Sophie Lyons

Sophie Lyons (December 24, 1848 – May 8, 1924) was an American criminal and one of the country's most notorious female thieves, pickpockets, shoplifters, and confidence women during the mid-to-late 19th century. She and her husbands Ned Lyons, Jim Brady and Billy Burke were among the most sought-after career criminals in the U.S. and Canada, being wanted in several major cities including New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit and Montreal from the 1860s until the turn of the 20th century.

She and Lyons were prominent underworld figures in New York City during the post-American Civil War era as associates of Marm Mandelbaum, Lyons being a member of Mandelbaum's "inner circle" during the 1860s and 1870s. She eventually retired from criminal life and spent her later years involved in the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents, and providing financial assistance and housing for reformed criminals and their families. Her autobiography, Why Crime Does Not Pay (1913), was published and distributed by publisher William Randolph Hearst.

Biography

Early life and criminal career

Lyons was Jewish. She was born in Lauben, Germany, on December 24, 1848. Her mother taught her to pickpocket and shoplift and forced her out into the street to steal. Lyons claimed she had been first caught stealing at the age of three and was tried at the Essex Market police court, and she was again arrested for shoplifting at 12.

Lyons married another pickpocket, Maury Harris, when she was 16, but the marriage ended when Harris was arrested and sentenced to New York State Prison for two years.