The Daybreak Boys
By Grace Barry
American Poverty
• Irish flooded into America in nineteenth century
• Settled in run-down neighborhoods
• Prostitution and gangs were a symptom
https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=152
4&bih=716&q=irish+new+york+19+centurty&oq=irish+new+york+19+centurty
&gs_l=img.3...
• Standards were low: provided breeding ground for crime
• 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
• ‘Patsy the barber’
• Nicholas Saul
• William Howlett
• Bill Poole
• Bill Lowrie
• Slobbery Jim
• Many lived life of crime before entering gang
ontherealny.com
Members
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/7infamous-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.