About
American 19th century criminal and leader of the Washington Street Gang, which later became known as the Bowery Boys gang. He was a local leader of the Know Nothing political movement in mid-19th-century New York City.
Before Fame
In the 1840s, he worked with the Howard (Red Rover) Volunteer Fire Engine Company #34, on Hudson and Christopher Streets. He later started the Washington Street Gang, which became the Bowery Boys.
Trivia
A known gambler and heavy drinker, he was also a brutal bare-knuckle boxer. He was also a skilled knife fighter, as a result of his profession as a butcher.
Family Life
He was born in Sussex County, New Jersey to parents of English descent. In 1832, his family moved to New York City to open a butcher shop in Washington Market, Manhattan. He trained in his father's trade and eventually took over the family store. On March 8, 1855, he died in his home on Christopher Street at the age of 33 after being shot. Poole was survived by his wife and son Charles.
Associated With
Daniel Day-Lewis played a heavily fictionalized version of Bill the Butcher, renamed William Cutting, in the 2002 Martin Scorsese film Gangs of New York.
