The Manly Art - Bare-Knuckle Pri - Elliott J. Gorn
The Manly Art - Bare-Knuckle Pri - Elliott J. Gorn
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ELLiOlT J. GORN
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Includes index.
1. Boxing—Unite d States. 2 . Boxing—Unite d States—Matches—History . I . Titl e
GV1125.G67 198 6 796.8'3O97 3 86-641 0
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Frontispiece
lohn Lawrenc e Sulliva n an d Jake Kilrain battl e for the championship o n July 8 , 1889 , in
Richburg, Mississippi , th e fight took seventy-fiv e round s lastin g tw o hour s an d fifteen
minutes. From The Modern Gladiator (1892).
For Ma x Gorn , 1 9 1 0 - 1 9 7 9 ,
and Ann e Franci s Gor n
Contents
Illustrations 9
Preface π
3. Th e Age of Heroes 9 8
"The Good Time Coming" 9 8
The Era of John Morrissey 10 8
The Fate of Champions 12 3
Triumph an d Declin e 14 8
"The Grea t Contes t fo r the Championship o f the World" 14 8
Civil Wars 15 9
". . . The Gangs Who Rage and Howl at the Ropes" 16 4
The En d o f th e Bare-Knuckl e Er a 20 7
"My Name' s John L . Sullivan an d I Can Lic k An y
Son-of-a-Bitch Alive " 20 7
The New Orde r 21 6
". . . Nigh New Orlean s upon a n Emerald Plai n . . ." 22 7
"The Champio n o f All Champions" 23 7
Notes 26 3
Selected Bibliograph y 31 3
Index 319
Illustrations
•9 •
ILLUSTRATIONS
10
Preface
//
PREFACE
13
PREFACE
'4
PREFACE
15
PREFACE
ELLIOTT J . GOR N
Oxford, Ohio
16
THE MANLY ART
Prologue: The Englis h Priz e Rin g
19
T H E MANL Y AR T
20
PROLOGUE
but seemed as if he had completely knocked the wind out of him." Ninth
round: "It was so evident which way the battle would now terminate, that
it was 'Lombard Street to a China Orange' Crib was the conqueror. The
Moor in running in, had his jaw broke, and he fell as if dead from a
tremendous left-handed blow of the Champion." Molineaux managed to
rise for two more rounds berore giving in.6
Crib's return home was triumphant; grateful Englishmen mobbed his
coach in every town. Back in London, several Corinthians raised a
subscription for an engraved silver cup. "You are requested," Crib was
told before a gathering of wealthy ring patrons, "to accept this cup as a
tribute of respect for the uniform valor and integrity you have shewn in
your several combats, but most particularly for the additional proofs of
native skill and manly intrepidity displayed by you in your last memourable
. 2I .
THE MANL Y AR T
23
THE MANL Y AR T
24
PROLOGUE
. 25 .
THE MANL Y AR T
26
PROLOGUE
27
THE MANLY ART
"A visit to the fives court," London, 1825. Here boxers sparred, matches were
made, stakes deposited, and benefits given. Engraved by Robert Isaac Cruikshank
for Pierce Egan's Sporting Anecdotes (1825). Courtesy of the Print Collection,
The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
. 28 .
PROLOGUE
29
T H E M A N L Y AR T
30
PROLOGUE
31
THE MANL Y AR T
32
PROLOGUE
?.?
1
Hats i n th e Rin g
34
HATS I N TH E RIN G
35
THE MANL Y AR T
First Bloo d
36
HATS I N TH E RIN G
37
THE MANL Y AR T
38
HATS I N TH E RIN G
39
T H E M A N L Y AR T
40
HATS I N TH E RIN G
tion of Englis h sportin g life , an d the author clearly kne w the work of Pierc e
Egan. Nonetheless , th e fight proved disappointing, fo r Kenset t wa s a good
hitter yet a poo r defensiv e boxe r whil e Hammond' s "nerve , hardiness ,
and bottom " faile d t o compensat e fo r hi s lac k o f aggressiveness. 20
Hammond's backer s fume d ove r th e outcom e believin g tha t th e figh t
had bee n fixed . Bickerin g laste d tw o years , an d friend s o f th e principal s
arranged th e first know n rematc h i n America n priz e figh t histor y t o clea r
up accusation s o f fou l play . The y dre w u p regula r article s o f agreement ,
a custo m borrowe d fro m th e Englis h ring . Despit e th e fac t tha t magis -
trates an d judges prosecute d boxer s unde r law s agains t assault , mayhem ,
and riot , an d tha t priz e fighting wa s universall y regarde d a s a n illega l
activity, thes e article s wer e contracts , signe d b y th e principals , seconds ,
and witnesses , settin g fort h i n legalisti c detai l th e term s o f th e bout . I n
this particula r case , th e partie s agree d t o figh t fo r fiv e hundre d dollar s a
side, t o pitc h thei r rin g withi n fift y mile s o f Ne w York , an d t o allo w th e
usual half-minut e res t betwee n rounds . Th e article s als o specifie d a dat e
for th e contest , name d a stakeholder , an d directe d eac h part y t o charter a
steamboat. O n figh t da y al l wen t smoothly , wit h carefu l regar d t o prope r
forms. Th e sportin g crow d arrive d safely , umpire s wer e appointed , an d
the second s place d sid e bets . Th e fighter s toe d th e scratch , shoo k hands ,
and awaite d th e cal l o f "Time. " Thousand s o f dollar s i n wagers , i t
appeared, woul d b e settle d withi n a n establishe d framewor k o f customs ,
rules, an d conventions. 21
Yet th e form s tha t me n establishe d fo r a fai r figh t faile d t o contai n
their passions . Accordin g t o the report , Hammon d coul d barel y ris e fro m
his bottleholder' s kne e fo r th e sevent h round , bu t hi s opponen t appeare d
fresh a s whe n th e figh t began . Whil e Hammon d reeled , hi s second ,
James Sanford—wh o fough t unde r th e rin g nam e " T h e America n
Phenomenon"—ran t o refere e Patric k Burn s claimin g tha t Kenset t ha d
defaulted b y fallin g withou t a blo w i n th e previou s round . Althoug h i t
was a speciou s charge , Burn s agree d an d awarde d th e fight t o Hammond .
Supporters o f th e winne r the n brok e int o th e rin g an d "se t u p a yel l
equal t o th e mos t savag e trib e o f Indians—bearin g Hammon d awa y fro m
the ground , callin g hi m victor , an d thi s outrageou s turbulenc e wa s
continued int o th e ver y street s o f Ne w York." 22
Despite th e breakdow n o f pugilisti c etiquette , th e Hammond-Kenset t
battles wer e archetype s fo r bout s o f th e nex t tw o decades . Coverag e o f
these contest s wa s unusuall y detailed , revealin g th e ritual s an d ceremo -
nies tha t no w clustere d aroun d th e ring . B y th e 1830 s round-by-roun d
newspaper reports , combinin g disclaimer s o f suppor t fo r th e priz e rin g
41
THE MANL Y AR T
42
HATS I N TH E RIN G
James "Deaf" Burke , champion of England, 1832-39 . When Simon Byrn e died
at his hand s i n 1833 , the champion saile d for America , wher e he prolonge d hi s
career an d helpe d transplan t th e ring .
43
THE MANL Y AR T
44
HATS I N TH E RIN G
45
THE MANL Y AR T
46
HATS I N TH E RIN G
Professors o f Pugilis m
47
THE MANL Y AR T
SELF-DEFENSE
At the reques t o f severa l gentlema n o f Philadelphia , Mr . GRA Y will fo r
a shor t tim e teac h th e followin g art s scientifically , viz :
PUGILISTIC SCIENCE ; SWOR D AN D CAN E EXERCISES ,
And al l th e othe r exercise s necessar y t o th e defenc e o f gentleme n wh o
may a t time s accidentall y b e subjecte d t o the consequence s resultin g fro m
the ungovernabl e passion s o f man .
Gray's notic e containe d tw o significan t departures : h e place d boxin g
ahead o f swor d exercise , an d h e wa s les s concerne d wit h "elegan t
accomplishment," i n Barrett's aristocratic phrase , than with self-defense. 38
Soon fencin g wa s subordinat e t o boxin g throughou t norther n cities ,
and th e nee d fo r gentleme n t o defen d themselve s fro m unprovoke d
attacks wa s sounde d agai n an d again . Som e sparrin g master s explicitl y
sought a n elit e clientele . Boxin g lesson s wer e healthfu l fo r individual s i n
sedentary—respectable—occupations, "openin g th e chest , strengthenin g
the arms, an d adding strengt h t o the valetudinarians." Moreover , pugilisti c
skills obviate d dueling : "Ever y generou s hear t mus t acknowledg e th e ar t
of self-defens e a s a necessar y branc h o f usefu l education, " th e National
Intelligencer o f Washingto n declared , becaus e "i t mus t greatl y ten d t o
lessen th e frequenc y o f duelling. " Pugilisti c arm s wer e a human e
alternative t o firearms. 39
By th e secon d quarte r o f th e centur y severa l sparrin g master s offere d
their service s i n majo r Eas t Coas t cities . Thei r effort s coincide d wit h a n
48
HATS I N TH E RIN G
I certainly hop e tha t th e corporation o f thi s city wil l interpos e t o take their
licenses from thos e houses where this brutal art is nightly taught. A taste for
the practic e threatens , i f no t speedil y discouraged , t o gai n groun d amon g
us, an d stage s ma y er e lon g b e erecte d i n our city , wher e th e eye s o f ou r
49
THE MANL Y AR T
50
HATS I N TH E RIN G
5'
THE MANLY ART
Sparring master William Fuller, 1824. Artist Charles Cromwell Ingham here
portrayed the "professor of pugilism" in the ring, but Fuller soon renounced
prize fighting for gentlemanly sparring. Courtesy of the Print Collection, The
New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations .
. 52 .
HATS I N TH E RIN G
53
THE MANL Y AR T
54
HATS I N TH E RIN G
55
THE MANL Y AR T
Ideology an d th e Rin g
56
HATS I N TH E RIN G
57
THE MANL Y AR T
Ĵ«
HATS I N TII KR 1N G
60
HATS I N TH E RIN G
6/
THE MANL Y AR T
62
HATS I N TH E RIN G
The ver y nex t year , however , th e Spirit of the Times publishe d a ful l
account o f th e Burke-O'Connel l fight , wit h a lon g apologi a explainin g
the valu e o f pugilisti c science . Althoug h Porte r continue d t o issu e
exculpations, hi s journa l regularl y carrie d boxin g storie s i n succeedin g
decades. Ye t becaus e America n priz e fightin g wa s s o totall y associate d
with th e urba n lowe r class , an d becaus e Porter' s readershi p identifie d
with th e Englis h lande d gentry , th e Spirit of the Times gav e muc h mor e
attention t o Britis h bouts , wit h thei r clingin g i f fade d bit s o f aristocrati c
glory, tha n t o America n ones. 74
Soon shor t storie s appeare d wit h th e anti-priz e figh t message . I n 183 8
the New Yorker carried a fictiona l accoun t o f a young countr y la d takin g
on a celebrate d pugilis t i n orde r t o sav e hi s mother' s hom e fro m
foreclosure. "Nothin g i s mor e disgusting, " th e narrato r assure d hi s
readers, "tha n th e descriptio n o f a priz e fight , wher e th e mos t dreadfu l
disfigurement an d injurie s don e b y ma n t o ma n i n a coo l deliberat e
manner fo r th e sak e o f lucre , ar e i f possible , mad e wors e b y bein g
recounted i n a slan g phras e an d systemati c for m t o ministe r t o th e wors t
appetite o f th e depraved. " Throug h shee r tenacity, th e la d knocke d hi s
opponent insensible , bu t no t before receivin g morta l blows . Wit h dyin g
breath, h e urge d th e onlooker s t o brin g th e priz e mone y t o hi s mother .
The woma n los t he r min d whe n sh e learne d he r son' s fate. 75
Similarly, "Th e Boxer, " whic h appeare d i n the Spirit of the Times an d
Atkinson's Casket, depicte d priz e fighter s a s barbarians . Her e a rough -
neck brok e hi s ankl e whe n lightnin g frightene d hi s horse . Th e drunke n
bully cursed , threatene d hi s wife , an d browbea t th e physician s attendin g
him. "Suc h a fou l mouthe d ruffia n I never encountere d anywhere, " hi s
doctor declared . "I t seeme d a s thoug h h e wa s possesse d o f a devil .
What a contras t t o th e swee t speechles s suffere r wh o I had lef t a t home !
and t o whom m y hear t yearne d t o return." Th e glimps e of domesti c blis s
underscored th e frenzie d violenc e o f th e boxer' s drunke n oaths :
6.?
T H E M A N L Y AR T
64
HATS I N TH E RIN G
65
T H E M A N L Y AR T
66
HATS I N TH E RIN G
67
THE MANL Y AR T
68
2
69
THE MANL Y AR T
7<>
THE ľ 1 R S T AMERICA N CHAMPION S
7'
THE MANL Y AR T
7-'
THE FIRS T AMERICA N C H A M P I O N S
73
THE MANL Y AR T
74
THE IIRS T AMERICA N CHAMPION S
75
THE MANL Y AR T
76
THE FIRS T AMERICA N C H A M P I O N S
77
T H E M A N L Y AR T
78
THE FIRS T AMERICA N C H A M P I O N S
79
THE MANL Y AR T
80 .
THE FIRS T AMERICA N C H A M P I O N S
82
THE FIRS T AMKRICA N CHAMPION S
83
THE MANLY ART
. 84 .
THE FIRS T AMERICA N C H A M P I O N S
«5
T H E MANL Y AR T
A CAR D
About si x week s since , whil e i n th e saloo n o n th e corne r o f Par k Plac e
and Broadway , i n a condition renderin g m e unabl e t o defen d mysel f agains t
any attack , 1 was assaile d i n a mos t cowardl y manner , b y a ma n o f th e
name Hyer . . . . I f I knew I had bee n worste d i n a fair fight , an d b y a perso n
who kne w anythin g a t al l abou t fighting , o r ha d th e courag e t o figh t a s a
man, I shoul d hav e take n n o notic e o f it ; bu t I conside r i t du e t o m y
friends, t o infor m the m i n thi s wa y o f th e rea l characte r o f th e occurrence . I
am n o "Iris h braggart " o r "bully, " althoug h I am a n Irishma n an d believ e
I ca n sho w mysel f worth y o f m y countr y wheneve r I am required . I f ther e
are an y wh o thin k the y ca n mak e m e "cr y enoug h lik e a whipped child, " i f
No. 9 Chatha m Stree t i s no t to o fa r out o f th e way , I will b e happ y t o hav e
them cal l an d mak e th e experiment . A s fo r Hyer , I ca n "fla x hi m out "
without an y exertion .
46
JAMES SULLIVAN.
<S'6
THE FIRS T AMERICA N C H A M P I O N S
87
THE MANL Y AR T
. 88
THE FIRS T AMERICA N C H A M P I O N S
89
THE MANL Y AR T
improve hi s hittin g power . Washin g hi s uppe r bod y wit h col d wate r afte r
these exertions , Sulliva n an d friend s retire d t o breakfast . Fin e rar e bee f
or, occasionally , boile d chicke n wa s th e orde r o f th e day . Smal l amount s
of al e an d wate r wer e permitted , althoug h dietar y lor e demande d stric t
avoidance o f vegetable s an d starche s fo r me n i n strenuou s training . Afte r
breakfast Sulliva n repose d fo r a n hou r wit h Pierc e Egan' s Boxiana,
immersing himsel f i n th e grea t ring strategie s o f th e past . H e an d hi s
trainers the n se t ou t o n a n eight-to-ten-mil e cross-countr y circuit , alon g
the wa y performin g suc h exercise s a s pickin g u p larg e stone s a t a dea d
run. Thi s over , McCleeste r an d O'Donnel l agai n douse d Sulliva n wit h
cold water , the n towele d hi m of f unti l hi s ski n glowe d cranberr y red .
Dressed i n fres h flannel, Sulliva n an d compan y partoo k o f thei r secon d
and las t mea l o f th e day , a duplicat e o f th e first . Followin g a n hour-lon g
evening brea k o f mor e readin g o r figh t talk , Sulliva n conclude d wit h
another sessio n o f sparring , dumbbell s an d ba g punching , a five-mil e
moonlight walk , an d be d b y nin e o'clock . Wit h th e exceptio n o f a glas s
of win e instea d o f ale , mutto n rathe r tha n beef , an d mountai n climbin g
in lie u o f running , To m Hye r pursue d a simila r regimen. 54
There i s a peculia r iron y i n al l o f this . A s me n strippe d of f thei r
clothes fo r a priz e fight , symbolicall y the y als o strippe d of f layer s o f
civilization. Violence , prowess , th e ques t fo r physica l domination , al l
have a barbarou s quality . Boxin g wa s par t o f culture , a man-mad e
product, bu t i t evoked image s o f instinctua l life , o f animal s battlin g ove r
food, mates , an d territory . I t wa s precisel y thi s primitiv e atavism , thi s
lack o f restrain t an d self-control , tha t critic s condemne d i n boxin g an d
bloodsports. Yanke e Sullivan , whos e "bul l do g courage " mad e hi m
"cock o f th e walk, " reaffirme d th e animalit y o f priz e fightin g b y raisin g
a bul l terrie r an d a mai n o f fightin g bird s whil e h e trained. 55
But i n th e account s o f preparatio n fo r th e ring , opposit e image s
predominate. Trainin g require d hard , abov e al l regular , wor k t o expung e
"all th e refus e o f a lon g perio d o f ease. " Sullivan' s an d Hyer' s regimen s
taught lesson s o n "th e privations , th e hardships , an d th e self-denia l
which a ma n mus t practic e before h e ca n arriv e a t hi s physica l climax ,
and stan d a s natur e intende d him , fre e fro m al l vitiatio n o f perverte d
habits." Temperance , chasteness , self-restrain t wer e th e key s t o physica l
and menta l perfection :
go
THE FIRS T AMERICA N CHAMPION S
9'
T H E M A N L Y AR T
store.
They bega n a t twent y minute s afte r four , an d th e firs t round s tol d th e
story. Th e tw o exchange d cautiou s blows , bu t neithe r ma n di d an y
damage. Suddenly , Sulliva n rushe d i n an d clinche d Hye r wit h a n
underhold. Thi s wa s a crucia l moment , fo r Yankee' s friend s counte d o n
his wrestlin g abilit y t o counte r Hyer' s reac h an d strengt h advantages . A
few har d throw s woul d weake n Youn g Americ a fo r th e late r rounds , s o
Sullivan mus t tak e charg e early . Th e spectator s watche d wit h rap t
92
THE FIRST AMERICAN CHAMPIONS
The great $10,000 match, February 7, 1849, at Still Pond Heights, Maryland.
After dodging legal authorities all night, Hyer and Sullivan fought sixteen short
but dramatic rounds. New York IlLustrated Times, February 1849.
attention a s Sully knotted his muscles to throw his man-but all in vain.
Hyer now grabbed Sullivan with an upperhold and wrenched him to the
ground. The betting swung in the Chief's favor.
For seventeen minutes, eighteen seconds, they fought a bitter, unre
mitting battle, their efforts spurred by the desire for glory and revenge.
The sporting press described the scene: "Both men came up bloody to
the scratch; Sullivan being literally clotted with gore, while the clear
crimson smoked on Hyer's chest, from a lance wound which had been
made under his right eye to prevent it from closing out his sight." By the
sixteenth round, Yankee's fighting star had set:
Hyer ... let fly both right and left in Sullivan's face, who, though he could
not return it, took it without wincing in the least. Hyer then rushed him to
the ropes again, and after a short struggle there, threw him and fell heavily
upon him....When he was taken off, Sullivan was found to be entirely
. 93 .
THE FIRS T AMERICA N C H A M P I O N S
95
THE MANL Y AR T
96
THE FIRS T AMERICA N CHAMPION S
97
3
The Ag e o f Heroe s
98
THE AG E O F H E R O E S
99
THE MANL Y AR T
100
THE AG EO E HEROE S
101
THE MANL Y AR T
They ar e fed tobacc o an d gin from childhood . Ribal d song s and the roar of
swinish carousals , i n plac e o f materna l lullabies , ech o i n their infan t ears .
Living much i n the open air, and fond o f rude physical sports, they grow up
stout an d hardy , i n spit e o f ba d habit s an d perniciou s natures . . .. I n thei r
early teens , the y fin d themselve s lew d an d lusty , thoroughl y selfis h an d
sensual, principle d agains t work , predetermine d t o dishonest y an d
tyranny. . .. To bar-rooms an d brothel s the y ten d b y a natural la w and soo n
come t o regar d ruffians , thieve s an d prizefighter s worth y example s o f
imitation an d objects o f envy. . . . Their firs t figh t an d first debauc h ar e like
the firs t honor s of a college; an d the y moun t highe r an d highe r b y sinkin g
deeper an d deepe r int o th e sloug h o f degradation . . . . They ar e water-rat s
and land-rats , rive r thieve s an d lan d thieves , pimps , confidenc e men ,
brawlers, burgler s an d assassins . . . .
102
THE AG E O F HEROE S
103
THE MANL Y AR T
104
T H E AG E O F H E R O E S
105
THE MANL Y AR T
106
T H E AG E O F H E R O E S
1 oγ
THE MANL Y AR T
108 .
THE AG E O F H E R O E S
ioç
THE M A N L Y AR T
110 .
THE AG E O F HEROE S
// /
THE MANL Y AR T
112
THE AG E O F HEROE S
114
THE AGE OF HEROES
. 115 .
THE MANL Y AR T
116 .
THE AG E O F HEROE S
"7
THE MANL Y AR T
118
THE AGE OF HEROES
Morrissey battles Heenan, October 20, 1858, at Long Point, Canada West.
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, October 30, 1858, railed against the
"depraved" sports at ringside and then printed several engravings of the action.
his strength. By the eleventh round both men had to be led to the
scratch, but Morrissey could still stand and hit, while Heenan was
defenseless. The Boy finished ingloriously, swinging wildly, overreaching
himself, and collapsing insensible.48
Old Smoke's friends were beside themselves with joy. When Heenan
recovered his strength, the sporting fraternity procured a carriage, seated
the two heroes side by side, and paraded them around the ground. After
copious drinking, backslapping, whooping and hollering, the ring keeper
pulled up stakes, and the multitude headed back to Buffalo. They
steamed in at 2:30 A.M., Morrissey's boat firing rockets to announce
their arrival as crowds cheered at the wharves. Back in New York City,
taverns and newspaper and telegraph offices were in a virtual state of
siege. Thousands clamored for news of the results, and street fights
threatened the public peace.49
. 119 .
THE MANL Y AR T
/2O
THE AG E O F HEROE S
121
THE MANL Y AR T
122
THE AG E O E HEROE S
A centur y afte r hi s fightin g caree r ended , Iris h pub s stil l ran g wit h th e
saga o f bol d Joh n Morrissey. 55
123
THE MANL Y AR T
124
T H E AG E O F H E R O E S
125
THE MANL Y AR T
126
THE AG E O F H E R O E S
127
THE M A N L Y AR T
128
4
I 2Ç
THE MANL Y AR T
The ring' s socia l isolatio n occurre d durin g a perio d whe n Americans '
interest i n sport s wa s expanding . Certainl y influentia l citizen s wer e mor e
accepting o f leisur e an d recreatio n o n th e ev e o f th e Civi l Wa r tha n the y
had bee n twent y year s earlier . Th e har d shel l o f Victoria n moralit y
remained intact , bu t b y th e lat e antebellu m er a smal l crack s wer e
appearing o n it s brittl e surface . Reformer s suc h a s Thoma s Wentwort h
Higginson, Willia m Eller y Channing , an d eve n Henr y War d Beeche r
believed tha t ma n coul d improv e himsel f i n bod y a s well a s spirit , s o the y
advocated fres h ai r an d exercis e a s antidote s t o the ill s o f crampe d urba n
life. Spectato r sport s enjoye d newfoun d popularit y a s rowin g regattas ,
trotting matches , an d pedestria n race s becam e ver y popula r amon g
diverse Americans . A fe w well-of f me n displaye d thei r statu s i n base -
ball, cricket , an d yachtin g clubs , pastime s tha t require d larg e amount s o f
leisure time . A n occasiona l youn g rakehell , fo r instanc e Frederic k Va n
Wyck, so n o f a wealth y mercantil e family , eve n showe d u p a t urba n
dives suc h a s Tomm y Norris' s Liver y Stable : "Whe n yo u star t wit h a
dog figh t a s a curtai n raiser, " Va n Wyc k reminisced , "continu e wit h a
cock fight , the n ra t baiting , nex t a priz e fight, the n a battl e o f bill y
goats, an d the n a boxin g matc h betwee n tw o ladies , wit h nothin g bu t
trunks on—afte r tha t I thin k yo u hav e a night' s entertainmen t tha t ha s
enough spice—no t t o sa y tabasc o sauce—t o fil l th e mos t rapaciou s
needs." 2
Perhaps experience s lik e thos e o f th e youn g Va n Wyc k wer e mor e
common tha n th e survivin g evidenc e indicates . Bu t fo r mos t o f th e
middle an d uppe r classes , Victoria n propriet y stil l hedge d recreation s
onto narro w ground , an d eve n leisure d bon s vivant s usuall y shunne d th e
more raucou s pastime s o f th e Englis h sportin g gentry , confinin g them -
selves t o suc h activitie s a s yachtin g an d hors e racing . Muc h o f th e
liberalization tha t occurre d before th e Civi l Wa r gaine d impetu s fro m a
handful o f reformer s wh o argue d fo r rationa l amusement s t o develo p
character an d refres h me n fo r labor . Parks , readin g rooms , an d gymnasi -
ums, i t wa s said , le d worker s awa y fro m suc h riotou s activitie s a s priz e
fighting. A fe w bol d individuals , amon g the m Olive r Wendel l Holmes ,
Sr., migh t openl y atten d sparrin g matches , writ e i n prais e o f champions '
physical excellence , eve n speculat e o n th e outcom e o f a bout . Judgin g
by th e coverag e i n th e "respectable " press , growin g number s o f me n
were a t leas t willin g t o vie w th e rin g fro m afar . N o doub t man y i n th e
bourgeoisie envie d wha t the y perceive d a s th e uninhibitednes s o f th e
working clas s an d itche d t o brea k ou t o f thei r ow n cultura l confinement .
