George Musey

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George S. Musey
Born(1900-07-17)July 17, 1900
Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedJuly 25, 1935(1935-07-25) (aged 35)
Galveston, Texas, U.S.
Other names
  • One-armed George Musey
  • The King of Gulf Rum-Runners
  • Big Chief
OccupationGangster, Mob Boss
TitleBoss
Criminal statusDeceased
Spouse(s)Mary Abraham Musey (c. 1924–1935; his death)
Children
  • Margaret M. Musey (1925)
  • George J. Musey (1928–1992)
Parent(s)Jamail (Sid) Musey and Sally Musey
AllegianceDowntown Gang
Conviction(s)1929
Criminal chargeBootlegging
PenaltyImprisonment, Atlanta Penitentiary

George Musey, also known as "one-armed George Musey", was a mob boss in Galveston, Texas, during the 1920s and mid 1930s. He, with the "Beau Brummel of Galveston" Johnny Jack Nounes, led the Downtown Gang, one of the two gangs which controlled Galveston underworld until the early 1930s.[1] Musey was the gang's top enforcer and would not let anyone ruin the rise of the Downtown Gang. However, he was convicted on conspiracy liquor charges and sent to Atlanta Penitentiary after becoming a fugitive. He was later assassinated in 1935, eight days after his 35th birthday.[2]

Family and early life[]

Musey was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Jamial and Sally Musey, both immigrants from Syria. His parents immigrated to the United States around 1890 and has a total of five children: Tom, George, Emma, Fred, and Sam. Fred and Sam would go on to assist their brother in his crime life. The family moved to Houston, Texas, in the 1910s and later to Galveston. During Musey's early life he worked as a mechanic in an auto shop his dad managed. With him being in Texas his life would forever change from being a small-time mechanic to a big-time gangster. As prohibition talks were circulating, Musey came across a flamboyant Galvestonian by the name of Johnny Jack Nounes, who had been the boss of the Downtown Gang. From that time on Musey became Nounes's right-hand man, a co-boss, leading the gang with him.[3]

Prohibition[]

With prohibition now in effect, the Nounes-Musey mob had brought on many new gangsters including, Marvin "Big Jim" Clark and Theodore "Fatty" Owens, two gangsters who would eventually both become acting bosses when Nounes and Musey were away.[4] The two made a strong team, with Johnny's charisma and flamboyance along with Musey's strength and connections, the gang became very profitable. They were in tough competition with their rivals the Beach Gang along with the Maceo brothers.[5] Besides federal agent Al Scharff riding their tails, the gang usually bought off local city cops slipping them into their pocket. Musey was a popular cat in the bootlegging business, he even developed connections for the gang down in New Orleans, Louisiana and would go on to be called the "King of Gulf Rum-Runners". As time went on and Musey's brothers got a little older, he brought them into the gang. Freddie helped out with making bootleg hooch with fellow gang member Otis Skains while Sam soldiered.[6] Musey was a person you would never want to bud heads with. One time somebody was interrupting the gang's flow, and so Musey killed the man and buried him face down in the ground in quick lime, he was also said to hire out hit-men from Illinois and Kentucky. Furthermore, George and Johnny made a lot of the liquor runs on Johnny's boat the "Cherokee," but he also used Charlie Mushmach's boat the "Imperator" and Tom Lena's boat, the "Lena". Using these last two boats on a liquor run in Louisiana Musey would caught by federal agents from unloading the liquor in Seabrook, Texas. He, Nounes, and twenty-one others, would be tried in court for conspiracy on liquor charges.

Convict and fugitive[]

Musey was convicted of the crime in 1929, however he fled to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, since Big Jim had connections there, to escape the sentence.[7] However, the law didn't know where he was and thought he was down south in Honduras. He was now wanted by the United States Secret Service. They looked for him in several countries including Canada and Central America, however, they eventually found him in 1931 at his birthplace in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The agents arrested Musey and brought him back to Galveston under heavy guard. They held him up at a beach hotel where he was not allowed to communicate with anybody. It is believed that he made a number of "business" trips back to Galveston and other surrounding cities including Lake Charles. Shortly afterwards he spent time in Atlanta Penitentiary, the same prison Johnny Jack was in.

Post-prohibition and assassination[]

A few years later Musey got out of prison and opened up a club also opening a profitable pinball machine operation. However, by this time the Beach Gang's successors, the Maceo Crime Syndicate, has taken over most of the Island ridding anyone who stands in their way. They were pure rivals of the Downtown Gang since both organizations stole and hijacked each other's shipments. Therefore, Musey was talking with some of the gang one night at The Alamo Club on 24th St., a club owned by gang member Otis Skains, until the waiter said somebody need him at the door. As he went out the door he was shot five times with a .38 revolver by O.J. Windy Goss, a Maceo mob member.[8] The fugitive gangster of Galveston's underworld lied dead in the streets. He was buried at Old Catholic Cemetery in Galveston, Texas survived by his wife Mary, and two children, Margaret and George Jr.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Cartwright, Gary (1998). Galveston: a history of the island. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-87565-190-9.
  2. ^ Finstuen, Doc (January 2002). "Fred Musey: Galveston Bootlegger and Club Operator" (PDF). The Lookout Journal. 1 (1).
  3. ^ Roark, Garland (1964). The Coin of Contraband. Doubleday. ASIN B000XOGSL8. george musey.
  4. ^ Haile, Bartee (16 March 2005). "Bootleggers Shoot It Out In Galveston" (PDF). The Lone Star Iconoclast. 6 (16): 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  5. ^ Cartwright, Gary (1998). Galveston: a history of the island. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-87565-190-9.
  6. ^ Cartwright, Gary (1998). Galveston: a history of the island. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-87565-190-9.
  7. ^ Nieman, Robert (Fall 2008). "Galveston's Balinese Room" (PDF). Texas Ranger Dispatch. Texas Ranger Association Foundation (27).
  8. ^ Finstuen, Doc (January 2002). "Fred Musey: Galveston Bootlegger and Club Operator" (PDF). The Lookout Journal. 1 (1).
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