Tammany Hall Factions Clash Over Slavery

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CHAPTER 7
Barnburners, Hunkers, Slavery
The period between 1841 and 1852 is bookended with the death of two political opponents of Tammany Hall,
sitting Presidents both: Whigs William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor. The cause of their deaths is the same,
open sewers that contaminate drinking water in Washington D.C. This decade sees another major war, which has the
support of the Society of St. Tammany, but whose outcome, the largest acquisition of territory since the Louisiana
Purchase, divides Tammany Hall into two factions, the Barnburners and the Hunkers. These two factions mirror the
national debate as to whether the new western territories, soon to become new states, should allow or reject slavery.
The Barnburners are the progressive minded Democrats, who feel that slavery is an abomination. The Hunkers are the
old-schoolDemocrats—merchantswhodependonthesouthernplanters,andtheirslavesthatlaborinthefieldsraising
cotton and tobacco.
For its first fifty years, Tammany Hall is dominated by the upper class. The 1840s heralds the influence of the
lowerclass,ledbythelikesofMikeWalshandIsaiahRynders.WalshistheleaderoftheSpartanBand,agangofruffians,
mainly Irish, which first break up Whig meetings, and then move on to Tammany Hall, where Walsh, known for his
fiery orations denouncing the rich, demands to be given political support. He ultimately gets it. Rynders is a former
Mississippi riverboat gambler. He comes to New York and begins operating green-groceries, saloons, and gambling
houses in the Sixth Ward, before establishing his Empire Club on Park Row, down the street from Tammany Hall. From
this club, he dominates the Irish gangs of the Five Points, and marshals them into a cohesive voting block that back
Tammany politicians. He will go on to become extremely influential in national politics, becoming a key player in the
election of President James Polk. The 1840s also sees the emergence of William M. Tweed.
Theissueofslavery,dividingTammanyHall,theDemocraticPartyinNewYorkState,andthenationingeneral,
sorely tests the Sachems of the Society of St. Tammany, who strive to stay above the fray. While the Democrats generally
dominate local, state, and national politics in the 1830s, the 1840s sees politics seesaw between the Democrats, and its
opponents including the Whigs and the lesser Nativist parties. The Sachems, getting tired of losing elections, embraces
the return of a man who has united factions in Tammany Hall in the past: Fernando Wood.
A Modern Democrat, from the collection of the American Antiquarian Society.
The cartoon caption states: “I’m sittin on the Stile &ec.”

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On January 9, the New-York Commercial Advertiser reports of a quote in the
New-York Evening Post:
“Parties hunt in packs like wolves, and what avail is it to muzzle a single animal, when a
thousand more, fiercer, mayhap, and stronger than he, are ready with open jaws to fly upon their
prey?—Evening Post.
Written, probably, immediately after the breaking up of a meeting at Tammany Hall.”
The Post’s equating pack wolves to political parties is spot on, and demonstrates
William Cullen Bryant’s penchant for the poetic. Bryant is already a noted poet
by this time. The comment in the Commercial Advertiser shows that newspapers
of the day refer to their rivals in oblique terms. An article in the Albany Argus of
November 24, 1840 sheds some light on what Bryant, and his antagonist William
Leete Stone are referring to:
“The hungry wolves of federalism are already howling for their prey. We hear cart
loads of applicants for every office. If Gen. Harrison does not violate his pledges about
removals, which no one of his opponents believed when he made them, his friends will
poison him in less that a year—they are so hungry.—Ohio Statesman.”
In other words, the supporters of the Whigs expect to receive patronage—spoils—
from the new administration, but nature will intervene. While friends of the new
president will not poison him, his own doctors will.
On February 4, the New-York Commercial Advertiser reports:
“A communication was received from the chairman of the Democratic Republican
Young Men’s General Committee, enclosing a preamble and resolutions passed at a meeting
held at Tammany Hall in respect to the fire department, condemning the bill at present
before the Legislature, and the ordinance passed by the Common Council in June, 1839,
creating 24 new companies as unwise, impolitic and unjust. It was referred to the fire and
water committee.
The Society of St. Tammany continues to meddle in the affairs of the New York City
volunteer fire department. What starts with Tammany Hall making a scapegoat
of fire chief James Gulick after the Great Fire of December 1835 continues. The
disarray that follows Gulick’s sacking causes the various fire companies to become
extensions of gangs, and they become preoccupied with fighting each other more
than fighting fires. The same article states:
“A report from the same committee relative to charges against Samuel Kinney,
for insubordination; on complaint made against company No. 27, for riotous conduct; on
complaint of company No. 17, for an attack made upon them by company No. 10, was ordered
to be printed.”
In eight years time, a twenty-six year old son of a chairmaker, who is a volunteer
firefighter, will come to lead a new engine company. Known as “Big Six,” it will
adopt the image of a Bengal Tiger as its emblem. Tammany Hall will come to
embrace the young firefighter and his company’s emblem.
On March 4, William Henry Harrison and John Tyler are inaugurated President
and Vice President of the United States.
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On April 4, the New-York Commercial Advertiser reports:
“Painful Intelligence.—We greatly fear, from the tenor of our advices from Washington,
the President’s life is in great jeopardy. His disease is bilious pneumonia, and is very obstinate. A
physician who has arrived from Washington this morning, apprehends that the next mail will
bring tidings that the nation will weep to hear.”
“THE PRESIDENT IS DEAD!
The subjoined letters, and the official document below, will convey to an afflicted country
the sad tidings for which the readers of this paper must have been but too well prepared by our
publication of Saturday. In other words, General William Henry Harrison—a great and good
man—the beloved of the nation—for just one month President of the United States—is no more.”
The article then reports events leading up to his death, of which follows are some
excerpts:
“The best medical skill of the city, with important aid from Baltimore, has been called
into requisition, but all has been in vain.”
“5 o’clock—the President wanders, and is at time quite insensible, All his symptoms are
worse. His family hanging in anxiety over his bedside, his physicians watching every motion. His
diarrhea grows worse, and leaves hardly a hope, so rapidly does it prostrate his strength.”
“10 o’clock—Reports from the sick chamber for the last four hours have all been
worse. The pulse beats feebler and feebler every minute. His flesh has become cold and clammy.
During this time General Harrison has spoken his last words, after which he fell into a state of
insensibility. At a quarter to nine, Dr. Worthington at his bedside, he said, (and it is presumed he
was addressing Gov. Tyler)—‘SIR—I WISH YOU TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUE PRINCIPLES
OF THE GOVERNMENT. I WISH THEM CARRIED OUT. I ASK NOTHING MORE.’ ”
Death of Harrison April 4 A.D. 1841, by Nathaniel Currier.
From the public domain.
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America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany

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The long held assumption that Harrison dies from complications from pneumonia
is now in dispute. An article in The New York Times of March 31, 2014, by Jane
McHugh and Philip A. Mackowiak suggest otherwise. These medical detectives
theorize that in fact Harrison dies from enteric fever, also know as typhoid fever.
The cause of it is drinking water in the White House contaminated by Salmonella
typhi, and Salmonella paratyphi from an open-air sewage marsh a few blocks
upstream from the White House water supply. They note that President’s Polk
and Taylor also suffer from severe gastroenteritis. Polk will fare better than Taylor.
“The best medical skill of the city” is anything but. Demonstrating the backward
medical practices of the day, the article states that Harrison’s doctors prescribe
several toxic medications, including opium, which prevents the intestine’s ability
to rid itself of the deadly bugs. Harrison’s doctors also perform enemas on him,
likely perforating the colon resulting in sepsis. The Commercial Advertiser’s article
stating that “His flesh becomes cold and clammy,” is a symptom of septic shock,
and support McHugh and Mackowiak’s theories. The President’s dying words,
presumably wishing that Tyler adhere to Whig doctrines will not come to pass.
On April 10, the New-York Spectator reports of a:
“Riot in the Twelfth Ward.—We briefly noted yesterday, that a man named McDonald
was killed at a political meeting, on the previous evening; the following are the particulars of the
case. On Monday evening there was a family quarrel, in the 12th ward, among supporters of the
Tammany party, concerning the nomination of alderman and assistant. The gentleman agreed
on the nominating committee, Messrs. Bradhurst and Osgood were not approved, it seems, by
a large portion of the constituency, to wit, the laborers on the water-works who were present in
formidable numbers. They insisted on nominating candidates of their own, and to enforce their
will in the matter, proceeded to use of fists and clubs, to such effect that on man of the Bradhurst
party, named Patrick McDonald, was bruised and injured even unto death, and several others were
seriously hurt. It is scarcely needful to add that the parties engaged were chiefly foreigners.”
This article shows the rise of “ward heelers” backed up by their strong-armed
“shoulder- hitters” in Tammany politics. For its first fifty years, the Society of St.
Tammany is ruled from the top—the merchant elite—to the bottom. Starting in the
1840s the power shifts, starting at the bottom of the social class, instead of the top.
“The Mayoralty.—We trust that not a man in the Whig ranks will desert his own
standard. The contest for the mayoralty is between J. PHILlIPS PHOENIX and Robert H. Morris,
of Glentworth fame.
Democrat Robert H. Morris, trained as a lawyer, is the former New York district
attorney,andmemberoftheSocietyofS.Tammany.Heisknownforhisinvolvement
in the Glentworth conspiracy, in which James Glentworth, a Whig and tobacco
inspector, brings fraudulent voters from Philadelphia to New York City during the
presidential election of 1840, in the guise of workers to lay pipes. The conspiracy is
revealed, and district attorney Morris, fearing that personal papers of Glentworth
will be destroyed, goes to the home of a colleague of Glentworth who is holding
the papers, in the middle of the night, and by force seizes the papers without a
warrant. Governor Seward removes Morris as district attorney because of this.
Whig J. Phillips Phoenix is a former New York City Alderman. Morris goes on to
win the mayoralty by a slim margin.
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Henry Clay, the father of the Whig Party and Senator from Kentucky, once again
tries to reestablish the Second Bank of the United States with an Act of Congress.
On July 4, he states his misgivings on John Tyler’s failing to heed Harrison’s last
words in a letter to Francis T. Brooke:
“Mr. Tyler’s opinions about a Bank are giving us great trouble. Indeed they not only
threaten our defeat on that measure, but endanger the permanency, and the ascendancy of the
Whig cause. Is it not deplorable that such a cause should be put in jeopardy in such a way? He
conciliates no body by his particular notions. The Loco’s are more opposed to the scheme than to
an old fashion bank., and ninety nine out of a hundred of the Whigs are decidedly adverse to it.” 1
On August 3, the Albany Argus reports of a:
“ ‘REPEAL’ MEETING IN NEW-YORK—GREAT GATHERING of the DEMOCRACY!
