William Egan (gangster)
William Egan (June 7, 1884 – October 31, 1921) was a St. Louis politician and organized crime figure involved in bootlegging and illegal gambling. His brother was the namesake of the infamous Egan's Rats. The son of an Irish-American saloonkeeper, Egan was born and raised in the Kerry Patch, then known as the riverfront Irish ghetto of St. Louis. By his teens, Willie had followed his older brother Thomas into the Kinney Gang. By the time Tom took over the street gang in 1904, nineteen-year-old Willie was one of his best men. The Rats, at this point in time, specialized in political terrorism, armed robbery, extortion, and bootlegging. With the murder of Egan gangster Sam Young on April 4, 1909, Willie Egan inherited his saloon at the corner of Fourteenth and Franklin streets, which would remain a gang headquarters for over ten years. Generally quiet and reserved, Willie was nonetheless a tough street fighter who proved himself time and time again in action. However, Willie wasn't as passionate and gregarious as his older brother Tom was. When original Egan's Rat William "Skippy" Rohan was gunned down in Tom's saloon on January 8, 1916, Tom Egan made plans to kill the