Henry D. Neuman or Neumann ( fl. 1860–1874) was a German-born American burglar, bank robber and gang leader known as Dutch Heinrichs. A member of Chauncey Johnson's burglary gang during the late 1860s, he was also the founder of the Hell's Kitchen Gang which terrorized West Manhattan for over two decades.Federal Writers' Project. ''New York City: Vol 1, New York City Guide''. Vol. I. American Guide Series. New York: Random House, 1939. (pg. 155)Nadel, Stanley. ''Little Germany: Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City, 1845-80''. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990. (pg. 87)

Biography

Early life and criminal career

Born Henry D. Neuman in

northern Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...

, he immigrated to New York with his family as a child. Having a respectable middle class upbringing, it is unknown motivations that led him to pursue a criminal career. He was involved in petty theft as a teenager, referred to as "The Flying Dutchman", and was associated with the Greenthals and the Mandlebaums. In 1860, he was arrested after stealing a watch from a man at the corner of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and Canal Street, presumably his first criminal act,""Dutch Heinrichs" to be Sent to an Insane Asylum." New York Times. 08 May 1873 for which he was convicted and spent two years in New York State Prison. During his time in prison, he became friends with noted bond robber Chauncey Johnson and joined his gang upon his release. He eventually became his chief lieutenant and was involved in numerous robberies with the gang including $16,000 from the Adam Express Company, $21,000 from the

Vesey Street Vesey Street ( ) is a street in New York City that runs east-west in Lower Manhattan. The street is named after Rev. William Vesey (1674-1746), the first rector of nearby Trinity Church. History The intersection of Vesey and West Streets was ...

robbery and, most notably, the theft of $1,000,000 in bonds from industrialist Rufus L. Lord. Other participants in the robbery included Jack Tierney and Hod Ennis."Dutch Heinrichs; Sketch of a Noted Criminal's Career. He is Said to be Mad--A New Trial to be Had --How the Prisoner Conducts Himself in the Tombs--Beating a Man in the Cell". New York Times. 28 Nov 1872 In 1865, he was charged with stealing two bags of gold worth $10,000 from the

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as well as a later robbery in Philadelphia but was acquitted in both cases. On March 6, 1866, he attempted to steal a package from the Broadway Bank containing a $2,283 deposit, but was caught by passersby as he exited the bank. In June 1867, he appeared in court three months later and pleaded guilty to grand larceny. Although Heinrichs earned a substantial sum from his criminal activities, he usually gambled it away as soon as he earned it. On one occasion, he was said to have lost $23,000 after a major bank robbery. Once night in 1867 however, he walked into a

Chatham Street Park Row is a street located in the Financial District, Civic Center, and Chinatown neighborhoods of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street runs east-west, sometimes called north-south because the western end is nearer to the Fin ...

faro parlor with $3 and ended up walking out with $5,000 and broke the bank. He later married the sister of sportsman, gambler and sometime confidence man Tom Davis.

Hell's Kitchen Gang

In 1868, Heinrichs organized the Hell's Kitchen Gang whose members committed street muggings and petty theft in the areas between Eighth Avenue and Thirty-Fourth Street. He later joined with Ike Marsh and the

Tenth Avenue Gang The Tenth Avenue Gang was a New York City street gang and later became the city's first train robbers. Formed by Ike Marsh in 1860, the gang consisted of a small number of various burglars and other criminals. In response to the first train robb ...

launching a campaign against the

Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

which included

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

breaking and entering Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...

, destruction of railroad property and

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

. Both Heinrichs and Marsh co-led the gang until Henrich began facing legal problems during the early 1870s.

Imprisonment and later years

On January 15, 1870, shortly after his release from

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, Heinrichs and three ''"well-dressed, gentleman looking"'' men appeared at several

Uptown Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park (110th Street), ...

banks including the Bleecker Street Savings Bank, Manhattan Bank and the East River Bank among others but quickly left as soon as they were spotted by bank officials. They eventually gave up took a downtown trolley car where they disappeared."The Plot to Rob The Banks; "Dutch" Heinrichs, the Celebrated Bank Thief, Visits Several Banking Houses but Fails to Secure any Booty." New York Times. 11 Jan 1870 On February 14, 1872, two unidentified men stole $33,000 in bonds belonging to the

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and Ashland Railroads from the banking firm of J.S. Kennedy & Sons at their Cedar Street office. Information provided by a private detective led to Heinrichs' arrest and the investigation was taken over by

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

detectives. Central Office detectives came to his defense claiming Heinrichs had been held in custody at the time the robbery occurred. He had been suspected of stealing a watch from C. Godfrey Gunther, former

Mayor of New York The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

, however the gang leader's evidence was refused at trial. Convicted of

grand larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...

, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Initially sent to New York State Prison, he was sent to

The Tombs ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

eight months later. Heinrichs soon began exhibiting signs of extreme violence and paranoia while in prison. On September 24, 1872, he attacked his cellmate Jacob Rosenzweig believing he was spying on him. He reportedly did not recognize his lawyers when they came to visit him. His council successfully appealed to the Supreme Court for a retrial. As a result of the court's review of his case, a precedent was set in state criminal law that ''"when a party on trial avails himself of the recent statute allowing an accused to be a witness on his own behalf, he is not disqualified to testify by reason of a former conviction or felony"''."Dutch Heinrich and Rosenzweig Granted New Trials". New York Times. 19 Nov 1872 On May 7, 1873, officials announced that Heinrichs would be committed to the

insane asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

Wards Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Islands, in New York County, New York City,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrichs, Dutch Year of birth missing Year of death missing German emigrants to the United States Criminals from New York City