Len Small
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Lennington "Len" Small (June 16, 1862 – May 17, 1936) was an American politician who served as the 26th Governor of Illinois from 1921 to 1929. He previously was a member of the
Illinois state senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...
from the 16th District from 1901 to 1903 and was
Illinois state treasurer The Treasurer of Illinois is an elected official of the U.S. state of Illinois. The office was created by the Constitution of Illinois. Current Occupant The current Treasurer of Illinois is Democrat Mike Frerichs. He was first elected to hea ...
, from 1905 to 1907, and from 1917 to 1919. He is known for accusations of embezzlement brought against him.


Early life

Small was born in Kankakee County, Illinois, and attended public education at Northern Indiana Normal School, now
Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso Universit ...
, through his senior year. After schooling, became a teacher, and invested in real estate, eventually owning a farm, a bank, and Kankakee's daily newspaper. In 1883, Small married Ida Moore, and they had three children together. Six months after the Governor's inauguration, on June 26, 1922, Ida Moore Small died suddenly from
apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...
(the term at the time for a stroke) at the age of 60 while Small and his wife were being welcomed home following his acquittal on charges of embezzlement.


Political career

Small began his political career in 1901 when he became a member of the Illinois Senate. He served in the Illinois Senate from 1901 to 1905. Small was the Illinois Treasurer from 1905 to 1907, and again from 1917 to 1919. He served as the assistant U.S. Treasurer in charge of the sub treasury at Chicago from 1908 to 1912, and was a delegate to Republican National Convention from Illinois in 1908, 1912, and 1932. Small was elected governor of Illinois in 1920 and was reelected in in 1924. He was indicted, six months after becoming governor, for embezzling over a million dollars in a money-laundering scheme in which he placed state funds into a fake bank while he was state treasurer. He was acquitted, but eight jurors later got state jobs, raising suspicions of
jury tampering Jury tampering is the crime of unduly attempting to influence the composition and/or decisions of a jury during the course of a trial. The means by which this crime could be perpetrated can include attempting to discredit potential jurors to ensur ...
. As governor, Small pardoned 20 members of the
Communist Labor Party of America The Communist Labor Party of America (CLPA) was one of the organizational predecessors of the Communist Party USA. The group was established at the end of August 1919 following a three-way split of the Socialist Party of America. Although a legal ...
, convicted under the Illinois Sedition Act. He also pardoned or paroled over 1000 convicted felons, including Harry Guzik, brother of the
Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, ...
's
Jake Guzik Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik (March 20, 1886 – February 21, 1956) was the financial and legal advisor, and later political " greaser," for the Chicago Outfit. Early life Guzik was born near Kraków, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hu ...
, of
Posen, Illinois Posen is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Posen is the German-language name for the western Polish city of Poznań. The population of the village was 5,632 at the 2020 census. Geography Posen is located at (41.628234, -87.685 ...
, who was convicted of kidnapping young girls and forcing them into lives of prostitution (then commonly called
white slavery White slavery (also white slave trade or white slave trafficking) refers to the slavery of Europeans, whether by non-Europeans (such as West Asians and North Africans), or by other Europeans (for example naval galley slaves or the Vikings' t ...
). In 1923, bootlegger Edward "Spike" O'Donnell of Southside Chicago was released from prison by Small. O'Donnell returned to Chicago as the leader of one of the most powerful bootlegging gangs in the city. Small's reputation for corruption finally caught up with him at the ballot box when he was defeated in the 1928 Republican "
Pineapple Primary The Pineapple Primary was the name given to the primary election held in Illinois on April 10, 1928. The campaign was marked by numerous acts of violence, mostly in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County. In the six months prior to the primary ele ...
" by a margin of 63% to 37% against
Louis Lincoln Emmerson Louis Lincoln Emmerson (December 27, 1863 – February 4, 1941) was an American Republican politician and the twenty-seventh governor of Illinois. Family Louis was born on December 27, 1863, in Albion, Illinois, and is the son of Jesse and ...
, the incumbent
Illinois Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, libr ...
. Small made a failed run for governor in 1932, and another in
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
.


Death

Small died on May 17, 1936. He is buried at Mound Grove Cemetery in Kankakee, Illinois.


References


Further reading

*Kobler, John. ''Capone''. Da Capo Press of Perseus Books Group, New York. 2003. p. 79. *Ridings, Jim. ''Len Small: Governors and Gangsters''. Side Show Books, Herscher IL. 2009.


External links


National Governors Association





Illinois State Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Small, Len 1862 births 1936 deaths Republican Party governors of Illinois Republican Party Illinois state senators People from Kankakee, Illinois Valparaiso University alumni State treasurers of Illinois Illinois politicians convicted of corruption