In 1921 , with only $ 10,000 dollars and a tommy gun in hand , notorious mobster Dean O'Banion made Schofield an offer he could not refuse . They became " business " partners . The Chicago North Side Gang transformed Schofield 's into the florist of choice for mob funerals , all of the North State Street Gang 's weddings , holidays and special occasions , like providing the wreaths for the victims of the Saint Valentine 's Day Massacre . Dean O'Banion was " knocked off " in a mob hit on November 10 , 1924 while clipping chrysanthemums at the age of 32 years . The triggermen were members of Al Capone ’s Chicago Outfit : Frankie Yale , John Scalise and Albert Anselmi After O’Banion ’s " push into the nether world " , Schofield 's Flowers lived on , with Bugs Moran taking over the North State Street Gang , along with Hymie Weiss , better known as " Hymie the Pol Weise . " After Prohibition , like the whole country , Schofield 's Flowers experienced financial hardship during the Great Depression , ( 1929 – 39 ) , the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world . At one time , " Big Bill " owned a foursquare block of land from Superior to Chicago Avenue and State Street to Dearborn Avenue . " Big Bill " lost everything but his flower shop , later renting from a Jewish family , one of his top clients who helped him through hard times . He made the papers again in the late 1960s when " Big Bill ’s " son , Stephen Eugene Schofield , was arrested and eventually charged with gambling , " Scof " , as he was known to friends , was sentenced to 1 year at Sandstone Federal Penitentiary by Judge Julius Hoffman . Hoffman refused to honor a plea bargain , instead opting to make an example of the case . He painted the Schofield Family as willing participants in organized crime since the 1920s , pointing to its association with O’Banion and the North State Street Gang as proof
Saint Valentine 's Day Massacre
Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
Schofield's Flowers