Billy McGlory

William "Billy" McGlory (1851 – ?) was an American saloon keeper and underworld figure in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century. He was well known in The Bowery and Five Points districts, owning a number of popular establishments throughout the city, most notably McGlory's Armory Hall, up until the turn of the 20th century. A member of the Forty Thieves and the Chichesters in his youth, McGlory's Armory Hall remained a popular Bowery hangout for members of the underworld in the old Fourth and Sixth Wards during the late 1870s and 1880s.

Biography

Early life and criminal career

Billy McGlory was born in the slums of the Five Points. He grew up in an atmosphere of vice and crime, prior to the reform efforts of Reverend Lewis Morris Pease and the Five Points House of Industry during the mid-1850s, and as a young man was a member of both the Forty Thieves and the Chichesters.^[1] Former NYPD police chief George W. Walling described him in his memoirs as "a man out of whom forty devils might be cast if it were it possible to get at him."^[2][3] One of the first saloons he ever opened, known as the "Burnt Rag", was formerly occupied by Owen Geoghegan and, when Geoghegan relocated his saloon, McGlory moved in next door.^[4]

McGlory's Armory Hall

McGlory opened McGlory's Armory Hall, located at 158 Hester Street,^[5] in the late 1870s. It was described by a journalist for the Cincinnati Inquirer as having "a beastliness and depravity... compared with which no chapter in the world's history is equal."^[1][3] It very quickly became a popular underworld resort, frequented by thieves, pickpockets, and procurers throughout the old Fourth and Sixth Wards for nearly two decades.^[2] Armory Hall was often the scene of barroom brawls and gang violence. Drunken customers were robbed, many times by the female regulars who flirted with the victim beforehand, and then dragged from a table by a bouncer and thrown out into the street. Once outside, the victim would be searched by for anything of value and was usually stripped of his clothes.^[1][6][7]

In January 1879, McGlory was indicted for running a disorderly house. When he failed to show up in court the following month, his $500 bail was forfeited but no further action was taken. It was the robbery of a contractor, Bernard Lee, and others that prompted District Attorney John McKeon to search for untried indictments against McGlory. He found three and took them to Recorder Frederick Smythe who then ordered McGlory to appear before the General Sessions court. Though McGlory's lawyer requested bail be set at $500, McKeon raised an objection which was supported by Recorder Smythe and raised to $1,000. As a result of this trial, McGlory spent time in The Tombs.^[8]

Many of the much feared bouncers of McGlory's Armory Hall were well-known criminals and hired thugs of the Five Points and the New York waterfront. These men were described as "some of the most expert rough-and-tumble fighters of the period" and could be seen walking the club freely wearing pistols, knives, brass knuckles, and bludgeons which they often used against unruly or otherwise uncooperative customers.^[1][7]

Armory Hall was entered from the street through a double doorway, which led into a long, narrow passageway with its walls pained "dead black". Fifty feet down the unlighted passage was the barroom and from there the main dance hall, furnished with chairs and tables, which accommodated up to 700 people. The music played in the dance hall included a piano, a cornet and a violin. A balcony ran around two sides of the hall with small box seats, some containing secret compartments,^[9] separated by heavy curtains reserved for wealthy patrons. These were usually out-of-towners who were known as big spenders in the city's many resorts and clubs. Private exhibitions were held in these boxes "even more degraded then the Haymarket" and McGlory, as an added attraction, employed half a dozen half young males as waitresses "dressed in feminine clothing and circulated through the crowd, singing and dancing."^[1][3][7] They were "painted like women" and spoke in high, falsetto voices. As well as the many prostitutes and "serving girls" working in the dance hall, the concert saloon was widely known for encouraging homosexual activity among its patrons.^[9] McGlory also held athletic events at Armory Hall and charged 15 cents to attend these promotions. In 1883, his Grand Scarlet Ball included a cakewalk, mixed boxing matches, a beauty contest and a masquerade ball.^[10]

Close of the Armory and legal trouble

McGlory gained considerable notoriety from the press, especially from the New York Herald, who titled him the "Vicar General." He was one of several prominent figures, along with police officials, politicians, and sportsmen, who attended the bare-knuckle boxing prize fight between John L. Sullivan and Paddy Ryan at Madison Square Garden on January 19, 1885.^[3]

Upon the election, reform Mayor Abram S. Hewitt, who promised to clean up the vice and red light districts in New York City, closed many of the famous resorts, including Harry Hill's, Frank Stephenson's The Black and Tan, Theodore Allen's American Mabille and, in lower Manhattan, the Haymarket.^[1] Authorities finally attempted to close Armory Hall in 1889,^[9] although their efforts were initially met with some difficulty. In a meeting with Mayor Hugh J. Grant in February, McGlory claimed that he had been trying to rent the building out as a church but had been unable to find tenants. A month later, police visited Armory Hall and reported they had witnessed nothing obscene or improper, "not even a cancan." McGlory sold the building to a furniture manufacturer soon after, auctioning off he bar, piano, icebox, and stage scenery in June 1889.^[3]

