Tenth Avenue Gang
Encyclopedia
The Tenth Avenue Gang was a New York
street gang and later became the city's first train robbers.
Formed by Ike Marsh in 1860, the gang consisted of a small number of various burglars and other criminals. In response to the first train robbery by the outlaw Reno Gang
in 1866, the Tenth Avenue Gang became the first street gang to commit a train robbery in Manhattan
in 1868 when Marsh and several members boarded a Hudson River Co. train at Spuyten Duyvil in Upper Manhattan and, making their way into the mail car, held the guard captive and stole $5,000 in cash and bonds which was thrown out of the train. The robbery would gain the gang considerable notoriety from both the New York press and the city's underworld as Ike Marsh was said to have stated the gang was "just as good as those cowboys.". The gang continued to successfully raid New York rail yards however by the early 1870s the gang was forced to merge with the Hell's Kitchen Gang as railroad detectives had killed several members.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
street gang and later became the city's first train robbers.
Formed by Ike Marsh in 1860, the gang consisted of a small number of various burglars and other criminals. In response to the first train robbery by the outlaw Reno Gang
Reno Gang
The Reno Brothers Gang, also known as the Reno Gang and The Jackson Thieves, were a group of criminals that operated in the Midwestern United States during and just after the American Civil War. Though short-lived, they carried out the first three peacetime train robberies in U.S. history...
in 1866, the Tenth Avenue Gang became the first street gang to commit a train robbery in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in 1868 when Marsh and several members boarded a Hudson River Co. train at Spuyten Duyvil in Upper Manhattan and, making their way into the mail car, held the guard captive and stole $5,000 in cash and bonds which was thrown out of the train. The robbery would gain the gang considerable notoriety from both the New York press and the city's underworld as Ike Marsh was said to have stated the gang was "just as good as those cowboys.". The gang continued to successfully raid New York rail yards however by the early 1870s the gang was forced to merge with the Hell's Kitchen Gang as railroad detectives had killed several members.
Further reading
- Asbury, HerbertHerbert AsburyHerbert Asbury was an American journalist and writer who is best known for his true crime books detailing crime during the 19th and early 20th century such as Gem of the Prairie, Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld and The Gangs of New York...
. The Gangs of New York. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. ISBN 1-56025-275-8 - Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0