But i n public , a t least , Victoria n stricture s wer e stil l to o stron g an d th e
desire openl y t o violat e the m to o wea k t o allo w muc h deviation . Th e
Uo
THE MEANING S O F PRIZ E FIGHTIN G
131
THE MANL Y AR T
'32
THE MEANING S O F PRIZ E F I G H T I N G
'33
THE MANL Y AR T
middle clas s wer e lef t behind . Fro m th e 1840 s o n countles s boxer s mad e
particular bar s thei r headquarters , an d th e saloon s tha t priz e fighter s
owned, managed , o r frequente d wer e mad e doubl y popula r b y thei r
presence, becaus e boxer s symbolize d th e successfu l flauntin g o f oppres -
sive socia l an d cultura l norms. 13
Volunteer fir e brigade s als o becam e foca l institution s o f th e workin g
class. Me n spen t thei r leisur e hour s i n th e pum p house s playin g cards ,
drinking, an d maintainin g th e equipment . Onc e th e cal l fo r a fir e wen t
out, the y rushe d fro m thei r home s o r shops , gathere d a t th e statio n
house, the n dragge d thei r gea r t o th e blaze . Fo r me n whos e workin g
lives wer e prosai c an d unchallenging , fightin g fire s offere d a chanc e fo r
heroic communit y service , a rea l sens e o f adventure , an d a n outle t fo r
competitive self-assertion . Becaus e neighborhoo d an d ethni c conflict s
often mad e rival s o f differen t companies , al l sough t toug h me n wh o wer e
willing t o battl e i t ou t wit h opposin g brigades , sometime s whil e a
building burne d t o th e ground . Boxers ' fightin g skill s an d courag e wer e
real asset s t o th e fir e companies , s o Yanke e Sulliva n wa s recruite d a s a
member o f th e Sparta n ban d company , name d fo r Mik e Walsh' s cliqu e o f
radical workers , whil e To m Hyer , Ji m Jerolomon , Willia m Poole , an d
John McCleeste r joine d othe r brigades . Simila r chance s fo r heroic s an d
display wer e offere d b y ubiquitou s voluntee r militi a companies. 14
Urban stree t gang s suc h a s Ne w York' s mostl y Iris h "Dea d Rabbits "
and thei r arc h rivals , th e nativis t "Bower y B'hoys"—mad e u p mainl y o f
journeymen an d apprentices—overlappe d th e fir e companies ' constituen -
cies, an d agai n boxer s wer e prominen t members . Middle-clas s commen -
tators feare d tha t Ne w York , Philadelphia , an d Baltimor e wer e no w
overrun wit h gangs that wer e committing heinous attacks on the innocent. ' 5
But thoug h som e o f th e gang s attracte d socia l misfit s wh o revele d i n
violence, mos t member s wer e worker s rangin g i n ag e fro m thei r teen s
through thei r thirties . Th e gang s wer e surrogat e families , base d o n
neighborhood, occupational , an d ethni c affiliation . Here , a s i n th e
volunteer fir e companies , laborer s an d apprentice s turne d loos e afte r
work sough t adventur e wit h thei r comrades . Drinking , fighting , gam -
bling, playin g sports , attendin g th e theater , an d especiall y promenadin g
in distinctiv e dres s fille d thei r leisur e hours . Becaus e th e gang s wer e
intent o n settlin g score s an d intimidatin g rivals , priz e fighter s ofte n
became thei r leaders , an d th e Bower y B'hoy s eve n wor e "To m Hye r
hats" a s par t o f thei r garb . Undomesticate d b y women , lovin g drink , an d
seeking distinctio n amon g peers , member s value d strength , indepen -
dence, an d devil-may-car e audacity . Thoug h thei r violenc e wa s directe d
mainly agains t on e anothe r an d wa s muc h les s sociall y disruptiv e tha n
•34
THE MEANING S O F PRIZ E FIGHTIN G
'35
THE MANL Y AR T
Meaning i n Mayhe m
'36
THE MEANING S O F PRIZ E FIGHTIN G
'37
T H E M A N L Y AR T
138
THE MEANING S O F PRIZ E FIGHTIN G
139
THE MANL Y AR T
140
THE MEANING S O F PRIZ E FIGHTIN G
141
THE MANL Y AR T
142
THE MEANING S O F PRIZ E FIGHTIN G
'43
THE MANL Y AR T
144
THE MEANING S O F PRIZ E FIGHTIN G
'45
THE M A N L Y AR T
146
THE MEANING S O F PRIZ E FIGHTIN G
'47
5
Triumph an d Declin e
148
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
149
THE MANL Y AR T
150
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
sales wit h th e New York Illustrated News. Eac h promise d th e fullest cover -
age, eac h mad e celebritie s o f it s artist s an d correspondent s i n London ,
and eac h ballyhooe d th e importanc e o f thi s figh t fo r th e "CHAMPION -
SHIP O F TH E WORLD." 9 I f th e editor s a t Leslie's fel t morall y
compromised, the y burie d thei r qualm s unde r th e revenue s tha t accrue d
from sellin g ten s o f thousand s o f extr a edition s i n Englan d an d America .
A littl e short-sighte d profi t taking , eve n a t th e ris k o f offendin g publi c
decency, wa s no t s o ba d afte r all. 10
Excitement als o rage d i n Grea t Britain , followin g decade s o f har d
times fo r th e ring . Th e generatio n afte r th e Regenc y Er a produce d
notable men , amon g the m "Deaf " Burke , Willia m "Bol d Bendigo "
Thompson, an d Be n Caunt . Englis h newspaper s regularl y pronounce d
prize fighting' s fina l demise , onl y t o repor t th e corpse' s reviva l a fe w
years later . Nevertheless , thoug h working-clas s interes t kep t boxin g an d
other fanc y sport s alive , th e ol d cultur e o f th e Regenc y Er a ha d bee n
shattered. Th e da y wa s lon g passe d whe n pugilist s ha d serve d a s usher s
at roya l coronations , whe n ga y youn g gentleme n dran k wit h thei r
favorite pugs , o r whe n th e like s o f Lor d Byro n an d Si r Rober t Pee l
sparred together . Bourgeoi s earnestnes s gav e n o quarter t o th e aristocrat -
ic lov e o f pageantry . Gentleme n an d noble s remaine d intereste d i n
"manly" sports , an d the y eve n attende d a n occasiona l match , bu t the y
kept a lo w profil e an d newspaper s respecte d thei r wis h fo r anonymity .
And althoug h grea t champion s stil l toe d th e scratch , thei r exploit s
were tainte d b y declinin g purses , crosse d matches , an d increase d rowdy -
ism a t ringside. "
Under thes e les s tha n optima l conditions , To m Sayers— a Londo n
bricklayer an d th e so n o f a Brighto n cobbler—bega n supplementin g hi s
income wit h rin g combat . Sayer s stoo d fiv e feet , eigh t inche s tall ,
usually fightin g a t a mer e eleve n ston e (on e hundre d fifty-fou r pounds) .
Yet b y 185 9 h e ha d beate n ever y conceivabl e opponent , includin g Aaro n
Jones, Willia m Perry , To m Paddock , an d Bil l Benjamin . A doze n fight s
behind hi m an d th e championshi p bel t roun d hi s waist , Sayer s lacke d a
worthy opponen t unti l Heenan' s challeng e arrived. 12
As a contras t i n styles , th e tw o boxer s embodie d qualitie s tha t toda y
still arous e th e deepes t interes t o f th e fans : experienc e versu s youth ,
cunning agains t strength , rin g scienc e opposin g brut e power . Althoug h
Heenan wa s fiv e inche s taller , tw o ston e heavier , an d eigh t year s
younger, ringsid e odd s favore d Sayer s b y a s muc h a s thre e t o one, partl y
because o f Englis h chauvinis m bu t mainl y becaus e th e Bo y lacke d
experience. Afte r all , hi s caree r consiste d o f onl y on e regula r rin g fight ,
a battl e h e ha d lost . A fina l facto r weighin g i n Sayers' s favo r wa s th e
151
THE MANL Y AR T
152 .
TRIUMPH AND DECLINE
John C. Heenan and Tom Sayers square off, April 17, 1860. Currier and Ives
produced this popular lithograph, which glossed the ringside scene in England
with a thick coat of gentility. Courtesy of the the Print Collection, The New
York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
the glory that William Hazlitt and Pierce Egan had so brilliantly captured
decades earlier. Railroad tickets went on sale just hours before chartered
trains rumbled out of London at d awn on April 17, 1860. Waiting to
board the cars at first light were "statesmen, peers of every grade,
legislators, judges, great physicians and surgeons, royal academicians,
famous novelists, dramatists and professors of literature of every kind,
journalists, draughtsmen, engineers, soldiers and sailors of every
grade, ...publicans, pugilists, bookmakers, masters of foxhounds; in
short, every class of society.... " The fancy had been up all night,
carousing and reveling into the wee hours. Bleary-eyed, they jammed
themselves into luxury coaches, cattle cars, and all variety of rolling
stock, bound for the tiny hamlet of Famborough on the heaths of
Hampshire. The South Eastern Railroad and the publiqms who sold
tickets grossed four to five thousand pounds for their night's labor. 17
Farnborough awoke to find town toughs, laborers, sporting gentlemen,
and a scattering of noblemen making their way from the railroad station
. 153 .
THE MANLY ART
Climax of the Heenan-Sayers fight, which lasted forty-two rounds spread over
two hours and twenty minutes. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper of May 12,
186o, captured the chaotic finish--constables pushed forward to stop the fight,
driving fans into the ring.
to an open field with a roped ring in the middle. By 7:30 Sayers and
Heenan threw their hats into the sacred circle. After the usual ring
rituals-introductions of the supporting cast, referee selection, stripping,
18
handshaking, and final wagering-the men toed the scratch and began.
For over two hours Sayers and Heenan mutilated each other. Probably
the American had a slight edge in the fighting, winning the majority of
rounds by knocking or throwing his opponent down. But Sayers's
indomitable will, his ability to endure punishment and finish strong,
made Heenan's advantage dubious. The tempo of the fight shifted back
and forth, Heenan using his power to maul his opponent, Sayers
returning with quick but debilitating blows to the body, neck, and head.
In the sixth round the bricklayer deflected a Heenan punch with his right
arm, sustaining a fracture that grew worse with repeated pounding. In
. 154 .
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
'55
THE MANL Y AR T
'56
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
that me n brok e th e rin g t o sav e their wagers . Th e New York Times agreed ,
adding tha t England' s declinin g internationa l prestig e cause d i t t o stoo p
so low . Wilkes' Spirit of the Times, whic h originall y assure d it s reader s
that Heena n woul d b e treate d wit h even-handedness , no w implicate d He r
Majesty's governmen t i n th e conspiracy , agreein g wit h th e othe r paper s
that th e Bo y ha d bee n swindle d becaus e th e Britis h feare d humiliatio n i n
the eye s o f th e Europea n community . Al l fel t tha t England' s vaunte d
sense o f fai r pla y stoo d reveale d a s a sham . Th e issu e fade d i n intensit y
as th e sectiona l conflic t galvanize d th e nation' s attention , bu t whe n
Anglo-American relation s deteriorate d durin g th e Civi l War , man y woul d
recall th e Farnboroug h figh t a s a n earl y sig n o f Englis h treachery. 23
In sportin g hous e legend , o n th e popula r stage , an d i n barroo m song ,
however, member s o f th e fanc y mad e righ t th e wron g don e t o America .
A balla d entitle d "Heena n an d Sayers " conflate d eac h boxe r wit h a
cherished nationa l symbol .
i57
THE MANLY ART
/flA'6 N.,B",�n.,
_ftI I'., tAur
...Ii\........ ..
•
. 158 .
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
Civil War s
'59
THE MANL Y AR T
160
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
161
T H E M A N L Y AR T
164
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
165
THE M A N L Y AR T
166 .
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
167
THE MANL Y AR T
168
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
169
THE MANL Y AR T
170
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
'7'
T H E M A N L Y AR T
172
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
173
T H E MANL Y AR T
174
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
"The Sluggers of Nebraska: A prize fight brought to an end at Nebraska City after on e round by
a genera l resor t t o deadl y weapons. " Th e National Police Gazette of Februar y 188 3 her e
parodied th e corruptio n o f priz e fightin g afte r th e Civi l War .
• 175
THE MANL Y AR T
That portio n o f th e publi c whic h delight s i n manl y sport s had see n the ring
fall unde r th e control o f notoriou s thieves , an d forthwit h sportsme n cease d
to care anythin g abou t it . . . . There i s now a thorough determinatio n t o put
down prize-fightin g i n thi s country. . . . The fightin g me n hav e themselve s
been muc h t o blame , bu t the y ar e no t t o b e hel d individuall y responsibl e
for thes e assemblages , an d th e variou s communitie s hav e decide d tha t i t
shall cease . Henc e th e proceeding s i n Indian a an d Ohi o [ne w anti-rin g
laws], th e arrest s i n Ne w York , Ne w Jerse y an d Massachusetts .
•76
TRIUMPH AN D DECLIN E
177
THE MANL Y AR T
178
6
"Fight Lik e a Gentleman , Yo u So n
of a Bitch , I f You Can"
9
THE MANL Y AR T
181
THE MANL Y AR T
182
" F I G H T LIK EA GENTLEMA N
183
THE MANLY ART
Harry Hill's New York City Sporting House. By the last quarter of the
nineteenth century, such establishments attracted not just the usual sporting
crowd but also members of "polite" society. From the National Police Gazette,
November 22, 1879.
" F I G H T E1K EA GENTLEMA N
185
THE MANLY ART
athletic club movement was part of a larger trend toward open displays
of wealth by the upper class. Resorts, such as Newport, Rhode Island,
lavish annual balls given by the Astors, the Vanderbilts, and other rich
families, and cliquish urban organizations, prime among them the Union
and Century clubs, allowed wealthy individuals to mingle and affirm one
another's social status. The exclusive New York Athletic Club was the
prototype for elite sporting organizations, setting an example by building
elaborate facilities and sponsoring amateur championships in a variety of
events.15
In addition to these institutional manifestations of upper-class sports,
. 186 .
" F I G H T LIK EA GENTLEMA N
187
T H E MANL Y AR T
188
" F I G H T LIK EA GENTLEMA N
189
THE MANL Y AR T
B. C . WILLIAMS ,
104 W E S T 55 ™ STREET ,
NEW YORK .
HRRHBH
Amateur boxing, Ne w Yor k Athletic Club, 1890 . Some of America's wealthies t
and mos t powerfu l me n belonge d t o th e N.Y.A.C . Colleg e sport s an d athleti c
clubs helpe d forg e th e socia l identit y o f corporat e America' s uppe r class .
190 .
" F I G H T LIK E A GENTLEMA N
191
THE MANL Y AR T
ease, bu t t o kno w tha t one' s fina l judg e an d onl y rival i s oneself . . . . "
Through rugge d self-testing , me n bea t bac k mora l anarch y an d foun d
renewed purpose. 26
But i t wa s no t onl y th e ol d Brahmi n cast e tha t becam e intereste d i n
sports. Th e lat e nineteent h centur y witnesse d th e unprecedente d growt h
of a salarie d white-colla r class , includin g clerks , professionals , salespeo -
ple, engineers , an d manager s o f ne w corporat e bureaucracies . A produc t
of th e extrem e specializatio n o f labo r i n a n advance d economy , thei r
work wa s ofte n sedentar y an d highl y routinized , givin g littl e inheren t
sense o f satisfaction . Indeed , suc h job s violate d importan t tenet s o f th e
entrepreneurial ethic , fo r white-colla r occupation s offere d neithe r autono -
my no r ownershi p o f productiv e property . Eve n thos e wh o earne d larg e
salaries faile d t o attai n th e ultimat e drea m o f independence . Lik e th e ol d
artisans-turned-laborers earlie r i n th e century , th e ne w manager s an d
technicians wer e employees , dependen t o n th e whim s o f others . Imbue d
with th e succes s ethic , wit h th e belie f tha t ma n make s hi s ow n fate , the y
strove mightil y fo r self-advancemen t onl y t o b e stymie d b y a socia l
system wit h littl e roo m fo r autonomou s individualism. 27
Here wa s a sourc e o f crisi s fo r masculin e identity : Wher e woul d a
sense o f malenes s com e fro m fo r th e worke r wh o sa t a t a des k al l day ?
How coul d on e b e manl y withou t independence ? Wher e wa s virilit y t o
be foun d i n increasingl y faceles s bureaucracies ? Ho w migh t clerk s o r
salesmen fee l masculin e doin g "women' s work" ? Wha t becam e o f
rugged individualis m insid e intensivel y rationalize d corporations ? Ho w
could a ma n b e a patriarc h whe n hi s jo b kep t hi m awa y fro m hom e fo r
most o f hi s wakin g hours? 2 8
It wa s precisel y i n thi s contex t tha t fear s o f feminize d male s an d
domineering wome n emerged . I n Henr y James' s The Bostonians, publishe d
in 1886 , Basi l Ranso m spok e fo r countles s America n me n whe n h e
condemned th e "damnabl e feminization " pervadin g society . "Th e whol e
generation i s womanized, " Ranso m wailed . "Th e masculin e ton e i s
passing ou t o f th e world ; it' s a feminine, a nervous, hysterical , chattering ,
canting age , a n ag e o f hollo w phrase s an d fals e delicac y an d exaggerate d
solicitudes an d coddle d sensibilities , whic h i f w e don' t soo n loo k out ,
will ushe r i n th e reig n o f mediocrity . . . . " Ranso m wishe d t o restor e
masculine character , whic h h e define d a s "th e abilit y t o dar e an d
endure, t o know an d yet no t fea r reality , t o loo k th e worl d i n the fac e an d
take i t fo r wha t i t is. " Concern s tha t femal e sentimentalit y threatene d t o
overwhelm har d masculin e realis m pervade d th e age ; suc h phrase s a s
"over-civilization" an d "over-refinement " conveye d mal e anxietie s
about effeminization . Som e me n therefor e bega n t o wonde r alou d i f th e
IÇ2
" F I G H T LIK E A GENTLEMA N
193
THE MANL Y AR T
'94
" F I G H T LIK E A GENTLEMA N
'95
THE MANL Y AR T
ig6
" F I G H T LIK EA GENTLEMA N
Jim Jeffries' s trainin g cam p a s the "Grea t Whit e Hope " prepare d t o figh t
Jack Johnson . Mik e Donovan , onc e bare-knuckl e middleweigh t champi -
on o f th e world , late r boxin g instructo r fo r th e exclusiv e Ne w Yor k
Athletic Club , becam e goo d friend s wit h Roosevelt , an d th e tw o enjoye d
sparring durin g th e latter' s term s a s governor o f Ne w Yor k an d president .
Roosevelt eve n describe d affair s o f stat e wit h boxin g metaphors , an d th e
near los s o f a n ey e i n on e o f hi s Whit e Hous e set-to s faile d t o dampe n
his enthusias m fo r th e manl y art. 38
Roosevelt's ambivalenc e wa s no t uncommon . Priz e fightin g continue d
to elici t th e ol d criticism s agains t immora l an d rowd y behavior , bu t th e
fascination tha t ha d starte d t o cree p i n durin g th e antebellu m er a no w
became mor e open. 39 A s earl y a s mid-century , newspaper s hinte d tha t
some surprisingl y respectabl e peopl e showe d u p a t sparrin g matches ,
even priz e fights . Althoug h thi s ma y wel l hav e bee n true , th e fac t tha t
names neve r cam e t o ligh t make s i t see m unlikel y tha t th e practic e wa s
common. B y th e 1880s , however , name s o f individual s wer e appearing ,
some frequently . Edito r Charle s A . Dana , Senato r Rosco e Conkling ,
Reverend Henr y War d Beecher , al l allegedl y wer e see n a t on e o r mor e
matches. Grea t tycoon s suc h a s William K . Vanderbilt , Lawrenc e Jerome ,
and Herma n Oelrick s als o attende d indoo r bout s a t Madiso n Squar e
Garden, intensel y fough t glov e contest s fo r larg e stakes. 40
Some me n eve n wrot e openl y abou t thei r beguilemen t wit h th e sportin g
underworld. G . Stanle y Hall , a founde r o f th e scienc e o f psycholog y i n
America, wa s captivate d b y th e "ra w sid e o f huma n life, " an d unknow n
to hi s friend s an d colleagues , h e venture d int o urba n backstreet s whenev -
er h e go t th e chance . Hall' s slummin g le d hi m t o th e fancy' s pe t sport :
"I hav e neve r misse d a n opportunit y t o atten d a priz e fight, " h e
confessed i n hi s autobiography , "i f I coul d d o s o unknow n an d awa y
from home , s o tha t I hav e see n mos t o f th e note d pugilist s o f my
generation i n actio n an d fel t th e uniqu e thril l a t thes e encounters." 41
The fin e art s als o revele d i n th e gutter . Aspirin g youn g painter s an d
writers wer e jus t beginnin g t o discove r previousl y tabo o subject s a s
sources o f art , an d lat e i n th e nineteent h centur y boxin g prove d especial -
ly attractive . Fran k Norri s an d Richar d Hardin g Davi s manage d t o
varnish th e rin g wit h a coat o f sentimentality , writin g o f thei r pugilist s a s
noble heroes . Th e artis t Thoma s Eakins , o n th e othe r hand , cut throug h
romantic convention s t o pain t anatomicall y impeccabl e forms , me n o f
dignified strengt h i n a violen t an d painfu l world . Eakin s wa s familia r
with boxin g b y th e lat e 1860s , bu t a quarte r centur y passe d before h e
painted th e passions—no t t o mentio n th e seminudity—o f th e ring . H e
was th e firs t America n artis t t o us e priz e fightin g a s a symbo l o f
'97
THE M A N L Y AR T
198 .
" F I G H T LIK EA GENTLEMA N.
199
THE MANLY ART
"Prize fight after a banquet: Society bloods of Rochester, New York enjoy a
rattling six-round bout at a fashionable hotel." From the National Police
Gazette, February 2, 1895.
. 200 .
" F I G H T LIK E A GENTLEMA N
202
" F I G H T LIK EA GENTLEMA N
203
THE MANL Y AR T
Gloves protecte d fighters ' hand s mor e than thei r heads , adde d weigh t to
each punch , an d allowe d me n t o thro w innumerabl e blow s t o suc h
hard-but-vulnerable spot s a s the temple s an d jaw. I n bare-knuckle fight -
ing, punche s tended t o be straight an d cutting . A man wh o threw man y
hooks o r roundhouse-styl e shot s t o th e sid e o r bac k o f hi s opponent' s
head risked breaking his fingers. Bu t with gloves, boxers could use these
more dangerous punche s wit h impunity . I n addition, th e new ten-secon d
knockout rul e furthe r encourage d clubbin g blows , becaus e i t wa s muc h
easier t o punc h a ma n int o te n second s tha n int o thirt y second s o f
204
' ' F I G H T LIK EA GENTLEMA N
205
THE MANL Y AR T
. 206 .
7
The En d o f th e Bare-Knuckl e Er a
207
THE MANL Y AR T
208
E N D O F T H E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
2og
THE M A N L Y AR T
Respectfully Yours ,
John L . Sulliva n
210 .
E N D O F T H E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
211
John L . Sulliva n an d Joh n Floo d battl e o n a Hudson Rive r barge, Ma y ı6 , 1881 .
Reports claime d tha t th e combatant s wor e skintigh t gloves , bu t thes e ar e
nowhere eviden t i n thi s engraving . Fro m Willia m Edga r Harding , John L.
Sullivan: Champion Pugilist of the World (1883) .
213
THE M A N L Y AR T
along Par k Ro w afte r Hye r defeate d Sulliva n "i n a whirlwind fight, " an d
how the huge sign hung for month s on the famous ol d street where the post
office no w stands: "To m Hyer , Champio n o f America. " Betwee n swig s of
burning liquor , som e recal l ho w Morrisse y lef t Heena n fo r dead ; other s
remember th e blo w t o th e forehea d wit h whic h McCoo l felle d Jones , tha t
left hi m vomiting as if his brain had been shaken from it s moorings; others
remember Mace as a great slugger , wh o threw punche s like a windmill and
broke Allen' s nec k wit h on e goo d blow .
Dawn brok e ove r th e resor t o f Mississipp i Cit y wit h th e multitude s
streaming towar d a ring pitche d i n fron t o f th e Barne s Hotel . Th e
veranda provide d th e choices t views , price d accordingly . Minglin g i n th e
crowd wer e merchants , busines s an d professiona l men , lawyer s an d
judges a s wel l a s th e usua l gambler s an d sports. 17
Replicas o f th e fighters ' color s sol d wel l a t ringside; Police Gazette
employees charge d te n dollar s fo r reproduction s o f Ryan's . Th e champi -
on chos e a whit e handkerchie f wit h red , white , an d blu e border , an d i n
the corner s a n Iris h harp , a n America n shield , th e sea l o f Ne w York , an d
the sunburs t emble m o f th e Fenia n Brotherhood . A t th e cente r a n eagl e
straddled th e globe , an d i n it s mout h a scrol l rea d "Polic e Gazette , Ne w
York, 1882. " Th e challenge r selecte d color s containin g simila r
symbolism—a whit e sil k handkerchie f wit h gree n border , a n America n
eagle i n th e center , an d Iris h an d America n flags crosse d i n eac h corner .
Fighters' color s wer e covete d trophies , palpabl e relic s o f heroi c deeds ;
just a s fade d duplicate s o f Sayers' s an d Heenan' s emblem s stil l hun g o n
the wall s o f Ne w Yor k sportin g houses , s o Sullivan' s an d Ryan' s soo n
would grac e saloon s acros s th e country. 18
The bettin g a t figh t tim e tilte d slightl y towar d th e challenger, bu t Rya n
was heavil y favore d fo r firs t bloo d an d firs t knockdown . Bet s o f $100 ,
$500, eve n $1,00 0 wer e common , an d on e estimat e pu t tota l ringside
wagering a t $60,000 . Althoug h Sullivan' s yout h an d strengt h wer e
evident enough , man y o f th e cognoscent i stil l pointe d t o hi s inexperi -
ence. Knowledgeabl e sportin g me n note d tha t th e Bosto n Bo y ha d neve r
before fough t wit h bar e knuckles , tha t Rya n wa s a n inc h talle r an d a fe w
pounds heavier , an d tha t th e champio n possesse d excellen t rin g skill s an d
the confidenc e t o us e them . I f ovation s wer e an y measure , Rya n wa s th e
favorite. Eve n thoug h h e ha d recentl y sustaine d a rupture , fo r whic h h e
wore a trus s unde r hi s fightin g drawers , numerou s member s o f th e fanc y
considered th e titleholde r unbeatable. 19
The challenge r thre w hi s hat i n th e ring first, the n sa t waitin g fo r
twenty minutes , wrappe d i n a blanket , unti l th e champio n arrived . Nex t
2 14
E N D O F T H E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
215
THE M A N L Y AR T
The Ne w Orde r
216 .
