Slobbery Jim (real name unknown) was a leader of the 1850s New York City gang, the

Daybreak Boys The Daybreak Boys was a New York City street gang during the mid nineteenth century. History Formed in the late 1840s, by 1852 the teenaged Daybreak Boys were suspected by police to have been responsible for 20 to 40 murders between 1850 and 18 ...

, which was formed in the late 1840s in Five Points slum 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 twenty murders between 1850 and 1852. 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 ''William Watson''. However, he had to flee New York City to avoid prosecution for the murder of a fellow Daybreak Boy known as "Patsy the Barber". The two had robbed and murdered a newly arrived German immigrant but then the pair got into an altercation at a criminal dive known as 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 cut Jim's throat. After a lengthy fight, Jim cut Patsy's throat before stomping him to death with his hobnail boots.

References

Herbert Asbury Herbert Asbury (September 1, 1891 – February 24, 1963) was an American journalist and writer best known for his books detailing crime during the 19th and early-20th centuries, such as ''Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago U ...

, ''The Gangs of New York: an Informal History of the Underworld''. Wheeler Publishing, Waterville, Maine 2003 especially pages 46–47 (originally written in 1927, this book was the basis of the Martin Scorsese film, '' Gangs of New York'') * Michael and Ariane Batterbury, ''On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking and Entertainments''. Routledge: U.K. (1998), p. 106 (referring to the fight with Patsy the Barber)

External links

This information page on traditional music contains information on the Hole-in-the-Wall including the fight with Patsy the Barber
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slobbery Jim 1853 in New York (state) Gang members of New York City 19th-century American criminals Year of birth missing Year of death missing Place of death missing 1853 murders in the United States