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{{SHORTDESC:19th-century New York underworld performer}}
{{SHORTDESC:19th-century New York underworld performer}}
{{Infobox criminal
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Jack the Rat
| name = Richard Toner
| image = A Dog Fight at Kit Burns.jpg
| 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
| caption = A dog fight at Kit Burns's Sportsmen's Hall in 1868; no authenticated portrait of Toner is known
| birth_name = Richard Toner
| other_names = Jack the Rat<br>Dick the Rat<br>Jack
| other_names = Dick the Rat; Jack
| occupation = Saloon worker<br>Underworld performer
| occupation = Saloon worker and underworld performer
| criminal_status = Later fate unknown
| 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 saloon keeper 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>
'''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> No reliable source reviewed identifies him as a member of the [[Dead Rabbits]]; his connection is to Burns and the wider New York underworld.
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.


==References==
==References==

Latest revision as of 23:00, 18 August 2026

Richard Toner
A dog fight at Kit Burns's Sportsmen's Hall in 1868; no authenticated portrait of Toner is known
Other namesJack the Rat
Dick the Rat
Jack
OccupationsSaloon worker
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 Kit Burns. Accounts of Burns's Sportsmen's Hall say Toner performed for customers by biting the heads from mice and rats.[1][2]

Toner later helped operate the Water Street premises after Burns died in 1870.[3] His connection to the Dead Rabbits is through later underworld histories; formal membership has not been established.

References

[edit]
  1. Michael Batterberry, On the Town in New York (Routledge, 1998), p. 104.
  2. Gerald R. Gems, Linda J. Borish and Gertrud Pfister, Sports in American History (Human Kinetics, 2008), pp. 156–157.
  3. “The ‘Band-Box’ of the Late Kit Burns”, The New York Times, January 2, 1871.