END OF THE BARE-KNUCKLE ERA
The new champion, John Lawrence Sullivan . His reign lasted ten years, and he
was easily the most popular sports hero of the nineteenth century. From William
Edwards, The Portrait Gallery of Pugilists of America (1894) .
. 217 .
T H E M A N L Y AR T
There ha s been s o much newspape r tal k fro m partie s who state that they
are desirous o f meetin g m e in the rin g tha t I am disgusted. Nevertheless , I
am willin g t o figh t an y ma n i n thi s country , i n fou r week s fro m signin g
articles, fo r fiv e thousan d dollar s a side; or, an y man i n the old country fo r
the sam e amoun t a t two months fro m signin g articles , I to use gloves, and
he, i f he pleases, to fight wit h the bare knuckles. I will not fight agai n with
the bar e knuckles a s I do not wis h t o put mysel f i n a position amenabl e t o
the law . M y mone y i s alway s ready , s o I want thes e fellow s t o pu t u p o r
shut up .
John L . Sulliva n
Boston, Marc h 23 , 188 2
218
END O F TH E BARE-KNUCKL E ER A
2IĻ>
THE MANL Y AR T
220 .
E N D O F T H E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
22 /
THE MANL Y AR T
222
END O F TH E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
• 223 .
T H E M A N L Y AR T
224
E N D O F T H E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
225
THE MANL Y AR T
226
E N D O F T H E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
22γ
THE MANL Y AR T
228
END OF THE BARE-KNUCKLE ERA
229
THE MANLY ART
and grappling in the mud chilled Sullivan until he shook. Worst of all, in
three hours of fighting spread over thirty-nine rounds he failed to catch
the wily Englishman. Both sides finally agreed to a draw. Authorities
arrested Sullivan and Mitchell on the way out of France, and the two
men were forced to jump bail and flee to England. With the stakes
drawn, the champion quietly sailed back to America.
His run of bad luck continued. He sparred at a few benefits and went
on a short road-tour with a travelling circus, but within months his
health broke down completely. Sullivan claimed to have typhoid fever,
gastric fever, inflammation of the bowels, heart trouble, liver complaint,
and incipient paralysis. Acute alcoholism was a more plausible diagnosis.
He lay bedridden for weeks, finally rising on his thirtieth birthday
against the advice of his doctors. It was time to cease being a victim,
time to act. Within two months he posted five thousand dollars to fight a
bare-knuckle championship battle, and a month later he signed articles.
His claim to the title shaken by Mitchell, his health and age betraying
him, his fans clamoring for vindication and his enemies out for blood,
Sullivan staked his career on a single desperate battleY
His opponent was Joseph Killion. The challenger told reporters that he
learned to box because, as an awkward lad from the country, he had been
victimized with cruel practical jokes by fellow workers at a Boston-area
rolling mill. His efforts at self-defense paid off; he soon won several
matches among his peers, making him "Champion of the Mill." A
natural athlete, Killion also rowed in four-man crews during the 1880s,
winning the junior sculling championship at the National Amateur
Regatta in 1883. Unfortunately, when it became known that he was a
professional pugilist, the National Rowing Association stripped him of
both the title and his amateur status. The ring's revival created new
opportunities for talented working-class men, however, and money
making opportunities were more compelling than the amateur ideal. The
winter of 1883 found him teaching sparring at exclusive Cribb clubs in
Boston and Baltimore. He took the ring name Jake Kiirain, fought
Queensberry bouts in major East Coast and Midwest cities, and com
piled a fine record. By 1887 Kilrain had grown weary of living in
Sullivan's shadow, and Richard Kyle Fox agreed to back him, believing
he now had the man to humble the Strong Boy.52
But Kilrain's rise coincided with Sullivan's run of trouble. Early in
1887 Fox designed a new heavyweight championship belt,-allegedly
made from two hundred ounces of solid silver, with diamond and gold
ornamentation. In return, the editor insisted that his offices arrange all
. 230 .
END OF THE BARE-KNUCKLE ERA
title fights for the belt, that he be stakeholder, and that the Gazette have
a representative at ringside. Meanwhile Kilrain published two cards
challenging the champion for five thousand dollars a side and the belt.
This was in May 1887, and because Sullivan's arm was still healing, he
rejected the match. Citing six decades of American pugilism as prece
dent, Fox declared that a champion who refused a legitimate challenge
relinquished his title. Thus on June 4, 1887, in a Baltimore theater, the
editor of the Police Gazette awarded the belt to Kilrain and declared him
champion. 53
John L. contemptuously responded that he would fight once his arm
was well and that when he won the "dog collar" from Kilrain, he would
offer it as a boxing trophy to the bootblacks of New York. In retaliation
against Fox, the champion's Boston friends had an even more elegant
belt made, this one with three hundred ninety-seven diamonds and
valued at eight thousand dollars. Mayor Hugh O'Brien, seven city
councilmen, and four thousand Hub City residents packed the Boston
Theater to present the belt and honor "Our John," as he was known
locally. Sullivan then went to Europe, suffered the Mitchell fiasco, and
returned only to have his health break down. 54
Thus it was not until the champion's ability to defend his title grew
doubtful that he took up Kilrain's challenge. The backers of the Strong
Boy, whose physique had deteriorated badly, remanded him to the
custody of William Muldoon, a champion wrestler, celebrity strongman,
and health fetishist. He took Sullivan to his isolated country home in
Belfast, New York, and put him under a strict regimen of diet and
exercise, including rope jumping, dumbbell workouts, and farm labor.
The champion shed years of dissipation and regained much of his lost
vitality. Over and over, the press cited Sullivan's resurrection as an
example of the fruits of industrious, moral, and purposeful living. "How
inconsistent the pretended Christians are," trainer Muldoon complained.
"They call us brutes and do not want us to give exhibitions lest we
demoralize their cigarette-sucking, dwarfy puny offspring' We who
would teach them an exercise beneficial to body and mind." S5
Richard Kyle Fox bent every effort to stir up public interest. The Police
Gazette condemned Sullivan as a drunken and swaggering braggart,
while depicting Kilrain as a genteel family man, complete with high silk
hat and polite manners. A Jetter to the Boston Post, written by a
"Mother of Sons," praised Kilrain for his abstemiousness, modest
demeanor, even temper, and good character. Perhaps, the writer specu
lated, Providence had sent him to knock out the bully Sullivan. But after
. 23 J .
THE MANLY ART
their fight, she urged, Kilrain should quit the prize ring and go to work
for an athletic club, "where he can train the rising generation in athletics
S6
and also in this fine art of keeping one's temper. "
Once again New Orleans was chosen as the most congenial staging
ground for the battle. Despite new antiboxing statutes passed by the city
council, a sympathetic mayor and dilatory law enforcement still made
the Crescent City the best gathering place for the fancy. With Chief of
Police David Hennessey's approval, gambler Bud Renaud arranged the
excursion to the secret fight venue. The Southern Athletic Club offered
its facilities for Kilrain's final training, while Sullivan fine-tuned at the
Young Man's Gymnastic Club. Newspapers across the country gave
unprecedented attention to the fight, covering the combatants' training,
moods, and progress South. Reporters from every major daily made their
way to New Orleans, the Associated Press sent representatives, and
Western Union employed fifty special operators who telegraphed over
two hundred thousand words of coverage. As the day of the fight
approached, men poured into New Orleans in special trains, some
chartered from New York by Richard Kyle Fox. Declared the Picayune,
"The city is fighting mad . . . . Everybody had the fever and is talking
Sullivan and Kilrain. Ladies discussed it in street cars, men talked and
argued about it in places which had never heard pugilism mentioned
before. " On the night of July 7, 1889, after days of revelry, three trains
left the Crescent City crammed with holders of ten- and fifteen-dollar
excursion tickets. 57
Governors of half-a-dozen Southern states vowed to prevent the battle,
troops stood at the main railroad lines leading out of Louisiana, and the
governor of Mississippi offered a one-thousand-dollar bounty for the
arrest of Sullivan. But the train engineers stayed on little-used rural
tracks to elude militia units. Before sunrise on a sweltering Delta
morning, the cars from New Orleans unloaded their freight in Richburg,
Mississippi. Five thousand citizens swarmed onto the land owned by
Charles Rich, a sawmill proprietor, who had his men build a ring
surrounded by rough-hewn bleachers. Pugs, gunslingers, and sporting
men brushed up against influential society figures and members of
exclusive athletic clubs. A timely bribe of two hundred fifty dollars kept
a local magistrate from reading the riot act. By 10 A.M. both fighters
were in the ring, and as the men stripped, the temperature soared past
one hundred degrees. Mike Donovan, former middleweight champion,
and Charlie Mitchell, the "bombastic sprinter " as Sullivan contemptu
ously called him, seconded Kilrain. Mitchell, always a volatile character,
carried two guns, and he hired a private detective for protection, though
232
END OF THE BARE -KNUCKLE E RA
. 233 .
THE MANLY ART
The last bare-knuckle championship fight, July 8, 1889. Sullivan and challenger
Jake Kilrain fought seventy-five rounds in the mid-day sun of Richburg,
Mississippi. Urban sports as well as lawyers, doctors, and even a college
president looked on.
eh? A champion of what?" Sullivan had words left over for Kilrain's
second, Charlie Mitchell: "I wish it was you I had in here, you
,60
sucker.'
The only doubt about the outcome came in the forty-fourth round. A
drink of cold tea spiked with whiskey made the champion vomit. Word
quickly went round the ring that Sullivan's stomach was retaining the
whiskey but rej ecting the tea, a bit of humor that barely masked his
partisans' alarm. Fighters often drank alcohol during especially difficult
battles-Mike Donovan claimed a full quart of whiskey kept Kilrain
going-so fans were surprised at Sullivan's sudden illness, and his
friends feared that the tide now turned against him. But when Kilrain
offered a draw, the champion barked "No, you loafer," and punched
. 234 .
END OF T HE BARE -KNUCKLE ERA
him down again. By now Sullivan's left eye was closing, and his aging
lungs blew hard, but repeated shots to the stomach, ribs, and neck left
Kilrain in much worse shape. The final thirty rounds were more lopsided
than the first forty-five. The fifty-fifth time they toed the scratch, Kilrain
could barely defend himself. Ten rounds later it was five hundred
dollars to fifty dollars on Sullivan and no takers. Before the seventy
sixth round could begin, Mike Donovan, fearing for his man's life,
threw up the sponge. Still full of fight, Sullivan ran to Kilrain's corner
and challenged Mitchell on the spot. Friends intervened to prevent
serious bloodshed. 61 .
Men at ringside seized everything as mementos of the great event,
including Sullivan's hat, water bottle, and colors, bits of the ring posts
and ropes, and souvenir to prove to themselves and others that they were
eyewitnesses to history. The mania spread well beyound Richburg.
"Never, during even a Presidential election, has there been so much
excitement as there is here now, even when the brutal exhibition is over
and it is known that Sullivan was successful and that seventy-five rounds
were necessary to 'knock out' Kilrain." Thus the New York Times
recorded its astonishment at the interest generated by the match. Many
newspapers, including Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, gave all or
2
most of their front page to the fight. 6
The champion, never known for his humility, called the bout the best
since Hyer's and Sullivan's 1849 match, and others were inclined to
agree. Poets with serious pretensions memorialized the fight, among
them Harry P. Keily, who dedicated his work to Sullivan's trainers:
But the jubilation over the great man's victory was best captured in
countless songs and ditties. One bit of vaudeville doggerel caught on
with special tenaciousness:
. 235 .
THE MANLY ART
. 236 .
END OF THE BARE-KNUCKLE ERA
Sullivan wore his laurels lightly. Back on top as the greatest fighter
alive, the "physical superior of all men," he had nothing more to
69 He was too old, too successful, and too impulsive to maintain
prove.
the intense discipline demanded by the ring; the good life beckoned
again, and he followed. Once his legal difficulties were settled, the
champion joined a theatrical troupe and toured in the melodrama Honest
Hearts and Willing Hands, written expressly for him. Playing a black
smith , he took off his shirt, pounded an anvil, beat a bully, and mutilated
his lines. Critics hated it, the public loved it. More than ever, Sullivan
was the consummate celebrity, one on whom the public spotlight shone
so brightly that person and persona merged. Always a showman, he
often had made little speeches to his fans after knocking out some
hapless victim. The theater possessed all the old elements of display,
pageantry, and fantasy which Sullivan the boxer loved. Besides, next to
fighting itself John L. 's greatest talents lay in the show-business arts of
. 237 .
THE MANLY ART
. 238 .
END O F TH E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
239
T H E M A N L Y AR T
240
END O F TH E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
241
T H E M A N L Y AR T
242
END O F TH E BARE-KNUCKL E ER A
243
THE MANLY ART
The end of the bare-knuckle era, September 7, 1892. Before ten thousand fans
in a New Orleans arena, Sullivan risked his title against Corbett under the
marquis of Queensberry rules. From the National Police Gazette, September 24,
1892.
as New Orleans held its breath; "the streets were thronged with visitors
of all classes, from the millionaire to the baker to the fakir. Politicians,
lawyers, merchants and gamblers elbowed each other in all public places
on comparatively equal terms.',85
At ringside, former New Orleans mayor Guilotte announced the
fighters' weights. Sullivan scaled in at two hundred twelve pounds,
close to his size against Kilrain. But the Slugger's flabby body showed
none of the tautness of three years earlier. Corbett, his hair as always in
an impeccable pompadour, entered the ring in splendid condition,
twenty-five pounds lighter and eight years younger than the champion.
Urbane clubmen, respected professionals, and formally attired business
men sat nervously at ringside until the usual introductions ended. But it
was not only men-and a few elegant women-in the Crescent City who
. 244 .
E N D O F T H E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
245
T H E MANL Y AR T
246
E N D O F T H E B A R E - K N U C K L E ER A
247
Epilogue: The Manl y Ar t
248
EPILOGUE
249
THE MANL Y AR T
250
EPILOGUE
25'
THE MANL Y AR T
252
EPILOGUE
253
THE MANL Y AR T
254
Afterword t o the Updated Editio n
Many novelist s tel l u s that a s they writ e they'r e no t alway s sur e wha t
their character s wil l d o next . Eve n th e conclusio n ma y remai n hidde n
from th e authors' vie w until late in the day. I think these writers mean tha t
after they'v e se t their openin g scenes , started thing s i n motion, an d intro -
duced thei r characters , tha t onl y then , i n th e crucibl e o f writin g itself ,
does the full stor y slowl y emerg e i n thei r imaginations .
Writing abou t th e pas t i s often mor e lik e thi s tha n academi c historian s
are comfortable admitting . W e have a professional stak e i n th e illusio n o f
control—that ou r book s an d article s demonstrat e exactl y wha t w e se t ou t
to prove , tha t th e archive s affir m ou r assertions , tha t ou r footnote s bea r
everything out . We'r e especiall y pron e t o exaggerate ho w muc h w e ar e i n
charge when we train advanced graduate students. These young scholars —
who are under pressure to finish their dissertations in a timely manner, find
a tenure-track job, and secur e a professional reputation—tak e wha t we say
about historical metho d an d historical writin g ver y seriously . The proble m
is that th e novelist s ar e right. Sometime s thing s just tak e on a life o f thei r
own. There is a lot of serendipity even in historical scholarship .
When I started th e dissertation tha t eventually becam e The Manly Art, I
expected t o write a chapter on boxing's bare-knuckle era, then focus o n the
twentieth century . I never got past the 1890s . I became more and mor e en-
grossed in the story of the early prize ring, and I sensed that it could teac h
me something .
Stripped t o it s essentials , tha t i s ho w I stil l work— I find a stor y I like,
one that my gu t tell s m e will reveal somethin g importan t abou t a n histori -
cal moment. I then construct th e narrative ou t of primar y sources , hopin g
to be surprised by what I find and all the while trying to figure out what the
story means . It's a pretty intuitiv e process , an d I have to admit that , a t th e
• 25 5 •
THE MANL Y AR T
It is twenty-five year s since I finished writing The Manly Art and, truth
be told, twenty-five year s since I have read the whole book. It is amazing
how much you forget and misremember, even of your own work. Amazing,
too, how a quarter century makes the final product seem inevitable, when,
in fact, writing it was a process of discovery.
For example, it didn't occur to me until fairly lat e in the work that I was
writing a book abou t th e beginning s o f a nationa l celebrit y culture . By
i860 a few boxers had become heroes to working class men, and big fights
• 256 •
AFTERWORD T O T H E UPDATE D EDITIO N
• 257 .
THE MANL Y AR T
Within the working class, the great ring warriors were especially impor -
tant t o the immigrants an d ethnic group s o f th e big cities, as the ra w divi -
sions o f th e street s wer e playe d ou t insid e th e ropes . Sociologist s hav e
written o f ethni c succession , wit h newcomer s eac h takin g thei r turn : Jew -
ish champions lik e Benn y Leonar d an d Ma x Baer ; Italians suc h a s Prim o
Camera an d Rock y Marciano ; Africa n American s o f th e post-World Wa r
II era like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali , and Joe Frazier; and late r
Latinos suc h a s Robert o Dura n an d Osca r d e la Hoya . O f course , i t wa s
never a n orderl y progression , bu t th e ide a tha t boxin g wa s par t o f a large r
process b y whic h popula r cultur e fostere d simultaneou s processe s o f
Americanization an d ethnicizatio n i s a n importan t piec e o f th e broade r
history o f boxing in America .
That process began on these shores in the late eighteenth and early nine -
teenth centuries when the greatest fighters—and fo r a while, practically th e
only ones—wer e Englis h an d Irish . Boxin g wa s thei r sport , afte r all ; the y
brought i t to America. Unti l the end of the century, boxing wa s a way the y
dramatized their enmities, gave them expression, even as they tried to con-
tain their passions withi n th e ring.
And, of course, boxers, trainers, promoters, and the like were almost ex-
clusively men. The world they lived in, the world of bars, brothels, volunteer
firehouses, an d such , wa s a mal e realm . Whe n The Manly Art first ap -
peared, it was widely reviewed, almost entirely by men, and quite favorably .
In scholarl y journal s an d mor e popula r site s lik e newspaper s an d maga -
zines, reviewers generally sai d that I wrote well, told a good story , and ha d
useful thing s to say about how prize fighting reflected an d shape d working -
class culture, as well as how it offered immigrant s a way to express at onc e
their ethni c distinctivenes s an d thei r ne w America n identity . Virtuall y n o
reviewer, however , note d tha t it was a book abou t gender. Friends have told
me since that I should have been mor e explicit about it. But I was explicit, I
thought. I wrot e o n th e thir d pag e o f th e origina l preface , "Thi s i s gende r
history." Thereafter , I spen t man y paragraph s talkin g abou t "manhood, "
"manliness," "masculinity," and the "bachelor subculture. "
The rin g wa s no t merel y abou t immigrant s an d workers , i t wa s abou t
male ones , and that fact could not have been clearer in the adoring descrip-
tions contemporary journalists lavishe d o n boxers' bodies :
• 2 58 •
AFTERWORD T O T H E UPDATE D EDITIO N
mer's; his form wa s more elegantly proportioned, and his air and style more
graceful an d manlike . Hi s swellin g breas t curve d ou t lik e a cuirass ; hi s
shoulders wer e deep, with a bold curve d blade , and th e muscular develop -
ment of the arm large and finelybrought out. . . .
Such loving accounts were not lost on the workingmen wh o made their liv-
ing wit h thei r bodies , no r di d thes e me n overloo k th e destructio n boxin g
wrought on those same bodies. Tom McCoy died in the ring that afternoo n
in lat e summer , 1842 . Fo r boxer s an d thei r fans , a violen t battl e lik e th e
Lilly-McCoy fight wa s a ritua l o f manliness , a displa y o f fortitud e an d
courage, a showcase of masculine ideals. But for the courts that prosecuted
those involve d an d th e middle-clas s newspaper s coverin g thes e events ,
such spectacle s wer e a blood y perversio n o f responsible , bourgeoi s
manhood.
Women's histor y wa s a vibrant field when The Manly Art wa s first pub-
lished, an d the concept o f gender had become ver y muc h a part o f histori -
ans' discourse . Tha t bot h me n an d wome n acte d accordin g t o gendere d
assumptions an d tha t each sid e shape d th e other wa s not particularl y con -
troversial. Yet , despit e th e publication , fo r example , o f Joa n Scott' s cele -
brated American Historical Review articl e "Gender: A Useful Categor y o f
Historical Analysis " a few month s afte r The Manly Art appeared , th e con -
cept o f gende r di d no t hav e muc h tractio n whe n i t cam e t o work s tha t
weren't abou t women . Mor e precisely , mos t histor y writin g stil l focuse d
on men , bu t tha t didn' t mak e i t men' s history . Male s (i n politic s o r wa r
or diplomacy ) wer e normative ; malenes s di d no t requir e commen t o r
analysis. Gende r a s a n analytica l too l remaine d ghettoize d i n women' s
history.
But thing s change d dramaticall y a fe w year s later . B y th e 1990s , th e
momentum tha t ha d bee n buildin g fo r explicitl y cultura l histor y move d
questions o f identity an d subjectivit y t o the forefront o f many scholars ' re -
search, whic h i n tur n opene d th e wa y t o growing interes t i n th e construc -
tion o f masculinity . Implicitl y an d explicitly , ne w book s argue d tha t idea s
about manhoo d helpe d shap e th e cours e o f history , tha t ho w w e thin k
about being a man matters no t just t o culture but to politics and economic s
and diplomacy, that here as elsewhere, culture was an engine of history, not
its caboose. T o name just a few, Anthon y Rotundo' s American Manhood:
Transformations in Masculinity from the Revolution to the Modern Era
surveyed ho w an d wh y ideal s o f manlines s change d ove r th e decades ;
George Chaunce y explore d th e relationship between manhoo d an d sexual -
ity i n Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay
Male World; Gail Bederma n i n Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural
• 259 •
THE MANL Y AR T
• 260 •
AFTERWORD T O T H E UPDATE D EDITIO N
• 261 •
Notes
• 263 .
NOTES TO PAGES 23-26
• 264 •
NOTES TO PAGES 27-3O
20. Pierc e Egan, from Anecdotes (1827) , quoted i n Shepherd , p. 95. On violence in
English socia l life se e Malcolmson, pp. 43-51; Lawrence Stone , The Family, Sex and
Marriage in England, 1500-1800 (Ne w York , 1977) , pp. 94-95; and Keit h Thomas ,
Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England, 1500-1800 (London ,
1983), chap. 4.
21. Ford , Prize Fighting, pp. 10 , 26, 31, 65-82; Egan, Boxiana, Introduction , pp . 2-
3, 9o-9ĩ , 108-12 , 146-55 , 219 , 236 , 263-64 . Jac k Slack' s boxin g skill s inspire d
George Colema n an d Bonne l Thornto n t o declare i n 1754 , "the sturd y Englis h hav e
been as much renowned for their boxing as for their beef; both which are by no means
suited t o the water y stomach s an d wea k sinew s o f th e French . To this nutrimen t an d
this ar t i s owin g tha t lon g establishe d maxim , tha t on e Englishma n ca n bea t thre e
Frenchmen.. . ." Excerpted i n Shepherd, pp. 96-97.
22. Dunnin g and Sheard observe that in most traditional recreations, the gentry and
aristocracy participate d directly with the lower classes, though the barriers of inequal-
ity were clearly demarcated: "prio r to the nineteenth centur y . . . the daily live s of the
different classe s wer e intertwine d i n a closer, mor e direc t an d persona l manne r tha n
later became the case" (pp. 38-39).
23. Thi s heterogeneit y wa s capture d i n a miniatur e panoram a draw n b y Georg e
Cruikshank an d accompanie d b y Pierc e Egan' s text . " A Pictur e o f th e Fancy " wa s
fourteen fee t lon g and two-and-one-half inche s wide, came rolled up in a tiny box, and
depicted all of the revelry and ritual that attended a great battle. For a description, see
Reid, pp. 41-43.
24. Georg e Borrow brilliantly evoked the complex interplay of individual and com-
munity pride: "Ah, there is nothing like the ring," an old barkeep muses. "I wish I was
not rathe r too old to go into it . I often thin k I should lik e to have another rally—on e
more rally—and then—bu t there's a time for al l things—yout h wil l b e served , ever y
dog has his day, and mine has been a fine one. Let me be content. After beatin g Tom of
Hopton there was not much more to be done in the way of reputation; I have long sat in
my bar, the wonder and glory of this here neighbourhood. I'm content as far as reputa-
tion goes" (p. 491).
25. Reid , p . 22 ; Ford, Prize Fighting, pp . 26-28 , 36-57 ; an d Egan , Boxiana, pp .
464-67. Man y of Egan's chapters hav e titles of the pattern "Jo e Hood—The Weaver, "
"Bill Wood—The Coachman," and "George Ingleston—The Brewer. "
26. A centra l them e i n Malcomson , Popular Recreations; E . P . Thompson, The
Making of the English Working Class (New York , 1966) ; Dunning an d Sheard , Bar-
barians, Gentlemen and Players.
27. The Fancy 1 (1822): 504; Dunning and Sheard, pp. 269-72; Malcolmson, chap.
5; and Ford, Prize Fighting, pp. 9, 31, 166-87.
28. Cobbett , "I n Defenc e o f Boxing, " Political Register (1805) , reprinted i n Shep-
herd, pp . 6-8 ; Thompson , Making of the English Working Class, pp . 225 , 736; an d
Ford, Prize Fighting, p. 33. Of cours e the value s o f manliness, simplicity , an d hardi -
hood could readily be used to attack the decadence and luxury of the aristocracy.
29. Hug h Cunningham' s Leisure in the Industrial Revolution (Ne w York , 1980 )
provides a fine correctiv e t o thos e wh o se e a tota l eclips e o f ol d sport s i n th e
Victorian era . Nonetheless, I believe Cunningham underestimate s th e damage don e
when socia l elite s abandone d working-clas s recreations . Fo r a fine discussio n o f
• 26 5 •
NOTES T O PAGE S 3 O - 3 4
• 266 •
NOTES T O PAGE S 3 5 - 3 6
• 267 •
NOTES TO PAGES 36-41
ring. Bu t thes e "eye-gouging " matche s scarcel y resemble d stand-u p priz e fighting.
See Gorn, pp. 18-23 .
10. Royal American Magazine I (June 1774) ; Holliman, pp. 139-40. Private Joseph
Plumb Martin describe d a boxing match between tw o "drunken Irishmen " during th e
Revolution; onl y "lowbre d foreigners " engage d i n the practice, he concluded. Private
Yankee Doodle, ed . George F. Scheer (New York, 1963) , p. 129, quoted in Bonnie Sue
Stadelman, "Amusement s o f th e America n Soldie r durin g th e Revolution " (diss. ,
Tulane University , 1969) , p . 92 . Seventy-fiv e year s afte r th e Revolutio n th e New
York Clipper (March 11 , 1854) claimed that an English and an American soldier fought
each other for £10 just before th e Battle of Yorktown.
