Saints - Chicago Gang History

Founded	Founded in 1959 in or near Back of the Yards (New City)
Founding story	Founded in the Back Of The Yards section of New City neighborhood, 45th and Wood
Affiliations	People Nation — c. 1989 – c. 1994;
Colors	Black and Light blue
Primary ethnicities	Latino (Mexican)
Symbols	Stick Figure and Halo
Symbol usage	Stick figure smoking a cigarette or blunt, halo with 3 rays
Status	Active

For some time I had a some Saint history on this page as being linked to or being born out of the Rebels of the Back of the Yards but I struggled to find a solid link for that. I have heard multiple accounts of people claiming to know a “Saints” gang in the Back of the Yards in the early 60s and this was documented by the Chicago Tribune on February 11, 1998 when residents were interviewed and remembered the Saints back to the early 60s and that they were a group of very young kids that “threw rocks.” The article claimed the Saints were the offspring of Polish workers that worked in the stock yards and the little stores along Ashland Avenue. In the article a Sue Malone who said she is a long time resident of the neighborhood and a manager of the Back of the Yards Journal said “They started out as a bunch of kids standing on the corner acting tough.” One man I saw that commented on a Facebook group claimed he remembered the Saints in the area that tagged stickmen figures and Saint symbols in the early 60s around the neighborhood. I had also heard from a credible source that Saints started in 1959, but several others say they formed in 1965. What I can gather from this is that the Saints started as just some kids that had an unofficial club in the 45^th and Wood area but it was not organized or official. The ages of the original Saints were Frank Morphin 1949-2014, Joe “Butcher” Krentkowski born 1949-2018, Rich “Rabbi” Janiak 1950-1970s, Ed “Monk” Janiak born 1948-2013,Wayne Cirkosz born 1947-2015, Len “Nel” Macijuas,George Lach, Ted Musica, Ervin “Fink” Domanski, these were the 1965 founders of the official club and were all born in the late 40s. These men would have been about 10-12 years old in 1959 and many gangs in the area were much older than them. The official Saints club fully emerged in 1965 in Davis Square which could have come about when these original members officially organized after having an unofficial club since 1959. Richard “Rabbi” Janiak was the founder of the Saints when he was 15 years old in 1965, his older brother Ed Janiak would become the co-founder. The Janiak brothers then brought in Frank Morphin as the third member and these three men, Rabbi, Monk and Frank are the main three founders. The first Saint hang out was at Gus’ Snack Shop at 1620 W. 47TH at 47th and Marshfield. The Saints would battle with the Ravens that were formed nearby at 47^th and Honore in the same year of 1965. The Saints’ territory would eventually expand from 43rd to 47th and from Ashland to Damen especially after the Ravens folded in 1968 and the new generation of Saints was brought in. Saints were allies with the Cool Gents, Cornell Dukes and the Unicorns. The Saints mainly fought with outsider gangs from outside the neighborhood. The Saints were overall part of “The Settlement” which was an alliance of mostly white street gangs in the Back of the Yards. The Settlement would have a club house at 45^th Street and McDowell Avenue in an industrial area of the Back of the Yards. The Saints also had religious beliefs as whenever they would pass a church they would do the sign of the cross which indicated the original members may have had a strong Catholic faith. Doing the sign of the cross became a tradition of the Saints for generations to come.

In the year 1966 the Saints began to battle with the newly formed Gaylords of Garfield Boulevard and Ashland. In the same year the Burger King Boys formed right by the Gaylords and Saints fought them too.

In the year 1968 most of the original members went to fight in Vietnam which included the Janiak brothers that became heroes in the Marine Corps. Both brothers were even featured in a newspaper while they were in combat uniform. As soon as Rabbi joined the Marines he was already a sergeant at age 18!

In the absense of the original members, a member named Armando created the colors, patches and much of the other symbols besides the stick man with the halo, this was created in about 1968.

By the year 1970, the Saints began taking in several Mexican members to the point where a large portion of the club was Mexican, this was due to the fact that Saints were one of the few clubs in the Back of the Yards that took in Mexicans, another club was Villa Lobos but Saints were enemies with Villa Lobos because they were a Pilsen Hispanic gang settling in a white neighborhood.

By the mid-1970s the Hispanic population of the Back of the Yards was growing significantly and the older Saints were retiring or semi-retiring which made up most of the Polish members and the oldest Mexican members. At some point in the 70s Rabbi was killed in a work accident at I believe the Nabisco factory, but I could be wrong on the company but her for sure died in the 70s. The Latin Souls street gang was moving off 55^th and Halsted closer to Sherman Park area which was much closer to Saint neighborhood. Saints did not like outsiders and felt that the Souls were outsiders and this started a war. Saints did not battle much with gangs south of 51^st Street besides the Gaylords but once these Souls moved it invoked a war.

