By Grace Barry

The Daybreak Boys

American Poverty

• Irish flooded into America in nineteenth century

• Settled in run-down neighborhoods

• Standards were low: provided breeding ground for crime

• Prostitution and gangs were a symptom

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• Young boys urged into gangs

• Bowery Boys

• Dead Rabbits

• Five Points Gang

• Many girls became “brothels”

• “Gangs were sometimes necessary as a support system for the new immigrants, who were otherwise powerless.” – “Background History”

http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Irish.html

Daybreak B’hoys

• Exact origin unknown

• Named for penchant of early hours and youthfulness

• Youngest member age 10

• River pirates

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/New_York_Emigration_and_Immigration

Daybreak B’hoys (Continued)

• Irish accent made ‘boys’ into ‘b’hoys’

• Badge of honor

• Operated in the Forth Ward in New York

• Terrorized East River

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/New_York_Emigration_and_Immigration

Crimes

• Murder

• Usually of watchmen

• Mostly were known for robbery of merchant ships

• Used small dinghies to row up to docked ship

• Stole what they could

• Sold it on the 19th century Black Market

• 20 murders

Members

• ‘Patsy the barber’

• Nicholas Saul

• William Howlett

• Bill Poole

• Bill Lowrie

• Slobbery Jim

• Many lived life of crime before entering gang

ontherealny.com

Location, Location, Location

• Slaughterhouse Point

• Gin mill owned by Pete Williams

• Intersection of James and Water Streets

• In vicinity of Five Points

• Little to no police interference

ontherealny.com

Death Of Leaders

• January 28, 1853

• Execution of Howlett and Saul

• $100,000

• Hundreds showed up

• Slobbery Jim took over gang

• Gin mill shut down

www.correctionhistory.org

Continuance Of The Legacy

• Moved up Water Street to a saloon

• Owned by Lowrie

• In 1858, described as better than ever by Herbert Asbury (Gangs of New York)

• Stronger, more efficient at robbery

Decline

• When police started killing many members of the gang, Slobbery Jim Disappeared

• Next in line opted for life of crime elsewhere

• Creation of Harbor Police Force

• By Police Chief Matsell

The End Of The Daybreak Boys

• Gradually dispersed

• Some were killed by police

• Some joined other gangs

• Others became ‘entrepreneurs’

Modern Day Media Reference

• Movie made with Leonardo DiCaprio

• Depicts a young man trying to kill

Bill The Butcher

• Famous gang member reputed

to have killed many men

www.counter-currents.com

Bibliography•

• "1853: Nicholas Saul and William Howlett, teenage New York gangsters." ExecutedToday.com. http://www.executedtoday.com/2008/01/28/1853-nicholas-saul-and-william-howlett/ (accessed November 23, 2013).

• Andrews, Evan . "7 Infamous Gangs of New York." History.com. http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/7-infamous-gangs-of-new-york (accessed November 24, 2013).

• Asbury, Herbert. "River Pirates." In The gangs of New York: an informal history of the underworld. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1937. 60-62.

• "Background History." Background History. http://www.myrtle-avenue.com/daybreak/background.html (accessed November 24, 2013).

• Burrows, Edwin G., and Mike Wallace. "City of Immigrants." In Gotham: a history of New York City to 1898. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 757.

• McNamara, Robert . "The Five Points, New York's Most Notorious Neighborhood." About.com 19th Century History. http://history1800s.about.com/od/urbanconditions/p/fivepointsnyc.htm (accessed November 24, 2013).

• Stern, William . "What Gangs of New York Misses." City Journal 23, no. 4 (2003). http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon_1_14_03ws.html (accessed November 21, 2013).

• Sutton, Charles. "XXXV." In The New York Tombs: its secrets and its mysteries. Montclair, N.J.: Patterson Smith, 1973. 469-474.