Madden Gang
 Owney Madden in 1931 | |
| Also Known As | Owney Madden gang Owen Madden gang |
|---|---|
| Origins | |
| Founder | Owney Madden |
| Founding Location | Manhattan, New York City |
| Territory | Manhattan Harlem |
| Profile | |
| Structure | Bootlegging and racketeering organization |
| Activities | Beer and liquor distribution Protection racketeering Nightclub investment |
| Politics | |
| Leader | Owney Madden George “Big Frenchy” Jeandemange (close partner; commonly described as second-in-command) |
| Notable Members | William Frost, alias William Teed (reputed member) |
| Activity | |
| Status | Defunct |
| Years Active | 1923–mid-1930s |
| Founded Date | After Madden's 1923 parole |
| Dissolved Date | Mid-1930s |
| Dissolution Cause | End of Prohibition Madden's imprisonment and withdrawal from New York |
The Madden Gang was a Prohibition-era bootlegging and racketeering organization associated with former Gopher leader Owney Madden after his 1923 parole. Contemporary newspapers used “Owney Madden gang” and “Owen Madden gang” as organization names. The group should not be treated as simply another name for the earlier Gophers: Madden returned to a changed underworld and organized new beer, protection and entertainment interests with former associates and newer partners.
Formation and bootlegging
Madden had been imprisoned for the 1914 killing of former Gopher Patsy Doyle. A January 1923 report announcing his parole still called him a “Gopher Gang chief.”[1] A syndicated 1933 account said that after returning to New York he and his associates entered protection rackets, nightclubs and the manufacture and distribution of beer and spirits. The article called Madden an alleged liquor-racket “kingpin,” language reflecting investigators' and reporters' allegations rather than a criminal adjudication.[2]
The organizational name was contemporary. In 1932, The New York Times described William Frost, also known as William Teed, as a reputed member of the “Owen Madden gang.”[3] During the 1933 O'Connell kidnapping investigation, the Washington Times reported that detectives searched buildings previously used by the “Owney Madden gang to handle beer in pre-legal days.”[4]
Madden was also associated with Harlem nightlife, most famously the Cotton Club. These entertainment investments overlapped with the bootlegging organization but do not establish that every employee, performer or investor was a gang member.
George “Big Frenchy” Jeandemange
Madden's closest associate known as “Frenchy” was George Emile Jeandemange (1892–1939), whose surname was frequently shortened to Demange or DeMange. Later crime histories commonly describe Big Frenchy as Madden's second-in-command. A documentary reconstruction by crime historian Tom Hunt supports the more precise description of Jeandemange as Madden's close business partner and a reported enforcer and collector, while noting that records proving his ownership stake in the Cotton Club have not been found.[5] The formal title “second-in-command” is therefore best treated as a later characterization rather than a documented rank.
Jeandemange already had independent liquor connections before Madden left prison. He was indicted in 1922 in an illicit-liquor case involving Emanuel “Mannie” Kessler and suspended Prohibition agents. After Madden's release, Jeandemange reportedly partnered with him in several ventures. Vincent Coll's gang abducted Big Frenchy in June 1931; later accounts say Madden paid a substantial ransom for his release.[5] These facts place Frenchy near the center of Madden's network without reducing him to an otherwise undocumented formal office.
Decline
Madden was returned to prison as a parole violator in 1932 and released in 1933.[2] National Prohibition ended later that year, removing the organization's principal illicit market. Madden increasingly withdrew from New York and eventually settled in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Because the organization was informal, no single documented dissolution date survives; “mid-1930s” reflects the end of its identifiable New York bootlegging phase rather than a formal disbanding.
References
- ↑ “Gopher Gang Chief to Get Parole as Model Prisoner”, The New York Times, January 23, 1923.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 “New York's Capone Is Coming Home”, Brownsville Herald, July 6, 1933, p. 7.
- ↑ “Reputed Aide of Madden Seized”, The New York Times, October 29, 1932.
- ↑ “New York Searched”, The Washington Times, July 18, 1933, p. 7.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Tom Hunt, “More on Owney's Pal Jeandemange: ‘Big Frenchy’ Was a Memorable New York Gangland Figure”, MobHistory, May 9, 2025.