April 25, 2024
State | Daily Chronicle
State

The real 'public enemies' had suburban ties

By BRETT ROWLAND

Louis’s Place as it appeared in the early twenties. Photo courtesy The McHenry County Historical Society

FOX RIVER GROVE – Had the new movie "Public Enemies" been filmed on location, Hollywood types would have invaded Fox River Grove last year.

The film, starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, chronicles the first years of the FBI and the crime sprees of Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and others. Both Nelson and Dillinger spent time in Fox River Grove in the 1930s under the protection of one of the village's most prominent citizens, Louis Cernocky Sr.

"Cernocky was a liquor distributor for the Capone gang and he owned most of the town," said Craig Pfannkuche, a local historian and former history teacher. "His place was a hangout for the Dillinger gang."

Dillinger and Nelson not only slept here, they staged a "stunning convention of the Dillinger crew" in Cernocky's Crystal Ballroom in mid-April 1934, according to Alston W. Purvis and Alex Tresinowski in their book, "The Vendetta."

Several other books note the meeting, including Dary Matera's "John Dillinger: The Life and Death of America's First Celebrity Criminal," and Bryan Burrough's "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34," on which the eponymous movie is based.

Historical accounts differ slightly on the dates, but provide interesting context for this memorable rendezvous of some of the most wanted men in America in the bohemian enclave of Fox River Grove. The gang, which included Dillinger, Nelson, Homer VanMeter, and Tommy Carroll, had recently escaped capture in St. Paul, Minn., and were looking for a place to hide out.

Baby Face Nelson, a bank robber born Lester M. Gillis, and Carroll arrived before the rest of the gang to relax in Fox River Grove. At that time the village had a population of about 700 and was known for its resorts along the Fox River, said Nancy Fike, administrator for the McHenry County Historical Society.

Once the gang and their girlfriends arrived, Cernocky served them dinner and drinks and talked with them. The proprietor also suggested a hideout.

Cernocky gave Nelson a letter of introduction to friend and brother-in-law Emil Wanatka, the owner of a lodge in Little Bohemia, Wis.

The next day the gang left Fox River Grove in four cars for the 400-mile drive to northern Wisconsin. Cernocky's choice of hideout would prove disastrous.

The FBI caught up with the gang on April 23, 1934, and a shootout erupted at Wanatka's retreat. The gang escaped the botched raid, but Nelson's wife and two other women accompanying them were taken into custody, according to a detailed history on the lodge's Web site. The lodge is still in operation today.

That was not the only time the gangsters visited Fox River Grove. Earlier in 1943, Cernocky gave Dillinger a bottle of whiskey and a basement room after Dillinger's girlfriend, Billy Frechette, was taken into custody. Other biographies of Nelson and Dillinger note several other meetings and interactions between Cernocky and the gangsters. And Nelson's final gun battle with the FBI took place on Route 14 in Barrington, just over the line from Fox River Grove.

FBI agents spotted Nelson and John Paul Chase, a small-time gangster from California, driving a stolen car in the area on Nov. 27, 1934. Nelson and Chase pulled up behind the agents and Chase fired five rounds into their car, according to FBI documents. Chicago FBI Inspector Samuel Cowley and agent Herman Edward Hollis approached Nelson and Chase in another car as the gangsters pulled off Route 14 at the entrance to Langendorf Park. There, Chase and Nelson opened fire on their pursuers.

After five minutes of shooting, Hollis was dead and both Cowley and Nelson had been wounded. Nelson died that night and Cowley died the next day.

Fox River Grove's connection to the gangsters has been well-documented, but isn't talked about much, Pfannkuche said.

"People don't even know the Cernocky story anymore," he said. "But some little landmarks remain if you know where to look."

One of those landmarks – a plaque honoring Hollis, Cowley and another special agent, W. Carter Baum – was recently removed from its place at Langendorf Park in Barrington for construction work at the site. Once the work is done, the plaque will once again be displayed, according to Barrington Park District officials.

Part of one former Cernocky property, Picnic Grove Park, remains open to the public, but it is much changed from its heyday, when it was operated as a corporate retreat.

Most of the other landmarks of the gangster era – such as Cernocky's Crystal Ballroom – are gone. The ballroom was destroyed in a fire.

"Fox River Grove is no longer a bohemian enclave. There has been an influx of new people and it has changed," Pfannkuche said. "There is no connection to the history."

Still, the stories live on.

Elroy Fitzgerald, 80, a longtime Cary resident and former member of the District 155 school board, remembers the gangster era. Once, when living in a rented home behind the Crystal Ballroom, he came home from school and "saw more state troopers than I ever have since" raiding the property. Fitzgerald also can remember his father taking him to see a bullet-riddled tree near Langendorf Park.