Morgue File: Tom Pendergast

This week: The trial of Tom Pendergast, the party boss who essentially ran Kansas City during the Great Depression. In May 1939, he pleaded guilty to income-tax evasion and received a sentence of 15 months in prison, plus five years probation. (The tax evaded, plus fines? About $830,000, according to David McCullough's book about Truman.) The next year, the "clean sweep" reform movement would overrun his political machine.

And for the road, here's a quote from Pendergast's last interview with a St. Louis paper, given after he got out of Leavenworth. (Found this in the Star's book "Kansas City: An American Story.")

"I've done a lot for Kansas City -- for the poor. I've done more than all the big shots and bankers ... Put this down: I've never broken my word to any living human being I gave it to. That is the key to success in politics."

Within five years of leaving jail, Pendergast would die at age 72.

Comments

[monty]

The Clintons should have taken a page out of Boss Toms playbook. If you are corrupt and plan to stay that way you've got to help and not condescend to the people.

[kayceewolf]

Fascinating stuff on Pendergast. I only knew the rudiments about him until I read McCullough's biography of Truman.

Pendergast, Louisiana's Huey Long, Chicago's Richard Daly and their ilk all seem to be cut from the same populist cloth. They may have created jobs and their own versions of public works projects (like Pendergast "paving" Brush Creek with concrete) but they did so more for consolidating their own power instead of out of concern for their constituents.

Interesting story ... for years my father had an antique shop in southern Missouri. One of the biggest items we ever had was an oak back-bar that came out of a basement of a big house in Northeast KC. According to the owner, thouse house was at one time used as a speak-easy by Pendergast during Prohibition. I wish we had kept it instead of selling it because I would have loved to contact the people at the PBS show The History Detectives to see if they could verify it.

[blondie2hot7]

The image quality's not the best--James

I had to comment on your comment James, at least it's better then those pics of Hogzilla, the pictures have more "clarity" and they're how old??????

I don't know much about Pendergrast, but I'm certainly going to read the story.

[ClayPlatte]

My Aunt Ruth used to tell stories about how many times she voted in the city elections. My Uncle Ed would drive her to each polling place. She would walk in and vote. Then go back to the car, change hats, go back in and vote again. She said it was very common.

Another story. My cousin, Bill Wasson's father (I don't remember his first name) is mentioned in the McCullough's book 'Truman'. He owned an upholstery business close to the old Greenlease Cadillac dealership. My cousin had re-upholstered Truman's car and personally delivered the vehicle to his office in the Jackson County Courthouse, downtown. He told Truman that he would not charge for the upholstery job if he could get some business re-upholstering the cars for the county. "I don't do business that way, son.", Truman replied.

My cousin then personally delivered Mr. Pendergast's vehicle to him and made him the same offer for the city vehicles. Mr. Pendergast made a phone call and my cousin was immediately awarded the contract to re-upholster the city owned vehicles.
I don't have McCullough's book anymore as it was lost in a move. The details of the story might be off. If anyone has the book, they can look it up in the index under 'Wasson'.

I remember going to my cousin Bill's upholstery business as a kid. We used to get the best scissors from him. Very sharp. They would cut anything. I believe he closed it down in the late '70s.

[The Zipper]

Boss Tom sure coulda helped Bush and his Texas henchman. He mighta told em, "take a little but leave a little gravy". When I think of Bush, Cheney and their black greasy bags it makes me feel sad and ashamed

[JTW]

Just another crooked politician, as 105 out of 100 are.

[R Thomson]

I was in grade school at Visitation School when Tom had a furnial mass at the church. Harry Truman was at the furnial and came to the school and when to every classroom talked to each of us children. I was in the 3th grade at that time. Harry was Vice President.

[Byron]

Boss Tom did more for KC than anyone else in the 20th century. Look around and some of the streets and roads in Jackson County were a result of his REDI-MIX CONCRETE..

[Byron]

Boss Tom did more for KC than anyone else in the 20th century. Look around and some of the streets and roads in Jackson County were a result of his REDI-MIX CONCRETE..

[pat brewster]

In the 2nd picture in the courtroom with Pendergast on the left, the next man to his right is RR Brewster,attorney,added to the defense team for the sentencing phase because Judge Otis was a Republican. The sentencing was thought to be very lenient, and after the newspapers strongly criticized Judge Otis, he resentenced Tom Pendergast to a longer prison term, but that was appealed and the ruling was that once sentenced, the Judge couldn't redo it. Our father, who practiced with RR, said Tom Pendergast had a magnetic personality and was a very good man for Kansas City and the poor, but gambling on horse racing, where he lost a lot of money, did him in.

