I collect "Moynahan" stories whenever I find them and I share them online in my "Moynahan Scrapbook"
When I first read about John Moynahan "a famous sport" I thought it would be easy to find information about him. After all, he had made a fortune for the famous boxer John L.Sullivan. But it wasn't easy to find information about him at all.
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| Fort Scott Weekly Monitor Fort Scott, Kansas 02 Mar 1904, Wed • Page 3 |
When I wrote to history author and writer Christopher Klein (who wrote "The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan, America’s First Sports Hero.") he said that "I'm afraid I've never across a mention of John Moynahan in my research into Sullivan.". I just knew that I needed to create a blog post about John Moynahan (1849-1904)
John Moynahan was a Colonel, an actor, a manager and discoverer of theatrical celebrities.
In Omaha, he and his brother Andy were political forces who ruled the town. He nominated William J. Bryan to office in Nebraska. He arranged for pugilist John L. Sullivan to meet with Grover Cleveland in the Blue Room of the White House.
How could it be that he died in 1904 of Erysipelas (a skin condition also known as St. Anthony's fire) at 55 years of age and there is scant mention of him ANYWHERE?
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| The San Francisco Call San Francisco, California 27 Feb 1904, Sat • Page 7 |
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| The Spokane Press Spokane, Washington 26 Feb 1904, Fri • Page 4 |
John Sullivan The First On Theatrical Stage
John Lawrence Sullivan was known as "The Boston Strong Boy", (born Oct. 15, 1858, Roxbury, Mass., U.S.—died Feb. 2, 1918, Abington, Mass.), American professional boxer, one of the most popular heavyweight champions and a symbol of the bareknuckle era of boxing.
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| Image Source: Twitter: Irish History Bitesize @lorraineelizab6 https://twitter.com/lorraineelizab6/status/1316674756624683008?s=20 |
"I'm afraid I've never across a mention of John Moynahan in my research into Sullivan. Sullivan's manager at the time he traveled to France was a man by the name of Harry Phillips, and boxers had been fighting on stages even before Sullivan's time so I'm dubious about the accuracy of that newspaper clipping."
This was disheartening. I then sent Christopher the newspaper clipping at he beginning of this post and he responded,
OK, this adds some more context. I now understand about putting prize fighters on stage. I thought that was referring to staging prize fights in theaters, which had a longer tradition. Sullivan was a trailblazer at performing in vaudeville shows in theaters across the country and that must be the reference here. And Pat Sheedy was Sullivan's manager before his trip to France. He helped to plan the trip overseas but he and Sullivan had a falling out and Sullivan hired Phillips to accompany him. If Moynahan partnered with Sheedy then he likely was working with Sullivan. Keep digging and let me know if you find anything good!
Now this was exciting. I wondered what else cold I find out about John Sullivan's appearances on theatrical stages.
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| The Times Richmond, Virginia 28 Apr 1901, Sun • Page 15 |
As is the case for a lot of my “Scrapbook Moynahans”, I struggled to find out more about John or his family. John traveled extensively in his short life. He may not have been captured on the census records of the day.
Some papers referred to him as Col. John Moynahan but I was unsuccessful locating any records or photos of him.
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| Clipped from Lincoln Journal Star Lincoln, Nebraska 26 Feb 1904, Fri • Page 1 |
John Moynahan was a Colonel, an actor, a manager and discoverer of theatrical celebrities. All that survives are some newspaper clippings that provide only part of his great story.
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| Clipped from The Beatrice Daily Express Beatrice, Nebraska 26 Feb 1904, Fri • Page 1 |
He may have "spent a fortune being a good fellow and died poor and friendless" ... but he is NOT forgotten and is fondly remembered here.
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