Jim Turner (criminal)
Encyclopedia
James "Jim" Turner was an American criminal figure, pugilist and "slugger" for Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...

. Turner was one of several men under Captain Isaac Rynders who committed voter intimidation and election fraud for Tammany Hall during the 1850s. He and Paudeen McLaughlin were bodyguards to Lew Baker
Lew Baker
----Lewis "Lew" Baker was a patrolman in the New York Police Department who was simultaneously employed as a "slugger" for Tammany Hall. He was involved in voter intimidation and election fraud during the 1840s and 50s...

 and were present with him when he killed William "Bill the Butcher" Poole
William Poole
William Poole , also known as Bill the Butcher, was a member of the New York City gang the Bowery Boys, a bare-knuckle boxer, and a leader of the Know Nothing political movement.-Early life:...

 in 1855.

Biography

A Californian-born thug and pugilist, Turner was forced to leave the state by the San Francisco Vigilance Committee in 1854. He eventually surfaced in New York City where he found employment with Captain Isaac Rynders and his Empire Club. In a short time, he became one of the Rynders' most feared "sluggers". In January 1855, Turner and Lew Baker
Lew Baker
----Lewis "Lew" Baker was a patrolman in the New York Police Department who was simultaneously employed as a "slugger" for Tammany Hall. He was involved in voter intimidation and election fraud during the 1840s and 50s...

 entered Platt's Hall and became involved in a verbal altercation with prizefighter Tom Hyer
Tom Hyer
Tom Hyer was an American bare-knuckle boxer. He was a champion of boxing in America from September 9, 1841 to 1851....

 "calling the fighter vile names". The argument escalated until Turner drew his pistol and shot Hyer in the neck. Hyer fired back but missed, hitting the wall instead. Putting away his weapon, Hyer attacked his assailants and dragged Baker out into the street, but the fight came to an end when a police officer arrived. The fight was broken up, but no charges were brought against the three.

On the night of February 25, 1855, Turner and Paudeen McLaughlin accompanied Lew Baker
Lew Baker
----Lewis "Lew" Baker was a patrolman in the New York Police Department who was simultaneously employed as a "slugger" for Tammany Hall. He was involved in voter intimidation and election fraud during the 1840s and 50s...

 when he entered Stanwix Hall saloon to confront William "Bill the Butcher" Poole
William Poole
William Poole , also known as Bill the Butcher, was a member of the New York City gang the Bowery Boys, a bare-knuckle boxer, and a leader of the Know Nothing political movement.-Early life:...

 over an argument he and John Morrissey
John Morrissey
John Morrissey , also known as Old Smoke, was an Irish bare-knuckle boxer and a gang member in New York in the 1850s and later became a Democratic State Senator and U.S. Congressman from New York, backed by Tammany Hall...

 had several hours before. Although most accounts claim Baker shot Poole when the two began fighting, another version has Turner and McLaughlin participating in the barroom brawl according to retired police chief George W. Walling. In this version, Turner pulled out a pistol to fire at Poole, using the hollow of his left arm as a rest, but shot himself in the arm with an eight-inch Colt Navy Revolver. While falling to the floor, it was Turner who fired the second shot that hit Poole in the leg. Poole then staggered towards Baker who drew his own revolver and shot him twice then left the bar with Turner and McLaughlin. He and McLaughlin were arrested soon after and imprisoned in separate cells in The Tombs
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...

. Turner was charged with a number of other men including Baker, McLaughlin, Morrissey, Cornelius Linn, Charles Van Pelt, John Huyler and James Irving among others, but all were eventually acquitted of the murder.

On the morning of August 30, 1860, Turner was arrested and charged with assaulting a West Broadway
West Broadway (Manhattan)
West Broadway, not to be confused with Broadway, is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan separated into two parts by a park. The northern part begins at TriBeCa Park, near the intersection of Sixth Avenue, Walker Street and Beach Street in TriBeCa...

 resident, Edward Leonard, beating him so severely that he was hospitalized and confined to a bed. Turner was sent to The Tombs in default of a $500 bail by the presiding magistrate. He was sent to the Workhouse on March 28, 1866, in default of $1,000 bail for his good behavior, after being charged with fighting, using foul language and striking Mary Ann Scott with a hot poker.

Further reading

  • Beals, Carleton
    Carleton Beals
    Carleton Beals was a radical American journalist, author, historian, and a crusader with special interests in Latin America.-Early years:...

    . Brass-knuckle Crusade: The Great Know-Nothing Conspiracy, 1820-1860. New York: Hastings House Publishers, 1960.
  • Lewis, Alfred Henry. Nation Famous New York Murders. New York: G.W. Dillingham Company, 1914.
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