Biography's 2

A gangster and outlaw by the name of Henry McCarty or Billy the kid was one of the most famous gunmen of the 19th century. He was said to have killed 21 men, one for each year he lived, but sources have deemed that false and the number was closer to about nine. Billy’s fierce temper and superior shooting skills were masked by a handsome blue eyed easy going man. Billy’s life started with mischief, the young boy hid a bundle of clothes from a laundromat and was arrested. After this he sneaked out of the chimney and started his life of crime. Upon fleeing prison Billy took a job as a itinerant rancher where his boss found pleasure in bullying him. Billy didn’t take kindly to this and murdered the boss, Frank Cahill. Billy got in more trouble when he fleed once again to Lincoln County where he joined a gang called The Regulators. The rival gang, “The House” murdered a close friend of BIlly’s which enraged him and launched a feud between the two killing each other over a period of months. The sheriff of this county by the name of Garrett engaged in a feud with Billy. Billy the kids death happened in either one of two of these ways killed by Sheriff Garret:

One version says that as the Kid entered, he could not recognize Garrett in the poor light, McCarty drew his pistol and backed away, asking "¿Quién es? ¿Quién es?" (Spanish for "Who is it? Who is it?"). Recognizing McCarty's voice, Garrett drew his own pistol and fired twice, the first bullet hitting McCarty just above his heart and killing him instantly.

In a second version, McCarty entered carrying a knife, evidently headed to a kitchen area. He noticed someone in the darkness, and uttered the words "¿Quién es? ¿Quién es?", at which point he was shot and killed in ambush style.

http://serialkillercalendar.com/billythekid.html

Back in New York the Whyos of the Five Points were being lead by Danny Driscoll and Danny Lyons. The strange name was given for their bird call battle cry “Why-oh!” Driscoll grew up in a Five Points tenement district where he was arrested 25 times for things like stabbings and shootings. He cleverly switched his name to that of a man who was arrested for public drunkenness, was given a 10$ fine and walked out the door. However the incident that got Driscoll in real trouble was when his lover Beezy Garrity was complaining about one of his adversaries John McCarty who was accused of cheating Garrity out of some money. Upon hearing this Driscoll and Garrity attacked the house and got in a gunfight with McCarty. McCarty fled halfway thru which was unapparent to Driscoll. Garrity ran across the face of Driscoll and he fired a shot which would prove fatal. Garrity’s last words were that McCarty was the one who pulled the trigger on her. However 25 times arrested against clean slate in the court room gave McCarty the advantage. Danny Driscoll was hung on the morning of January 23, 1888.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Driscoll

E books

Sullivan, Bob. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Vol. 1. Detroit: St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, 2000. Print.

Porter, William S. O. Henry (1862-1910). Detroit: St. James, 1999. Print.

Biography's

When you think about gangsters in general women rarely come into play. However in the 1800’s there were countless notorious women roaming the streets or in this case the water. Sadie farrel born in 1869 was a gang leader and pirate better known as Sadie the Goat. At first Sadie was a low life mugger who according to lore would head-butt men in the stomach while her accomplice would proceed to sling-shot and rob them. The sworn enemy of Sadie, Gallus Mag, once engaged in a bar fight in which Sadie’s ear was bitten off. Leaving the land in disgrace Sadie decided to take her shenanigans to the water. Sadie encountered the Charlton Street Gang trying to board a sloop to no avail, upon seeing this she offered her services and became their gang leader. These pirates eventually acquired a larger sloop and began a sailing along the Hudson raiding, robbing, and kidnapping in small villages. These acts continued for several months until the villagers caught on and started firing upon them. After this Sadie returned home and made up with her long time foe Gallus Mag. Sadie’s ear was returned to her being kept in a pickle jar in the bar of Gallus. She wore it around her neck for the rest of her life.

Another ruthless gangster of the time was a man by the name of William Poole. William was a part of the infamous Bowery Boys who were an anti-Catholic, and an anti-Irish gang in the Five Points of New York. William better known as Bill the Butcher was an avid leader of the Know Nothing political movement. This movement was based on the idea that the country was being overwhelmed by Irish Catholic immigrants, who were thought of to be hostile and controlled by the pope. The Butcher was basically out there to kill every Irishman that he could which mainly consisted of the rival Dead Rabbits who were the Irish gang in the Five Points. The following excerpt shows the personality of The Butcher.

The New York Daily Times reported the following on October 23, 1851:

A Brutal Outrage in Broadway. We learn that at an early hour yesterday morning, two noted pugilists entered Florence's Hotel, corner of Broadway and Howard street, and without any provocation seized the bar-keeper and beat his face to a jelly. It appears that Thomas Hyer, William Poole, and several others entered the above hotel, and while one of the party held Charles Owens (the bar-keeper) by the hair of his head, another of the gang beat him in the face to such an extent that his left eye was completely ruined and the flesh of his cheek mangled in the most shocking manner. After thus accomplishing the heartless act, all of them made an effort to find Mr. John Florence, the proprietor of the hotel, with a view of serving him in the same manner, but not succeeding in their latter design, they found the hat of Mr. Florence and wantonly cut it into strips, and trampled it under their feet. The desperadoes then left the house, and in the meantime Mr. Owens was placed under medical attendance, and in the course of a short time he proceeded to the Jefferson Market Police, in company with Mr. Florence, where they made their affidavits respecting the inhuman outrage, upon which Justice Blakeley issued his warrants for Hyer, Poole, and such of the others who were concerned in the affair, and the same were placed in the hands of officer Baldwin for service. Since the above was written we have been reliably informed that the affray originated from the fact of the barkeeper having refused them drinks, after they had been furnished with them twice in succession.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Poole

http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/girl-gangsters-of-19th-century-manhattan/

Bibliography

O'Neal, Bill. The Wild West. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Publications International, 2002. Print.

Purvis, Thomas L. Revolutionary America, 1763 to 1800. New York: Facts on File, 1995. Print.

Garrison, William L. William Lloyd Garrison : abolitionist and journalist. Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books,, 2005. Print.

Hay, Jeff. Immigration. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven,, 2001. Print.

Introduction

The topic I chose for this project came from the inspiration of a movie I recently saw. It opened my eyes to the fact that gangs have been around for much longer than I thought. As shown in the title, “No Bandana’s No Tommy Gun’s” tells that there are no Crips no Bloods no Corleone’s. The Italian mobs have been given large recognition of who they were and what they did in the 20th century. The Crips, Bloods, LKD all infamous, all known by name. But who came before that? Fresh immigrants occupying large cities coming with nothing in their pockets and just their fellow countrymen to turn to. These people were cut throat, and poor living a pretty awful time in American history. The draft for the civil war, and low employment ratings left the Cities of America into a rage which resulted in unpreventable crime and murder rates. With crime and murder rates came gangs. So who were these people? What did they do? And why have their names been lost in the history books? These questions will be answered through this blog.