HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — It was a sad, solemn day in Hot Springs. In late April 1965, there was the funeral for Owen Vincent Madden and over 200 people were there.
Over 200 people attended, including Arkansas State Senator Q. Byrum Hurst. Hurst delivered a 20 minute eulogy in which he said, "There is no ballpark named after Owen Madden, no silver cup bearing his name, but his name is written upon the hearts of all the people he helped. With money, by deed, and by word of encouragement in their dark hours."
After hearing those words, you wouldn't suspect that Madden was a convicted killer.
"Owen Vincent Madden is probably the least known mob type character in the world," said Robert Raines.
Robert Raines knows Madden and knows his story well. He owns The Gangster Museum of America.
"In my studies, Madden was the father of organized crime," Raines explained as he stood in front of a portrait of Al Capone.
Madden moved from Leeds, England to New York City's Hell's Kitchen area as a young man.
"He ended up controlling New York -- the politicians, the police, the money," he said.
But, he couldn't control his temper. He was nicknamed "Killer" because he reportedly killed six people. He spent nine years in Sing Sing Prison for murder and tax evasion.
When he got out of prison in 1923, he wanted to go back to New York, but then something happened that changed his and Hot Springs' history forever.
"Historians considered that he was exiled from New York," he said.
Prohibition ended and Madden needed a place to recover from old wounds, so he moved to Hot Springs.
Legend has it, he passed through with a fellow gangster and fell in love with the area in more ways than one.
"And some say that he met Agnes, his future wife, here in Hot Springs," Raines said.
He would never leave, spending over 30 years in the spa city.
Fred Mark Palmer was a little boy and remembers meeting Madden.
"He was a nice little guy. He cussed a little bit and he smoked Palm Mall cigarettes all the time," Palmer explained.
He became a business man... sort of.
"The bookies had to subscribe to a wire service to get sporting results," Palmer said. "And he owned the Southern Club."
Madden ran the wire service and city fathers looked the other way as patrons gambled right out in the open. Although it was illegal, it allowed Madden to become comfortable in Hot Springs.
The home Madden lived in with Agnes is still there. Despite the gambling, the bookmaking, and entertaining visiting gangsters, it was from here he became a model citizen.
"He helped build a Boys Club here, gave a lot of money to churches, and he got real generous to people around Christmas time," Palmer explained. "People down on their luck, you know, he'd help them out."
He would give you the shirt off his back, which by the way, is archived at the Arkansas Department of Heritage.
"I just think the town does have some transformative powers. I think Madden totally changed his character," Raines said.
"It helped him get over some of them hard, bad memories he had when he was shot in New York and went through all the troubles he went through up there," Palmer said. "Down here, people liked him."
To learn more about Owney Madden, you can visit the gangster museum in downtown Hot Springs. Click here for more information.