Background
John Heenan was born on May 2, 1835, in Watervliet, New York, United States, the son of Timothy and Mary (Morrissey) Heenan. His father was a foreman in the federal arsenal.
(Physical description: 412 p. 16 p. of plates : ill., port...)
Physical description: 412 p. 16 p. of plates : ill., ports. ; 24 cm. Subjects: Heenan, John Carmel cardinal, archbishop of Westminster. Catholic Church - England - Biography.
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John Heenan was born on May 2, 1835, in Watervliet, New York, United States, the son of Timothy and Mary (Morrissey) Heenan. His father was a foreman in the federal arsenal.
As soon as John finished elementary school he was apprenticed as a machinist, but in 1852 the lure of gold and adventure drew him to California.
In California John Heenan prospected, fought all comers, and labored in the Benicia shops of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, of where he threw a thirty-two-pound sledge for twelve hours per day. As the Vigilantes became active and fighters scarce, in 1857 Heenan with his manager, Jim Cusick, left for New York where strong-arm work in an election won him a sinecure in the customs service. With no desire to reenter the ring, he was forced by clamor and gibes to fight champion John Morrissey at Long Point, Canada, for $2, 500 a side (October 20, 1858). Heenan lost the technical decision, but in sportdom he was considered the better man. Unable to get a return match with Morrissey until he should have fought Tom Sayers, the holder of the English belt, Heenan accepted the latter’s general challenge and went to England, where he established training quarters at Salisbury Plain.
Interest was keen in America and in the British Isles, and the newspapers pandered to this interest by emphasizing the international character of the conflict in lengthy articles. Finally, Sayers, a middle-sized, lithe man of superb training, faced Heenan in an enclosure near Farnborough (April 17, 1860). Despite secrecy to avoid police interference, there were 12, 000 spectators of every degree from costermongers to peers. Even Queen Victoria is said to have requested that news of the result be conveyed to her. In a suppressed note of approval, the crowd marveled at Heenan’s powerful physique, for he was more than six feet tall, and when in condition weighed 196 pounds. In the thirty-seventh round, the ring was broken by the “bobbies, ” but the enraged “Benicia Boy” fought on, while some sixty Yankees held off the constables. Although he had knocked down Sayers repeatedly and the time was poorly kept, the referees declared a draw, a decision which the American press denounced as due to British partisanship. On Heenan’s return, he was greeted by enormous crowds in Eastern cities and given a considerable purse.
The following year, Heenan went back to England and challenged any Englishman for a side bet of $10, 000. He and Sayers gave exhibition matches under the auspices of Joe Cushing, an American showman, and later he toured the kingdom with Howe’s circus. Again, he fought a championship battle (December 10, 1863), this time with Sailor Tom King at Wadhurst, England, losing the decision in the twenty-fifth round. Heenan was drugged, and the contest aroused hostility against the prize ring.
He continued in England as a book-maker. Returning to New York after the Civil War, he was charged with corruption in connection with the “Tweed ring, ” established a gambling parlor, and fought as a sparring partner of Jem Mace. On his way to California, he expired in Cusick’s arms at Green River Station, Wyoming.
(Physical description: 412 p. 16 p. of plates : ill., port...)
Heenan was modest and laughingly good-natured. He was a man of splendid physique. His height was six feet four inches; his activity and flexibility panther-like, while his strength was wonderful.
On April 3, 1859 John Heenan married the fascinating actress, Adah Isaacs Menken.
First wife having divorced him in 1862, he married Sarah Stevens, an American actress.
Modest and laughingly good-natured, the ?Benicia Boy? was a popular figure; and his popularity was not lessened by his marriage, Apr. 3, 1859, to the fascinating actress, Adah Isaacs Menken 9.1?.
