Criminal status Deceased | Conviction(s) Murder Name Nicholas Saul | |
Died January 28, 1853(1853-01-28) (19-20)
New York, New York, U.S. | ||
Criminal penalty Death by hanging | ||
Nicholas Saul (1833 – January 28, 1853) was a prominent nineteenth-century criminal and one of the founding members of the Daybreak Boys, a New York City street gang. Saul led many of the gang’s early raids, many of which were before sunrise— earning the gang their nickname—on the Hudson River and East River waterfront. At its height during 1851 to 1853, the gang earned an estimated $200,000 under Saul's leadership.
The gang began operating as river pirates during this time. Saul's violent raids would often see the crew murdered and the ship scuttled after stealing its cargo. However on a raid with gang members Nicholas Howlett and Bill Johnson on August 25, 1852 against the William Watson, the gang became engaged in a gunfight with crew members, eventually alerting local detectives.
A police pursuit of over 20 officers chased the men from the East River to Pete Williams' Slaughter House Inn where they were forced to surrender to police after a three-hour siege. Saul and Howlett were later convicted of the murder of ship watchmen Charles Baxter and sentenced to be executed. On the day of their execution a crowd of over 200 gangsters and politicians, including William Poole and Tom Hyer, paid their respects shaking hands with the men as they were brought up to the gallows. They were hanged in the Tombs Courtyard on January 28, 1853.