Harry Lazarus
| Harry Lazarus | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1839 England |
| Died | January 2, 1865 (aged 26) Manhattan, New York, US |
| Cause of death | Murdered |
| Nationality | English-American |
| Occupation | Saloon keeper |
| Known for | English-born saloon keeper, thief and underworld figure in New York City during the 1850s and early 1860s; his murder by Barney Friery was one of the highly publicized trials in the city prior to the end of the American Civil War. |
| Weight | 140 lb (64 kg) |
| Parent(s) | Israel "London Izzy" Lazarus |
| Relatives | John Lazarus Israel Lazarus, Jr. |
Harry Lazarus (1839 – January 2, 1865) was an English-born American pugilist, saloon keeper, thief and underworld figure in New York City during the 1850s and early 1860s. He is sometimes confused with his father, famed pugilist Israel "London Izzy" Lazarus, and was one of his three sons along with John and Izzy Lazarus, Jr. His murder by Barney Friery, and subsequent trial, in 1865 was one of the most notorious crimes in the city's history prior to the end of the American Civil War.
Lazarus came to the US with his father and two brothers when Izzy Lazarus, Sr. fought Owen Swift in 1850. He would briefly follow in his father's footsteps, fighting a prizefight in Canada during 1857, but instead left that career to go into business in New York City. It was alleged that around this time that he had killed a man in California, arrested then fled the state while on bail. Lazarus was enlisted in Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth's Fire Zouaves for a time during the American Civil War, but returned to New York where he opened a saloon, the "X 10 U. 8" (phonetically spelled "extenuate"), on East Houston Street.
Traditional accounts, such as those of Herbert Asbury in Gangs of New York (1928), claimed Lazarus became involved with thieves and confidence men soon after his arrival in New York. One of these acquaintances, Barney Friery, stabbed and killed him during an argument at Lazarus' saloon in the early morning hours of January 6, 1865. According to Asbury, the incident had originated from "a dispute over a plug hat full of jewelry, which London Izzy had stolen from a jewelry store after smashing the store window with a brick".
The trial was held the following month, lasting three-days, and involved Assistant District Attorney Gunning J. Bedford, Jr. and Judge John T. Hoffman, as well as Lazarus' father Israel who testified for the prosecution. Harry Lazarus' bartender, Henry Connell served as one of the prosecution's star witnesses. Connell testified that on the night of the murder, while tending bar, Lazarus entered the saloon with five or six other men from his place of business next door. One of Friery's companions, California Jack, offered a challenge to the room betting $100 "that I've got a man here that will lick any man in the room". When no one responded, Jack turned to the owner and said "I'll bet $10 that I've got a man that will take that pistol away from you, Harry."
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