Editing Richard Toner

{{SHORTDESC:19th-century New York underworld performer}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Richard Toner
| image = A Dog Fight at Kit Burns.jpg
| caption = A dog fight at Kit Burns's Sportsmen's Hall in 1868; no authenticated portrait of Toner is known
| other_names = Jack the Rat<br>Dick the Rat<br>Jack
| occupation = Saloon worker<br>Underworld performer
| criminal_status = Later fate unknown
}}
'''Richard Toner''', known as '''Jack the Rat''' or '''Dick the Rat''', was a 19th-century New York underworld figure and the son-in-law of [[Christopher Keyburn|Kit Burns]]. Accounts of Burns's Sportsmen's Hall say Toner performed for customers by biting the heads from mice and rats.<ref>Michael Batterberry, ''On the Town in New York'' (Routledge, 1998), p. 104.</ref><ref>Gerald R. Gems, Linda J. Borish and Gertrud Pfister, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sp7b2C68xFAC&pg=PA156 ''Sports in American History''] (Human Kinetics, 2008), pp. 156–157.</ref>

Toner later helped operate the Water Street premises after Burns died in 1870.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1871/01/02/80311385.pdf “The ‘Band-Box’ of the Late Kit Burns”], ''The New York Times'', January 2, 1871.</ref> His connection to the [[Dead Rabbits]] is through later underworld histories; formal membership has not been established.

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[[Category:American gangsters]]
[[Category:Criminals from New York City]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]