One of the more dynamic characters of his time, John Old Smoke Morrissey made his way from undefeated bare-knuckle boxer to found the Saratoga Race Course and win elections to Congress and the New York State Senate.
He improbably resurrected thoroughbred racing duri.
He then took Saratoga Springs by storm.
He won fame as a fighter and fortune as the operator of a string of successful gambling houses.
A poor, uneducated Irish immigrant, Morrissey became a leader in the Dead Rabbits street gang.
One of the more dynamic characters of his time, John Old Smoke Morrissey made his way from undefeated bare-knuckle boxer to found the Saratoga Race Course and win elections to Congress and the New York State Senate