UNPRINCIPLED MONKEY-FACE (1843)
Newspapers in the early 1800s had fewer guidelines to follow than today’s papers do. The only serious standards editors were certain to follow back then were those concerning making money and keeping the number of libel lawsuits down. One Manhattan newspaper, The Subterranean, truly lived up to its name in terms of the depths the owners would go to expose the dirt of others living upon the island at the time. “If the unprincipled, monkey-faced blackguard with dirty whiskers, who works in a cooper’s shop in First street, near Avenue A, does not desist in his disgraceful annoyance of the young ladies in Houston street, we shall strip the hide off of him,” the paper’s editor wrote, in an attempt to sully the already low reputation of a certain character residing in what would be today’s Bowery. “We have been informed that he stole two work bags the other evening, and would have committed other depredations, were it not for the timely interference of a young butcher, who chastised him on the spot.” The Subterranean, which was “committed to the interests of the working classes” and was written for at one time by Walt Whitman, was literally replete with colorful stories about various “fanatical traitors, bigoted sectarians, speculators, robbers, bankers and brokers…” According to the American Antiquarian Society, who wrote a story about the conservation of a copy of the 1843 newspaper, “People were named outright, so it’s not surprising these papers were found in the N.Y. District Attorney’s office […]
“TOMMY” O’TOOLE IN SING SING AGAIN? (1915)
Burglaries took place with great regularity in Brooklyn 100 years ago. Skimming through Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives and reading newspapers from that period, I come across them all the time. They usually involve males, between the ages of a 16 and 24, just about all of whom have previous criminal records, and who end up getting sent “up the river” to Sing Sing. Yesterday, while scanning the papers, a small story on a burglary that took place almost 100 years ago – to the day – caught my eye. Why? I cannot say. It was a rather pedestrian article, but it caused me to wonder at what happened to the subject, one William O’Toole. Being in the detective business, there are always ways of finding out these things. Being a history detective, though, it gets a little tougher and requires some more than usual digging. But I was ready for digging yesterday, and so I decided to follow my leads. THE STORY The offense took place on 18 May 1915, at 864 Nostrand Avenue. O’Toole was the unlucky one to get caught as an accomplice got away. Hailing from Manhattan, according to the piece, he was young man of 22 years at the time, referred to in the article as an “Old Offender.” His record of offenses was three deep, having already served time in Elmira, Sing Sing, and the State Penitentiary. This time he was collared for stealing $46 out of a strong box belonging to “Miss Mary Maddren.” […]
