1890s in organized crime explained
This is a list of organized crime in the 1890s, arranged chronologically.
1890
Events
China
- The Catholic Church in Lungshui, Sichuan province is attacked by a mob of 30,000 people. Supposedly supported by the Big Sword and White Lotus Societies, the attack would be the last of the societies' anti-foreigner campaigns as several of their leaders are executed and the remaining members return to daily lives.
United States
- January 25 – After the capture of two burglars the previous week in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, police close in on the remaining members of the Oak Street Gang who had been committing burglary over the past several months in the city of New Haven, Connecticut arresting five more members.[1]
- May 5 – Members of the Provenzano faction of the New Orleans Mafia ambush several longshoremen belonging to the Matranga faction, wounding three members of the Matrangas, including Anthony "Tony" Matranga (who eventually will have his leg amputated).
- October 15 – New Orleans Police Chief David C. Hennessy is shot by unknown assailants, believed to be an Italian extortionist organization, while investigating a gang war between rival factions. Claiming that "the dagoes did it," the critically wounded Hennessey is taken to the hospital where he dies the next day (Oct. 16). His murder and the acquittal of 17 suspects cause a lynch mob to storm the jail house and hang 11 of the men on March 14, 1891. The later anti-Italian riots would leave a long lasting resentment toward immigrants for decades.
- December 22 - Frank Lyons is pardoned by Louisiana Governor Francis T. Nicholls and again re-forms the Yellow Henry Gang.[2]
Births
- Joseph Zucker, New York-Cleveland liaison and New York racketeer
Deaths
1891
Events
- March 14 – After the acquittal/mistrial (on the previous evening) of Charles Matranga and 8 of his associates for conspiracy in the murder of New Orleans Police Chief David C. Hennessy, a lynch mob enters the jail and murders 11 of the 19 suspects in the murder. Matranga himself survives by hiding within the prison. For the first time the possibility of an Italian secret criminal organization operating in New Orleans is discussed in the United States. A New Orleans grand jury investigating the incident would later report:
"..our research has developed the existence of the secret organization styled 'Mafia'.... Officers of the Mafia and many of its members were not known. Among them are men born in this city of Italian origin.... The larger number of the society is composed of Italians and Sicilians."[3]
Births
Deaths
Eleven people were lynched on March 14, 1891, for their alleged role in the murder of David Hennessy, which was widely believed at the time to be a Mafia assassination. This claim has since been disputed by some historians. Several of the lynch victims had been tried and acquitted, and some had not been tried. See March 14, 1891 lynchings.
1892
Events
- May 19 - Frank Lyons is convicted of the murder of police officer John Hurley.[4] [5]
Births
1893
Events
- August 24 - A gambling den belonging to "Big Jim" O'Leary is raided and thirteen suspects, including O'Leary, are arrested.[6]
Arts and literature
Births
1894
Events
Births
1895
Events
- The first barrel murders are discovered in New York.
- The Unione Siciliana, a fraternal organization providing support for Sicilian immigrants, is officially established in Chicago, Illinois.
- Sicilian Don Giuseppe Balsamo, supposedly the first American "Godfather", immigrates to the United States arriving in New York from Sicily. He eventually establishes criminal operations in several Italian neighborhoods of Brooklyn.
- Frank Costello arrives with his family in New York. Settling on 108th Street, his family begins running a small grocery store.
- James Colosimo immigrates to Chicago, Illinois from Calabria, Italy
Births
1896
Events
- Jack Zelig joins Crazy Butch's juvenile street gang as a pickpocket.
- Frank Costello immigrates to the United States with his family to New York from Calabria, Italy.
- March 17 - Black gambler John "Mushmouth" Johnson is shot inside his own saloon by a patron who lost heavily at craps.[11] Although critically wounded, Johnson will survive.
Births
1897
Events
- January 23 – Sum Yop Tong leader Fung Jing Toy, known as "Little Pete", is killed by Le-Lum Jung and Chew Tin Gop in San Francisco, California.[12]
Births
Deaths
- January 23 – Little Pete (Fung Jing Toy), Sum Yop Tong leader
1898
Births
Deaths
1899
Events
- A gang war breaks out between the Hip Sing and On Leong Tongs over illegal gambling in New York's Chinatown.
- New York Black Hand leader Giuseppe Morello is arrested for counterfeiting and sentenced to three years. Released in 1902, Morello establishes a system where counterfeit $5 US dollar bills would be printed in Sicily and smuggled into the United States.
- Ignazio Lupo, known as "Lupo the Wolf", arrives in New York.[20]
- Charles Umbriaco arrives in New York later joining the Black Hand under Giuseppe Morello and Ignazio Lupo.
Births
Notes and References
- Five In Jail, New Haven Police After the "Oak Street Gang". Boston Daily Globe. 26 January 1890
- "The Southern States," The Daily Picayune, December 23, 1890.
- Web site: Chronological History of la Cosa Nostra in the United States 1920–1987. https://web.archive.org/web/20061113225954/http://www.nevadaobserver.com/Chronological%20History%20of%20La%20Cosa%20Nostra%20(1988).htm . dead . 2006-11-13 .
- "Lyons Convicted," The Times-Democrat, May 20, 1892
- News: Humanities . National Endowment for the . 1892-04-09 . The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, April 09, 1892, Image 2 . 2023-02-27 . 2377-7990.
- "Items," The Chicago Tribune, August 26, 1893.
- Web site: 2006 . Fred Killer Burke . July 10, 2011 . The Outlaw Journals.
- Web site: immagine 316 . June 6, 2020 . Antenati . it.
- Web site: Hunt . Thomas . What do we know about Frankie Yale? . May 5, 2020 . The American Mafia . Yale apparently was born Jan. 22, 1893, in Longobucco [...] His father, Domenick Ioele, was born about 1860. Census records indicate the birth year of his mother, Isabella DeSimone Ioele, was between 1863 and 1865. The couple's first son, John, was born in Longobucco, about 1891-92. Frank's birth and the birth of a sister, Assunta, quickly followed, and two years later another brother, Angelo, was born..
- "Five More Heads Fall," The Evening World, August 31, 1894.
- "Shot by an Angry Crap Player," The Chicago Tribune, March 18, 1896.
- "Little Pete Sent to His Death," The Examiner, January 24, 1897.
- News: Levine . David . Legs Diamond: A History of Kingston’s Most Notorious Gangster . 22 April 2022 . Hudson Valley Magazine . 22 October 2021.
- News: Berger . Meyer . Lepke's Reign of Crime Lasted Over 12 Murder-Strewn Years . 2022-04-22 . The New York Times . 5 March 1940.
- News: Profaci Dies of Cancer . 2022-04-22 . The New York Times . 8 June 1962 . 32.
- Web site: Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci . 2022-04-22 . Herald-Review.com . en.
- News: 1972-09-04 . Roger the Terrible Was, After All, a Suburbanite (part 1) . 58 . The Daily Herald . 2022-04-22.
- Web site: The man that Al Capone feared . 2022-04-22 . ampoleagle.com.
- News: 9 July 1898 . Soapy Smith's Last Bluff Called by Frank Reid. . 1 . Skaguay News . 2022-04-22.
- Book: Ferrara. Eric. Manhattan Mafia Guide: Hits, Homes & Headquarters. 2011. Arcadia Publishing. 9781614233510. 97. en.
