BOSS TWEED: The Corrupt Pol who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York (61 page)

• Sears, Stephen W.
  George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon
  . New York: Ticknor & Fields. 1988.
  

• Sirois, A.L.
  Boss Tweed’s Dinosaurs
  . Amherst Jct., Wisconsin: Hard Shell Word Factory. 2002.
  

• Spann, Edward K.
  Gotham at War: New York City, 1860-1865
  . Wilmington, Delaware: SR Books. 2002.
  

• Strong, George Templeton.
  The Diary of George Templeton Strong: Post-War Years, 1865-1875.
  Allan Nevins and MiltonThomas, editors. New York: The MacMillan Company. 1952.
  

• Summers, Mark Wahlgren.
  The Era of Good Stealings
  . New York: Oxford University Press. 1993.
  

• Swanberg, W.A.
  Jim Fisk: The Career of an Improbable Rascal
  . New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1959.
  

• Sweeny, Peter B. “
  On the ‘Ring Frauds’ and other public questions. Taken from his Interviews and other papers
  .” (Pamphlet.) New York: John Y. Savage. 1894.
  

• Sweeny, Peter B. “
  The Political Situation, resulting from the Last State Election
  .” (Pamphlet.) New York: The Jackson Association. 1869.
  

• Tilden, Samuel J.
  The New York City “Ring:” It’s Origin, Maturity, and Fall Discussed
  . (Pamphlet.) New York. 1873.
  

• Townsend, John D. New York in Bondage. New York. 1901.
  

• Vinson, J. Chal.
  Thomas Nast: Political Cartoonist
  . Athens: University of Georgia Press.1967.
  

• Walling, George W.
  Recollections of a New York Chief of Police
  . Montclair, New Jersey: Patterson Smith. 1972.
  

• Watterson, Henry.
  History of the Manhattan Club: A Narrative of the Activities of Half a Century.
  New York. 1915.
  

• Werner, M.R. Tammany Hall. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. 1928.
  

• Wingate, Charles F. “An Episode in Municipal Government.”
  North American Review
  . (“The Ring,” in volume 119, October 1874; “The Ring Charter,” in volume 121, July 1875; “The Shattering of the Ring,” in volume 123, October 1876. Cited as Wingate I, II, and III, respectively.)
  

REFERENCE NOTES

Chapter 1. Alone
(pages 1–8)

1. “Well, Tilden and Fairchild…”:
   New York Sun
   , April 13, 1878.
   

2. “I hope they are satisfied now.”: ibid.
   

3. “honest graft”: Riordan, p. 3-6.
   

4. “I am an old man, greatly broken…”: Letter from Tweed to O’Conor, December 5, 1876, published in
   Harper’s Weekly
   , April 14, 1877.
   

5. Eleven days of riveting public testimony…: See testimony in “Aldermen.”
   

6. Suspicions he’d exaggerated his own guilt..: See particularly Hershkowitz,
   Tweed’s New York, Another Look.
   

7. “Under promises made to me …”:
   New-York Times
   , March 27, 1878.
   

8. Fairchild issued a public letter denying …: Letter from Fairchild to Schoonmaker, April 1, 1878. Fairchild papers, NYHS. See
   New York World
   and other newspapers, April 2, 1878.
   

9. “Behind all these phases of disease…”:
   New York Tribune
   , April 13, 1878.
   

10. “My wife!…”:
    New York Herald
    , October 26, 1877.
    

11. “Nine men out of ten either know me …”: Tweed testimony, Frauds, page 266.
    

12. “Poor old man, poor man, “:
    New York Tribune
    , April 13, 1878.
    

13. “Other people will regret his death…”:
    New York Herald
    , April 13, 1878.
    

14. “Such talents as [Tweed] had…”:
    New-York Times
    , April 13, 1878
    

15. “[I]f it be right that men should be punished…”:
    Harpers Weekly
    , May 4, 1878. For Nast cartoons, see
    Harpers Weekly
    , January 26, 1878.
    

