Slobbery Jim

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Slobbery Jim was a leader of the 1850's New York City gang, the Daybreak Boys. The gang was formed in the late 1840's in the slum of Five Points with membership drawn from teenaged Irish immigrants. The gang committed robberies, ship sabotage and frequent murders along the East River. The Daybreak Boys are believed to have caused the loss of at least $100,000 in property and committed at least 20 murders between 1850 and 1852. (1)

Slobbery Jim assumed leadership of the gang with Bill Lowrie in 1853 after three of the gang's leaders were arrested after a failed attempt to raid the brig of the William Watson. However, he had to flee New York City to avoid prosecution for the murder of fellow Daybreak Boy Patsy the Barber. The two had robbed and murdered a German immigrant who had just arrived in the US. However, the pair got into a fight at a criminal dive called the Hole-in-the-Wall over the distribution of the twelve cents taken from the victim. Slobbery Jim wanted the lion's share as he had thrown the man into the river while Patsy the Barber wanted an equal share as he had bludgeoned the victim in the first place. Slobbery Jim tried to bite Patsy the Barber's nose off while Patsy the Barber tried to stab Slobbery Jim's throat. After a lengthy fight, Slobbery Jim ended up cutting Patsy the Barber's throat before stomping him to death with his hobnail boots.

Slobbery Jim is believed to have ended up in the southern United States where he rose to the rank of captain in the Confederate States Army.

References

[Background History of the Daybreak Boys]

Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York: an Informal History of the Underworld Wheeler Publishing, Waterville, Maine 2003 ISBN 1-587-24463-2 especially pages 46-47 (originally written in 1927, this book was the basis of the Martin Scorsese film, Gangs of New York)

[This information page on traditional music contains information on the Hole-in-the-Wall including the fight with Patsy the Barber]

Michael and Ariane Batterbury, On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking and Entertainments Routledge UK 1998 page 106 referring to the fight with Patsy the Barber

Footnotes

(1) Background History of the Daybreak Boys Op Cit.

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