Edward Coleman was the founder of the Forty Thieves, the first Irish gang with an established leader. He became one of New York City's most notorious villains, for the murder of his wife and popular Five Points

Five Points, Manhattan

Five Points was a neighborhood in central lower Manhattan in New York City. The neighborhood was generally defined as being bound by Centre Street in the west, The Bowery in the east, Canal Street in the north and Park Row in the south...

 character known as "The Pretty Hot Corn Girl".

An early New York gangster, Coleman was the original leader of the Forty Thieves, helping form the gang in 1826. Coleman continued to control the Five Points with the gang for over fifteen years before courting and eventually marrying a "Hot Corn Girl" in 1838. As her husband, Coleman was entitled to her earnings, however when she did not earn as much as expected, Coleman beat her so severely she later died from her wounds. Coleman was quickly arrested and convicted of murder in early January, 1839, and on January 12, 1839, Coleman became the first man to be hanged

Hanging

Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...

 at the newly constructed Tombs Prison

The Tombs

"The Tombs" is the colloquial name for the Manhattan Detention Complex, a jail in Lower Manhattan at 125 White Street, as well as the popular name of a series of preceding downtown jails, the first of which was built in 1838 in the Egyptian Revival style of architecture.The nickname has been used...

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