By: Francis B. Doyle and Heather Doyle Fraser
This story, written by Francis B. Doyle and Heather Doyle Fraser, was published in a book entitled Transplanted Shamrocks: Recollections of Central Ohio’s Americans collected by Julie O’Keefe McGhee, J. Michael Finn, Anne O’Farrell DeVoe, and Katheryn Hess. (Copyright 2012, OutSkirts Press)
He spent 44 years [from 1928 to 1972] inside the walls of the Ohio State Penitentiary and knew hardened criminals such as Thomas “Yonnie” Licavoli who was not only a gangster and a bootlegger, but also controlled criminal operations as the leader of the famed Purple Gang during the Prohibition era in Detroit and Toledo. He also knew Dr. Sam Sheppard, an osteopathic physician and neurosurgeon, who was convicted of the infamous and controversial murder of his pregnant wife, Marilyn. There was even a television series and movie entitled The Fugitive that some folks believed was based on this unfortunate episode in Dr. Sheppard’s life…….……….but wait, before I go too far, let’s start at the beginning!
His grandfather, Thomas, emigrated from County Longford, Ireland in 1847 and married Bridget in 1856 in Newark, Ohio. Bridget was born in Allen Creek, County Clare, Ireland in 1839. The boy’s father, also named Thomas, was born in Newark, Ohio in 1874 and married Mary in Chicago Junction, Ohio [nee: Willard, Ohio] in 1897.
The boy — we’ll call him Francis — was born in Deforest, Ohio, in 1900, however, the family moved back to Willard when he was a young lad. He was the second oldest of eight boys. His boyhood was similar to many who lived in small towns at the turn of the century – playing baseball in the vacant lots, swimming at the “old swimming hole” next to the creek, working in the family garden, and delivering the morning paper before school to the town folk to earn extra money for the family. He and his older brother, Emmett, made $35 a month delivering papers [6 paper routes] which was pretty amazing considering many men were working and supporting their families on $40 a month at that time.
The pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Willard was an Irishman, born in Ireland, by the name of Father Coan. He used to take walks every day and would pass by young Francis’s house on the way out to the country. Fr. Coan was a big influence on young Francis and was very instrumental in his decision to move to Columbus in 1918 so he could attend The Ohio State University. Graduating in 1923, life moved on — as it always does — and our young Francis settled at the corner of Summit Street and Tompkins Avenue.
Fast forward five years and life has changed a bit for Francis. Due to unforeseen circumstances, in 1928, he found himself within the walls of the Ohio State Penitentiary, but he was “released” shortly upon entering the prison. But, Francis was getting a reputation around Columbus – people went to him for his “professional services” and they were never disappointed. If they had a problem, he would “take care of it.” And so, Francis found himself in the prison again – this time for a longer stay – as I said, he spent 44 years inside the walls of the Ohio State Penitentiary.
Of course, now you may be asking, how could a young boy with such obvious advantages – a boy from a good family, a responsible boy who was heavily influenced by his parish priest, a boy who went to college in a time when most people didn’t – how could this young man end up spending half of his life in prison?
Well our young Francis is none other than Dr. Francis J. Doyle. You will remember Francis (Doc, as people affectionately called him) first visited the Ohio State Penitentiary in 1928, but it was to treat a prisoner who had an impacted wisdom tooth; the prison dentist recommended to Warden D. E. Thomas that Doc be brought in to do the surgery. By this time, after 5 years in his dental practice, Doc was getting a pretty good reputation in the Columbus area for working on impacted wisdom teeth – the warden acquiesced and contacted Doc. The surgery was performed and the prisoner recovered quickly. However, word spread within the prison population, and before you knew it many of the prisoners were requesting the professional dental services of Doc rather than seeing the state paid dentist. Warden Thomas allowed Doc to set up a private practice within the prison hospital – the prisoners could see the prison dentist for free or pay for Doc’s services – and that is why Doc spent 44 years inside the walls of the Ohio State Penitentiary.
The story doesn’t end there, though. He was the only dentist ever permitted to set up a private practice within the walls of the hospital of the old Ohio Pen. During the 1952 prison riot, his office was the only one within the hospital which was not ransacked by the prisoners. Then, in 1968, six prisoners entered the hospital at 10 o’clock in the morning and told Doc, “You need to get out of here because all hell’s going to break loose.” The six prisoners surrounded him and escorted him through the courtyard to safety, and within two hours another prison riot took place that required the services of the Ohio National Guard to regain control of the prison. This speaks of the respect and high regard the prisoners had for him.
Doc, Dr. Francis J. Doyle, was past Grand Knight of The Knights of Columbus – Council 400 and Faithful Navigator of the 4th Degree, a member of the Shamrock Club of Columbus, and a Veteran of World War I. He was the Honorary Grand Marshal [in Memoriam] of the 2010 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Columbus and the father of his namesake Shamrock Club Past President [2010] Francis B. Doyle…….and now, as Paul Harvey would say, “You know the rest of the story!”