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{{Short description|Kidnapper who Shanghaied sailors}}
{{Other persons|Joseph Kelly}}
{{Other persons|Joseph Kelly}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Joseph Kelly
| name = Joseph Kelly
| image =
| image = Bunco-kelley1894.jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| caption =
| caption = Contemporary drawing of Joseph Kelly in 1894
| birth_date =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Liverpool
| birth_place = [[Liverpool]], England
| death_date = after 1908
| death_date = unknown: after 1908
| death_place =
| death_place =
| education =
| education =
| occupation = Hotelier and crimper
| occupation = [[Hotelier]] and crimper
| other_names = Bunko Kelly
| other_names = Bunko Kelly
| disappeared_date = {{circa}} 1908
| disappeared_place = [[Salem, Oregon]], U.S.
}}
}}
'''Joseph "Bunko" Kelly''' was a [[Liverpool|Liverpudlian]] hotelier of the 19th century who kidnapped men and sold them to work on [[merchant vessel|ships]]. The terms "[[crimping]]" and "[[Shanghaiing]]" are used to describe this type of activity. By his own account, he Shanghaiied about 2,000 men and women during his 15-year career, beginning in 1879.<ref name="legend" />
'''Joseph "Bunko" Kelly''' was an English hotelier of the 19th century who kidnapped men and sold them to work on [[merchant vessel|ships]]. The terms "[[Shanghaiing]]" and "crimping" are used to describe this type of activity. By his own account, he Shanghaied about 2,000 men and women during his 15-year career, beginning in 1879.<ref name="legend" />


==History==
==History==
Kelly, later called "'''The King of the Crimps'''", received his "Bunko" nickname in 1885<ref group="note">[[Spider Johnson]] says October 1891 [https://sites.google.com/site/jterencefisher/bunkokelly,continued]</ref> by providing a crewman that turned out to be a [[cigar store Indian]]. Kelly made $50 on the deal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interwonderland.com/words/magazine/tonic4.html|title=Shanghai Daze: A rogues to riches to rags story of Portland’s seedy seafaring past|last=Basye|first=Dale E.|accessdate=2009-06-19}}</ref><ref>[[Stewart Holbrook]], "Bunco Kelly, King of the Crimps" in ''Wildmen, Wobblies and Whistle Punks''. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-87071-383-3</ref>
Kelly, later called "'''The King of the Crimps'''", received his "Bunko" nickname in 1885<ref group="note">[[Spider Johnson]] says October 1891 [https://sites.google.com/site/jterencefisher/bunkokelly,continued] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106174545/https://sites.google.com/site/jterencefisher/bunkokelly,continued |date=2012-11-06 }}</ref> by providing a crewman that turned out to be a [[cigar store Indian]]. Kelly made $50 on the deal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interwonderland.com/words/magazine/tonic4.html|title=Shanghai Daze: A rogues to riches to rags story of Portland's seedy seafaring past|last=Basye|first=Dale E.|access-date=2009-06-19|archive-date=2011-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007194350/http://www.interwonderland.com/words/magazine/tonic4.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[[Stewart Holbrook]], "Bunco Kelly, King of the Crimps" in ''Wildmen, Wobblies and Whistle Punks''. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1992. {{ISBN|0-87071-383-3}}</ref>


In one infamous deal in 1893,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon/index.ssf/2009/02/the_rest_of_the_story.html|title=The rest of the story|last=Bella|first=Rick|date=February 3, 2009|work=The Oregonian |accessdate=2009-06-19}}</ref> he delivered 22<ref group="note">Some sources say 20, other say 24.</ref> men who had mistakenly consumed [[Embalming chemicals|embalming fluid]] from the open cellar of a [[morgue|mortuary]]. He sold all the men, most of whom were dead, to a captain who sailed before the truth was discovered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naosmm.org/confer/port-or/history.html|title=Portland History|accessdate=2009-06-19}}</ref> He got $52 for each man.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2001/05/13/ent_312571.shtml|title=Tunnels get to underbelly of Portland's lawless past|last=Frazier|first=Joseph B.|date=May 13, 2001|work=The Augusta Chronicle|accessdate=2009-06-19}}</ref>
In one infamous deal in 1893,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon/index.ssf/2009/02/the_rest_of_the_story.html|title=The rest of the story|last=Bella|first=Rick|date=February 3, 2009|work=The Oregonian |access-date=2009-06-19}}</ref> he delivered 22<ref group="note">Some sources say 20, other say 24.</ref> men who had mistakenly consumed [[Embalming chemicals|embalming fluid]] from the open cellar of a [[morgue|mortuary]]. He sold all the men, most of whom were dead, to a captain who sailed before the truth was discovered.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naosmm.org/confer/port-or/history.html|title=Portland History|access-date=2009-06-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727122038/http://www.naosmm.org/confer/port-or/history.html|archive-date=2013-07-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> He got $52 for each man.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2001/05/13/ent_312571.shtml|title=Tunnels get to underbelly of Portland's lawless past|last=Frazier|first=Joseph B.|date=May 13, 2001|work=The Augusta Chronicle|access-date=2009-06-19}}</ref>


Once, he set a record for crimping, by rounding up 50 men in 3 hours.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.storymentor.com/shanghaied.pdf|title=Shanghaied in Portland|last=Dankers|first=Clarice|year=2008|format=PDF}}</ref>
Once, he set a record for crimping, by rounding up 50 men in 3 hours.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.storymentor.com/shanghaied.pdf|title=Shanghaied in Portland|last=Dankers|first=Clarice|year=2008}}</ref>


