Thread by @soychicka

I'll just leave this here to serve as a reminder:

In 1929, there was a shooting in Aurora, IL that served as the tipping point in changing the national debate around law enforcement and ending prohibition.

chicagotribune.com/news/ct-per-fl…

The treatment of this story in Daniel @okrent's book Last Call: The Rise & Fall of Prohibition gives an enlightening look at how that incident led to change, and inspiration for how a gun violence tragedy in the midwest can spur change nationwide.

books.google.com/books?id=MJbBq…

I'd heard the story, but never knew the name of the family targeted in this raid before reading the book above... The house I grew up in was on land that, during prohibition, was home to a campground & bootleg distillery near Aurora.

In fact, my parents' TV antenna is mounted on a long pipe scavenged from the ruins of the still. But that point aside - the family who owned the bootleg operation was named King. They were from Aurora, IL.

So you have the Kings of Aurora, bootlegging in Yorkville... and you have DeKing of Aurora being raided under suspicion of bootlegging.

When I realized this, I did quite a bit of research at the local public library, looking at land plat maps, property ownership records...

So, IMO, it's quite probable that the DeKing raid that ended prohibition was a case of mistaken identity.

And the fun full-circle bit - I learned a lot about the land and property owners who came later through that research.

Property owners that included the previously highest ranking serial child sexual predator in the US government, Dennis Hastert, his friend Tom Tanner...

And now, apparently a member of the DeVos family and someone who seems to be a relative of Ohio Rep. Troy Balderson.

And it's particularly interesting to see who acquired which properties, and which vacant properties are being kept off the market, apparently being tax-exempt.

Hint - two lots of particular interest have been scrubbed from the Kendall County assessors' publication since the Hastert trial, but have not been on the market, and have not been reassigned new plot numbers.

Two vacant riverfront properties, valued at a mere $94 each.

Weird, huh? Almost like somebody wanted to make them disappear.

I wonder why.

And if anybody is in the market for some wooded riverfront property with an interesting pedigree, please let me know. I'd be curious if the owner is willing to sell.

Also, random aside, but if anyone knows Katharine DeKing Johnson, I'd be interested in chatting with her about a few things.