Editing William Poole (section)

== '''the death of Poole''' ==
Morrissey plotted revenge and on February 25, 1855, Lewis Baker and Jim Turner, friends of Morrissey, shot Poole in the leg at Stanwix Hall, a bar on Broadway near Prince, at that time a center of the city's nightlife. The ''New York Daily Times'' reported on February 26, 1855 the following:

"Several days after the shooting, on March 8, 1855, Poole died in his home on Christopher Street at the age of 33. Poole was survived by his wife and son, Charles Poole. The feud with Morrissey had been very public and ''The New York Times'' covered the events of Stanwix Hall almost every day for a month. A local newsman reported Poole's last words were, "Good-bye boys; I die a true American."<sup>[3]</sup> He was buried on March 11, 1855 in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery with thousands of spectators."

Lewis Baker quickly fled New York, with the help of James E. Kerrigan, a twenty-four year old 1853 Democratic nominee for councilman. Kerrigan was an Irish-American and expressed sympathy for Baker. The ''Times'' called Kerrigan "one 'of the principle accessories to the murder of Poole and the flight of Baker." It intercepted the ''Jewett'' on April 17, 1855, and Baker was arrested for the murder of William Poole. He was tried three times for the murder of Poole but all three trials ended in a hung jury and walked away a free man. Morrissey went on to open up several bars and accumulated $1.5 million. He later served two terms as a state senator and two more terms in the House of Representatives. Morrissey died in 1878 and his burial site is in Troy, New York.