John Allen was born 1823 in New York to Rev. Jesse B Allen (1810-1871) & Hannah Louise Cole (1812-1884). His parents had 10 children 7 Survived.
John was an American saloon keeper and underworld figure in New York City during the early-to mid-19th century. A former religious student, Allen was considered one of the most notorious criminals in the city and was known as the "Wickedest Man in New York". A public crusade against him, headed by lawyer and journalist Oliver Dyer, resulted in a reform movement known as the "Water Street revival".
The campaign, in which Allen and other notorious underworld figures had been "reformed" by religious leaders, was later revealed to be a fraud following exclusive exposés by The New York Times and the New York World forcing Allen to leave the city.
in 1858, the Allens opened John Allen’s Dance Hall at 304 Water Street, which became known as one of the most licentious establishments in New York City. Allen dressed his twenty or so “dance girls” in short skirts and red-topped boots, with sleigh-bells circling their ankles. All types of vice and sexual obscenities were performed in private rooms, and sometimes right out in the open, so much so, journalist Oliver Dyer wrote in Packard’s Monthly that John Allen was “The Wickedest Man in New York City.” Allen was so proud of his new moniker, he made up business cards, saying: John Allen’s Dance Hall
304 Water Street
Wickedest Man in New York:
Proprietor:John Allen’s Dance Hall was so prosperous, in just ten years, Allen banked more than $100,000, making him the richest pimp in New York City.
Born to a prominent and well-to-do religious family in upstate New York near Syracuse, two of his brothers became Presbyterian preachers while a third became a Baptist minister. The rest of his brothers, however, settled in New York City where they became "professional burglars and footpads", most especially Theodore Allen who became one of the city's earliest underworld figures. Allen was attending the Union Theological Seminary when, around 1850, he left the institution to join his brothers in New York.[1][2] He lived with his brothers for about a year, who tutored him in burglary, and did "quite well by his own account" but was eventually cast out by his brothers after confessing to being a police informant.[3]
It was during this time that he married a "lush worker" known as Little Susie and the two moved to the waterfront district of the infamous Fourth Ward in 1855. While Susie continued her trade of "rolling drunks", Allen was employed as a runner for a crimp house. His particular job was to lure sailor, or any passersby, into the establishment where they would be drugged and shanghaied for outgoing vessels short on crew. Allen himself was eventually suffered a similar fate two years later when, while drinking with his employer one night, was drugged, robbed and woke up hours later "in the forecastle of a ship bound for South America". Allen made his way back to New York six months later, and soon after his return, his former employer had been found "beaten to death with an iron belaying-pin". There was no evidence connecting Allen to the murder, but he was considered a suspect by police and decided to seek different means of employment.
He and Susie moved to the district around Sixth Avenue and Thirteenth Street, in what would later become the "Tenderloin district", and began working for procuress Hester Jane Haskins. The husband and wife were among "respectable-looking young men and women" employed by Haskins to travel throughout New England to lure young women to New York with the promises of work. Once these women arrived, they were abducted and forced to work in brothels. When Haskins began kidnapping young girls from more prominent families, Allen and Susie decided to leave her organization. Haskins was arrested only a year later.
They had lots of daughter's but only one son, Chester.
Returning to the waterfront, Allen and his wife opened a dance hall on Water Street. The dance hall also operated as a brothel occupied by twenty young women "who wore long black bodices of satin, scarlet skirts and stockings, and red topped boots with bells affixed to the ankles". One of the girls who worked at Allen's establishment was supposedly the daughter of a Lieutenant-Governor in New England. She had originally come to New York to find her fortune and fell into the hands of procurers and forced her into prostitution.
In time, Allen's resort became one of the principal hangouts for gangsters and other criminals of the Fourth Ward. By 1860, he had amassed a personal fortune of over $100,000. His resort became one of the earliest dance halls, and later the model for many of the city's most infamous dive bars, saloons and other resorts during the late 19th century and up until the turn of the 20th century. Among them were the Haymarket, McGurk's Suicide Hall, Paresis Hall and Billy McGlory's Armory Hall. It was reported that, every evening, "several hundred partake of the rude fun, among them are boys and girls below twelve years of age. The atmosphere reeks with blasphemy. The women are driven to their work by imprecation, and often by blows, from their task master."
There is rest for the weary,
There is rest for you,
On the other side of Jordan,
In the sweet fields of Eden,
Where the Tree of Life is blooming,
There is rest for you.
