Yankee Sullivan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yankee Sullivan (March 10, 1811 – May 31, 1856) also known as Frank Murray and James Sullivan was a boxer.
He was born in Brandon, County Kerry, Ireland in 1811 under the name James Ambrose. On February 7, 1849, he fought Tom Hyer in Still Pond, Maryland. He fought John Morrissey on October 12, 1853. He was arrested by the San Francisco Vigilance Movement, and he died in his prison cell from slit wrists. Although his death is usually attributed to suicide, it has also been theorized that he was murdered by the Vigilance Movement in a way that would make his death look like suicide. He was buried in the Mission Dolores cemetery in San Francisco, California. His tombstone reads: "James Sullivan, who died by the hands of the V.C. May 31st 1856".
Contents |
[edit] Timeline
- 1811 Birth, Born Frank Ambrose
- 1849 Fight with Tom Hyer, Sullivan loses
- 1853 Fight with John Morrissey, Sullivan loses
- 1856 Suicide in jail in San Francisco
[edit] Selected coverage in the New York Times
- New York Times; January 5, 1877. "How The Commodore Whipped 'Yankee' Sullivan. Among the stories told about Commodore Vanderbilt is the following, related by an old and well known resident of Staten Island."
- New York Times; June 30, 1856. "Yankee Sullivan No More. Yankee Sullivan has gone to his last account. His last round is fought. His name passes away from among the ranks of the active 'Fancy.' Like many of the 'fighting men,' Sullivan had enough in him to make a smart man; but as it was, he was smart and shrewd only in a bad way."
- Washington Post; May 2, 1910. "John Morrissey's Fight With 'Yankee' Sullivan. Prize Fighter, Adventurer, Politician -- Began in a Paper Mill, and Made Millions. Elected to Congress in 1866 -- Never Beaten in a Fair Fight During Career. From the New York Herald. As the first period in the history of the prize ring ends with 'Tom' Johnson and the second with 'Tom' Spring, so the third closes with the brief championship of 'Tom' King. From the sixties on the ring became less and less an exclusively British institution, the influence of America, and later Australasia, changing conditions and traditions."
[edit] In Popular Culture
Primus recorded the song "Fisticuffs" about Sullivan on their Brown Album.
[edit] Notes
Various sources report his birth as April 12, 1813 or April 12, 1815.
