Background
Morrissey, John, , Ireland 1831 1878 Male Congressman Gambler Politician Pugilist gambler, prizefighter, congressman, and state senator, son of Timothy Morrissey, was born at Templemore, Tipperary, Ireland.
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John Morrissey
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The Morrisseys emigrated to Canada when the boy was a few years old.
After three months there the family was destitute and moved to Troy, N. Y. , where the father managed to find enough work to keep the children from starving.
A big boy for his age, he was wild in school and soon began to roam the streets, picking up bad habits and a very definite skill in rough-and-tumble fighting.
He worked first in a wall-paper factory and later in the Burden Iron Works, giving up both jobs in disgust.
By her he had one son, who died at an early age.
Morrissey's first exploit upon arriving in New York City was to invade the Empire Club, a sporting saloon owned by one "Dutch Charley, " and challenge all hands to combat.
He was worsted in the free-for-all fight that followed but decided that he liked New York City and would remain there.
Soon he began to take up prizefighting in earnest and to hurl challenges at the leading fighters of the day, Tom Hyer, Yankee Sullivan, and others.
Lured to California by the gold rush reports and the hope of fighting Hyer, he "bummed" his way across the Continent.
He did fight Hyer's trainer, George Thompson, at Mare Island in 1852.
While in that area he undertook what practically amounted to a pirate cruise to Queen Charlotte's Island when the rumor arose that the Sitka Indians had discovered gold.
The gold was not found and Morrissey returned to the East and prizefighting.
He beat Yankee Sullivan at Boston Four Corners (now Boston Corners), N. Y. , Oct. 12, 1853, in thirty-seven rounds for $2, 000 prize money.
This victory gave him something of a claim on the heavyweight championship.
Later he fought a man named Poole on a dock in New York City.
Not long after the bout Poole was assassinated, allegedly by Morrissey's friends, and Morrissey was arrested but was soon released.
Challenged by John C. Heenan [q. v. ] for the championship, he accepted and announced that the fight would be his last, win or lose.
On Oct. 20, 1858, at Long Point, Canada, he defeated Heenan in eleven rounds for $2, 500 a side.
He lost $124, 000 in one night to Benjamin Wood at his gambling house.
He was elected and served for two terms, Mar. 4, 1867, to Mar. 3, 1871.
As early as 1862 he had a gambling house in Saratoga, N. Y. , his residence in his late years, and in 1870 he opened a "new clubhouse" there.
In 1875 he was elected state senator from the fourth district.
He had made and lost several fortunes in Wall Street.
Though he was a turbulent character in turbulent times, his fighting exploits, his kindheartedness, his loyalty to his friends, and other redeeming qualities covered a multitude of his sins.
He was buried at Troy, N. Y. , with state senators as pall-bearers and 15, 000 people following his body to the cemetery in the rain.
[W. E. Harding, John Morrissey, His Life, Battles, and Wrangles (1881); Biog.
Dir.
Am.
Cong.
(1928); A. J. Weise, Hist.
of the City of Troy (1876); N. Y. Times, N. Y. Tribune, May 2, 1878. ]
Connections
There were eight children in the family, seven girls and John.
- married:
- Eli
- Daughter:
- Eli
- Friend:
- Commodore
At the age of seventeen he took a job as deckhand on a Hudson River steamer, under Capt. Eli Smith, whose daughter Sarah he later married.
At the age of seventeen he took a job as deckhand on a Hudson River steamer, under Capt. Eli Smith, whose daughter Sarah he later married.
He made Commodore Vanderbilt his friend by presenting him with a fine race horse and is supposed to have profited greatly by financial tips from Vanderbilt in later years.
