Owney Madden

Owen Vincent Madden, known as Owney Madden and nicknamed The Killer was a leading underworld figure in Manhattan, most notable for his involvement in organized crime during Prohibition. He also ran the famous Cotton Club and was a leading boxing promoter in the 1930s.

Owen Vincent Madden was born into a working class IrishCatholic family atSomerset Street in Leeds, England on December 18, 1891, the son of Francis and Mary Madden . In search of work, the family moved first to Wigan, then to Liverpool. It was Francis intention to take the family to the United States, but he died before this ambition could be fulfilled. In 1901, Mary Madden sailed to New York on the RMS Oceanic, to stay with her widowed sister Elizabeth ONeil, at 352 10th Avenue, in Manhattan. Owen and his older brother, Martin, were left at a childrens home, atSpringfield Terrace, in Leeds, until 1902, when Mary could finally afford passage for them. The family found a new home in New Yorks longestablished Irish community, which was to shape Maddens life permanently, giving him a reliable and loyal network among the thousands of other Irish emigrant families who had made New York their home.

Source: Wikipedia