A year later, McGlory bought the Hotel Irving, a respectable restaurant and boarding house in uptown Manhattan, and turned it into an all-night saloon and dance hall. The Hotel Irving was located on the corner of Fourteenth Street and Irving Place, across the street from the New York Academy of Music and nearby Tammany Hall and Tony Pastor's place. Complaints were made about the noise and violence but police did not take action until an exposé by the New York Herald prompted city officials to take action. The hotel's liquor license was revoked in June but McGlory continued to sell alcohol even after his bartender, Edward Kelly, was arrested. District Attorney De Lancey Nicoll ordered McGlory's arrest and, in December 1891, he stood trial at the Court of General Sessions for running a disorderly house.^[3]

At the trial, the Irving's manager Frederick Krause appeared as the state's witness and described how McGlory "muscled" his way into running the hotel despite McGlory having no financial ties to the Hotel Irving. Edward Corey, the former owner of the Haymarket, had legitimately purchased an interest in the hotel but was chased out by McGlory and threatened his life if he ever returned. In another incident, according to Krause, he himself was assaulted by McGlory when the hotel manager attempted to stop a suspicious looking couple from using one of the rooms. Other charges, aside from liquor law violations, were claimed by prostitute Nellie Martin, bookmaker Samuel Gugginheim, as well as additional witnesses who testified to other serious allegations.^[3]

Final years

Although McGlory and a few other uptown resorts reopened in the aftermath of Mayor Hewitt's closures, none were able to regain their former prestige,^[1] and McGlory finally closed his last dance house in 1900. After aiding his wife Annie in a hearing by the New York Supreme Court, McGlory told reporters claimed he intended to leave New York and move out West.^[11]

McGlory was arrested once more on the night of May 30, 1903, and charged with running a Third Avenue saloon without a liquor license. He was tried at the Morrisania Court two days later and explained to Judge Mayo that he had applied for a hotel license instead of a regular liquor license and hadn't intended to violate the law. The arresting detectives told the court they had arrested him because the brewery had taken away the establishment's license. Bail was set at $500 but McGlory was unable to pay it and he was taken to Harlem Prison to await trial. He met a young man while in prison, Warren Adams, who was being held for public drunkenness. Adams had traveled from Boston to attend a funeral and was arrested after he'd had a few too many drinks. Judge Mayo had sentenced him to prison in default of a $3 fine that Adams was unable to pay being only a dollar short. McGlory offered to pay the spare dollar. When Adams promised to mail him back the money from Boston, McGlory replied "Well, if you do it will be the first dollar that ever came back to me."^[12]