The call of the democratic committees of the First Senate District, for a meeting in the
Park in New-York city, to pass censure on the recent proceedings and contemplated measures of
the whig party in congress, was enthusiastically responded to on Thursday evening.”
The article continues:
“The meeting was further addressed by Marshall J. Bacon and S.J. Tilden, the former
showing that the bank is created for the convenience of a class and not for the benefit of the people,
and the latter discussing the question of repeal upon the principles which form the great basis of
our institutions.”
S.J. Tilden is Samuel J. Tilden. Much more will be heard of Tilden in the coming
decades.
On August 6, Congress passes the Bank Bill by a vote of 128 to 98.
On August 16, President John Tyler vetoes the Bank Bill. This causes the Whigs to
riot outside of the White House. This riot leads to the formation of the District of
Columbia police force. 2
On August 20, the Albany Argus reports:
“Upon the receipt of the Veto message here, early this morning, the stars and stripes,
floated from the top a the noble hickory in front of Tammany Hall,—at Vanderlips, Third (Old
Fourth) Ward Head Quarters—and at other democratic rallying points—and a National salute was
fired from the Hill.
To-morrow night, it will be seen, there is to be a Triumphal Veto Procession, in honor of
the occasion.”
On October 29, the New-York Commercial Advertiser reports:
“Tammany Hall.—The general meeting opposition party of this city was held last
evening, to pass upon the nominations presented for the Senate and Assembly by the nominating
conventions. As it was known that the ticket for Assemblymen was not altogether acceptable to the
naturalized citizens, a grand row was expected, and the lovers of the ring were not disappointed.
Mr. Field, being altogether the best and most respectable man on the list was of course the most
strongly objected to, Attempts were made to strike his name off, and substitute that of a young man
named Walsh. A Mr. Daly was also proposed. The result was a grand row, in which many were
knocked down, and the meeting broke up in confusion—three distinct factions, each claiming the
victory.”
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“a young man named Walsh…” is Michael Walsh. Born in County Cork, Ireland
in 1810, he immigrates to the United States, landing in Baltimore where he learns
to be a lithographer. By the 1830s he moves to New York City. A brawler, as well
as one known for giving rousing speeches where he labels the elite “curs,” “grub
worms,” and “vultures,” he forms the Spartan Band, one of city’s most methodical
gangs. This gang is known for invading Whig headquarters, proceeding to attack
the members with clubs. 3
It is these shoulder-hitters that then invade Tammany
Hall.
Mike Walsh, from Tammany Hall, by M. R. Werner.
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On October 29, the New-York Evening Post comments on Walsh’s appearance at
Tammany Hall:
“At the time we entered the room, three men occupied the space immediately about the stage on
which the officers are usually placed, and this Mr. Walsh was addressing them, in a style of furious
oratory, in vindication, apparently, of his own opinions and character. He continued his remarks
about an hour, during which time the assemblage remained without organization.”
In his speech, Walsh concludes:
“I come here determined to reduce the county meeting to its legitimate purposes-to appeal from
the decision of a corrupt committee, who dispose of nominations to the highest bidder, as the
hireling soldiery of Rome used to sell the imperial diadem. And why do you consider a manly
proper and patriotic act a dangerous innovation? Because you are slaves? Yes, abject, willing
slaves-slaves by choice, while you foolishly flatter yourselves that you are democrats. Keep still
gentlemen-don’t worry yourselves-this is just the place for such remarks; but you have acted so
long like automatons, that to act like men seems to you to be a new state of being. But I wish you to
distinctly understand me when I tell you that Tammany Hall belongs to us—we being the honest,
virtuous, portion of the democratic party, and I wish you also distinctly understand that we are
determined to keep possession of it until you are able to dispossess us—and that I believe is as
good as a lease for life, isn’t it boys?” 4
Faced with this formidable speaker and his gang, the Sachems of Tammany Hall
agree to put Walsh on the ticket for Assembly. He loses in the election, but Walsh
is just getting started. The Democrats win the majority in New York State Senate
and Assembly, taking back the legislature from the Whigs, who had prevailed in
1840.
On December 12, the New-York Evening Post prints the following advertisement:
“THE EMPIRE STATE REDEEMED!!—A Grand BALL will be given by the Democracy the
Fourth Ward, on TUESDAY EVENING, the 14th of December, 1841, at TAMMANY HALL, in
commemoration of the Glorious Redemption of the Empire State.”
On January 28, the New-York Evening Post prints the following notice:
“DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN YOUNG MEN’S COMMITTTEE.
At a meeting of this Committee, held at Tammany Hall, Wednesday evening, January 26,
the following officers were elected for the ensuing year:
SAMUEL J. TILDEN, Chairman.
Edward H. White,
Thomas Frost, Treasurer.”
Samuel Jones Tilden is born on February 9, 1814 in New Lebanon, New York
to Elam Tilden and Polly Younglove Jones Tilden. 5
Elam Tilden is the founder
of Tilden & Company, the oldest pharmaceutical company in the United States.
In 1824 Elam starts working with the Shakers of New Lebanon, buying their
medicinal herbs and producing tinctures and extracts. Elam dies in 1842, having
passed control of his company to his sons Moses Y. and Henry A. Tilden, the
brothers of Samuel. 6
One of its most popular herbal remedies is Fluid Extract
of Cannabis Indica. Samuel attends Yale University in 1837, but ill health forces
him to withdraw. He then transfers to New York University, where he graduates.
In 1841 he passes the New York Bar. He will go on to become one of the most
influential New York Democrats of the 19th century.
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From Formulæ for making
Tinctures, Infusions, Syrups, Wines Mixtures Pills, &c. Simple and Compound,
From Fluid and Solid Extracts, by Laboratory of Tilden & Co.
On March 26, the New-York Spectator reports:
“Nomination for Mayor.—Robert H. Morris has been nominated by the Tammany Hall
convention for re-election to the office of Mayor of this city.”
On March 26, the New-York Evening Post prints the following notice:
“German Democratic Ball.—At Tammany Hall a German Democratic Ball takes place on
Monday Evening. Those who are curious to see in what manner people from the Rhine and the
Danube manage these things, have now one of the best opportunities. Tickets may be obtained at
the Bar at Tammany Hall.”
This notice shows that the Society of St. Tammany continues to court the Germans
as well as the Irish. The population of the New York City will rise from 300,000
to 500,000 in the 1840s, due, in large part, to the influx of German and Irish
immigrants, 7
many of whom are Catholic.
The New York City mayoral election is held between April 12 and April 14, and
once again pits Democrat Robert H. Morris against Whig J. Phillips Phoenix. This
time Morris wins by a solid majority.
“The election was conducted with exceeding quite and decorum, throughout the day, and
in every part of the city except that old battle-ground, the sixth ward, where symptoms of disorder
and violence were perceptible almost from the beginning. In the afternoon a decided quarrel broke
out between two parties of Emerald-Islanders, the Orangemen and the Catholics, which soon
brought on a general fight, and kept that part of the city in an uproar until after dark. Very early in
the affray the notorious Spartan Band of Tammany rioters took part in it.”
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On May 9, the New-York Commercial Advertiser reports of:
“ASTOUNDING DEVELOPMENTS!
The earnest attention of every citizen of New-York—city and state—and of the whole
country—is requested to the documents contained in this evening’s Commercial, establishing
the fact beyond the possibility of refutation, of further frauds, and yet more enormous than any
hitherto disclosed, committed by the so-called Democratic party at the late charter election.”
The documents referred to by the Commercial Advertiser are the Documents of the
Board of Aldermen, Vol. VIII. The independent voters of New York City, despairing
that every election seems rigged, as well as other fraud, demand that a bipartisan
committee of aldermen be appointed to investigate. 8
The report that is released to
the public finds that:
Various corrupt office-holders steal $100,000 from the city.
A five-year contract, at $64,500 a year is awarded to clean the streets, when another
bidder offers to take it at $25,000 a year.
The same corrupt office-holders fraudulently sell city land to cover the increasing debt.
These office-holders have the city foreclose on private property for unpaid assessments,
without informing the owners, and then buying up the property for themselves.
Convicts from Blackwell Island are allowed to escape on the day before the election,
taken to the various wards, and then directed to vote for the Democrats by their jailers.
This report is the first in a long line of investigations into political corruption in
New York City in general, and Tammany Hall in particular. Every investigation
concludes with a scathing report, but it is business as usual afterwards, and fraud
and graft continue to grow, decade after decade, into the 20th century.
On May 12, no mention is made in the press of St. Tammany’s Day being celebrated
at Tammany Hall.
OnJuly4,nomentionismadeinthepressoftheSocietyofSt.Tammanycelebrating
Independence Day.
On September 28, the New-York Evening Post prints a notice of the meeting of
the:
“DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN YOUNG MEN’S COMMITTEE
At a meeting of this committee, held at Tammany Hall, Tuesday evening, Sept. 27th, the
following preamble and resolutions were adopted:
Whereas the peculiar importance of the election which approaches, imperatively requires
the Democracy to rally for the success of their cause, therefore
Resolved, That our democratic fellow citizens of the counties near the Hudson River
and on Long Island, are recommended to hold a Mass Convention at some point on the Hudson
River, to respond to the nomination of BOUCK & DICKINSON, and to contribute by unity and
efficiency of action to their triumphant election”
Samuel J. Tilden signs this notice. “Bouck & Dickinson” are William C. Bouck
and Daniel S. Dickinson, who lose to William Seward and Luther Bradish in the
gubernatorial election of 1840. Their Whig opponents are Lieutenant Governor
Luther Bradish, running to replace William Seward, and his running mate Gabriel
Furman. Seward declines to run for reelection because of he incurs a personal debt
of $200,000 while in office, and decides to return to his profitable law practice. 9
More will be heard of William Henry Seward in the coming decades.
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On October 26, the New-York Spectator prints the following letter to the editor:
“Messrs. Editors—With this note you will receive ‘Sale’s Koran,’ which I ask you to accept;
besides I wish you to read it. You have frequently abused my friend Wm. L. Marcy for having said
in the Senate of the U.S. that ‘to the Victor belong the Spoils.’ This observation did not originate
with the Senator, but was a quotation from ‘Al Koran,’ revealed to Mohammed at Medina, sixteen
hundred years ago. Since you have become a recipient of the ‘spoils’ I hope after reading the
authority you will make an apology as the case requires. I refer you to Vol. 1, page 363, 369, Vol. 2,
page 331—for the purpose of showing you the gross injustice you have done my friend.”
