Helen Van Dale drawing by Bruce Walters
All heads turned as Helen Van Dale, the notorious “Queen of the Looney Underworld,“ walked to the witness stand in the trial of Rock Island’s mayor, police chief, and one of John Looney’s henchmen. The charges included graft, illicit gambling, and alcohol during Prohibition.
According to The Citadel of Sin, “The women whispered and pulled their jackets tightly closed; men, who had come to court dressed in suits, acted like little boys, and pointed and elbowed each other.”
Van Dale had been released from jail before the trial after she agreed to testify. When she stepped to the witness stand, she dressed in a mink cape, a black hat, satin dress with a lace collar, and wore gloves. She would admit to running a brothel and that she was involved in Looney’s liquor trade through the Rock Island police chief.
Two year later, she testified in trials against John Looney, who faced charges ranging from murder to conspiracy. In one exchange, Van Dale testified that she had threatened to kill Looney if he tried to blackmail her. She stated that Looney “said he couldn’t be killed, that the devil protected him.”
John Looney was found guilty on all counts and was sentenced to 15 to 21 years in prison. Van Dale had been charged with the same crimes, but they were dropped.
The trials ended Looney’s criminal empire that had plagued Rock Island and Davenport’s Bucktown for a generation. At the time of his incarceration, Looney’s wealth was estimated to be in excess of $20 million in today’s money.
Not only were Looney and his henchmen now in prison, but Looney’s son had been murdered; Rock Island Police Detective Charles Ginnane had committed suicide; Police Chief Tom Cox died of a heart attack or syphilis (depending on which newspaper you read); and Helen’s younger sister Dimples took her own life. She was just 24.
Helen Van Dale was born Eula Elizabeth Lee in 1893 in Paris City, Illinois, near the Indiana border. She came to the Tri-Cities (now Quad Cities) in 1914, followed by her mother and sister who would assist her in running several "disorderly houses" in Davenport. In time, she would run some 150 of these disorderly houses, creating a prostitution empire that reached into the surroundings states.
She ran afoul of the law repeatedly. But the charges became more serious when William Gable, who ran a "soft drink establishment," a cover for illegal activities, was gunned down in downtown Rock Island in 1922. His establishment was adjacent to one of Van Dale’s brothels.
Gable had learned that Rock Island Police Chief Tom Cox had beat one of Van Dale’s prostitutes to death after she had quarreled with Van Dale. It was the last straw for Gable, and he began to meet with federal officers. He had just left a secret meeting with them when he was silenced. Seven federal prohibition agents were immediately assigned to start an investigation into his death.
Van Dale was one of the people charged in his murder. She was jailed also for illegal gambling, prostitution, and for violating the Mann Act (the White Slavery law).
And this is where our story began: with Helen walking to the witness stand.
Helen Van Dale disappeared from the public’s eye shortly after Looney’s conviction. She died at the age of 58, in 1951. She is buried alongside her mother and between of the graves of her fourth and fifth husbands at Fairmount Cemetery in Davenport. Her grave, mysteriously, is unmarked (Lot: GVA Lot 217, grave number seven). Helen owned land, a nightclub, and a taxi service at the time of her death, so the decision not to install a gravestone was not because of financial reasons.
Bruce Walters is a Professor Emeritus in Art conferred by Western Illinois University.
This is part of an occasional series on famous (or infamous) people buried in cemeteries in the Quad Cities, and their history that is not so well-known today. If there’s a piece of history buried here that you’d like to learn more about, e-mail the location and a brief description to BD-Walters@wiu.edu.
