Paul Powell: The Illinois Democrat Who Died With $800,000 In His Shoebox

Paul Powell: The Illinois Democrat Who Died With $800,000 In His Shoebox

OK, OK, there was really more than just one shoebox. I'll let Seth explain:

Paul Powell was born in Vienna, Illinois on January 21, 1902. He was a big wheel in the Illinois Democratic Party since WWII. Eventually, he became Illinois Secretary of State during the same year I was born, 1965. In 1966, his office was investigated for corruption; he was exonerated, but his chief investigator was indicted for theft of state funds. He was still in office when he died in Rochester, Minnesota on October 10, 1970. Shortly thereafter, a shoebox full of money was found in his room at the St. Nicholas Hotel here in Springfield—the infamous cache.

The famous Paul Powell shoebox was actually more than one box, and not all were shoeboxes. There were also metal boxes, briefcases, and envelopes. This treasure trove—roughly $800,000 in cash—was discovered two days after he died, when Powell's staff and his estate executor gathered his belongings from the hotel room and storage area. The other, less famous findings included 49 cases of whiskey, 14 transistor radios, and two cases of creamed corn. This guy was prepared; for what, I don't know.

Outrage? Hardly. An excerpt from The Southern Illinoisan:

"We just assume politics is corrupt and a little bit of corruption is the cost of doing business," said Kent Redfield, a political scientist at the University of Illinois at Springfield. That was certainly the attitude toward former Secretary of State Paul Powell, owner of the mysterious cash-stuffed shoeboxes.

"Paul did a lot of good things for southern Illinois, including helping to build the university I work at," said Mike Lawrence, the director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

So when those shoeboxes were found in Powell's home when he died in 1970, it raised some eyebrows but not much ire. "People were surprised about the amount of money," Lawrence said of the cache that neither Powell nor anyone else ever explained. "But there was sort of a sense if he gave us our share, what's wrong with him getting his share."

Paul Powell of Illinois: A Lifelong Democrat

Robert E. Hartley has written a book on this caricature of Illinois politics, published by the Southern Illinois University Press:

Powell never earned a state salary of more than $30,000 per year, yet in the last year of his life, his federal income tax return showed an income of more than $200,000. At his death his estate totaled $3.2 million, and, when settled in 1978, was worth $4.6 million, including nearly $1 million in racetrack stock.

My hometown of Belvidere, Illinois was heavily Republican (the newspaper was named the Belvidere Daily Republican) yet a number of folks would vote every election for Paul Powell for Illinois Secretary of State. They knew he was corrupt and wanted him in office when he was finally found out (obviously, he never was). I got my first drivers license in 1970 and I still remember my father making out the check to . . . well, let me make this a quiz:

• Illinois Drivers License Bureau
• Illinois Secretary of State's Office
• Illinois Secretary of State Paul Powell
• Paul Powell

That's right: "Paul Powell". Now are you surprised he ended up with $800,000 in those shoeboxes?

Comments

[John Heinz]

Was Paul Powell the first "Chief Illinwek?"

[Linda Hackett]

In the winter of 1968-1969 I bought a 1949 Ford pick-up truck from Tom Silva, Montecello, Illinois. It was my very first vehicle and I thought it was a lucky truck because it was made the year I was born.

I was a newly married Californian living in Rantoul with my Air Force husband. I spent $50.00 for the truck, alot of money!

I called a taxi then asked the cabbie where to go to register my truck. He said "You just go over to Paul Powell's." Like it was somebody's house or something. "Oh no, It's the Secretary of State's office, Paul Powell is the Secretary of State. Paul Powell's is in Champagne."

He dropped me off in front of of building with a big "Paul Powell" sign blazing accross its front. No Department of Motor Vehicles sign or Illinois State sign or any other sign just "Paul Powell" singular, alone on the sign.

I stood in line garbed in my hot pink winter coat and matching hot pink sling back shoes. A navy mini dress with hot pink along the sleeves and hemline completed the picture of a dumb blonde Californian without a clue as how things worked in Illinois.