Yours truly, Daniel Jackson.”
Just who Daniel Jackson is, and his relationship to William L. Marcy, remains
obscure. However, his incredible claim, that the former Senator, Governor, head
of the Albany Regency, and Tammany stalwart is influenced by quotes in the
Qur’an, may, in fact, be true. An examination of a version of The Koran, translated
by George Sale and reprinted in 1850, reveals the following quotes:
From Vol. 1, Chapter VIII:
“They will ask thee concerning the spoils: Answer, the division of the spoils belongeth unto
God and the apostle. Therefore fear God, and compose the matter amicably among you; and obey
God and his apostle, if ye are true believers. ”
From Vol. 1, Chapter XLVIII:
“Now God was well pleased with the true believers, when they sware fidelity to thee
under the tree; and he knew what was in their hearts; wherefore he sent down on them tranquility
of mind, and rewarded them with a speedy victory, and many spoils which they took: for God is
mighty and wise.” 10
Thomas Jefferson purchases Sale’s Koran, while he is a student at the College of
William & Mary, and comes to know it intimately. This is demonstrated by the
fact that on December 9, 1805, he hosts the United States’ first Iftar—the evening
meal ending the fast of Ramadan—to accommodate the visiting Tunisian envoy,
Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, at the White House. 11
Considering Jefferson’s impact
on Tammany Hall and William Marcy, the theory that the Qur’an has a direct
influence on Marcy’s quote “To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy” is not so
far fetched. Yet the notion, that in the 18th and 19th century, Jefferson and others
were so enlightened as to accept Islam and disseminate the Qur’an, especially in
light of 21st century extremism in both the Eastern and Western world, gives one
pause.
On November 11, the New-York Spectator reports of a:
“Meeting at Tammany Hall.—The great county meeting of the Democratic Party was
opened last evening with yells and shouts unusual even to the walls of Tammany. The building was
crammed from top to bottom with vociferous bipeds.”
The article continues:
“The report of the nominating committee, a long winded document, was read by Levi D.
Slamm. Its wind was chiefly spent in blowing the tariff to the moon, and in puffing ‘the democracy’
to the skies. All was quite enough until Mr. Slamm read the last name on the Assembly ticket—that
of Mr. Vandyke—when the uproar was tremendous. ‘No!’ ‘no!’ ‘Walsh!’ ‘Walsh!’ resounded from
every part of the house. At this the redoubtable Michael started forward—some pulling him back,
some pushing him on—and gained the rostrum.”
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The upshot is that Michael Walsh and his shoulder-hitters once again takes over
a meeting at Tammany Hall, and succeeds in getting his name on the Tammany
ticket. William Leete Stone, writing in the Spectator, describes “vociferous bipeds”
cramming the Hall “from top to bottom.” He could have better described the scene
as “from bottom to top,” because, once again, Tammany is dominated from the
bottom of the social class instead of the top.
The New York State elections are held on November 8. In the gubernatorial
election, Democrats William C. Bouck and Daniel S. Dickinson defeat Whigs
Luther Bradish and Gabriel Furman. In the Assembly race the Democrats again
prevail and win the majority, although Michael Walsh loses. In the national
election for Congress, Fernando Wood loses his seat, and he retires from politics
for the time being, but again the Democrats win a majority of the seats, 24, to the
Whigs 10.
On February 7, the Democratic controlled state legislature re-elects Silas Wright
Jr., gaining a balance in the U. S. Senate.
On April 10, the New-York Evening Post prints the following notice:
To our adopted citizen particularly, we would say that the Inspectors have no right to
require the production of their naturalization papers, but that if they prove themselves to be
naturalized and to possess the other necessary qualifications, it is their right and duty as good
citizens to DEMAND that the oath be tendered them. If any Inspector, who (after the voter
shall have declared himself to duly qualified) shall refuse to tender the oath, he is liable not only
to a civil suit for damages in favor of the voter, BUT TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION FOR A
MISDEMEANOR.”
The poll inspectors do well to question the immigrant voters. Many get their
naturalization papers right off the boat by corrupt Tammany judges without
having resided in the United States for the required five years. Of course they vote
as Tammany directs them.
And vote they do. In the April mayoral elections, Robert H. Morris is reelected,
winning solidly over Whig candidate Robert Smith by a margin of 5000 of the
45,000 votes cast.
Naturalization of foreigners, scene in Tammany Hall,
from the collection of the Library of Congress.
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On April 13, the New-York Commercial Advertiser prints the following letter to the
editor, and its response:
“Messrs. Editors—Will you be good enough to inform me what victory was celebrated by the
firing of cannon this morning in the Park, and the display of the star spangled banner with the city
colors from City Hall? ‘Old Tammany’ has had the stars and strips flaunting over her since Tuesday
morning; the motive at the wigwam cannot be misunderstood, for her victory just obtained,
through fraud and gross corruption, is warrant for this display among the faithful. I am perhaps at
fault, but it may be that some glorious event I our Revolutionary history is this day celebrated—but
if my reading is correct and memory good, this is not the fact; then, pray, what was the reason of
the fuss this morning in the Park? This evening, I presume, we shall have another dose under the
direction of our worthy Mayor.
PETER SIMPLE.
‘Simple’ enough! Why, does not Peter know that this is the birth-day of the man who,
when a member of Washington’s Cabinet, and affecting friendship, was slandering the great and
peerless man privately, in his diary, which he prepared for publication at his death, and also paying
the infamous Callender for libeling him in public.”
April 13, 1843 is the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson—New
Style calendar. “Callender” is James T. Callender, a pamphleteer and journalist who
dies in 1803. Initially a friend Jefferson, who supports him financially, he turns on
Jefferson after Jefferson finds him too radical, and he publishes a series of articles
in the Richmond Recorder in 1802, alleging that Jefferson fathers several children
by his slave concubine Sally Hemings. This “libel” is corroborated by DNA analysis
in 1998, and supported by the historian Annette Gordon-Reed in her two seminal
works: Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, an American Controversy (1997), and
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (2008). Ms. Gordon-Reed goes
on to win the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2009.
On April 14, The New-York Evening Post reports of a:
“Celebration of Jefferson’s Birthday
The Centennial Anniversary of the birthday of that great statesman and eminent man,
Thomas Jefferson, was celebrated in Tammany Hall by a great dinner last evening. Four hundred
persons sat down to the table, and the dinner went off in the most excellent style.”
May 12 comes and goes without any mention in the press of St. Tammany’s Day
being celebrated at Tammany Hall.
On June 30, the New-York Commercial Advertiser reports:
“His Excellency Governor Bouck is making a journey at his leisure through the southern
portion of the state. His first stage was from Albany to Lindenwold, a remarkable locality in the
county of Columbia, known to the ancient geographers as Kinderhook, and at present the Mecca
of the pilgrim brotherhood of St. Tammany.”
“Lindenwold” is Martin Van Buren’s estate in Kinderhook, New York. The
Commercial Advertiser slyly cites the Qur’an’s influence on the Albany Regency
by referring Lindenwold as “at present the Mecca of the pilgrim brotherhood of St.
Tammany.”
July 4 comes and goes without any mention of the Society of St. Tammany
acknowledging Independence Day.
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On July 20, the Albany Evening Journal reports of:
“ ‘The Subterranean.’—This is the title of a new paper started in New York by ‘Mike Walsh,’
an ultra but honest Loco Foco. It deals some hard blows at Tammany leaders, but never harder
than they deserve.”
The Subterranean’s first issue is published on July 15, 1843.
On September 27, the Albany Evening Journal reports:
“Van Buren in New York—The meeting of of the friends of Martin Van Buren in the Park
on Monday last, of which we extract one or two brief accounts from the New York papers, must have
been sadly disappointed the high wrought expectations of the Tammany leaders. The Plebeian had
‘bespoken’ a larger meeting than had ever before held, but the People, though earnestly entreated,
refused to turn out in Mr. Van Buren’s honor, and there are scarcely office-holders enough yet in
New York to fill the City Hall Park.”
The article goes on to say:
“The only speaker of any note was Attorney General Barker, who expressed the hope that the party
would unite for a candidate of the Baltimore Convention, whether that candidate should be Van
Buren, Johnson, Calhoun, or John Tyler.”
None of the above mentioned men will gain the Democratic nomination for
president in 1844.
On September 28, the Albany Evening Journal reports of the return of Mordecai
Manuel Noah:
“ ‘As you were’— Mr. M.M. Noah, the modern Major Dalgetty, whose principles are
regulated by the amount of ‘pay and provant’ which he receives, has got back, after various
vicissitudes, to his old quarters in the Tammany Party. A few years since he deserted the Loco
Focos to the Whigs; then from the Whigs to the Tyler party, and now from the Tylerites to the Van
Burenites.”
“Major Dalgetty” is a character in Sir Walter Scott’s historic novel A Legend of
Montrose. He is a mercenary, who does not fight for any one cause, but instead
for the love of money and the battle. Equating Dalgetty with Noah is a stretch,
because even though he disagrees with the various factions of Tammany Hall over
the years, Noah is committed to one cause, and one cause only: establishing a
native homeland for the Jews. In 1825, Noah tries to establish a Jewish refuge to be
named “Ararat” on Grand Island in the Niagara River, on the New York, Ontario
border. He soon abandons the project due to lack of support. In 1845, he goes on
to publish Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews, in which he correctly predicts
the establishment of the State of Israel some 100 years later. It is worth noting
nativist James Harper publishes it.
On November 8, the New York State elections are held. The Democrats once again
prevail by controlling both the Assembly and Senate. So, as the year comes to an
end, the Democrats, with the support of their Tammany brethren, control New
York City, New York State, and set their sights on Washington, mindful that John
Tyler has forsaken the Whig Party. On November 9, the New-York Commercial
Advertiser explains the reason that the Whig Party is in crises:
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It will be seen by the returns that the Whig ticket might just as well have been chosen as not,—and
would have been but for the fact that four thousand of our voters chose to stay home, and three
thousand more went off on a wild-goose chase after the Native American ticket,—thus throwing
away their votes,—honestly, no doubt,—in an undertaking bootless and impracticable. We
respect the feelings of this Native American association more than we admire their wisdom. If the
government could be entirely re-constructed, the principle they have espoused might be worthy
of consideration. But that principle has been yielded—it is gone—and cannot be recovered. And
the adage is no less true than coarse, that ‘he that spits against the wind, spits in his own face.’ ”
With this apt quote, the Commercial Advertiser grudgingly acknowledges that
there is no turning back on the fact that the immigrants are now a vital part of the
fabric of America.
