The phrase "smart alec" arose from the exploits of Alec Hoag.
A celebrated pimp, thief, and confidence man,
Hoag, his wife Melinda, and accomplice "French Jack",
operated various con games in New York City in the 1840s.
Most was done by pickpocketing,
with Melinda taking the victim's pocketbook,
while the victim was otherwise engaged,
surreptitiously handing it to Hoag or French Jack.
The key to this activity was that they did so,
in close association with two police officers,
who shared the loot and provided protection.
In the "panel game" trick,
Melinda would make her victim lay his clothes
upon a chair near a secret panel.
She would then take him to her arms
and closely draw the curtains of the bed.
With the dupe not likely to heed outside noises,
she would cough, and Alec would slily enter,
rifle the pockets of every farthing or valuable thing,
then disappear as mysteriously as he entered.
The victim was persuaded to hurrily leave through a window,
when Alec banging on the door, posed as an aggrieved husband.
Hoag used this trick to avoid paying off the police.
When he was caught, the cops were in no mood to aid him.