# Joseph Linsey

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**Joseph Maurice Linsey** (born **Linsky**;[1] May 27, 1899 – November 24, 1994) was an American bootlegger in Boston during the [Prohibition](/source/Prohibition_in_the_United_States) era associated with [Joseph Kennedy](/source/Joseph_Kennedy) and [Meyer Lansky](/source/Meyer_Lansky). He later became a prominent businessman and philanthropist, specifically making contributions to [Brandeis University](/source/Brandeis_University). In 1960, he was the national chairman of the Brandeis Athletic Associations.[2][3]

## Biography

Linsey was born in [Grodno](/source/Grodno), Russian Empire (now Belarus)[1] to Jewish parents Abraham Linsky and Sarah Slotnick and immigrated with his family to Boston at age 1.[2] After his father died of tuberculosis in 1908,[4] his mother remarried grocer Joseph Ackner.[5] He went to work at the age of 9 delivering groceries and later became apprenticed as a meatcutter. He became a U.S. citizen at age 19 and adopted the name Linsey.[1]

At the start of Prohibition, the 21-year-old Linsey began bootlegging illegal liquor with [Charles "King" Solomon](/source/Charles_Solomon_(racketeer)) from a front business, the National Realty Company. He also bought Canadian liquor from the Bronfmans and, although serving a year[2] for violations of the [Volstead Act](/source/Volstead_Act),[6] he was acquitted from his two later indictments on similar charges. He was alleged by [Vinnie Teresa](/source/Vincent_Teresa) to have been involved in wholesale gambling in the time after the Prohibition era.

He married model Thelma Ray in 1969. He died of heart failure at Boston's [Faulkner Hospital](/source/Brigham_and_Women's_Faulkner_Hospital) in 1994, aged 95.[2]

## References

1. **Massachusetts, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950**

1. Long, Tom (November 30, 1994). ["Joseph Linsey,"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/440633858/?terms=Joseph%20Linsey&match=1). *The Boston Globe*. p. 61. Retrieved 27 October 2023.

1. Robert M. Lipsyte (May 17, 1960). "Cost of Fielding Team Also Cited". *The New York Times*. p. 47. (subscription required)

1. *Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915*

1. *[1910 United States Federal Census](/source/1910_United_States_Federal_Census)*

1. Nicholas Gage (March 12, 1971). "Rosenstiel Link to Crime Denied". *The New York Times*. p. 33. Linsey and Fusco were both convicted of bootlegging.... Linsey and Fusco have been identified as agents of Meyer Lansky, the alleged underworld leader....> (subscription required)[\[5\]](https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/12/archives/rosenstiel-link-to-crime-denied-but-schenley-aide-concedes.html)

- Ex‐Head of Schenley Industries Is Linked to Crime ‘Consortium’ *The New York Times* February 19, 1971 [\[1\]](https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/19/archives/exhead-of-schenley-industries-is-linked-to-crime-consortium.html?_r=0)
- Hartford Judge Backs Newspaper *The New York Times* March 23, 1973 [\[2\]](https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/21/archives/hartford-judge-backs-newspaper-says-its-publisher-need-not-reveal.html)
- Publisher Loses In Connecticut *The New York Times* May 18, 1975 [\[3\]](https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/18/archives/publisher-loses-in-connecticut-expaper-owner-ordered-to-reveal.html)
- Dollar Settles a $5 Million Connecticut Libel Suit *The New York Times* June 13, 1976 [\[4\]](https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/13/archives/dollar-settles-a-5-million-connecticut-libel-suit.html)

## Further reading

- Etzkowitz, Henry and Peter Schwab. *Is America Necessary?: Conservative, Liberal, & Socialist Perspectives of United States Political Institutions*. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1976. ISBN 0-8299-0090-X
- Fox, Stephen. *Blood and Power: Organized Crime in Twentieth-Century America*. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1989. ISBN 0-688-04350-X
- Fried, Albert. *The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America*. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980. ISBN 0-231-09683-6
- Lacey, Robert. *Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life*. London: Century, 1991. ISBN 0-7126-2426-0
- Stein, Benjamin J. *A License to Steal: The Untold Story of Michael Milken and the Conspiracy to Bilk the Nation*. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992. ISBN 0-671-74272-8
- Summers, Anthony. *Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover*. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1993. ISBN 0-399-13800-5
- Smith, Joseph *History of The American Greyhound Derby: The Kentucky Derby of Greyhound Racing*. Boston: Big Jackpot Betting, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4679-4556-1
- Temple, Robert *The History of Greyhound Racing in New England*. Boston: Xlibris Corp, 2010/ ISBN 978-1-4568-4077-8[self-published source?]

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Linsey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Linsey) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Linsey?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.