When the clerk asked me to "Please make your check out to Paul Powell."

I replied with alarm "I'm not making my check out to some guy."

The clerk looked at me like I was nuts. "It will be just fine." she said soothingly, "See, all the checks and money get filed with the receipts."

She pointed me over to where other clerks were filing checks and cash with pink receipts into shoe box shaped filing boxes with lids.

One of those clerks told me "See we file each receipt with its check or money," as she waved a pink receipt then placed it with money from her other hand. "Then it goes into these boxes." She places the receipt and cash into a box. "We keep the receipts between the money or checks so they don't get all mixed up or lost." She held the box so I could see inside.

The box was full of checks and cash and there were a lot of them too. Half of the office in front of the counter was filled with clerks processing receips, checks and cash into "shoe box" files.

I wasn't going to give that "guy" any of my money. I had heard about Illinois corruption. I had seen gangster movies!!

I registered my truck in Caifornia!!!

[Mike Jordan]

Now that Gov. Georgie is in stir, quick! Somebody check around for his shoebox cache.

Lura Lynn thinks that stack in the corner of the garage holds his golf spikes!

[Ralph Woods]

I well remember making out checks to Paul Powell for license plates and vehicle registration. The Democrats have held sway in Illinois Politics for years. Looks like another Democrat Govermor is about to go down. Illinois is a good place for Obama to remain in politics if any of his friends remain out of jail.

[Colorado Right]

Since I was only 12 when he died, I didn't remember the cases of whiskey and creamed corn. However, I did remember the shoeboxes of cash. One of the first political corruption scandals that entered my young consciousness.

And, of course, the Blago arrest today reminded me of it. Thanks for the great post

[Embarrassed]

As a child I only recall seeing Mr. Powell a few times around town, most of his time was spent out of town on official state business. The Powell home was about two blocks from my family home in Vienna. As kids, we used to cut through his yard to get to the town square. I have not lived in Vienna since I graduated from high school, and only visit on rare ocassions. After all these years I still can't believe that Vienna is best known to it's claim to fame to be the home of this criminal, but I am more embarrassed that they have turned his home in to a museum.

I can't wait to see what Chicago will do for the childhood home of Blago!

[Chip Taylor]

Man did this bring back memories. I was on active duty at Chanute Air Force Base during the Powell era. While not required to register my car in Illinois, I thought about it until I learned that I'd have to write a check out to Mr. Powell and NOT the DMV. "This is Illinois, that's how we do things." I was told when I inquired. So I kept my registration in Vermont. (Where if you wrote ANY individual's name on a check destined for some state agency it would promptly be returned.)

I also remember that when Powell died, in addition the the boxes filled with cash, there were countless letters address to Mr. Powell along the lines of, "I sent you a check for my car registration and the check cleared but I never got my license plates."

This was also the time of the first Mayor Daley, and I remember one of my U of I Graduate School Poly. Sci. professors responding to a classmates outrage at political corruption by stating that, "Corruption is the grease that moves the wheels of government." It would seem that some things don't change.

[Tommy Knox]

I was 15 and a freshman at Griffin High school when the money was found and I remember people were generally amused at Powell's ability to squirrel away such a large amount of cash.It showed the superiority of the Democrat party.But let a Republican fail to pay a parking ticket and there my friend is greed and corruption personified.I suppose thats why Obama decided to make Illinois his base for politics when he could have gone anywhere else.Hey, Louisiana and Rhode Island....Illinois is #1 again.

[Tony R]

Was the $800,000.00 suppose to be a donation to the mayor of Chicago re-election fund?

[Jack Hamilton]

Just made mention of our ole Paul Powell in the Rockford rag, rrstar. Delighted that this treasure trove is here. Interesting the Belvi connection ...I got my license there too and still do ask at the DOT if I should make the check out to Pau; Powell :) The rest of the country scoffs at us ...and I myself was hoping to buy a senate seat for a gyro & fries with a timely bid.

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I got my license there too and still do ask at the DOT if I should make the check out to Pau

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