FIND A GRAVE: Stephanie “Madame Queen” St. Clair

Birth: 1886, Martinique
Death: 1969
Harlem
New York County (Manhattan)
New York, USA
Madame Queen was a female gang leader who ran numerous criminal enterprises in Harlem, New York during the 1920’s & 30’s. Born in Martinique, an island in the East Caribbean in 1886, she arrived in the United States via Marseilles, France in 1912. Along with her chief enforcer Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson, she took on Dutch Schultz for control of the Harlem numbers racket. When Shultz was shot & mortally wounded in 1935, Madame Queen sent a telegram to his hospital bed which read, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” The incident made headlines across the nation. By the 1940s, “Bumpy” Johnson had took control in Harlem and St. Clair became less involved in the numbers game. She died quietly in Harlem in 1969. She was portrayed by Novella Nelson in the 1984 film “Cotton Club” & by Cicely Tyson in the 1997 film “Hoodlum”.  (bio by: Terrance Crooms)

Burial:
Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum
Manhattan
New York County (Manhattan)
New York, USA
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Terrance Crooms
Record added: Aug 26, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 96066386
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Author: brandycavalli

Today's post was by Brandy "Bee" Cavalli. Brandy is an international marketer, freelance writer based in Atlanta, GA.

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