Stories
Early Characters
John Allen – The Wickedest Man in New York
John Allen, also known as E.E. Van Allen or "The Allen" was a notorious underworld gangster and who owned a saloon on Water Street in early New York. Born in Syracuse in New York to well to do & deeply religious parents in 1823, he was one of nine children. Two of...
“Peg Leg” Lonergan – The White Hands Last Boss
On this day in 1925 Richard "Peg Leg" Lonergan was shot dead, along with some of his key men at the Adonis Social Club at 154 20th Street in Brooklyn. A number of people were arrested in connection with the murders including Al Capone, though none were charged. On...
Big Jim O’Leary Chicago’s Big Time Gambler
"Big" Jim O'Leary was a gambler & racketeer in early Chicago, he is credited in forming one of the cities first gambling syndicates and for having a rags to riches story. James O'Leary was born to parents Patrick and Katherine O'Leary. Katherine O'Leary is rumored...
Little Patsy Doyle & the Hudson Dusters
William "Little Patsy Doyle" Moore was the leader of the Hudson Dusters gang in the 1910's and he was killed at the end of a war between his Hudson Dusters gang and Owney Madden's Gopher Gang. The Hudson Dusters were a street gang that were founded in the late 1890s...
Johnny “The Mick” Walsh
John Walsh or "Johnny The Mick" was a criminal and gangster in early New York, 1852 - 1883. He was leader of the gang The Walshers which he founded in the 1870's and with their shakedowns and violence they were dominant around the Bowery in Lower Manhattan. This was a...
The Irish Channel An Old Irish New Orleans Neighborhood
The Irish Channel neighborhood is part of the historic city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally the Irish Channel was home to mainly, yes, Irish people who were emigrating from Ireland in the early 1800's with a wave of immigrants coming during the Great Famine of...
Billy McGlory’s Armory Hall
Billy McGlory opened McGlory's Armory Hall at 158 Hester Street in the late 1870s. It very quickly became a popular underworld hangout, frequented by thieves, pickpockets, and procurers throughout the old Fourth and Sixth Wards for nearly two decades.It was described...
Ned Kelly – Bucket Head Ned – The Outback Outlaw
In a bit of a break we can have a look at Australia and one of the most famous gangsters / outlaw of them all Ned Kelly or Buckethead Ned. He was the son of Irish parents, his father Red Kelly had been a convict who had been sent to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in...
The Failed Assassination of Paul Kelly
Biff Ellison was one of Paul Kelly's gang members in the Five Points gang, he started out as a bouncer in Fat Flynn's dive bar on Bond Street. He later became a bouncer of a bar on Christie street where he made his name by knocking a police officer unconscious with a...