Jonathan Wild, also spelled Wilde, was a London underworld figure notable for operating on both sides of the law, posing as a public-spirited crimefighter entitled the "Thief-Taker General".
The Forty Thieves — likely named after Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves — were formed in 1825 and alleged to be the first known and oldest New York City criminal street gang. The Thieves consisted primarily of Irish immigrants and Irish Americans who terrorized the Five Points neighborhood of 19th century Manhattan. Another criminal gang named the "Forty Thieves" which had no criminal ties to the New York gang was formed in London, England in 1828. From 1873-1950s, an all-female London criminal gang known as the "Forty Elephants" was also known to use the name the Forty Thieves. Later a criminal gang in Philadelphia called themselves the Forty Thieves. The Kerryonians, another early Irish gang formed in the same year as the Forty Thieves, have been alleged to be the second oldest organized criminal gang in New York City.
See also: 1883 in organized crime, 1885 in organized crime and the list of 'years in Organized Crime'.
The Hudson Dusters were a New York City street gang during the early twentieth century. Formed in the late 1890s by "Circular Jack", "Kid Yorke", and "Goo Goo Knox", the gang began operating from an apartment house on Hudson Street. Knox, a former member of the Gopher Gang, had fled after a failed attempt to gain leadership of the gang from then-leader Marty Brennan. However the two gangs later became allies during the gang wars against Gay Nineties gangs, the Potashes and Boodle Gangs, soon controlling most of Manhattan's West Side as far as 13th Street and eastern Broadway, bordering Paul Kelly's Five Points Gang to the north. While the gang dominated the West Side, it constantly battled smaller rival gangs including the Fashion Plates, the Pearl Buttons, and the Marginals for control of the Hudson River docks throughout the 1900s. Eventually, it drove the rival gangs out through sheer force of numbers, with over 200 members, not including the Gophers, who numbered several hundred more, controlling the waterfront by 1910.
The North Side Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was the dominant Irish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early-to-late 1920s and principal rival of the Italian-American Johnny Torrio–Al Capone organization, later known as the Chicago Outfit.
Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum was a New York City entrepreneur and operated as a criminal fence to many of the street gangs and criminals of the city's underworld, handling between $1–5 million in stolen goods between 1862 until 1884. Like her principal rival John D. Grady and the Grady Gang, she also became a patron to the criminal elements of the city and was involved in financing and organizing numerous burglaries and other criminal operations throughout the post-American Civil War era.
"Black" Lena Kleinschmidt was a German-born New York criminal who, as a prominent jewel thief during the late 19th century, was an associate of fence Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum and Adam Worth. Among others in Mandelbaum's "clique", she and con artist Sophie Lyons served as protégés early in their careers of shoplifting and pick pocketing.
Margaret Brown was a New York criminal and thief during the late 19th century. She was most widely known under the name Old Mother Hubbard, after the nursery rhyme of that name, which was popular at the time. Among her aliases she also included the surnames Young and Haskins. She was one of the most well-publicized female thieves in the United States during the mid-to late 19th century and was part of Marm Mandelbaum's "inner circle" which included other notorious women such as Big Mary, Sophie Lyons, Queen Liz and Lena Kleinschmidt.
Joe Erich was an American criminal fence and early underworld figure in New York City during the 1850s and 1860s. Based from Manhattan's Maiden Lane, Erich associated with many criminals and burglars of the era including Jack Spratt, Jack Adams, Tom Gordon, Tom Kelley, Jim Brady, Bowlegged Moore, Johnny Miller, Jim Painter, Amos Leeds, Bill Smith, Dick Collard, Jack Cooper and others.
Sly Cooper is a series of platform stealth video games for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. The series was developed by Sucker Punch Productions for the first three games, and then it was passed on to Sanzaru Games while Sucker Punch continued work on the Infamous series. The first three games were remastered into high-definition for the PlayStation 3 by Sanzaru Games, titled The Sly Collection.
George Leonidas Leslie (1842–1878) was an architect turned bank robber.
Sophie Lyons was an American criminal and one of the country's most notorious female thieves, pickpockets, shoplifters, and confidence women during the mid-to-late 19th century. She and her husbands Ned Lyons and Billy Burke were among the most sought-after career criminals in the U.S. and Canada, being wanted in several major cities including Philadelphia, Boston, and Montreal from the 1860s until the turn of the 20th century.
Queen Liz was the pseudonym of an American thief and pickpocket who was a prominent member of New York's underworld during the mid-to late 19th century. She was among the elite "inner circle" of female career criminals under Marm Mandelbaum during the 1860s and 1870s. Among these included fellow thieves, blackmailers and confidence women such as Lena Kleinschmidt, Sophie Lyons, Kid Glove Rosey, Little Annie, Big Mary and Old Mother Hubbard, all of whom were regular guests at her extravagant dinner parties.
The Bowe Brothers were a criminal family in New York City during the early-to-mid-19th century. The gang was headed by Martin Bowe, owner of the Catherine Slip sailors' home Glass House, and included Jack, Jim and Bill Bowe. All were well-known shooters, cutters and thieves in New York's Fourth Ward and often led waterfront thugs in raids on dockyards and ships anchored in the East River. The brothers were also fences and disposed of money obtained by other waterfront gangs.
Ephraim Snow or Old Snow was an American criminal fence and underworld figure on New York City during the early-to mid-19th century. He was one of the first major fences in New York and the main competitor of Joe Erich during the 1850s and 60s, however the two had a far more friendly and cooperative relationship then the fierce rivalries of later fences such as John D. "Traveling Mike" Grady and Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum. He operated from a small dry goods store on the corner of Grand and Allen Streets, only a short distance from Erich's establishment in Maiden Lane, and was well known as a dealer in "stolen property of every description". According to underworld lore, Erich once disposed of a flock of sheep that some Bowery thugs brought back with them while on vacation in Upstate New York having stolen them from a farm in Westchester County and herded them "through the streets of the city to the shop of the fence".
Rosanna Peers (?-1840) was an American criminal fence and underworld figure in New York City during the early-to mid 19th century. She is the earliest known business owner to begin actively dealing with the city's emerging underworld and whose Centre Street grocery store and dive bar, established in 1825 just south of Anthony Street, was used as the longtime headquarters of the Forty Thieves upon their formation by Edward Coleman in 1826.
Michael "Sheeny Mike" Kurtz was an American burglar and gang leader in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century. He was one of the co-founders of the Dutch Mob, along with Little Freddie and Johnny Irving, during the 1870s. Kurtz and the others controlled the area between Houston and 5th Streets for several years until the gang was driven out by "strong-arm squads" under Captain Anthony Allaire in 1876. A year later he was arrested in Boston for robbing a silk house owned by Scott & Co. and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. It was while in prison that he discovered that eating common soap could produce the effect of ill health. His sudden and unexplainable weight loss and other symptoms baffled the prison doctors and he was able to fool officials that he was dying and received a pardon.
"Little" Annie Reilly (1844-unknown), also known under the aliases Kate Cooley, Connelly and Manning, was a 19th-century American thief and con artist widely regarded as "the cleverest woman in her line in America". A well-known member of New York's underworld, she was part of an elite "inner circle" of female career criminals under Marm Mandelbaum during the 1860s and 1870s. These included some of the most notorious thieves, blackmailers and confidence women in the country such as Lena Kleinschmidt, Sophie Lyons, Kid Glove Rosey, Queen Liz, Big Mary and Old Mother Hubbard,
