Massive Prohibition Raid in 1927 Netted Four Bootleggers and 225 Kegs of Beer

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The work was back-breaking, almost certainly.  Early in the day on an early spring morning in May, 1927, four men in Troy, New York loaded a railroad freight car with thousands of pounds of freight consigned for delivery to "Reilly" at Pelham Station in Pelham, New York nearly 150 miles away.  As they worked, a sneaky fellow lurked nearby watching the men go about their work.  Once their work was done, the train departed.  So did the sneaky fellow.

Early on Thursday, May 26, the freight train sounded its whistled and pulled into Pelham Station where it uncoupled the freight car onto a freight line side track.  There the freight car sat for much of the day as another sneaky fellow lurked nearby, watching.

Late in the day, four young men appeared at Pelham Station with the necessary papers and accepted the freight consignment from the freight agent in the tiny little freight office that once was accessible via the western end of the station.  The men pulled two trucks near the freight car and began their own back-breaking work.  As Federal Prohibition Officer Curtin lurked nearby, the men unloaded from the freight car 225 kegs of beer and loaded it all onto the two trucks.

Quite cannily, Officer Curtin allowed the four men to finish off-loading all 225 kegs.  Once all the work had been completed, Officer Curtin sprang on the four men.  He arrested Clay Griffen (of 22 Goling St., Yonkers, NY), William McCann and John Murphy (both of 40 Palisade Avenue, Yonkers, NY), and Maurice Davis (of 558 Lafayette St., Brooklyn, NY).

Officer Curtin seems to have been as befuddled as many regarding the multiplicity of villages within the Town of Pelham.  He hauled the four bootleggers off to the Pelham Heights Police Department to have them jailed.  There he was told that he had made the arrests on the Village of North Pelham side of the railroad tracks and would have to take the prisoners to the Village of North Pelham lockup.  He took them to the Town Hall lockup where the four men were jailed.

That night local Justice Anthony M. Menkel imposed bail of $1,000.00 each pending their appearance before the United States Prohibition Commissioner in New York City.  The two trucks of beer kegs were taken to New York City the same night.

Officials believed that Pelham Station was the offload point for a large delivery of beer that was scheduled for distribution and sale in the City of Yonkers.  Prohibition violators, it seems, had been stopped -- once again -- in the little Town of Pelham.

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"Prohibition Raid Nets 225 Kegs Of Beer; Four Men Held
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Federal Officers Trail Freight Car of Liquor From Troy to Pelham, Quartet Held In $1000 Bail Each
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Trailing a freight carload of alleged alcoholic beer from Troy, N.Y., to Pelham station a U.S. Prohibition officer seized 225 kegs of the beverage and two motor trucks at the New Haven main station here yesterday and four men into custody on charges of possessing and transporting liquor.  They were arrested after they had unloaded the freight car of its burden and had loaded the beer on the motor trucks.  Judge Anthony M. Menkel held the quartet in $1,000 bail each last night pending their appearance before the U.S. Prohibition Commissioner in New York City, Tuesday morning.  The seized trucks and liquor were taken to New York last night.

The defendants are Clay Griffen, of No. 22 Goling St., Yonkers; William McCann, of No. 40 Palisade avenue, Yonkers; John Murphy, of No. 40 Palisade avenue, Yonkers, and Maurice Davis, of No. 558 Lafayette street, Brooklyn.

After watching all day, Officer Curtin waited until both trucks were loaded and ready to move before he showed himself.  He then placed the quartet under arrest and took them to Pelham Heights police headquarters.  There it was explained that the arrest was made in North Pelham and the action shifted to the other village.  The four were locked up at the Town Hall.

Judge Anthony M. Menkel fixed bail at $1,000 each.  Morris Friedman, of No. 15 Overlook Terrace, Yonkers, was bondsmen for the four.

According to a statement made by the prohibition officer the beer was consigned to Pelham in the name of Reilly.  The first name was not given.  The name however is believed to have been fictitious.  He expressed an opinion that it was intended for distribution in Yonkers."

Source:  Prohibition Raid Nets 225 Kegs Of Beer; Four Men Held -- Federal Officers Trail Freight Car of Liquor From Troy to Pelham, Quartet Held In $1000 Bail Each, The Pelham Sun, May 27, 1927, Vol. 18, No. 13, p. 1, col. 2.

