Tom Flaherty, more commonly known under his

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

Old Flaherty, (born c. 1824) was an American criminal, sneak thief and river pirate in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

during the mid-to late 19th century. He was the patriarch of a criminal family in New York's Seventh Ward which terrorized the New York waterfront in the post-

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

era.Sutton, Charles; James B. Mix and Samuel A. Mackeever, ed. ''The New York Tombs: Its Secrets and Its Mysteries. Being a History of Noted Criminals, with Narratives of Their Crimes''. San Francisco: A. Roman & Co., 1874. (pg. 481) Flaherty was described as having ''"long white whiskers and a benevolent smile, but he was one of the most cruel thugs of the Seventh Ward"''. Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the New York Underworld''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. (pg. 77) Flaherty was considered a powerful underworld figure in his day, one of his criminal associates being

Bum Mahoney Bum or bums may refer to: Slang * Buttocks, two rounded portions of the anatomy on the posterior of the pelvic region of many bipeds or quadrupeds * A lazy person * A homeless person *Bum a cigarette or a "smoke", meaning to borrow Places * B ...

of the

Patsy Conroy Patrick Conway (c. 1846– ????), commonly known by his alias Patsy or Patsy Conroy, was an American burglar and river pirate. He was the founder and leader of the Patsy Conroy Gang, a gang of river pirates active on the New York waterfron ...

and

Hook Gang The Hook Gang was a street gang, and later a band of river pirates, active in New York City in the 1860s and 1870s. The gang was prominent in the Fourth Ward and Corlear's Hook districts immediately after the American Civil War, until their br ...

s, while he and another young river pirate, James Smith, stole boats from the waterfront and sail to

South Brooklyn South Brooklyn is a historic term for a section of the former City of Brooklyn – now the New York City borough of Brooklyn – encompassing what are now the Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Park Slope, Windsor ...

. From there, they would sail upriver raiding ''"farm houses, hen-roosts, canal boats, or anything else that came in their way"''. He and Smith were eventually arrested by Brooklyn Police and sentenced to five years on

Blackwell's 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 8 ...

around 1874. His wife, herself a well-known

shoplifter Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...

and

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. A thi ...

, followed him soon after. Their youngest son was sentenced to 15 years in

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north ...

for

garroting A garrote or garrote vil (a Spanish word; alternative spellings include garotte and similar variants''Oxford English Dictionary'', 11th Ed: garrotte is normal British English spelling, with single r alternate. Article title is US English spellin ...

and

highway robbery A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foot ...

while the oldest, leaving New York for the frontier, was sentenced to ten years in

Illinois State Prison Joliet Correctional Center (originally known as Illinois State Penitentiary, colloquially as Joliet Prison, Joliet Penitentiary, the Old Joliet Prison, and the Collins Street Prison) was a prison in Joliet, Illinois, United States, from 1858 to ...

for

burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murde ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flaherty, Tom 1820s births Year of death missing Criminals from New York City Criminals from Manhattan