11. Magrie l ms, , p . 45; Douglass C . North , The Economic Growth of the United
States, 17ço-1860 (Ne w York , 1966) , p. 23. As Jenni e Holliman' s American Sports
reveals, sport s ten d t o migrat e not a s disembodie d idea s bu t a s customs , carrie d b y
immigrants.
12. Rober t Morea u d e St . Méry , Moreau de St. Méry's American Journey,
1793-1798, trans , an d ed . Kennet h an d Ann a Robert s (Garde n City , NY . 1947) , pp.
328-29.
13. Additiona l scrap s o f evidenc e suppor t thi s conclusion . B y 180 5 the New York
Evening Post assumed it s readers wer e well enough acquainted wit h the terminolog y
of the ring that it carried a tongue-in-cheek story , "Congressional Pugilism," describ-
ing a falling ou t betwee n tw o member s o f th e Hous e o f Representative s a s a sixty -
four-round struggle . Wit h increasin g frequenc y America n newspaper s reprinte d de -
tailed account s o f Englis h fights i n the 1810 s and 1820s . Meanwhile, constable s an d
aldermen di d thei r bes t t o prevent occasiona l surreptitiou s battle s i n Ne w York Cit y
and Philadelphia . Se e New York Evening Post, Decembe r 13 , 1805, in Magrie l ms. ,
pp. 50-51 ; Port Folio, Februar y 1813 , pp. 188-90 ; American Register 2 (1817): 273-
76; Philadelphia National Gazette, Jul y 8 , 1823 , Magrie l ms ; an d Joh n Thoma s
Scharf an d Westcot t Thompson , History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 (Philadelphia ,
1884), p. 941.
14. American Fistiana (1849) , p. 28, and (i860), p. 6; Magriel ms. , pp. 72-74.
15. New York Evening Post, July 10 , 1823, in Magriel ms., pp. 79-81.
16. Ibid .
17. Ibid .
18. Averag e incom e i s fro m Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial
Times to 1970, 2 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1975) , 1:163-64.
19. Indeed , eve n journalists wer e far fro m full y awar e o f boxing's spread . Afte r a
number o f fights had alread y bee n stage d i n America , Charleston' s Southern Patriot
and Commercial Advertiser, Octobe r 29 , 1824 , stil l headline d it s articl e o n th e
Hammond-Kensett fight "Firs t America n Regula r Millin g Match. " Th e stor y wa s
taken from th e New York Emerald, Octobe r 16 , 1824.
20. Ibid . See also New York Spectator, October 17 , 1824, in Magriel ms., pp. 83-84.
American Fistiana (i860) , p . 6 , credite d immigrant s Georg e Kenset t an d Willia m
Fuller with this American blossoming o f English sporting life .
21. American Fistiana (i860) , pp . 6-7 ; "Repor t o f th e Battl e betwee n Georg e
Kensett an d Ned Hammond, " in The Life and Battles of Yankee Sullivan (Ne w York ,
1854), pp. 88-89.
• 268 •
NOTES TO PAGES 4 i - 46
22. "Repor t o f th e Battle, " pp. 88-90. This repor t wa s originall y submitte d t o the
New York Evening Post, but the editor rejected it , probably becaus e of the usual hesi-
tancy t o cover the rin g bu t als o because th e accoun t containe d a vehement attac k o n
boxing critics.
23. Ibid .
24. New York Spectator, October 17 , 1824, in Magriel ms. , p. 83; Rowland Tappa n
Berthoff, British Immigrants in Industrial America, lj9o-i9ļo (Cambridge , Mass. ,
1953). PP• 5-6•
25. Berthoff , pp . 5-6 ; als o se e Spirit of the Times, Februar y 20 , 1836 , a lette r
from "Ou r Liverpoo l Correspondent " date d Januar y 1 , 1836 ; Robert Malcolmson ,
Popular Recreations in English Society, ı γoo-1850 (Cambridge , 1973) , chaps. 6 -
8; Nat Fleische r an d Sa m Andre , A Pictorial History of Boxing (Ne w York , 1975) ,
p. 40; and American Fistiana (i860) , pp. 8-9. Fo r informal historie s of Deaf Burke ,
see Nathanie l Fleischer , The Heavyweight Championship (Ne w York , 1949) ,
pp. 37-46 , an d Loui s Golding , The Bare-Knuckle Breed (Ne w York , 1954) ,
pp. 168-74 .
26. American Fistiana (i860) , pp. 8-9; New York Star, cited in Spirit of the Times,
July 2, 1836; and Spirit of the Times, February 27 , 1836.
27. New Orleans Daily Picayune, Ma y 10 , 1837, in Magriel ms.; American Fistiana
(i860), p. 9; Spirit of the Times, Septembe r 2 , 1837 , in Magrie l ms. ; and Ear l F . Nie-
haus, The Irish in New Orleans, 1800-1860 (Bato n Rouge , 1965) , pp. 59-60. Burke,
incidentally, was of Irish ancestry, a fact tha t seem s not to have mattered.
28. Spirit of the Times, August 22 , September 2 , 1837 ; New York Morning Herald,
August 21 , 1837.
29. I n additio n t o th e source s i n not e 28 , the New York Commercial Advertiser,
August 23, 1837, and th e New York Star, August 22 , 1837 , also covered th e fight. The
Advertiser wa s less sanguine than the Spirit of the Times, condemning this "exhibition
of brutality" put on by "two foreign vagabonds. "
30. Thi s wa s equall y tru e o f othe r form s o f entertainment . Durin g play s theater s
were filled with talking, peanut chewing, banter between actor s and audiences, not to
mention a n occasiona l riot . Se e Davi d Grimsted , Melodrama Unveiled: American
Theater and Culture, 1800-1850 (Chicago , 1968) ; Peter George Buckley, "To the Op-
era House: Culture and Society in New York City, 1820-1860 " (diss., State University
of New York at Stony Brook, 1984) , pt. 1.
31. Source s generall y note d boxers ' trades—see , fo r example , American Fistiana
(1849)•
32. Stepha n Thernstrom' s Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nineteenth
Century City (Ne w York , 1964 ) started a flood of studie s documenting thi s mobility .
For other examples, consult Frank Friedel , ed., The Harvard Guide to American His-
tory, 2 vols . (Cambridge , Mass. , 1974) , 1 : 425, 437-38, an d 2 : 900 . Walmsley , wh o
surveyed the writings of several dozen prominent Americans before 187 0 for Sporting
Attitudes and Practices, foun d ver y littl e evidence of elite interest in pugilism an d no
involvement with prize fighting.
33. Tw o Ne w Yorker s wh o ha d a fallin g ou t ove r money , fo r example , stripped ,
squared off, an d settled their differences i n front o f a crowd on Broadway. Spirit of the
Times, June 9, 1832.
• 26 9 •
NOTES T O PAGE S 4 6 - 5 O
• 2JO •
NOTES TO PAGES 5 i - 5 6
• 27 7 •
NOTES TO PAGES 57~6o
century popular culture, particularly the theater, see Buckley, "To the Opera House,"
and Lawrence W. Levine, "William Shakespear e an d the American People : A Study
in Cultura l Transformation " American Historical Review 8 9 (Februar y 1984) :
34-66.
58. Spirit of the Times, May 5, 1832; "Report of the Battle between Georg e Kenset t
and Ned Hammond," in Life and Battles of Sullivan, p . 88.
59. R . Payne Knight, "Eulogy o f Boxing an d Cock Fighting," reprinted i n Literary
Magazine and American Register, October 1806 , pp. 266-67.
60. Ibid .
61. Ibid .
62. "Nimro d o n Boxing," in Bell's Life in London, reprinte d i n New York Sporting
Magazine, Novembe r 1834 , p. 188; American Turf Register 7 (June 1836) : 457-61; and
Spirit of the Times, August 22 , 1837 . Even the special vocabular y o f the fancy seepe d
into everyday conversation: "I s a man bankrupt, h e is 'floored ' i n town, but if a coun-
tryman, they become more agrarian, and now say he is 'grassed. ' Whe n a partner dies,
he is 'don e for'; and , i f h e runs away , 'bolted ' expresse s th e rapidit y o f hi s motions. "
American Turf Register 7 (Jun e 1836) : 460. Se e als o Spirit of the Times, Januar y 8 ,
1842; Gorn, pp . 18-43 . O n m e American Turf Register se e Jack Willia m Berryman ,
"John Stuar t Skinne r and Earl y America n Sport s Journalism, 1819-1835 " (diss., Uni-
versity of Maryland, 1976) .
63. Dizikes , pp. 210-12; Wain, pp. 78-80, 187-93 .
64. Thoma s Jefferso n t o J . Bannister , Octobe r 15 , 1785 , quote d i n Henr y Steel e
Commager, ed. , Living Ideas in America (Ne w York , 1951) , pp. 557-58. Nile's Illus-
trated Journal condemne d Englis h societ y fo r encouragin g me n "t o bea t an d abus e
and possibl y kil l on e another , a s ha s frequentl y happened , i n th e presenc e o f noble s
and divines . . . . We ar e no t ye t fashionabl e enoug h fo r suc h thing s i n th e Unite d
States." Quote d i n Dizikes , p . 211 . Of course , republicanis m (lik e Darwinism ) wa s
broad enough to justify man y positions; as we have seen, republican values legitimated
boxing fo r Willia m Cobbett . O n republicanism se e J. G. A. Pocock, The Machiavel-
lian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition
(Princeton, 1975) ; Bernard Bailyn , The Ideological Origins of the American Revolu-
tion (Cambridge , Mass. , 1967) ; Gordon S . Wood, The Creation of the American Re-
public (Chape l Hill, 1969) ; Sean Wilentz, Chants Democratic: New York City and the
Rise of the American Working Class, 1788-1850 (Ne w York , 1984) ; Robert E . Shal -
hope, "Towar d a Republican Synthesis : Th e Emergenc e o f a n Understandin g o f Re -
publicanism i n America n Historiography, " William and Mary Quarterly, 3 d ser. , 2 9
(January 1972) : 49-80; an d Joh n F . Kasson, Civilizing the Machine: Technology and
Republican Values in America, ľ/76- ıçoo (Ne w York, 1976) . For a critique, see John
Patrick Diggins , The Lost Soul of American Politics: Virtue, Self-interest, and the
Foundations of Liberalism (Ne w York, 1984).
65. Gazette of the United States, January 23 , 1790, p. 328, reprinted fro m th e Mas-
sachusetts Sentinel. O n these arguments se e Dizikes, pp. 210-12.
66. "O f Boxing," New York Magazine, or Literary Repository, Novembe r 1794 , pp.
656-58. For a spirited attack on "vulgar" mob behavior, on the rabble's alleged love of
gossip, buffoonery , an d violence , se e Th e Wanderer , "Mobs—Od i Profanu m Vul -
gus,'" Port Folio 3 (April II , 1807) : 230, quoted fro m th e New York Emerald.
• 27 2 •
NOTES T O PAGE S 6 l - Ó 2
67. "O n Pugilism, " Literary Magazine and American Register, Jun e 1806 , pp .
468-69. Also see Kasson, chaps. 1-3 .
68. New York Spectator, July 15 , 1823, in Magriel ms., p. 82.
69. New York Evening Post, Jul y 10 , 1823 , in Magrie l ms . The Philadelphia Na-
tional Gazette copie d a n English paper's descriptio n o f the 182 3 battle betwee n Tom
Spring and William Neate to reveal the "debased" sporting tastes of the English pub-
lic an d th e "barbarous " slan g wit h whic h thes e scene s wer e described : "W e doub t
whether an y othe r par t o f Christianit y affords , i n th e rati o o f th e population , mor e
scope for propagating Religion, than London;—and w e are sure that none other could
present a scene more adverse to the spirit of religion and civilization, then the Boxing
Match, a t whic h s o man y score s o f th e Fai r Se x wer e assembled. " Religion , tende r
sentiments, morality—all , th e edito r thundered , wer e overturne d i n th e priz e ring .
Round-by-round coverag e followed . Philadelphia National Gazette, Jul y 8 , 1823 , in
Magriel ms., p. 79. Editors occasionally expressed their astonishment at women being
associated wit h th e manl y ar t i n thi s era . A tongue-in-cheek repor t i n th e Marc h 3 ,
1832, Spirit of the Times described tw o women challengin g eac h othe r an d squarin g
off i n England i n 1772 . Nevertheless, suc h incident s see m t o have bee n rare . I n th e
Old Worl d an d th e New , prostitutes wer e sometime s see n a t ringside, bu t thei r spo -
radic appearanc e merel y seem s t o have underscored mal e domination o f th e cultur e
of the ring.
70. Spirit of the Times, May 12 , 1832. In 178 7 Thomas Jefferson declare d in a letter
to Edward Carrington, "Wer e it left t o me to decide whether we should have a govern-
ment without newspapers or newspapers withou t a government, I should not hesitate a
moment to prefer the latter.. . ." Adrienne Koch and William Peden, eds., The Life and
Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Ne w York, 1944) , pp. 411-12.
71. New York Evening Post, Decembe r 14 , 1826 , in Magrie l ms. , pp. 90-91. Als o
see the New York Evening Post, July 10 , 1823, versus December n , 1826 ; or the New
York Spectator, Jul y 15 , 823 , and October 17 , 1824 ; all i n Magrie l ms. , pp. 80 , 82,
83, 87.
72. O n th e New York Herald se e Do n Carlo s Seitz , The James Gordon Bennetts,
Father and Son (Ne w York , 1928) ; Richard O'Connor , The Scandalous Mr. Bennett
(Garden City , NY , 1962) ; and Olive r Carlson , The Man Who Made the News (Ne w
York, 1942) . Also see Alexander Saxton , "Problems o f Class and Race in the Origin s
of the Mass Circulation Press, " American Quarterly 36 (Summer 1984) : 211-34; New
York Morning Herald, August 21 , 1837. On the penny pres s als o se e Michael Emery ,
The Press in America: An Interpretive History of the Mass Media, 4th ed. (Englewood
Cliffs, N.J. , 1978) . On early sports journalism se e John Rickard Betts, "Sporting Jour-
nalism i n Nineteent h Centur y America , 1819-1900, " American Quarterly 5 (Sprin g
1953): 39-56.
73. Spirit of the Times, Ma y 19 , 1832 . The wee k befor e Porte r reprinte d withou t
comment a not e fro m th e Sporting Magazine: " . .. fa r fro m lookin g o n thi s beastl y
practice wit h an y degre e o f toleration , w e hav e alway s hel d i t i n deepes t abhor -
rence. . .. The custom is looked upon, and justly so , as a stain upon the national char -
acter of England by her continental neighbors . Let us afford n o reason to infer tha t we
have inherited th e vicious tast e which encourage s it. " Also see Norris W . Yates, Wil-
liam T. Porter and the Spirit of the Times (Baton Rouge, 1957).
• 273 •
NOTES TO PAGES 63-67
74. Spirit of the Times, Februar y 20 , 1836 , Augus t 22 , 1837 , September 2 , 1837 .
While edito r Joh n Stuar t Skinne r modele d hi s journal o n suc h Englis h gentlemen' s
magazines as Bell's Life in London, h e too hesitated when it came to blood sports, and
he printed ver y littl e prize-fight news . For examples, see American Turf Register and
Sporting Magazine 5 (February 1834) : 310; 7 (June 1836) : 457-61. O n the America n
gentry see Dizikes, chaps. 4, 5.
75. NewYorker, Octobe r 6, 1838. Also see Nile's Weekly Register, August 14 , 1830,
September 21 , 1833 , Augus t 27 , 1836 ; New York Mirror 1 2 (Marc h 7 , 1835) : 287 ,
quoted i n Fran k Luthe r Mott , A History of American Magazines (Ne w York , 1962) ,
p. 482.
76. "Th e Boxer, " fro m Passages from the Diary of a Physician, i n Spirit of the
Times, Novembe r 3 , 1832 , als o reprinte d i n Atkinson's Casket 8 (Februar y 1833) :
66-67.
77. Se e sources in note 64 on republicanism.
78. Th e literatur e o n Victorianis m i s extensive, but se e especiall y Pete r Gay , The
Bourgeois Experience: Victoria to Freud, vol. 1 : The Education of the Senses (Ne w
York, 1984) ; Kasson, chaps. 1 an d 2; Daniel Walker Howe, Victorian America (Phila -
delphia, 1975) ; Daniel T Rodgers , The Work Ethic in Industrial America, 1850-ıç20
(Chicago, 1978) , esp . chap . 1 ; and Kare n Halttunen , Confidence Men and Painted
Women: A Study of Middle-Class Culture in America, 1830-18γo (Ne w Haven ,
1982).
79. Spirit of the Times, August 22 , 1837 , in Magrie l ms . In The Bourgeois Experi-
ence Peter Gay brilliantly captures the Victorians' comple x attitudes and unconsciou s
conflicts abou t sexuality . Thoug h hi s wor k i s a n excellen t correctiv e t o rigid stereo -
types, th e public cultur e o f th e nineteenth-centur y middl e clas s stil l appear s quit e
austere.
80. A brief stor y i n th e New York Traveler described a boy bringin g dinne r t o his
working father . Tw o well-dresse d youth s belittle d hi s tattere d garments : "Th e littl e
fellow pu t down his kettle, and the spirit of the hero rising within him, he dropped hi s
furless ha t an d wen t t o his persecutors i n a style of skil l an d bravery tha t woul d have
done honor to a Fuller or a Blackburn with their best and brightest laurels won in pugi-
listic lore." Whistling "Yankee Doodle," the lad picked up the dinner pail and set off to
bring hi s fathe r bot h th e mea l an d th e story . Spirit of the Times, May 26 , 1832 , fro m
New York Traveler. For a definitive but deterministic exploratio n o f th e modernizin g
process, se e Richar d D . Brown , Modernization: The Transformation of American
Life, 1600-1865 (Ne w York, 1976).
81. American Fistiana (1849) , p. 29. "Now gentlemen," he allegedly declared, "I'v e
done my duty, and as you don't see m disposed to go, I'll sta y and see it out."
82. Joh n Rickard Betts , America's Sporting Heritage, 1850-ıç50 (Reading , Mass.,
1974), p. 38; New Jersey Emporium and True American, Januar y 24 , 1835 , p. 2, cited
from th e New York Courier and Enquirer.
83. Acts of the Fifty Ninth General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, Begun
October 28, 1834 (Trenton, 1835) , "A Further Supplemen t t o the Act entitled A n Ac t
for th e Punishmen t o f Crimes,' " passe d Februar y 26 , 1835 , pp. 89-90 ; New Jersey
State Gazette 6 (March 14 , 1835): 3.
84. Se e references i n note 64. In a civil actio n a New York court failed t o uphold
• 274 •
NOTES TO PAGES 68-71
a breach o f contract sui t brought agains t a steamship owner who agreed t o transpor t
spectators to and from a fight, then failed t o provide the service. Charles Denny sol d
tickets labele d "Sparrin g Match " fo r on e dolla r each , payin g Willia m D . Norto n
$125 for us e of the steamship Bergen. Afte r th e fight at Fort Washington Poin t spec-
tators foun d th e vesse l gone , and Denn y wa s forced t o refund thei r ticke t money . A
jury refuse d t o awar d damage s t o Denn y becaus e th e origina l contrac t wa s fo r a n
illegal purpos e an d therefor e void . New York Commercial Advertiser, Januar y 13 ,
1836, in Magrie l ms . For othe r laws , see Stat e o f Massachusetts , Acts and Resolves
Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts (Boston , 1849) , chap. 49, p. 31, "An
Act to Prevent Priz e Fighting" ; State of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Reports: Su-
preme Judicial Court of Massachusetts 7 3 (Boston, 1883) : 324-28; and State of New
York, Senate and Assembly Proceedings (Ne w York, 1858) , pp. 35, 99, 149 , 253, and
(1859), pp. 120 , 147 , 504. On early statut e an d cas e la w als o se e Elmer M . Million ,
"Enforceability o f Prize Fight Statutes," Kentucky Law Review 2 7 (November 1938) ,
PP• i52-55•
85. Dizikes , pp. 28-44, 71-73-
86. Willia m Alcott, The Young Man's Guide (1836), p. 159, quoted in Peter Levine,
"The Promis e o f Spor t i n Antebellu m America, " Journal of American Culture 2
(Winter 1980) : 627; Nile's Weekly Register, May 31 , 1823, quoted i n Betts , America's
Sporting Heritage, p. π. O n the work ethic see Rodgers, chaps. 1-3 .
i. Anon. , The Life and Battles of Yankee Sullivan (New York, 1854), pp. 9-11. Also
see Ed James, The Life and Battles of Yankee Sullivan (Ne w York, n.d.).
2. Life and Battles of Sullivan, pp . 18-15; Spirit of the Times, March 6, 1841 , quot-
ing fro m Bell's Life in London; E d James , "Live s an d Battle s o f th e Iris h Champi -
ons," containe d i n scrapboo k o f sport s clippings , Ne w Yor k Publi c Librar y Annex ;
New York Clipper, July 5, 1856 ; and Thomas M . McDade, "Death i n the Afternoon, "
Westchester Historian 4 6 (Winte r 1970) : 2. Alexander Johnsto n claim s tha t larcen y
was Sullivan' s crim e i n Ten-and-Out (Ne w York , 1972) , pp. 24-25. The deportatio n
story i s difficult t o pin down. Whether or not Sulliva n really wa s deported, th e stor y
was wel l know n an d contribute d t o hi s unsavor y reputation . Year s late r i t wa s als o
alleged tha t Sulliva n quarrele d wit h his wife on e nigh t and inebriated , h e knocked a
burning lam p ont o th e bed wher e sh e lay . Her clothes caugh t fire and sh e burned t o
death.
3. Life and Battles of Sullivan, p. 16.
4. Ibid. , pp. 16-17 ; anon., American Fistiana (Ne w York, i860) , pp. 10-11 .
5. Th e Sporting Chronicle, quote d i n American Fistiana (1849) , pp . 8-π ; E d
James, The Life and Battles of Tom Hyer (New York , 1879) , p. 2. James claime d tha t
McCleester and Hyer had clashed before over politics.
6. James , Life and Battles of Hyer, pp . 4-6 , 30 ; American Fistiana (i860) , pp .
12-13; Life and Battles of Sullivan, pp . 17-22 . Seco r publishe d a challeng e fo r a
rematch an d Sulliva n declare d hi s willingnes s t o fight, bu t n o battl e eve r resulted .
See Spirit of the Times, Marc h 5 , 1842 . The "droppin g system"—fallin g withou t a
• 275 •
NOTES TO PAGES 7 i - 7 8
• 276 •
NOTES TO PAGES 78-8 l
Thomas (Ne w York, 1952) , p. 185 ; The Dairy of Philip Hone, i828-l8¦l, 2 vols., ed.
Allan Nevin s (Ne w York , 1927) , 2 : 620, 636-37 ; an d Danie l T . Rodgers , The Work
Ethic in Industrial America, i8¦O-i92o (Chicago , 1978) , p. 15. For a fine discussion of
Hone's response to the social changes taking place in New York City during the 1830 s
and 1840s , see Allen Stanle y Horlick , Country Boys and Merchant Princes: The So-
cial Control of Young Men in New York (Lewisburg, 1975) , pp. 34-39. For another at-
tack on the Herald as the cause of McCoy's demise, see New York Evangelist, Septem -
ber 15 , 1842, pp. 292-93.
24. New York Herald, extra ed., November 28, 1842; Spirit of the Times, September
17, 1842.
25. New York Tribune, Septembe r 17 , 1842 . Th e Herald claime d tha t McCoy' s
mother told him to return home victorious or not at all, a charge vehemently denie d in
the New York Commercial Advertiser, Novembe r 24 , 1842 , which accused Sulliva n of
being the main promoter of all recent prize fights.
26. New York Tribune, September 17 , 1842. Also see New York Sun, Septembe r 1 4
and 15 , 1842 .
27. New York Daily Tribune, September 19 , 1842.
28. Th e New York Commercial Advertiser, Novembe r 27 , 1842, claimed tha t when
McCoy wa s fouled earl y i n th e fight, his chief backer , Jac k Harris— a "kin g gamble r
and harlot' s paramour"—wave d of f th e awarde d victory . The newspape r allege d tha t
McCoy was deliberately brough t to the ring fatigued an d improperly traine d i n a con-
spiracy by his backers "to win money on his premeditated defeat." A letter to the editor
of the Commercial Advertiser, Septembe r 16 , 184 2 declared tha t th e promoter s wer e
not me n o f characte r engage d i n som e lawfu l callin g bu t predators , "livin g o n thei r
wits, keepers of gambling houses, and what is termed fancy men about town, who by
their outrageous conduct, and vicious propensities, furnish th e most baneful example s
to the youths of our country."
29. New York Daily Tribune, September 19 , 1842.
30. Benjami n Caunt , date d Ne w York , Decembe r 20 , 1841 , t o a n unname d
correspondent, i n Magrie l ms. ; Spirit of the Times, Apri l 12 , May 7 , Octobe r 22 ,
1842.
31. Spirit of the Times, April 23 , 1842. Also see ibid., October 22 , 1842.
32. Ibid. , January 2 1 and January 28 , 1843.
33. Ibid. , Januar y 14 , 1843 ; American Fistiana (i860) , p . 15 ; McDade, p . 5 . Th e
Herald, for example, gave Freeman's and Perry's exploits about six inches of indiffer -
ent copy; January 27 , 1843.
34. Freema n was not even mentioned i n any edition of American Fistiana.
35. American Fistiana (i860) , pp. 15-17 ; Life and Battles of Sullivan, p . 28. The
New York Herald o f February 9 , 1849 , a l s o credite d th e Mexican Wa r with attenuat -
ing interes t i n pugilism . Thoug h man y boxer s enliste d t o fight in Mexico , th e con -
flict's lat e beginnin g an d shor t duratio n hardl y accoun t fo r priz e fighting's lon g
hiatus.
36. National Police Gazette, October 8 , 1845; Spirit of the Times, May 1 and April
3, 1847 ; and American Fistiana (1849) , p. 30. American Fistiana (184 9 and i860) , the
Police Gazette, an d Spirit of the Times during th e 1840 s containe d muc h o f th e bes t
coverage of the ring.
• 27 7 •
NOTES T O PAGE S 8 2 - Ç O
• 278 •
NOTES TO PAGES 9O-98
Training philosophy owe d much to British thought and practice as articulated b y the
Victorian boxin g journalis t Henr y Miles . Se e Ala n Lloyd , The Great Prize Fight
(New York, 1977) , chap. 11.