— There is Rest for the Weary
Although involved in theft, procuring and possibly murder, Allen remained a devoutly religious man long after leaving the ministry. He opened his resort every afternoon at 1:00 pm, however he gathered his employees, including prostitutes, bartenders and musicians alike, and held a prayer meeting in a bar room in the back of the hall three days a week at noon. In each cubicle where Allen's women brought men, a Bible and other religious literature was available. On gala nights, these were often given away as souvenirs by Allen himself. Allen subscribed to almost every religious paper and magazine published in the United States during this time as well as his favorite newspapers the New York Observer and The Independent. He scattered these about the dance hall and bar room of the resort while every table and bench had The Little Wanderers' Friend, then a popular hymnbook. It was in this spirit that Allen would lead his employees and patrons in a sing-song, most often, "There is Rest for the Weary".
Allen's resort received considerable coverage by newspapers and magazines, particularly in light of the colorful atmosphere and his eccentric manner, the most prominent of these being Packard's Monthly journalist Oliver Dyer who first referred to him as the "Wickedest Man in New York". Allen's activities also led to his being targeted by reformers and evangelical clergymen seeking to rid the city of vice and crime. The most prominent of these was Reverend A.C. Arnold, founder of the Howard Mission, who visited Allen's resort to persuade him to allow an ordained preacher to conduct his prayer meetings.
On May 25, 1868, Arnold led a group of six clergymen and a number of devout laymen to Allen's dance hall. When they approached Allen, they found he was so drunk that he was unable to object when they held a prayer meeting lasting from midnight until around 4:00 am. The incident was covered extensively by the press causing regular curiosity seekers and ministers to visit the dance hall for several months. The unwanted attention drove Allen's regular customers away and he began to lose money. Arnold and other preachers continued to hold prayer meetings at the dance hall, usually whenever they were able to be given consent by an intoxicated Allen, and began to call upon him to close down the dance hall. Finally, at midnight on August 29, 1868, Allen's dance hall closed for the first time in seventeen years. The following morning, a notice was posted on the door.
This Dance House Is Closed: No gentlemen admitted unless accompanied by their wives, who wish to employ magdalenes as servants.
One day after the close of Allen's resort, A.C. Arnold publicly announced that Allen had been converted and reformed, and that he had forsaken his former occupation. Revival meetings were held in the resort several days later and, the following Sunday, Allen attended church services at the Howard Mission where its congregation prayed for him at Arnold's request. Allen's appearance at the mission gained attention by the press as well as the daily meetings at Allen's establishment which continued for a month. It was also during this time that the ministers had approached Allen's rivals, most notably Tommy Hadden, Kit Burns and Bill Slocum, to hold similar meetings in their establishments.
On September 11, a prayer meeting was held in Hadden's Water Street boarding house with his consent although none were held in his more infamous Cherry Street resort. Meetings were also held in Bill Slocum's gin mill, also on Water Street, and Kit Burns "rat pit" held in his liquor store. Their establishments were also overrun by preachers and, while none of the men would attend services at the Howard Mission, they did allowed themselves to be mentioned in the congregation's prayers.
This campaign, later to become known as the "Water Street revival", was declared in a public statement issued by many of the city's prominent religious leaders which explained its purpose claiming that Allen, Burns, Hadden and Slocum had freely allowed the use of their establishments for religious purposes because they had reformed and had renounced their lives of crime. An extensive investigation by The New York Times showed that the preachers, and certain financial backers, had paid Allen $350 for the use of his dance hall for a month. As part of their agreement, Allen had also agreed to sing hymns, prayer meeting and to claim that he had given his dance hall free of charge "because of his love of the preachers". These denouncements by The New York Times and the New York World caused serious damage to the preachers campaign as its large congregations began to desert the cause due to the perceived dishonesty by religious leaders. The "Water Street revival" eventually faded from public attention and was abandoned.
While his competitors soon returned to their criminal ways, Allen never recovered from the Water Street revival. His underworld reputation was irrevocably damaged, his former criminal clientele regarding him as "loose and unsound", and most refrained from attending the dance hall. Although he still retained his women and musicians, he was forced to close the dance hall within a few months.
