William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see
below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the
political boss
In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous of ...
of
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
, the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
's
political machine that played a major role in the politics of
19th-century New York City and
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
. At the height of his influence, Tweed was the third-largest landowner in New York City, a director of the
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...
, a director of the
Tenth National Bank, a director of the New-York Printing Company, the proprietor of the
Metropolitan Hotel, a significant stockholder in iron mines and gas companies, a board member of the
Harlem Gas Light Company
Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 b ...
, a board member of the
Third Avenue Railway Company
The Third Avenue Railway System (TARS), founded 1852, was a streetcar system serving the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx along with lower Westchester County. For a brief period of time, TARS also operated the Steinway Lines i ...
, a board member of the
Brooklyn Bridge Company
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. ...
, and the president of the Guardian Savings Bank.
Tweed was elected to the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
in 1852 and the
New York County
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
Board of Supervisors in 1858, the year that he became the head of the Tammany Hall political machine. He was also elected to the
New York State Senate in 1867. However, Tweed's greatest influence came from being an appointed member of a number of boards and commissions, his control over political
patronage in New York City through Tammany, and his ability to ensure the loyalty of voters through jobs he could create and dispense on city-related projects.
Tweed was convicted for stealing an amount estimated by an aldermen's committee in 1877 at between $25 million and $45 million from New York City taxpayers from political corruption, but later estimates ranged as high as $200 million. Unable to make bail, he escaped from jail once but was returned to custody. He died in the
Ludlow Street Jail.
Early life and education
Tweed was born April 3, 1823, at 1 Cherry Street,
[Share, Allen J. "Tweed, William M(agear) 'Boss'" in , pp. 1205–1206.] on the
Lower East Side of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. The son of a third-generation Scottish chair-maker, Tweed grew up on
Cherry Street. His grandfather arrived in the United States from a town near the
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the ...
close to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
.
Tweed's religious affiliation was not widely known in his lifetime, but at the time of his funeral ''The New York Times'', quoting a family friend, reported that his parents had been
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
and "members of the old Rose Street Meeting house". At the age of 11, he left school to learn his father's trade, and then became an apprentice to a saddler.
He also studied to be a
bookkeeper and worked as a brushmaker for a company he had invested in, before eventually joining in the family business in 1852.
On September 29, 1844, he married Mary Jane C. Skaden and lived with her family on Madison Street for two years.
Early career
![Americus Engine Co No 6 Soiree crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Americus_Engine_Co_No_6_Soiree_crop.jpg)
Tweed became a member of the
Odd Fellows and the
Masons, and joined a volunteer fire company, Engine No. 12.
In 1848, at the invitation of state assemblyman John J. Reilly, he and some friends organized the Americus Fire Company No. 6, also known as the "Big Six", as a
volunteer fire company, which took as its symbol a snarling red
Bengal tiger
The Bengal tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna.
The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...
from a French lithograph,
a symbol which remained associated with Tweed and
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
for many years.
At the time, volunteer fire companies competed vigorously with each other; some were connected with street gangs and had strong ethnic ties to various immigrant communities. The competition could become so fierce, that burning buildings would sometimes be ignored as the fire companies fought each other. Tweed became known for his ax-wielding violence, and was soon elected the Big Six foreman. Pressure from Alfred Carlson, the chief engineer, got him thrown out of the crew. However, fire companies were also recruiting grounds for political parties at the time, thus Tweed's exploits came to the attention of the Democratic politicians who ran the Seventh Ward. The Seventh Ward put him up for Alderman in 1850, when Tweed was 26. He lost that election to the
Whig candidate
Morgan Morgans, but ran again the next year and won, garnering his first political position. Tweed then became associated with the
"Forty Thieves", the group of aldermen and assistant aldermen who, up to that point, were known as some of the most corrupt politicians in the city's history.
Tweed was elected to the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
in 1852, but his two-year term was undistinguished.
