Dead Rabbits: Difference between revisions
Add sourced Roach Guards origin account, qualify Tommy Lynch claim, and add members and alleged associates |
Add Kit Burns and Tommy Hadden; use real-name links and remove Daybreak Boy from roster |
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| founded = 1830s (reported) | | founded = 1830s (reported) | ||
| founding_location = [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]], Manhattan, New York City | | founding_location = [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]], Manhattan, New York City | ||
| founders = | | founders = Not established | ||
| years_active = 1830s–1850s (reported) | | years_active = 1830s–1850s (reported) | ||
| territory = Five Points and nearby Lower Manhattan | | territory = Five Points and nearby Lower Manhattan | ||
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
| activities = Street fighting, political violence and rioting (attributed) | | activities = Street fighting, political violence and rioting (attributed) | ||
| rivals = [[Bowery Boys]] | | rivals = [[Bowery Boys]] | ||
| notable_members = [[Hell-Cat Maggie]] (traditional | | notable_members = [[Christopher Keyburn|Kit Burns]]; [[Thomas Hadden|Tommy Hadden]]; [[Hell-Cat Maggie]] (traditional accounts) | ||
}} | }} | ||
The '''Dead Rabbits''' were described in nineteenth-century newspapers and later histories as an Irish-American street gang associated with the [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]] neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. Traditional accounts place the group from the 1830s through the 1850s, link it to fighting and political violence, and identify the nativist Bowery Boys as its principal rival.<ref>Carter F. Smith, [https://books.google.com/books?id=z0IyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 ''Gangs and the Military | The '''Dead Rabbits''' were described in nineteenth-century newspapers and later histories as an Irish-American street gang associated with the [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]] neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. Traditional accounts place the group from the 1830s through the 1850s, link it to fighting and political violence, and identify the nativist Bowery Boys as its principal rival.<ref>Carter F. Smith, [https://books.google.com/books?id=z0IyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 ''Gangs and the Military''] (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), p. 11.</ref> | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
Herbert Asbury's influential 1928 popular history describes the Dead Rabbits as a faction that split from the Irish-American [[Roach Guards]] after an internal dispute. In his telling, a dead rabbit thrown into a meeting was taken as an omen by the departing faction, which adopted the name and a red trouser stripe.<ref name="Asbury">Herbert Asbury, [https://archive.org/details/the-gangs-of-new-york-herbert-asbury ''The Gangs of New York | Herbert Asbury's influential 1928 popular history describes the Dead Rabbits as a faction that split from the Irish-American [[Roach Guards]] after an internal dispute. In his telling, a dead rabbit thrown into a meeting was taken as an omen by the departing faction, which adopted the name and a red trouser stripe.<ref name="Asbury">Herbert Asbury, [https://archive.org/details/the-gangs-of-new-york-herbert-asbury ''The Gangs of New York''] (Alfred A. Knopf, 1928), chapters 1–3.</ref> This colorful origin story is a later account, not firmly established by contemporary evidence. | ||
The name became especially prominent during the [[Dead Rabbits riot]] of July 4–5, 1857. Fighting around Bayard Street and the Bowery grew from gang confrontations into a broader disturbance while New York's rival Municipal and Metropolitan police forces were in conflict. State militia units eventually restored order.<ref>Nate Hendley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yQqSToDPO5sC&pg=PA65 ''American Gangsters, Then and Now''] (ABC-CLIO, 2009), pp. 65–66.</ref> | |||
The name became especially prominent during the [[Dead Rabbits riot]] of July 4–5, 1857. Fighting around Bayard Street and the Bowery grew from gang confrontations into a broader disturbance while New York's rival Municipal and Metropolitan police forces were in conflict. State militia units eventually restored order.<ref>Nate Hendley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yQqSToDPO5sC&pg=PA65 ''American Gangsters, Then and Now | |||
==Members and alleged associates== | ==Members and alleged associates== | ||
Because the group's status and membership are disputed, these associations vary in reliability: | Because the group's status and membership are disputed, these associations vary in reliability: | ||
* [[Christopher Keyburn|Kit Burns]] and [[Thomas Hadden|Tommy Hadden]] — identified by Asbury as former Dead Rabbits leaders who later moved into the Fourth Ward underworld.<ref name="Asbury"/> | |||
* [[Hell-Cat Maggie]] — identified by Asbury and later histories as a Dead Rabbits fighter; many details are folkloric.<ref name="Asbury"/> | * [[Hell-Cat Maggie]] — identified by Asbury and later histories as a Dead Rabbits fighter; many details are folkloric.<ref name="Asbury"/> | ||
