He turned into a con artist, inebriated, murderer and a pimp, who ran one of the most obscene dance halls in the history of New York. For the vastness of his transgressions, John Allen become dubbed "The Wickedest Man in New York City."

John Allen, the youngest of eight sons, turned into born in 1823, in upstate New York. His father became a prominent Presbyterian minister and two of Allen's brothers have become Presbyterian ministers too, even as a 3rd became a Baptist minister. The rest of his brother absconded to New York City and have become burglars, crooks and confidence guys, who owned various bawdy bars inside the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Allen's father sent him to the Union Theological Seminary, hoping younger John would select the righteous course, in place of the depraved avenue his brothers had chosen in New York City. Allen studied faith for some months, then packed his luggage and joined his evil siblings in downtown Manhattan. Allen's brothers showed him the hints in their alternate, and very quickly, Allen have become gifted at the crimes his brothers taught him. One of his brothers have become suspicious of Allen, while he realized the police within the region seemed to realize what they have been going to do, earlier than they did it. His brothers accused Allen of being a stool-pigeon. He reluctantly admitted they had been right, which caused his brothers to overcome him to a pulp and forged him out into the street.

In 1855, Allen met and married a regarded crook named Little Suzie. Little Suzy's uniqueness turned into rolling drunks, after she seduced them with sex, then positioned knockout drops of their liquids. While Little Suzie plied her alternate inside the waterfront district of the 4th Ward, which included Cherry, Water, Dover and Catherine Streets, Allen got a task working for a waterfront crimp, who ran a boarding residence for sailors. Allen's process changed into to trap sailors into the crimp's status quo, in which they could get the sailor under the influence of alcohol, then drug his drink. When the mark was out cold, they robbed him, then carried him to an outgoing vessel, where he was shanghaied to far flung places.

One day, Allen changed into silly enough to have a drink together with his boss, and the next aspect he knew, he was on a ship to South America, not to go back to New York City for a full six months. Soon after he hit Lower Manhattan, Allen's former boss became located beaten to dying, courtesy of an iron belaying-pin, which become a device used on ships to secure lines of rigging. Allen become the plain suspect, but for the reason that cops had no evidence, and because the useless man became so intensely disliked by way of all and sundry, no costs have been ever delivered towards Allen.

Allen reconnected with Little Suzie and they went to paintings for Hester Jane Haskins, known as Jane the Grabber, who ran numerous houses of unwell reputation within the place surrounding Sixth Avenue and Thirtieth Street. The Allen own family's task became to tour all throughout the northeastern states, and produce again younger women, with the promise of having them well-paying jobs. Of direction, when those terrible women have been delivered to Jane the Grabber, she straight away beat them and drugged them, and compelled them to work in her brothels. This went quality for Allen and Little Suzy, until Jane the Grabber got grasping and started out abducting girls from distinguished families, which include the daughter of the governor of new york of a brand new England country. Feeling the warmth from the police turned into inevitable, they end their jobs and headed returned to the evil confines of the 4th Ward. Good timing for them, due to the fact that Jane the Grabber become soon arrested and sent to prison for a totally long term.

In 1858, the Allens opened John Allen's Dance Hall at 304 Water Street, which have become called one of the most licentious institutions in New York City. Allen dressed his twenty or so "dance ladies" in short skirts and red-crowned boots, with sleigh-bells circling their ankles. All varieties of vice and sexual obscenities have been carried out in private rooms, and from time to time right out in the open, so much so, journalist Oliver Dyer wrote in Packard's Monthly that John Allen turned into "The Wickedest Man in New York City." Allen changed into so pleased with his new moniker, he made up business playing cards, pronouncing:

John Allen's Dance Hall
304 Water Street
Wickedest Man in New York:
Proprietor

John Allen's Dance Hall changed into so rich, in only ten years, Allen banked extra than $100,000, making him the richest pimp in New York City.

Soon, Allen got here up with a brand new attitude to make even extra coins. Falling back on his seminary revel in, he determined to turn his dance hall right into a semi-religious enjoy. In spite of what turned into going on inner his joint, Allen positioned a Bible in each room, and on Saturday nights, he gave away copies of the New Testament as souvenirs to his visitors. In time, he held spiritual sing-a-longs, wherein his scantily-clad girls would sing non secular songs, while Allen examine from passages of the Bible. Showing no disgrace, Allen placed on every bench and desk in his dive the popular hymn e book "The Little Wanderers Friend."

Yet Allen's supposed providence never materialized. His standard visitors fled his premises and headed for different joints like The Haymarket, McGuirk's Suicide Hall and Paresis Hall. So Allen decided to go with some other gimmick and flip his enterprise into a place for local monks to hold marathon prayer conferences. Men like the Reverend A.C. Arnold paid Allen $350 a month to preserve such conferences, and Allen even thickened the group by using paying "newly reformed sinners" 25 cents a head to take part in the festivities. Allen changed into so sure he could hit the spiritual jackpot, he closed down his dance hall absolutely, setting a join up the outdoor door pronouncing, "This Dance Hall is Closed. No gents admitted until observed with the aid of their better halves."

Yet Allen left out the electricity of the press. In an expose' on Allen and his motives, the New York Times ran a chain of stories exposing Allen in truely the worst mild. Immediately, the duped Reverends stopped holding prayer meeting at Allen's established order, causing his coins glide to forestall absolutely. Allen attempted beginning his bawdy dance corridor once more, but his previous customers chose to live away. After some months of dropping money, Allen closed down his dance hall absolutely.

Allen disappeared from the general public for a while, then resurfaced in late 1868, while he and Little Suzie were arraigned within the Tombs Police Court for stealing $15 from a sailor. The Allens were released on $500 bail, which they directly jumped and fled to places unknown. "The Wickedest Man In New York City" died from causes unknown in West Perth, Fulton County, New York, in October 1870.

After Allen's loss of life, a New York Times reporter discovered for the first time Allen's actual intentions whilst he regarded to head all pious. Allen had confessed to him; "I duped them spiritual fellers because I thought I should make extra money out of silly church folk than I may want to out of horrific sailors."