[Burrows & Wallace, p. 837.] In an attempt by Republican reformers in
Albany, the state capital, to control the Democratic-dominated New York City government, the power of the New York County Board of Supervisors was beefed up. The board had 12 members, six appointed by the mayor and six elected, and in 1858 Tweed was appointed to the board, which became his first vehicle for large-scale
graft
Graft or grafting may refer to:
*Graft (politics), a form of political corruption
* Graft, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Graft-De Rijp
Science and technology
*Graft (surgery), a surgical procedure
*Grafting, the joining of plant t ...
; Tweed and other supervisors forced vendors to pay a 15% overcharge to their "ring" in order to do business with the city.
By 1853, Tweed was running the seventh ward for Tammany.
The board also had six Democrats and six Republicans, but Tweed often just bought off one Republican to sway the board. One such Republican board member was Peter P. Voorhis, a coal dealer by profession who absented himself from a board meeting in exchange for $2,500 so that the board could appoint city inspectors.
Henry Smith was another Republican that was a part of the Tweed ring.
![Nast-Prey-Harper's-Weekly-1871](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Nast-Prey-Harper%27s-Weekly-1871.jpg)
Although he was not trained as a lawyer, Tweed's friend, Judge
George G. Barnard, certified him as an attorney, and Tweed opened a law office on Duane Street. He ran for
sheriff in 1861 and was defeated, but became the chairman of the Democratic General Committee shortly after the election, and was then chosen to be the head of Tammany's general committee in January 1863. Several months later, in April, he became "Grand Sachem", and began to be referred to as "Boss", especially after he tightened his hold on power by creating a small executive committee to run the club.
Tweed then took steps to increase his income: he used his law firm to extort money, which was then disguised as legal services; he had himself appointed deputy street commissioner – a position with considerable access to city contractors and funding; he bought the New-York Printing Company, which became the city's official printer, and the city's stationery supplier, the Manufacturing Stationers' Company, and had both companies begin to overcharge the city government for their goods and services.
Among other legal services he provided, he accepted almost $100,000 from the Erie Railroad in return for favors. He also became one of the largest owners of real estate in the city.
He also started to form what became known as the "Tweed Ring", by having his friends elected to office: George G. Barnard was elected
Recorder of New York City
The Recorder of New York City was a municipal officer of New York City from 1683 until 1907. He was at times a judge of the Court of General Sessions, the Court of Special Sessions, and the New York Court of Common Pleas; Vice-President of the Boar ...
;
Peter B. Sweeny was elected
New York County District Attorney
The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws ...
; and
Richard B. Connolly was elected City Comptroller.
Other judicial members of the Tweed ring included
Albert Cardozo
Albert Jacob Cardozo (December 21, 1828 – November 8, 1885) was an attorney and an American jurist in New York.
Early background
Albert Jacob Cardozo was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the son of Ellen Hart and Michael H. Cardozo, S ...
,
John McCunn, and
John K. Hackett.
When Grand Sachem
Isaac Fowler, who had produced the $2,500 to buy off the Republican Voorhis on the Board of Supervisors, was found to have stolen $150,000 in post office receipts, the responsibility for Fowler's arrest was given to
Isaiah Rynders, another Tammany operative who was serving as a United States marshal at the time. Rynders made enough ruckus upon entering the hotel where Fowler was staying that Fowler was able to escape to Mexico.
![Nast-Boss-Tweed-1871](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Nast-Boss-Tweed-1871.jpg)
With his new position and wealth came a change in style: Tweed began to favor wearing a large diamond in his shirtfront – a habit that
Thomas Nast
Thomas Nast (; ; September 26, 1840December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon".
He was a critic of Democratic Representative "Boss" Tweed and ...
used to great effect in his attacks on Tweed in ''
Harper's Weekly
''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...
'' beginning in 1869 – and he bought a
brownstone to live in at 41 West 36th Street, then a very fashionable area. He invested his now considerable illegal income in real estate, so that by the late 1860s he ranked among the biggest landowners in New York City.
Tweed became involved in the operation of the
New York Mutuals
The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Ass ...
, an early
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professional ...
club, in the 1860s. He brought in thousands of dollars per home game by dramatically increasing the cost of admission and
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
on the team.