In the year 1980, the Saints had a tough decision when members became incarcerated whether to join the People or Folk alliance in the correctional system by the year 1980. In 1980 all gangs in the correctional facility now needed to align with either side of they wouldn’t survive. The Saints decided to join the Folk alliance which was very hard to decide because some of their worst enemies were Folks like Latin Souls, Satan Disciples, Two Six and Two Two Boys. Two Two Boys and Latin Souls joined Folks the same year. The Saints for sure were not joining People alongside their worst enemy the Latin Kings; therefore, they chose Folks. The decision turned out to be a good one for the Saints as they got in real tight with the Latin Folks in the prison system and gained respect from them as well. The Saints honored the Latin Folks by becoming known as the Latin Saints whole behind bars and they adopted the pitchfork as a symbols while locked up. Some old school Saint members that were incarcerated have pitchforks tattooed on them. Once a Saint got out of prison he was no longer Folks or a Latin Saint. The name Latin Saints and the Folk alliance never made it to the streets throughout Saint history and wars with Folks continued viciously.

In the year 1980, Saints now experienced many more gang wars and violence against enemies and by enemies as Mexican migration to the Back of the Yards became large. Some of the recently arrived Mexican youths joined the ranks of the Saints but many others joined or brought in migrating gangs from other neighborhoods. Two Six came in and boldly settled at 47th and Damen which was at the edge of Saint territory. Saints attacked Two Six so viciously that they needed to team up with the Party Player two years later to handle the Saints. The Party Players also needed assistance against the Saints. Latin Souls migrated from 55th to 49th which clashed with the Saints too. Bishops moved into 53rd and Winchester after flipping what was left of the Gaylords and Saints declared war on Bishops too. Latin Kings now were official at 51st and Ada and war was on. Satan Disciples and Two Two Boys settled 51st and Wood together which ignited yet another war with Saints. The Saints found none of these migrating gangs to be allies and aimed to destroy them all. For the next few decades the Saints would do incredible damage to these organizations despite being outnumbered. That is an incredible accomplishment for any gang.

Most people on the streets familiarize the Saints with being part of the People alliance and this was a slow process over time that became tough to maintain on the streets through the years. It began during the holidays of 1986 when two Saints who were brought into one of the Illinois prisons cliqued up with Latin Kings and joined the People alliance. By this time many of the Saints that were attached to the Folk alliance in the early 80s had been released which began to deplete Folk influence within the Saints causing this part of history to be largely forgotten.

The branch of Saints from South Chicago rebranded themselves in 1981 as the Saint Spanish Gangster Disciples as they allied with Gangster Disciples and had influence from Maniac Latin Disciples. By 1983 the Saint Spanish Gangster Disciples became the Spanish Gangster Disciples they are known as today as they separated from the Saints.

The Saints would often have conflicts with some of the many party crews in the neighborhoods. The biggest enemy party crew was the 48th Street Boys from 48th and Laflin mainly because the 48th Street Boys acted like a gang causing many shootings back and forth between them. In the year 1985 the 48th Street Boys came into contact with La Raza from the Pilsen neighborhood and all the 48th Street boys flipped to La Raza, thus, creating the 48th Street La Raza group that became a major rival of the Saints for years to come.

In 1989, Green Eyes from the Saints, while incarcerated came in contact with the Lord Gino, the leader of the Latin Kings and basically began the Saints’ influence into joining People in the prison system.

By the year 1990, the Saints were hanging out with Latin Kings in the streets and the Saints Joined the People alliance on the streets in 1990.

in 1994 the Latin Kings shot up a member of the Saints and killed him and the Saints were more than willing to go to war. After this happened the Saints more or less returned to their renegade philosophy and were never big on the People alliance on the streets after the early 90s.

In the early and mid-1990s many small crews started up in the Back of The Yards that wanted to prove themselves as a down crew and were willing to fight anyone to achieve that title. These crews were the Latin Taste, Turbo Boys, Knight Riders, D Boys (actually formed in the early 1980s), Paulina Boys, Honore Boys and the Wood Boys. The Saints admired these new and upcoming crews and if they were down enough they would convince them to join, before you knew it the Saints absorbed the Latin Taste, Turbo Boys, Knight Riders, D Boys and Paulina Boys.

The Paulina Boys proved to be an excellent investment for the Saints as they proved to be down ass Saints too. The Paulina Boys’ faction ventured into the Brighton Park neighborhood and opened territory at 42^nd Place and Albany. The Saints would also open one up at 63^rd and Kostner in the West Lawn neighborhood. Another satellite location was in the Bridgeport neighborhood at Archer Ave and Lock. This new turf ended up bringing the Saints more trouble due to heavy police focus on them because they had a city wide reputation of being violent. There was also a brief internal conflict between the Paulina Boys and the rest of the gang, but that was ended after a very short time. The Paulinas were overzealous and wanted to expand further, but overall leadership saw that there was no potential in the satellite locations and shut them all down by the end of the 1990s.