Daybreak Boys
 The Old Brewery in the Five Points, circa 1850; a contextual image, not a depiction of the gang | |
| Named After | Their practice of conducting raids around dawn |
|---|---|
| Origins | |
| Founding Location | Lower Manhattan, New York City |
| Territory | East River waterfront |
| Headquarters | Pete Williams's gin mill, James and Water streets |
| Profile | |
| Structure | Organized waterfront gang |
| Activities | Waterfront theft, robbery, ship sabotage and murder |
| Politics | |
| Leader | Nicholas Saul; William Howlett; Slobbery Jim; Bill Lowrie; Sam McCarthy |
| Notable Members | Sow Madden; Patsy the Barber |
| Activity | |
| Status | Defunct |
| Years Active | Late 1840s–1859 |
| Founded Date | Late 1840s |
| Dissolved Date | 1859 |
| Dissolution Cause | Arrests, executions and sustained police operations |
The Daybreak Boys were a mid-19th-century New York waterfront gang. Herbert Asbury described them as the first East River gang to operate as an organized criminal unit, meeting at Pete Williams's gin mill at James and Water streets and conducting many raids around dawn.[1]
Nicholas Saul and William Howlett led the gang in the early 1850s. Later leaders attempted to keep it together after their arrests and executions, but police operations and further convictions weakened it; Asbury reports that it was effectively dispersed by the end of 1859.[1]
Roster
Later histories identify the following members:
- Nicholas Saul — early leader.
- William Howlett — early leader.
- Slobbery Jim — later leader who fled after the 1859 killing of Patsy the Barber.
- Bill Lowrie — later leader.
- Sam McCarthy, known as Cow-Legged Sam — final leader in Asbury's account.
- Sow Madden and Patsy the Barber — prominent members.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York (Alfred A. Knopf, 1928), chapter 3.