55. American Fistiana (1849) , pp. 11-14; Life and Battles of Sullivan, pp . 40-46.
56. Life and Battles of Sullivan, pp . 40-46.
57. Spirit of the Times, February 3 , 1849.
58. Amon g th e fulles t account s ar e Police Gazette, Februar y 10 , 1849 , reprinte d
in Spirit of the Times, Februar y 17 , 1849; American Fistiana (1849) , PP- 22-28; and
Life and Battles of Sullivan, pp . 50-60. Als o se e New York Sun, Februar y 9 and 10 ,
i849•
59. Quote d i n Police Gazette, Februar y 10 , 1949 , reprinted i n Spirit of the Times,
February 17 , 1849. Also see sources in note 58.
60. Se e sources in note 58.
61. New York Herald, February 8 , 1849 , reprinted i n Life and Battles of Sullivan,
pp. 60-61; James, Life of Hyer, p. 20; Betts, p. 33; and reports reproduced i n Life and
Battles of Sullivan, pp . 62-63. Als o see Spirit of the Times, January 2 0 and Februar y
3, 1849 ; New York Herald, February 6, 1849; New York Sun, February 7-11, 1849; New
York Tribune, February 8 and 10 , 1849; New York Herald, February 9 , 1849 ; and New
York Commercial Advertiser, Februar y 8 and 10 , 1949.
62. Life and Battles of Sullivan, pp . 60-61; James , Life of Hyer, p. 20 ; American
Fistiana (1849) , pp. 10-28.
63. Spirit of the Times, February 24 , 1849.
64. Fro m th e "Colonel' s Club " i n th e Literary World, reprinted i n Spirit of the
Times, March 10 , 1849. The broadside ballad was a common form of news dissemina-
tion fo r thre e centurie s i n th e Ol d Worl d an d th e New . Se e Lesli e Shephard , The
Broadside Ballad: A Study in Origins and Meaning (London , 1962) ; and G. Malcolm
Laws, Native American Balladry (Philadelphia , 1964) .
65. See , for examples , account s i n American Fistiana (184 9 a n d i860) ; New York
Herald, February 9 , 1849 ; New York Sunday Mercury, Februar y 25 , 1849; and James,
Life of Hyer, p. 20.
66. Diary of Philip Hone, p . 861 ; New York Christian Advocate, Februar y 15 ,
1849.
67. New York Evening Mirror, February 7 , 1849 . Bell's Life in London, Marc h II ,
1849, declared that recent immigrants transplanted th e old spirit of the English ring in
America; reprinted in Spirit of the Times, April 14 , 1849.
68. Cf . Spirit of the Times, October 23 , 1858 , quoted in Adelman, p. 564; New York
Herald, February 5 , 7, 9, and II , 1849 .
69. Se e fo r example , Willia m Riordan , Plunkett of Tammany Hall (Ne w York ,
1948), p. 86.
i. Lette r signed "Reklaw," dated April 30, 1849, in Spirit of the Times, May 5, 1849.
Fistiana wa s a yearly publication o n the English ring written by Francis Dowling, edi-
tor of Bell's Life in London,
• 279 •
NOTES TO PAGES 98-IO3
• 280 •
NOTES T O PAGES IO4-IO O
• 281 •
NOTES T O PAGES IO7-II O
glove display s hel d i n th e Ne w Yor k area . Whe n ol d "Fathe r Bill " die d i n 1883 , he
was know n throughou t th e sportin g worl d fo r th e congenialit y an d goo d time s h e
facilitated o n th e sparrin g stage . Tovee' s caree r ca n b e trace d i n th e New York
Clipper.
23. E d Pric e t o Fran k Queen , Boston , Decembe r II , 1859 , printe d i n American
Fistiana (i860) , pp. 76-77. Price , incidentally , becam e a n attorne y whe n hi s boxin g
days were over.
24. Melvi n Adelman , "Th e Development o f Moder n Athletics : Sport i n New York
City, 1820-1870 " (diss., University of Illinois, 1980) , pp. 569-81. On the general devel-
opment o f sport s se e Betts , Sporting Heritage, pt . I , and Benjami n Rader , American
Sports: From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Spectators (Englewoo d Cliffs, N.J. ,
1983), pts. 1 , 2; on urban stree t culture see chap. 4.
25. I n the voluminous literatur e on the rags-to-riches motif John Cawelti's Apostles
of the Self-Made Man: Changing Concepts of Success in America (Chicago , 1965 )
stands out.
26. Fo r Morrissey's earl y life , se e New York Herald, May 2 , 1878 ; New York Sun,
May 2 , 1878 ; New York Clipper, Ma y 23 , 1878 ; New York Times, Ma y 6 , 1878 ; Ed
James, The Life and Battles of John Morrissey (Ne w York , 1879) , pp. 3-4 ; Edwar d
Wakin, Enter the American Irish (New York, 1976) , pp. 116-18 ; William Edgar Hard-
ing, ed., John Morrissey, His Life, Battles and Wrangles, from His Birth in Ireland
until He Died a State Senator (Ne w York, 1881) ; American Fistiana (i860) , p. 58; New
York Tribune, Ma y 2 , 1878 ; David R . Johnson , " A Sinfu l Business : Th e Origin s o f
Gambling Syndicate s i n the United States, " in Davi d Bayley , ed., Police and Society
(Beverly Hills, 1977) , pp. 28-29; Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York (New York,
1928), pp. 90-100; Alvin F . Harlow, Old Bowery Days (Ne w York , 1931) , p. 301; and
M. R . Werner , Tammany Hall (Ne w York , 1938) , pp. 67-69. There i s a book-lengt h
"biography" o f Morrissey , Jac k Kofoeď s Brandy for Heroes (Ne w York , 1938) . It i s
thoroughly unreliable . Fre d Harve y Harrington' s forthcomin g stud y o f Morrisse y
therefore wil l be especially welcome .
27. James , p. 5; New York Herald, May 2, 1878; and anon., The Lives and Battles of
Tom Sayers and John C. Heenan, "The Benicia Boy" (Ne w York , i860) , pp. 57-5 8
(mainly a collection o f English an d American newspape r stories).
28. Life and Battles of Sullivan, p . 64; American Fistiana (i860) , p. 20; Spirit of
the Times, Octobe r 16 , 1852 ; an d James , pp . 5-6 . Thompson' s rea l nam e wa s Bo b
McLaren.
29. I n addition to the sources in note 28 see Adelman, p. 565; Harding, p. 6. During
these years Hyer alternately declared that he promised his parents he never would fight
again and issued general challenges to all comers, and specific ones to particular fight-
ers includin g Willia m Perry , champio n o f England , fo r te n thousan d dollar s a side .
However, Hye r neve r fough t a regular priz e battl e afte r hi s 184 9 fight with Sullivan .
See Spirit of the Times, March 22-Apri l 5 , 1851.
30. New York Daily Tribune, March 10 , 1855; Life and Battles of Sullivan, pp . 64-
70; American Fistiana (i860) , pp. 20-22. As Adelman notes in "Development of Mod-
ern Athletics, " this earl y ethni c parado x i s simila r t o th e moder n on e where , fo r ex -
ample, Joe Frazier i s depicted b y the press as the whit e man's boxer and Muhamma d
Ali as the militant black .
• 282 •
NOTES T O PAGES I I I - I I 7
31. New York Clipper, Octobe r 1 5 and 22 , 1853 ; Life and Battles of Sullivan, pp .
67-69. "The behavior of some of them while in the cars," the Herald's corresponden t
complained of the men going to the fight, "was not such as could be commended; an d
many acts o f disorder, t o use th e mildes t term , wer e perpetrated." New York Herald,
October 1 3 and 14 , 1853.
32. I n additio n t o coverag e b y th e Herald an d th e Clipper se e James , pp . 6-12 ;
American Fistiana (i860) , pp . 20-22 ; Life and Battles of Sullivan, pp . 64-71 ; New
York Daily Tribune, October 1 3 and 20, 1853; New York Times, October 11 , 1853; New
York Evening Post, October 13 , 1853; and Spirit of the Times, October 22, 1853.
33. I n additio n t o th e abov e se e the Clipper, October 2 2 and 29 , and Novembe r 5 ,
1853. Afte r th e fight the Clipper received correspondenc e fro m a s fa r awa y a s Ala -
bama, including an offer t o back Sullivan in a rematch; November 26 , 1853.
34. Life and Battles of Sullivan, p . 98; New York Tribune, October 13 , 1853; New
York Evening Post, October 13 , 1853; and New York Times, October 14 , 1853.
35. Lives of Sayers and Heenan, p . 56; Ed James , Life and Battles of Tom Hyer
(New York , 1879) , p. 22; James, Life of Morrissey, p . n ; an d New York Clipper, July
22, 1854.
36. James , Life of Morrissey, p . 13 ; New York Tribune, Novembe r 2 , 1877 ; an d
George Walling , Recollections of a New York Chief of Police (n . p. , 1890) , pp .
375-76.
37. Anon. , The Life of William Poole (Ne w York , 1855) ; Elliot t J . Gorn , "Th e
Killing o f Butche r Bill " (pape r rea d a t th e America n Historica l Associatio n meet -
ings, Chicago , Decembe r 1984) . I t wa s allege d tha t gang s le d b y Pool e an d Mor -
rissey ha d onc e fough t fo r contro l o f th e ballo t boxe s i n a n uptow n precinct . See ,
for example , Matthe w Hal e Smith , Wonders of a Great City (Chicago , 1887) , pp .
345-49•
38. New York Sunday Mercury, Ma y 3, 1863 ; Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, Au -
gust 1 , 1857; and New York Clipper, August 8, 1857.
39. American Fistiana (i860) , pp. 38-46; New York Clipper, August 8, 1857 ; Phila-
delphia Sun, Augus t 4 , 1857 ; Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Augus t 3 , 1857 ; New
York Daily Tribune, August 4 , 1857 ; and Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, Augus t I ,
I857•
40. Fo r example, se e American Fistiana (i860) , pp. 46-49, 50-51; New York Clip-
per, October 1 7 and November 28, 1857.
41. American Fistiana (i860) , pp. 58-59; Ed James, The Life and Battles of John C.
Heenan, the Hero of Farnborough (New York, 1879) , PP- I _ 2 •
42. American Fistiana (i860) , pp. 58-59 ; James , Life and Battles of Heenan, pp .
2-4; Lives of Sayers and Heenan, p . 56.
43. American Fistiana (i860) , p. 66; Buffalo Republic, quote d i n New York Daily
Tribune, October 20, 1858 ; and Allan Lloyd, The Great Prize Fight (New York, 1979),
pp. 63-66.
44. New York Tribune, October 20 and 22, 1858; New York Clipper report, reprinted
in American Fistiana (i860) , pp. 58-61; Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, Octo -
ber 30, 1858; James, Life of Morrissey, pp . 13-19; and Lives of Sayers and Heenan, pp.
63-67.
45. Se e reference s i n not e 44 . Fre d Harve y Harringto n point s ou t i n persona l
• 283 •
NOTES T O PAGE S I l 6 - I 2 4
correspondence that boxing matches were often mor e orderly than political conventions.
46. Se e sources cited in note 44.
47. Se e th e source s cite d i n not e 44 , an d American Fistiana (i860) , pp . 57-58 ;
Harper's Weekly 2 (October 30 , 1858) : 690.
48. Harding , p. 14 ; Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, October 18 , 1858, cited i n New
York Tribune, October 20 , 1858; and New York Daily Tribune, May 2, 1878.
49. New York Tribune, Octobe r 2 0 an d 22 , 1858 ; American Fistiana (i860) , pp .
58-61; and Lives ofSayers and Heenan, p . 63.
50. New York Tribune, Octobe r 22 , 1858 ; Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper,
October 30 , 1858 ; Lloyd, p. 36.
51. "Th e Priz e Fight, " Harper's New Monthly Magazine 1 8 (December 1858) : 84-
86. Th e literatur e o n refor m i s voluminous , bu t fo r tw o semina l work s o n romanti c
perfectionism, se e David Brion Davis, "The Emergence of Immediatism in British and
American Antislaver y Thought, " Mississippi Valley Historical Review 49 (Septembe r
1962); 209-30 , an d Joh n L . Thomas , "Romanti c Refor m i n America , 1815-1865, "
American Quarterly 1 7 (Winter 1965) : 656-81.
52. "Th e Priz e Fight, " Harpers, pp . 86-88; Buffalo Republic, quote d i n New York
Tribune, October 20 , 1858 ; New York Herald, October 21 , 1858, and American Fisti-
ana (i860) , p. 59.
53. Troy Evening Transcript, Octobe r 1858 , quoted i n New York Tribune, Octobe r
20, 185 8 New York Times, quote d i n Betts , America's Sporting Heritage, p . 57 ;
Harper's Weekly 2 (October 30, 1858): 690.
54. Lives of Savers and Heenan, pp . 64-67; James, Life of Morrissey, pp . 18-20 ;
anon., The Life of John Morrissey: From the Penitentiary to Congress (n.p., n.d.), p. 7.
The "Dea d Rabbits " wer e a stree t gan g o f mostl y Iris h youths , accuse d o f variou s
criminal activities .
55. "Morris y an d the Russian Sailor, " in M. C. Dean, comp., The Flying Cloud and
One Hundred Fifty Other Old Time Poems and Ballads (Virginia , Minn., 1922) . This
broadside ballad ha s been recorded often. Hear, for example, Joe Heaney on Irish Mu-
sic in London Pubs, ASC H Records F G 3575 (New York , 1965) . D. K. Wilgus o f th e
University o f California , Lo s Angeles , ha s kindl y supplie d m e wit h dozen s o f refer -
ences to this ballad, as well as other songs about the Troy man, recorded in Ireland and
America. Man y o f th e song s o f nineteenth-centur y pugilist s coul d stil l b e hear d i n
Ireland wel l into the twentieth century .
56. Huber t How e Bancroft's Popular Tribunals 2 , pp. 1- 9 an d 267-8 3 in his Col-
lected Works (San Francisco , 1887) , is sympathetic t o the vigilante s fo r thei r effort s
to secur e "civilize d industry , agriculture , manufacturers , an d th e gentle r art s o f do-
mesticity." Th e New York Clipper o f Jul y 5 an d 12 , 1856 , doubte d th e vigilantes '
claims, quoting Californi a newspapers , Sullivan' s allege d confession , an d th e coro -
ner's repor t t o thro w suspicio n o n thos e wh o usurpe d th e law . Als o se e E d James ,
The Life and Battles of Yankee Sullivan (Ne w York, n.d.), pp. 22-23. On the vigilan -
tes se e Rober t M . Senkewicz , Vigilantes in Gold Rush San Francisco (Stanford ,
1984).
57. Spirit of the Times, Octobe r 3 , 1863 , July 2 , 1864 ; New York Herald, June 27,
1864; New York Times, Jun e 27 , 1864 ; Asbury , pp . 67-69 , 100 ; an d James , Life of
• 284 •
NOTES TO PAGES I24-I3 O
• 285 •
NOTES TO PAGES i3O-i3 i
York City , 1820-1870 " (diss. , Universit y o f Illinois , 1980) , esp . chaps . 9-11 ; Joh n
Rickard Betts , "Min d an d Bod y i n Early America n Thought, " Journal of American
History 5 4 (March 1968) : 790-801; Betts , "Sporting Journalis m i n Nineteent h Cen -
tury America , 1819-1900" ; American Quarterly 5 (Sprin g 1953) : 39-56 ; Betts ,
America's Sporting Heritage, l8¦O-i9¦O (Reading , Mass. , 1974) , pt . 1 ; Stephe n
Hall Hard y an d Jac k Berryman , " 'Public Amusement s an d Publi c Morality' : Spor t
and Socia l Refor m i n th e America n City , 1800-1860 " (pape r presente d a t th e an -
nual meetin g o f th e Organizatio n o f America n Historians , Detroit , Apri l 1-4 ,
1981); Pete r Levine , "Th e Promis e o f Spor t i n Antebellu m America, " Journal of
American Culture 2 (Winter 1980) : 623-34; and Benjami n Rader , American Sports:
From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Spectators (Englewoo d Cliffs , N.J. ,
1983), pt. 1.
3. O n th e bourgeoi s respons e t o th e poo r o f mid-nineteenth-centur y citie s se e
Paul Boyer , Urban Masses and Moral Order in America (Cambridge , Mass., 1978) ,
pts. 2 and 3 ; Carroll Smith-Rosenberg , Religion and the Rise of the American City
(Ithaca, 1971) . Fo r example s o f Victoria n response s t o sports , se e Joh n Dizikes ,
Sportsmen and Gamesmen (Boston , 1981) , chaps . 1-5 , 8 ; Buckley , pp . 591-604 ;
Edward K . Spann , The New Metropolis: New York City, 1840-1857 (Ne w York ,
1981), pp. 164-73 ; a n d Rader , American Sports, pp . 30-43 . Sto w Person s capture s
the earnes t ton e o f Victoria n lif e i n hi s The Decline of American Gentility (Ne w
York, 1973) . On the growing bifurcatio n o f American culture—elit e vs . plebeian—
see Buckley , esp . pp. 160-61 . Excellen t discussion s o f th e underlyin g assumption s
in Victoria n cultur e ar e containe d i n Danie l T . Rodgers, The Work Ethic in Indus-
trial America, 1850-1950 (Chicago , 1978) ; Danie l Walke r Howe , ed. , Victorian
America (Philadelphia , 1976) ; an d Howe , The Political Culture of the American
Whigs (Chicago , 1979) .
4. Fo r demographic change, see Spann, chap. 1 ; Amy Bridges, A City in the Repub-
lic (Cambridge, Mass., 1984), pp. 39-45; Sean Wilentz, Chants Democratic: New York
City and the Rise of the American Working Class, 1788-1850 (Ne w York , 1984) , pp.
18-24, 192 ; Allen Stanle y Horlick , Country Boys and Merchant Princes: The Social
Control of Young Men in New York (Lewisburg, 1975) , chap. 1 ; George Rogers Taylor,
"American Urban Growth Preceding th e Railroad Age," Journal of Economic History
27 (September 1967) : 309-39; Douglass C. North, The Economic Growth of the United
States, 1790-1860 (Ne w York, 1966) , pt. 2; and Philip A. M. Taylor, The Distant Mag-
net: European Migration to the United States of America (London , 1971) , pp. 34-37.
Frank Queen claimed that audiences for sparring matches ranged from dealer s in Wall
Street stock s t o dealers i n faro , fro m Broadwa y dandie s t o seller s o f lozenges . How -
ever, he mentione d nothin g o f shopkeepers , businessmen, o r industrialists . New York
Clipper, February 4 , 1854.
5. Fo r a fine discussion o f th e mora l econom y o f the old artisan culture , it s root -
edness i n republica n ideolog y an d collectiv e welfare , se e Wilentz , chaps . 2 and 3 .
For chang e i n th e relation s o f work , se e Wilentz , pp . 108-10 , 119 , 134 ; Pau l
Faler, Mechanics and Manufacturers in the Early Industrial Revolution: Lynn,
Massachusetts, ı γ60-1860 (Albany , N.Y , 1981) , chap. 7 ; Bruc e Lauri e " 'Nothing
on Compulsion' : Lif e Style s o f Philadelphi a Artisans , 1820-1850, " Labor History
15 (Summer 1974) : 337-66 ; Susa n Hirsch , Roots of the American Working Class
• 286 •
NOTES TO PAGES 132-13 3
• 287 •
NOTES TO PAGES i33-i3 4
• 288 •
NOTES TO PAGES I34-I3 6
15. See , for example, anon., London and New York: Their Crime and Police (New
York, 1853) , reprinted fro m article s i n the New York Journal of Commerce, Februar y
1853; Harlow, chaps. 1 1 and 16 ; Herbert Asbury , The Gangs of New York (New York ,
1928), pp. 37-45; Jerome Mushkat, Tammany: The Evolution of a Political Machine,
1789-1865 (Syracuse , 1971) , p. 208; Gustavus Myers , The History of Tammany Hall
(New York, 1901) , pp. 154-63 ; and M. R. Werner, Tammany Hall (New York , 1928),
pp. 44-65 •
16. Saxton , pp. 437-58, does a fine job o f revealin g th e juncture o f politics, stree t
life, an d working-clas s culture . Als o se e Kett , pp . 8-90 ; Wilentz , pp . 255-64 , 300 -
301; Brown, pp. 60-61, 144-56 ; George G. Foster, New York by Gaslight (Ne w York ,
1850), chap . 12 ; Foster, New York in Slices by an Experienced Carver (Ne w York ,
1849), chap . 9 ; Laurie , Peoples of Philadelphia, pp . 151-58 ; Harlow, chaps . 11 , 16;
Asbury, Gangs of New York, pp. 37-45 ; Mushkat , p . 208 ; Meyers, pp . 154-63 ; and
Werner, pp . 44-65. For an alternativ e interpretatio n o f gang behavior—one stressin g
antisocial act s more than grou p norms—see Leonar d Berkowitz , "Violence an d Rul e
Following Behavior, " i n Pete r Marsh an d Ann e Campbell , eds. , Aggression and Vio-
lence (Oxford, 1982) , pp. 91-101.
17. Spann , pp . 319 , 326-29 , 344-5¤ . 352-53 ; Wilentz , pp . 255-64 , 326-35 ;
Brown, pp . 78-95; and Bridges , pp. 61-62, 110-13 , r 32-35. Rynders, for example ,
brought such fighters as Bill Ford and John McCleester to sixth ward primary meet -
ings, trying t o us e muscl e t o broaden hi s politica l bas e beyond th e fifth ward . Ker -
nan, pp. 52-54. O n violence a s a political too l i n artisa n cultur e se e Michael Feld -
berg, "Urbanizatio n a s a Cause o f Violence : Philadelphi a a s a Test Case, " in Alle n
F. Davi s an d Mar k H . Haller , eds. , The Peoples of Philadelphia (Philadelphia ,
1973), pp. 56, 66. Fo r tie s betwee n urba n vice , gambling , an d politics , se e Haller ,
"Recurring Themes, " the conclusion t o Davis and Haller , pp. 277-90.
18. Fo r mor e o n stree t politics , se e Georg e Walling , Recollections of a New York
Chief of Police (n.p., 1890), pp. 375-76; New York Daily Tribune, "The Poole Tragedy,"
March 10 , 1855 ; Spann, 318-19 ; Fred Harve y Harrington , "Gamblers , Politician s an d
the World of Sport, 1840-1870 " (a paper read at the Organization of American Histori-
ans meeting, April 8, 1983). As Buckley points out, several of the most influential indi -
viduals in working-class culture, such as editors George Wilkes and Mike Walsh, poli-
tician Isaia h Rynders , an d promote r Davi d Broderick , becam e wealth y me n an d
ultimately cut themselves off from th e very culture they helped create; pp. 406-9.
19. O n nativism an d politics i n New York see Robert Ernst, "Economic Nativis m
in New York City durin g the 1840s, " New York History 2 9 (April 1948) : 170-86 ; Ira
M. Leonard , "Th e Ris e an d Fal l o f th e America n Republica n Part y i n Ne w Yor k
City," New-York Historical Society Quarterly 5 0 (Apri l 1966) : 150-92 ; Spann , pp .
276-80, 334-39 ; Wilentz , pp . 315-25 . 343¯49; an d Bridges , pp . 12 , 30-33. 39¯45 .
92-98. Severa l historian s hav e argue d tha t ethni c conflic t wa s th e majo r formativ e
influence i n th e politic s o f th e antebellu m era . Fo r thi s "ethnocultural " school , se e
Michael F . Holt , Forging a Majority: The Formation of the Republican Party in
Pittsburgh, 1848-1860 (Ne w Haven, 1969); Holt, The Political Crisis of the 1850s (New
York, 1978) ; Joel H . Silbey , The Transformation of American Politics, 1840-1860
(Englewood Cliffs, 1967) ; Robert Kelly , The Cultural Pattern in American Politics:
The First Century (Ne w York, 1979) ; Paul Kleppner , The Cross of Culture: A Social
• 289 •
NOTES TO PAGES I37-I4 O
Analysis of Midwestern Politics, 1850-IĢOO (New York, 1970) ; Kleppner, The Third
Electoral System, i8¦ĵ-l8g2: Parties, Voters and Political Cultures (Chape l Hill ,
1979). Boxer s affirme d th e continuit y o f ethni c identit y acros s generation s i n thei r
ring names . Thus one black becam e "Youn g Molineaux " an d a Jewish fighter calle d
himself "Youn g Dutc h Sam " afte r hi s Englis h predecessor . Still , Iris h an d Englis h
immigrants dominate d th e sport. Adelma n estimate s tha t around 5 5 percent o f pre -
Civil War New York fighters were of Irish extraction, and most of the rest came fro m
English stock ; pp. 559-69.
20. Wilentz , pp. 137-39; Buckley, pp. 342-49; New York Clipper, April 29 , 1854.
21. I n addition t o Wilentz an d Buckle y a s cited i n note 19 , see Laurie, "Fir e Com -
panies," pp. 77-78; Jable, "Moral Reform, " pp . 362-63.
22. Fo r examples, see New York Clipper, December 1 0 and October 15 , 1853.
23. Th e mos t comprehensiv e wor k o n stree t cultur e i s Buckley , "T o th e Oper a
House." It was the corrupting effects o f street culture on youth which reformers feare d
most. See especially Halttunen , pp. 23-32.
24. O n symboli c inversio n se e Barbar a A . Babcock, ed. , The Reversible World:
Symbolic Inversion in Art and Society (Ithaca , 1978) . Police Captain Pett y referred t o
Norton's fifth war d cliqu e a s " a gan g o f rowdie s compose d o f thieves , gamblers ,
pimps, bount y jumpers, fighters an d ru m sellers. " The presiden t o f th e polic e boar d
called Norto n "th e champio n o f th e desperat e an d dangerou s classes, " includin g
thieves, prostitutes , an d murderers . Othe r boxer s als o foun d succes s o n thei r ow n
terms. Ed Pric e became a n attorney afte r retirin g fro m th e ring, building hi s practic e
with th e aid of his stree t contacts , while Orvill e "Awful " Gardner— a fe w year s afte r
biting off par t of William "Dubli n Tricks" Hasting's ear in a brawl—was converted t o
Christianity an d preached t o others of his background i n the language and style of the
Bowery. Quotations fro m Edwi n P . Kilroe, comp., "Skeleton Outlin e o f the Activitie s
of Michael Norton, " New-York Historical Societ y manuscrip t dated April 1 , 1938. See
also Charle s Lorrin g Brace , The Dangerous Classes of New York and Twenty Years
Work among Them (New York, 1872) , pp. 288-97; Spann, p. 346.
