Born in 1883(i think)John Patton was living in a small town near Chicago,called Burnham.As a youngster,he ran a bar since he was fourteen.During that young age he met a lot of interesting figures,from politicans and business men to gangsters and hoodlums.He came by the nickname “the boy mayor of Burnham” because he had taken office somewhere around the age of 23.When first elected in 1910,Johnny was the youngest mayor in Illinois.For more than 40 years,the history of Burnham was tied to the activities of its mayor, John Patton.Over the years,Patton prooved to be good for the people and for the town.He brought clean Chicago water and sewer services into Burnham and maintained order.Burnham was also known for hidding place for many Chicago gangsters that were on the lam.

Back than,mob boss Big Jim Colosimo was the big shot in Chicago and he became also interested in the Chicago suburb,Burnham.With his massive prostitution rings,he held a lot of politicians in his pocket.One of them was John Patton.But Patton was different from the others.Not only that he enjoyed the young lovely girls,but he also wanted to get into business.He made a deal with Colosimo and Burnham’s mayor John Patton received a percentage of the profits for allowing the whores to work free.The only local gangster he had to give a cut was "Dandy" Joe Fogarty.

During World War I,Burnham,just outside Chicago`s city limits,resembled a military camp. Soldiers and sailors were filling the brothels and resorts and with that the so-called `boy mayor` of Burnham made a lot of cash.Patton also expanded his business around in other small towns.When the war ended,one resort drew plenty of heat on Patton and Colosimo.Things got so bad that the mayor of nearby Hammond threatened to publish the names of brothel secret owners from his town and close a road to Burnham.Anyways the business stayed untouched.

Colosimo introduced Patton to one of his underlings,Johnny Torrio.Patton proved to be a very useful contact for Torrio.He showed Torrio the Arrowhead Inn resort,which had the advantage of literally straddling the Illinois/Indiana border.Torrio was able to persuade his uncle, gangster Jim Colosimo, that this was a selling point.Torrio bought the Arrowhead for $15,000, added a bar to the first floor's restaurant and divided the second floor into small bedrooms.He made Patton manager and hired Burnham's chief of police as a bartender, three village trustees as waiters.The Arrowhead became a real money machine.

Shortly after in 1920 Colosimo was killed by his own people and Torrio came on the scene.Under the new rule they had to eliminate competition.One day,Patton arranged a meetting between local gangster "Dandy" Joe Fogarty and Johnny Torrio at the Burnham Inn.Story goes that Fogarty was acting realy crazy and during the meeting he he was shot dead by Torrio's men Sonny Dunne and Tommy Enwright.The gang was brought in for questioning but released after an hour.Back in thouse days there never was a town sewed up as tight as Burnham under the Chicago crime syndicate.

During the early 20's,Patton was introduced by with another famous gangster,Al Capone.Patton got tied with Capone and they opened a lot brothels of their own.Story goes that he worked closely with Al Capone,especially in the matter of arranging political fixes.On April 7, 1925,there was a raid on the headquarters of the Torrio-Capone gang, which was then located at 2146 South Michigan Boulevard.Arrested in this raid were John Patton, Robert Larris McCullough, Joe Fusco, Frank Nitti, and others.The police recovered records which revealed that John Torrio, John Patton, Al. Capone together with others, were operating an efficient illegal organization which was engaged in operations netting millions of dollars a yearStory goes that during the raid,Patton attempted to bribe his way out of the situation and for the return of the documents and was arrested for attempted bribery.He was discharged by a friendly judge.

Torrio got so much drunk with power that envisioned a vice monopoly for the entire county with the assistance of John Patton.During that time Patton met Jake Guzik,the financial brain of the Outfit.He also got involved in the bootlegin business.Patton was so close to the mob that he actualy resembeled as a virtual member.Patton was livin quetly and well.He had a nice big home at 142d Street and Burnham Avenue and was built atop and also had a big underground garage for trucks with booze.But he didn’t stay long with the whorehouses and the booze.During the late 20's,he and Capone invested in the Hawthorne Kennel Club and the dog tracks.A lot of politicans and high class poeple attended the tracks.Capone and his syndicate reportedly controlled dog tracks all around the country.

Johnny Patton also ran a country club called Burnham Wood.The club opened in 1925 and featured a nine-hole golf course,and frequent guests were Capone and his men.Back than the Chicago mob was known for playin golf,a lot.One day Capone accidentally shot him self.In 1930,Patton and Capone started building race tracks around Chicago but bad luck striked again.In 1931 Capone was indicted for income tax evasion and was sent to jail.No one cared and the business continued.In 1932, Sportsman’s Park, another race track, was built on the site of the Hawthorne Kennel Club.John Patton spended a lot of the time in the penthouse at Sportsman's Park with William H. Johnston and controlled the operation of that track.His son,James Patton was also a stockholder in the track.During the mid 30's,under the rule of Frank Nitti,Patton spreaded the dog tracks in Florida also.With the help of Jack Guzik and rising star Paul Ricca the dog track's in Florida were known as the Capone gang track's.One was the Miami Beach Kennel Club.During this time Patton also met Edward J. O’Hare,a lawyer who was known as the "Capone Syndicate czar of dog racing".In 1936 the Chicago Tribune published a chart of the Chicago Outfit that listed the names of Patton and O'Hare.But in 1939 O'Hare was shot to death for ratting on the Outfit.

Burnham became to be the center of vice,escpecialy dog tracks,for the Capone Syndicate.

During the early 40's Patton appeared as one of the biggest stock-holders of many the dog tracks around the country.The stock were in his son's name,James Patton and Robert Larry McCullough who was the chief of police of the Miami Beach Kennel Club down there to help them maintain law and order.James Patton was also the vice president of the Miami Beach Kennel Club, Inc. and the Jacksonville Kennel Club, and assistant treasurer of the Orange Park Kennel Club, Inc., Jacksonville,Frank Nitti died on March 19, 1943, at the age of 57 and after that Paul Ricca and Tony Accardo came on top of the Outfit.They introduced Patton to other gambling operations as well,like the Bolita and numbers racket.There is not much info on what was goin on with Patton during the 40's except that he was doing well.Past middle age,in 1949 Patton retired from mayor of Burnham.

During his last years,trouble also came along.During the early 50's the U.S. Crime Commission hearings in Washington, D.C. named Chicago Mob associate John Patton of Miami, described as an associate of Al Capone, and W.F. Johnston, operator of the Jacksonville dog track and a principal owner of Sportsman's Park in Chicago as some of the big shots in the bolita racket.In 1951 The Kefauver Committee called Patton to testify and he did a little bit.At the time, he acknowledged that he was a principal partner for four dog-racing tracks in Florida and a horse track in Cicero. He admitted a friendship with governor,Fuller Warren and that his dog track partners had contributed $100,000 to Warren’s campaign.When asked who had been responsible for the criminal activities in Burnham, Patton named Jim Colosimo.For 5 years he was getting a lot of attention from the press and the government.

On December 23,1956 in his farm home in Earl Park,John Patton has died at the age of 73.He left behind him a wife,two sons and two daughters.

If any1 has some additional info or found some errors in this story please contribute.This article is completed from various sources and infos that can be found on the internet.Cheers

Partied in Burnham many many times. A VERY interesting place. Great post brought me back home for a minute. Salut'

Good to know Salut'