On November 25, no mention is made in the press of the anniversary of Evacuation
Day.
However, Tammany Hall still manages to commemorate Andrew Jackson, because
on January 6, the New-York Evening Post reports of a:
“BALL IN CELEBRATION OF THE EIGHTH OF JANUARY.—The anniversary of the
battle of New Orleans will be celebrated on Monday evening, by a splendid ball at Tammany Hall.
The arrangements for the occasion are said to have been made with great taste and
elegance.—Tammany Hall has been newly fitted up, and its saloon is a most beautiful and spacious
ball room.”
From the collection of the New York Public Library.
On March 23, the New-York Spectator reports:
“The Mayoralty.—Mr. Coddington has received the nomination of the Tammany Hall
Party.
The American Republicans hold their general meeting this evening, to pass upon the
nomination of James Harper as the candidate of that party.”
“Mr. Coddington” is Jonathan I. Coddington, a former alderman, and ardent
supporter of Martin Van Buren, who names him postmaster of New York in 1837. 12
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OnApril9,theNewYorkCitymayoralelectionisheld.TheDemocratsrunJonathan
I. Coddington, the Whigs, Morris Franklin, and the American Republicans, James
Harper. Franklin is a state senator, and will go on to become president of the New
York Life Insurance Company. On April 10, the New-York Commercial Advertiser
reports of the outcome:
“A TRULY AMERICAN TRIUMPH
Our feelings at the result of the election yesterday are those in general of high exultation,
though not altogether unmingled with regret. In the grand result, there are none of the party
specially designating themselves ‘American Republicans,’ who rejoice more sincerely than does
the Commercial Advertiser. Yet we cannot but regret that the campaign has been so injudiciously
conducted, on part of the more active Whigs, as to sacrifice those wards in which they were in a
decoded majority, and which, by more prudent counsels, might have been preserved in their own
distinctive character. Again, our gratification at the election of so sound a Whig and so excellent a
man as JAMES HARPER, to the office of Mayor, is not unmixed with regret, at the sacrifice of such
a noble and true hearted Whig as Morris Franklin. And this regret is the more embittered by the
reflection that the sacrifice was alike uncalled for and unnecessary.”
Harper gets 24,178 votes to Coddington’s 19,837. Franklin gets a mere 5,198. The
American Republican’s also gain a majority in the Common Council. Harper’s
American Republican Party will evolve from a local political party to a national
one, known alternatively as the Native American Party, the Know Nothing’s,
and the American Party. Even though the name changes, their Protestant tenets
will remain anti-Catholic, and nativist. Harper’s party will also embrace the
Temperance movement, which will be his undoing.
On April 12, the New-York Evening Post gives its take on the recent election:
“The ‘Tammany folks’ had abundant reason for bearing their ‘defeat remarkably well.’
Through such defeats they look forward to many triumphs. Tammany Hall had become so odious
that, had the Whig party maintained its integrity, they would have carried the city triumphantly.
But now all is gone. The Native Americans will fall to pieces. The Whig party has fallen into
disgrace. Tammany Hall will ‘purge and live cleanly,’ for a year, and then be restored to popular
favor again. And all this to benefit some office-seeking gentry and to gratify a persecuting spirit
against Irishmen, who, though often misled, are better and truer and more disciplined friends and
supporters of Free Institutions and Republican Government, than those who are to be turned out
or those who will go into office.”
With this article, the Evening Post succinctly defines the strategy that has served
the Society of St. Tammany well in the past, and will continue to do so in the
future: when down, sit back and wait for the opposition to hang itself.
On April 23, the Albany Argus reports of:
“THE NEW-YORK POLICE BILL
This important bill, which contemplates very material and, is believed, valuable changes
in the police government and organization of the city of New-York, is at last, we infer from the
admissions in whig quarters, placed upon a footing satisfactory to the new ‘native’ authorities.
All admitted the value and importance of the proposed reorganization of the city police,
as reported to the House by Mr. Mann, and that under it, it would be become as efficient, as it
is now unavoidably, from defective organization, inadequate to the wants of the city. And yet a
committee for the board or party elect came up, warmly opposed to it, because it was understood
that the designation of the officers would remain in the hands of the present board. That sufficiently
obviated, and the ‘spoils’ (which the whigs and natives never care for—oh no!) secured, the
combined whig and ‘native’ partisans support the bill.”
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The bill originates through the efforts of industrialist Peter Cooper, who is a member
of the Common Council. 13
Cooper is a member of the Society of St. Tammany. 14
On May 1, the Whig National Convention is held in Baltimore. With John Tyler
expelled from the party, the delegates select the old Whig Henry Clay of Kentucky,
and Theodore Frelinghuysen of New Jersey as their candidates for President and
Vice President. Ambrose Spencer, former member of the Clintonain faction of
the Democratic-Republican Party, former Chief Justice of the New York Supreme
Court, and in-law of De Witt Clinton, is the Convention’s Chairman.
On May 7, Governor Bouck signs the Municipal Police Act into law. Up to this
time, New York City’s answer to fighting crime is a cobbled together group of night
watchmen, marshals, health and fire wardens, inspectors, and lamplighters. The new
law abolishes these disparate recipients of patronage—part time collectors of fees—
and aims to replace them with a “Day and Night Police” of 800 men, to be trained
a military manner. The members of the new police force are to be paid a full time
salary, and have their new position as their only job. However, this law is known
as “permissive legislation”—that is, it is up to New York City to accept it, or not.
The new nativist administration of Mayor Harper chooses not to. Instead, Harper
creates a force of 200, native born, temperance minded men that he himself selects.
Known as “Harper’s Police,” they have no uniform, only a star shaped copper badge.
Consequently, the term “copper” or “cop” is coined. 15
This new police force will
enforce Sunday liquor laws, drive the fruit vendors—mainly women—off the streets,
and prohibit the sale of alcohol on the Fourth of July. Because of this Mayor Harper
will last only a year, after which the new Municipal Police will be implemented,
and a long, complex, relationship with the Society of St. Tammany will begin.
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On May 9, with the Democratic National Convention just weeks away, the New-
York Evening Post prints the following article:
“The note of Preparation.—Last evening the ‘Central Convention of Van Buren
Associations’ held their first meeting at Tammany Hall, for the purpose of organizing and entering
in earnest on the work of the Presidential campaign. We are told by a gentleman who is not prone
to exaggeration, and who has much familiarity with popular assemblies, that its enthusiasm and
energy far exceeded anything he had ever before witnessed. The events of the last two weeks at
Washington, have had the effect of rousing the democracy of this city, and the proceedings of the
meeting last evening, are an earnest that from this time forward, there will be not faltering here or
elsewhere. The deepest indignation was felt at the attempt by a portion of the members of Congress
to influence the action of the National Convention, and defeat the formal declaration of the choice
which the people have already made. Each mention of Mr. Van Buren’s name was received with
deafening applause, and the session was closed nine earnest and hearty cheers.”
The Post assumes that Van Buren, “the choice which the people have already made,”
will be the foregone nominee at the Democratic National Convention. It is not
to be. “The events of the last two weeks in Washington,” refers to President John
Tyler’s securing the treaty of annexation that he had been secretly negotiating
with the Republic of Texas’ President Sam Houston. The prospect of Texas
entering the Union as a slave state will be the major topic at the Democratic
National Convention. The anti-annexation faction lead by Martin Van Buren,
and the pro-annexation faction lead by James K. Polk will mirror the formation
of two new factions in the Democratic Party of New York: the Barnburners and
the Hunkers.
On May 27, the Democratic National Convention is held in Baltimore. It is a
battle between the Southern, expansionist Democrats, in favor of the annexation
of Texas, and the Northern Democrats who oppose it. Three candidates initially
emerge: Martin Van Buren, James Buchanan, Senator from Pennsylvania, and
Lewis Cass, former Ambassador to France. Buchanan is seen as a moderate, and
Cass pro-annexation. With the convention hopelessly deadlocked after eight
ballots, a former Mississippi riverboat gambler and delegate from New York City
by the name of Isaiah Rynders proposes that his friend James K. Polk of Tennessee
be the nominee. Level-headed, practical, and a man that believes that actions
speak louder that words, Rynders, in a moment of weakness, later states that he
“had elected Polk President of the United States.” 16
Much more will be heard of
Rynders. Polk is the former Governor of Tennessee, and Speaker of the House of
Representatives. Based on his call for admitting the Republic of Texas as a slave
state, and the Oregon Territories as a free state, he is unanimously accepted on the
following roll call. The delegates then select future governor of New York, Silas
Wright, as the candidate for Vice President, but being a friend of Van Buren, he
declines, and George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania gains the nod. Polk is the first
“dark horse” presidential candidate, and Wright is the first person to decline a
nomination for Vice President.
The Democrats of New York react to the rejection of their native son by planning
a mass rally to be held on June 4 in City Hall Park. Gansevoort Melville, older
brother of the great 19th century novelist Herman Melville, is sent to Van Buren’s
estate, Lindenwold in Kinderhook, New York, to persuade Van Buren to address
the rally. Instead, Melville returns with a letter from Van Buren that he reads to
the people. On June 5, the New-York Evening Post prints the letter, which begins:
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“Lindenwold, June 3d, 1844
Gentlemen—I had the honor to receive by the hands of Mr. Gansevoort Melville your
communication requesting me, in behalf of a convention of delegates from the several Wards of
the City and County of New York, to preside at a Mass meeting of the Democracy to be held on the
4th inst. to respond to the nominations of the Baltimore Convention.”
An excerpt of the letter continues:
“…let no one for a moment suppose that, in thus yielding to the proprieties of my position,
I am in the slightest degree influenced by lukewarmness, much less hostility to the success of the
nominations to which it is the purpose of those your represent to respond. Far, very far is that from
being the true state of my feelings. I have known Messrs. Polk and Dallas long and intimately. I
have had frequent opportunities for personal observation of their conduct in the discharge of high
and responsible public duties. The latter has, by my appointment, represented the country abroad
with credit and usefulness. They are both gentlemen possessed of high character, of unquestionable
patriotism and integrity, each able to discharge the duties of the station for which they have been
respectively nominated.”
