Mushmouth Johnson was a Chicago policy banker and gambling house entrepreneur during the late 1800s and early 1900s. He operated in the heart of "Whiskey Row" and the Levee red-light district. His policy racket made him a fortune, earning the title of "Negro Gambling King of Chicago." Later in his career, Johnson opened the exclusively white Frontenac Club on the second floor of 239 22nd Street (Now 41 W 22nd) with other gambling kingpins Bill Lewis and Tom McGinnis. The building itself was established as a gambling joint by "Big Jim" Colosimo in 1904.

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