Mallet Murphy (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1890-1900) was the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

of a popular American saloon keeper and underworld figure in Hell's Kitchen, New York during the late 1890s up until the start of the 20th century. His particular nickname was attributed to his use of a wooden mallet as a weapon against unruly customers and for defending his bar against criminals. His Battle Row saloon, located at Thirty-Ninth Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenue, was used as the headquarters of the

Gopher Gang The Gopher Gang was an early 20th-century New York street gang who counted among its members Goo Goo Knox, James "Biff" Ellison, and Owney Madden, born in England of Irish ancestry. Based in the Irish neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, the Gopher G ...

during their early years.Federal Writers' Project. ''New York City: Vol 1, New York City Guide''. Vol. I. American Guide Series. New York: Random House, 1939. (pg. 156) English, T.J. ''Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster''. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. (pg. 116) Mallet Murphy has appeared in several

historical novels Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

including ''A Long Line of Dead Men'' (1999) by

Lawrence Block Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York-set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Ma ...

, ''Cold Hit'' (2001) by

Linda Fairstein Linda Fairstein (born May 5, 1947) is an American author, attorney, and former New York City prosecutor focusing on crimes of violence against women and children. She was the head of the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's offic ...

and Michael Walsh's ''And All the Saints'' (2004).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Mallet Year of birth missing Year of death missing Criminals from New York City People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Saloonkeepers American gangsters of Irish descent