This letter confirms Van Buren’s fundamental political philosophy: party loyalty
comes first. Gansevoort Melville, a lawyer, and a member of the Court of Common
Pleas, finds that he prefers politics to litigation, and goes on the road to stump for
Polk, but avoids any connection with Tammany Hall. 17
With the reading of Van
Buren’s letter, the Democratic Party of New York falls in line behind Polk.
On August 16, the New-York Commercial Advertiser reports:
The painful office devolves upon us, this morning, of announcing an event to which we
have for some months looked forward to with sad anticipation, and for which the readers have
been in a measure prepared. William Leete Stone, since April, 1820, the editor-in-chief of the
Commercial Advertiser, died yesterday morning, at the residence of his father-in law, Rev. Mr.
Wayland, at Saratoga Springs. His age was 52 years.
Mr. Stone’s long and painful illness was chiefly caused by excessive devotion to the
toils of the study—to the unremitted labor of the mind—the injurious effects of which were not
counteracted by sufficient exercise of the body.”
On August 16, William Cullen Bryant praises his rival, adversary, and the man he
attacked on Broadway on April 20, 1831. Writing in the New-York Evening Post,
he states:
“Colonial William L. Stone, editor of the Commercial Advertiser of this city, died
yesterday morning, after a protracted illness, at the residence of his father-in law, the Reverend
Mr. Wayland, at Saratoga Springs. Col. Stone for more than twenty years conducted one of the
most prominent papers of the whig party.
He wrote with great facility and clearness, and from long experience and acquired the art
of making up a journal interesting to a large class of readers.”
Flush from the Democratic Convention, Isaiah Rynders returns to New York City
and forms the Empire Club at 28 Park Row, just down the street from Tammany
Hall. It is cited as being “one of the most effective auxiliaries of the Wigwam.” 18
Like
Walsh’s Spartan Band, but with much greater influence and scope, its members
are of Rynders ilk—who had a reputation as a brawler on the Mississippi, settling
dust-ups with a Bowie knife, and a red-hot poker. From his club, he coordinates
the Irish gangs from the “Bloody Ould Sixth”—the Five Points of Manhattan. He
then begins to organize them into what matters most: voting for Tammany.
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Starting in August, newspaper articles citing Tammany Hall begin to emerge—
through 21st Century online databases—in the New York Herald, and its weekly
subsidiary the Weekly Herald. Started in 1835, its editor is James Gordon Bennett
Sr. By 1861, the Herald will have a circulation of 84,000 copies, and will call itself
“the most largely circulated journal in the world.” 19
On August 31, the Weekly
Herald reports:
“The most active instrumentality at present in the field for Mr. Polk, appears to be that of the
‘Empire Club’—of the extent of whose powers to aid the cause, and the value of whose agency,
we believe not very many require special enlightenment. We miss the great guns at the public
meetings of the democracy. The scepter of old Tammany appears to have been idly cast away, and
neither in the newspaper organs, nor in the popular gatherings do we recognize that dignified,
bold, confident and authoritative tone and character which distinguished them in other days”
With this article stating “The scepter of old Tammany appears to have been idly cast
away…” the Herald confirms that Tammany Hall is now ruled from the bottom of
the economic ladder to the top.
On September 4, the Democratic State Convention is held in Syracuse, New York.
Silas Wright and Addison Gardiner are nominated candidates for Governor and
Lieutenant Governor. Wright is the long term Senator from New York, a former
member of the Albany Regency, and friend and colleague of Martin Van Buren.
GardinerislawyerfromRochester,NewYork,andaformerJudgeoftheEightCircuit
Court of New York. Governor Bouck willingly agrees not to run for reelection.
A daguerreotype of Silas Wright, by the studio of Mathew Brady.
From the collection of the Library of Congress.
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On September 10, the New-York Evening Post reports of a:
“GREAT MEETING AT TAMMANY HALL.
The democrats of the city of New York assembled last evening at Tammany Hall, to
respond to the nomination at the Syracuse Convention.
As might have been expected from the enthusiasm with which the nominations of Silas
Wright and Addison Gardiner have been received, the assemblage was prodigiously large; so large
that it was impossible for hundreds who came to obtain access to the building.”
On October 29, with the State and National elections impending, the New-York
Herald reports of Isaiah Rynders quelling a divisive meeting at Tammany Hall.
Levi D. Slamm, presiding over the meeting, attempts to address the raucous crowd:
“I hold in my hand—(confusion)—which will be published to-morrow in the public journals.
(Cries of ‘read it,’ and tumult) I now hold in my hand, (hissing and cheering) and I will now read
it (violent tumult for several minutes, during which the speaker attempted to read it, but was
completely drowned with cries of ‘turn him out,’ ‘sit down,’ &c.)
At this moment there were some indications apparent their threats would be fulfilled,
when a person calling out ‘why don’t you turn him out—try it.’ There was a rush to the platform,
during which Capt. Isaiah Rynders, of the Empire Club arose and slapped his hand energetically
on the desk, which had the effect of restoring a partial calm.
Mr. Rynders stepped forward, and his presence produced great comparative
tranquility. He said that he regretted that division should appear on the eve of victory.”
On October 31, the New-York Herald reports of competing Whig and Democratic
throngs in City Hall Park:
“At the gate to the Park, opposite to Tammany Hall, there was assembled a great number of persons
having Clay badges, while on the other side were a still greater numbers, shouting loud and long of
‘Polk and Dallas’—‘Free Trade’—‘Our Country’s Freedom’—‘Wright and Gardner’—‘Three groans
for the Whigs,’—‘Down with Henry Clay,’ &c &c. On the Park side these were responded to by
‘Three cheers for Henry Clay,’ Ditto for ‘Theodore Frelinghuysen,’—‘American Industry,’—‘No
foreign influence’—‘Fillmore and Wilkin.’ ”
“Fillmore and Wilkin” refer to Millard Fillmore and Samuel J. Wilkin, the Whig
nominees for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York. Wilkin is a former
anti-Jacksonian member of Congress from the Sixth Congressional District on
Long Island. Fillmore is a lawyer from Western New York, a former National-
Republican, a Loyal Whig. Much more will be heard from Millard Fillmore.
The first week of November sees the presidential election, and in New York
State, the gubernatorial election, the election for state senate and assembly, and
the congressional elections. With the presidential election hinging on the Texas-
Oregon question, Polk invokes the concept of Manifest Destiny, yet to be given
a name, that western expansion to the Pacific is America’s destiny, and manifest.
The Whigs, and later the Republican Party, reject the concept, seeing it smack of
imperialism, believing that America should set an example of democracy rather
than one of conquest. 20
Polk’s embrace of conquest brings out the Democratic
voters, especially in the West, and he narrowly defeats Clay. The gubernatorial
election is close as well, with Silas Wright defeating Millard Fillmore 49.5 to 47.4
percent. In the elections for the New York Legislature, the Democrats once again
prevail, maintaining a majority. In the congressional elections the Democrats gain
21 seats, to the Whigs 9, and the Know Nothings 4. So, as has been seen time and
time again, the Society of St. Tammany is back on top.
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InNewYork,itisinitiallybelievedthatClaywins,butwithinadayortwoitbecomes
clear that Polk is the victor. Upon hearing the news, Isaiah Rynders proceeds on
horseback to the home of New York lawyer Benjamin Butler (who, at Rynders
insistence, had placed Polk’s name in nomination at the Baltimore Convention)
to congratulate him. Remarkably, Theodore Frelinghuysen is residing at the house
next to Butler’s, presumably to take New York by storm upon his victory. On seeing
Frelinghuysen poke his head out a window to see what the ruckus is, Rynders then
addresses the defeated vice presidential candidate:
“You stated the other night sir, that you would feel glad when your time came to be
relieved of the cares of office, We Democrats have taken you at your word, As a Democrat, I
am glad to announce that James K. Polk has been elected President, and George M. Dallas Vice
President, and that, therefore, you are relieved from all further cares of duty as Vice President.”
Benjamin Butler then addresses the jubilant Rynders from his window:
“The Empire State has saved the Union, the Empire City has saved the Empire State, and
the Empire Club has saved Empire City!” 21
For all Butler’s bluster, his praise for Rynders, intimating that the Empire Club is
key to Polk’s victory, has merit. Rynders stumps the state for Polk, getting out the
vote. And a close vote it is, with Polk prevailing by just over one percent. In 1844,
New York State has the largest number of electoral votes: thirty-six. Had the scale
tipped slightly to Clay, he would be president.
On January 9, the New-York Herald reports of another celebration of the Battle of
New Orleans at Tammany Hall:
“EIGHTH OF JANUARY BALL AT OLD TAMMANY
This annual festival of the St. Tammany Society, excited more than usual interest the
present year, from the knowledge that Vice President Dallas was to be present, attended by several
other distinguished gentlemen from abroad”
One of the “other distinguished gentlemen” is Mirabeau B. Lamar, the former
President of the Republic of Texas. He and Sam Houston are brothers in arms.
Texas in January of 1845 is still “abroad,” and the fact that Lamar travels from Texas
to New York City, some 1,500 miles away, to celebrate with the future namesake
of Dallas, Texas, demonstrates that Tammany Hall is increasingly entwined in
American politics. Notably absent from the Ball is Governor Silas Wright. An
opponent of slavery, he will not live long enough to see the rise of the anti-slavery
faction of the Democratic Party: The Barnburners.
On January 18, special elections are held in the New York State Legislature to elect two
U.S. Senators. It will define the coming split in Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party of
New York, and the United States. The issue: slavery.
The first, Class 1, is to replace Senator Nathaniel P. Tallmadge who resigns to
becomeGovernoroftheWisconsinTerritory.TheelectDemocratDanielS.Dickinson,
Lieutenant Governor of New York, and future head of the pro-slavery faction of the
Democratic Party: The Hunkers. The second, Class 3, is to replace Silas Wright Jr., who
becomesgovernor.TheyelectJohnAdamsDix.DixisaformerNewYorkAssemblyman,
who will go on to be a leader of the anti-slavery faction of the Democratic Party: The
Barnburners.
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On January 21, the New-York Herald reports:
“The Ironsides Club Ball.—Last evening there were gathered together to sport ‘the light
fantastic toe,’ some three hundred members and friends of this club, at Tammany Hall. The room
was splendidly decorated, good eating and drinking provided, and everything appeared to go off
with the greatest satisfaction.”
