John morrissey

A poor Irish immigrant, John Morrissey grew up in Troy, New York.

John morrissey

He was allowed one year of school before becoming a manual laborer. Head of a gang of young toughs, Morrissey had frequent run-ins with the police—an inauspicious start for a man who later became a U.S. congressman.

After Morrissey took a bartending job in Troy, his boss tried to arrange a boxing match between Morrissey and  “Dutch” Charlie Duane.

When the young fighter went to New York City to challenge Duane at a Tammany Hall hangout, he was badly beaten by the unfriendly crowd.

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Morrissey stayed in the city, however, as a hired bully, enforcing the political loyalty of recent immigrants. Morrissey was dubbed “Old Smoke,” when he and another “immigrant runner” knocked over a coal stove in a saloon fight and Morrissey was pinned to the burning embers before going on to win.

In 1851, Morrissey made his way to California as a stowaway in search of gold.

His first organ