Cyclical wickedness

If you read Monday's print edition of the Leader, you probably saw Fulton County Historian Peter Betz's column about John Allen, the so-called "Wickedest Man in New York" circa 1865. That was the title bestowed upon Allen by a newspaper editor who started a media craze about the man who ran a house of ill repute in Manhattan's notorious Five Points neighborhood. Peter's column explains that this character's real name was Everet Van Allen, and he was the son of a farmer from West Perth, Fulton County.

After reading his column, I checked a map to see roughly where the Van Allen farm might have been, and it turns out that it was very near where the state's Tryon youth facility is today. Ironic, yes? Perth provided New York City its "wickedest man," and a few generations later, New York City started sending some of its wickedest youngsters to within a stone's throw of where he was born and raised.

If you liked Peter's column and found this subject interesting, you might also enjoy reading what Mark Twain had to say about the man.

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