Charles Solomon
? to Jan. 24, 1933.
"King Solomon," "Boston Charlie"

Solomon was arguably the most important bootlegger in Prohibition Era Boston and allegedly worked alongside Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, father of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.(1)

Solomon, owner of several nightclubs including the Cocoanut Grove and operator of a rum-running fleet,(2) was among the original members of the cooperative Seven Group (or "Big Seven") on the East Coast and attended the organizational meeting of new wave gangsters in Atlantic City in May 1929. Johnny Torrio, retired leader of a Chicago gang, and Frank Costello, Charlie Luciano and Meyer Lansky of New York, are believed to have been key figures of the Seven Group, headquartered at New York's Hotel Belvedere.(3)

Solomon was indicted early in 1933 along with three other men, charged in New York federal court with operating a liquor-smuggling ring. Federal prosecutors believed his underworld associates feared he would cooperate with investigators and decided to have him killed. They urged him to remain in custody awaiting trial, but he returned to the Boston area after posting $5,000 bail.(4)

Solomon was assassinated in the Boston area Cotton Club (located in Roxbury) Jan. 24, 1933. He was attacked by four gunmen in the wash room and staggered out with three bullet wounds. He died a short time later. Questioned on his death bed by police, Solomon said only that his killer was "a dirty rat."(5)

Some believe the gunmen were employed by the Phil Buccola Mafia Family, which wanted to strengthen the family's grip on the Boston area underworld.(6) Others feel the assassination was orchestrated by local Irish mobsters.(7)

A Norfolk County MA court established after Solomon's death that his documented estate was valued at just $4,000.(8)

Solomon was repeatedly targeted by law enforcement but managed to escape most of the time. His longest prison stay was a 13-month term in Atlanta Federal Prison on a subornation of perjury charge arising from a narcotics possession case, in which he was found not guilty. He was charged in 1921 with $1 million mail robbery in Los Angeles but was later discharged.(9)

One of Solomon's alleged rum-running business partners was New Jersey's Alexander Lillien. Lillien was named in the same January 1933 indictment as Solomon. Lillien's base of operations was a former home of Oscar Hammerstein in the highlands area overlooking Sandy Hook. In that mansion, Lillien allegedly operated a radio station, by which he kept in touch with rum-running vessels at sea. The building was raided and broadcast equipment seized in 1929. Violations of radio laws were included in the 1933 indictment against Solomon, Lillien and two others. Lillien was shot to death on March 23, 1933 - just two months after Solomon's death.(10)

Notes:

  1. Though there is much anecdotal and circumstantial evidence, Joe Kennedy's bootlegging activities have never been proven. His family was known to be in the liquor business both before and after Prohibition. Bonanno, Joseph. A Man of Honor (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983) p. 174, 307-308.
  2. "Cabaret gunmen kill 'King' Solomon," New York Times, Jan. 25, 1933, p. 36.
  3. Wolf, George. Frank Costello: Prime Minister of the Underworld (New York: William Morrow & Company, 1974) p. 87. Messick, Hank. Lansky (New York: Berkley Medallion, 1971, p. 38. "Torrio's power in rum ring bared," New York Times, April 1, 1939, p. 8.
  4. "Cabaret gunmen," op. cit.
  5. Ibid, also Messick, op. cit., and "Four gangsters slay Charley Solomon, hub night club proprietor," Fitchburg MA Sentinel, Jan. 24, 1933, p. 1. But Nichols, Guild. "1900-today: Boston's Little Italy," An Historical Overview of the North End and other sources place the assassination outside the Cotton Club.
  6. O'Neill, Gerard and Dick Lehr. The Underboss (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989) p. 32.
  7. Lindbergh, Richard C. "The Mafia in America: Traditional Organized Crime in Transition," The Mob in America.
  8. "Rum King's estate $4,000," New York Times, Aug. 22, 1933, p. 20.
  9. "Four gangsters," op. cit.
  10. "Murder bares rum fleet war," Oakland CA Tribune, March 24, 1933, p. 2.

© 2007 T.Hunt
The American "Mafia"