Bumpy Johnson

Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson, born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1905, became a leading crime boss in Harlem, New York City. His nickname came from a bump on the back of his head.

As a child, his family sent his older brother north after he was accused of killing a white man, fearing a lynching. Johnson himself was sent to live with his sister in Harlem in 1919 due to his short temper and insolence toward white people. He left high school, worked odd jobs, and was noticed by gangster William Hewett, for whom he began working.

Career

Johnson rose to become an enforcer and trusted associate for numbers queen Madame Stephanie St. Clair. During the 1930s, she waged a war with rival mob boss Dutch Schultz for control of Harlem’s rackets, resulting in over forty murders and several kidnappings. After St. Clair’s imprisonment, Johnson struck a deal with the Mafia following Schultz’s 1935 murder, building his own organization in exchange for favorable business deals.

He was arrested more than forty times and served two prison terms for narcotics charges. In 1952, he was sentenced to fifteen years for heroin conspiracy, serving most of it at Alcatraz as inmate No. 1117 until his parole in 1963. In 1965, he staged a sit-down strike at a Harlem police station to protest surveillance of Black neighborhoods, but was acquitted of refusing to leave.

Death

Johnson married Mayme Hatcher in 1948 and had two daughters, one from another relationship. He died of a heart attack in 1968 at Wells Restaurant in Harlem, shortly after being served coffee, chicken, and hominy grits. He was under federal indictment for drug conspiracy at the time. His character has appeared in films such as Shaft, The Cotton Club, Hoodlum, and American Gangster, and he is the main character of the television series Godfather of Harlem.