His last public appearance was in late 1868 when he and his wife were arraigned in the Tombs Police Court, along with several of their girls, and charged with robbing a sailor of $15. One of the girls, Margaret Ware, was immediately held for trial while Allen himself was bound over $300 (or $500) bail for appearance in General Sessions. Appearing before Judge Joseph Dowling, Allen claimed that his arrest had been caused by Oliver Dyer and that the charges were a "put up job". The arresting officer, Captain Thomas Woolsey Thorne, accused Allen of running a "disorderly house". Allen denied this charge and insisted that is establishment had been in use for the past several days for religious meetings. Allen was released and the others not already sentenced were discharged. He died in West Perth, Fulton County, New York two years later.
“A tall, plain, boney, fellow, with a good-natured look in his eye, a Water Street air all about him, and a touch of Irish in his face.”—Mark Twain
John had over 113 arrests for running disorderly houses across the city, but his most infamous den was a dancehall located at 304 Water Street.
He died in Oct 1870 in West Perth, New York. HIs wife Susie I found no information for or any of his daughters.
Known for being a Saloon keeper, political "fixer" and underworld figure in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century.
He was an American gambler, political organizer, saloon keeper and head of a criminal family in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century. Born to a devout and prominent Methodist family, he and four of his brothers were notorious underworld figures; Wesley, Martin and William Allen were professional burglars while the fourth brother, John Allen, ran an illegal gambling den.
He was the owner of The American Mabille, named after the Jardin de Mabille in Paris, originally located at a Bleecker Street home. The popular resort included a dance hall and concert saloon, in the basement and first floor respectively, which housed "all classes of the demi-monde from the sun-bleared Cyprian of the Bowery ... to the diamond-bedecked mistress of some sporting man" [4] and where it was said "dissolute women in gaudy tights danced and sang ribald songs". It was also notorious for luring its female working class patrons into prostitution, one journalist claiming that the concert saloon caused "the ruin of more young girls then all the dive keepers in New York". Allen owned half a dozen similar establishments, among them the St. Bernard Hotel at Prince and Mercer Streets, as well as financed gambling dens, brothels and other "places of ill-fame". Closely associated with many criminals and gang chieftains of the period, as well as the principal competitor of Billy McGlory's Armory Hall, he planned and participated in numerous bank and store robberies. He eventually fled the city after killing a gambler and disappeared.
The people of New York thought he died, but he survived a vicious attack 1891.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57258029/theodore-allen/
1898
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57258511/theodore-allen/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57258685/theodore-allen/
Theodore was married twice
Spouse
Ida M
1847–1903
Spouse & Children
Catherine Devine
–1931
Emma Allen
1856–
Minerva Allen
1859–
Theodore does die, 12 MAy 1908 in Manhattan, NY.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57258810/theodore-allen/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57258938/theodore-allen/
Jesse Allen was born 1837 in New York, he was burglar.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57236927/jesse-allen/
Martin Van Buren Allen was born in 1841 in New York. Also a burglar.
Name
Martin Allen
Admission Age 29
Birth Year
1844
Birth Place
New York
Jail
Sing Sing
Sentence Date
29 Apr 1873
Sentence Place
New York, New York, USA
Admission Date
30 Apr 1873
Admission Place
Ossining, Westchester, New York, USA
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57236375/martin-allen/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57235506/martin-allen/
Name
Martin Allen
Admission Age 42
Birth Year
1841
Birth Place
Jamesport, Long Island
Jail
Sing Sing
Sentence Date
1 Nov 1883
Sentence Place
New York, New York, USA
Admission Date
1 Nov 1883
Admission Place
Ossining, Westchester, New York, USA
1893
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57235629/martin-allen/
Name
Martin Allen
Admission Age 56
Birth Year
1840
Birth Place
New York
Jail
Sing Sing
Sentence Date
27 Mar 1896
Sentence Place
Brooklyn, Kings, New York, USA
Admission Date
28 Mar 1896
Admission Place
Ossining, Westchester, New York, USA
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57236524/martin-allen/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57236480/martin-allen/
Martin was married to Eliza and had a t least one child a son named Walter Allen born about 1873. He was in the Civil War as were all his brothers.
Name: Martin Vanburen Allen
Age: 21
Birth Date: abt 1840
Enlistment Date: 18 Dec 1861
Enlistment Place: St Clair Co
Rank: Private
Military Unit: Second and Sixth (Consolidated) Infantry, Third Infantry, A-Bi
I did not find his death information.
