Bumpy Johnson
| Bumpy Johnson | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born |
Ellsworth Raymond Johnson October 31, 1905 Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | July 7, 1968 (aged 62) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | congestive heart failure |
| Other names | Bumpy, "Bumpy" Johnson |
| Occupation | drug trafficker, bootlegger, mob boss, bookmaker, numbers runner |
| Criminal penalty | imprisonment |
| Criminal status | deceased |
| Spouse(s) | Mayme Hatcher |
| Parent(s) | Margaret Moultrie and William Johnson |
Ellsworth Raymond Johnson (October 31, 1905 – July 7, 1968) — known as "Bumpy" Johnson — was an American mob boss and bookmaker in New York City's Harlem neighborhood. The main Harlem associate of the Genovese crime family, Johnson's criminal career has inspired films and television.
Johnson was born in Charleston, South Carolina on October 31, 1905. Johnson derived his nickname "Bumpy" from a bump on the back of his head. When he was 10, his older brother, Willie, was accused of killing a white man. Afraid of a possible lynch mob, his parents mortgaged their tiny home to raise money to send Willie up north to live with relatives. As Johnson grew older, his parents worried about his short temper and insolence toward whites and in 1919 he was sent to live with his older sister Mabel in Harlem.
Johnson was an associate of numbers queen Madame Stephanie St. Clair.
According to a book recently published by Ellsworth's late wife Mayme Johnson entitled Harlem Godfather, Bumpy's criminal career started shortly after he met Natt Pettigrew. Afterwords they began selling newspapers, sweeping floors, shooting craps and shooting pool. In his late teens he ran into Bub Hewlett after he began charging local stores protection money. By the age of 30, Johnson had spent nearly half his life in prison for a variety of crimes. After being released from prison in 1932, Johnson learned that notorious gangster Dutch Schultz, who was known as the Beer Baron of the Bronx, had moved in on the numbers racket in Harlem. Any numbers banker who refused to turn over his numbers operation to Schultz was targeted for violence. Schultz was murdered in 1935, which was arranged by Lucky Luciano and the National Crime Syndicate.
Luciano took over most of Schultz's number operations in Harlem but made a deal with Johnson which allowed the numbers bankers who had fought for their independence to remain independent as long as their operations participated in the Mafia's central gambling pool and Black operators tributes were paid. That deal made Johnson an instant hero in the eyes of many Harlemites, who were impressed that a black man could actually cut deals with the Italian Mafia.
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Wikipedia