2-1-992HR. HISTORYAL CAPONEAl Capone was the fourth of nine children.
Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 17, 1899. His parents were both native to Italy. His father’s name was Gabriele Capone and his mother’s name was Teresina Raiola. His father worked as a barber and his mother was a seamstress. Al Capone joined a gang when he was a teenager. There were a few signs that the Capone boys were going to be gangsters.
Al Capone’s introduction into the criminal way of things came through Johnny Torrio. Al would run errands for Torrio to earn money. Torrio became a mentor to Capone. Johnny showed Al how to make a fortune without always using force. At this point in Al Capone’s life he still had no intention of leading a criminal life. Al Capone was married to Mary Coughlin on December 13, 1918.
He met Mary in his own neighborhood. She was better known as Mae. On December 4, 1918, Mae gave birth to Albert Francis Capone, soon known as Sonny. Sonny had many physical problems as a child and later developed hearing problems.
They believe that his illness was caused by congenital syphilis that he had contracted from his father. Despite all of Sonny’s illnesses his father still cared for him. Al Capone started his career as a gangster in order to better provide for his family. Al Capone and his wife moved to Baltimore where Al landed a job as a bookkeeper for a construction company.
It was two years before Capone decided to change careers. Al Capone and family moved back to New York in November of 1920. His father had died of a heart attack and Al was returning for the funeral when he decided to stay in New York. He was reunited with Torrio. In 1921, Al Capone moved to Chicago with his employer, Johnny Torrio, to launch his new career. Al Capone went on to become the most famous gangster of all time.
Herbert Hoover had ordered a crackdown on all gangsters, but mainly it was for “Scarface” Al Capone.
