Walter "Monk" McGinn (1816-July 1863) was a 19th-century Irish-American Democratic politician who was affiliated with the Tammany Hall politican machine of New York City. Previously a member of the Dead Rabbits gang, he was chosen as the Tammany candidate for Sheriff of the City and County of New York in 1863 in a bid to gain the Irish vote, but McGinn was murdered by the nativist leader William Cutting shortly after being elected.
Biography[]
McGinn in 1846
Walter McGinn was born in Ireland in 1816. His father was killed during a Catholic insurrection against their Protestant British overlords, forcing Walter to flee to the United States and settle in the Five Points slum of New York City. There, he became muscle-for-hire for the Dead Rabbits gang, and Priest Vallon promised him $10 per notch on his shilleleagh club in preparation for the decisive Battle of the Five Points in February 1846. The battle was a victory for William Cutting's Natives gang, and, while Cutting ordered that no man would be allowed to touch the late Vallon's body out of respect for him, Cutting permitted McGinn to collect what was owed to him. McGinn took Vallon's razor, intending to hand it down to Vallon's son one day. Over the next 16 years, McGinn became a respected and well-to-do figure among the Irish community in the Five Points, and he was even respected by Cutting. However, he harbored a deep animosity against the American Protestants who, like the British Protestants in Ireland, committed acts of violence against the poor Irish Catholics.
Refounding the Dead Rabbits[]
McGinn in 1862
In 1862, years after the battle for the Five Points, McGinn brushed into Priest's son Amsterdam Vallon several times as Amsterdam worked for Cutting's Natives gang in order to gain Cutting' trust. The first time they met, Vallon was walking with Cutting through the Five Points as he provided protection to reformers John F. Schermerhorn and Horace Greeley as they toured the area, but the exchange was limited to a greeting. After Vallon thwarted an assassination attempt on Cutting, McGinn complimented his performance as "Shakespearean", but reminded him of what a great man his father was, and told him to be smart. They met for a third time when Vallon was wounded by Cutting and forced into hiding under the Old Brewery, where McGinn found him and Jenny Everdeane. McGinn returned Vallon's father's razor to his son to remind him of the blood feud between him and Cutting, and he told him how his own father had died in battle. Encouraged by McGinn, Vallon went on to re-found the Dead Rabbits gang.
Sheriff campaign[]
McGinn in 1863
In July 1863, Tammany Hall Democratic political boss William M. Tweed approached Vallon shortly after he and Archbishop John Joseph Hughes defended a Catholic church from a nativist attack, urging him to take advantage of its publicity and throw the Irish vote behind Tammany Hall in exchange for fees for each individual voter. Vallon demanded that Tweed run a slate of Irish candidates to oppose the nativists, and, when Tweed suggested allowing for Vallon to pick an alderman, Everdeane reminded Tweed that there were already Irish aldermen. Tweed was reluctantly convinced to allow an Irishman to run for Sheriff, and Vallon convinced McGinn to run for the job.
McGinn's campaign
During his rallies, he claimed that "our elected representatives are a gang of thieves who swear to better our lot while digging their hands deep into our pockets," that he would "see to it that noone takes away what you have earned by pluck and application," and asked his voters, "Why should so many Irish die down South, when the first war to win is not down in Dixie, but right here, in these streets?" He prided himself on being the best street fighter in the whole Five Points, having killed 44 men, and he told his voters to let the whole city know his strength. On voting day, the Dead Rabbits shoved people off of street corners and pulled them out of their homes to vote, even making them vote multiple times and having the dead registered to vote. McGinn won a landslide victory over his Know Nothings opponent, Richard Parrish, and he was the first Irishman elected to serve as Sheriff.
Death[]
McGinn's death
Shortly after McGinn's victory by 3,000 more votes than there were registered voters, Cutting sent a pig's head to McGinn at his barbershop, telling him that he was ready for a fight. As he left the barbershop, he noticed McGinn standing outside, and he told the people of the Five Points that Cutting was attempting to draw him into a bloody fight which would compromise the morals of his office. He then called Cutting up to his office to resolve their grievances in a democratic way, and Cutting began to walk up the stairs. As McGinn turned around to enter the barbership, Cutting threw a butcher's cleaver into McGinn's back and proceeded to cut a notch into his club, telling him that this notch, the 45th, was for him. He then hit McGinn over the head with the club, killing him as the people outside watched in horror. His funeral had a large turnout, including Archbishop John Joseph Hughes, Father Maxwell O'Hurley, the Dead Rabbits, Peter Masterson's Engine Company No. 33, and several Irish immigrants.
Gallery[]
