Our Forgotten But Notable Neighbors: “Bowery Joe” Lynch

What is the measure of a man?  How should we judge a person’s life once their time on Earth is over? 

On April 24, 1930, the Rockland County Evening Journal ran a story on Page 3, the headline reading, “Bowery Joe” Died By “Accidental Drowning. The article stated, “The body of a man identified as “Bowery Joe” Lynch, age 62 of West Haverstraw, was found by two boys who had gone fishing in Sparkill. The coroner has determined that he had drowned in a 10-inch puddle of water while in a drunken stupor.”

The story continued by noting that 10 feet away from Lynch’s body another man was found asleep. He was identified as Edwin Comesky, of Paterson, NJ, who was woken and arrested by the local police. Following an investigation, Orangetown Judge Raymond Fisher concluded that Comesky and Lynch had been drinking until they both passed out, and that Comesky had no involvement in Lynch’s death. Comesky was told that no charges would be filed against him as long as he left Rockland and promised never to return, to which he promptly agreed. However, before leaving the court, Comesky asked the judge if he could bum a cigarette. Judge Fisher gave him a full pack and told him to stay away from the county. No further details about “Bowery Joe” Lynch appeared in the article.

A few days later, an article in the Rockland County Times stated that “Bowery Joe”, this time listed as age 60, and Comesky had gone to Sparkill in search of work. 

There were no further stories about Bowery Joe Lynch.  He was swiftly forgotten, having been worthy of two newspaper stories, both describing his ignominious and embarrassing demise. 

But does the headline “Bowery Joe” Died By “Accidental Drowning” summarize the life of Joseph Lynch of West Haverstraw, whose death was reported on April 24, 1930? 

First, it should be pointed out that in the same era there was another Joseph Lynch in Rockland County, who was as famous as Bowery Joe was infamous. That Joe Lynch had been the undisputed World Bantamweight Boxing Champion in the early 1920s, the Golden Age of Boxing, and was regarded as a hero by sports fans far and wide. Since retiring from boxing in 1924, that Joe Lynch had moved to New City where he became involved in a number of civic groups and activities. This past Saturday, September 20, 2025, Joe Lynch was inducted into the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame. This Joe Lynch was “the” Joe Lynch, and it is likely that the other Joe Lynch who drowned in a drunken stupor in 1930 was given the moniker “Bowery Joe” just to make sure that he would never be confused with Joe Lynch, the famous boxing champ.

Besides sharing a name, “Bowery Joe” Lynch and “the” Joe Lynch”, the boxing champion, shared something else. On August 1, 1965, Joe Lynch the boxing champion also died from drowning. His body was found floating in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Police records describe his death as accidental.

Although the newspapers never reported anything about “Bowery Joe” besides his death, his life leading up to that date is worthy of attention. Based on the records available today we are able to piece together certain snippets of information to arrive at a broader, more coherent understanding of that man’s life.

Joseph Lynch of West Haverstraw, who was popularly known as “Bowery Joe” Lynch was born in Croft, Lanchashire, England in 1873, the son of John and Bridget Lynch, and the youngest of 4 brothers. At the time of his death he was neither 60 nor 62, as reported in the papers, but rather 56 years of age.

Joe immigrated to the U.S. in 1887, settling in Haverstraw. Ten years later, 24 year old Joe married 21 year old Dora Crawford in the Roman Catholic church in Garnerville. Dora had been born in Garnerville, but her parents had immigrated from Ireland. In the 1905 NY State census, we see that Joseph and Dora had 3 children; John, age 7, Mae, age 5 and Deliah, age 2. Joe is listed as working in the Haverstraw brick industry and his employer was the Lauder Brick Yard. The family’s address was Benson Street in Haverstraw 

On January 9th, 1909, Dora Lynch tragically died, leaving Joe as the sole parent of 3 young children.  Her death seems to have changed the entire trajectory of the family.

A year later, in the 1910 federal census, there is no trace of  Joseph, the father, and daughter Mae. And although John and Deliah do appear, they are no longer residing on Benson Street. Instead, they are shown to be residing in the home of Louis and Mary Stoll, on Stone Point Avenue, in Haverstraw and are listed as boarders.

Why John and Deliah were living with the Stolls and what happened to daughter Mae is unknown. There are no further records regarding Mae that can be located. Had she died? Was she adopted and given a new name?  We can only surmise.

The location of Joseph at this time is also unknown. Did the tragedy of his wife’s death in 1909 cause him to abandon his children, or is it possible that he found work elsewhere and had to leave John and Deliah behind in the custody of the Stoll family? Had he already taken up drinking? These are all questions we cannot answer based on the limited information at hand. He did not show up in any census after 1905 that we are aware of.

However, what we do know is that somehow the two children, John and Deliah, who now spelled her name Delia, both survived and lived seemingly normal, productive lives.

John married Elizabeth Odin, a German immigrant, on May 3, 1926.  He was employed as a fireman in Newark. John and Elizabeth had a daughter named Dora, after his mother. Sadly, on June 6, 1932 she died at age 6 years and 3 days of acute myocarditis resulting from diphtheria. Another daughter, Irene, survived. John died in 1950 at age 52.

Delia married John Cashen in 1923. In the 1930 census his occupation is listed as boxer, but in later years he is shown to have been a longshoreman and a contractor. They settled down in Ft. Lee, NJ. They had 4 children, 2 girls and 2 boys, all marrying and raising families of their own. At the time of her death at age 92, Delia had 11 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

With all this in mind, it would be myopic to define Joseph “Bowery Joe” Lynch’s life solely by the circumstances of his death or his weakness for alcohol. In all fairness, it would be more appropriate to look at this life from a more expansive perspective. The alcoholism which he suffered from is today considered a medical disease. Beyond that, not everyone is able to persevere in the face of tragedy. With this in mind, it would be generous and realistic to focus on his positive accomplishments. Rather than “Bowery Joe,” alcoholic, a more fitting epitaph, and one he should be remembered by, would be “Joseph Lynch – Father and Grandfather”.

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