Tony Renzoni - Connecticut Bootlegger Queen Nellie Green

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2021 by Anthony Renzoni

All rights reserved

Unless otherwise noted, all images are from the collection of Charlene Green Massey, the great-granddaughter of Nellie Green.

First published 2021

E-Book edition 2021

ISBN 978.1.43967.225.9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020951988

Print Edition ISBN 978.1.46714.793.4

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

This book is lovingly dedicated to the family of Nellie Green Talmadge.

FOREWORD

As the great-granddaughter of Nellie Green, it is a privilege and honor for me to write the foreword for Tony Renzonis wonderful book on Nellie titled Connecticut Bootlegger Queen Nellie Green.

I am proud of the legacy she has left usa legacy of kindness, generosity, humanity, courage, honesty and integrity. And yes, Nellie has passed down to her family, including me, her lifelong principles of hard work and fearlessness.

A devoted daughter, wife, and grandmother, Nellie made it known to all that, in her mind, family always came first. Her unconditional love for her family was never so evident than in the steadfast love and devotion shown to her polio-stricken son Charlie. His illness and death had a profound effect on Nellie. She invested a great deal of time and depleted her hard-earned money to care for her son. And yet she would have it no other way. This was a life lesson for our entire family.

Early on, Nellie became a living legend in Connecticut. Her courageous acts touched the lives of so many people in the Connecticut area. People from East Haven and Branford never forgot her selfless acts of courage in saving so many people from drowning in the Farm River.

Once Prohibition took place, Nellie conducted her bootlegging operation in an open, forthright and honest manner. There was mutual love between Nellie and the people of East Haven. She earned their respect and cooperation as the proprietor of the Hotel Talmadge. In fact, many of her neighbors were her most frequent customers at the hotel.

Nellie was a very independent woman who possessed an astute business sense. She had a perceptive instinct about people and was tough toward individuals who did not have her best interest at heart. Her toughness helped her to hold her own in the male-dominated world that existed at that time.

I am very proud of my great-grandmothers accomplishments and the sense of love and devotion she has passed down to my entire family.

I wish to thank Tony Renzoni for his thorough research. I highly recommend this book and his tribute to a remarkable personmy great-grandmother Nellie Green.

Charlene Green Massey,
great-granddaughter of Nellie Green

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am very appreciative to all the people who have shared their knowledge, provided valuable insight and, above all, offered great support to me and this endeavor. Grateful acknowledgements to Charles W.G. Talmadge III, Colleen Renzoni, Dr. Kerry Renzoni, Dan Mancinone, Karen Mancinone, Mary Blacker, Bruce Loman, Alice and Don Schwartz, Anne Killheffer, Bob Cullum, Elizabeth Clemens, Jane Bouley, Jenna Anthony, Mary Winter, Maryalice Hoogland, Molly Banes, Pam Graham Dolin, Peter Cameron, Rhoda Winik and the U.S. Coast Guard. A special thank-you to Charlene Green Massey for providing many of the photos in this book. And a big thank-you to Karen Mancinone for her assistance with some of the photos. Finally, I wish to thank my book publisher (Arcadia Publishing/The History Press) and, of course, editors Abigail Fleming and Mike Kinsella for all their wonderful guidance and support during this entire book process.

INTRODUCTION

Before I knew it, I was makin more money than I knew what to do with. It was then I realized that good ole Honorable Andrew J. Volstead was the goose that was laying the golden eggs, and I had no intention of interfurin with that!

Nellie Green, legendary Connecticut bootlegger

At a very early age, Nellie Green was very much influenced by her fathers words that morality cannot be legislated. This applied to gambling on roosters, prizefights and horses. And when she was forty-seven years old, it applied to bootlegging liquor.

Nellie was a prominent and successful bootlegger who received a great deal of cooperation and support from many people throughout the Connecticut area. These are people who witnessed firsthand Nellies kindness, generosity and courage. They were also very much aware of the fact that Nellie had risked her own life in saving over twenty people who faced certain death from drowning in the frequently violent Farm River where Nellies hotel was located.

In an age when women were often marginalized, Nellie fearlessly stood up to all those who tried to stand in her way. Like other noted female bootleggers such as Cleo Lythgoe and Willie Carter Sharpe, Nellie was an independent woman who conducted her activities in a fearless, no-nonsense manner and with a keen business sense.

Financial backing for her bootlegging operation came from bankers, merchants, politicians and even prominent members of local and state law enforcement. Together with the unwavering and resolute support from her many loyal customers, Nellie built a lucrative bootlegging empire.

Nellie Green was very much aware that her bootlegging activities were in opposition to the national Prohibition Act. But, much like the famed rumrunner Bill McCoy, Nellie conducted herself, and her business, in an honorable and decent manner.

Nellies main bootlegging establishment was the Hotel Talmadge. However, she also operated the Dyke House Inn, the Driftwood and the Number 1 House. These establishments were all located on her vast premises in East Haven, Connecticut. And all four places were used at one time or another to serve the growing demand for alcoholic beverages during the Prohibition era.

Nellies rumrunners were fearless, mysterious men who assumed aliases such as Blackie, Wing and King Tut. They were men of intrigue, and their compelling exploits are also detailed in this book. Her nine rumrunner boats were so fast that they easily outran the best Coast Guard cutters that were available at the time. All of this earned Nellie Green the title of the Queen of the Fastest Rumrunners on the East Coast.

One of the greatest research gifts that an author can receive, especially when the books central figure passed away long before the book is written, is to have access to material written in the central figures own words. For me, this gift comes in the form of Nellie Greens personal written accounts. I was very fortunate to receive permission from Nellie Greens great-granddaughter Charlene Massey and her family to include in this book as many excerpts from Nellies written accounts as I felt were needed. For this I am very grateful.