He has been credited with originating the practice of
spring training in 1869 by sending the club south to
to prepare for the season.
Tweed was a member of the
New York State Senate (4th D.) from 1868 to 1873, sitting in the
91st,
92nd,
93rd, and
94th New York State Legislature
The 94th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to April 21, 1871, during the third year of John T. Hoffman's governorship, in Albany.
Background
Under the provis ...
s, but not taking his seat in the
95th 95 or 95th may refer to:
* 95 (number)
* one of the years 95 BC, AD 95, 1995, 2095, etc.
* 95th Division (disambiguation)
* 95th Regiment
** 95th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation)
* 95th Squadron (disambiguation)
* Atomic number 95: americium
*M ...
and
96th New York State Legislature
The 96th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7 to May 30, 1873, during the first year of John A. Dix's governorship, in Albany.
Background
Under the provisions ...
s. While serving in the State Senate, he split his time between Albany, New York and New York City. While in Albany, he stayed in a suite of seven rooms in Delevan House. Accompanying him in his rooms were his favorite canaries. Guests are presumed to have included members of the
Black Horse Cavalry, thirty state legislators whose votes were up for sale. In the Senate he helped financiers
Jay Gould
Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him ...
and
Big Jim Fisk to take control of the
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...
from
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
by arranging for legislation that legitimized fake Erie stock certificates that Gould and Fisk had issued. In return, Tweed received a large block of stock and was made a director of the company.
Corruption
After the election of 1869, Tweed took control of the New York City government. His protégé,
John T. Hoffman, the former mayor of the city, won election as governor, and Tweed garnered the support of good-government reformers like
Peter Cooper
Peter Cooper (February 12, 1791April 4, 1883) was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and politician. He designed and built the first American steam locomotive, the '' Tom Thumb'', founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of ...
and the
Union League Club, by proposing a new city charter which returned power to City Hall at the expense of the Republican-inspired state commissions. The new charter passed, thanks in part to $600,000 in bribes Tweed paid to Republicans, and was signed into law by Hoffman in 1870. Mandated new elections allowed Tammany to take over the city's Common Council when they won all fifteen aldermanic contests.
[Burrows & Wallace, pp. 927–928.][
The new charter put control of the city's finances in the hands of a Board of Audit, which consisted of Tweed, who was Commissioner of Public Works, Mayor ]A. Oakey Hall
Abraham Oakey Hall (July 26, 1826 – October 7, 1898) was an American politician, lawyer, and writer. He served as Mayor of New York from 1869 to 1872 as a Democrat. Hall, known as "Elegant Oakey", was a model of serenity and respectability. ...
and Comptroller Richard "Slippery Dick" Connolly, both Tammany men. Hall also appointed other Tweed associates to high offices – such as Peter B. Sweeny, who took over the Department of Public Parks – providing what became known as the Tweed Ring with even firmer control of the New York City government and enabling them to defraud the taxpayers of many more millions of dollars. In the words of Albert Bigelow Paine, "their methods were curiously simple and primitive. There were no skilful manipulations of figures, making detection difficult ... Connolly, as Controller, had charge of the books, and declined to show them. With his fellows, he also 'controlled' the courts and most of the bar." Crucially, the new city charter allowed the Board of Audit to issue bonds for debt in order to finance opportunistic capital expenditures the city otherwise could not afford. This ability to float debt was enabled by Tweed's guidance and passage of the Adjusted Claims Act in 1868. Contractors working for the city – "Ring favorites, most of them – were told to multiply the amount of each bill by five, or ten, or a hundred, after which, with Mayor Hall's 'O. K.' and Connolly's endorsement, it was paid ... through a go-between, who cashed the check, settled the original bill and divided the remainder ... between Tweed, Sweeny, Connolly and Hall".
For example, the construction cost of the New York County Courthouse
The New York State Supreme Court Building, originally known as the New York County Courthouse, at 60 Centre Street on Foley Square in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, houses the Civil and Appellate Terms of the New ...
