What can we say about George Remus? He was a young entrepreneur, a pharmacist, a lawyer, the so called king of the bootleggers, an accused murderer, an insane asylum patient... yeah, this guy was made for Stories of America.
George Remus came to Chicago as a young child with his parents around the turn of the 20th century. His father could not work, so a 14 year old George took a job at a local pharmacy. By age 19, he owned it. Before long, Remus tired of business and took up law.
By 1920, Remus had established himself as a pretty good criminal defense lawyer. 1920 is also the year Prohibition was implemented. George couldn't help but notice that many of his clients were getting very rich and fast. So, Remus moved to Cincinnati where many legal distilleries were still making alcohol for medicinal purpose. He used his pharmacist's license to buy legal alcohol and he was in business. A few associates "stormed" his warehouse, "stole" his alcohol, turned it into illegal Hooch, and sent it to the streets of Cincinnati. Did the get rich quick scheme work? Well, he threw a New Year's Eve party in 1922 for 100 of the most powerful couples in Cincinnati. Each husband left with a diamond watch. Each wife left with a new car.
As was the case with many bootleggers, Rumus eventually landed in jail. His wife couldn't wait for him and began dating a federal Prohibition agent of all people. Upon his release, Remus sought out his wife and promptly shot her. Not a problem for George Remus, he was a lawyer after all. He defended himself with a plea of temporary insanity. The jury did not want to send a Cincinnati legend to the clink for life, so they returned with an innocent verdict in just under 20 minutes. Remus' insanity plea did, however, land him in an insane asylum. Upon leaving the asylum, Remus moved to Kentucky and lived out the rest of his life without incident.
And oh yeah, the king of the bootleggers apparently didn't drink.
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