25. O n "modern" personality se e Richard D . Brown, Modernization: The Transfor-
mation of American Life, 1600-1865 (Ne w York , 1976) , chaps. 5 and 6 , and Wilbu r
Zelinsky, A Cultural Geography of the United States (Englewoo d Cliffs , N.J. , 1973) ,
chap. 2 . M y considerabl e intellectua l deb t t o Cliffor d Geert z shoul d b e obviou s i n
these pages. See his The Interpretation of Cultures (Ne w York, 1973).
26. Contras t the behavior of men at a fight with Victorian propriety a s elucidated by
Howe e t al . in Victorian America an d b y Halttune n i n Confidence Men and Painted
Women.
27. O n gambling see Ann Fabian, "Rascals and Gentlemen: The Meaning of Amer-
ican Gambling, 1820-1890 " (diss., Yale University, 1983) .
28. O n the centrality of gambling t o the rise of sports see Harrington, "Gamblers ,
Politicians, and the World of Sports." Labor radical Mike Walsh seems to have taken
a live-and-let-live attitud e towar d gambling ; se e Subterranean, Decembe r 27 , 1845.
The ring depended o n professional gambler s for stake money and to facilitate wager -
ing amon g othe r bettors . Jak e Somerendyke , fo r example , was a regula r a t th e
Empire Clu b wher e fight s wer e discussed an d arranged . H e earned hi s mone y fro m
his expertis e a t th e rin g an d track , handicappin g horse s an d fighters an d sellin g
• 290 •
NOTES TO PAGES i4O-i4 3
"pools" t o othe r gamblers . Se e E d James , The Life and Battles of Tom Hyer (Ne w
York, 1879) , p. 2.
29. Fabian , "Rascal s an d Gentlemen" ; Harrington , "Gamblers , Politicians an d th e
World of Sports." Also see Haller, "Recurring Themes," pp. 277-90.
30. O n gender roles in Victorian America se e Rader, American Sports, p . 34; Pe-
ter Stearns, Be a Man: Males in Modern Society (Ne w York, 1979) , chap. 5; Edward
Anthony Rotundo , "Bod y an d Soul : Changin g Ideal s o f America n Middle-Clas s
Manhood," Journal of Social History 1 6 (Summe r 1983) : 23-38; Rotundo , "Man -
hood i n America: Th e Norther n Middl e Class , 1770-1920 " (diss., Brandeis Univer -
sity, 1982) , chaps. 4-6 ; Mar y P . Ryan, Cradle of the Middle Class: The Family in
Oneida County, New York, ı γço-1865 (Cambridge , 1981) ; Charles E . Rosenberg ,
"Sexuality, Clas s an d Rol e i n Nineteent h Centur y America, " i n Josep h an d Eliza -
beth Pltck , eds. , The American Man (Englewoo d Cliffs , N.J. , 1980) , pp . 219-54 ;
Michael Gordon , "Th e Idea l Husban d a s Depicte d i n th e Nineteenth Centur y Mar -
riage Manual, " i n Plec k an d Pleck , pp . 145-57 ; Jo e L . Dubbert , A Man's Place:
Masculinity in Transition (Englewoo d Cliffs , N.J. , 1979) , chap. 2; Pleck an d Pleck ,
"Introduction," pp . 14-15 ; Nanc y F . Cott , The Bonds of Womanhood: "Woman's
Sphere" in New England, 1780-1835 (Ne w Haven, 1977) ; Ann Douglas , The Femi-
nization of American Culture (Ne w York , 1977) ; Willia m H . Chafe , Women and
Equality: Changing Patterns in American Culture (Oxford , 1979) , chap . 2 ; Pete r
Gabriel Filene , Him/Her/Self: Sex Roles in Modern America (Ne w York , 1974) ,
chaps. 1 and 2 ; and Nanc y F . Cott an d Elizabet h H . Pleck, eds. , A Heritage of Her
Own: Toward a New Social History of American Women (New York , 1979) , chaps.
6-14.
31. Span n captures the male basis of this culture, pp. 344-50. Rotundo's disserta -
tion i s particularly helpfu l here , especially chaps . 2-6. Also see Jonathan Katz , ed.,
Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the USA (New York , 1976) . Jo-
seph H. Pleck, The Myth of Masculinity (Cambridge , Mass., 1981) , pp. 140-42 , uses
the term s "traditional " an d "modern " t o differentiat e male-centere d fro m female -
centered masculinity , a class-biased formulation . Pete r Stearn s i s quite sensitiv e t o
the proble m o f ho w clas s an d gende r role s interact ; pp . 41-46 , 59-60 , 62-63 ,
70-71.
32. Rader , American Sports, p . 34 ; Hirsch, pp . 54-55; Kernan , p . 165 ; Stearns,
pp. 52-53 , 85 ; Kingsdale, "Th e 'Poo r Man' s Club, ' " pp . 472-89; Brace , pp . 286 -
97; Ned Polsky , Hustlers, Beats and Others (Chicago , 1967) , especially pp . 31-37,
72-73, 85-115 ; Adelman, pp . 582-89; Boyer, chap. 7; and David R. Johnson, Polic-
ing the Urban Underworld (Philadelphia , 1979) , especiall y pp . 29-40 , 78-89 ,
126-81.
33. Carrol l Smith-Rosenberg , "Th e Femal e Worl d o f Lov e an d Ritual : Relation s
between Women in Nineteenth Century America," Signs 1 (Autum n 1975) : 1-29; Isen-
berg, chap. 2, pp. 18-19.
34. New York Clipper, Decembe r 10 , 1853 . Joseph an d Elizabet h Plec k poin t ou t
that eighteenth-century me n were intensely intimat e i n their interactions with one an-
other. American Man, p. 13.
35. O n th e concep t o f hono r se e Bertra m Wyat t Brown , Southern Honor: Ethics
and Behavior in the Old South (Ne w York , 1982) , esp. pt. 1 ; Wyatt-Brown, Yankee
• 2ÇI •
NOTES TO PAGES i43-i4 5
Saints and Southern Sinners (Bato n Rouge , 1985) ; Edward L . Ayers, Vengeance and
Justice, Crime and Punishment in the Nineteenth Century American South (Ne w
York, 1984) , esp. chap. 1 ; Elliott J . Gorn, '"Goug e an d Bite , Pull Hai r an d Scratch' :
The Socia l Significance o f Fighting i n the Southern Backcountry, " American Histori-
cal Review 9 0 (February 1985) : 38-42; Peter Berger et al., The Homeless Mind (Ne w
York, 1973) , pp. 83-94 ; Juli o Caro-Baroja , "Honou r an d Shame : A n Historica l Ac -
count o f Severa l Conflicts, " trans . R . Johnson , an d Julia n Pitt-Rivers , "Honou r an d
Social Status, " both i n J . G. Peristiani , ed. , Honour and Shame (Chicago , 1966) , pp.
88-91, 19-77 ; and "Honor" in David Sills, ed., The International Encyclopedia of the
Social Sciences 6 (New York, 1968) : 503-10.
36. Se e references i n note 32 above.
37. Brown , pp . 113-17 ; Bridges , p . 116 ; Spann , pp . 71 , 25-28, 134-51 . 306-19 ;
Wilentz, pp. 117-19 , 363-64; and Roger Lane, Violent Death in the City (Cambridge,
Mass., 1979) , pp. 59-64, 117-24 . The human environmen t coul d be as threatening a s
the natural one. Mobbing and rioting were common, traditional forms of protest aimed
at attaining particular social or economic goals. Moreover, street crime—though com-
paratively infrequen t b y modern standards—wa s perceive d a s growing out of control.
See Michae l Feldberg , "Urbanizatio n a s a Cause o f Violence , Philadelphi a a s a Test
Case," in Davis and Haller, pp. 53-69.
38. Wilentz , chap . 7 , esp . 262-66 ; Leonar d L . Richards , Gentlemen of Property
and Standing: Ann-Abolition Mobs in Jacksonian America (Ne w York, 1970) . Tradi-
tional use s o f violenc e i s a pervasive them e i n Buckley , "T o th e Oper a House, " an d
Brown '"Dea d Rabbiť-Bower y Bo y Riot." Also se e Harlow, pp. 146-51 ; Charles N .
Glabb an d Theodor e Brown , A History of Urban America (Ne w York , 1967) , pp .
87-88.
39. Eve n though the rules of the ring sometimes broke down, it was the ideal of fai r
combat whic h gav e boxin g symboli c power . Afte r a barroo m misunderstandin g i n
1859, John C. Heenan was set upon in the streets of Boston, kicked down from behind ,
shot at, and left bleedin g with injuries t o his back and knee. Contrast suc h brutality —
not uncommon i n street life—wit h th e controlled passion s of the ring. Ed James, Life
and Battles of John C. Heenan (Ne w York, 1879) , p. 3. For a fascinating discussio n of
the verbal violenc e i n Englis h yout h gangs , see Pate r Marsh , "Th e Rhetoric s o f Vio-
lence," in Mars h an d Ann e Campbell , eds. , Aggression and Violence (Oxford , 1982) ,
pp. 102-17 .
40. Th e bes t evidenc e indicate s tha t violen t spectacle s suc h a s boxing matche s d o
not have a cathartic effect bu t tend to promote real violence. See, for examples, David
P. Phillips, "The Werther Effect," The Sciences, July-Augus t 1985 , pp. 33-39; George
Gaskill and Robert Pearton , chap. 1 0 of Jeffrey H . Goldstein, ed., Sports, Games and
Play: Social and Psychological Viewpoints (Hillsdale , N.J., 1979) , pp. 263-91; Gold -
stein, ed., Sports Violence (New York, 1983) ; and Richard G . Sipes, "War, Sports and
Aggression: A n Empirica l Tes t o f Tw o Riva l Theories, " American Anthropologist,
n.s., 751 (February 1973) : 64-86.
41. Fo r a n excellen t surve y o f sociologica l theorie s o n yout h gan g violence , se e
David Downes, "The Language of Violence," in Marsh and Campbell, Aggression and
Violence, chap. 3.
• 29 2 •
NOTES TO PAGES i 4 8 - i 5 i
• 293 •
NOTES T O PAGES I5i—15 9
Elizabeth to Anne (Toronto , 1969) , argues tha t th e declin e o f sport s theor y i s greatl y
overestimated, tha t th e workin g clas s wa s abl e t o preserv e it s autonomou s recre -
ations. H e clearl y exaggerate s i n th e cas e o f boxing , bu t th e tenacit y o f th e workin g
class i n preservin g ol d pastime s ha s to o ofte n bee n slighte d b y thos e wh o vie w mod -
ernization a s a n overwhelming , superorgani c process .
12. Se e Lloyd , pp . 22-116 .
13. Ibid . Morrisse y denie d reveng e a s a motive, implyin g tha t bettin g o n Sayer s wa s
purely a n investment . Th e forme r champion , incidentally , wa s accompanie d t o En -
gland b y Da d Cunningham , slaye r o f Paudee n MacLaughlin , wh o wa s Willia m Poole' s
murderer. E d James , The Life and Battles of John Morrissey (Ne w York , 1897) , pp .
19-20.
14. Lloyd , pp . 111-25 ; s e e a ' s o undate d passage s fro m London Sporting Life i n
Lives of Sayers and Heenan, pp . 77-86 .
15. Clipper quote d i n American Fistiana (i860) , p . 87 ; Wilkes' Spirit of the Times,
January 21 , i860, quote d i n Adelman , p . 566.
16. Lives of Sayers and Heenan, pp . 71,91 , quotatio n take n fro m a January editio n
of Wilkes' Spirit of the Times; The Diary of George Templeton Strong, ed . Alle n Nev -
ins an d Milto n Halse y Thoma s (Ne w York , 1952) , Monday, Apri l 3 , i860 .
17. Fo r example , se e Georg e Borrow , Lavengro (London , 1910) , chap. 26 ; unattrib -
uted quotatio n i n Lloyd , pp . 124-31 , 157 ; Famous Fights in the Prize Ring (London ,
n.d.), p . 4 ; E d James , The Life and Battles of John C. Heenan, the Hero of Farnbor-
ough (Ne w York , 1879) , pp. 5-6 .
18. James , Life of Heenan, pp . 6-17 . Lloyd , chaps . 20-23 , persuasivel y synthesize s
reports fro m th e Britis h an d America n press .
19. F . Locker-Lampson , Fifty Famous Fights in Fact and Fiction, quote d i n T B .
Shepherd ed. , The Noble Art: An Anthology (London , 1950) , p. 147 ; Lloyd, pp . 155-57 ,
164.
20. Willia m Makepeac e Thackeray , "Th e Figh t o f Sayeriu s an d Heenanus, " re -
printed i n Shepherd , Noble Art, pp . 151-52 .
21. On e broadsid e b y "Dilse y o f London " ha d Heena n repeatedl y declar e "Eri n g o
Bragh." Reprinte d i n J . N . Healy , Old Irish Street Ballads (Cork , 1969) , 3 : 16 .
22. Quote d i n Willia m D . Cox , ed. , Boxing in Art and Literature (Ne w York ,
1935), pp . 121-22 ; Foste r Rhe a Dulles , America Learns to Play (Gloucester , Mass. ,
1959). P • !46 ; Lloyd , p . 152 ; Adelman , pp . 568-69 ; an d James , Life of Heenan, pp .
17-18.
23. Al l cite d i n Adelman , pp . 567-68 . Als o se e Lloyd , pp . 158-59 ; Lives of Sayers
and Heenan, p . 78; Harding, John C. Heenan, p . 5; and James , Life of Heenan, pp . 15 -
17. The passag e o f tim e mad e th e Englis h pres s a s certai n tha t Sayer s wa s cheate d a s
the America n pres s wa s tha t Heena n deserve d th e belt .
24. "Heena n an d Sayers, " i n M . C . Dean , comp. , The Flying Cloud and One
Hundred Fifty Other Old Time Poems and Ballads (Virginia , Minn. , 1922) , pp .
24-25.
25. Th e New York Clipper ha d t o remind it s reader s wh o Charle s Freema n was . Se e
Lives of Sayers and Heenan, p . 90. Als o se e Adelman , p . 601, and Lloyd , p . 38.
26. Rand y Roberts , Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler (Bato n Rouge , 1979) ,
chap. 3 . O n boxin g an d militaris m i n th e twentiet h centur y se e Jeffre y T Sammons ,
• 294 •
NOTES T O PAGE S I O I - l 6 5
• 295 •
NOTES TO PAGES i65-l6 9
highly "artistic " fight i n whic h Jo e Cobur n an d Bil l Clar k put o n th e glove s an d
fought fo r half a n hour, each clean hi t ending a round, until Coburn wo n eleven hit s
to ten . E d James , sport s edito r o f th e Clipper, referee d thi s bou t o n Januar y 28 ,
1863.
41. Fo r examples see American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 117 , 119-21, 123-24 . On mal e
frontier lif e se e Elliot t West , The Saloon on the Rocky Mountain Mining Frontier
(Lincoln, Neb., 1979).
42. American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 96, 117-18 , 124 ; West, pp. 85-87. In 1851 , five
hundred patron s paid S2.5 0 each to watch Matthe w Trac y an d Bil l Blackwood pum -
mel eac h othe r a t Storm' s Ranch , California . Fou r year s later , twenty-fiv e hundre d
spectators, includin g " a numbe r o f gayly dresse d females, " spen t five dollars apiec e
and saw Con Orem battle Patsy Marley at Last Chance Flat, Montana Territory. Als o
see Raber t K . DeArment , Bat Masterson, The Man and the Legend, (Norman ,
Okla., 1979) , pp. 72, 218-19, 339-43 ; Fleischer, Andre , an d Loubet , Pictorial His-
tory, p . 79.
43. New York Sunday Mercury, Ma y 10 , 1863 ; accounts take n fro m th e Sporting
Life, the Sportsman, an d the Illustrated Sporting News, cited in Famous Fights in the
Prize Ring (London, n.d. [ca . 1870s]), pp. 173-75.
44. I n additio n t o the source s i n note 43 see William Edga r Harding , Champions
of the American Prize Ring (New York, 1880) , pp. 39-44; Harding, Prize Ring Heroes
(New York , 1889) , pp . 78-80 ; James , Life of Heenan, pp . 18-19 ; Mott , American
Journalism, p . 382; and Dizikes , p. 225. As was common, som e enterprising rogue s
published a bogus extra edition o f Wilkes' Spirit of the Times with a n early bu t fals e
report o f th e Heenan-Kin g fight. Se e American Gentleman's Newspaper, Decembe r
26, 1863.
45. New York Times, May 6 , 1863 . See also th e New York Sunday Mercury, Ma y 3
and 10 , 1863 ; Wilkes' Spirit of the Times, May 1 6 and 23 , 1863 ; New York Illustrated
News, May 16 , 1863; American Fistiana (1873), pp. 106-8 ; and New York Herald, May
6,1863.
46. Se e references i n note 45. On rough an d tumbl e fighting on the Southern fron -
tier se e Elliott J. Gorn, " 'Gouge an d Bite , Pull Hair an d Scratch' : The Socia l Signifi -
cance o f Fightin g i n th e Souther n Backcountry, " American Historical Review 9 0
(February 1985) : 18-43 .
47. New York Clipper, quote d i n American Fistiana (1873) , p. 106 ; see als o New
York Herald, May 6, 1863.
48. Se e reference s i n not e 45 . Coburn' s color s wer e emeral d green , McCoole' s
green-and-white chec k with a red, white, and blue border.
49. New York Sunday Mercury, Ma y 3, 1865.
50. American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 128 , 136 ; E. B . Mitchell, Fencing, Boxing and
Wrestling (London, 1893) , pp. 143-44 ; Boston Theatrical News, Jun e 4, 1870 , Sport-
ing Times and Theatrical News, Ma y 2 1 and 28 , 1870 , all i n Magrie l ms. ; and New
York Clipper, quoted in American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 145-47.
51. Categorie s (heavyweight, lightweight, etc.) were used intermittently an d with-
out precisio n durin g th e bare-knuckl e era . Chandle r weighe d 13 6 pounds , Harri s
137. Nat Fleischer regards thi s as the first middleweigh t championshi p bout , in Ring
Record Book (Ne w York , 1968) , p . 17 . Th e quotatio n i s fro m th e coverag e i n
• 296 •
NOTES T O PAGE S I 7 O - I 7 2
American Fistiana (1873) , pp . 128-31 . Als o se e "Th e Doone y Song, " publishe d b y
T. C. Boyd (Sa n Francisco , n.d.) , from th e collection o f Danie l W . Patterson, Universit y
of Nort h Carolina , Chape l Hill ; American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 103 , 116-17 , '34 > ! 3 6 ,
144; Herber t Asbury , Gangs of New York (Ne w York , 1928) , pp . 184-85 ; Wilkes'
Spirit of the Times, Novembe r 14 , 1863 , in Magrie l ms .
52. Huizinga' s centra l thesi s i n Homo Ludens i s tha t agonisti c pla y i s th e fon t o f
culture.
53. American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 98 , 101 , 108-10 . American Fistiana refer s t o th e
"increased vigilanc e o f th e myrmidon s o f th e law " durin g th e l86os , p . 101 . Also se e
Wilkes' Spirit of the Times, Ma y 23 , ]863 . Figh t crowd s occasionall y roughe d u p th e
local officials .
54. O n th e changin g natur e o f politic s se e Pete r Georg e Buckley , "T o Th e Oper a
House: Cultur e an d Society , 1820-1860 " (diss. . Stat e Universit y o f Ne w Yor k a t Ston y
Brook, 1984) , pp. 4 0 8 - 9; Adelman , pp . 573-74; an d especiall y Am y Bridges , A City in
the Republic (Cambridge , Mass. , 1984) , chaps. 7 , 8 .
55. American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 123 , 136-37, 144 , 150 . See also American Gentle-
man's Newspaper, Octobe r 24 , 1863 ; Wilkes' Spirit of the Times, Decembe r 23 , 1865 ,
and Februar y 15 , 1868.
56. Fo r a n excellen t reinterpretatio n o f Gilde d Ag e culture , se e Ala n Trachtenberg ,
The Incorporation of America: Culture and Society in the Gilded Age (Ne w York ,
1982).
57. New York Clipper, quote d i n American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 70-71 .
58. American Fistiana (1873) , p . 151 . O n labo r i n thi s er a see , fo r examples ,
Trachtenberg, chap . 3 ; Danie l T . Rodgers , The Work Ethic in Industrial America,
i8ļo- ç2o (Chicago , 1978) , chaps . 2 an d 6 ; Melvi n Dubofsky , Industrialism and the
American Worker , 1865-192 0 (Ne w York , 1973) ; Davi d Montgomery , Workers' Con-
trol in America: Studies in the History of Work, Technology and Labor Struggles
(Cambridge, 1979) ; and Herber t G . Gutman , Work, Culture and Society in Industrial-
izing America (Ne w York , 1972) .
59. American Fistiana (1873) , pp . 103-4 , 120 , 129 , 142-43 ; Wilkes' Spirit of the
Times, Ma y 23 , 1863 ; an d New York Clipper, Jun e 10 , 1871 . Henr y L . Ferguson ,
Fisher's Island, New York, 1614-í<ı2ı (Ne w York , 1925) , contains a fine descriptio n
from th e poin t o f vie w o f a loca l communit y invade d b y a fight crowd . Fa y Fox ,
daughter o f Rober t Fo x wh o owne d Fisher' s Island , lef t a vivid recollectio n o f a bou t
on th e sleep y island : "Hav e I mentione d thi s episod e o f m y earl y days , a priz e fight ?
There wer e tw o bu t th e firs t on e wa s th e importan t one . A far m han d cam e rushin g
around t o th e fron t piazz a t o tel l m y fathe r tha t tw o o r thre e hundre d me n wer e bein g
landed fro m tw o bi g schooner s nea r Nort h Hill . Fathe r ordere d hi s hors e and , fol -
lowed b y ever y ma n o n th e premises , se t ou t t o investigat e matters . Th e bi g field jus t
below th e Twi n Hill s wa s th e scen e o f action . Al l th e wome n an d children , to o fright -
ened t o b e lef t behind , followe d o n an d fro m th e Twi n Hill s w e looke d dow n upo n a
scene, on e whic h I have neve r forgotten . Sentinel s wer e o n th e watc h fo r a n approach -
ing steame r wit h officer s o f th e law , an d th e affai r wa s no t on e o f pur e enjoymen t fo r
fear o f liabilit y t o arrest. " Ferguso n conclude d tha t th e groun d th e fight too k plac e o n
was stil l known a s th e "battlefield " durin g th e 1920s . My thank s t o Willie MacMulle n
for thi s reference .
• 297 •
NOTES T O PAGES ľJ2-ljg
60. St. Louis Democrat, Ma y II , 1870 , quoted i n Sporting Times and Theatrical
News, Boston , May 28, 1870, in Magriel ms.
61. American Fistiana (1873) , pp . 148-51 . Th e estimate s o f profi t an d los s com e
from th e New York Clipper, December 16 , 1871, in a letter signed "Justice " and date d
December n , 1871 . Also see Clipper, January 2 8 and May 20 , 1871 ; Alexander John -
ston, Ten and Out (New York, 1927) , pp. 45-57. Sources estimate that each party too k
home $800.
62. American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 102 , 119 , 148; Harding, Champions of the Prize
Ring, pp . 25 , 31-32; Johnston, p . 49; and Michae l T . Isenberg, "Joh n L . Sulliva n an d
His America," manuscript draft (Annapolis , 1985) , chap. 5, pp. 14-15.
63. American Fistiana (1973) , pp. 99, π o - i i , 115 , 132, 140, 152-55 . Also se e Wil-
kes' Spirit of the Times, August 21 , 1869 ; Johnston, p. 50.
64. The American Gentleman's Newspaper, Octobe r 24 , 1863 ; American Fistiana
(1873), pp. 112 , 121-22 , 140-42 ; Johnston, pp . 45-49; Wells Drury , An Editor of the
Comstock Lode (Ne w York, 1936) , pp. 88-89; A. K. McClure, Three Thousand Miles
through the Rockies (Philadelphia , 1869) , pp. 422-25; "The Pacifi c Cit y Fight, " The
Palimpsest 2 (June 1921) : 182-89 ; a n d Nathanie l Fleischer , The Flaming Ben Hogan
(New York, 1941).
65. American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 119 , 121-22; Wilk.es' Spirit of the Times, January,
1868; and Wilkes' Spirit of the Times, October 10 , 31, 1868.
66. New York Clipper, December 4, 1869 ; American Fistiana (1873) , pp. 153-55.
67. Fo r example s o f th e literatur e o n crim e amon g th e "dangerou s classes, " se e
Charles Lorin g Brace , The Dangerous Classes of New York (New York , 1872) ; New
York State, Report of the Select Committee Appointed by the Assembly of 1875 to In-
vestigate the Causes of the Increase of Crime in the City of New York (New York ,
1876), pp. 8-10, 12-24 , 37-38, 85-89; Herbert Asbury , The Gangs of New York (New
York, 1928) ; Arthu r Pember , The Mysteries and Miseries of the Great Metropolis
(New York , 1874) , pp. 2-12 ; an d Pete r Stryker , The Lower Depths of the Great Me-
tropolis (Ne w York , 1866) . On the rise of weapon s se e Roger Lane, Violent Death in
the City (Cambridge , Mass. , 1979) , pp . 59-63 . Lan e argue s tha t pe r capit a violen t
crime rates probably dropped i n this era.
68. Harding , Champions of the Prize Ring. See Paul Magriel, Bibliography of Box-
ing: A Chronological Checklist of Books in English Published before igoo (Ne w
York, 1948) , pp. 20-25, for several titles under Harding's and Price's names, as well as
others probably writte n b y one of them bu t published anonymously . All o f these biog-
raphies hav e the sam e reverentia l ton e a s Champions of the Prize Ring. Hardin g de -
scribed Hyer , for example, as a "generous, whole souled ma n and a 'thoroug h Ameri -
can,' " pp. 7-8.
