Fredericka Mandelbaum
Encyclopedia
Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum (1818 – February 1894) was a New York
entrepreneur
and operated as a criminal fence
to many of the street gangs and criminals of the city's underworld, handling between $1-5 million in stolen goods between 1862 until 1884. Like her principal rival John D. Grady
and the Grady Gang
, she also became a patron to the criminal elements of the city and was involved in financing and organizing numerous burglaries and other criminal operations throughout the post-American Civil War
era.
Emigrating from Prussia with her husband Wolfe Mandelbaum, the two arrived in New York in 1848. Purchasing a dry goods store on Clinton Street, by 1854, the business was operating as a front for the Mandelbaums' criminal operations (she would later need to store goods in two large warehouses in the city). However, instead of waiting to be approached by criminals, Mandelbaum began financing thieves and burglars and was involved in planning some of the biggest thefts in the city's history. Expanding her operations, she controlled several gangs of blackmail
ers and confidence men
as well as a school to recruit and teach younger criminals on pickpocketing. She was also a top competitor to the Grady Gang
.
During this time, she had become one of New York's most prominent hostesses of New York's high society, as well as the underworld, regularly associating with some of the most well-known criminals of the day including Queen Liz
, Big Mary, "Black" Lena Kleinschmidt
, Adam Worth
, Sophie Lyons
, and George Leonidas Leslie as well as judges and police officials.
However, in 1884, New York District Attorney Peter B. Olney
hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to infiltrate Mandelbaum's organization. An agent, posing as a prospective thief, arranged to have several marked bolts of silk stolen from a store where it was discovered in a police raid on her home the following morning. Arrested with her son Julius and clerk Herman Stroude, Mandelbaum was released on bail and fled the United States with an estimated $1 million. She settled in Toronto where she remained until her death in 1894.
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...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and operated as a criminal fence
Fence (criminal)
A fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
to many of the street gangs and criminals of the city's underworld, handling between $1-5 million in stolen goods between 1862 until 1884. Like her principal rival John D. Grady
John D. Grady
John D. "Traveling Mike" Grady was a New York criminal and, as leader of the Grady Gang, financed and organized many of the major burglaries of the 19th century...
and the Grady Gang
Grady Gang
The Grady Gang was a New York sneak thief gang during the 1860s. Organized by fence John D. "Traveling Mike" Grady following the American Civil War, the Grady Gang operated in Broadway's "Thieves Exchange" where Grady would regularly purchase around $10,000 in stolen goods.He soon formed his own...
, she also became a patron to the criminal elements of the city and was involved in financing and organizing numerous burglaries and other criminal operations throughout the post-American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
era.
Life and career
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
ers and confidence men
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
as well as a school to recruit and teach younger criminals on pickpocketing. She was also a top competitor to the Grady Gang
Grady Gang
The Grady Gang was a New York sneak thief gang during the 1860s. Organized by fence John D. "Traveling Mike" Grady following the American Civil War, the Grady Gang operated in Broadway's "Thieves Exchange" where Grady would regularly purchase around $10,000 in stolen goods.He soon formed his own...
.
During this time, she had become one of New York's most prominent hostesses of New York's high society, as well as the underworld, regularly associating with some of the most well-known criminals of the day including Queen Liz
Queen Liz
Queen Liz was the pseudonym of an American thief and pickpocket who was a prominent member of New York's underworld during the mid-to late 19th century. She was among the elite "inner circle" of female career criminals under Marm Mandelbaum during the 1860s and 1870s...
, Big Mary, "Black" Lena Kleinschmidt
Lena Kleinschmidt
"Black" Lena Kleinschmidt was a New York criminal who, as a prominent jewel thief during the late 19th century, was an associate of fence Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum and Adam Worth...
, Adam Worth
Adam Worth
Adam Worth was an American criminal. Scotland Yard detective Robert Anderson nicknamed him "the Napoleon of the criminal world", and he is commonly referred to as "the Napoleon of Crime".-Earlier life:...
, Sophie Lyons
Sophie Lyons
Sophie Lyons was an American criminal and one of the country's most notorious female thieves, pickpockets, shoplifters and confidence women during the mid-to-late 19th century...
, and George Leonidas Leslie as well as judges and police officials.
However, in 1884, New York District Attorney Peter B. Olney
Peter B. Olney
Peter Butler Olney was an American lawyer and politician from New York.-Life:...
hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to infiltrate Mandelbaum's organization. An agent, posing as a prospective thief, arranged to have several marked bolts of silk stolen from a store where it was discovered in a police raid on her home the following morning. Arrested with her son Julius and clerk Herman Stroude, Mandelbaum was released on bail and fled the United States with an estimated $1 million. She settled in Toronto where she remained until her death in 1894.
Further reading
- Asbury, Herbert. All around the town: The Sequel to the Gangs of New York. New York: Alfred A. Knoff, 1929. ISBN 978-1-56025-521-5
- Lardner, James and Thomas Reppetto. NYPD: A City and Its Police. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2000. ISBN 978-0-8050-6737-8
- Ben MacIntyreBen MacintyreBen Macintyre is a British author, historian, and columnist writing for The Times newspaper. His columns range from current affairs to historical controversies.- Author :...
, "The Napoleon of Crime; The Life and Times of Adam WorthAdam WorthAdam Worth was an American criminal. Scotland Yard detective Robert Anderson nicknamed him "the Napoleon of the criminal world", and he is commonly referred to as "the Napoleon of Crime".-Earlier life:...
, Master Thief," 1997.
External links
- Adam Worth: The World in his Pocket - Marm Mandelbaum by Joseph Geringer
- Frederika "Ma" Mandlebaum at Rotten.comRotten.comRotten.com is a United States-hosted shock site with the slogan "An archive of disturbing illustration" it is operated by Soylent Communications....
- The Sins of New York: As "Exposed" by the Police Gazette by Edward Van Emery
- WNYC - The Next Big Thing: Out Laws (Queen of Fences)
- "Marm - A Gilded Age Mastermind" by William Bryk - New York SunNew York SunThe New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...
- December 22, 2004