John H. McCullagh (1842 – March 6, 1893) was an American law enforcement officer and police captain in the New York City Police Department. Popularly known as "Farmer John", he was a protégé of Captains Jeremiah Petty and George W. Walling and battled such notorious gangs and river pirates such as the Tub of Blood Bunch, the Battle Row and Hell's Kitchen Gangs. He especially confronting the latter gang when their leaders Ike Marsh and Dutch Heinrichs began raiding the Hudson River Railroad yards and express trains. McCullagh is also credited for the breakup of Shang Draper's criminal organization in the early 1880s. Biography Born in County Tyrone, Ireland in 1842, John McCullagh emigrated to the United States as a child. He attended school at Irvington, New York and joined the New York City Police Department in 1864, less than a year following the New York Draft Riots. He was assigned to Captain Jeremiah Petty and then Captain George W. Walling during his early years on the police force, both men becoming mentors to the young rookie patrolman. While at Walling's Twentieth Precinct, he gained a reputation as a brave officer while posted in such notorious districts such as the Fourth Ward, Battle Row and Hell's Kitchen having notable successes against the gangs dominating those areas. McCullagh was attacked by Dutch Heinrichs and two of his henchmen in Hell's Kitchen while investigating the theft of two hogsheads of ham from a Hudson River Railroad freight car. He battled the three men for over a half an hour before knocking all three unconscious with his nightstick and bringing in the gangsters single-handed to a nearby precinct on West Twenty-Fifth Street. Heinrichs was eventually convicted of assault and sent to prison where he was later committed to an insane asylum. He also made enemies while on the force. In particular was his assault by ex-police officer James G. Taylor who had previously been dismissed from the police force due to an official complaint made by McCullagh. Taylor attempted to murder McCullagh, ambushing him one night on Ninth Avenue with a pistol, but the roundsman escaped with a minor head wound and a marked ear. Taylor was eventually tried and convicted by then District Attorney A. Oakey Hall and imprisoned in Sing Sing. Oakey later served as McCullagh's council when he was accused of "improperly influencing keepers of resorts", however these charges were