Paradise Alley (82 page)

It will come as no surprise to many readers that most of
Paradise Alley
is based very closely upon the actual events of the Irish famine and the emigration of the 1840s, life in the lower wards of New York City in the 1850s, the Civil War, and the infamous draft riots of 1863—to this date, probably the worst civic disturbance in the history of the United States.

Many of the specific incidents herein have also been drawn closely from real life. These include the murders of James Noe and Colonel O'Brien, the scenes from the Irish famine, the various battles and atrocities that took place during the draft riots, and Ruth's defense of her son against a street mob.

Billy Dove was, in fact, the name of one of the earliest African American residents of the area that became Central Park. Jupiter K. Zeuss was also a real denizen of the area. John Kennedy
was
New York's superintendent of police at the time of the draft riots—his name is not intended to carry any political connotations whatsoever.
The White Captive
was a very real sensation; it can be viewed to this day in the American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.

• • •

I am greatly indebted, as always, to my historical sources. First and foremost among them, when it comes to descriptions of New York life, circa 1840 to 1865 in general, and the draft riot in particular, are three superb histories: Iver Bernstein's seminal work,
The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War;
Ernest A. McKay's
The Civil War & New York City;
and Adrian Cook's
The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863.

On these subjects I also benefited greatly from Solon Robinson's contemporary best-seller,
Hot Corn: Life Scenes in New York Illustrated; The Diary of George Templeton Strong; Writing New York, A Literary Anthology,
edited by Phillip Lopate; Roy Rosenzweig and Elizabeth Blackmar's
The Park and the People, A History of Central Park;
Witold Rybczinski's
A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the Nineteenth Century;
Francis R. Kowsky's
Country, Park & City: The Architecture and Life of Calvert Vaux;
Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s
The Age of Jackson;
Jerome Mushkat's
Fernando Wood, A Political Biography;
Oliver E. Allen's
The Tiger: The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall;
Alfred Connable and Edward Silberfarb's
Tigers of Tammany;
and Dennis T. Lynch's “
Boss
”
Tweed.

My descriptions of New York's colorful volunteer fire companies have been gleaned primarily from Herbert Asbury's
Ye Olde Fire Laddies
and A. E. Costello's
Our Firemen.

When it came to describing the New York literary life of the time, I relied upon Ronald Weber's
Hired Pens, Professional Writers in America's Golden Age of Print;
Jay Monaghan's
The Great Rascal: The Exploits of the Amazing Ned Buntline;
Hervey Allen's
Israfel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe;
Francis Brown's
Raymond of the Times;
Glyndon G. Van Deusen's
Horace Greeley: Nineteenth Century Crusader;
William Harlan Hale's
Horace Greeley: Voice of the People;
and Coy F. Cross II's
Go West Young Man: Horace Greeley's Vision for America.

In a more general sense, I also found it helpful to refer to the works of Whitman and Poe, and to Melville's unforgettable poem on watching the draft riots from his home in Brooklyn, “The House-Top. A Night Piece. July, 1863.”

My understanding of
all
aspects of New York City life was enhanced by what have become the three indispensable reference works on the city: Kenneth T. Jackson's
The Encyclopedia of New York City;
Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace's
Gotham;
and Eric Homberger's
The Historical Atlas of New York City.

In regard to the Irish potato famine, and nineteenth-century Irish life in general, I would have been lost without Cecil Woodham-Smith's
The Great Hunger;
Alexis de Tocqueville's
Journey in Ireland; The Irish Famine, A Documentary History
by Noel Kissane; Robert Kee's
The Green Flag
series; Thomas Keneally's
The Great Shame;
and
The Encyclopedia of Ireland.

For the Irish immigrant experience, I used Carl Wittke's
The Irish in America;
Hasia R. Diner's
Erin's Daughters in America, Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century;
William V. Shannon's
The American Irish;
Richard Shaw's
Dagger John: The Unquiet Life & Times of Archbishop John Hughes of New York;
Father Joseph P. Chinnici's
Living Stones, The History and Structure of Catholic Spiritual Life in the United States;
George Deshon's
Guide for Catholic Young Women, Especially for Those Who Earn Their Own Living;
Tyler Anbinder's
Five Points;
Noel Ignatiev's
How the Irish Became White;
Charles R. Morris's
American Catholic: The Saints and Sinners Who Built America's Most Powerful Church;
Jay P. Dolan's
The American Catholic Experience
and
The Immigrant Church: New York's Irish and German Catholics 1815–1865: A History from Colonial Times to the Present;
Robert E. Kennedy's
The Irish: Emigration, Marriage, and Fertility.