• 298 •
NOTES TO PAGES i8O-l8 l
• 299 •
NOTES TO PAGES i 8 l - l 8 3
Record: The Nature of Modern Sports (Ne w York, 1978) ; and Alan Geoffrey Ingham ,
"American Spor t in Transition: The Maturation of Industrial Capitalism and its Impact
on Sport" (diss., University of Massachusetts, 1978) . For sport and business, see espe-
cially Pete r Levine, A. G. Spalding and the Rise of Baseball: The Promise of Ameri-
can Sport (Ne w York , 1985) , chap. 5. For a case stud y o f one prominen t turn-of-the -
century sport , se e Richard Hammond , "Progres s an d Flight : A n Interpretation o f the
American Cycl e Craz e o f th e 1890s, " Journal of Social History 5 (Winte r 1971) :
235-57•
6. O n the rise of commercialized leisur e see, for examples, Trachtenberg, pp. 122-
39; Barth , chap . 5 ; Lewi s A . Erenberg , Steppin' Out: New York Nightlife and the
Transformation of American Culture, 1890-1930 (Westport , Conn. , 1981) ; Rober t
Toll, On with the Show: The First Century of Show Business in America (Ne w York ,
1976); Franci s G . Couvares , "Th e Triump h o f Commerce : Clas s Cultur e an d Mas s
Culture i n Pittsburgh," in Michael H . Frisch an d Danie l J . Walkowitz, eds., Working-
Class America: Essays on Labor, Community and American Society (Urbana , 111.,
1983), pp. 123-52; Rosenzweig, chaps. 7 and 8; Perry Duis, The Saloon: Public Drink-
ing in Chicago and Boston, 1880-1920 (Urbana , 111. , 1983); Jon M. Kingsdale, "Th e
'Poor Man' s Club' : Social Function s o f th e Urban Working-Clas s Saloon, " American
Quarterly 2 5 (October 1973) : 472-89; Lary May, Screening Out the Past: The Birth of
Mass Culture and the Motion Picture Industry (Chicago , 1980) , chaps. 1 and 2 ; and
especially Joh n F . Kasson' s outstandin g Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the
Turn of the Century (Ne w York, 1978) .
7. Th e histor y o f Fo x an d th e Police Gazette await s scholarl y treatment , bu t se e
Betts, America's Sporting Heritage, pp . 61-63; Betts , "Sporting Journalis m i n Nine -
teenth Centur y America, " American Quarterly 5 (Sprin g 1953) : 39-56; Gen e Smit h
and Jayne Barry Smith, eds., The Police Gazette (New York, 1972 ) pp. 14-18; Edward
Van Every, The Sins of New York as Exposed by the Police Gazette (Ne w York, 1930);
Van Every, The Sins of America as Exposed by the Police Gazette (Ne w York , 1931) ;
and Barth, pp. 83-109.
8. Thes e themes are treated wit h specia l perceptiveness in Warren I. Susman, Cul-
ture as History: The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century
(New York, 1984) , esp. chaps. 8-11, 14. Also see Zeisel, pp. 145-53; Modell, "Patterns
of Consumption" ; T J . Jackso n Lears , No Place of Grace: Antimodernism and the
Transformation of American Culture, 1880-1920 (Ne w York , 1981) , esp. chaps. 1 , 3;
and D. H. Mayer, "American Intellectuals and the Victorian Crisis of Faith," American
Quarterly 2 7 (December 1975) : 585-603.
9. Erenberg , Steppin' Out, i s th e authorit y here . Se e esp . chaps . I , 3 , pp .
233-38.
10. Ibid. ; Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York (New York, 1928) , pp. 244, 261,
273, 276; Normal R. Clark, Deliver Us from Evil: An Interpretation of American Pro-
hibition (Ne w York, 1976) , chap. 4; and Trachtenberg, chap. 4.
11. I n additio n t o the source s i n note 1 0 see Michael Isenberg , "Joh n L . Sulliva n
and His America," manuscript draft (Annapolis , 1985) , prologue, pp. 11-13. For con-
temporary account s of Harry Hill' s and similar establishments, see Edward Crapsey,
The Nether Side of New York; or, The Vice, Crime and Poverty of the Great
Metropolis (Ne w York , 1872) , pp. 161-62 ; James D . McCabe , Lights and Shadows
• 300 •
NOTES TO PAGES i83-l8 8
of New York Life (Philadelphia , 1879) , pp. 600-604; anon. , The Snares of New York
(New York , 1879) , p . 179 ; Mathe w Hal e Smith , Wonders of a Great City; or, the
Sights, Secrets and Sins of New York (Chicago, 1887) , chaps. 2, 17; Samuel A. Mack-
eever, Glimpses of Gotham, and City Characters (Ne w York, 1887) , pp. 59-60; John
H. Warren , Jr. , Thirty Years Battle with Crime (Poughkeepsie , N.Y , 1874) , chaps .
14-16.
12. Va n Every, Sins of New York, pp . 199-219 ; Isenberg, prologue, pp. 11-13; Barth,
chap. 6; Toll, chaps. 7, 8, 10; Erenberg, chaps. 1 , 3 .
13. O n th e play movemen t se e references i n not e 3 and especially Hard y an d Ing -
ham, pp. 285-301.
14. Kett , pp. 173-81 ; Rader, American Sports, pp. 70-86; Guy Lewis, "The Begin-
ning of Organized Collegiate Sport," American Quarterly 22 (Summer 1970) : 229-29;
Betts, America's Sporting Heritage, pp. 209-23; John A. Lucas and Ronald A. Smith,
The Saga of American Sport (Philadelphia , 1975) , chaps. 12-15 ; Christopher Lasch ,
"The Corruption of Sport," New York Review of Books 24 (April 28, 1977), reprinted in
his The Culture of Narcissism (Ne w York, 1979) , pp. 181-219; Lasch, "The Moral and
Intellectual Rehabilitatio n o f the Ruling Class," in The World of Nations: Reflections
on American History, Politics and Culture (Ne w York , 1974) , chap. 7; and Christia n
Karl Messenger , Sport and the Spirit of Play in American Fiction: Hawthorne to
Faulkner (New York, 1981) , chaps. 6-8.
15. Rader , American Sports, pp . 50-68; Benjamin Rader , "The Quest for Subcom -
munities and the Rise of American Sports, " American Quarterly 29 (Fall 1977) : 364-
66; Betts , America's Sporting Heritage, chap . 6 ; Luca s an d Smith , chap . 10 ; Hardy,
chap. 7; Mrozek, pp. 118-29 ; Joe Willis and Richar d Wettan , "Social Stratificatio n i n
New York City Athletic Clubs, 1865-1915, " Journal of Sport History 3 (Spring 1976) :
45-63•
16. Mroze k i s particularly goo d o n sports an d upper-clas s regeneration , pp . 19-27.
His discussion o f the rise o f a male aesthetic amon g elites (chap. 7) is also quite fine.
On th e developmen t o f a "masculine primitive " ethi c se e Edward Anthon y Rotundo ,
"Manhood i n America: The Northern Middl e Class, 1770-1920 " (diss., Brandeis Uni-
versity, 1982) , chaps. 7 and 9.
17. I n additio n t o the citations i n not e 1 6 see Lears, pp. 47-58; Stow Persons , The
Decline of American Gentility (Ne w York, 1973) , pp. 274-75, 285-87; Kett, pp. 162 -
73; Elizabet h H . an d Josep h H . Pleck , eds. , The American Man (Englewoo d Cliffs ,
N. J., 1980) , pp. 24-25; Edward Anthony Rotundo, "Body and Soul: Changing Ideals of
American Middle-Clas s Manhood , 1770-1920, " Journal of Social History 1 6 (Sum-
mer 1983) : 28-33; a n d Frankli n Henr y Giddings, Democracy and Empire (Ne w York,
1901), pp. 317-18.
18. Th e classic statemen t o f these phenomena i s John Higham, "The Reorientatio n
of America n Cultur e i n the 1890s, " in Joh n Weiss , ed,, The Origins of Modern Con-
sciousness (Detroit , 1965) , pp. 25-48. Higham dates this shif t to o precisely—it bega n
before th e Civil War and accelerated towar d th e end of the century. Moreover, thoug h
he purports t o write about American culture , his examples come mostly fro m th e up-
per and middl e classes. Nevertheless, i t is a seminal essay . Also se e Roberts, chap. 4.
On Sandow se e Toll, pp. 297-99; Mrozek, pp. 220-24.
19. Lasch , "Rehabilitation o f the Ruling Class," pp. 83-87. George M. Fredrickson,
• 301 •
NOTES TO PAGES i88-i9 2
The Inner Civil War: Northern Intellectuals and the Crisis of the Union (New York ,
1965), pp. 217-25; Dudley A . Sargent, Outing 5 (February 1885) : 379. Sargent's diary,
incidentally, reveal s a rather strenuou s dail y regimen . M y thank s t o John Kneebon e
for excerpts culled from th e Harvard Archives .
20. Jame s Turner, Without God, Without Creed: The Origins of Unbelief in Amer-
ica (Baltimore , 1985) ; Meyer, pp . 585-603; John Cawelti , Apostles of the Self Made
Man (Chicago , 1965) , p. 5; Adelman, pp . 679-94; Kare n Halttunen , Confidence Men
and Painted Women: A Study of Middle-Class Culture in America, I8JO-I8JO (Ne w
Haven, 1982) , pp. 201-10 . Also se e Norber t Elia s an d Eri c Dunning , "Th e Ques t fo r
Excitement i n Unexcitin g Societies, " i n Gunthe r Luschen , ed. . The Cross-Cultural
Analysis of Sports and Games (Champaign-Urbana , 111. , 1970) , pp . 31-51 . Lodge ,
speaking before a Harvard alumn i dinner in June 1896 , is quoted in Mrozek, p. 28.
21. Se e Davi d Brio n Davis , "Stress Seekin g an d th e Self-Mad e Ma n i n America n
Literature: 1894-1914, " i n Samue l Klausner , ed. , Why Man Takes Chances (Garde n
City, N.Y., 1968), pp. 108-13 . Roderick Nash argues that the "discovery" of the wilder-
ness as a font o f national virtu e occurre d a t the end of the nineteenth centur y becaus e
primitivism seeme d an antidote to civilization. "Natural" life, like virile athletic activ-
ity, was a counter to the softness o f commercialism. Se e Nash, "The American Cul t of
the Primitive," American Quarterly 1 8 (Fall 1966) : 517-37.
22. O n socia l Darwinis m se e Richar d Hofstadter , Social Darwinism in American
Thought, 1860-ıçi¦ (Philadelphia , 1944) ; Fredrickson, pp . 192-94 , 213-25 ; Lasch ,
"Rehabilitation o f the Ruling Class," pp. 80-99; Mrozek, chaps. 2 and 7; Lears, chap.
1; Trachtenberg, chap. 3.
23. I n additio n t o the reference s i n not e 2 2 see especiall y Mrozek , pp . 28-53. ¤ n
Anglo-Saxon racis m se e John Higham , Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American
Nativism, 1860-ıç2¦ (Ne w York, 1970) , chaps. 6 and 7.
24. Lears , pp. 107-17 . Lears' analysi s builds on Lasch's "Rehabilitation o f the Rul-
ing Class, " pp. 84-87. Sports, as Lear s point s out , wer e par t o f a larger martia l idea l
that beguiled man y upper-class men .
25. Franci s A. Walker, "Colleg e Athletics, " Technological Quarterly 6 (July 1983) :
1-16. O n purposeful pla y see esp. Rosenzweig, pp. 140-52 .
26. Olive r Wendell Holmes, Jr., "The Soldiers Faith," in Max Lerner, ed., The Mind
and Faith of Justice Holmes (Boston , 1943) , pp. 18-21 .
27. Halttunen , pp . 201-10 ; Rotundo , "Manhoo d i n America, " chap . 4 ; an d Sus -
man, Culture as History, Intro . Jeffrey P . Hantover identifie s thi s transformatio n o f
work a s th e ke y elemen t i n th e ris e o f Bo y Scout s o f America . Se e hi s "Th e Bo y
Scouts an d th e Validatio n o f Masculinity, " i n Plec k an d Pleck , pp . 285-310 . Fo r a n
interesting discussio n o n th e ris e o f th e ne w middl e class , se e Stuar t M . Blumin ,
"The Hypothesi s o f Middle-Clas s Formatio n i n Nineteent h Centur y America : A
Critique an d Som e Proposals, " American Historical Review 9 0 (Apri l 1985) : 299 -
338. Als o se e Pete r N . Stearns , Be a Man: Males in Modern Society (Ne w York ,
1979), pp. 96-112; Peter Gabrie l Filene , Him/Her/Self: Sex Roles in Modern Amer-
ica (Ne w York , 1975) , pp . 68-76 . Filen e point s ou t tha t th e numbe r o f salarie d
white-collar worker s multiplie d eigh t time s betwee n 187 0 an d 1910 , jumping fro m
one-third t o two-thirds of the entire middle class. Many of these new jobs wer e filled
by women .
• 3¤2 •
NOTES TO PAGES I92-I9 7
• 303 •
NOTES TO PAGES I97-2O I
ed., (New York, 1958) , pp. 30-31. Also see Theodore Roosevelt, Letters, ed . Elting E.
Morrison, 8 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1951-54), 6: 1103; 8: 962; Michael Donovan, The
Roosevelt That 1 Know (Ne w York, 1909) , chap. I . On the young Roosevelt se e David
McCullough, Mornings on Horseback (Ne w York , 1981) , an d Edmun d Morris , The
Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Ne w York, 1979) .
39. Pennsylvania , fo r example , sa w renewe d effort s agains t sparrin g an d priz e
fighting, testimony to pugilism's growing popularity. See J. Thomas Jable, "Aspects of
Moral Reform i n Early Nineteenth Centur y Pennsylvania, " Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography 10 2 (July 1978) : 191.
40. Famou s name s com e u p ofte n i n Isenberg' s description s o f Sullivan' s fights.
Also se e Donal d Bar r Chidsey , John the Great (Ne w York , 1942) , p. 78; anon., The
Modern Gladiator (St . Louis, 1892) , p. 383.
41. G . Stanley Hall , Life and Confessions of a Psychologist (Ne w York , 1923) , pp.
578-79-
42. Se e Messenger , p . 95, chaps . 5 , 6 , 10 ; Elizabeth Johns , Thomas Eakins: The
Heroism of Modern Life (Princeton, 1983) , pp. 43, 47; and Carl S. Smith, "The Boxing
Paintings o f Thoma s Eakins, " Prospects 4 (1979) , pp. 403-20 . Painting s b y Eakin s
embodied th e new masculine aestheti c of the upper and middl e classes. The romanti c
versus th e realisti c dichotom y i s a n endurin g one , finding recen t expressio n i n suc h
popular motion pictures as Rocky an d Raging Bull. O n the estrangement o f intellectu -
als from bourgeoi s culture , se e Christopher Lasch , The New Radicalism in America,
1889-1963 (Ne w York, 1967).
43. O n Victoria n didacticis m see , in additio n t o the source s mentione d i n not e 42,
Howe, "America n Victorianis m a s a Culture, " pp . 507-32 , an d Walte r Edward s
Houghton, The Victorian Frame of Mind, 1830-18yo (Ne w Haven, 1957) . Smith notes
that Eakins an d other American student s in Paris in the late 1860 s were familiar wit h
boxing for exercise and for settling quarrels, pp. 405-6.
44. Joh n Lawrenc e Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences of a Nineteenth Century
Gladiator (Boston , 1892) , p. 273. For a parody o f this work, se e John L . Sluggervan ,
De Recomemhrances of a iç-Cent Scrapper (Ne w York, 1892) . Also see Betts, Sport-
ing Heritage, p . 165 ; Frank Leslie's Magazine, Marc h 31 , 1883, p. 86, November 29,
1884, p. 227, quoted i n Frederic k L . Paxon, "Th e Ris e o f Sport, " Mississippi Valley
Historical Review 4 (Septembe r 1917) : 150 ; Isenberg, chap. 3, pp. 23-27; and Rader ,
American Sports, p . 56. Rotundo, "Manhood i n America," pp. 309-10, reports a n in-
creased numbe r o f stree t fights amon g youn g gentlemen . Magrieľ s an d Lottinville' s
bibliographies documen t a larg e numbe r o f ne w boxin g lesso n manual s i n thes e
years.
45. Michae l Donovan , The Science of Boxing (Ne w York , 1893) , pp. 19-21 ; Dono-
van, Roosevelt I Know, p. 146; James E. Sullivan, Life and Battles of James J. Corbett
(New York , 1892) , p. 13 ; and Bacon's Dictionary of Boston, 1886 , in Magrie l ms . (a
collection o f newspaper reports on bare-knuckle fights).
46. Reveren d Brobsťs sermo n i s quoted in anon., The Modern Gladiator (S t Louis,
1892), pp. i9i-93 •
47. G . Stanley Hall, Youth: Its Education, Regimen and Hygiene (New York, 1911),
PP• 93-95 •
48. Danie l L . Dawson , "Wit h th e Gloves, " Lippincotťs Monthly Magazine 4 9
• 3¤4 •
NOTES TO PAGES 201-205
• 305 •
NOTES TO PAGES 2O"J-2U
1. Joh n Boyl e O'Reilly , The Ethics of Boxing and Manly Sports (Boston , 1888) ,
PP• 75> 79• Sargent's evaluatio n wa s also publishe d a s an appendi x t o Sullivan' s au -
tobiography, The Life and Reminiscences of a içth Century Gladiator (Boston ,
1892).
2. Unspecifie d newspape r quote d i n Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, p . 14 . The
autobiography appear s t o hav e bee n ghostwritte n wit h Sullivan' s aid . Despit e enor -
mous gap s an d factua l errors , i t contains valuabl e detail s o n importan t events , espe-
cially Sullivan' s tours . Sulliva n ha s bee n th e subjec t o f severa l popula r biographies ,
often highl y imaginative and unreliable. In addition to Donald Barr Chidsey, John the
Great (Ne w York , 1942) , se e R . F . Dibble, John L. Sullivan: An Intimate Narrative
(Boston, 1925) ; Nathaniel Fleischer, The Boston Strong Boy: The Story of John L. Sul-
livan, the Champion of Champions (Ne w York, 1941) ; and Fleischer, John L. Sullivan:
Champion of Champions (Ne w York, 1951) . See als o the chapters o n Sullivan i n Bo-
hun Lynch , Knuckles and Gloves (London , 1922) , an d Loui s Golding , The Bare-
Knuckle Breed (New York, 1954) .
3. Michae l T. Isenberg, "John L. Sullivan an d His America," draft manuscrip t (An -
napolis, 1985) , chap. 1 ; Sullivan, Life and Reminiscences, pp . 21-22 . Fo r Sullivan' s
early life , se e also anon., Famous Irish Fighters in the Ring (Londo n [ca . 1892]) , pp.
i-3•
4. Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, pp . 23-25. Sullivan claimed h e attended Bos -
ton Colleg e fo r sixtee n months , wher e h e studie d fo r th e priesthood . Th e stor y i s al-
most certainly fictitious. Michael T. Isenberg, whose excellent biography of Sullivan is
forthcoming, inform s m e that a thorough chec k o f college records reveals no trace of
John L . Isenber g estimate s tha t Sulliva n ha d roughl y th e equivalen t o f a n eighth - o r
ninth-grade education .
5. Ibid . On the social and economic limitations placed on the Boston Irish see Isen-
berg, chap . 1 , pp . 11-12 , 20-23 , chap . 2 , pp . 3-6 ; Stephe n Thernstorm , The Other
Bostonians: Poverty and Progress in the American Metropolis, 1880-19γo (Cam -
bridge, Mass., 1973) , chaps. 6, 7.
6. Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, pp . 24-25; Isenberg, chap. 2 , pp. 1-2 , 18-19 ,
24-3O•
7. Isenberg , chap . 1 , pp. 32-33 ; Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, pp . 24-27 ; and
Stephen H . Hardy , How Boston Played: Sport, Recreation and Community, i86¦-
1915 (Boston, 1982) , pp. 168-72 .
8. Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, pp . 28-31 ; Michae l Donovan , The Roosevelt
That I Know (New York, 1909) , pp. 40-44; and Isenberg, chap. 1 , pp. 32-33.
9. Isenberg , chap. 4, pp. 9-11; Sullivan, Life and Reminiscences, pp . 38-42.
10. Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, pp . 40-45; Isenberg chap. 4, pp. 23-33.
11. Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, pp . 44-46 ; Edwar d Va n Every , The Sins
of New York as Exposed by the Police Gazette (Ne w York , 1930) , p . 261 ; William
• 3¤6 •
NOTES T O PAGE S 2 I I - 2 l 6
Edgar Harding, John L. Sullivan, the Champion Pugilist (New York, 1883) , pp. 10-12;
and Isenberg, prologue, p. 13.
12. Se e references i n note 1 1 and Isenberg , chap . 4, pp. 23-28 ; for averag e wages,
see Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, 2 vols. (Wash-
ington, D.C., 1975) , 1 : 165.
13. Th e stor y o f th e Sullivan-Rya n fight i s wel l tol d b y Isenberg , chap . 4 , pp .
28-38; Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, pp . 45-52 ; an d Famous Irish Fighters,
PP• 2-3 •
14. Willia m H . Adams, "Ne w Orlean s a s th e Nationa l Cente r o f Boxing, " Louisi-
ana Historical Quarterly 39 (1956): 93; C. Vann Woodward, Origins of the New South
(Baton Rouge, 1951) , p. 171.
15. Fo r coverage of the Sullivan-Ryan fight, see especially th e National Police Ga-
zette fo r th e week s befor e an d afte r Februar y 7 , 1882 . Gazette sport s edito r Willia m
Edgar Harding reprinte d thes e storie s i n his biographies. Also se e Sullivan , Life and
Reminiscences, pp . 70-76 ; Dal e Somers , The Rise of Sport in New Orleans (Bato n
Rouge, 1972), pp. 162-65; and Van Every, p. 263. Reverend Flynn is quoted in Somers,
p. 166 . José Marti, The America ofJosé Marti, trans . Juan de Onís (New York, 1953),
p. 118 . Marti considered th e ring absolutely barbarous .
16. New Orleans Times Democrat an d New Orleans Picayune, February 2-7 , 1882;
Marti, p . 120 .
17. Marti , p . 117 ; Isenberg, chap . 4, pp. 28-36 . Obviously , Mart i go t a fe w o f hi s
details wrong.
18. Isenberg , chap. 4, pp. 32-36; Famous Irish Fighters, p. 3; Somers, p. 166 ; Sul-
livan, Life and Reminiscences, pp . 78-85; anon. , The Modern Gladiator (St . Louis ,
1892), p. 27; William Edga r Harding, Life and Battles of John L. Sullivan (Ne w York,
1891), pp. 32-41; an d Harding , John L. Sullivan. Th e las t tw o sources reprin t Police
Gazette reports. Also se e New Orleans Times Democrat an d New Orleans Picayune,
February 8 , 1882.
19. Se e references i n not e 18 . Ryan's ring experience wa s in fact no t much broader
than Sullivan's .
20. Se e reference s i n not e 18 . O n th e Rya n fight se e Isenberg , chap . 4 , pp .
35-38.
21. Se e reference s i n not e 18 ; New Orleans Times Democrat, Februar y 8 , 1882 ;
Isenberg, chap. 4, pp. 35-38.
22. New York Times, quoted in Somers, p. 167.
23. Harding , John L. Sullivan, pp. 13-25; Frank Luther Mott, American Journalism
(New York , 1962) , p. 487; Hardy, pp . 168-75 ; Van Every , p . 265; Sullivan, Life and
Reminiscences, pp . 92-94. Th e New Orleans Times Democrat wa s obviousl y prou d
that the fight went so well yet editorialized agains t the "disgusting display. "
24. Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, pp . 94-95; Frederick L . Paxson, "Th e Ris e
of Sport," Mississippi Valley Historical Review 4 (September 1917) : 150; and John A .
Lucas an d Ronal d A . Smith , The Saga of American Sport (Philadelphia , 1975) , p.
300. Na t Fleischer , America' s leadin g boxin g journalist fo r fifty years , declare d h e
knew o f n o other fighter "gettin g suc h a grip o n th e popula r imagination, " no t eve n
Jack Dempse y o r Joe Louis . Fleischer, Boston Strong Boy, p. 1 . Sport historia n Joh n
Rickard Bett s calle d Sulliva n "th e first o f ou r legendar y sportin g heroes. " Betts ,
• 3O7 •
NOTES T O PAGE S 2 l 8 - 2 2 2
• 3O8 •
NOTES TO PAGES 223~228
• 309 •
NOTES TO PAGES 22Ç-233
fights wen t on . Forme r Ne w Yor k polic e chie f Georg e Wallin g stoppe d a n 188 4
match i n Madison Squar e Garde n whe n i t became clear that Sulliva n was going fo r
a knockout. No policeman excep t Walling would testify befor e a grand jury tha t the
exhibition wa s indeed a prize fight, and the case was dismissed. Walling , Recollec-
tions of a New York Chief of Police (Ne w York , 1890) , pp. 373-74.
48. Fleischer , Ring Record Book, pp . 24-25, 41; Famous Irish Fighters, p. 10 ; and
Sullivan, Life and Reminiscences, chap . 9. E. B. Mitchell, Fencing, Boxing and Wres-
tling (Longon, 1893) , pp. 140-47, for example, argued that glove fighting proved noth-
ing, that onl y bare-knuckl e fights wer e real battles . On Sullivan' s drinkin g se e espe-
cially Isenberg , chaps . 5 an d 6 . O n hi s divorce , se e Isenberg , chap . 7 , pp . 20-24 ,
46-48.
49. Harding , Life ofKilrain, p . 17; Famous Irish Fighters, pp. 11-14; Sullivan, Life
and Reminiscences, chaps . 9-10 ; Harding , Life of John L. Sullivan, pp . 74-80 ; an d
Modern Gladiator, pp. 95-97.
50. Sullivan , quote d i n Harding, Life of Sullivan, pp . 76-80; also see references i n
note 49.
51. Harding , Life of Kilrain, pp . 7—18 ; Sullivan, Life and Reminiscences, chaps .
9-10; and Famous Irish Fighters, pp. 12-14.
52. Harding , Life ofKilrain, pp . 5-7; Fleischer, Ring Record Book, p . 40. The Bal-
timore Crib b Club charged $1 5 for membershi p an d $1 0 for twent y lesson s fro m Kil -
rain. Fo r a well-written popula r accoun t o f th e fight, se e Jame s A . Cox , "Th e Grea t
Fight: Mr. Jake vs. John L. Sullivan," Smithsonian 1 5 (December 1984) : 153-68. Isen-
berg, chaps. 9 and 10 , is the best source on these years.
53. Harding , Life ofKilrain, pp . 18-19 , 3 2_ 33- The Police Gazette no w called hi m
"ex-champion" Sullivan .
54. Harding , Life ofKilrain, pp . 18-19 , 3 2~33; Isenberg, chap . 7, pp. 44-46; Sulli -
van, Life and Reminiscences, pp . 175-76 ; and Hardy , pp. 173-76 . Police Gazette re -
ports fo r th e Kilrain-Smit h fight ar e reprinte d i n Harding , Life of Kilrain, pp . 7-10 ,
19-40. Each having a belt now, Sullivan and Kilrain sailed for England, both fought fo r
the "Championship of the World," both received a draw, and both claimed that the En-
glish had robbed them, just as they had robbed John C. Heenan a generation earlier.
55. Se e references i n note 54. On Sullivan' s and Muldoon's preparations se e Mod-
ern Gladiator, pp . 219-62, 330.
56. Quote d in Harding, Life ofKilrain, p . 29. For months the Police Gazette hype d
the fight. See also Gene Smith and Jayne Barry Smith , eds., The Police Gazette (Ne w
York, 1972) , p. 16.
