all about.

ECM
Edward McMahon
Tolin's Bar is best guess from the research.
214 Jefferson St
Jefferson City, MO
2000 chips in 1938

There was a well known gambler and club operator in Jefferson City at the time of the chip order named Edward Cleveland McMahan--initials match the chip. Also a 214 Jefferson, although I’m not sure what was there when the chips were ordered in 1938. Gambling operations were raided in the 200 block of Jefferson in the 1920’s and 1930’s. 214 Jefferson was in the heart of downtown Jefferson City, about a block from the state capitol building. A walkway which passed through the front of the state capitol grounds terminated at Jefferson Street right next to 214. On the other side of the walkway was the Central Hotel building where these CSS in horseshoe hubs were delivered in the late 1930’s:

2nd & 3rd order sent to Jay Jenkins, Central Hotel, Jefferson City, MO

Pink and blue chips only. I need them. Cough them up if you have traders.

Side note on CSS in horseshoe hubs--

The chips were originally delivered to Arthur Edwin “Whitey” McNamee, a well known gambling figure in Kansas City. In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s he was a partner with KC underworld leader Johnny Lazia in the operation of a swank night club called “Cuban Gardens.” The CSS chips were delivered to McNamee at 4622 Troost in November 1936. At the time of the order the location was site of “Rockhill Recreation”:

The way I interpret the card is that the chips were delivered to two different places.1st order was sent to Whitie McNamee, 4622 Troost, Kansas City, MO

There appears to be two different typewriters used on the card: The Kansas City order was typed on an “elite” typewriter (smaller type) and the Jefferson City on a “pica” (larger type).

“(Jay Jenkins) (Central Hotel - Jefferson City, MO” appears to have been typed at the same time that either the 2nd or 3rd order was typed using a “pica” (2nd order, while typed with a “pica,” could have been for a KC re-order).

My note: The two orders were sent to 2 cities on each end of the state. My guess is the operators of both places were connected and doing business with the $ coming back into one bankroll. IMO, Mason would not have reused the die for 2 different operators in such a short span of time. Note the CSS initials mean nothing to the 2 buyers names. IMO that means there is a 3rd party and more than likely the "Big Boss" involved.

Yellow and blue only.

These ED hubs were sent to the same address around the same time:

My note: Rockhill Recreation is best guess for usage of both the ED and 1st order of CSS chips. These are 2 new casino names for chips I've had for many years attributed only to the guys that bought them.

Back to Jefferson City....

McMahan, a Missouri native, had moved to Jefferson City when a young man in the 1910’s and gradually became one of the leaders of the city’s gambling world. In the early 1930’s that gambling world grew tense when a guy named John Wesley “Tex” Harger moved to town, made some connections and started running gambling rooms. McMahan and his buddies thought of Harger as an interloper, a cheat, and resented his presence. Harger wanted the town for himself and made plans to drive the local boys out. Both McMahan and Harger told acquaintances that if the other did not leave town on his own two feet, he‘d be leaving feet first in a pine box....

As the sun was going down on the summer evening of July 24th 1933 McMahan stepped out the front door of his newly opened club, “The Oasis,” and began walking east down High Street towards the Dick-C Recreation Room, located a few doors away and operated by his rival Harger. Harger, sitting on a stoop outside the Dick-C and holding a conversation with a patron, took no notice of McMahan until McMahan produced a .38 caliber pistol and pointed it at him. Lunging toward McMahan, Harger managed to escape the first bullet--but before he could reach his attacker, the second found his brain, the third his heart and he flopped lifeless onto the sidewalk.

McMahan re-holstered his gun under his jacket, made a remark about the crap needing to be cleaned off the sidewalk, calmly walked back to the “The Oasis” and waited for the police to come and arrest him. When arrested McMahan told police:

“I’m sorry. I had to do it.”

from the Jefferson City paper the following day:

current street view:

McMahan was charged with murder and placed in the Cole County jail without bond until his trial 5 months later. During the trial McMahan’s attorneys attempted to persuade the jury that McMahan’s action was justified on the grounds of self defense; or at least to create enough doubt in the jury’s mind that they would question whether he acted with cold blooded intention. The jury, somewhat conflicted as to what to find, after 24 hours of deliberation came up with a compromise: guilty of 2nd degree murder, a 10 year sentence—but with immediate parole. The judge rejected their verdict on the grounds that a jury does not have the power to parole. After further deliberation the jury came up with a new verdict: not guilty—McMahan walked out of the court room a free man.

My note: What do you think about the verdict? July evening. Sun has not yet set. One guy sitting on a step and one guy with a gun. Many people around. Not Guilty! Were jurors paid off? Ya think?

I’m not sure exactly what McMahan was doing when he orders the chips in 1938. It’s possible that he may have been associated with a Jefferson City gambler named Henry Tolin who operated a bar called “Tolin’s.” Tolin had been his partner at “The Oasis” in 1933. Tolin’s opened in June 1934 and was still operating in 1938. This is a complete guess based solely upon his past association with Tolin.

Edward McMahan died at Jefferson City in 1954, age 69. At the time of his death he was described as a “club owner” and “retired club operator.”

Here’s an aerial showing the proximity of the places mentioned; 112 is the location of The Oasis on High St.; 214 is the chip delivery address on Jefferson St.:

pic from the 1930’s looking east down High St. at the intersection of Jefferson St.

"Illegal Of The Day" number 185 comes to an end. Maybe? You would be surprised at the number of emails I get from people that read the IOTD articles when doing internet searches for long gone friends or family members. They sometimes have info to add. Sometimes they are in awe of what "Uncle Eddie" was involved with.

I just had a string of emails with a guy that lives real close to where the Arrowhead Inn was. He read the articles and really got interested in the history. He is doing research and hopefully we will get something new. I sent him a chip from the Arrowhead, hopefully it will keep him interested. IMO, history is a never ending story and will be until someone invents a time machine and we can relive it with one of those spy lapel cameras.

Stay tuned for a Pittsburg, PA "Illegal Of The Day". Big operation of 2 clubs. The chips "Fort Pitt Club" are on ebay at this time. David Spragg has the "Nite Owl's Club" chips for sale or trade.