, begun in 1861, grew to nearly $13 million—about $178 million in 2017 dollars, and nearly twice the cost of the Alaska Purchase
The Alaska Purchase (russian: Продажа Аляски, Prodazha Alyaski, Sale of Alaska) was the United States' acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire. Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867, through a ...
in 1867.
"A carpenter was paid $360,751 (roughly $4.9 million today) for one month's labor in a building with very little woodwork ... a plasterer got $133,187 ($1.82 million) for two days' work". Tweed bought a marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
quarry in Sheffield, Massachusetts, to provide much of the marble for the courthouse at great profit to himself. After the Tweed Charter to reorganize the city's government was passed in 1870, four commissioners for the construction of the New York County Courthouse were appointed. The commission never held a meeting, though each commissioner received a 20% kickback from the bills for the supplies.
Tweed and his friends also garnered huge profits from the development of the Upper East Side, especially Yorkville and Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
. They would buy up undeveloped property, then use the resources of the city to improve the area – for instance by installing pipes to bring in water from the Croton Aqueduct
The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity fro ...
– thus increasing the value of the land, after which they sold and took their profits. The focus on the east side also slowed down the development of the west side, the topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
of which made it more expensive to improve. The ring also took their usual percentage of padded contracts, as well as raking off money from property taxes. Despite the corruption of Tweed and Tammany Hall, they did accomplish the development of upper Manhattan, though at the cost of tripling the city's bond debt to almost $90 million.
During the Tweed era, the proposal to build a suspension bridge between New York and Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, then an independent city, was floated by Brooklyn-boosters, who saw the ferry connections as a bottleneck to Brooklyn's further development. In order to ensure that the Brooklyn Bridge project would go forward, State Senator Henry Cruse Murphy approached Tweed to find out whether New York's aldermen would approve the proposal. Tweed's response was that $60,000 for the aldermen would close the deal, and contractor William C. Kingsley put up the cash, which was delivered in a carpet bag
A carpet bag is a top-opening travelling bag made of carpet, commonly from an oriental rug. It was a popular form of luggage in the United States and Europe in the 19th century, featuring simple handles and only an upper frame, which served ...
. Tweed and two others from Tammany also received over half the private stock of the Bridge Company, the charter of which specified that only private stockholders had voting rights, so that even though the cities of Brooklyn and Manhattan put up most of the money, they essentially had no control over the project.
Tweed bought a mansion on Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street, and stabled his horses, carriages and sleighs on 40th Street. By 1871, he was a member of the board of directors of not only the Erie Railroad and the Brooklyn Bridge Company, but also the Third Avenue Railway Company and the Harlem Gas Light Company. He was president of the Guardian Savings Banks and he and his confederates set up the Tenth National Bank to better control their fortunes.
Scandal
Tweed's downfall began in 1871. James Watson, who was a county auditor in Comptroller Dick Connolly's office and who also held and recorded the ring's books, died a week after his head was smashed by a horse in a sleigh accident on January 21, 1871. Although Tweed guarded Watson's estate in the week prior to Watson's death, and although another ring member attempted to destroy Watson's records, a replacement auditor, Matthew O'Rourke, associated with former sheriff James O'Brien, provided city accounts to O'Brien. The Orange riot of 1871 in the summer of that year did not help the ring's popularity. The riot was prompted after Tammany Hall banned a parade of Irish Protestants celebrating a historical victory against Catholicism, namely the Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...
. The parade was banned because of a riot the previous year in which eight people died when a crowd of Irish Catholic laborers attacked the paraders. Under strong pressure from the newspapers and the Protestant elite of the city, Tammany reversed course, and the march was allowed to proceed, with protection from city policemen and state militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
. The result was an even larger riot in which over 60 people were killed and more than 150 injured.[Burrows & Wallace, pp. 1003–1008.]
Although Tammany's electoral power base was largely centered in the Irish immigrant population, it also needed both the city's general population and elite to acquiesce in its rule, and this was conditional on the machine's ability to control the actions of its people. The July riot showed that this capability was not nearly as strong as had been supposed.
