Dan Noble

Dan Noble, also known as Daniel Dyson, (1846-?) was an English gentleman burglar, confidence man, sneak thief and pickpocket active in the United States during the mid-to late 19th century. One of the most notorious criminals in New York City, he was involved in several major robberies in the post-American Civil War era. Among his exploits included the daylight robbery of the Royal Insurance Company in 1866 and was an alleged participant in the theft of $1,000,000 from industrialist Rufus L. Lord arranged by George Leonidas Leslie in 1876.

Biography

Early life and criminal career Dan Noble was born in England and immigrated to the United States in 1857, when not yet properly into his teens. His parents followed shortly after and his father opened a porterhouse on the corner of Twenty-Fourth Street and Ninth Avenue. It soon became a popular spot for thieves, burglars and other underworld figures, where Noble became closely associated with the "Long Doctor", "Big" Jack Connolly and Johnny Murphy under whose tutelage he was encouraged to enter the trade himself. In his first attempt at burglary however, he was caught trying to rob a house on East Twenty-Third Street, and had in his possession nippers, a jimmy and a skeleton key. Although these were the tools used by an experienced thief, it was later found that the 15-year-old Noble had borrowed the tools from an elderly thief who was boarding with his father. Because of his youth and lack of a criminal record, as well as some outside influence, the charges against him were dropped.

Noble continued to be involved in burglary, but eventually became a butcher as he reached adulthood. Although he was successful in this trade, he was drawn back into crime after becoming acquainted with a group of "till-tappers", Jimmy Price and brothers Fred, Scott and George Newton, whom he later joined. After a time learning under them, he returned to burglary and also pickpocketing. He felt more comfortable as a pickpocket apparently believing the activity to require less skill and provided lower risk for arrest. He typically targeted young women, as well as men on occasion. "He considered it required less skill, less adroitness, and less nerve to slip his fingers into a woman's pocket, and secure the contents, than to jump into a basement and scurry off with whatever he could catch."

Encounter with Allen Pinkerton Noble ran a faro house on Broadway during the American Civil War, as well a faro bank with Charles Brockway. It was during this time that he fell prey to a practical joke by Allen Pinkerton, famed detective and founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Pinkerton, then head of the US Secret Service, was originally in New York visiting Colonel Thomas Key. On the day of his arrival, he checked into the St. Nicholas late in the afternoon and planned to meet with Key at the Fifth Avenue Hotel later that evening. He intended to return to Washington, DC that same night or early the next morning however, while wandering around the rotunda and public rooms of the hotel Pinkerton was approached by two men. Instantly recognizing the two as confidence men, their old con games well known to the veteran detective, Pinkerton played along allowing the men to lure him to Noble's faro house nearby. He convinced the men that he was an army contractor, in town to buy a thousand cavalry horses, and implied that he was carrying a considerable sum. Upon gaining entry into the gambling resort, and armed with a pistol concealed in his pocket, he bided his time as the two "steerers" as well as other gamblers encouraged him to play. He eventually announced that was leaving, claiming that he did not understand the games, to which the dealers protested including Noble. Inviting the confidence man to have a drink with him at the bar, causing some surprise and confusion among the patrons. Noble hesitantly agreed; however, he soon became suspicious demanding to know his identity. Pinkerton obliged Noble by identifying he and others in the room as gamblers, swindlers and other criminals. When Noble then asked if Pinkerton was after him or anyone else, Pinkerton replied he had not and casually dismissed himself to the astonishment of the crowd. He served roughly half of his term, his health failing in his old age, and died in prison.