57. Adams , "Ne w Orlean s a s the National Cente r o f Boxing," pp. 93-95; Somers,
pp. 168-70 ; Donovan, pp . 110-13 ; Famous Irish Fighters, p . 14 ; New Orleans Pica-
yune, Jul y 8, 1889 ; and Betts, America's Sporting Heritage, p . 73.
58. Somers , pp. 172-74 ; Donovan, chap. 8; Famous Irish Fighters, p. 14 ; New York
World, July 9 , 1889 ; New Orleans Picayune, Jul y 8 , 9 , 1889 ; New Orleans Times
Democrat, Jul y 9 , 1889 ; Sullivan, Life and Reminiscences, chap . 10 ; Harding, Life of
John L Sullivan, pp . 80-92; McCallum, pp. 14-15 ; Robert K . DeArment, Bat Master-
son: The Man and the Legend (Norman , Okla. , 1979) , pp . 339-41 ; an d Cox , "Th e
Great Fight," pp. 154-55.
59. Th e quotation s ar e fro m Harding , Life and Battles of John L. Sullivan an d
• 3IO •
NOTES TO PAGES 234-23 8
Famous Irish Fighters, both o f whic h relie d heavil y o n th e New York World for thei r
accounts. Excellen t coverag e als o appeare d i n th e Police Gazette an d New Orleans
Picayune fo r the weeks before an d after th e fight.
60. Harding , Life of John L. Sullivan, p . 88 ; account fro m a n unspecifie d Bosto n
newspaper i n Priz e Fightin g scrapbook , Widene r Library , Harvar d University ,
Cambridge.
61. Sullivan' s remark s ar e quote d i n th e detaile d repor t o f th e Modern Gladiator,
pp. 139 , 143, 150, 156, 160. Also see Harding, Life of John L. Sullivan, pp . 80-92; Fa-
mous Irish Fighters, pp. 15-16 ; Donovan, chap . 8; Sullivan, Life and Reminiscences,
pp. 207-12; McCallum, pp. 14-15 ; and Cox, "The Great Fight," p. 166.
62. New York Times, July 9, 1889. The Times' use of "knock out" is indicative of the
influence o f th e Queensberr y rules , fo r th e ter m an d concep t wer e borrowe d fro m
glove fighting. New York World, Jul y 9, 1889 ; Somers, p. 173.
63. Modern Gladiator, p. 356. Keily's poem i s reprinted o n pp. 321-24.
64. Th e song circulated widely . See Fleischer, Boston Strong Boy, p. 1 . D. K. Wil-
gus has kindly loane d m e several broadsid e ballad s o n Sullivan . Significantly , b y th e
1880s songs about fighters seem to have been les s numerous than i n the days of Mor-
rissey, Hyer, and Yankee Sullivan. Perhaps this indicates prize fighting's growing dis-
tance from th e folk lif e of the streets, the ring's institutionalization a s part of commer-
cial culture . The Magriel ms . (a collection o f newspaper report s of bare-knuckle fights)
contains severa l cartoon s fro m unspecifie d source s parodyin g well-bre d Bostonian s
fawning ove r Sullivan. Se e also George P. Rawick, ed,, The American Slave: A Com-
posite Autobiography (Westport , Conn. , 1977) , suppl. ser . I , vol . 11 : South Carolina,
p. 103 ; Dulles, p. 227; and Modern Gladiator, p. 353.
65. Modern Gladiator, pp . 196-97 , 194-95 ; Donovan , p . 13T ; and Sullivan , Life
and Reminiscences, pp . 213-16.
66. Frank Leslie's Weekly, July 27, 1889.
67. Sullivan , Life and Reminiscences, pp . 217-19 ; Betts, America's Sporting Heri-
tage, p. 142.
68. Bram e and Alexander, Reports of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of Missis-
sippi, October Term, l88ŷ, and April Term, i8ço (Philadelphia , 1890) , pp. 345-56; Sul-
livan, Life and Reminiscences, pp . 219-21 ; Elme r A . Million , "Th e Enforceabilit y o f
Prize Figh t Statutes, " Kentucky Law Review 2 7 (Novembe r 1938) : 155 ; an d Jeffre y
Thomas Sammons , "America i n the Ring: The Relationship between Boxin g and Soci-
ety, circa 1930-1980 " (diss., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1982) , pp. 7-14.
69. Thi s is Mike Donovan's phrase in Roosevelt I Know, p. 187.
70. Fleischer , Ring Record Book pp. 24-25, 42; Sullivan, Life and Reminiscences,
pp. 221-28 , chap. 11 ; Chidsey, chap . 17 ; and Isenberg , persona l correspondence . O n
the concept of celebrity se e Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events
in America (Ne w York , 1978) , chap. 2 ; and Warre n I . Sussman , Culture as History:
The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century (Ne w York, 1984) ,
chaps. 8, 14.
71. Chidsey , chap . 18 ; Sullivan, Life and Reminiscences, chaps . 11-12 ; challeng e
quoted i n Willia m Edga r Harding , Life and Battles of James J. Corbett (Ne w York ,
1892), pp . 25-26 . Sulliva n claime d tha t stag e commitment s prevente d hi m fro m
fighting.
• 3II •
NOTES T O PAGES 2 3 9 - 2 4 3
72. Donovan , pp . 148-68 ; Harding, Life and Battles ofCorbett, p . 27. According t o
Donovan, Corbet t late r sough t advic e fro m Kearne y o n investin g i n Bron x rea l estate ,
p. 190 .
73. Harding , Life and Battles of Corbett, p . 27 ; Dulles, p . 210 ; and especiall y Ala n
Woods, "Jame s J . Corbett : Theatrica l Star, " Journal of Sport History 3 (Summe r
1976): 162-75 . J ° e Choynsk i an d Pete r Jackso n als o ha d attaine d sufficien t celebrit y
status t o appea r i n Uncle Tom's Cabin, managin g t o spa r durin g th e adaptatio n o f thi s
abolitionist work .
74. I n additio n t o th e New York World itsel f se e Betts , Sporting Heritage, pp . 6 3 -
68, 377 ; " A Poin t i n Journalism, " The Nation 5 6 (Marc h 23 , 1893) : 209-10 . Fo r a n ex -
cellent discussio n o f th e developmen t o f th e urba n popula r press , se e Barth , chap . 3 .
Isenberg, chap . 12 , is the authorit y o n th e Corbet t fight.
75. See , fo r examples , Jame s Edwar d Sullivan , The Life and Battles of James J.
Corbett (Ne w York , 1892) , chaps . 1-2 ; an d Harding , Life and Battles of Corbett,
chap. 1 and p . 44 ; Isenberg , persona l correspondence . Th e realit y o f Corbetť s lif e
was les s attractiv e tha n hi s pres s image , fo r h e wa s a deepl y mood y an d eve n bruta l
man. Fo r a n exampl e o f th e Corbet t image , se e Nathanie l Fleischer , An Informal
History of Heavyweight Boxing from i^/ig to the Present Day (Ne w York , 1949) ,
chap. 10 .
76. Adams , "Ne w Orlean s a s th e Nationa l Cente r o f Boxing, " pp . 96-100 ; New
Orleans Daily States, Januar y 3 , 1890 , quoted i n Somers , Rise of Sport, p . 174 .
77. Se e Somers , pp . 174-91 ; Adams , "Ne w Orlean s a s th e Nationa l Cente r o f Box -
ing," pp . 96-100 ; New Orleans Daily Picayune, Januar y 19 , 1891 ; New Orleans Times
Democrat, Januar y 16 . 1891.
78. Me n fro m al l thes e profession s attende d th e Sullivan-Corbet t fight. The y testi -
fied i n favo r o f suc h matche s i n "Stat e o f Louisian a vs . Th e Olympi c Club, " Henr y
Demis, reporter , Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of
Louisiana 46 , pt . 2 , 189 4 (Ne w Orleans , 1895) : 952-57 . Se e als o vol . 77 , 189 5 (Ne w
Orleans, 1896) : 1096-99 ; Sammons , pp . 7-14 .
79. Somers , pp . 174-91 ; Adams , "Ne w Orlean s a s th e Nationa l Cente r o f Boxing, "
pp. 96-100 . A s Melvi n Adelma n point s out , th e gamble r promote s hi s man , th e entre -
preneur promote s th e whol e spectacle : "Th e Developmen t o f Moder n Athletics : Spor t
in Ne w Yor k City , 1820-1870 " (diss. , Universit y o f Illinois , 1980) .
80. Thi s interpretatio n i s take n fro m Somers' s excellen t discussion , pp . 174-91 ;
Harding, Life of John L. Sullivan, an d Life and Battles of Corbett als o discus s fight
arrangements. Als o se e Adams , "Ne w Orlean s a s th e Nationa l Cente r o f Boxing, " pp .
96-100.
81. New Orleans Picayune, Septembe r 8 , 1892 .
82. Donovan , chaps . 9 , 10 ; Somers , pp . 183-84 . Newspaper s spille d incredibl e
amounts o f in k fo r week s befor e an d afte r th e battle . Se e especiall y Police Gazette,
New York World, an d New Orleans Picayune.
83. New York Herald, Augus t 28 , 1892 , quote d i n Somers , Rise of Sport, p . 179 ;
Chicago Daily Tribune, Septembe r 8 , 1892 , quoted i n Betts , p. 77.
84. Somers , pp . 179-83 ; Adams , "Ne w Orlean s a s th e Nationa l Cente r fo r
Boxing," pp . 101-5 . A crow d o f cheerin g black s greete d Dixo n outsid e th e aren a
and heralde d hi m a s thei r champion . Th e followin g da y th e Times Democrat calle d
• 312 •
NOTES TO PAGES 244-25O
the fight a mistake, and the Picayune declare d that the Olympic Club had "learned it s
lesson."
85. Somers , pp. 179-83 ; Adams, "New Orleans as the National Center for Boxing,"
pp. 101-5 ; New Orleans Picayune, Septembe r 7, 8, 1892 ; New York World, September
7, 8 , 1892 ; New Orleans Times Democrat, Septembe r 7 , 8 , 1892 ; and Isenberg , pro -
logue, p. 21 .
86. Th e Blocton [Ala.] Courier, September 2, 1892 , claimed that "this is a spirit of
entertainment whic h shoul d b e encouraged. " M y thank s t o Charles E . Adam s o f th e
University of Alabama for this reference .
87. Somers , pp . 183-85 ; Chicago Tribune, Septembe r 9 , 1892 ; Harding, Life and
Battles of Corbett, chap. 7; quoted from Sullivan , Life of Corbett, p. 35; Harding, Life
of John L. Sullivan, pp . 92-102; and James Connors, Illustrated History of the Great
Corbett-Sullivan Ring Battle (Buffalo , 1892) . Connor' s boo k use d illustration s an d
symbols t o indicat e th e locatio n o f eac h punch , claimin g tha t Sulliva n receive d 14 1
blows to the head and 45 to the body. Lieut. Col. A. A. Woodhull also saw the fight as
proof tha t spee d an d agility—which , h e pointed out , the arm y coul d trai n me n for —
were superior to brute strength, and that force mus t be made effective throug h intelli -
gence, a n importan t lesso n fo r moder n arme d forces . Donal d J . Mrozek , Sport and
American Mentality, 1880-1910 (Knoxville , 1983) , p. 56.
88. Willia m Lyo n Phelps , Autobiography with Letters (Ne w York , 1939) , p. 356;
Adams, "Ne w Orlean s a s th e Nationa l Cente r o f Boxing, " pp. 104-5 ; and New York
Times, September 8 , 1892 . Needless t o say, San Franciscans wer e ecstatic and Bosto-
nians saddened .
89. Theodor e Dreiser, A Book about Myself (New York, 1922) , pp. 150-51 .
90. Dibble , chaps. 5-8 ; als o se e Georg e Bellows' s painting , "Introducin g Joh n L .
Sullivan." On Sullivan's last years, see especially Isenberg , chaps. 1 3 and 14.
91. Seto n quote d i n Joseph an d Elizabet h Pleck , eds. , The American Man (Engle -
wood Cliffs, N.J. , 1980) . p. 25. See also Joseph F. Kett, Rites of Passage: Adolescence
in America, 1790 to the Present (Ne w York , 1977) , p. 23 ; Rader, p . 103 ; Isenberg,
prologue.
92. Vache l Lindsay, "John L. Sullivan, the Strong Boy of Boston," in Mark Harris,
ed., Selected Poems of Vachel Lindsay (Ne w York, 1963) , p. 13.
93. Christia n K . Messenger , Sport and the Spirit of Play in American Fiction:
Hawthorne to Faulkner (New York, 1981) , pp. 93-95.
• 313 •
NOTES TO PAGES 25O-254
• 314 •
Selected Bibliograph y
Melvin L. Adelman, A Sporting Time: New York City and the Rise of Modern Athlet-
ics, 1820-18yo (Champaign, University of Illinois Press, 1990).
William J . Baker , Sports in the Western World (Champaign , Universit y o f Illinoi s
Press, 1988) .
Gail Bederman, Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race
in the United States, 1880-191γ (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1996) .
David Block, Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game (Lin -
coln, Bison Books, 2006).
Kasia Boddy, Boxing: A Cultural History (London , Reaktion Books, 2009).
Anthony Burgos , Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line
(Berkeley, University o f California Press , 2007).
Susan Cahn, Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth Century Women's
Sports (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1998).
George Chauncey, Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay
Male World, i8ço-iç4o (Ne w York, Basic Books, 1995).
R.W. Connell, Masculinities (Berkeley , University of California Press , 2005).
David D . Gilmore, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity (Ne w
Haven, Yale University Press, 1991).
Warren Goldstein , Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball (Ithaca , Cornel l
University Press, 2009 edition).
Elliott J . Gor n an d Warre n Goldstein , A Brief History of American Sports (Cham -
paign, University o f Illinois Press, 2004).
Allen Guttman , From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports (Ne w York ,
Columbia Universit y Press, 2004).
Stephen Hardy , How Boston Played: Sport, Recreation and Community, i86¦-i9i¦
(Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press, new ed, 2003).
Kristen L . Hoganson , Fighting for American Manhood: How Gender Politics Pro-
voked the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars (New Haven , Yal e
University Press, 2000).
Michael T . Isenberg , John L. Sullivan and His America (Champaign , Universit y o f
Illinois Press, 1994).
• 315 •
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPH Y
• 3l6 •
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPH Y
David K . Wiggins, ed, Sport in America: From Wicked Amusement to National Ob-
session Champaign, IL: Human Kinetic s Publishers, 1995) .
David W. Zang, Fleet Walker's Divided Heart: The Life of Baseball's First Black Ma-
jor Leaguer (Lincoln , University of Nebraska Press , 1995).
• 317 •
Index
• 319 •
INDEX
Burke, James "Deaf," 42, 43, 44-45 The Complete Art of Boxing (Sharpies) ,
Burns, Jem, 32 100
Burns, Patrick, 41,4 6 Comstock, Anthony , 18 2
Burns, Tom, 92 Conkling, Roscoe, 197 , 198, 220
Butchers, 85, 137 Connors, Michael "Shanghai," 17 1
Byrne, Simon, 42 The Contrast (Tyler) , 252
Byron, George Gordon, Lord, 25, 30 Conway, Jack, 17 4
Corbett, James J., 199 , 238, 239, 240, 241,
Cahan, Abraham , 226 242-245
Canada: fights in, 104 , 113-114 , 117-11 9 "Corinthians," 19 . See also the Fancy
Capitalist ethos , 13 2 Corruption i n pf, 169-17 0
Caunt, Benjamin, 8 0 in England, 31 , 151, 166
Caunt, Robert, 82-8 3 fixed fights, 31, 172-17 3
Ceremonial element s of pf, 38 , 87-88. See gratuitous violence, 45, 46-47, 171 , 173 —
also Battle colors; Challenges; Cham- 174
pionships, awarding of newspaper coverage of, 176-17 7
Challenges, publication of , 99-10 0 outlaw status of pf and, 171-17 2
by John C. Heenan, 116 , 148 ruthlessness, 17 7
by J. L. Sullivan, 210, 216, 218, 238 See also Street gang s
by Y. Sullivan, 86-8 7 Costello. Billy, 174
Chambers, Arthur, 21 3 Creek, Philip , 161
Championships, awarding of, 95 , 105, 230-231 Crib, Tom, 19-22 , 34, 50
Chandler, Tommy, 169 , 209 Cribb Club, 199
Chandler, Zackary, 19 8 Criticism o f pf :
Channing, William Ellery , 13 0 atavism concerns , 90
Chaplin, Charlie, 248 class bias in, 64
Charleston Mercury, 5 3 hedonism concerns , 64
Chicago Daily Tribune, 24 3 by middle class, 59, 67-68, 13 9
Choynski, Joe, 222, 243 by middle class in England, 29, 31-32
Christian Advocate, 9 6 mobs, preoccupation with , 96
Cincinnati Re d Stockings, 209 in newspapers, 59-63, 73, 78-79, 111-112 ,
Civil War, 160-16 4 120-122,223
Clay, Charles E. , 201 public moralit y concerns , 62, 64, 79
Cleary, Mike, 233 republicanism concerns , 59—61, 64
Cobbett, William, 3 0 ring deaths and, 77-8 0
Coburn, Joe, 105 , 114, 166 , 168-169, 170, satanic image s in, 79
173, 174 in short stories, 63
College athletics, 185 , 188, 191. See also social disruptio n concerns , 61
Athletic clubs; Sports, upper-clas s by upper class, 59
support fo r and youth, 10 2
Collins, Charlie, 172 See also Middle class; Upper class
Color line in pf, 218 , 238-239 Cruikshank, George , 21, 25, 30, 51
Columbian Sentinel, 4 8 Cruikshank, Rober t Isaac , 21, 25, 28
Commercial Athleti c Club, 19 9 Cultural aspect s of pf, 26-27 , 29-30, 107 -
Commercialization o f pf : 108, 129-147 , 251. See also Ethnic con-
athletic clubs and, 241-24 2 flicts: specific social classes
business orientation, 241-242 , 249 Cunningham, "Dad, " 110 , 117
emphasis on entertainment, 25 1 Currier an d Ives, 150 , 153 , 158
marketing of fighters, 221-222 Cusick, James, 123 , 148
promoters and, 205
promotion o f manliness, 253 Dailey, Pete, 172
published challenges, 10 0 Dana, Charles A., 197 , 220, 226
rules of pf and, 205 Darwinism, 18 9
sparring exhibition s and, 106-10 7 Davis, Richard Harding, 19 7
touring b y fighters, 105-106, 219-221 Dawson, Daniel L., 200-20 1
working-class culture and, 129-13 3 Deaths from pf , 73-80 , 173-17 4
• 320 •
INDEX
321
INDEX
Fuller, William, 50-51 , 52 , 53-54, 99 Heenan, John C, 114 , 115 , 116, 124 , 135,
Furman, Gabriel, 53 160
death of, 16 6
Gambling: King fight, 165-16 6
middle-class ideal s and, 64, 68, 139-14 0 as national hero , 158-15 9
J. Morrissey a s gambler-businessman , See also Heenan-Sayer s fight; Morrissey-
125-126 Heenan fight
Morrissey-Heenan fight, 11 8 Heenan-Sayers fight, 148-15 7
J. L. Sullivan-Corbett fight, 243 Hennessey, David, 232
J. L. Sullivan-Kilrain fight, 233 Herbert, William Henry , 68
J. L. Sullivan-Ryan fight, 213, 214 "Hibernian crowing, " 71
Y. Sullivan-Hyer fight, 94 Hicken, Harry, 174 , 176
working-class attitud e toward, 139-14 0 Hickman, Tom "The Gas-man," 24, 25-2 6
See also specifi c fights Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 130 , 160
Gans, Joe, 222 Hill. Harry, 183 , 184
Gardner, Orvill e "Awful," 11 1 Historical consciousnes s o f pf, 38-39 , 99,
Gazette of the United States, 5 9 101
Geoghegan, Owney, 17 4 Hogan, Ben, 174
Geographical bas e of pf, 82 , 104-105 , 165, Hogarth, William, 30
220-221 Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr., 191-19 2
George IV, King of England, 2 6 Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr.. 130 , 149,
Gericault, Theodore, 51 194-195
Giddings, Franklin, 18 7 Homoerotic elements of pf. See Male aes-
Giddings, Jim, 99 thetic of pf, Manlines s
Hone, Philip, 53, 78, 95-96
Gloves, use of, 47-56 , 203-205, 220-224,
Honest Hearts and Willing Hands (play) ,
238
221,237
Godfrey, Captain , 2 4
Honor. See National hono r and pf; Persona l
Godkin, E. L., 239
honor
Golden, Jaspar J., 74
Horrigan, Denny , 114 , 162
"The Good Time Coming" (Queen), 103
Horse racing, 12 6
Goss, Joe, 169 , 174,209,21 1 Hudson, J., 49
Greek priz e fighting, 22, 23 Humphries, Richard, 24 , 27
Greeley, Horace , 79 Hyer, Jacob, 38
Gregson, Bob , 24 Hyer, Tom, 39, 71, 84, 99, 104 , 110 , 112,
Gribben, Harry, 99, 114 , 137 134, 135,24 9
Grievance resolutio n throug h pf , 81 , 89 , death of, 123-12 4
162-163 See also Sullivan , "Yankee"-Hyer fight
Guest, Douglass , 51
Gully, John, 24 Iconography o f the ring, 149-15 0
Immigrants:
Hall, G.Stanley, 197,20 0 fighters among, 42, 44-47, 16 9
Hamilton, Alexander, 45, 109 Irish, 83, 85
Hammond, Ned, 40-41, 5 0 tensions re, 39-46, 83, 85, 136-13 8
Hammond, Vincent , 70 working-class status , 131-13 2
Harding, William Edgar , 177 , 212, 229, 233 See also Ethnic conflict s
Harper's New Monthly Magazine. 120-12 1 Ingham, Charles Cromwell , 51 , 52
Harper's Weekly, 122, ' 149, 150 , 186, 223
Harriman, W. Averill, 248 Jackson, Andrew, 68
Harrington, Bill, 45, 46, 12 4 Jackson, "Gentleman" John, 24, 25, 31
Harris, Dooney, 169,21 1 Jackson, Peter, 222. 238, 243
Hart, Jimmy, 99. 105 James, Ed, 17 7
Hart, Peter G., 46 James, Henry, 19 2
Hastings, Bill "Dublin Tricks," 165 Jefferson, Thomas , 59
Hatfield, Bill , 45, 50 Jeffries, Jim . 19 7
Hat i n the ring tradition, 42 Jerolomon, Jim, 13 4
Hazlitt, William, 25-2 6 Jerome, Lawrence, 197 , 220
• 322 •
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"Muscular Christianity," 180 . See also Sport s New York Illustrated News, 15 1
Myer, Billy, 243 New York Illustrated Times, 93
New York Magazine, 6 0
Nation, The, 239 New York Mercury, 16 9
National hono r and pf, 20-22 , 80, 149 , 152, New York Morning Express, 7 3
157-159 New York Spectator, 6 1
National Intelligencer, 4 8 New York Sporting Magazine, 5 8
National Police Gazette, 83 , 88, 89, 175 , 181 , New York Sun, 94 , 213
184, 203, 211, 213, 215, 222, 236, 239, New York Sunday Mercury, 9 5
244. See also Fox, Richard Kyle New York Times, 100 , 112, 122, 125, 144,
Neale, Ned, 32 150, 157 , 215, 235, 245, 248
Neate, William, 25-2 6 New York Tribune, 78-79, 100 , 111, 117 ,
Neighborhood focu s o f pf, 39-40 , 132-13 6 120, 127
Nelson, J. A., 16 5 New York World, 235, 239
New Englander, 10 2 Night clubs, 182
New Jersey Emporium and True American, Night fights, 37, 38,211, 243-24 5
66 Nile's Weekly Register, 68
New Jersey State Gazette, 6 7 Norris, Frank, 19 7
New Orleans Daily Picayune, 100 , 232, 241, North American Review, 201
242 Norton, Michael, 138 , 172
New Orleans Times-Democrat, 215 , 241,
243-244 O'Baldwin, Ned, 169 , 170, 172, 173
Newspapers: O'Brien, Hugh , 231
British influence on , 40-4 1 O'Donnell, Pat,4 7
coverage of pf: Coburn-McCool e fight, 168, O'Donnell, Tom, 81, 89-90, 91
169; conventions re, 39; first instance Oelricks, Herman, 19 7
of, 39 ; focus on corruption, 176-177 ;
O'Hagan, Jim, 47
Heenan-Sayers fight, 149-151 ; increase
Olympic Club, New Orleans, 238-24 5
in, 41-42, 121-122 ; Morrissey-Heena n
fight, 120-122 ; profits, concerns re, Olympic Club, San Francisco, 19 9
61-62; J. L. Sullivan-Corbett fight, O'Neal, Hugh , 16 5
239, 243-244; J. L. Sullivan-Kilrai n "On Pugilism," 60
fight, 232, 235; J. L. Sullivan-Rya n Oral culture of pf, 98-9 9
fight, 213-214, 215; Y. Sullivan-Hyer O'Reilly, John Boyle, 201-202
fight, 92-94 Orem, Con, 165 , 174
criticism of pf, 59-63 , 73, 78-79, 111-112, Organized athletics , 18 0
120-122, 223 Origins of pf in America, 36-4 7
hypocrisy of , 61 O'Rourke, M, , 162
interviews with fighters, 215 O'Rourke, Samuel , 44, 100
nostalgia for early days of pf, 17 7 Osborn, Duffield, 20 1
sparring, attitude toward, 48-4 9 Outing, 201
sporting newspapers , 181 Outlawing o f pf, 11 , 107-108
sports coverage by, 100 , 181 effect o n corruption i n pf, 171-17 2
support for pf, 42 , 58, 81, 100-104, in England, 32
200-201, 239 . See also National Police fighters' politica l involvemen t and, 135
Gazette; New York Clipper ineffectiveness of , 10 4
See also specific title s in Massachusetts, 103-10 4
New World, 73 in New Jersey, 66-6 7
New York Athletic Club, 186 , 190, 199 in New York, 10 4
New York Clipper, 100-103 , 111 , 114, 116, reforms and , 228
169, 171, 176. See also Queen , in the South, 212-213
Frank J. L. Sullivan-Kilrain fight, and, 236-23 7
New Yorker, 6 3 See also Prevention o f fights attempted;
New York Evening Mirror, 96 Trials of fighters
New York Evening Post, 39 , 49, 61, 111 Overs, George, 70
New York Herald, 42, 44, 62, 78, 83, 100,
125, 243. See also Bennett, Jame s Paddock, Tom, 151
Gordon Palmerston, Lord, 15 2
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