Frank Stephenson (saloon keeper)
Encyclopedia
Frank Stephenson was an American
saloon keeper and underworld figure in New York City
during the mid-to late 19th century. He was the owner of The Black and Tan, a popular Bowery
basement bar
located on Bleecker Street. It was one of the first saloons to cater to African-Americans and was a competitor against neighboring establishments such as Harry Hill's gambling resort
and Billy McGlory
's Armory Hall among others. He is also credited for opening the city's first and oldest "undisguised" gay bar, The Slide, also on Bleecker Street.
Stephenson was described by Herbert Asbury
in The Gangs of New York (1928) as "a tall, slim man with a curiously bloodless face. Contemporary writers marked his resemblance to a corpse; his face was almost as white as snow and his cheeks were sunken, while his eyebrows and hair were black as ink. His eyes were deep set, and very keen and piercing. It was his custom to sit bolt upright in a high chair in the center of his resort, and remain there for hours without displaying any other sign of life than the baleful glitter of his eyes."
While his establishment was popular among negroes, the Black and Tan was frequented almost exclusively by white women who appeared "to have been quite abandoned". It has been speculated that the establishment served as a meeting place for interracial matchmaking and its clientele including Native Americans
, East Indians, Chinese
, Malaysians and Lascars
. News reports of the time, however, reported "that non-whites were just as likely to be cold-cocked and fleeced as visiting farmers from upstate". Four bartenders served drinks over a long counter, and behind each was a long dirk
and bludgeon
which often used against unruly customers. In the hours before closing, much like other resorts of the era, were "enlivened with the cancan and licentious displays". Crazy Lou
, a former dance hall girl and Bowery character, was a regular customer and had a reserved seat. She would continue to visit the bar, staying from midnight to 2:00 am, until her mysterious murder. Stephenson continued to set a glass of whiskey on her table for a month after her death and would not permit anyone to sit there until after 2:00 am.
The resort was closed, along with many others, by then newly elected reform Mayor Abram S. Hewitt who campaigned against the city's vice
and red light district
s. There is some discrepancy over the date of The Black and Tans closure. Former NYPD police chief George W. Walling claimed in his memoirs Recollections of a New York Chief of Police (1887) that it was closed in 1887, however an article by the New York Times, which reported the club's close as a "disorderly house
" in July 1885, attributed the ownership to a Patrick Mee.
s The Alienist (1995) by Caleb Carr
and The Midnight Band of Mercy (2004) by Michael Blaine.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
saloon keeper and underworld figure in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
during the mid-to late 19th century. He was the owner of The Black and Tan, a popular Bowery
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
basement bar
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
located on Bleecker Street. It was one of the first saloons to cater to African-Americans and was a competitor against neighboring establishments such as Harry Hill's gambling resort
Harry Hill (sportsman)
Harry Hill was an English-born American businessman, sportsman and saloonkeeper whose establishments were regular meeting places for sportsmen, gamblers and politicians as well as members of the criminal underworld of New York City during the late 19th century...
and Billy McGlory
Billy McGlory
William "Billy" McGlory was an American saloon keeper and underworld figure in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century. He was a popular character in the Bowery and Five Points districts owning a number of popular establishments throughout the city, most notably McGlory's Armory Hall, up...
's Armory Hall among others. He is also credited for opening the city's first and oldest "undisguised" gay bar, The Slide, also on Bleecker Street.
Stephenson was described by Herbert Asbury
Herbert Asbury
Herbert 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...
in The Gangs of New York (1928) as "a tall, slim man with a curiously bloodless face. Contemporary writers marked his resemblance to a corpse; his face was almost as white as snow and his cheeks were sunken, while his eyebrows and hair were black as ink. His eyes were deep set, and very keen and piercing. It was his custom to sit bolt upright in a high chair in the center of his resort, and remain there for hours without displaying any other sign of life than the baleful glitter of his eyes."
While his establishment was popular among negroes, the Black and Tan was frequented almost exclusively by white women who appeared "to have been quite abandoned". It has been speculated that the establishment served as a meeting place for interracial matchmaking and its clientele including Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, East Indians, Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
, Malaysians and Lascars
Lascars
See also Lashkar, LaskarA lascar and was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian Subcontinent or other countries east of the Cape of Good Hope, employed on European ships from the 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century...
. News reports of the time, however, reported "that non-whites were just as likely to be cold-cocked and fleeced as visiting farmers from upstate". Four bartenders served drinks over a long counter, and behind each was a long dirk
Dirk
A dirk is a short thrusting dagger, sometimes a cut-down sword blade mounted on a dagger hilt rather than a knife blade. It was historically used as a personal weapon for officers engaged in naval hand-to-hand combat during the Age of Sail.-Etymology:...
and bludgeon
Bludgeon
Bludgeon may refer to:* Bludgeon , a fictional character* Bludgeon , a club-like weapon* Crabtree's Bludgeon, a foil to Occam's Razor...
which often used against unruly customers. In the hours before closing, much like other resorts of the era, were "enlivened with the cancan and licentious displays". Crazy Lou
Crazy Lou
Crazy Lou was the pseudonym of a New York showgirl and prostitute who was a well-known personality in the Bowery during the late 19th century. Described as a "famous local harlot derived from Boston society", little of her life is known prior to her arrival in New York...
, a former dance hall girl and Bowery character, was a regular customer and had a reserved seat. She would continue to visit the bar, staying from midnight to 2:00 am, until her mysterious murder. Stephenson continued to set a glass of whiskey on her table for a month after her death and would not permit anyone to sit there until after 2:00 am.
The resort was closed, along with many others, by then newly elected reform Mayor Abram S. Hewitt who campaigned against the city's vice
Vice District
Vice District is one of six districts of the province Sechura in Peru.-References:...
and red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
s. There is some discrepancy over the date of The Black and Tans closure. Former NYPD police chief George W. Walling claimed in his memoirs Recollections of a New York Chief of Police (1887) that it was closed in 1887, however an article by the New York Times, which reported the club's close as a "disorderly house
Disorderly house
In English criminal law a disorderly house is a house in which the conduct of its inhabitants is such as to become a public nuisance, or outrages public decency, or tends to corrupt or deprave, or injures the public interest; or a house where persons congregate to the probable disturbance of the...
" in July 1885, attributed the ownership to a Patrick Mee.
In popular culture
Frank Stephenson and The Black and Tan appear in the historical novelHistorical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
s The Alienist (1995) by Caleb Carr
Caleb Carr
Caleb Carr is an American novelist and military historian.-Biography:A son of Lucien Carr, a former UPI editor and a key Beat generation figure, he was born in Manhattan and lived for much of his life on the Lower East Side. He attended Kenyon College and New York University, earning a B.A. in...
and The Midnight Band of Mercy (2004) by Michael Blaine.
Further reading
- Harlow, Alvin F. Old Bowery Days: The Chronicles of a Famous Street. New York and London: D. Appleton & Company, 1931.