Volume 3 – Gangsters – Farrell, Sadie “The Goat” – The Queen of the Boardwalk

It wasn’t as cruel to its claws as Hellcat Maggie from Dead Rabbits. Not as big and strong as an Amazon river gorilla named Gallus Mag. But Sadie “The Goat” Farrell made more money than the two women combined when she was the “Queen of New York’s Waterfront.”

Sadie Farrell was born and raised in the suburbs of Fourth Ward, near the East River. As a child, she hung out with thieves and street hustlers. Slightly built, but mean and vicious, Sadie used to work the streets around the docks in concert with a male partner, who gave her the muscle reinforcement she needed. When a brand emerged drunk from one of the local dives, Sadie would take a run and then hit the victim’s stomach with the top of her head.

This was a dangerous maneuver, as sometimes the person hitting the head hurts himself more than the intended victim. But Sadie was a pro and made sure only the top of her head made contact with the victim’s gut and not sensitive areas like the nose and forehead. The headbutt stopped the victim in her tracks, and as soon as she returned her attention to Sadie, her partner used a sling to propel a stone into the side of the victim’s head. If that didn’t work, a bat or a sap always worked. Then Sadie and her partner would take everything of unconscious brand value, including her shirt, pants, and shoes. This was a small job for Sadie, but it still inflated her reputation on the East Side docks.

One day Sadie made the mistake of having too many belts at the Hole-in-the-Wall bar on Dover Street, just two blocks from the East River. The Hole-in-the-Wall gorilla was a six-foot female creature from England named Gallus Mag. Mag patrolled the bar with a small bat strapped to his wrist, which he was not reluctant to use on unruly patrons. If after a few blows to the head the drunk was still fighting, Mag would wrap a key around his head and then rip off one of his ears before throwing him out the front door. The ear would then go into a jug of alcohol, which Mag proudly displayed behind the bar. The jars filled with ears behind the bar were called “Gallus Mag Trophy Box.”

Sadie being Irish and Mag being from England was an accident waiting to happen. It’s not sure who started the name calling first, but it’s a good bet it was Sadie, and that wasn’t a smart thing to do. Mag, who was twice Sadie’s size, hit Sadie over the head a couple of times with the bat, but Sadie still regretted Mag with a vengeance.

Another thing that is not smart.

Mag wrapped her huge arms around Sadie’s head and, in an instant, one of Sadie’s ears had detached from the side of her head. Mag deposited Sadie on her butt on Dover Street, then deposited Sadie’s ear in a jug filled with alcohol and proudly displayed it behind the bar. Mag even wrote on the jar, “Sadie the Goat’s Ear.”

Disgraced and disheartened, Sadie took her show to the road and ended up on the West Side docks, cleared across Manhattan of her old venues. One day, while wandering around trying to figure out how to make a score, Sadie witnessed members of the Charlton Street gang trying unsuccessfully to board a small sloop anchored in the middle of the North River (now called the Hudson River). The Charlton Street gang was so inept and disorganized that the ship’s crew had no trouble beating and beating them in the process. Sadie thought that with her expert guidance, the gang would do much better than before if she were the boss. So Sadie helped the gang members lick their wounds and then convinced them with her brain and strength that they could form a very successful team.

A few days later, with Sadie at the head of the gang, they were able to hijack a much larger sloop, and with the “Jolly Roger” (skull and crossbones) flying from the headland, Captain Sadie led the gang north. and Harlem. Rivers, to Poughkeepsie and beyond. They attacked small villages; robbing the farms of the poor and the mansion of the rich by the river. Because the ocean liners and major transport vessels were so well protected, Sadie and her crew concentrated on attacking smaller merchant ships upstream.

Sadie was so into her “River Pirate” routine that she began to read voraciously about pirate history and lore. After discovering that the pirates had once kidnapped Julius Caesar, he ordered his crew to embark on a wave of kidnappings. In the spirit of old pirate traditions, some true, some artificial, Sadie even forced several members of her own gang to walk on the board if they didn’t do exactly what she demanded.

For several months, Sadie and her team were highly successful in their endeavors. They hid their loot in various hiding places, until they could dispose of it for hard cash, through the various fences along the North and East rivers. One of these fences was Marm Mandelbaum, who through his shop on Clinton Street was said to be the largest fence on the entire east coast of the United States.

But all good things must come to an end.

After Sadie and the Charlton Street Gang murdered several homeowners, residents of upstate Hudson Valley rallied together and formed a resistance force. The peasants ambushed the Charlton Street gang as it reached land, and the police patrolling New York Harbor prevented them from looting the small merchant ships on the North River. Soon, so many gang members were killed, Sadie was forced to abandon her pirate methods. What was left of the Charlton Street Gang returned to the West Side docks and they were soon completely disbanded.

Sadie decided to return to her old places in the Fourth Ward, where she was now hailed as the “Queen of the Waterfront.” With the money she had made in her piracy days, Sadie opened her own gin mill.

Shortly after Sadie’s return to the East Side docks, the Hole-in-the-Wall pub was the site of seven murders in just two months. As a result, the New York City police closed the Hole-in-the-Wall bar for good. But before the last call at Hole-in-the-Wall, Sadie visited Gallus Mag. The two girls made up, and Mag was so kind that he went behind the bar, retrieved Sadie’s pickled ear, and gave it back to her. its rightful owner.

Sadie wore her severed ear in a locket around her neck for the rest of her life.