Tweed had for months been under attack from ''The New York Times'' and Thomas Nast
Thomas Nast (; ; September 26, 1840December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon".
He was a critic of Democratic Representative "Boss" Tweed and ...
, the cartoonist from ''Harper's Weekly
''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...
'' – regarding Nast's cartoons, Tweed reportedly said, "Stop them damned pictures. I don't care so much what the papers say about me. My constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures!" – but their campaign had only limited success in gaining traction. They were able to force an examination of the city's books, but the blue-ribbon commission of six businessmen appointed by Mayor A. Oakey Hall
Abraham Oakey Hall (July 26, 1826 – October 7, 1898) was an American politician, lawyer, and writer. He served as Mayor of New York from 1869 to 1872 as a Democrat. Hall, known as "Elegant Oakey", was a model of serenity and respectability. ...
, a Tammany man, which included John Jacob Astor III
John Jacob Astor III (June 10, 1822 – February 22, 1890) was an American financier, philanthropist and a soldier during the American Civil War. He was a prominent member of the Astor family, becoming the wealthiest member in his generation and ...
, banker Moses Taylor
Moses Taylor (January 11, 1806 – May 23, 1882) was a 19th-century New York merchant and banker and one of the wealthiest men of that century. At his death, his estate was reported to be worth $70 million, or about $ billion in today's dollars. ...
and others who benefited from Tammany's actions, found that the books had been "faithfully kept", letting the air out of the effort to dethrone Tweed.[Burrows & Wallace, pp. 1008–1011.]
The response to the Orange riot changed everything, and only days afterwards the ''Times''/Nast campaign began to garner popular support. More important, the ''Times'' started to receive inside information from County Sheriff James O'Brien, whose support for Tweed had fluctuated during Tammany's reign. O'Brien had tried to blackmail Tammany by threatening to expose the ring's embezzlement to the press, and when this failed he provided the evidence he had collected to the ''Times''.[Ellis, pp. 347–348.] Shortly afterward, county auditor Matthew J. O'Rourke supplied additional details to the ''Times'', which was reportedly offered $5 million to not publish the evidence. The ''Times'' also obtained the accounts of the recently deceased James Watson, who was the Tweed Ring's bookkeeper, and these were published daily, culminating in a special four-page supplement on July 29 headlined "Gigantic Frauds of the Ring Exposed". In August, Tweed began to transfer ownership in his real-estate empire and other investments to his family members.
The exposé provoked an international crisis of confidence in New York City's finances, and, in particular, in its ability to repay its debts. European investors were heavily positioned in the city's bonds and were already nervous about its management – only the reputations of the underwriters were preventing a run on the city's securities. New York's financial and business community knew that if the city's credit were to collapse, it could potentially bring down every bank in the city with it.
Thus, the city's elite met at Cooper Union in September to discuss political reform: but for the first time, the conversation included not only the usual reformers, but also Democratic bigwigs such as Samuel J. Tilden, who had been thrust aside by Tammany. The consensus was that the "wisest and best citizens" should take over the governance of the city and attempt to restore investor confidence. The result was the formation of the Executive Committee of Citizens and Taxpayers for Financial Reform of the city (also known as "the Committee of Seventy
The Committee of Seventy is an independent, non-partisan advocate for better government in Philadelphia that works to achieve clean and effective government, better elections, and informed and engaged citizens. Founded in 1904, it is a nonprofit ...
"), which attacked Tammany by cutting off the city's funding. Property owners refused to pay their municipal taxes, and a judge—Tweed's old friend George Barnard—enjoined the city Comptroller from issuing bonds or spending money. Unpaid workers turned against Tweed, marching to City Hall demanding to be paid. Tweed doled out some funds from his own purse—$50,000—but it was not sufficient to end the crisis, and Tammany began to lose its essential base.
Shortly thereafter, the Comptroller resigned, appointing Andrew Haswell Green
Andrew Haswell Green (October 6, 1820 – November 13, 1903) was a lawyer, New York City planner, and civic leader. He is considered "the Father of Greater New York," and is responsible for Central Park, the New York Public Library, the Bronx ...
