Hot Springs, Arkansas and Owen Madden: A Gangster's Retirement Home

Being a teacher, I have to do a certain amount of professional development hours each year. Some of those hours have to be Arkansas History. I signed up for an internet course through AETN called "The Story of Hot Springs". Now, most of the time, Arkansas history is boring, but I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised at what I learned from this video.

I knew that Hot Springs was a former gambling town and that there was a lot of fighting and wrong-doing because of it. I just didn't realize the extent of corruption that the illegal gambling had brought with it to Hot Springs. In fact, gambling is still an issue today in Hot Springs. We still have our horse race track, Oaklawn Park, and they have some gambling machines there. It was a long, hard battle for Oaklawn to be able to get the casino-style gaming in, but it finally did. I guess gambling will just always be a major conflict here.

I also knew that Hot Springs had some big name gangsters at one point in time. What I didn't know were all of their names. I found Owen "Owney" Madden to be one of great interest to me.

Madden was born to Irish parents in 1891, in England. His dad died in 1902, when Madden was just 11 years old. His mother soon moved the family - Owen and two siblings - to New York. Specifically to Manhattan in the Tenth Avenue district known as Hell's Kitchen. While his mother worked as a cleaning lady, the young Madden joined the Gophers Gang and quickly climbed up through their ranks.

Owen, or "Owney", was soon given the nickname of "The Killer" because of how violent he was. He was known to have killed several members of the rival gang, the Hudson Dusters. They, in turn, beat Madden up and shot him several times. Fortunately for him, he survived, stating to the police questioning him, "Nothing doing. The boys'll get 'em. It's nobody's business but mine who put these slugs in me!" Not much later, several Dusters turned up dead.

Madden was also known in New York for is love of women and the jealousy that came with it. He killed William Henshaw, a simple store clerk, for asking out one of his "girls". He also killed Patsy Doyle, a member of the Dusters, because of a woman. He got caught this time, though, and ended up serving time at Sing Sing Prison.

He was paroled in 1923, and began trying his hand at other ventures. He got into the boxing business, but probably his best success was the Cotton Club. This was a very popular nightclub in New York that featured some of the best black musicians around.

In 1932, things changed for the worse for Madden, though. Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, one of the boxers that he had worked to promote, began to blackmail Madden and other gangsters. On February 9, 1932, Coll was killed in a drive by shooting. That was the beginning of Owen Madden's downfall in New York as one of the top gangsters. Police began to harass him instead of protect him and he became unwelcome in the underground world of gangsters. He pretty much was exiled from New York, but was still a part of the mobster society.

This is when Madden discovered Hot Springs. He came here for the healing hot waters to help ease his old bullet wound pains, but he also liked it because of the gambling and other underworld activities that were alive and well in Hot Springs. It didn't take him long to make a lasting impression on the resort town.

He married the local postmasters daughter, Agnes Demby, on November 26, 1935, and moved into a house on West Grand. A lot of people thought that Agnes didn't know of his way of life, but she did. She was not naive and did know who his friends were and what business he was into. It was probably a good political move for her family even though no proof exists that her family benefited from the marriage.

Madden remained fairly silent in Hot Springs for the first few years. It has never been proven, but is believed, that he was involved with illegal activities with then Mayor McLaughlin and Judge Ledgerwood. Both were known to be corrupt city officials.

By 1940, Madden owned a part of the Southern Club, a very successful gaming business located in downtown Hot Springs. He often played host to mobsters including Costello, "Lucky" Luciano, Lansky and Adonis. They were very relaxed and open during their visits and made no effort to hide. They felt safe in Hot Springs because of the corrupt government, which included the Hot Springs Police Department.

The corruption reached all the way to the governor's office. In 1954, Orval Faubus was elected as Arkansas's governor. He was best known for his views of desegregation and he was the reason that U.S. troops had to be sent to Little Rock to force the desegregation of the schools. He is the reason for everyone knowing "The Little Rock Nine" and for making desegregation such a bad mark on Arkansas history. The problem was that he had a lot of power backing him up.

He liked the gambling and corruption going on in Hot Springs. (So did his wife.) He had strong ties to the mobsters, although nothing was ever proven. He was elected to office for six two year terms and it was probably because of his machine politics - being backed by the mobsters. He worked at protecting what went on here and was very successful at it. Many times, State Police would try to raid the town, but all gaming would just disappear by the time they arrived because someone was tipping the casinos off and warning them of the raids. Needless to say, Owen and the other mobsters did very well in Hot Springs during the governorship of Faubus.

The FBI was constantly keeping an eye on the comings and goings of Hot Springs and particularly what Madden was doing. He was a familiar figure to the people of Hot Springs - always known to be wearing his signature cap and scarf. By 1961, enough evidence had been gathered to prove that Hot Springs was the largest illegal gaming town in the United States. Madden was brought before the Senate Committee on Organized Crime, but he wouldn't give in. He just kept claiming the Fifth Amendment.

The new state government took steps in 1964 to make sure all gaming facilities in Hot Springs were shut down. They raided the casinos and literally bashed the machines in. It was a big victory for those opposing the illegal operations. It was a devastating blow to Madden.

Being ill with emphysema and an older gentleman, Madden wasn't able to save his precious Southern Club. On April 24, 1965, he succumbed to the disease. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Hot Springs. He was a legend of his own right but is rarely mentioned or thought about in Hot Springs. He simply represents a corrupt past, a part of Hot Springs that no longer exists.

Resources: www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net
www.aetn.org
www.ideas.aetn.org
www.bing.com/refernce/semhtml/Owney_Madden?
www.spiritus-timporis.com/owney-madden/