Enoch L. Johnson
Atlantic County political leader, called "Nucky" in print and in Treasury transcripts. The 1942 and 1943 federal opinions affirming a "Johnson" tax-evasion conviction on Atlantic City numbers-game payments print only the surname; this page links them to him through Senate testimony and the 1941 Treasury diaries.
- Aliases
- Nucky Johnson, "Nockey" Johnson (Kefauver transcript spelling), "Nuck"
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 23 April 1924 — Ventnor News, page 31: an election column refers to the "Johnson Slate," the "Johnsonites" and "'Nucky' Johnson," and to "unrest and perturbation" in the Republican Party "about the leadership of Enoch L. Johnson." Opinion column.
- 9 January 1930 — Washington Times, page 1, summarizing a New York Evening Journal exposé, calls Capone the "feted guest of Enoch L. Johnson, Republican boss of New Jersey." A newspaper's allegation; not tested in any record filed here.
- 1935–1937 — United States v. Johnson, 129 F.2d 954 (1942), court's account of the evidence: Atlantic City numbers banks paid "the appellant" $825 a week for about the first six months of 1935, and a syndicate formed about July 1935 "paid Johnson $1,200 a week" through at least October 1937. He testified the money maintained "his personal political machine." The opinion gives only the surname.
- 30 April 1941 — Morgenthau Diaries, vol. 393: Treasury general counsel Foley reports that two circuit judges will "hold a special criminal panel on the Nucky Johnson cases." Officials' remarks in a meeting.
- 11 July 1941 — Morgenthau Diaries, vol. 420: Francis Biddle tells Morgenthau, "We're going to try Nucky Johnson on Monday," and asks for Internal Revenue intelligence agents to examine the jury panel after "new evidence of tampering."
- November 1941 — Morgenthau Diaries, vol. 457: Foley says "The Nucky Johnson case could be appealed too," and Schwarz says "It is a conviction."
- 30 June 1942 — 129 F.2d 954: the Third Circuit affirms the conviction for 1936 and 1937 (acquittal for 1935) of an appellant described as "a political leader in Atlantic County, New Jersey, residing in Atlantic City," who "testified that he had occupied the position of county treasurer for many years."
- 15 February 1943 — Johnson v. United States, 318 U.S. 189: the Supreme Court affirms, describing the petitioner as "a political leader in Atlantic City and Atlantic County, New Jersey."
- 6 July 1951 — Kefauver Committee, Part 18, p. 94: asked who headed the Atlantic County Republican organization "in the early thirties," Herman Orman answers "Enoch L. Johnson" and agrees he was "Otherwise known as 'Nockey' Johnson." Testimony.
- 17 July 1951 — Kefauver Committee, Part 18, p. 377: James H. Boyd says he was "in politics with Enoch Johnson" and that "He was the county treasurer" when Boyd began work in the county offices. Testimony.
The two federal opinions on the Atlantic City numbers-protection tax case name the defendant only as “Johnson.” They describe him as a political leader in Atlantic County who lived in Atlantic City and had long been county treasurer. This archive identifies him with Enoch L. Johnson because of three other kinds of record: Kefauver Committee testimony in 1951 that Enoch L. Johnson headed the county Republican organization in the early 1930s, was “otherwise known as ‘Nockey’ Johnson,” and had been county treasurer; the Treasury Secretary’s 1941 transcripts about “the Nucky Johnson cases” before a special panel that included Judge Biggs, who wrote the 1942 opinion; and a 1924 Atlantic County column that uses both “Nucky” Johnson and Enoch L. Johnson. None of these records states the identification in so many words, and the case pages say so.
No family or role is given. The records describe a political position, and the 1930 newspaper’s phrase “Republican boss of New Jersey” is a newspaper’s allegation. No opened record gives his birth or death, the verdict date, his sentence or his release. A 1942 magazine article bound into a later Morgenthau diary volume was not used, because its rights have not been checked.
Records
itemTestimony of Herman Orman, Atlantic City, July 6, 1951 (Kefauver Committee, Part 18, pp. 78–94)Asked who headed the Republican organization in Atlantic County in the early 1930s, an Atlantic City witness answers "Enoch L. Johnson," agrees he was "otherwise known as 'Nockey' Johnson," and calls him a friend.
itemTestimony of James H. Boyd, clerk of the Atlantic County Board of Freeholders, July 17, 1951 (Kefauver Committee, Part 18, p. 377)A county official tells the Kefauver Committee that he was "in politics with Enoch Johnson" and that Johnson "was the county treasurer" when he began working in the county offices some 22 or 23 years earlier.
itemMorgenthau Diaries, Volume 393: Treasury conference of April 30, 1941 on "the Nucky Johnson cases"In a Treasury staff conference, general counsel Edward Foley reports that two circuit judges have been sent into New Jersey to hold "a special criminal panel on the Nucky Johnson cases," and Herbert Gaston says Nucky "really thought that they just couldn't get him."
itemMorgenthau Diaries, Volume 400: Treasury conference of May 1941 ("The Nucky Johnson case will be the last one")In a May 1941 Treasury conference, an aide reports Commissioner Helvering's view that letters in the Friedman case should wait, adding "The Nucky Johnson case will be the last one"; Foley agrees it is "the last one of the cases."
itemMorgenthau Diaries, Volume 420: telephone calls of July 11, 1941 ("We're going to try Nucky Johnson on Monday")Francis Biddle tells Secretary Morgenthau by telephone that "We're going to try Nucky Johnson on Monday," reports "new evidence of tampering," and asks for Internal Revenue intelligence agents to examine the jury panel.
itemMorgenthau Diaries, Volume 457: Treasury conference of November 1941 on publicity for the "Nucky Johnson material"In a November 1941 Treasury conference, an aide reports that Reader's Digest has advanced $1,000 to a writer on "that Nucky Johnson material," and Foley notes that the Johnson case "could be appealed too."
itemMorgenthau Diaries, Volume 469: Treasury memorandum of December 4, 1941 on a book about "the Nucky Johnson case"A Treasury inter-office memorandum lists writers volunteering for the Defense Savings campaign, including a note that Reader's Digest advanced $1,000 to Jack Alexander for a piece that "may later be printed as a book on the Nucky Johnson case."itemUnited States v. Johnson, 129 F.2d 954 (3d Cir. 1942)The Third Circuit affirms the income-tax conviction of an Atlantic County political leader named only as Johnson, reciting evidence that Atlantic City numbers banks paid him $825 a week in early 1935 and a pooled syndicate $1,200 a week from July 1935.itemJohnson v. United States, 318 U.S. 189 (1943)The Supreme Court affirms the tax-evasion conviction of "a political leader in Atlantic City and Atlantic County, New Jersey," holding that his objection to the prosecutor's comment on his claim of privilege had been waived at trial.
clippingVentnor News, 23 April 1924, page 31: a political column on the Atlantic City commission race and the "Johnson Slate"The continuation of an unsigned election column in a Ventnor City weekly, weighing the 1924 Atlantic City commission candidates, the "Johnson Slate" and the "Johnsonites," and speaking of "unrest" in the Republican Party "about the leadership of Enoch L. Johnson."
clippingWashington Times, 9 January 1930, page 1: "Judge's Kin Is Capone Aide"A New York-datelined front-page story summarizing a New York Evening Journal exposé of "corruption of officials in the Atlantic City district," which calls Capone the "feted guest of Enoch L. Johnson, Republican boss of New Jersey."