Joe Bruno's Mobsters - Six Volume Set Read Online Free Page B
Author: Joe Bruno
by black stovepipe hats.
The Bowery Boys were ardent volunteer firemen, who aligned themselves with the Know-Nothing, or American Political Party (which lasted from 1849 to 1856) and later the Democratic Party. All of the big politicians of the time, including William “Boss” Tweed and future first United States President George Washington, were at one time volunteer firemen in Lower Manhattan. The Bowery Boys were attached to various firehouses, with names like the White Ghost, Black Joke, Dry Bones, and Red Rover. Each of the other downtown gangs, like the Dead Rabbits, Roach Guards, and the Plug Uglies, were also affiliated with various firehouses too, and the competition over who would arrive first at a fire was fierce and often bloody.
The Bowery Boys were said to love their fire engines almost as much as the loved their women. The worse thing that could happen was to arrive at a fire and find that all the fire hydrants had already been taken by other firehouses. The Bowery Boys often used a scheme to prevent this embarrassment.
As soon as a fire alarm sounded, the biggest Bowery Boy available would grab an empty barrel from a grocery store, and run to the fire plug closest to the burning building. He would turn the barrel over, cover the fire hydrant with the barrel, sit on it, and defend his position, battling men from other firehouses, who were trying to remove him, and the barrel, from the fire hydrant. It was said that the fights for the fire hydrants were so ferocious, the battling volunteer firemen sometimes didn't have enough time to actually extinguish the fires, which caused many buildings to burn to the ground.
The most famous Bowery Boy of his time was “Butcher” Bill Poole, a butcher by trade, and a volunteer at Red Rover Fire Engine Company No. 34, at Hudson and Christopher Streets. Poole was a bare-knuckle fighter of much renown. His arch enemy was John Morrissey, an Irish immigrant and strong-arm-man for Tammany Hall. Morrissey was a prodigious fighter too (he later became World Heavyweight Champion), and he challenged Poole to a bare-knuckles fight. Poole hated the Irish and Catholics with a passion (Morrissey was both), and he gladly accepted the challenge.
On July 26, 1854, the men squared off at the Amos Street Dock, near Christopher Street. After Morrissey extended his hand, in a symbolic gesture to start the fight, Poole feinted, and instead of fighting, he grabbed Morrissey is a frontal bear hug. Poole lifted Morrissey up into the air, and squeezed the breath out of him for a full five minutes. Before Poole could crush Morrissey to death, wiser heads prevailed, and they separated the men. Morrissey was hurt so badly, he couldn't walk the streets of New York City for six months. When he finally did, it was curtains for Poole.
On February 25, 1855, Lew Baker, a friend of Morrissey's, shot Poole at Stanwix Hall, a bar on Broadway, near Prince Street. Poole lingered for a little more than a week, but he finally died on March 8, 1855.
The downfall of the Bowery Boys started during the savage three-day New York City Draft Riots. On July 13, 1863, incensed at the imminent possibility of being drafted into the war down south they wanted nothing to do with, thousands of gang members took to the streets of New York City. These out-of-control maniacs looted and burned down stores, factories, and houses. Then they violently mutilated and killed Negroes, whom they blamed as the cause of their predicament.
The Bowery Boys, in actions normally adverse to their nature, were an integral part of these deadly riots, in which more than a thousand people were killed and thousands injured. The New York State Militia was called in to quell the riots, and when the dust settled three days later, the drafting of New York City men into the armed forces continued, but only for a short time.
Many Bowery Boys were drafted into the war. Some died, some returned badly injured, or missing arms and legs; others joined
The Bowery Boys were ardent volunteer firemen, who aligned themselves with the Know-Nothing, or American Political Party (which lasted from 1849 to 1856) and later the Democratic Party. All of the big politicians of the time, including William “Boss” Tweed and future first United States President George Washington, were at one time volunteer firemen in Lower Manhattan. The Bowery Boys were attached to various firehouses, with names like the White Ghost, Black Joke, Dry Bones, and Red Rover. Each of the other downtown gangs, like the Dead Rabbits, Roach Guards, and the Plug Uglies, were also affiliated with various firehouses too, and the competition over who would arrive first at a fire was fierce and often bloody.
The Bowery Boys were said to love their fire engines almost as much as the loved their women. The worse thing that could happen was to arrive at a fire and find that all the fire hydrants had already been taken by other firehouses. The Bowery Boys often used a scheme to prevent this embarrassment.
As soon as a fire alarm sounded, the biggest Bowery Boy available would grab an empty barrel from a grocery store, and run to the fire plug closest to the burning building. He would turn the barrel over, cover the fire hydrant with the barrel, sit on it, and defend his position, battling men from other firehouses, who were trying to remove him, and the barrel, from the fire hydrant. It was said that the fights for the fire hydrants were so ferocious, the battling volunteer firemen sometimes didn't have enough time to actually extinguish the fires, which caused many buildings to burn to the ground.
The most famous Bowery Boy of his time was “Butcher” Bill Poole, a butcher by trade, and a volunteer at Red Rover Fire Engine Company No. 34, at Hudson and Christopher Streets. Poole was a bare-knuckle fighter of much renown. His arch enemy was John Morrissey, an Irish immigrant and strong-arm-man for Tammany Hall. Morrissey was a prodigious fighter too (he later became World Heavyweight Champion), and he challenged Poole to a bare-knuckles fight. Poole hated the Irish and Catholics with a passion (Morrissey was both), and he gladly accepted the challenge.
On July 26, 1854, the men squared off at the Amos Street Dock, near Christopher Street. After Morrissey extended his hand, in a symbolic gesture to start the fight, Poole feinted, and instead of fighting, he grabbed Morrissey is a frontal bear hug. Poole lifted Morrissey up into the air, and squeezed the breath out of him for a full five minutes. Before Poole could crush Morrissey to death, wiser heads prevailed, and they separated the men. Morrissey was hurt so badly, he couldn't walk the streets of New York City for six months. When he finally did, it was curtains for Poole.
On February 25, 1855, Lew Baker, a friend of Morrissey's, shot Poole at Stanwix Hall, a bar on Broadway, near Prince Street. Poole lingered for a little more than a week, but he finally died on March 8, 1855.
The downfall of the Bowery Boys started during the savage three-day New York City Draft Riots. On July 13, 1863, incensed at the imminent possibility of being drafted into the war down south they wanted nothing to do with, thousands of gang members took to the streets of New York City. These out-of-control maniacs looted and burned down stores, factories, and houses. Then they violently mutilated and killed Negroes, whom they blamed as the cause of their predicament.
The Bowery Boys, in actions normally adverse to their nature, were an integral part of these deadly riots, in which more than a thousand people were killed and thousands injured. The New York State Militia was called in to quell the riots, and when the dust settled three days later, the drafting of New York City men into the armed forces continued, but only for a short time.
Many Bowery Boys were drafted into the war. Some died, some returned badly injured, or missing arms and legs; others joined
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