[CAPONE, Alphonse ("Al")] -- [NESS, Eliot (1903-1957)]. Partial draft typescript detailing Eliot Ness's recollections of his time with "The Untouchables" as dictated to his secretary Miss Janet E. Boyd (1935-), [1956].

11 typed pages with holograph emendations in a secretarial hand, light toning and a few small tears, staple holes in upper left corner. Provenance: Janet E. Boyd, by descent to present owner.

PERHAPS THE EARLIEST VERSION OF ELIOT NESS'S RECOLLECTIONS WHICH LATER FORMED THE BASIS OF OSCAR FRALEY'S THE UNTOUCHABLES

The Eliot Ness Papers held in Cleveland's Western Reserve Historical Society contain a 21pp typescript detailing Ness's career in Chicago which is similar to the partial typescript offered here though not an exact copy. The WRHS copy appears to be a revised, later version.

In late 1955, Miss Janet E. Boyd of Parma, Ohio, responded to an ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer seeking an applicant for a position with The Fidelity Check Corporation and Guaranty Paper Corporation. After initial employment with the CEO of the company, she soon assumed the role of secretary to Eliot Ness who was brought on to serve as president of the subsidiary corporations. According to Boyd's oral history (oral history included in the lot), she accompanied Ness on his earliest business trips to and from Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C. Predominantly traveling via train, Ness "came up with the idea of dictating to me on the train...the story of when he was with the government...." Taking shorthand while riding in the dining car, Boyd would then return to their office and type Ness's recollections for his later review. After several months, Ness relocated to Coudersport, Pennsylvania, where he would embark on a collaboration with reporter Oscar Fraley, providing Fraley with a typescript of his recollections upon which the writer would base his 1957 best-selling book The Untouchables. He died of a heart attack in May 1957, just before publication of the book that would immortalize his image as the incorruptible crimefighter who helped topple Al Capone and his crime syndicate.

[With:] Additional correspondence related to Miss Janet E. Boyd and documenting her employment with North Ridge Industrial Corporation of Coudersport, Pennsylvania, and a small archive of related materials (complete list available on request).