Kelly was never arrested for crimping because it was not illegal at the time. He was however arrested for murder in 1894. He was convicted in March 1895, and sent to the [[Oregon State Penitentiary]] in [[Salem, Oregon]]. He was released in 1908. Afterwards, he wrote a book entitled ''Thirteen Years In The Oregon Penitentiary'', about the conditions there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=Joseph|title=Thirteen Years in the Oregon Penitentiary|publisher=Harvard University|year=1908|pages=142 pages|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vAQMAAAAYAAJ|nopp=yes}}</ref><ref name="legend">{{cite web|url=http://jterencefisher.googlepages.com/bunkokelly,continued|title=The Legend of Bunko Kelly|last=Fisher|first=James Terence|accessdate=2009-06-19}}</ref> He was identified as an inmate of the Oregon State Penitentiary in the 1900 Federal Census.<ref>{{cite web|title=1900 Census Record|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12129-84499-49?cc=1325221&wc=MMPV-Z3G:1656925008|publisher=Family Search|accessdate=2013-04-10}}</ref> His entry in the census record indicates he was born in Connecticut, not the United Kingdom.
Kelly was never arrested for crimping because it was not illegal at the time. He was however arrested for murder in 1894. He was convicted in March 1895, and sent to the [[Oregon State Penitentiary]] in [[Salem, Oregon]]. He was released in 1908. Afterwards, he wrote a book entitled ''Thirteen Years In The Oregon Penitentiary'', about the conditions there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=Joseph|title=Thirteen Years in the Oregon Penitentiary|publisher=Harvard University|year=1908|pages=142 pages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vAQMAAAAYAAJ|no-pp=yes}}</ref><ref name="legend">{{cite web|url=http://jterencefisher.googlepages.com/bunkokelly,continued|title=The Legend of Bunko Kelly|last=Fisher|first=James Terence|access-date=2009-06-19}}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was identified as an inmate of the Oregon State Penitentiary in the [[1900 Federal Census]].<ref>{{cite web|title=1900 Census Record|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12129-84499-49?cc=1325221&wc=MMPV-Z3G:1656925008|publisher=Family Search|access-date=2013-04-10}}</ref> His entry in the census record indicates he was born in [[Connecticut]], not the United Kingdom.


After his book was published, he left on a trip to California and never returned.
After his book was published, he left on a trip to California and never returned.


==See also==
==See also==
* [[James Kelly (crimper)|James "Shanghai" Kelly]]
*[[James Kelly (crimper)|James "Shanghai" Kelly]]
*[[List of people who disappeared mysteriously: pre-1910|List of people who disappeared]]


==Notes==
==Notes==
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{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Kelly, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American murderer
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Liverpool
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Joseph}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Joseph}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:1900s deaths]]
[[Category:1900s deaths]]
[[Category:History of labor relations in the United States]]
[[Category:1900s missing person cases]]
[[Category:American kidnappers]]
[[Category:American kidnappers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:History of labor relations in the United States]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in Oregon]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]

Latest revision as of 00:00, 4 December 2024

Joseph Kelly
Contemporary drawing of Joseph Kelly in 1894
Born
Liverpool, England
Disappearedc. 1908
Salem, Oregon, U.S.
Diedunknown: after 1908
Other namesBunko Kelly
Occupation(s)Hotelier and crimper

Joseph "Bunko" Kelly was an English hotelier of the 19th century who kidnapped men and sold them to work on ships. The terms "Shanghaiing" and "crimping" are used to describe this type of activity. By his own account, he Shanghaied about 2,000 men and women during his 15-year career, beginning in 1879.[1]

History

[edit]

Kelly, later called "The King of the Crimps", received his "Bunko" nickname in 1885[note 1] by providing a crewman that turned out to be a cigar store Indian. Kelly made $50 on the deal.[2][3]

In one infamous deal in 1893,[4] he delivered 22[note 2] men who had mistakenly consumed embalming fluid from the open cellar of a mortuary. He sold all the men, most of whom were dead, to a captain who sailed before the truth was discovered.[5] He got $52 for each man.[6]

Once, he set a record for crimping, by rounding up 50 men in 3 hours.[7]

Kelly was never arrested for crimping because it was not illegal at the time. He was however arrested for murder in 1894. He was convicted in March 1895, and sent to the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon. He was released in 1908. Afterwards, he wrote a book entitled Thirteen Years In The Oregon Penitentiary, about the conditions there.[8][1] He was identified as an inmate of the Oregon State Penitentiary in the 1900 Federal Census.[9] His entry in the census record indicates he was born in Connecticut, not the United Kingdom.

After his book was published, he left on a trip to California and never returned.

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Spider Johnson says October 1891 [1] Archived 2012-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Some sources say 20, other say 24.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Fisher, James Terence. "The Legend of Bunko Kelly". Retrieved 2009-06-19.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Basye, Dale E. "Shanghai Daze: A rogues to riches to rags story of Portland's seedy seafaring past". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  3. ^ Stewart Holbrook, "Bunco Kelly, King of the Crimps" in Wildmen, Wobblies and Whistle Punks. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-87071-383-3
  4. ^ Bella, Rick (February 3, 2009). "The rest of the story". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  5. ^ "Portland History". Archived from the original on 2013-07-27. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  6. ^ Frazier, Joseph B. (May 13, 2001). "Tunnels get to underbelly of Portland's lawless past". The Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  7. ^ Dankers, Clarice (2008). "Shanghaied in Portland" (PDF).
  8. ^ Kelly, Joseph (1908). Thirteen Years in the Oregon Penitentiary. Harvard University. 142 pages.
  9. ^ "1900 Census Record". Family Search. Retrieved 2013-04-10.