David Hennessy

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David Hennessy

New Orleans, Louisiana

A photo of David Hennessy, courtesy of the Tulane University's Louisiana Collection.
Born 1858
Place of birth New Orleans, USA
Rank Police Chief
Relations Margaret and David Hennessy Sr. (Mother/Father)
Other work Killed 1890 (aged 31–32)

David C. Hennessy (1858 – 16 October 1890) was the police chief of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1888 until his death. His death, supposedly at the hands of Italian immigrants, but more probably from a political rival, was the catalyst of a large anti-Italian lynching in New Orleans.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

David C. Hennessy was born to Margaret and David Hennessy Sr., 275 Girod St., New Orleans.[1]

[edit] Police chief

In 1888 Joseph Shakespeare won election as mayor of New Orleans, and promptly appointed David C. Hennessy as his new police chief.[1]

[edit] Assassination

While investigating the barrel murder of an Italian immigrant, Hennessy discovered the existence of a secret society operating in New Orleans, the Mafia. After collecting enough evidence to go public, but shortly before doing so, he was assassinated on October 15, 1890, execution-style.[2] However historians dispute this explanation. Humbert S. Nelli concluded that Hennessey as chief of police was involved in some way regulating organized crime activity. Nelli also concluded that his execution might have been a way to frame Italian Americans.

Hennessy was awake in the hospital for several hours after the shooting, and spoke to friends, but did not name shooters. The next day complications set in, he took turn for worse and died. A rumor spread that his dying words were, "Dagos did it".

Hennessy was buried in Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans.

Hennessy memorial tomb
Hennessy memorial tomb

[edit] Aftermath

Hennessy's killing became the first widely publicized Mafia incident in the United States, and resulted in hundreds of baseless arrests of newly arrived Italian immigrants and a major trial in 1891 in New Orleans in which 19 people were indicted. Rumors about the Sicilian "Mafia" trying to take over New Orleans spread throughout the city, adding to the extreme prejudice and fear of the poor Italian immigrants that many native United States citizens had already developed.

Rioters breaking in to parish prison
Rioters breaking in to parish prison

A large riot occurred after those indicted were acquitted, with a mob storming the jailhouse and lynching the accused Italians, along with ten other Italians, none of whom had been involved in the case.[2] The lynch mob brutally mutilated the Italian immigrants, apparently shouting, "Hang the dagos!" According to witnesses, the "cheers were deafening." Afterwards, a local paper recorded the incident, proclaiming "The little jail was crowded with Sicilians, whose low, receding foreheads, repulsive countenances and slovenly attire proclaimed their brutal nature."

The Italians lynched were not involved in any organized crime and a significant part of the motivation for attacking them was a racial and ethnic one.

[edit] Legacy

The death of Hennessy became a rallying cry for law enforcement and nativists to stop the immigration of Italians into America. For decades after, New Orleans children of other ethnicities would often taunt Italian Americans with the phrase, "Who kill-a the Chief?"

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b American Mafia: TIMELINE (HTML). Deep Water (2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-01. “David C. Hennessy is born to Margaret and David Hennessy Sr., 275 Girod St., New Orleans.”
  2. ^ a b Blake Pontchartrain (03 02 04). New Orleans Know-It-All (HTML). bestofneworleans.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.

[edit] Further Reading

  • Pg 77-95 Humbert S. Nelli. The Hennessy Murder and the Mafia in New Orleans., April 15, 1981, University Of Chicago Press; Phoenix Ed edition, 328. ISBN 0226571327. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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