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I have written extensively about Pelham's struggles with Prohibition and the enforcement of the unpopular laws that it spawned. See: 

Tue., Jan. 30, 2018:  Visit to the Wrong House Uncovered Massive Pelham Manor Bootlegging During Prohibition.

Wed., Jan. 03, 2018:  The Massive Illegal Still Discovered at 137 Corlies Avenue During Prohibition in 1932.

Wed., Jun. 21, 2017:  The Infamous Ash Tree Inn of Pelham Manor and its Prohibition Violations During the 1920s.

Thu., Feb. 02, 2017:  Bootleggers Began to Feel the Heat in Pelham in 1922.

Mon., Dec. 26, 2016:  Pelham Stood Alone in Westchester When It Voted to Go Dry in 1896. 

Mon., Aug. 22, 2016:  Pelham, It Seems, Became a Hotbed of Bootlegging and Illegal Stills During Prohibition.

Mon., Jul. 06, 2015:  Police Raided a Massive 300-Gallon Illegal Liquor Still on Corlies Avenue in 1932.  

Fri., Jun. 19, 2015:  More Liquor Raids in Pelham During Prohibition in the 1920s.

Wed., Jun. 17, 2015:   Prohibition Rum-Runners Delivering A Boatload of Booze Were Foiled in Pelham in 1925.

Fri., Apr. 24, 2015:  The North Pelham "Speakeasy Section" Created Quite a Stir During Prohibition.

Tue., Nov. 18, 2014:  More Bootleggers and Speakeasies Raided in Pelham in 1929 During Prohibition.
Fri., May 23, 2014:  How Dry I Am -- Early Prohibition Efforts Succeed in Pelham in 1896.

Thu., Apr. 03, 2014:  The Prohibition Era in Pelham:  Another Speakeasy Raided.

Tue., Feb. 18, 2014:  Pelham Speakeasies and Moonshiners - Prohibition in Pelham: The Feds Raid the Moreau.

Thu., Feb. 07, 2008:  Village Elections in Pelham in 1900 - New York Athletic Club Members Campaign Against the Prohibition Ticket in Pelham Manor.

Thu., Jan. 12, 2006:  The Beer Battle of 1933.

Thu., Aug. 11, 2005:  How Dry I Am: Pelham Goes Dry in the 1890s and Travers Island Is At the Center of a Storm. 

Bell, Blake A., The Prohibition Era in Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 25, June 18, 2004, p. 12, col. 2.

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The Massive Illegal Still Discovered at 137 Corlies Avenue During Prohibition in 1932

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Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

The fourteen-room home at 137 Corlies Avenue in Pelham Heights was a beautiful place.  Once owned by Town Justice Anthony M. Menkel, it was the last place one might expect to find one of the most massive illegal stills ever discovered in Pelham during the Prohibition years.

New tenants moved into the home in about February or March of 1932.  One can only imagine how the three men from New York City who began frequenting the lovely home were able to smuggle past the watchful eyes of their Corlies Avenue neighbors all the equipment necessary to build a five hundred gallon copper still and fermenting tubs large enough to hold five thousand gallons of fermenting mash into the home.  Smuggle successfully, though, they did.  They built a massive still on the third floor of the old Menkel place.

On Saturday, April 9, 1932, Federal Prohibition agents swooped down on the home in a raid that startled the beautiful neighborhood.  They found and arrested three New York City men in the raid:  60-year-old Hyman Brooks of 647 East Fifth Street in New York City; 28-year-old Vencenzo Russi of 2520 Gravesend Avenue in Brooklyn; and 30-year-old Ralph Scheim of 208 Roger Avenue in Brooklyn.  Hyman Brooks was the brains behind the operation.  The two younger men, Vencenzo Russi and Ralph Scheim, were employed by Brooks to operate the massive still.

I have written about the raid at 137 Corlies Avenue before.  See Mon., Jul. 06, 2015:  Police Raided a Massive 300-Gallon Illegal Liquor Still on Corlies Avenue in 1932.  Indeed, the photograph below shows two of the massive mash tubs seized along with the still during the raid. Today's Historic Pelham article, however, adds a piece to the puzzle and reveals the punishment that the brains of the operation, Hyman Brooks, received after the raid.

