Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson (October 31, 1905 – July 7, 1968) was an American crime boss in the
Harlem neighborhood of
New York City.
Early life
Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson was born in
Charleston, South Carolina, on October 31, 1905, to Margaret Moultrie and William Johnson. When he was 10, his older brother Willie was accused of killing a white man. Afraid of a possible
lynch mob, his parents mortgaged their tiny home to raise money to send Willie up north to live with relatives.[1] Johnson's nickname "Bumpy" is derived from a bump on the back of his head.[2] As Johnson grew older, his parents worried about his short temper and insolence towards white people, and in 1919 he was sent to live with his older sister Mabel in
Harlem. Johnson dropped out of high school and began working in casual jobs. Gangster William Hewett noticed Johnson, who began working for him, beginning his life of crime.[3]
Career
Johnson was an associate of
numbers queen
Madame Stephanie St. Clair.[4] He became St. Clair's principal lieutenant in the 1930s. Johnson and St. Clair aimed to start a war against New York mob boss
Dutch Schultz. The fight resulted in more than 40 murders and several kidnappings. Eventually the fight on their end was lost, ending with a deal for Johnson.[5]
In 1952, Johnson's activities were reported in the celebrity people section of Jet.[6] That same year, Johnson was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a drug conspiracy conviction related to
heroin.[7][8] Two years later, Jet reported in its crime section that Johnson began his sentence after losing an
appeal.[9] He served the majority of that sentence at
Alcatraz Prison in
San Francisco Bay, California as inmate No. 1117, and was released in 1963 on parole.[10]
Johnson was arrested more than 40 times and served two prison terms for narcotics-related charges. In December 1965, Johnson staged a
sit-down strike in a police station, refusing to leave, as a protest against their continued surveillance. He was charged with "refusal to leave a police station" but was
acquitted by a judge.[11]
Death
Johnson was under a federal indictment for drug conspiracy when he died of a heart attack on July 7, 1968, at the age of 62. He was at Wells Restaurant in Harlem shortly before 2 a.m., and the waitress had just served him coffee, a chicken leg, and hominy grits, when he fell over clutching his chest.[1] He is buried in
Woodlawn Cemetery in The
Bronx, New York City.
Personal life
Bumpy Johnson married Mayme Hatcher in October 1948, six months after their first meeting.[12] Johnson had two daughters, Ruthie and Elease, the latter of whom was from another relationship. His wife died in May 2009 at the age of 94.[13]
In the 1972 film Come Back Charleston Blue, the title character is loosely based on Bumpy Johnson, a criminal who is looked upon as a positive role model among the people.[15]
In the 2018
Netflix documentary series Drug Lords, Johnson was featured in the third episode of the first season.
Television
In an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, it is reported that Johnson allegedly helped the
three escapees of
Alcatraz get to the shores of
San Francisco. It is said that he arranged for a boat to pick the three men up out of the bay. The boat then dropped the escapees off at Pier 13 in San Francisco's
Hunters Point District.[19]
In the second episode of the third season of
HBO's The Wire, "
All Due Respect", Bumpy is mentioned just before Tree (dealer for
Cheese Wagstaff) kills Jelly over a dog fight in which Cheese's dog lost. Three low-level gangsters discuss an incident when Bumpy allegedly attacked a police station single-handedly. This is expanded upon in
Richard Price's audio commentary for that episode.
John Howard Johnson. Fact not fiction in Harlem (1980 ed.). Northern Type Printing, Inc. p. 119.
ASINB00072X07G.
Mayme Hatcher Johnson (2008). Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (when ed.). Oshun Publishing Company, Inc.; First edition (February 29, 2008). p. 248.
ISBN978-0-9676028-3-7.