[KC Brougham]

When I was a kid, the old farm folks would tell me that they used to feel safe coming into town when "Ol Tom" was around, but now (1960s), not so much.

[Not Michaelangelo]

There's a rather amazing statue of Boss Tom in the park across the street from the River Club on the Quality Hill bluff overlooking the Downtown Airport. It's off away from the circular drive to the South about 200 feet. It has big Tom sitting on a freaking THRONE with CHERUBS at his feet. It's the most paradoxical memorial I've seen, since the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, South Africa that commemorates the "bounty" that the white Afrikaaner brought to that country.

The flowery inscription is also highly ironic for a strong arm mob boss, but what the heck, it WAS KC's heyday.

[Mot Michaelangelo]

Oh, and the statue USED to overlook the entire West Bottoms from his perch, but now the trees have grown and Tom sits staring at a thicket of trees, off in the corner of the little park, facing away from the street and so close to the trees as to seem as if he's sitting in a corner all by himself, like a little chastened child. It's a lonely little spot surrounded by the homeless, and very weird if one knows who the statue is for.

Especially the loving inscription for the "great man".

Larry Moore lives in his house.

[big wheelie]

That statue is actually Tom's brother Jim Pendergast, he ran the machine before Tom and didn't get caught.

[Not Michaelangelo]

Really, thanks for the correction, I'll have to go back and see it again.

So then, if Tommy did such great things for KC where's HIS statue?

I guess "getting caught" is the key to having statuary in KC...

Tom's "Statue" could be KC's city hall of Ready-Mix concrete.

[Sandy Walker]

My mom loved Tom. When she was down and out he helped. When our family was freezing, he sent a load of coal. That earned him the votes for whoever he said was good for the job. No one else was helping and there was no one to turn to. Deeds speak louder than words.

[KC Brougham]

There were 85 operarting jazz clubs within a 6 square mile area of KC in 1935.

What do have now?

[KC Brougham]

"My mom loved Tom. "

Interesting story, Sandy, thanks. A lot of people loved "Ol Tom". He did make the city safe to visit live in. There weren't all those drivebys and things going on like Chicago. You could run your scam but you just HAD to be cool.

Millions of dollars were made in KC while the rest of the country was reeling from the Depression.

[Tom Comeau]

Another book worthwhile to those who are interested is Tom's Town. I do not remember the author.

[KC Brougham]

Tom's Town: Kansas City and the Pendergast Legend (Paperback) by William M. Reddig

$29.95

[KC Brougham]

Pendergast! (Missouri Biography Series) (Hardcover)
by Lawrence H. Larsen (Author), Nancy J. Hulston (Author)

$34.95

[KC Brougham]

By 39 the recovery from the Depression was well under way, so basically they were glad to have Tom when times were bad to keep the cash flowing, but as soon as times got better, he's outta there.

What neighborhood was Tom's house in? Valentine? Quality Hill?

[speakeasy]

There are two Pendergast houses in the Ward Parkway area, south of the Plaza. The first is a sand-colored brick house about a block east of Wornall on 54th St (I think), about a block east of Loose Park. The other, which he and his family moved to later, is on Ward Parkway on the northwest of Ward Parkway and 57th St. Needless to say, both are fairly solid, substantial houses and both are still is great shape.

[SUSAN MITCHELL]

Mr. Pendergast's granddaughter and I grew up together and have been best friends for as long as we've known each other. Although Mr. Pendergast died the year before we were born, his son-in law, W.E. Burnett and his daughter, Marceline Pendergat Burnett told us of some of the wonderful, charitable acts Mr. Pendergast performed. The one story that so impressed me was the one I heard from
Bill Burnett, his son-in-law.

One day they were driving down the street when Tom saw a woman sitting on a curb surrounded by children and household goods. Mr. Pendergast stopped the car, asked as to the problem and found that the woman had bee evicted. He then paid her arrearages and had her put back in her house with instructions to come to him if she was ever unable to make her payments.
No one ever tells the good things!

[susan mitchell]

By the way, the home on Ward Pkwy was 5650.
I also find it unconscionable that so much is written without even an interview with his grandchildren who are older than Barbara (Burnett) and I, and knew him and the facts. So much of what is written is pure fiction, although it makes for a good story. He has three other grandchildren,living when he was alive, and maybe if anyone is interested in some truths might want to speak with someone who was family and not buy into the persons writing novels. Did you know that Corinth (83rd & Mission Rd.) was formerly horse property and one of Tom's horses is buried there? See, there are some really good stories that don't involve crime and graft.