16. “Without his boldness and skill…”:
    New York Herald
    , April 13, 1878.
    

17. “As long as I count the ballots, …”:
    Harper’s Weekly
    , July 10, 1871. See, e.g., Wingate, p. 150; Wingate, III, p. 386; and Lynch, p. 370.
    

18. “The career of Tweed…”:
    Washington Post
    , April 13, 1878.
    

Chapter 2. Riots
(pages 11–36)

1. “As the representative of the Seventh Ward
   …”: Lynch, p. 83-84; New-York Times, December 30, 1852. I’ve used portions of the quote from both sources.
   

2. Governor Horatio Seymour was spending : This incident is from Mitchell, p.321-322; Cook, fn. 57 on p.287.
   

3. Seymour, a … Peace Democrat: Seymour claimed to oppose slavery but saw it as no reason for war. As his biographer described his position: “to destroy the United States because of slavery would be as mad as to drag all Europe into a war in order to abolish serfdom in Russia or polygamy in Turkey.” Mitchell, 206.
   

4. “the bloody, treasonable, revolutionary doctrine…”:
   New York Herald
   , July 6, 1863; Mitchell, p. 303-306.
   

5. Opdyke … “In his person he symbolized…”: Lynch, p. 258.
   

6. “My friends.”:
   New York Tribune
   and
   New-York Times
   , July 15, 1863. See Mitchell, p. 324, and Appendix (p. 581-584) which includes side-by-side texts from the
   New York Express
   ,
   Evening Post
   ,
   World
   ,
   Times
   ,
   Herald
   , and
   Tribune
   .
   

7. “If the conscription law will not bear…”:
   New York World
   , July 15, 1863.
   

8. “[L]eave your interests in my hands…”:
   New-York Times
   and
   Herald
   , July 15, 1863.
   

9. “Send away those bayonets.”:
   New York Tribune
   , July 15, 1863.
   

10. “Gov. Seymour has just made a speech …”: Letter from Goodell to Lincoln, July 14, 1863. Lincoln papers. LC.
    

11. “Bring out the Mayor” … “We still have law”:
    New York Herald
    , July 13, 1861. Spann, p. 100.
    

12. “a tall overgrown man…”: Wingate, I. p. 363-364.
    

13. Tweed … story about the first time he came out to vote: Lynch, p. 42-43.
    

14. Kansas-Nebraska Act … supported: See, for instance, Tweed to Jim Murphy, March 1, 1854. Tweed papers. NYHS. (“Do for God’s sake keep Strong [an opponent of Tweed’s stance] out of this anti-Nebraska business… I don’t care a curse whether he opposes it or not, prudence (as he is known to be one of my warmest & best friends) requires that he should not by hasty action compromise (that’s the word) us…. Talk to him on the subject.”
    

15. “what for? I can’t talk, and I know it….”:
    New York Sun
    , April 13, 1878; Werner, p. 109. On the postmastership, see Tweed letters to Jim Murphy, January 9 and March 1, 1854. Tweed papers. NYHS.
    

16. Tweed … Order of United Americans: Anbinder (
    American National Biography
    ), p. 60.
    

17. “If I don’t [move]…”: Letter from Tweed to Henry Davis, March 13, 1847, in Hershkowitz, p. 6.
    

18. Tweed and Seymour had sparred politically: Mitchell, p. 284-287.
    

19. Tammany Hotel … Nassau and Frankfort Streets: Prior to 1812, Tammany had earlier “Wigwams” on Broad Street and Spruce Street. The Hotel took its name from the organization, not
    vice versa
    .
    

20. “Supervisor Tweed, Judge [John] McCunn, and…”:
    New York Herald
    , July 16, 1863.
    

