Last year, I wrote about Mt. Washington and its border problems. The border war started the day Massachusetts established the border. The 21-square-mile plateau that is Mt. Washington was claimed by both New York and Massachusetts.
In 1724, in exchange for 460 pounds, 3 barrels of cider, and 30 quarts of rum, the Natives sold the westernmost part of Hampshire County to Massachusetts. However, New York produced a document called the “Westenhook Patent.” It asserted that the Natives turned over the same land to New York in lieu of debt in 1705—nineteen years earlier.
Those trying to settle the Upper and Lower Townships of Sheffield, Egremont, and Mount Washington were “much impeded, molested, and hindered” by lawsuits, arrests for trespass, and physical attacks by New Yorkers claiming prior ownership.
The original settlers to Mt. Washington—Jonathan Darby, Andrew Race, Christian Hollenbeck, Christopher and Henry Brazee, and Simon Burton believed they were being granted unclaimed land, and soon learned “unclaimed” was a relative term. They were unprotected as Robert Livingston’s men attacked from New York, and there were no police. They fled.
They defended ownership in the courts with words and documents. At last, in 1784, three of the six original settlers—Brazee, Hollenbeck, and Race—returned. Once again, they believed the matter was settled. For the second time they were wrong.
Almost 70 years later, in 1838, the statehood of a district called Boston Corner—incorporated into the town of Mount Washington—was still in dispute. The land battle was not settled until 1855 when the United States Congress ratified an 1853 agreement between the two states. Until 1855, Boston Corners was deemed to be in both states and neither. The important point of this story was that during that time, it was in no police jurisdiction.
Boston Corners, 1853 was a hangout, a resort for fugitives and criminals. Prize fighting was prosecuted in New York State. Prize fighters were arrested for unlawful assembly, breach of the peace, “affray, rout and riot.” Prize fighting was not prosecuted in Massachusetts and therein hangs the tale.
In 1853 Yankee Sullivan was considered the prize fight champion, and John Morrissey challenged him for the title. An agreement was signed between the fighters that the match would take place at a mutually agreed upon location—obviously not New York City where the fight would be illegal.
Sullivan and Morrissey were opponents on the streets in New York as well as in the ring. Both men had gangs. Sullivan ran the Sydney Ducks, and Morrissey presided over the Dead Rabbits. They were also political opponents. Sullivan was affiliated with the Know Nothing or Native American party. John Morrissey was aligned with Tammany Hall—a reputed strong-arm man for Tammany. The two political groups were on opposing sides in New York City politics. Tammany Hall was dependent upon immigrants and was, disproportionately, Catholic. The Know Nothings were opposed to immigration and Catholicism. (Ironically Sullivan was an Irish immigrant.) The result of the Morrissey-Sullivan bout had the potential for repercussions beyond the ring.
Boston Corners was ideal because it was not policed, it was isolated, and it was on a railroad line that ran from New York City.
At 2 p.m. on October 12, 1853, John Morrissey entered and actually threw his hat into the ring. He went to his corner as Yankee Sullivan entered. Morrissey’s colors were red, white, and blue while Sullivan wore a black scarf.
It was not an even match. Sullivan was 40 years old, and Morrissey was 23. Morrissey out-weighed Sullivan by twenty pounds. Both were small by today’s standards—190 and 170 pounds respectively (other accounts say 170 and 150). Sullivan had skill and experience; Morrissey had stamina.
The fight lasted for 37 rounds. A round by round, blow by blow description is available here. (Read with care: the description of the fight may be accurate, but overall it is a 1910 “fluff piece” for Morrissey.)
In the 37th and last round, Morrissey’s face was so pummeled that he looked like a horror show monster, but he would not quit. What happened next was wildly disputed by the alleged 3000 spectators present. Either Sullivan knocked Morrissey out and immediately left the ring which was against the rules, or Morrissey lifted Sullivan in order to throw him out of the ring as Sullivan’s backers rushed into the ring to prevent it. Whatever the true story, the fight ended in general melee, and the referee disqualified Yankee Sullivan.
In the immediate aftermath, Sullivan’s backers claimed Sullivan won and refused to pay off any bets. Morrissey’s backers claimed Sullivan was disqualified so they should be paid. Eventually they were paid, but not until after a street fight in New York City—a street fight in which Morrissey was badly injured. Morrissey’s friends swore revenge, and the feud persisted until Bill Poole, a Sullivan supporter, was murdered.
Sullivan moved to California and was hired as a “shoulder striker”—a guard of ballot boxes hired to deter supporters of any but the candidate who hired him. Sullivan’s candidate won although he was not even on the ballot. When the whole mess was exposed, Sullivan was arrested, tried, and marked for deportation. Four days later, he was found dead in his cell, his wrists slashed. Ruled a suicide, many believed he was murdered.
It was 1856, Sullivan was 43. His tombstone read: “Remember not, O Lord, our offenses, nor those of our parents nor take thou vengeance of our sins. Thou shalt bring forth my soul out of tribulation and in thy mercy thou shalt destroy mine enemies.”
If John Morrissey was not destroyed, he fared better in and out of the ring. He carried away the $2000 purse in Boston Corner; returned to New York City; and, with the support of Tammany Hall, opened a saloon and gambling hall unfettered by the police. As a Tammany candidate he ran for and won seats in the New York State Senate and later the US Congress. He died peacefully in May 1878. He was 48.
Speaking of being unfettered by police: back in Mt. Washington, the border war was finally settled and the price? Massachusetts gave Boston Corner to New York who deemed it too isolated to police.
