 He was closely associated with Owney Madden and the Gophers; he and Madden briefly ran the "Winona Club" together until the New York City Police Department closed the clubhouse around 1910.Thomas F. Smith was born in Manhattan, New York around 1887, and worked as a "boss stevedore" for much of his adult life.He was reportedly related to local ward district politicians and, in an editorial by the "New York Tribune", "acquired his leadership of this gang because of petty political influences".