PERFORMED BY: Philip Tomczak
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| Special Agent Marvin M. Cordingley of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, above, was the man who arrested the Brewmaster,Throkmorton Q. Gildersleeves, in 1929. Some called the Brewer haughty and cocky for ignoring the new Constitutional amendment prohibiting the production or sale of alcohol. In fact, Gildersleeves did not change his business in any way. This made it relatively easy for Agent Cordingley to locate and apprehend the Brewmaster. It was a dark day in the Gildersleeves Family Annals.Tragically, Agent Cordingley would perish shortly after the arrest, in a freak accident involving a jackhammer and pinking shears. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| PROHIBITION!!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In 1929, the Feds finally got around to focusing on the obscure city of Tonawanda, New York. After about three days of investigations, the FBI raided Gildersleeves Brewery, shutting down production, spilling dozens of barrels into the streets, and arresting eight, including the Brewmaster. This began a trying period in his life, as he was to spend the next six months at Auburn State Prison. While incarcerated, Gildersleeves befriended Edwin Whataduh, a bootlegger from Binghamton, New York. The friendship would last only until Gildersleeves release, as Whataduh, tragically, met his end when another inmate fractured his skull with a cast-iron toilet plunger. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The ever-diligent Chief Horace T. O'Clancy , Tonawanda Police Department, takes another call during the busy days of Prohibition. His intimate knowledge of the daily happenings at the brewery, as well as the locations, operating hours and menus of the local speakeasies, proved an invaluable aid to Agent Cordingley and his men. Chief O'Clancy would later be arrested for frequenting those same illegal saloons. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| At left is an actual photo taken during the dramatic raid on the Gildersleeves Brewery. The Tonawanda Police teamed up with the FBI to shut down the brewhouse and it's adjacent bottling barn. Many employees were arrested. The Brewmaster would later describe the event as being "the happiest day of my life!" It is assumed that he was delirious, and had actually meant "the UNhappiest day of my life." The police were brutally efficient. Note the hand saw and the wooden stick. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It was Gildersleeves' darkest hour. The new decade of the 1930s brought chaos. In the wake of that chaos would come disorder, then confusion, followed by a sense of ominous optimism, and finally, more chaos. The Thirties would be cruel to the Brewmaster and his flock. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Click here for more Pain . . . | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Back to the History Page | |
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| Gildersleeves Home | Brewery Home | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MUSIC CREDIT: Nocturne in E minor by Frederic Chopin PERFORMED BY: Philip Tomczak |
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