21. Loyal Republicans … demanded a crackdown: See, for instance,
    New York Tribune
    , July 24, 1863; letter from lawyer David Dudley Field to President Lincoln, July 15, 1863 (“We must have more military force and a military head for New York,”), and letter from Opdyke et al to Lincoln, July 21, 1863. Lincoln papers. LC.
    

22. He barraged President Lincoln with letters: See, e.g., Seymour to Lincoln, July 19, 1863. Lincoln papers. LC.
    

23. statistics to prove his point: Seymour argued that the draft quotas assigned to New York were politically biased, with democratic districts given disproportionate targets. In response, Lincoln reduced the state’s quota by thousands. See letters from Seymour to Lincoln, August 3, 1971, and Lincoln to Seymour, August 11, 1863. Lincoln papers. LC. Political enemies branded Seymour a coward over the issue; Horace Greeley’s
    Tribune
    ridiculed him for trembling
    at “Irish servant-girls” who he feared “will, in case the draft is enforced, turn incendiaries in a body, and burn down their masters houses.”
    New York Tribune
    , July 24, 1863; Mitchell, p. 329, paraphrasing
    New York Tribune
    , July 24, 1863.
    

24. “We are contending …”: Letter from Lincoln to Seymour, August 7, 1863. Lincoln papers, LC.
    

25. “Looking to
    time
    , …”: Letter from Lincoln to Seymour, August 16, 1963. Lincoln papers. LC.
    

26. Lincoln … ordered… authority to proclaim martial law: See letters from Lincoln to Sanford and Stanton to Dix, both August 15, 1963. Lincoln papers, LC. As the date approached, Lincoln also ordered Major General Charles W. Sanford, commander of New York’s state militia, to report to Dix.
    

27. Lincoln was prepared…: Sharpening Lincoln’s stance were reports of Seymour’s disloyalty. See Dix to Stanton, July 25, 1863. Stanton papers, LC. (“[Seymour] is surrounded by many bad men, who are bitter and vindictive & whose influence on an individual like him of weak resolution is of the worst nature.”); Dix to Stanton, August 16, 1863 Stanton papers, LC. (“I have twice asked Gov. Seymour if I could rely on him to use the military force of the State to enforce the draft in case of resistance to it, and have received no answer.”); and anonymous letter to Stanton, August 11, 1863 (“Seymour wants time in order to array his copperheads against the government. Do not allow the time; push matters at once.”).
    

28. City Court Judge John McCunn issued
    habeas corpus
    writs…:
    New-York Times
    , July 15 and 26, 1863. Oakey Hall, as District Attorney, would later win a state Supreme Court ruling depriving McCunn, as City Judge, of jurisdiction to issue writs at all. See
    “In the matter of the habeas corpus on relation of Louise Nash,”
    in
    New-York Times
    , August 3, 1863. See also
    New-York Times
    , July 26, 1863, and McCunn’s response on July 28, 1863.
    

29. Democrats had paid $2,500 to one Republican simply for staying home when the board chose voting inspectors: Tweed testimony, Aldermen hearing, pages 16-19. See also Townsend, p. 18.
    

30. “[T]here was hardly a time when our three votes …”: Tweed testimony, Alderman, page 19-20. On supervisor graft generally, see Alderman report, p. 15-16, and testimony by Woodward and Ingersoll.
    

    Mayor Opdyke … had tried to stop this abuse: See Supervisor minutes, July 28 and August 5, 1863, NYMA; and Spann, p. 49, Municipal Archives.
    

31. Orison Blunt … “pepper-box gun”: New-York Times, April 22, 1879.
    

32. August 28,… special public meeting: Supervisor minutes, August 28, 1863, NYMA.
    

33. “The committee [Blunt and Tweed] were received…”:
    New York Herald
    , November 11, 1863; Hershkowitz, p. 93.
    

34. “Tammany Hall, representing more than half…”: Letter from Dix to Stanton, July 25, 1863. Stanton papers, LC. Dix, before the war, had been a New York canal commissioner, state assemblyman, United States Senator, and postmaster, all as a Democrat.
    

