Stories
Early Characters
Thomas “Shang” Draper
Thomas "Shang" Draper, was a criminal, gang leader and saloon owner. His bar was located on West 28th Street in New York. He was also a front or fence for other criminals that worked the waterfront. The "shang" part of his name came about because he would use his bar...
Billy Porter and the Dutch Mob
Billy Porter was a long time member of the Dutch Mob along with Johnny Irving, Little Freddie and Sheeny Mike Kurtz who were the founding members of the Dutch Mob. Billy Porter was born in Boston in 1850 under his real name William O’Brien, he had trained to become a...
The Kerry Patch – St. Louis
The Kerry Patch or The Patch as it was also known was a neighborhood in the north of downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Irish immigrants had been settling in St. Louis since the early 1800's, the city held its first St. Patrick's Day in 1820. By 1851 the US census recorded...
Thomas Snake Kinney
Thomas Snake Kinney was a Missouri state senator, he was one of the founding members of the infamous Egan's Rats, a St. Louis organized crime gang in the early part of the 20th Century. Thomas Snake Kinney was born and raised in St. Louis's "Kerry Patch" neighborhood...
Tattoo’s of old New York
Tattoo's have been around for a long time and throughout history have come to symbolize one thing or another, something personal, being part of a tribe or part of a gang. In old New York tattoo's also were part of culture among the Irish communities and other...
Rosanna Peers Grocery Shop
Rosanna Peers was a grocery store owner, saloon keeper and an early criminal fence to the thieves and gangsters of the old sixth ward during the early to mid 1800's. Rosanna's was used as a base of operations for the earliest known gangs of New York, the Forty Thieves...
Captain John H. McCullagh
John H. McCullagh was an officer and police captain in the NYPD, John McCullagh was also known as "Farmer John". Born in 1842 in Tyrone, Ireland and emigrated with his family the US when he was a child. During his career he battled notorious gangs and river pirates...
Boiled Oysters Malloy – Saloon Keeper
Boiled Oysters Malloy was a criminal and dive bar owner in the Bowery during the mid to late 1800's, his name as you can guess came from his love of eating boiled oysters, which would have been a delicacy during that period. Boiled Oysters Malloy seemed to be at his...
McGurks Suicide Hall – The Bowery
McGurks Suicide Hall located at 295 the Bowery in New York was a notorious dive bar and hotel run by John McGurk a native of County Antrim, Ireland. McGurk owned a string of saloons, each one closed down by the police, however his saloon at 295 Bowery would become his...