March 1, 1864 - Jack McManus
A fixture of Lower Manhattan's criminal underworld, McManus rose through the ranks as a bouncer at some of the city's most notorious dives before becoming the chief enforcer for Paul Kelly's Five Points Gang. His reputation rested on genuine physical menace — skilled enough as a boxer to be compared to Monk Eastman — and on the social cohesion of gang structures that made organized violence a durable feature of turn-of-the-century New York. His career, though ended abruptly in 1905, illustrates how the Five Points Gang operated as a proving ground for the city's broader criminal networks in that era.
From Wikipedia
Jack McManus (born Thomas McManus, March 24, 1862 – May 26, 1905), also known as Eat 'Em Up, was a noted New York City gangster around the turn of the 20th century.
Life
Born in Boston, he was considered one of the premier boxers of the underworld, rivaled only by Monk Eastman, McManus started off as a prize fighter only to begin work in as a bouncer in the dives of Lower Manhattan, including "Suicide Hall" and "New Brighton".
Eat 'Em Up Jack became known as the right-hand man of Paul Kelly, leader of the Five Points Gang. Always dressed in the finest clothes, McManus cut a fearsome figure around New York until May 1905, when he met his end after a brawl with gangster Chick Tricker. After shooting Tricker in a street brawl outside the New Brighton dance hall, Eat 'Em Up Jack was beaten to death in the Bowery by an underworld character known as Sardinia Frank, who crept up behind the gangster and bashed in his skull with a lead pipe.
- Last updated on .