* [[John Morrissey]] — boxer, gambler and politician associated with the gang in later accounts; formal membership is uncertain. | * [[John Morrissey]] — boxer, gambler and politician associated with the gang in later accounts; formal membership is uncertain. | ||
* [[ | * [[Aidan Bourke|Black Dog]] — identified in later lore, but no contemporary biography has been located. | ||
* [[Jack the Rat]] — | * [[Richard Toner|Jack the Rat]] — underworld performer and Burns's son-in-law; formal Dead Rabbits membership has not been established. | ||
==Historical dispute== | ==Historical dispute== | ||
Historian Tyler Anbinder argues that a distinct gang called the Dead Rabbits may not have existed. In his reconstruction, newspapers and Bowery informants applied the expression to members of the Roach Guards and other Five Points fighters during the 1857 violence. The name should therefore be treated as disputed rather than as an uncontested formal organization.<ref>Tyler Anbinder, [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781439141557 ''Five Points | Historian Tyler Anbinder argues that a distinct gang called the Dead Rabbits may not have existed. In his reconstruction, newspapers and Bowery informants applied the expression to members of the Roach Guards and other Five Points fighters during the 1857 violence. The name should therefore be treated as disputed rather than as an uncontested formal organization.<ref>Tyler Anbinder, [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781439141557 ''Five Points''] (Free Press, 2001), pp. 353–354.</ref> | ||
==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
Revision as of 15:03, 18 August 2026
| Origins | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Not established |
| Founding Location | Five Points, Manhattan, New York City |
| Territory | Five Points and nearby Lower Manhattan |
| Profile | |
| Ethnicity | Irish American |
| Activities | Street fighting, political violence and rioting (attributed) |
| Politics | |
| Notable Members | Kit Burns; Tommy Hadden; Hell-Cat Maggie (traditional accounts) |
| Rivals | Bowery Boys |
| Activity | |
| Years Active | 1830s–1850s (reported) |
| Founded Date | 1830s (reported) |
The Dead Rabbits were described in nineteenth-century newspapers and later histories as an Irish-American street gang associated with the Five Points neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. Traditional accounts place the group from the 1830s through the 1850s, link it to fighting and political violence, and identify the nativist Bowery Boys as its principal rival.[1]
History
Herbert Asbury's influential 1928 popular history describes the Dead Rabbits as a faction that split from the Irish-American Roach Guards after an internal dispute. In his telling, a dead rabbit thrown into a meeting was taken as an omen by the departing faction, which adopted the name and a red trouser stripe.[2] This colorful origin story is a later account, not firmly established by contemporary evidence.
The name became especially prominent during the Dead Rabbits riot of July 4–5, 1857. Fighting around Bayard Street and the Bowery grew from gang confrontations into a broader disturbance while New York's rival Municipal and Metropolitan police forces were in conflict. State militia units eventually restored order.[3]
Members and alleged associates
Because the group's status and membership are disputed, these associations vary in reliability:
- Kit Burns and Tommy Hadden — identified by Asbury as former Dead Rabbits leaders who later moved into the Fourth Ward underworld.[2]
- Hell-Cat Maggie — identified by Asbury and later histories as a Dead Rabbits fighter; many details are folkloric.[2]
- John Morrissey — boxer, gambler and politician associated with the gang in later accounts; formal membership is uncertain.
- Black Dog — identified in later lore, but no contemporary biography has been located.
- Jack the Rat — underworld performer and Burns's son-in-law; formal Dead Rabbits membership has not been established.
Historical dispute
Historian Tyler Anbinder argues that a distinct gang called the Dead Rabbits may not have existed. In his reconstruction, newspapers and Bowery informants applied the expression to members of the Roach Guards and other Five Points fighters during the 1857 violence. The name should therefore be treated as disputed rather than as an uncontested formal organization.[4]
Legacy
The Dead Rabbits became a durable symbol of the Five Points underworld. Asbury's book helped popularize the traditional account, which was later heavily fictionalized in Martin Scorsese's film Gangs of New York (2002).
See also
References
- ↑ Carter F. Smith, Gangs and the Military (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), p. 11.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York (Alfred A. Knopf, 1928), chapters 1–3.
- ↑ Nate Hendley, American Gangsters, Then and Now (ABC-CLIO, 2009), pp. 65–66.
- ↑ Tyler Anbinder, Five Points (Free Press, 2001), pp. 353–354.