Eliot Ness

Eliot Ness, leader of the Untouchables (that's Ness behind the wheel) was born on the South Side of Chicago, attended Pullman Elementary in the Pullman neighborhood, and went to Fenger High School.  His classmates sometimes called him "Elegant Mess".  His father, Peter, operated a bakery in the Pullman/Kensington neighborhood. Even after he began his crimefighting career, Ness lived with his parents at this house on south Prairie Avenue. He attended the University of Chicago (where he met Randolph Carter and Harley Warren).  So Ness, unlike Al Capone, was a Chicago native.

He got his job as a Prohibition agent through his uncle, Alexander Jaime.  Many prohibition agents had a reputation as being ineffective, corrupt, or both, but Ness was determined to be neither.  His uncle, Alexander Jaime, recommended him for the job that would forever make Eliot Ness famous, even though Ness' family initially were concerned at such a career choice.

He assembled a special team of federal agents to help him take on Al Capone, a team of single men who were as fearless and as dedicated as he was.  Ness and his team concentrated on attacking Capone's operations by disrupting the flows of alcohol and money, even as other government agencies worked on building a legal case against Capone for tax evasion.  It was ultimately the tax issue that toppled Capone.

In Cosa Nosferatu, we learn of the chapter in Ness' career that has not been well known--how his old friend from the University of Chicago, Randolph Carter, involved him in a terrifying episode involving the dead who do not lie easy in their graves.

Here's a rare photo of Eliot Ness as a kid, growing up in the Pullman/Kensington neighborhood of Chicago.  Ness is the little kid on the left in the picture.  Thanks again to Michelle Friel Regan and Roger Borroel for these Ness photos.

And here's a group photo of Eliot Ness in his college days at the University of Chicago.