Edward Lyons was a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

gangster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...

in the 19th century. Born in Ireland July 15, 1839, he immigrated to America as a child and settled in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

. A burglar and bank robber, he learned his criminal trade in

. He was sentenced to

Sing Sing Prison 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, New York, United States. It is about north of Midtown Manhattan ...

, from which he escaped in 1872 with his wife,

Sophie Lyons Sophie Lyons (December 24, 1848 – May 8, 1924) was an American criminal and one of the country's most notorious female thieves, pickpockets, shoplifters, and confidence women during the mid-to-late 19th century. She and her husbands Ned ...

. After serving multiple prison terms he became a notorious hustler and

conman A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibi ...

. Ned learned to understand how people think and react, and although impaired by extreme

near-sightedness Myopia, also known as near-sightedness and short-sightedness, is an eye condition where light from distant objects focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurred vision, blurry, while close objects ...

, he was capable of quickly identifying liars, earning himself a high powered position among the gangs of New York. Physically, he had a strikingly large head.

References

External links

The Willimantic Chronicle - Year of 1884
imprisoned at Springfield
Edward Lyons, alias Ned Lyons, Professional Criminals of America by Byrnes
British emigrants to the United States Gang members of New York City Escapees from New York (state) detention Criminals from New York City 1839 births 1906 deaths {{US-crime-bio-stub

References

Further reading

External links