TheIronsidesClubisanotherDemocraticclub,whichhasitsroots,asdoesTammany
Hall, in Philadelphia. 22
The phrase “the light fantastic toe,” meaning to dance nimbly,
originates in John Milton’s 1645 poem L’Allegro, which includes the lines:
“Com and trip as ye go, On the light fantastic toe.”
The phrase is updated, and immortalized in 1894 with James W. Blake and Charles
B. Lawlor’s The Sidewalks of New York. It is a song that defines the end of the 19th,
and the beginning of the 20th century in New York City. It is one of the most popular
and enduring songs about New York, with a chorus evoking a simpler time:
“East Side, West Side, all around the town
The tots sang ‘ring-a-rosie,’ ‘London Bridge is falling down’
Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O’Rourke
Tripped the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York”
Sheet Music Cover, The Sidewalks of New York,
Published by Richmond-Robbins, Inc.,1914. From the public domain.
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On January 27, the New-York Express reports of a challenge to the annexation of
Texas at a meeting at Tammany Hall, and a harsh critique of how Tammany is now
ruled by the lower social class:
“The chief thing worthy of attention at the meeting is the hands into which Tammany
Hall has fallen. The better portion of the party wished for Ex-Mayor Morris to preside. The
convicts of the Sessions, and the refugees from justice, demanded their fitting chief, Captain
Rynders. It is but fair of him to say—for justice to all is due,—that but for his forbearance in not
assuming the chair, the Ex-Mayor would not have had the honor of presiding, for the Jacobin
Captain seemed to have a decided majority of the voices with him.
The consequence of such a spirit on the part of the majority, was a manifestation of
great dislike to all among ‘the democracy; who hold back in the annexation of Texas, and a
disposition to groan at, or to hiss such men as Martin Van Buren, Silas Wright, and Preston
King. A resolution complementing Silas Wright, whom these people have just elected Governor,
was howled down.
Oh, Shame on the slave-holding aristocracy of the South, that they consort and ally
themselves with the refuse population and rabble of our Northern cities, and have in them their
own real, hearty compatriots! We say this especially for the Richmond Enquirer, who has just
been embracing Capt. Rynders and his crew of thimble-riggers, stuffers, gamblers, and loafers.”
Preston King is a Congressman from upstate New York. On November 13, 1865,
he will commit suicide by jumping into New York Harbor.
On February 21, The New-York Herald reports of Isaiah Rynders taking his cause
of the annexation of Texas to Albany:
“In our next Weekly Herald, probably, we shall be able to give a likeness of this famous
Captain, with a view of his club grouped around the stove of their club room, and deliberating
on the annexation of Texas. The Captain, himself, departed very suddenly yesterday morning for
Albany. On Friday evening he unexpectedly calls for his bill at the Exchange Hotel, in Barclay
street, and ordered the waiter to call him precisely at 5 o’clock next morning, as he proceeded to
Albany as a sort of pilgrimage to Mecca. Probably the Captain will regulate things in the capitol
and put the barn-burners and old hunkers in their proper position before he returns, just as he has
frequently here set Tammany Hall in order.”
A detail of Henry R. Robinson’s Grand Presidential Sweep-Stakes for 1849.
Isaiah Rynders, center, is seen without a hat. He views a 1848 horse race between
Zachary Taylor, Lewis Cass, and Martin Van Buren.
The “pilgrimage to Mecca” is a sly reference to Qur’an’s influence on William Marcy
defining the Spoils System. The Democratic factions in Tammany Hall and in New
York, debating slavery in the ever-expanding Southern and Western United States,
are finally given names: The Barnburners and the Hunkers.
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The Barnburners are forward thinking men who would otherwise be labeled
radicals. They oppose the expansion of National debt, corporations subsidized
by the Federal Government, and in general, opposition to the impending Polk
administration supplanting the now fragmented Albany Regency. But one issue
stands at the forefront of their beliefs: opposition to the extension of slavery. Their
name is derived, according to historian Gustavus Myers, by a contractor, presumably
a Hunker, that states: “These men are incendiaries; they are mad; they are like the
farmer, whom to get the rats out of his granary, sets fire to his own barn.” 23
Martin Van
Buren, Samuel J. Tilden, Silas Wright, and the tragic Preston King lead this faction.
The Hunkers are the conservatives. They support state chartered banks,
internal improvements supported by public debt, and are committed to staying
out of the issue of slavery. The reason for this is that they are, for the most part,
successful merchants and brokers who depend on the Southern planters and their
slaves. They are old-time office holders who want to maintain the status quo. Their
aim is to hold on to power: “to get all they can get and keep all they can get.” 24
The
origin of their name is obscure. Myers states that it has its origins in the Dutch word
honk, meaning post, goal, or home. The word hunker, as defined by the New Oxford
American Dictionary, means to squat or crouch down low. The former and future
governors of New York, William Marcy, Horatio Seymour, as well as Senator Danial
S. Dickinson are among its leaders.
So, as Tammany Hall goes, so goes the Nation. While the Barnburners and
the Hunkers originate in New York State, they mirror the divisions within the United
States, which will come to a head in sixteen years. The following political cartoon,
shows the complexities that will face the Democratic Party in the coming years. In
it William Cullen Bryant, and Benjamin F. Butler, former United States Attorney
General under Martin Van Buren, sit atop a burning barn. John Van Buren is seen
raising a ladder, while his father Martin, depicted as a fox is seen leaping off the roof.
Meanwhile, Franklin Pierce is seen to the side, stuck in the mud.
Barn-Burners In A Fix.
Published by John Childs, 84 Nassau Street, New York, 1852.
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On March 1, the New-York Evening Post prints the following advertisement:
“AMERICAN REPUBLICAN BALL, of the 7th and 13th wards, to be held at Tammany
Hall, on TUESDAY EVENING, March 4th 1845.
THOMAS E. SUTTON, Chairman. J.N. Leggett, Secretary
Tickets for the above Ball can be had of S.N. Leggett, 480 Grand st. or Wm. Madden,
corner of East Broadway and Catharine st.”
The timing of the American Republican Party trying to stage a Nativist Ball at
Tammany Hall is no coincidence. It is clearly trying to steal the thunder of the
inauguration of James Polk. These efforts will be in vain.
In February, Congress, mindful of James K. Polk’s arrival in Washington, and
after several amendments expanding the pro-slavery provisions of Tyler-Texas
treaty, passes a bill that allows President-elect Polk to offer the Republic of Texas
immediate annexation into the Union, and President Tyler signs it on March 1. 25
On March 3, his last day in office, Tyler preempts Polk, and sends by courier the
provisions of the bill directly to the Republic of Texas in Houston City, offering
Texas admission to the Union. 26
On March 4, Democrats James K. Polk and George M. Dallas are inaugurated
President and Vice President of the United States. Now president, Polk allows
Tyler’s dispatch to Texas to go through. 27
On March 6, President Polk appoints former senator, governor of New York, and
Tammany Hunker, William L. Marcy as his Secretary of War.
On March 13, the New-York Evening Post reports:
“Glorious Celebration.—Monday next will be signalized with all the splendor of an
Inauguration and Annexation Ball at Tammany Hall, in honor of the birthday of General Jackson.
It is wise and patriotic to celebrate this day, and the committee, consisting, as it does, of members
ot the Tammany Society and the two General Committees, furnish an ample assurance to the
public that the preparations will be made on a scale of elegance hitherto unequalled”
This Ball, which receives the blessing of the Society of St. Tammany, is clearly
staged by the Hunkers.
On March 15, the New-York Evening Post reports:
“The Day.—This 17th day of March is an important day on the calendar. It is what is
popularly called St. Patrick’s Day, and will be observed in the usual manner by our Irish population.
It is also the birthday of General Jackson, and to-night there is to be a grand ball at Tammany Hall,
in honor of the old patriot and sage.”
Celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day occur in New York City since before the
Revolutionary War. According to Edward O’Reilly, the manuscript reference
librarian of the New-York Historical Society, the first known reference to a
celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in New York City is in the New-York Post Boy of
March 1756. The first known reference to a St. Patrick’s Day parade is in the New-
York Gazette of March 1766. Irishmen serving in the British Army stage these
events.
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After the Revolutionary War, the Irish-American societies stage parades on the
4th of July. By the 1840s these societies band together and begin marching on
March 17. This parade will become one of the largest in the world. The Post’s
linking Andrew Jackson to St. Patrick is no accident. Jackson’s parents are Scotch-
Irish immigrants from Ulster, now Northern Ireland. March 15, 1845 is Andrew
Jackson’s seventy-eighth birthday. It will be his last.
By this time, a potato blight, that has been traced to Mexico, 28
having spread to
NorthAmerica,makesitswaytoIreland.IthasbeensuggestedthatshipsfromNew
York City and other North American ports bring the blighted potatoes to Ireland,
as well as Europe, where it rapidly spreads. 29
The result is the Great Hunger—an
Gorta Mór: Ireland’s Great Famine, which will last until 1852. It decimates the Irish
population, with at least a million people dying and a million more emigrating
from Ireland. 30
Many of these immigrants make their way to New York City, and
from 1840 to 1850 its population swells from 312,000 to 515,000. 31
In addition
to the Irish, the Germans, also immigrate to New York, having suffered from the
potato blight as well. 32
On March 21, the New-York Evening Post reports of a convention at Tammany
Hall that meets to nominate the Democratic candidate for mayor. Two men lead
the pack. One is the industrialist and inventor of the first American steam engine,
the Tom Thumb, Peter Cooper. The second is the son of a German immigrant and
sugar refiner. His name: William F. Havemeyer. Havemeyer wins the nomination
on the second ballot. The Post states its opinion of him:
“A better nomination could have hardly been made. Mr. Havemeyer is one of our best
known and respectable merchants; a man of business habits and tried integrity; whose political
principles have always been decidedly democratic, and who possesses the ability, as well as the
disposition, to administer our municipal affairs with economy and decision.”
A detail of a daguerreotype of William F. Havemeyer,
by the studio of Mathew Brady. From the collection of the Library of Congress.
