Joseph Linsey Explained

Joseph Maurice Linsey (born Linsky;^[1] May 27, 1899 – November 24, 1994) was an American bootlegger in Boston during the Prohibition era associated with Joseph Kennedy and Meyer Lansky. He later became a prominent businessman and philanthropist, specifically making contributions to Brandeis University. In 1960, he was the national chairman of the Brandeis Athletic Associations.^{[2] [3]}

Biography

Linsey was born in Grodno, Russian Empire (now Belarus)^[1] to Jewish parents Abraham Linsky and Sarah Slotnick and immigrated with his family to Boston at age 1.^[2] After his father died of tuberculosis in 1908,^[4] his mother remarried grocer Joseph Ackner.^[5] He went to work at the age of 9 delivering groceries and later became apprenticed as a meatcutter. He became a U.S. citizen at age 19 and adopted the name Linsey.^[1]

At the start of Prohibition, the 21-year-old Linsey began bootlegging illegal liquor with Charles "King" Solomon from a front business, the National Realty Company. He also bought Canadian liquor from the Bronfmans and, although serving a year^[2] for violations of the Volstead Act,^[6] he was acquitted from his two later indictments on similar charges. He was alleged by Vinnie Teresa to have been involved in wholesale gambling in the time after the Prohibition era.

He married model Thelma Ray in 1969. He died of heart failure at Boston's Faulkner Hospital in 1994, aged 95.^[2]

References

• Ex‐Head of Schenley Industries Is Linked to Crime ‘Consortium’ The New York Times February 19, 1971 https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/19/archives/exhead-of-schenley-industries-is-linked-to-crime-consortium.html?_r=0
• Hartford Judge Backs Newspaper The New York Times March 23, 1973 https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/21/archives/hartford-judge-backs-newspaper-says-its-publisher-need-not-reveal.html
• Publisher Loses In Connecticut The New York Times May 18, 1975 https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/18/archives/publisher-loses-in-connecticut-expaper-owner-ordered-to-reveal.html
• Dollar Settles a $5 Million Connecticut Libel Suit The New York Times June 13, 1976 https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/13/archives/dollar-settles-a-5-million-connecticut-libel-suit.html

Further reading

• Etzkowitz, Henry and Peter Schwab. Is America Necessary?: Conservative, Liberal, & Socialist Perspectives of United States Political Institutions. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1976.
• Fox, Stephen. Blood and Power: Organized Crime in Twentieth-Century America. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1989.
• Fried, Albert. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980.
• Lacey, Robert. Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life. London: Century, 1991.
• Stein, Benjamin J. A License to Steal: The Untold Story of Michael Milken and the Conspiracy to Bilk the Nation. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
• Summers, Anthony. Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1993.
• Smith, Joseph History of The American Greyhound Derby: The Kentucky Derby of Greyhound Racing. Boston: Big Jackpot Betting, 2011.
• Temple, Robert The History of Greyhound Racing in New England. Boston: Xlibris Corp, 2010/

Notes and References

1. Massachusetts, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950
2. News: Long . Tom . Joseph Linsey, . 27 October 2023 . The Boston Globe . November 30, 1994 . 61.
3. News: Cost of Fielding Team Also Cited . Robert M. Lipsyte . May 17, 1960 . The New York Times . 47.
4. Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915
5. 1910 United States Federal Census
6. News: Rosenstiel Link to Crime Denied . Nicholas Gage . March 12, 1971 . The New York Times . 33 . Linsey and Fusco were both convicted of bootlegging.... Linsey and Fusco have been identified as agents of Meyer Lansky, the alleged underworld leader....>. https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/12/archives/rosenstiel-link-to-crime-denied-but-schenley-aide-concedes.html