Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1866-11-07
John NIOrrissey. NC

III.
. Last Saturday evening the represen
ID tatives of Tammany Hall, Mozart Hall
re the McKeen faction, and the so-calle,
Constitutional Union clique-in poin
es of fact, the united Democracy of tn,
~ New York Fifth Congressional District
50 rendered the nomination for Con
gress to JOHN MoBRIssEY, ex-pugilist
y aud present gambler, policy backer,
and speculator in stocks and sporting
= matters generally. This insuIes hi.
Z election beyond peradventure.
JOHN MORRISsEY's history has been a
checkered one, and his antecedents are
s. of such unique and peculiar character
N as no other member of the next Nation
d al Legislature will be able to show
Fourteen or fifteen years ago he was
Il bar-keeper for Captain SMITH, an old
: North river pilot, who had opened a
: tavern on the Lansingburg road, near
Troy. In this capacity JOHN, then a
very young man, had his first notable
opportunity for exercising the physical
Il powers with which nature had endow-
ed him, in keeping order among the
. rough and often quarrelsome frequent-
4 ers of the house. Any one who has
ever been in the society of the gentle
men of. The tow-path, knows what re-
. markably hard and reckless class they
are, especially when under the infiu-
ence of stimulating beverages. But
JOHN never stopped to calculate his
chances in a scufile, and he quickly
earned widespread reputation for in
domitable pluck and the invaluable
quality of never knowing when he was
whipped.
Flushed with the innumerable victo-
ries he had gained cover his grimy an
tagonlsts, of canal celebrity, he paid
visit to New York-where his fame had
preceded him-and CHANGED to drop
into a saloon, kept by a man named
KIP. There, after due preliminaries of
belligerent nature, it was resolved by
four or five muscular lambs of the BILL |
Poole flock to test the strangers PROV |
ess. They did it, in summary and |
effective way, by beating him till he
was insensible; not however, until he
had inscribed JOHN MoRRIssEY, his
mark, on several of their persons and
physiognomies. This was the future |
statesman's initial and appropriate in
PRODUCTION to that particular circle of
the Empire City, of which he destined
to become so distinguished an orna-
ment.
Now, it came to pass that about that
time, no one of American descent could
be found to meet the redoubtable-
JAMEs-otherwise "YANKEE"-SULLI-
VAN within the roped arena. Mr.. Thorn
Hyer had definitely retired: Mr..
Matthias Gooderson was doing too prof
table a business to the hotel line, and
Mr.. William Poole eschewed the prize
ring altogether. The consequence was
that the irrepressible desire of the Gel (
tic element to promote and cherish the
practice of the noble art of self-defense
could only be satisfied by a division .
among themselves into opposing fac
tions. One faction adhered to the vet =
eran Sullivan; the other, looking
around for a new man, determined to
bring out MoRRIssEY. A fight was ar
ranged between them, and it was de- I
cided on the 18th of October, IS53.-Is 8
Sullivan had the best of the combat d
but MoRRIssEY-shrewd manager that K
he was, even then-had the most v
friends on the ground. With their as
the affair was broken up in a a
promiscuous affray, and therefore "
awarded the stakes to the man who f,
was really defeated a
After this fight succeeded the reign '
Of terror which made certain parts of v
New York perilous for the evening is
traveller. Around MoRRIssEY and Poole b
there crystalized two hostile gangs of t
between whom, whenever and T
wherever they met, whether singly or Il
n crowds, war was at once declared W
md an engagement precipitated. AL Il
most every night, at one or the other of fir
he numerous sporting houses, which &C
prung up on Broadway during the ex- al
Itement, there was a desperate en- th
ounter. Finally, it was tacitly agreed M
o arrange matters by bringing off a | IL,
egular rough and tumble" between
he rival chiefs. They met one fine
morning on lock By the North river: w,
ut, there, Poole's friends outnumher- w,
d MoRRIsSEY's ten to one, and the lat ne
ar had to cry enough" to save his he
fe. This, of course, only aggravated es
ne situation, and things went on, from t.
ad II worse, until the elimination al,
as reached in the cold-blooded muir ON
er of Poole by party of MoRRIssEY's tal
ltellites.
The shock which this crime produced of
as followed by comparative quiet, do
My broken by an alteration between RI
LoRRIssEY and Hyer-in which no Iot
lows were strickland a playful en- Ivo
eavor on the part of JOHN, while in no,
to shoot the carver at the IeI
,non counter ol tne Ulrard house sh,
he fist and the revolver fell into dis Ior
pute, and little more was heard of wo
ther until the advent of John G. Hee- tin
IN, who was announced as coming on %,
om California expressly to dispute tao
orrissey's title to the championship of noe
q United States. Heenan came. saw FL;
ID didn't conquer; though his friends are
nphatically declared he knocked his Of
ponent out of time, and would have Of 6
en- hailed victor, if the crowd around
g ring had not threatened to Kill the
feree. \
From that time forth Morrissey be- five
me an altered man. He gradually to
thdrew himself from low class associ. thu
ions and strove TO gain as reputable a ne
sition as his profession of sporting folt
an would allow. He had made mon Rgr
, and with it he entered into a faro Spa
Bile partnership and prospered ex- ing
sdingly. He went on the turf and coee
ere exhibited rare skill and iudg- pol
snt, though many shallow people fec'
lied it luck. Presently he possessed OF
1t horses and became a notability on but
road. One animal of his, called bes
'ckinghGH, attracted the eye of Com ing
'dore Vanderbilt, and John was fore pea
sing enorgh to reach the old mans 9th
ak point by unosten tatiously making tloI
n a present of it From that mo- arti
mt his fortune was made. A few to
'nths after the gift Vanderbilt ma had
,uvered his famous corner" on Har- lant
Railroad stock, and gave hint to
'rrissey. The horse was worth five -
'usand dollars; that kint was worth Stu
hundred and fifty thousand. in
All has been plain sailing with our Mr..
bryo Member of Congress since. He latu
J extended his operations; establish muC
fabulous gambling banks in New IN T
rk and Washington; built club Stu'
uses and bought race tracks at Sara
a; and-always under the advice of =
friend the Commodore-madem MANY nres