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Boldly penned ALS, one page, 6.5 x 10.25, postmarked August 25, 1941 (Hurley, Wisconsin). Handwritten letter to his family physician, Dr. Kenneth Phillips, in full: “Here is your friend Al Capone, writing you this letter from here, first hope it will find you & the rest of your dear family all in perfect health. Dr., I'm leaving here the 1st of Sept, then staying at my mother's house in Chicago until the middle of Oct then I'll be back there at our home. I have something nice for you which will bring back home for you. Dr. please send me 2 boxes of them red pills for bowels movement. Send to this address its the address I'll be until I leave. 7244 Prairie Ave., Chicago, Ill.” In fine condition. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope addressed in Capone's own hand. Hurley, Wisconsin, was home to Capone's older brother, Ralph Capone, who retired there after his release from prison in 1934.
The recipient, Kenneth Phillips, was the primary physician for both Al and Mae Capone during their years in Miami, Florida. Phillips, who had cared for the Capone family since 1927, first treated Mae for syphilis before also caring for Al, whose untreated infection progressed to neurosyphilis and severely impaired his mental faculties. Written while Capone was visiting Wisconsin and preparing to spend several weeks in Chicago, this letter demonstrates that he continued to rely on Phillips for his medical care, requesting that medication be forwarded to his temporary address.
By 1941, syphilis specialist Dr. Joseph Moore estimated that Capone's mental capacity had regressed to that of a child between the ages of seven and fourteen, a condition reflected in the letter's noticeably simple prose. In 1942, after penicillin became available for civilian use in the United States, Capone was among the earliest American patients to receive the new antibiotic. By then, however, treatment came too late to reverse the neurological damage, though it did help slow the progression of the disease.
The Marc and Mary Perkins Collection.
