Background
Thomas F. Byrnes was born in 1842 in Ireland and brought as an infant by his parents, James and Rose (Smith) Byrnes, to New York.
(Professional criminals of America (1886). This book, "Pro...)
Professional criminals of America (1886). This book, "Professional criminals of America", by Thomas F. Byrnes, is a replication of a book originally published before 1886. It has been restored by human beings, page by page, so that you may enjoy it in a form as close to the original as possible.
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Thomas F. Byrnes was born in 1842 in Ireland and brought as an infant by his parents, James and Rose (Smith) Byrnes, to New York.
Thomas Byrnes had the most meager education.
When the Civil War came on Thomas Byrnes had learned the trade of gas-fitter and was at work in New York City. He enlisted with Ellsworth's Zouaves in 1861 and served two years with that unit. In 1863 he was taken on the New York police force as patrolman, became a roundsman five years later, and a captain in 1870.
In 1894 Byrnes testified before the Lexow Committee investigating the New York police that he had made $350, 000 through Wall Street "tips" from Jay Gould and other important operators who were among his friends. No personal misdemeanor on his part was disclosed, --and that at a time when graft in high places was characteristic of the police department.
In 1892 he had been made superintendent and three years later became chief of police, retiring in the same month on the reorganization attending the disclosures of the Lexow Committee.
He was the author of Professional Criminals of America (1886).
He died on May 7, 1910 at 9 o'clock at his home, 318 West Seventy-seventh Street, of stomach cancer. His funeral was at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament at Broadway and Seventy-first Street in Manhattan, New York City.
(Professional criminals of America (1886). This book, "Pro...)
Byrnes had stated repeatedly that he was not a member of any political organization.
He acted on the theory that it is not remorse, but mental strain, that leads the hardened criminal to confess his misdeeds. The practise he adopted in procuring confessions involved far more than sheer brutality. Indeed in many cases no physical pain accompanied the process--not that Byrnes had any scruples against employing bodily torture, but he frequently thought other methods more effective.
He was himself a man of powerful imagination. He would reconstruct in his own mind the scene and incidents of a crime and so vividly reproduce them in conversation with the suspect that the average mentality could not withstand the shock. All agreed that he was a man of unusual intellectual force.
Quotes from others about the person
Jacob A. Riis, who as police reporter for the New York Sun knew Byrnes well, declared that he was "a great actor" and hence a great detective.
Riis called him an unscrupulous autocrat, a "big policeman, " a veritable giant in his time.
Julian Hawthorne, who knew Byrnes intimately, described his personal appearance at the height of his career in these words: "He is a handsome man, large and powerful in every sense of the word. His head is well shaped, with a compact forehead, strong nose, and resolute mouth and chin, shaded with a heavy moustache. His figure is erect, his step light, his bearing alert and easy. His eyes are his most remarkable feature. They are set rather close together in his head, increasing the concentration of his gaze. They have in moments of earnestness an extraordinary gaze. His voice is melodious and agreeable, but he often seems to speak between his teeth, and when aroused his utterance acquires an impressive energy. "
He was survived by his wife Ophelia and five daughters