James Vincenzo Capone

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Richard James Hart b. James Vincenzo "Jimmy" Capone (born March 28, 1892 in Angri , Italy ; † October 1, 1952 in Homer (Nebraska) , United States ) was the oldest brother of the notorious bully Al Capone and - unlike his famous brother - the Lawman for much of his life.

Life

Born in the small town of Angri in the Campania region , James Vincenzo Capone was the first son of Gabriele and Teresa (née Raiola) Capone. James arrived in America on June 18, 1895 with his two years younger brother Ralph and his mother on a ship called the Werra, which passed through Ellis Island ( New York City ). His father Gabriele had come to the United States through Canada six months earlier . The Capone family eventually settled in Brooklyn , New York City. James was seven years old when his brother Alphonse Gabriel "Al" was born.

At the age of 16, Vincenzo left home and moved from Brooklyn to Nebraska  - ostensibly to join a circus. He worked to lose his Brooklyn accent and also tried to deny his Italian roots. Instead, he wanted to be perceived more as a Mexican or an Indian. Increasingly, he stated that his birthplace was in Iowa and the birthplace of his parents in Illinois .

He claims he joined the United States Army during World War I , served in France and became a lieutenant . However, his military service was later questioned and he was unable to provide evidence.

After the war, Vincenzo changed his name to Richard James Hart, based on his favorite cowboy movie star William S. Hart . He married in 1919 and moved to Homer, Nebraska, where he served two years as city marshal and one year as sheriff. He later became a prohibition agent, while his brother Al was known as a Chicago alcohol trafficking gangster. Because of his two pearl-studded pistols and his skills as a marksman, the newspapers nicknamed him "Two-Gun" Hart after a number of successful raids against black marketeers. In the mid-1920s, newspaper reporters learned of his relationship to the Chicago gangster.

In 1926, Hart became a special agent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs . It was deployed on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota and was known among the natives as brutal. In one incident, he killed an Indian. After his arrest, it was revealed that the Indian was a liquor smuggler; all charges were dropped. The victim's family tried to kill Hart in revenge, losing an eye. Hart was involved in the arrest of at least 20 wanted killers in the area. He spent some time as a prosecutor on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Plummer, Idaho. After a few more incidents, his reputation was damaged, he was almost blind and bankrupt. In 1931 Hart returned to Homer as a prohibition agent. Two years later, with the lifting of prohibition, he became a justice of the peace .

In 1946, shortly before Al Capone died, Hart allowed his son Harry to meet his famous uncle, who at the time was suffering from syphilis complications and had been discharged from Alcatraz . In 1952, Richard James Hart died of a heart attack in his Homer home.

In the movie

  • Richard James Hart was played in the 1990 film Brother War (OT: The Lost Capone ) by Adrian Pasdar .
  • Mather Zickel plays Jimmy Capone / Richard Hart in the series Timeless Season 1 Episode 15

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Richard James Hart. At: FindAGrave.com.
  2. ↑ Ralph Capone - Big Brother to Al “Scarface” Capone. At: AmericanMafiaHistory.com.
  3. ↑ The Capone Brother You Might Not Know. At: Ancestry.com.
  4. ^ A b Al Capone Had A Brother Who Was A Prohibition Enforcement Officer. At: TodayIFoundOut.com.
  5. ^ Al Capone's brother changed his name and became a successful prohibition agent. At: TheVintageNews.com.
personal data
SURNAME Capone, James Vincenzo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hart, Richard James; Two-Gun Hart (nickname); Capone, Jimmy (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mobster
DATE OF BIRTH March 28, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Attack
DATE OF DEATH October 1, 1952
Place of death Homer, Nebraska