Peter H. Matthews (1873 – July 21, 1916) was an operator of policy games in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1915, agents of

Charles Henry Parkhurst Charles Henry Parkhurst (April 17, 1842 – September 8, 1933) was an American clergyman and social reformer, born in Framingham, Massachusetts. Although scholarly and reserved, he preached two sermons in 1892 in which he attacked the polit ...

's Society for the Prevention of Crime and 45 police officers raided his

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

operations and rounded up a number of persons connected with this

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. Many were known associates of the previous policy king Al Adams. Among them, Matthews and two other ring leaders John J. Saul and Solomon Goldschmidt were arrested, held in bail of $10,000 (in 2005 dollars, more than $184,000) each, and tried. They confessed, were convicted, and were leniently sentenced. In 1916, Matthews died at a city hospital on

Blackwells Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to 85 ...

, probably while serving his sentence at the penitentiary there.

; October 8, 1905; "Al" Adams Has Quit. Says He's Dropped Policy Forever and Would Forget Past Troubles. By Albert J. Adams. My attention has been called to the fact that my name has been extensively coupled with the recent policy raids in Brooklyn. I wish to ask your indulgence in denying the truth of such allegations. Let me say once and for all time, I am absolutely and forever out of politics, gambling policy and all kinds of lotteries. *

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; May 28, 1915; page 1; Raid 'Policy' Backers. *

; June 4, 1915; page 4; Wrote Policy 'Gigs' on Back of Sermon. *

; Thursday, December 2, 1915; page 22; Policy Ring Chiefs Confess to Judge. "Al" Adams's Successors Say Their Capture Frees New York of That Evil. Tell of $200 A Day Profits. Three Leaders Expect Light Sentences Because of Frankness in Revelations. Three of four men who pleaded guilty to policy playing before Justice Weeks in the Criminal Branch of the Supreme Court yesterday were leaders in what has been called the only policy ring able to thrive here since the collapse of "Al" Adams's regime. From the remnants of Adams's operations they developed a syndicate with wide ramifications, which yesterday's procedure, according to Justice Weeks's own statement, completely wiped out of existence. * Society for the Prevention of Crime (1916). ''Annual Report''. New York City. pp. 9-16. {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Peter H. 1873 births 1916 deaths Criminals from New York City People from Roosevelt Island American people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in New York (state) detention

See also

Further reading