"LIQUOR PLANT IN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT Huge tubs of mash found

in Corlies avenue house. Patrolmen James Tierney and Ellsworth Totten

inspecting liquor fermentation vats. Photo by Frutkoff." Source:  LIQUOR

PLANT IN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT -- Raid Liquor Plant In Pelham Heights:

300 Gallon Still Seized: Arrest Three, The Pelham Sun, Apr. 15, 1932,

p. 1, cols. 4-5.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The Prohibition agents who raided the home estimated that the giant still had only been in operation for about two weeks and that it likely only took a "few days" to set up the still.  After the raid, the three men were taken to a lock-up in Town Hall on Fifth Avenue in Pelham.  Bail was set at $3,500 pending their appearance in Federal Court.

On December 9, 1932, The Pelham Sun reported on the fate of the three men captured in the raid.  The two younger "employees" who operated the still for Hyman Brooks had pleaded not guilty to the charge of operating an illegal still.  Both were convicted and received suspended sentences for the actions.

Hyman Brooks pled guilty before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to a "charge of operating a still."  He paid fine of $150.00 (about $2,800.00 in today's dollars).  

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"PAYS $150 FOR OPERATING A STILL IN PELHAM HEIGHTS
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Hyman Brooks Fined in U.S. District Court; Charged With Operating Liquor Plant in Corlies Avenue House.
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Hyman Brooks of New York City paid a fine of $150.00 in United States District Court, on Monday after pleading guilty to a charge of operating a still at No. 137 Corlies avenue in Pelham Heights.  Brooks was arrested in a raid on the house by Federal Prohibition agents on April 9.  The agents found a 500 gallon copper still and 5,000 gallons of fermenting mash on the third floor of the fourteen-room house, which was at one time the residence of former Town Justice Anthony M. Menkel.

Vincenzo Russo, of No. 2520 Gravesend avenue and Ralph Scheim, of No. 208 Rogers avenue, Brooklyn who were charged with being employees of the liquor plant received suspended sentences.  They had pleaded not guilty to the charges."

Source:  PAYS $150 FOR OPERATING A STILL IN PELHAM HEIGHTS -- Hyman Brooks Fined in U.S. District Court; Charged With Operating Liquor Plant in Corlies Avenue House, The Pelham Sun, Dec. 9, 1932, Vol. 23, No. 38, p. 1, col. 1.

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I have written extensively about Pelham's struggles with Prohibition and the enforcement of the unpopular laws that it spawned. See: 

Wed., Jun. 21, 2017:  The Infamous Ash Tree Inn of Pelham Manor and its Prohibition Violations During the 1920s.

Thu., Feb. 02, 2017:  Bootleggers Began to Feel the Heat in Pelham in 1922.

Mon., Dec. 26, 2016:  Pelham Stood Alone in Westchester When It Voted to Go Dry in 1896. 

Mon., Aug. 22, 2016:  Pelham, It Seems, Became a Hotbed of Bootlegging and Illegal Stills During Prohibition.

Mon., Jul. 06, 2015:  Police Raided a Massive 300-Gallon Illegal Liquor Still on Corlies Avenue in 1932.  

Fri., Jun. 19, 2015:  More Liquor Raids in Pelham During Prohibition in the 1920s.

Wed., Jun. 17, 2015:   Prohibition Rum-Runners Delivering A Boatload of Booze Were Foiled in Pelham in 1925.

Fri., Apr. 24, 2015:  The North Pelham "Speakeasy Section" Created Quite a Stir During Prohibition.

Tue., Nov. 18, 2014:  More Bootleggers and Speakeasies Raided in Pelham in 1929 During Prohibition.
Fri., May 23, 2014:  How Dry I Am -- Early Prohibition Efforts Succeed in Pelham in 1896.

Thu., Apr. 03, 2014:  The Prohibition Era in Pelham:  Another Speakeasy Raided.

Tue., Feb. 18, 2014:  Pelham Speakeasies and Moonshiners - Prohibition in Pelham: The Feds Raid the Moreau.

Thu., Feb. 07, 2008:  Village Elections in Pelham in 1900 - New York Athletic Club Members Campaign Against the Prohibition Ticket in Pelham Manor.

Thu., Jan. 12, 2006:  The Beer Battle of 1933.

Thu., Aug. 11, 2005:  How Dry I Am: Pelham Goes Dry in the 1890s and Travers Island Is At the Center of a Storm. 

Bell, Blake A., The Prohibition Era in Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 25, June 18, 2004, p. 12, col. 2.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."