The passages concerning the battles and camp life of the Civil War were drawn from a lifetime of reading on the subject, and most particularly the classic works by Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote. I also found Bell Irvin Wiley's
The Life of Billy Yank, The Common Soldier of the Union
to be invaluable in describing daily life in the Union army. In dealing specifically with Irish-American regiments, I was lucky enough to find William Burton's
Melting Pot, The Union's Ethnic Regiments; Irish Green and Union Blue, The Civil War Letters of Peter Welsh,
edited by Lawrence Frederick Kohl, with Margaret Cosse Richard; and especially
The History of the Irish Brigade: A Collection of Historical Essays,
edited by Pia Seija Seagrave.

My research into the history of cabinets of wonder was informed
by Lorraine Daston and Katharine Park's
Wonders and the Order of Nature;
and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.'s
A Collector's Cabinet.

For my brief sojourn in Charleston, I turned to Robert N. Rosen's
A Short History of Charleston,
and Maury Klein's
Days of Defiance, Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War.
The classic collection,
The Book of Boxing,
edited by W. C. Heinz and Nathan Ward, helped me with the fine art of bare-knuckle boxing.

Finally, no tour of the nineteenth-century demimonde in New York would be complete without the guidance of Luc Sante's
Low Life
and Herbert Asbury's
The Gangs of New York.

In addition to all of the above sources and a number of others, I was able to utilize a wide variety of magazines and newspapers from the period, thanks to the facilities of the New York Public Library and Columbia University libraries.

Beyond these literary resources, my knowledge of the era and culture in question was expanded immeasurably by a number of recent shows at New York's many fine cultural institutions. These included a New-York Historical Society exhibit on Seneca Village and the construction of Central Park; a Brooklyn Museum exhibit on cabinets of wonder; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit “Art and the Empire City.” Ric Burns's wonderful documentary series on New York also provided me with some indelible images.

No resource, though, proved more helpful than the personal assistance afforded to me by Father Dominic Monti and Father John Knapp. Both were very generous with their time and patience in explaining the American Catholic Church in the nineteenth century to my poor old Presbyterian mind. I must also thank Father Jerome Massimino for setting up my interview with Father Monti.

I have been very fortunate in my friends, family, and colleagues. Their generosity has done more to enhance my career and my life than I can easily express.

My wife, Ellen Abrams, has been my helpmate, my confidante, and my great soul. I hope that she always will be.

Henry Dunow has filled the difficult dual roles of friend and agent with aplomb, and he has done wonderful things for my self-esteem,
my sanity, and my bank account. I must also thank Jennifer Carlson and everyone else at the Henry Dunow Literary Agency.

Daniel Conaway, my editor at HarperCollins, has persevered through not only the (at times) unreasoning obstinacy of his writer, but also the birth of his son, Christopher. His suggestions were unfailingly candid, perceptive, and helpful, and he is entitled to a great share of the credit for whatever success
Paradise Alley
might have. Dan's assistant, Nikola Scott, has been a joy to work with, thanks to her unflagging enthusiasm and good nature. The same can readily be said for the rest of my colleagues at HarperCollins.

I was able to thank many of those who have given me their love, friendship, and support over the years in the acknowledgments of my last book. My sentiments are unchanged toward them—and I would like to extend the same to a number of those I overlooked, did not mention by name, or did not know yet. These would include my mother, Claire S. Baker; my stepfather, Lawrence Martin; my sister, Pamela Baker, and brother-in-law, Mark Kapsch; my aunt and uncle, Ann and Bruce Baker; Whitneys, one and all; and my dear friends Amanda Robb, Andrew Chesler, Pearl Solomon, Alix Spiegel, Deirdre Dolan, James Gray, Milton Allimadi, Mana Kasongo, Andy Staub, Delphine Taylor, John Kaehny, Ahmed White, John Sullivan, Mariana Johnson, Marc Aronson, Marina Budhos, Ingrid Krane-Mueschen, Michael Mueschen, Larry Davidson, Wendy Owen-Dunow, Agnes Rossi—and the next generation: Zoe, Julian, Griffin, Anik, Daisy, Gus, Teddy, Maddy, Max, Mary, Grace, Alina, Christopher, Julius, Sasha, Eloise, Cassius, and Selene.

The Critically acclaimed novel
Dreamland
established Kevin Baker as “one of America's best new writers” (
Boston Herald
). Now, with
Paradise Alley
, he emerges as one of the most important voices of his generation. Currently at work on the third volume of his “City of Fire” trilogy, Mr. Baker is also the author of the novel
Sometimes You See It Coming
and served as chief historical researcher for the nonfiction bestseller
The American Century
. He is married and lives in New York City.

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Dreamland

Sometimes You See It Coming

Title page photograph, “Rag and Bottle Houses, Monroe Street,” is from the Wilcox Collection, Brooklyn Museum of Art/Brooklyn Public Library—Brooklyn Collection.

Jacket design © 2002 by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich

Jacket art: Currier and Ives, 1858, “The American Fireman,” courtesy of the Granger Collection

Copyright

PARADISE ALLEY.
Copyright © 2002 by Kevin Baker. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub © Edition DECEMBER 2002 ISBN: 9780061748981

Print edition first published in 2002 by HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

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