, an associate of Tilden, as his replacement. Green loosened the purse strings again, allowing city departments not under Tammany control to borrow money to operate. Green and Tilden had the city's records closely examined, and discovered money that went directly from city contractors into Tweed's pocket. The following day, they had Tweed arrested.
Imprisonment, escape, and death
Tweed was released on $1 million bail, and Tammany set to work to recover its position through the ballot box. Tweed was re-elected to the state senate in November 1871, due to his personal popularity and largesse in his district, but in general Tammany did not do well, and the members of the Tweed Ring began to flee the jurisdiction, many going overseas. Tweed was re-arrested, forced to resign his city positions, and was replaced as Tammany's leader. Once again, he was released on bail—$8 million this time—but Tweed's supporters, such as Jay Gould
Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him ...
, felt the repercussions of his fall from power.
Tweed's first trial, in January 1873, ended when the jury was unable to deliver a verdict. Tweed's defense counsel included David Dudley Field II
David Dudley Field II (February 13, 1805April 13, 1894) was an American lawyer and law reformer who made major contributions to the development of American civil procedure. His greatest accomplishment was engineering the move away from common ...
and Elihu Root. His retrial in November resulted in convictions on 204 of 220 counts, a fine of $12,750 (the equivalent of $ today) and a prison sentence of 12 years; a higher court, however, reduced Tweed's sentence to one year. After his release from The Tombs
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
prison, New York State filed a civil suit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...
against Tweed, attempting to recover $6 million in embezzled funds. Unable to put up the $3 million bail, Tweed was locked up in the Ludlow Street Jail, although he was allowed home visits. During one of these on December 4, 1875, Tweed escaped and fled to Spain, where he worked as a common seaman on a Spanish ship. The U.S. government discovered his whereabouts and arranged for his arrest once he reached the Spanish border, where he was recognized from Nast's political cartoons. He was turned over to an American warship, the , which delivered him to authorities in New York City on November 23, 1876, and he was returned to prison.["'Boss' Tweed Delivered to Authorities"](_blank)
''History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
'' website, n.d.g. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
Desperate and broken, Tweed now agreed to testify about the inner workings of the Tweed Ring to a special committee set up by the Board of Aldermen in return for his release, but after he did so, Tilden, now governor of New York, refused to abide by the agreement, and Tweed remained incarcerated. He died in the Ludlow Street Jail on April 12, 1878, from severe pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
, and was buried in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
's Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...
. Mayor Smith Ely would not allow the flag at City Hall to be flown at half staff.
Evaluations
According to Tweed biographer Kenneth D. Ackerman:It's hard not to admire the skill behind Tweed's system ... The Tweed ring at its height was an engineering marvel, strong and solid, strategically deployed to control key power points: the courts, the legislature, the treasury and the ballot box. Its frauds had a grandeur of scale and an elegance of structure: money-laundering, profit sharing and organization.
A minority view that Tweed was mostly innocent is presented in a scholarly biography by history professor Leo Hershkowitz. He states:Except for Tweed’s own very questionable "confession," there really was no evidence of a "Tweed Ring," no direct evidence of Tweed’s thievery, no evidence, excepting the testimony of the informer contractors, of "wholesale" plunder by Tweed.... nstead there wasa conspiracy of self-justification of the corruption of the law by the upholders of that law, of a venal irresponsible press and a citizenry delighting in the exorcism of witchery.
In depictions of Tweed and the Tammany Hall organization, most historians have emphasized the thievery and conspiratorial nature of Boss Tweed, along with lining his own pockets and those of his friends and allies. The theme is that the sins of corruption so violated American standards of political rectitude that they far overshadow Tweed's positive contributions to New York City.
