Trinity Legend
3
My great grandf at her, Lorenzo Snow, opened the or iginal Tr init y Boxi ng Cl ub over 100 years ago in lower Manhattan in what was then known as the Five Points. Lorenzo grew up in Ir el and , the twel ft h son of a potato farmer. Fr om chil dh ood, he su ff er ed fr om hypoglycemia, a condition that made eating starchy foods nearly impossible. Scorned by peers and shunned by family, Lorenzo left Limerick for America. After arri vi ng in Nantucket, Lorenzo quick ly found work tending bar. As fate would have it, heavyweight champi on John L. Sull iva n, the Boston St rongboy, strode into the bar one evening and proclaimed his now legendary boast -" I can lick any sonuvabitch in the house". Lorenzo, a devout Christian and unfamiliar with American lingo, informed Sullivan that it wasn'' t that type of establ ishment. Outraged at what Lorenzo had just inferred, Sulli van let fly the famed "hand that shook the world." Unfortunately for John L., Lorenzo had been well prepared for such an attack, having spent years being educated by nuns. A slip to the right, a hook with the left, and Sullivan's words rang hollow -Lorenzo Snow was one sonuvabitch who would not be licked. Pacifist by nature but capitalist by nurture, Lorenzo struggled with the lure of professional prizefighting. Spiritually rich and financially poor was a condition that caused Lorenzo great ang ui sh . Ni gh t aft er sleepless night was spent wrestling with his conscience . All of that changed when, while tending ba r one evening, Lorenzo met Margret "Maggie" McEl downey, a vaudevill e performer and hersel f a professional boxer. Conversation led to courtship, and courtship to matrimony. Although Lorenzo still spent night after sleepless night wrestling, it was no longer with his conscience. Nine months after their wedding, Maggie gave birth
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Transcript of Trinity Legend
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My great grandfather, Lorenzo Snow, opened theoriginal Trinity Boxing Club over 100 years ago inlower Manhattan in what was then known as the FivePoints.
Lorenzo grew up in Ireland, the twelfth son of apotato farmer. From childhood, he suffered fromhypoglycemia, a condition that made eating starchyfoods nearly impossible. Scorned by peers andshunned by family, Lorenzo left Limerick for America.
After arriving in Nantucket, Lorenzo quickly foundwork tending bar. As fate would have it, heavyweightchampion John L. Sullivan, the Boston Strongboy,strode into the bar one evening and proclaimed his
now legendary boast -" I can lick any sonuvabitch inthe house". Lorenzo, a devout Christian andunfamiliar with American lingo, informed Sullivan thatit wasn''t that type of establishment. Outraged atwhat Lorenzo had just inferred, Sullivan let fly thefamed "hand that shook the world." Unfortunately for John L., Lorenzo had been well prepared for such anattack, having spent years being educated by nuns. Aslip to the right, a hook with the left, and Sullivan's
words rang hollow -Lorenzo Snow was onesonuvabitch who would not be licked.
Pacifist by nature but capitalist by nurture, Lorenzostruggled with the lure of professional prizefighting.Spiritually rich and financially poor was a conditionthat caused Lorenzo great anguish. Night aftersleepless night was spent wrestling with hisconscience . All of that changed when, while tendingbar one evening, Lorenzo met Margret "Maggie"
McEldowney, a vaudeville performer and herself aprofessional boxer. Conversation led to courtship, andcourtship to matrimony. Although Lorenzo still spentnight after sleepless night wrestling, it was no longerwith his conscience.
Nine months after their wedding, Maggie gave birth
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to a daughter, Trinity, the first of twenty onechildren. With more mouths to feed at home thanthere were mouths to drink at work, Lorenzo took toprizefighting. Over a span of just 6 years, he had
amassed an unbelievable record of 168-2, with 156knockouts. While in training for a title shot againstnemesis John L. Sullivan, Lorenzo was suddenly struck with a particularly virulent strain of pink-eye, leavinghim blind in one eye and near-sighted in the other.Faced with the choice of boxing and risking totalblindness, or retiring and just having to wear amonacle, Lorenzo chose the latter.
Never one to see the glass as half empty, Lorenzo
began in earnest to teach the Sweet Science to hisprogeny. Like any good parent forced to livevicariously through their kids, Lorenzo wanted onlythe best when it came to their training. Since boxingwas illegal, and backalley gyms were no place forkids, Lorenzo created a "boxing speakeasy," andcalled it the Trinity Club, named after his firstborn.Some of the notables that trained there includedbareknuckle greats Jake Kilrain, , Paddy Ryan, Joe
Choynski, heavyweight champions James Corbett andBob Fitzsimmons, authors Jack London and ErnestHemingway, NYC Police Commissioner TheodoreRoosevelt and erstwhile foe turned friend John L.Sullivan ( who later served as godfather to child #14,Elmo.)
The business flourished. Lorenzo didn't. In 1919,Lorenzo fell victim to the Spanish influenza. Maggiecontinued to run the club until 1920 when the
Volstead Act ushered in Prohibition. Now that boxingwas legal in New York, Maggie renamed the club theTrinity Boxing Club and continued to operate as aspeakeasy, only this time surreptitiously servingalcohol instead of leather. Some of the biggest namesof the day, among them Al Capone, Al Jolson, CharlieChaplin, Charles Lindberg, Rudolf Valentino and
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second cousin Joseph Kennedy, would find their wayto the club to do a few "rounds." For Maggie, her 21children and 96 grandchildren, life was good.
On October 28,1929, acting on a tip from cousin Joe
Kennedy, Maggie was on her way to the New York Stock Exchange to sell her substantial stock holdings.At the same time, a despondent young broker named JK Ward was leaping to his death. Life literally camecrashing down on Maggie.
Maggie's funeral drew well over 2,000 peopleincluding celebrities and dignitaries from all over theworld. The Snow clan, not only fatherless, but now
motherless and penniless as well, felt it only fittingthat the club go with them. On December 31st, 1929they closed the doors on the Trinity Boxing Club.
