Quincy’s ‘Dark Side’ Exposed In New Book
A relatively new book is out about the activities that went on in the City of Quincy in the 1950s and 1960s. The book, called "River of Shame", was written by Maureen Hughes. It details life in Quincy including its gambling, liquor bootlegging, brothels as well as the prostitution not only in Quincy, but up and down the Mississippi River involving 10 states and Cuba.
All this activity seemed to be centered around a man called Ted Crowley who lived between 3rd and 4th on Vermont in Quincy. Crowley's relationship with James Earl Ray, the convicted killer of Martin Luther King Jr., is also exposed in River of Shame. Ray even called Crowley the Quincy Godfather.
According to information in a story written in the Herald Whig by Hal Oakley, the two men met when Ray frequented Crowley's bar known as the Gem Tavern on North 5th Street. So was Crowley involved in the King assassination? Was James Earl Ray 'programmed' to kill and take the fall in the assassination? So why did James Earl Ray and Ted Crowley go to Memphis? What did Crowley have to do with the country of Cuba?
There are lots of questions and "River of Shame" sheds some light on the possible answers.
About the Author:
Maureen Hughes is from Penfield, Illinois and also wrote the book The Countess And The Mob, a story about Chicago's Mob Activity and the John F. Kennedy assassination.