Kid Cann

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Isadore Blumenfeld (September 8, 1900–June 21, 1981), commonly known as Kid Cann, was the most notorious mobster in the history of Minnesota.

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[edit] Early life

According to INS documents, he was born in the shtetl of Rumnesk, Romania to a Jewish family in 1900, but emigrated to the United States in 1902. His father, a furrier, settled the family in Near North, Minneapolis. During childhood, he had to leave school and support his family by selling newspapers on the streets of Minneapolis's "Newspaper Row." At the time, the best selling locations had to be held by force against gangs of other boys. Kid Cann would also tell stories of how he had made extra money picking up bus tokens and reselling them. Angered by the poverty of his family, he turned to running errands for the pimps and madams of Minneapolis's red light district.

[edit] Prohibition

With the onset of Prohibition, Kid Cann and his brothers were transformed from small time hoods into major figures in the American Mafia. His ties to the Chicago Outfit and New York's Genovese crime family date back to the prohibition period.

According to a later trial, they would legally import industrial grade alcohol from Canada, ostensibly for their perfume factory, and divert it to their illegal distilleries in the forests near Fort Snelling. Also, according to the book[1] "Minnesota 13," Kid Cann and his brothers made frequent trips to Stearns County, Minnesota to purchase the area's legendary moonshine from local farmers. Some was disposed of in the Twin Cities, but most of it was sold to the Chicago Outfit, which was then bossed by Al Capone. The same book also alleges that the Blumenfelds owned a lake side cabin near Melrose, Minnesota.

By his 20s, Blumenfeld and his brothers, Harry Bloom (family name had been changed by this time) and Yiddy Bloom held considerable power over the Jewish neighborhoods in North Minneapolis, and oversaw illegal activities such as bootlegging, prostitution, and labor racketeering. According to Twin Cities crime reporter Paul Maccabee, Kid Cann's rivalry with Minneapolis's Irish Mob ended after he and Irish Mob boss Tommy Banks (gangster) divided their territories with a handshake.

[edit] Heyday

A number of deaths are attributed to him and his gang, including prominent journalists who were killed after writing articles exposing the inner workings of his organization as well as his ties to corrupt politicians from several parties. A Jewish restaurant owner who recalls this era once said that the Blumenfelds were worshipped by several generations of neighborhood boys.

There was a high degree of political and civil corruption in the region in the 1920s and 1930s. The mainstream newspapers hardly mentioned what was going on, as any outlet that published articles critical of the status quo were threatened. Some small, tabloid newspapers attempted to report what was going on, but reporters and editors quickly became targets. Howard Guilford of the Twin City Reporter was shot and killed on September 6, 1934. A decade later the paper lost another reporter when Arthur Kasherman was killed on January 22, 1945.

[edit] The Ligget Murder

The most notorious death was that of Walter Liggett, the founder and editor of a weekly paper called The Midwest American. He had been threatened and offered bribes to stay quiet, but he persisted in reporting on links he found between organized crime figures and Minnesota's ruling Farmer-Labor Party. Liggett was beaten up, prosecuted for a non-existent rape incident, and finally died after being machine gunned in the alley behind his home on December 9, 1935. His wife and daughter witnessed the assassination as did several neighbors. All identified Kid Cann as the shooter. Kid Cann was indicted by a grand jury, but poor investigative work and a careless trial meant that he was acquitted. Liggett's widow would always believe that Minnesota Governor Floyd Olson, was deeply implicated in the murder. Her husband had repeatedly accused the Governor of corruption.

[edit] Notoriety

Blumenfeld was indicted for the killing of a taxicab driver, and was also suspected of being responsible for the attempted murder of police officer James H. Trepanier.[1] Paul Maccabbee, however, writes that Kid Cann, while present, had no part of the shooting, which was likely committed by fugitive bank robber Verne Miller.

As the area streetcar system, operated by Twin City Rapid Transit, was being dismantled in the early 1950s and replaced with diesel buses, Blumenfeld owned a 16% stake in the company. He was accused of allying himself with a corporate raider, using force to intimidate stockholders, and disposing of the scrap metal on the black market after their hostile takeover had succeeded. Some historians believe he held considerable responsibility for what happened, but when a Federal court case years later led several executives from the company to go to prison, Blumenfeld was not convicted.

[edit] Conviction and Imprisonment

In 1959, he was convicted on Federal charges of transporting a Chicago prostitute named Virginia Tollefson across State lines (see Mann Act). Although this conviction was later overturned on appeal, he was again tried and convicted of jury tampering and extorting kickbacks from bars and nightclubs throughout Minneapolis. The extortion was carried out by threatening to deny them liquor licenses. During the sentencing phase of this trial it was revealed that Kid Cann was receiving a cut of the money skimmed from at least one Las Vegas casino.

[edit] Later Years and Death

After his release from prison, he moved to Miami Beach, Florida with his friend Meyer Lansky. They reportedly continued to make money through illegal activities, though they changed tack, focusing instead on stock market fraud, money laundering, and questionable real-estate dealings. He frequently visited his family and friends in Minnesota and declared to a Minneapolis reporter in 1976 that he had recently turned down an offer to write his memoirs. He said, "I have nothing to say, really." He died in Minneapolis of heart disease in the summer of 1981. After the Kaddish was recited at the graveside by a rabbi from Temple Israel (see Reform Judaism) he was interred at the Adath Yeshurun Jewish Cemetery in Edina, Minnesota.

[edit] Folklore

In Minnesota today, tales of Kid Cann and his rumored dark deeds may be considered to have made him a local urban legend, similar to Al Capone or Whitey Bulger.

Two tales are told of the origins of his famous nickname. According to one legend, he picked up the name during a brief attempt at boxing. Another story told by his fellow North Side Jews alleges that young Isadore Blumenfeld would always lock himself in the outhouse to avoid gang fights in the neighborhood. Kid Cann indignantly denied both versions.

In later years, he alleged to have installed bullet proof windows on his suburban house and to have been able to fix any problem with a single phone call. During his lifetime, Kid Cann bore a love hate relationship with his legend, on one hand glorying in the attention and also feeling infuriated by the increased FBI surveillance that it brought him beginning in the early 1950s. In a 1976 interview he snapped, "Ninety percent of what was written about me is b--- s---!"

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ 'Wet' Wild Prohibition Days