Ed "Big Ed" Burns

Who is Ed "Big Ed" Burns?

Edward "Big Ed" Burns was an American 19th century confidence man and crime boss. He was born around 1842 in Buffalo, New York. In 1861 he began a bunco career in Chicago, Illinois. He joined his older brothers. Burns worked as a stonemason for some years. He also became a sailor on Lake Michigan, as second mate on a private yacht. His brother John Burns was first mate.

About 1866 he strangled a man to death and was sentenced to nine years in Joliet, an Illinois prison. He returned to Chicago after being released in 1875 where he was seriously wounded by a bullet in the back by a man purported to be a friend.

In April 1877 he was reported as the leader of a bunco gang on Chicago’s south side where he used his gang to influence votes for political candidates. In a fight, Burns was shot in the thigh. He was arrested as ring-leader of buncoing. He was arrested again for vagrancy. He fled Chicago and a $300 bond. Returning in six months, he was arrested on the previous vagrancy charge and for robbery. At trial the charge was dismissed because he could show plenty of money, a profession as a peddler of soap, and a saloon in a building he had rented from a city alderman. Application for a saloon license was denied. He began selling liquor illegally from a boat on Lake Michigan. He managed to escape several police raids by jumping overboard, thus gaining the moniker “Elephantine Edward of the Floating Palace.” In October 1878 Burns was extradited to Detroit on several pick-pocketing charges.