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What the Post does not state is that by 1845 Havemeyer has retired from business,
and is independently wealthy. His father, also named William, establishes one of
the first sugar refineries in New York City in 1809. Along with his cousin Frederick,
William follows his father’s lead, and the two of them establish their own sugar
refining company in 1828. In 1842, William sells his interest in the company to
his brother Albert, establishing his fortune. In 1844, Havemeyer enters politics,
becoming a Democratic elector for James Polk. By this time he is on the General
CommitteeofTammanyHall.33
Havemeyer,runningagainstnativistJamesHarper,
is touted in the campaign as a “native New Yorker” by the Tammany Democrats. 34
Making a good case for nepotism, the Havemeyer family will come to
dominate sugar refining in the United States and the world into the 20th century. In
1856, Frederick C. Havemeyer expands his company to Williamsburg, Brooklyn,
just north of Wallabout Bay, building what will become the largest sugar refinery
in the world. The Brooklyn refinery becomes known as Domino Sugar at the turn
of the 20th century.
On April 8, the New York City charter election is held. It is a three-way race. In
addition to the incumbent mayor, James Harper running on the nativist American
Republican ticket, and the Democratic nominee, William Havemeyer, the Whig
Party’s choice is Dudley Selden. Selden is a former Jacksonian, having served in
Congress from 1833 to 1834, when he resigns, presumably protesting Jackson’s
anti-bank policies. Selden essentially plays the part of spoiler, getting 7,082 votes.
Harper receives 17,472, and Havemeyer prevails, winning solidly with 24,183. In
addition, the Democrats win a majority in the Common Council. 35
On May 13, Mayor Havemeyer formally adopts the Municipal Police Act,
disbanding “Harpers Police,” and with it comes the task of appointing the
Superintendent of Police. The New-York Herald of May 26 reports of Havemeyer
meeting with the Tammany controlled Common Council:
“Mayor Havemeyer and the Democracy.—Appointment of Justice Taylor.—The
nomination of Justice Taylor, by the Mayor as Superintendent of Police, has created a perfect
tempest —a genuine hurricane amongst the ranks of the democratic party throughout the city and
its five thousand grogshops. There will be a prodigious struggle made to defeat this appointment
and throw out the nomination.”
What does Tammany have against Mr. Taylor, who is a police justice at the Tombs?
Nothing, except that he is a Whig. The Tombs is the informal name given to the
Hall of Justice and House of Detention, built in 1838 on the edge of the Five Points.
It replaces the colonial Bridewell Prison, which was located on the edge of City
Hall Park. Mayor Havemeyer presumably seeks to appoint Taylor based on his
merit. It is not to be. The Common Council holds sway and they reject Taylor.
After the Common Council rejects Justice Taylor, Havemeyer nominates
George W. Matsell, also a police justice at the Tombs, for Superintendent of Police,
andtheCommonCouncilapproveshim.36
Thecityisthenisdividedintothreepolice
districts, with their associated station houses, courts, clerks and magistrates. As
alluded to in the Commercial Advertiser, and showing the beginning of Tammany’s
influence over the New York Police Department, the Common Council doles out
the eight hundred new positions of police officers to their own: loyal Democrats,
some of whom are members of the gangs of New York. 37
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1845 On June 8, Andrew Jackson dies at his plantation, The Hermitage, in Nashville,
Tennessee. On June 17, the New-York Commercial Advertiser reports of a letter
sent to the Common Council:
Mayor’s Office, June 16, 1845
To the honorable the Common Council:
Gentlemen—Intelligence has reached me this afternoon, in apparently authentic form, of
the death of General Andrew Jackson. He expired on Sunday, June 8th at 6 o’clock, at his residence
at the Hermitage. I have thought it proper to communicate officially to you this event, in order that
you may take measures to enable the people of this city, in sympathy of the whole people of the
Union, to manifest their sorrow for the national loss.
With great respect, gentlemen, Yours, &c. W. F. HAVEMEYER.”

A daguerreotype of Andrew Jackson, taken shortly before his death.
Attributed to Edward Anthony, Mathew Brady Studio.
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On June 23, the New-York Evening Post reports of a massive funeral procession
held in New York City in honor of the late Andrew Jackson. The arrangements
are held in concert with the City of Brooklyn. Thirteen Divisions of the United
States Army march through the streets of lower Manhattan, ending up in front of
City Hall, where a prayer, oration, requiem, and a benediction are delivered. The
Society of St. Tammany, the Democrats, the Whigs, and the American Republicans
all march together with the Fifth Division.
In July, President Polk dispatches 3,500 American troops to the disputed Nueces
Strip: the area in what will become the State of Texas, bordered by the Nueces
River in the north, and the Rio Grande in the south. A veteran of the War of 1812,
and the Second Seminole War leads the troops. His name: Zachary Taylor. At
this time, Mexico believes that the Republic of Texas’ southern border ends at the
Nueces River.
In the November elections for New York State, Democrat and Barnburner Samuel
J. Tilden is elected to the Assembly, beginning his long career in politics that will
have its zenith in the presidential election of 1876. The Democrats maintain their
majority in the State Senate and Assembly. The New-York Commercial Advertiser
of November 8 sums up the results:
“The die is cast—the election has been decided, and the Whigs have suffered an
overwhelming defeat.—The Democratic ticket has been carried by an unusual majority.”
On December 20, the New-York Globe reports of a meeting at Tammany Hall that
includes the following excerpt from one of the resolutions:
“That in the final consummation of the great measure of the Annexation of Texas, by its
admission as a State into our confederacy, we behold one of the mighty results of the election of
James K. Polk.”
On December 29, President Polk signs legislation admitting Texas into the Union.
On January 16, the Albany Argus reports of the:
“Anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans.—The democracy of the city of New York
celebrated the anniversary of the 8th of January by giving a superb entertainment at Tammany
Hall. We have endeavored for two or three days, to copy from the Globe an account of this splendid
affair, and also the Texas and Oregon fete at Castle Garden, on the same evening—but the crowded
state of our columns with legislative and other interesting matters has prevented it.”
James K. Polk will be the last decisive president of the United States until, arguably
the greatest of all, Abraham Lincoln, fifteen years hence. After Polk, the Nation will
suffer a progression of increasingly lame presidents. By the end of his term, Polk
will oversee the greatest expansion of the United States since Jefferson’s Louisiana
Purchase in 1803. By 1849, the United States, under Polk’s direction, will be a land
from sea to shining sea. Polk will deal with the issue of slavery in the West by
arguing that the Missouri Compromise line should extend to the Pacific. This will
further polarize the Nation, as mirrored by the Barnburner and Hunker factions
of the Society of St. Tammany. The anti-slavery Barnburners will give birth to a
new political party in two years time: the Free Soil Party.
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On February 14, the Republic of Texas officially becomes the State of Texas,
formally ceding its territory to the United States.
On April 4, the Weekly Herald reports on the nominations for mayor in the
upcoming election:
“The bustle and preparation consequent upon an election in the city of New York,
are now visible at every corner. The mighty upheaving of all the discordant elements of
which the several political parties are composed, is distinctly seen; the various nominees
for the mayoralty have been put forward; the usual flattering letters, accepting the honor,
have been published—the drum and fife heard in the streets at night; and the blue lights of
the procession are sending their ghastly glare over the city. The citizens of New York have,
thus far, three nominees for the mayoralty presented to them
The democratic party were for a long time divided on the nomination, on account
of the present mayor, Mr. Havemeyer, declining re-nomination; but at last settled on Mr.
Andrew H. Mickle, a respectable tobacco merchant downtown, as candidate of the party.
The Whigs proper have nominated Justice Taylor, who was selected by the fag end
of the old native party, who seeing the utter impossibility of again reaching power in this
city, assumed the name of City Reformers and formed a coalition with the whigs, with the
hope of securing a portion, at least, of the loaves and fishes.
The natives have nominated Wm. B. Cozzens as their candidate for the same
office.”
Mayor Havemeyer’s declining to run for second term is because the Common
Council, which is dominated by Tammany Hall, constantly thwarts him.
Independently wealthy, he has no need for graft or patronage, and genuinely tries
to effect reform in the city, only to run head first into the Common Council.
Their rejecting Justice Taylor as Superintendent of Police is just one example.
It is not the last we will hear from Havemeyer. By contrast, Andrew H. Mickle
is considered “one of the people.” Legend has it that he is born in shanty in the
“Bloody Ould Sixth” that is occupied by a dozen pigs. 38
As a tobacco merchant, he
is dependent on the southern planters, and their slaves who raise their tobacco.
In contrast, Havemeyer, by this time, is a committed Barnburner, opposed to
slavery. Justice Taylor, the Whig nominee, as noted in the Herald, is just going
through the motions. Nativest nominee William B. Cozzens is one of the original
proprietors of the restaurant and bar at Tammany Hall along with Abraham
“Brom” Martling. We last hear from Cozzens in 1825 after he is summarily
replaced at Tammany Hall, and opens an inn at West Point, whose fare, according
to cadet Robert E. Lee, is “untouchable.” What Cozzens has been doing for the
last twenty years is unclear.
On April 4, leading up to the mayoral election, the New-York Evening Post prints
the following notice:
“Notice is hereby given, that the Naturalization Committee appointed by the Democratic
General Committee will be in session at Tammany Hall from 10 till 2 o’clock, every day (Sunday
excepted) until after the election.”
Again, the Society of St. Tammany, to get out the vote, speeds the naturalization,
through corrupt judges, of the multitude of immigrants having just fallen off the
boat, literally—the Atlantic voyage being notoriously brutal—who are beginning
to flee the potato famine of Europe and Ireland. Andrew Mickle goes on to win a
decisive victory.
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On April 23, the current president of Mexico, Mariano Paredes, declares his intent
to fight a “defensive war” against American encroachment in the Nueces Strip. It
is worth noting that in 1846 alone, the Mexican presidency changes hands four
times. On April 25, the Mexican Cavalry cross the Rio Grande, and falls upon a
70 man United States Army patrol commanded by Captain Seth Thorton, killing
16 soldiers. 39
On May 11, President Polk addresses Congress, stating that:
“Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States and shed American blood on American
soil. She has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced, and that the two nations are now at
war.” 40
On May 13, Congress declares war on Mexico.
On May 19, the Albany Argus reports:
‘THE EMPIRE CITY IN THE FIELD!
[From the Globe of Friday.]
MEETING IN RELATION TO OUR AFFAIRS WITH MEXICO.