DESCRIPTION. Forty-six years old in 1886. Born in New York. Widower. No trade. Slim build. Height, 5 feet 10 inches. Weight, 155 pounds. Right eye gray, left eye out, and replaced at times by a glass one. He sometimes wears green goggles, or only a green patch over the left eye. Dark hair, mixed with gray; sallow complexion. Generally wears a black mustache. Scar on left side of face. Has letters “W.A.,” an anchor, and dots of India ink on left fore-arm.
RECORD. “Wess.” Allen is probably the most notorious criminal in America, and is well known all over the United States. He is a saucy, treacherous fellow, and requires to be watched closely, as he will use a pistol if an opportunity presents itself. Wess.’s brothers are Theodore Allen, well known as “The. Allen,” a saloon keeper in New York, John Allen, a jeweler in New York, Martin Allen, a burglar, now in Sing Sing State prison, sentenced to ten years on November 1, 1883, for burglary in New York City (a house robbery, second offense), and Jesse Allen, a burglar (now dead).
Wess. has been a thief for many years, but has not served much time in prison. He was arrested in New York City for an attempt to break into a silk house, and sentenced to five years in Sing Sing prison, on July 7, 1873, under the name of Charles W. Allen. Since his release, in 1877, he has been arrested in almost every city in America, but always manages to escape conviction.
The following are a few of his arrests since 1880: He was arrested in New Haven, Conn., on January 29, 1880, in company of Wm. Brown, alias Burton, and James H. Johnson, at the Elliott House, whither they had followed Parnell and Dillon, the agitators. After a few days’ detention he was discharged. He was discharged from custody at Reading, Pa., on April 14, 1880, where he was detained on five indictments for picking pockets at a fair there in the fall of 1879.
He was charged with picking the pocket of Thomas Rochford of his watch, on the night of October 29, 1880, near the City Hall in Brooklyn. He proved an alibi, and was acquitted by a jury in the Kings County Court of Sessions in Brooklyn, N.Y., on December 23, 1880.
He was arrested in New Haven, Conn., on August 30, 1883, for an attempt to pick the pocket of John McDermott on a railroad train. As usual, he was discharged. He was discharged from arrest in the Jefferson Market Police Court, New York City, on July 30, 1884. The complainant, Edward P. Shields, a barkeeper for Theodore Allen, Wess.’s brother, charged him with “jabbing two of his fingers in his left eye.”
He was arrested again in New York City, after a severe tussle, on September 13, 1885, while attending the funeral of his wife, Amelia, on a warrant issued by Justice Mulholland, of Syracuse, N.Y., charging him with grand larceny. He was delivered to a detective officer, who took him back to Syracuse, where he again escaped his just deserts.
In November, 1885, two men of gentlemanly appearance called upon an Alleghany City, Pa., tailor named Rice, and were measured for some suits of clothing. “Send them C. O. D. to West Jefferson, Ohio, when they are finished,” they said, and bowed themselves out, after giving their names as Fisher and Grimes. The clothes, valued at $146, were shipped by Adams Express a week later, and the night they arrived in West Jefferson the express office was broken into and the clothing stolen. Fisher proved to be Wess. Allen. He had assumed his father-in-law’s name, Martin Fisher, whose house in New York City was searched by the police, and they found three of the missing suits there and also some silk. Fisher and his wife were taken into custody as receivers of stolen goods, and subsequently discharged. The former is over seventy years old, and the latter only a few years younger. Allen could not be found, as from the latest accounts he had gone to England to try his fortune there. His picture is an excellent one, the best in existence, taken in March, 1880.
Name: Chs Langley
[Wesley Allen]
Gender: Male
Race: White
Discharge Age: 27
Record Type: Prison
Birth Date: abt 1843
Birth Place: New York
Conviction Date: 17 Jun 1866
Conviction Place: Kings, New York, USA
Discharge Date: 23 Oct 1870
Discharge Place: Auburn, Cayuga, New York, USA
Jail Name: Auburn Prison
He was married twice and had the following children:
Spouse
Clara
Spouse & Children
Amelia Fisher
1851–1885
Jessie Allen
1878–1881
(Unknown Male)Allen
1883–
Name
Charles W Allen
Admission Age 28
Birth Year
1845
Birth Place
New York
Jail
Sing Sing
Sentence Date
7 Jul 1873
Sentence Place
New York, New York, USA
Admission Date
9 Jul 1873
Admission Place
Ossining, Westchester, New York, USA
Great stuff on the Allen's
ReplyDeleteBank robber Langdon Moore married into a criminal family which could
Be traced to Regency England Check it
Out