Although he held numerous important public offices and was one of a handful of senior leaders of Tammany Hall, as well as the state legislature and the state Democratic Party,[ Tweed was never the sole "boss" of New York City. He shared control of the city with numerous less famous people, such as the villains depicted in Nast's famous circle of guilt cartoon shown above. Seymour J. Mandelbaum has argued that, apart from the corruption he engaged in, Tweed was a modernizer who prefigured certain elements of the ]Progressive Era
The Progressive Era (late 1890s – late 1910s) was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States focused on defeating corruption, monopoly, waste and inefficiency. The main themes ended during Am ...
in terms of more efficient city management. Much of the money he siphoned off from the city treasury went to needy constituents who appreciated the free food at Christmas time and remembered it at the next election, and to precinct workers who provided the muscle of his machine. As a legislator he worked to expand and strengthen welfare programs, especially those by private charities, schools, and hospitals. With a base in the Irish Catholic community, he opposed efforts of Protestants to require the reading of the King James Bible in public schools, which was done deliberately to keep out Catholics. He facilitated the founding of the New York Public Library, even though one of its founders, Samuel Tilden, was Tweed's sworn enemy in the Democratic Party.
Tweed recognized that the support of his constituency was necessary for him to remain in power, and as a consequence he used the machinery of the city's government to provide numerous social services, including building more orphanages, almshouses and public baths. Tweed also fought for the New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...
to donate to private charities of all religious denominations, and subsidize Catholic schools
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syst ...
and hospitals. From 1869 to 1871, under Tweed's influence, the state of New York spent more on charities than for the entire time period from 1852 to 1868 combined. Tweed also pushed through funding for a teachers college and prohibition of corporal punishment in schools, as well as salary increases for school teachers.
During Tweed's regime, the main business thoroughfare Broadway was widened between 34th Street and 59th Street, land was secured for the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, and the Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
and Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
were developed and provided the necessary infrastructure – all to the benefit of the purses of the Tweed Ring, but also, ultimately, to the benefit of the people of the city.
Hershkowitz blames the implications of Thomas Nast in ''Harper's Weekly'' and the editors of ''The New York Times'', which both had ties to the Republican party. In part, the campaign against Tweed diverted public attention from Republican scandals such as the Whiskey Ring
The Whiskey Ring took place from 1871 to 1876 centering in St. Louis during the Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. The ring was an American scandal, broken in May 1875, involving the diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy among government agents, ...
.
Tweed himself wanted no particular recognition of his achievements, such as they were. When it was proposed, in March 1871, when he was at the height of his power, that a statue be erected in his honor, he declared: "Statues are not erected to living men ... I claim to be a live man, and hope (Divine Providence permitting) to survive in all my vigor, politically and physically, some years to come." One of Tweed's unwanted legacies is that he has become "the archetype of the bloated, rapacious, corrupt city boss".
Middle name
Tweed never signed his name with anything other than a plain "M.", and his middle name is often mistakenly listed as "Marcy". His actual middle name was "Magear", his mother's maiden name. Tweed's son's name was William Magear Tweed Jr.
Confusion derived from a Nast cartoon with a picture of Tweed supplemented with a quote from William L. Marcy, the former governor of New York.
In popular culture
* Arthur Train featured Tweed in his 1940 novel of life in Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...
New York, ''Tassels On Her Boots''. Tweed is portrayed as having contempt for the people he rules, at one point saying that once he would have been a Baron, with a castle, levying tribute on the people. But now, "'Boss', they call me - and they are glad to have me."
*In 1945, Tweed was portrayed by Noah Beery Sr. in the Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
production of ''Up in Central Park'', a musical comedy
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
with music by Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his musicals and operettas, particularly '' The Student Prince'' (1924), '' The Desert Song'' (1926) and '' The New Moon'' (1928).
E ...
. The role was played by Malcolm Lee Beggs
Malcolm Lee Beggs (1907 – December 10, 1956) was an American stage, television and film actor.
Biography
The son of actor/director Lee Beggs and stage actress Doris Singleton, he began performing professionally on the stage at the age of 5. H ...
for a revival in 1947. In the 1948 film version, Tweed is played by Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...
.
*On the 1963–1964 CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
TV series '' The Great Adventure'', which presented one-hour dramatizations of the lives of historical figures, Edward Andrews
Edward Bryan Andrews Jr. (October 9, 1914 – March 8, 1985) was an American stage, film and television actor. Andrews was one of the most recognizable character actors on television and films from the 1950s into the 1980s. His stark white hair ...
portrayed Tweed in the episode "The Man Who Stole New York City", about the campaign by ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' to bring down Tweed. The episode aired on December 13, 1963.