At a meeting of citizens held last evening, to talk into consideration our relations with the
Mexican Government, and to suggest such measures as may tend to a vigorous prosecution of the
war against Mexico…”
On August 8, on the Saturday before it is set to adjourn, President Polk submits a
request to Congress for $2,000,000 to sway Mexico to end the war. The timing of
this request is calculated to prevent any debate. But David Wilmot, Congressman
from Pennsylvania, along with Barnburner Preston King of New York, among
others are ready. In a special night session, Wilmot introduces a rider to the
appropriations bill that will ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. It
comes to be named the Wilmot Proviso. It passes in the House, but is defeated in
the Senate. It will be reintroduced two more times, and become a major factor it
the presidential election of 1848.
On September 3, the New-York Evening Post reports of a meeting at Tammany
Hall. The article carries lengthy resolutions commending the Democratic
controlled 29th United States Congress, President Polk, Vice President Dallas, and
support for the war with Mexico. In addition, according to the Post, the following
resolution is carried without dissent:
“Resolved, That our distinguished governor Silas Wright continues to enjoy the
unbounded confidence of the democracy of the city and state—faithful to their doctrines, to the
interests to the state, an able upright and talented executive, he is well deserving of the continued
regard of the people who are satisfied their best interests could not be in safer hands.”
On September 4, the Albany Evening Journal has a different take on the meeting:
“Tammany-Hall is great on Resolutions! They ‘go it blind’ there. On Wednesday evening,
at a gathering, Resolutions in favor of Polk, Wright, Free Trade, Oregon, and the War with Mexico,
were adopted. ‘Mike Walsh’ undertook to show the absurdity of glorifying Texas, Free Trade, and
Gov. Wright, in the face of the fact that His Excellency voted against the Annexation of Texas, and
in favor of the Tariff of ’42. But ‘Mike’ was put down and the Resolutions carried.”
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And so, the struggle between the Barnburners and the Hunkers continues, with
Mike Walsh being the wild card. This division between the two factions of the
New York Democratic Party does not bode well for Silas Wright.
By this time, Mike Walsh’s The Subterranean is the most virulently independent
newspaper since James Cheetham’s American Citizen, published from 1800 to
1810. The Subterranean carries the motto: “Independent in everything—Neutral
in nothing.” Two quotes from his newspaper demonstrate its extreme nature. The
first, his take on Tammany debauchery:
“Accident. Pierre Young, the well known smoucher, met with a very serious accident at the late
dinner and debauch given by that incorrigible set of loafers known as the Tammany Society. It
appears, as near as I can gather, that on rising to give a toast, toward the close of the performance,
he pulled out his handkerchief to wipe the grease and slabber from his face, when some six or eight
pounds of ham and other eatables dropped upon the floor.”
The second, his anti-Semitic remarks on Jewish Alderman Mann Hart:
“Mann-Manessa-or whatever the devil it is-Hart, the wandering Jew who formerly speculated
in the cast-off garments of Congressmen, and who is now Alderman of the Fifth Ward, and a
pretended broker, shaver, or bogus money dealer in Wall street, takes pretty extensive airs upon
himself since he got into the Common Council.” 41
Articles of this ilk cause Walsh to be accused of libel, and he is convicted and sent
to the prison on Blackwell’s Island in the East River for a brief time.
Blackwell’s Island Penitentiary.
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On October 26, the Albany Evening Journal reports:
“Mike Walsh is one of the Tammany Hall nominees for the Legislature! Well, Mike’s
reputation is a great deal worse than his heart; and he has a hundred fold more talent than ninth
tenths of the Loco Focos who have represented the city—Will he be elected? Doubtful. The ‘upper
ten thousand’ will scratch him. They deem him too closely a representative of the legitimate
principles of their party, to thrust him into the Legislature. But Mike will make a good run; and if
he is not elected, it will be no fault of the ‘b’hoys.’ ”
On November 3, the New York State elections are held are held. It is a contentious
one. In the governors race the Whig candidate is John Young, a United States
Congressman from upstate New York. The Democrats seek the reelection of Silas
Wright. The Whig candidate for Lieutenant Governor is Hamilton Fish, and for the
Democrats, incumbent Addison Gardner. Young easily defeats Wright, but Gardner
is reelected. In the race for Congress the Whigs take 21 seats to the Democrats 11.
The Democrats maintain a majority in the State Senate, but the Whigs prevail in the
Assembly, however Michael Walsh is elected as a Democrat. Although Hamilton
Fish, a former Congressman is defeated, his political career is just getting started.
On December 28, the New-York Evening Post reports of:
“RELIEF TO IRELAND.
On Saturday evening, in accordance with the previous notice, a large number of people
assembled at Tammany Hall, to take into consideration the famishing condition of the people of
Ireland, and to devise a means for their relief. A.H. Mickle, Esq., Mayor, presided, and after reading
the call of the meeting, addresses were delivered by Messrs, Connery, Greeley, and Hogan. These
gentlemen presented the most vivid accounts of the destitution and suffering of the Irish people,
and the necessity of doing something immediately for their relief.”
“Messrs. Greeley” is Horace Greeley, the noted editor of the New-York Tribune.
InFebruary,PrestonKingreintroducestheWilmotProvisotoCongress,amending
it to state:
“—And be it further enacted, that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
in any Territory on the Continent of America, which shall hereafter be acquired by, or annexed to,
the United States, except for crimes whereof the party shall be duly convicted: Provided always,
that any person escaping into such Territory, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in
any one of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed out of said
territory to the persons claiming his or her service.” 42
Again, the Proviso passes in the House, and is defeated in the Senate. King would
have done well to quit at “duly convicted,” because what follows becomes a template
for the notorious Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
On April 4, the Albany Evening Journal reports:
“Sherman Brownell, after a long struggle in the Convention, has been nominated at
Tammany Hall, for Mayor of New York.”
J. Sherman Brownell is a Tammany Sachem and merchant. In 1839, he is elected
Register of New York City, defeating James Gulick, the former chief of the New
York City volunteer fire department.
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On April 20, the New York City mayoral election is held. Andrew Mickle returns
to private business, going on to become extremely wealthy. 43
Opposing Democrat
nominee Brownell is the Whig candidate, William V. Brady. The spoiler candidate
is an obscure independent by the name of Ellis G. Drake. Drake gaining 2000
votes is just enough to propel Brady over Brownell in a very tight race. Brady
is a silversmith and jeweler and a former Alderman. He is regarded as fiscally
conservative. So for the first time in ten years the Whigs gain the mayoralty.
Clearly, the division between the Barnburners and the Hunkers is the reason for
the Democrats loss.
On May 1, the New-York Evening Post prints the following notice;
“Society of Tammany or Columbian Order.
Brothers:—A regular monthly meeting of the Society of Tammany, or Columbian, will be
held in the Council Chamber of the Great Wigwam, on MONDAY EVENING, May 3d, at half an
hour after the setting of the sun. General and punctual attendance is requested.
By order of the Grand Sachem,
ASBURY W. KIRK, Secretary
Manhattan,SeasonsofBlossoms,FourthMoon;YearofDiscovery355th;ofIndependence,
71st; and of the Institution, 58th.”
This notice shows that the Society of St. Tammany continues to use quaint quasi-
Native American language. In keeping with its doctrine to keep the private aspects
of the society private, the Grand Sachem goes unnamed.
On May 8, the New-York Evening Post reports on:
“THE CELEBRATION AND ILLUMINATION.
“Yesterday was the day set apart for the city authorities to celebrate the victories achieved
by the American arms in Mexico. At sun-rise a salute was fired from the Battery and Tompkins
Square, which was repeated at the same places at noon. The shipping, the various hotels and public
buildings, at early dawn, were decked with flags, which continued to wave until a late hour in the
evening. The day was not only celebrated by the residents of the city, but thousands flocked in from
the neighboring towns and villages to witness the display. By noon the principal thoroughfares
were crowded with people, so that at times it was almost impossible to pass along.”
The article goes on to state:
“It was a general remark that the proprietors of Old Tammany had outdone their
neighbors, their exhibition being the most complete. A constant stream of rockets and a beautiful
display of appropriate fireworks issued from the top of the building.”
What New York City and Tammany Hall are celebrating is General Winfield Scott’s
Mexico City Campaign. Augmenting Zachary Taylor’s campaign in northeastern
Mexico, President Polk dispatches General Scott by sea, departing from New
Orleans, to Mexico’s Bay of Campeche, with the intent of invading Mexico’s
heartland. On March 19, Scott achieves the United States’ first major amphibious
landing at Veracruz, beginning the siege that city. Veracruz surrenders after
twelve days. Among Scott’s invading force are Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. After flanking and routing Antonio López de Santa
Anna’s forces at Cerra Gordo, Scott arrives at Mexico’s second largest city, Puebla,
in early May and enters the city unopposed. 44
It is worth noting that the people
of Puebla hate Santa Anna, and that the Mexican government is in disarray. 45
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Scott’s disciplined troops treat the Mexican civilians with respect, winning their
hearts and minds. Ahead is the successful capture of Mexico City. 46
Already a
veteran of the War of 1812, and the Indian Wars, Winfield Scott will go on to
serve longer than any other general in the United States Army, fifty-three years.
Many online lists cite him as one of the greatest American generals. A veteran
of politics, seeking the Whig presidential nomination in 1840, he will attempt it
again in 1848, and finally prevail in 1852.
From the collection of the New York Public Library
On June 23, the New-York Evening Post reports of President Polk’s impending visit
to New York City:
“ We understand that the Society of Tammany has made arrangements to appear in full
force at the reception of the President of the United States on Friday. An excellent band of music is
engaged. Several military companies have tendered their services as an escort, and their offer has
been accepted. It is suggested to our democratic fellow citizens would do well to rally round the
tri-colored cap of the society and join them in the procession. The society, we are informed, will be
at the head of the civic procession.”
On June 28, the New-York Evening Post reports:
“At nine the President visited Tammany Hall, where he was introduced by Alderman
Purdy to an immense throng, attended by much cheering and great clapping. The President replied
briefly and then was conducted to his apartments at the Astor.”
“Alderman Purdy” is Elijah F. Purdy, a Society of St. Tammany Sachem. “The Astor”
is Astor House, the first luxury hotel in New York City, located at Broadway and
Vesey Street. John Jacob Astor, who by this time is the wealthiest man in America,
builds it in 1836. The fact that the Society of St. Tammany is able to fête President
Polk, at a low point in their political influence in New York—having lost the race
for mayor and governor to the Whigs—shows Tammany’s continued impact on
national politics. However, this celebration is but a momentary truce between the
Barnburners and the Hunkers.
315

Tammany Hall Factions Clash Over Slavery

Tammany Hall Factions Clash Over Slavery

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