River City History: Silent Silas

Image copyright Howard Chaykin.

During this time period, another name famous to River City history also appeared. Silas Fitzpatrick was an enterprising journalist that returned to his childhood home in 1905 after studying journalism in New England. Alongside his wife and two sons, he took over a small newspaper, the River City Star. Infuriated by the fall the city took in the years since he left, he made it his goal to expose “Happy” Harry’s criminal enterprise to the light of day. Over a period of two years, he wrote multiple large scale pieces that exposed the corruption of “Happy” Harry’s regime.

Murphy did not take kindly to a small time journalist interfering with his business. He sent a squad of his best Rippers to end Fitzpatrick’s crusade. They attacked the Fitzpatricks in their home. Murphy awoke just as his wife’s throat was cut by the silent killers. His own throat slashed, he fought off the intruders before plummeting into the nearby river. The killers reported the entire family dead, but Silas survived after being fished out of the water by a local veterinarian, Kazuki Koga. Dr. Koga kept Silas alive, but along with his family, Silas also lost his voice.

Silas used his disappearance to reframe his battle with “Happy” Harry. He would use his past training as an Army scout and martial arts training from Koga to become a different kind of thorn in “Happy” Harry’s side, attacking and destroying many of Harry’s criminal plots. He initially operated under Benjamin Franklin’s pseudonym, Silence Dogood, but upon the discovery of his identity by young society reporter Meredith Mann, he became known as Silent Silas.

River City History: The dawn of the twentieth century

As the twentieth century dawned in River City, the city’s main income turned from industrial endeavors to gambling. The city became a hub of riverboat gambling on the Mississippi. While many former factory workers went to work on the boats, many others went to work as enforcers for the growing criminal enterprises in the city.

Meanwhile, thousands of Irish workers that came to the city for factory work were without jobs. Many turned to criminal pursuits to get by. Several gangs formed by in a matter of months, they were mostly united under the guise of the Murphy Mob, headed by the notorious “Happy” Harry Murphy.

Due to a near death experience in his mid-teens, “Happy” Harry’s face was locked in to an eternal grin, despite his reputation as a cold-blooded killer. “Happy” Harry became de facto leader of the city from the late 1890s well into the 1910s, lording over a series of hand-selected (and often illegally elected) mayors.

Harry would soon rule over gambling, prostitution, opium and marijuana dealing as well as a major protection racket across the Irish blocks of the city. His enforcers, the Rippers, would become known for their use of blades over all else. They would often use “Happy” Harry’s favorite means of dispatching his foes: a slit throat.