George Washington Appo (July 4, 1856 – May 17, 1930) was a
pickpocket
Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for Misdirection (magic ...
and fraudster whose manner of speech in a testimony became influential in depictions of criminals . George himself wrote an autobiography, unpublished, and became the subject of a book.
Quimbo Appo
Appo's father was a Chinese immigrant from
Ningbo city with various names ("Quimbo Appo" or "Chang Quimbo Appo", Chinese name "Lee Ah Bow"), while his mother, Catherine Fitzpatrick, was an
Irish American
Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry.
Irish immigration to the United States
From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
. His father spent time in prison, while his mother and sister died enroute to California to visit her brother.
His mixed ancestry led a Louis Beck to present Appo as a story warning against
miscegenation
Miscegenation ( ) is marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races or ethnicities. It has occurred many times throughout history, in many places. It has occasionally been controversial or illegal. Adjectives describin ...
.
Incarceration and life of crime
Appo served time in various New York penitentiaries including
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for men operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York, United States. It is abou ...
, the
Blackwell's Island Penitentiary, and the upstate penitentiary in
Dennamora. In a biography by
Timothy Gilfoyle, the prison system of New York in the later half of the 19th century is depicted as being based upon the
spoils system
In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a rewar ...
and largely corrupt. In the description of Sing Sing, Gilfoyle outlines the stove manufacturing operation the inmates were forced to carry out. Gilfoyle describes the penitentiary at Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt Island) as having lax security, with inmates commonly escaping if they knew how to swim. Appo was also involved in a
green goods scam in
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...
at one point in his life.
See also
*
Rebecca Salome Foster - an advocate for the rehabilitation of prisoners who would take on Appo as an assistant
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appo, George
American fraudsters
American people of Chinese descent
Criminals from New York City
Pickpockets
1856 births
1930 deaths
Inmates of Sing Sing
American people of Irish descent