*In John Varley's 1977 science-fiction novel, ''The Ophiuchi Hotline
''The Ophiuchi Hotline'' is a 1977 science fiction novel by American writer John Varley (author), John Varley. It was nominated for a Locus Award. Part of his Eight Worlds series, the novel opens in the year 2618.
Plot summary
Prior to the begi ...
'', a crooked politician in a 27th-century human settlement on the Moon assumes the name "Boss Tweed" in emulation of the 19th-century politician, and names his lunar headquarters "Tammany Hall".
*Tweed was played by Philip Bosco
Philip Michael Bosco (September 26, 1930 – December 3, 2018) was an American actor. He was known for his Tony Award-winning performance as Saunders in the 1989 Broadway production of '' Lend Me a Tenor'', and for his starring role in the 2007 f ...
in the 1986 TV movie ''Liberty''. According to a review of the film in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', it was Tweed who made the suggestion to call the Statue of Liberty by that name, instead of its formal name ''Liberty Enlightening the World'', in order to read better in newspaper headlines.
*Andrew O'Hehir of ''The New York Times'' notes that ''Forever'', a 2003 novel by Pete Hamill
Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...
, and ''Gangs of New York
''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1927 book '' The Gangs of New York''. The film stars Le ...
'', a 2002 film, both "offer a significant supporting role to the legendary Manhattan political godfather Boss Tweed", among other thematic similarities. In a review of the latter work, Chuck Rudolph praised Jim Broadbent's portrayal of Tweed as "giving the role a masterfully heartless composure".
*Tweed appears in T. J. English's 2005 book ''Paddy Whacked'' and the 2006 History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
TV documentary film based on it in regards to his connection to Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
mob boss
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization.
Description
A crime boss typically has absolute or near ...
John Morrissey.
*Tweed appears as an antagonist in the 2016 novel, ''Assassin's Creed Last Descendants'' where he is the Grand Master of the American Templars during the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
.[Rad, Chloi (February 18, 2016]
"Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants Novels Announced"
''IGN''.
See also
* Elbert A. Woodward
* Timothy "Big Tim" Sullivan
* Tweed law
* William J. Sharkey (murderer)
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Ackerman, K. D. (2005). ''Boss Tweed: The rise and fall of the corrupt pol who conceived the soul of modern New York''. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. .
*
* Callow, Alexander B. (1966). ''The Tweed Ring''. New York: Oxford University Press
* Ellis, Edward R. (2004). ''The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History''. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ,
* Hershkowitz, Leo. ''Tweed's New York: Another Look''. (New York: Anchor Press, 1977)
online
* Lagasse, Paul ed. (2000)
''The Columbia Encyclopedia''. Sixth Edition. High Beam Encyclopedia.
* Mandelbaum, Seymour J. (1965). ''Boss Tweed's New York''. New York: John Wiley.
*Paine, Albert B. (1974). ''Th. Nast, His Period and His Pictures''. Princeton: Pyne Press. (The original edition, published in 1904, is now in the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
.)
* Sante, Lucy (2003). ''Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York''. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.
* Staff (July 4, 2005)
"Boss Tweed"
''Gotham Gazette
The ''Gotham Gazette'' is an online publication of the Citizens Union Foundation of the City of New York, a government watchdog group focusing on issues confronting New York City. Its purpose is fourfold: it reports daily on New York City news, ...
''
Further reading
* Lynch, Denis Tilden (2005) 927 ''Boss Tweed: The story of a grim generation''. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Michigan Historical Reprint Series, Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan.
External links
*
Green-Wood Cemetery page for WM Tweed
Map Showing the Portions of the City of New York and Westchester County under the Jurisdiction of the Department of Public Parks
talks about Tweed's takeover of the New York City parks system, from the World Digital Library
The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress.
The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tweed, William M
1823 births
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