35. Stanton “highly commended [the plan]…”:
    New York Herald
    , November 11, 1963.
    

36. Tweed … not meet with Lincoln personally: Lincoln’s official papers never mention Tweed by name and Tweed acknowledged that he had never met “privately” with Lincoln—though certainly the two had met in larger groups. Orison Blunt did meet with Lincoln several times, including once over the draft, though not on this trip. See
    New-York Times
    , April 22, 1879.
    

37. wheel … selected … Tweed … loud, good-natured cheer: New York Herald, August 27, 1863.
    

38. “[I]f the duties of the Board are arduous…”:
    New York Herald
    , September 26, 1863.
    

39. “performing their duties with eminent satisfaction…”:
    New-York Times
    , September 11, 1863.
    

40. By September 29, out of 1,034 draftees :
    New-York Times
    , September 29, 1963. By then also, investors purchased over $829,000 worth of the new “Soldiers’ Substitute Bounty Redemption Bonds” by September 4 alone. The Broadway Bank, where Tweed kept personal accounts, took the largest share: $500,000.
    New-York Times
    , September 2, 1863
    

41. “No money, no trust was ever more honestly administered…”:
    New-York Times
    , September 11, 1863.
    

42. FN: Tweed, of course, was no innocent at war profiteering.: Lynch, p. 241, in Callow p. 23, Kessner, p.147.
    

43. epidemic of war profiteering: Details on the corruption are from Spann, p. 178-183.
    

    116,382 recruits: Spann, p. 178. Many of these recruits came from places other than New York, but were drawn to the city by the bounty money.
    

44. “He is a live man, …”: Mushkat, p. 344 and 349.
    

45. Harper & Brothers: The company was founded in 1817 as J.& J. Harper, later renamed Harper and Brothers, by the four sons of Joseph Harper.
    

46. “Go finish your picture,”: Vinson, 1.
    

47. prizefight between …Heenan and … Sayers: The fight lasted 42 rounds before police broke it up and the
    Illustrated News
    devoted an entire issue to Nast’s drawings. Nast had earlier covered the 1858 fight between Heenan and New York’s John Morrissey at Long Point, Canada.
    

48. “It is full of life and character”: Bunker, 7. When Harper had launched its new
    Harper’s Weekly
    in 1857, Nast had wanted to join immediately and had sold a freelance piece called “Police Scandal” as early as 1859.
    

49. “Compromise with the South”:
    Harper’s Weekly
    , September 3, 1864.
    

50. new scandal …tricking soldiers into signing blank ballots: Generally n the soldier fraud scandal, see
    New- York Times
    and other newspapers, October 28, 1864, et seq.
    

51. Nast preferred to work from his home.: Many readers were surprised to learn that Nast had not seen the Civil War battlefront when he drew his famous early wartime images. He got his first look in mid-1863, traveling to Fort Moultrie in South Carolina and then joining General Phil Sheridan’s troops in Virginia.
    

52. “I think you are a lucky fellow…”: Paine, p. 84.
    

53. “earnest and definite way …”: Harper, p. 120.
    

54. “How Copperheads Obtain their Votes”:
    Harper’s Weekly,
    November 12, 1864.
    

55. Lincoln would carry New York State: Lincoln’s War Department sent 10,000 troops to New York under Union General Benjamin Butler to guard against Election Day disruption, citing reports that Confederate agents had infiltrated from Canada.
    

56. “Thomas Nast has been our best recruiting sergeant”: Harper, p. 188. Some of Nast’s earlier Lincoln drawings were less flattering. After the 1863 Union debacle at Fredericksburg, he drew a cartoon in
    Phunny Phellow
    with the caption: “Lincoln is sleeping on the job. That’s What’s the Matter, or Who’s to Blame—A Tragedy.”