Personal

Billy changed his last name from McGrory to McGlory. HIs father Patrick was a grocer and his mother, Honora, was quite a figure in the neighborhood. Billy had an older half brother from his mother Honora's previous marriage and another brother and two sisters from his own mother and father. Johnny Thompson (Tomlinson) was Billy's half brother - born July 4th, 1843 and died on March 10th, 1929, in New York County, New York, at the age of 84, and is buried in Valhalla, New York. His real last name is Tomlinson and his mother Honora remarried to Patrick McGrory. Johnny made his first stage appearance in 1856 at the Palace Garden Varieties, located near Twenty-Third Street and Sixth Avenue in New York City. His specialty was "The Lively Moke," a blackface song-and-dance routine in which he played on a number of instruments carried in various pockets, finishing his act by playing on instruments from the house orchestra. He was an early "Cork" and also a member of the New York Elks (single organization), initiated September 20th, 1868 and is No. 57 on the membership roll. He and his partner Frank Kerns, were the first performers to do what is now known as the "double song and dance" act (1860s). The two made a great "hit" immediately and traveled through the country commanding the largest salaries that they had at that time. The two also took part in the first performance given to the Union troops when Richmond was taken during the Civil War. Johnny and Frank decided to become managers of a company. As there was no hall sufficiently large enough in the city, they bought a circus tent and fitted up a portable stage. Within three months they made $150,000. Business dwindled and they went to New York. They accepted many engagements with Sam Sharpley Pastor in the Bowery Opera house; K.W. Butler at Mechanics Hall, No. 472 Broadway; Josh Hart, at the Eighth Avenue Opera house and at the Theater Comique. They separated only because their combined salaries were too great for one manager to pay. In a newspaper article dated May 30th, 1868, Johnny Thompson took a benefit on May 15th; the house was crammed and during the interlude of "The Masquerade Ball", a gentleman stepped from one of the boxes and presented Johnny with a splendid gold headed cane, with the inscription on its head, "To Johnny Thompson, from a Southern friend." On June 3rd, 1869 - a ballgame between the Drama vs. Cork Opera played at the Recreation Grounds, San Francisco, California. Playing for the Opera House, Johnny Thompson took the lead, and, for a novice, displayed remarkable ability on the field. Johnny was familiarly known as "On Hand Thompson" written by J.J. McCloskey. He made his first appearance as an actor at the Old Bowery Theater, New York, March 13th, 1871, in that play. Later he produced a play known as "Dixie, Our Colored Brother" at the Wood's Museum, Thirteenth and Broadway, New York, June 3rd, 1872, and still later another play called "Face to Face". September 23rd, 1876 shows Johnny being the star at the Bowery Theatre acting in a drama entitled "Moses the Old-clothes Man" a drama in three acts, nine scenes and fifteen tableaus. The acting was claimed to be the most realistic personality ever presented on any stage. Although the title seems to intimate a satire on the Hebrew race, the reverse is said to be the case. Johnny traveled the country from the Idaho Territory towards Arizona and even acted with his eldest daughter Mollie - the earliest is when she was just 2 years old. He also went on to star in "Jack", October 29th, 1880, where he played over 12 characters and many musical instruments. He wrote a One man show entitled "Around the World" in 1880 - where again, he played many characters to many great reviews. On November 5th, 1883, Johnny took over management of the "Aberle's Theater" on Eighth Street first naming it the "Theatre Grand Central" then is became "John Thompson's Eighth Avenue Theater" with the play "Ingomar" opening on June 2nd, 1884. In the early morning on February 22nd, 1885 his theatre at No. 147 and hotel at No. 145 Eighth Street, was raided for a "degrading exhibition of the can-can" by Captain John J. Brogan of the Fifteenth Precinct. It was said that 120 persons of both sexes, were taking part or were the spectators of the degrading exhibition and liquor was being served. The can-can performances began in the theatre and in the wine room after the termination of the variety performance, usually about 1 o'clock am. Thompson made a statement to the reporter of "The Times" that if "any improper exhibition has been given in his theater or hotel it was without his knowledge, and the responsibility was on "Harry Webb", his manager, as he would sanction any such business". The last article written about Johnny Thompson was in The Times Herald (Olean, New York) March 15th, 1929. "And when his stage engagements became scarce he returned to New York with his last $15. When that was gone he collapsed from under nourishment in his rooming house". Johnny had two daughters - one of which was Mollie Thompson (1866), who was a great actress. Mollie made her first stage appearance when she was 2 years old. As a young woman she may be best remembered as a feature in "A Pair of Jacks", "The Hustler" and other farce comedies. She became famous as "the American Girl" throughout South Africa, Europe and Australia; returning to the United States in 1896. She married Edward (Eddie) Garvie April 29th, 1903 in New York, Manhattan. Shortly afterwards they played jointly in several of Chas. H. Hoyt's farces, including "A Black Sheep", "A Day and a Night" and "A Trip to Chinatown" and then a starring tour in "Mr. Jolly of Joliet". One of their best remembered performances was as the song and dance team in "Champagne Charlie" with the late Pete Daly. She retired from the stage in 1908. Mollie dies in 1918 of pneumonia and Eddie continues to act and ends up working in the movies. Johnny's youngest daughter was Margery Thompson (1873) who was an actress for a short time but quit and stayed working in the theater as a Wardrobe Mistress. He was married to Virginia Thompson and then Dotie Nagle, August 23rd, 1877, who was also his leading lady in most of his productions.

In popular culture

Billy McGlory and Armory Hall appear in the historical novels Scarlet Women: A Novel (1996) by J. D. Christilian, Hickok and Cody (2001) by Matt Braun and A Passionate Girl (2004) by Thomas Fleming.

References

Further reading

• Costello, Augustine E. Our Police Protectors: History of the New York Police from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. New York: A.E. Costello, 1885.
• Harlow, Alvin F. Old Bowery Days: The Chronicles of a Famous Street. New York and London: D. Appleton & Company, 1931.
• Hickey, John J. Our Police Guardians: History of the Police Department of the City of New York, and the Policing of Same for the Past One Hundred Years. New York: John J. Hickey, 1925.
• Mayer, Grace M. Once Upon a City: New York from 1890 to 1910. New York: Macmillan, 1958.
• Sloat, Warren. A Battle for the Soul of New York: Tammany Hall, Police Corruption, Vice, and Reverend Charles Parkhurst's Crusade Against Them, 1892-1895. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8154-1237-1