612 



TANEY. 



livered the oration. Exactly one ye.ir later the building 

 was opened to receive tlie Democratic National Con- 

 vention which there nominated Horatio Seymour and 

 Frank P. Blair. The building is of red brick with 

 white marble trimmings. It lias a wide front and is 

 three stories high. A circular pediment U-ars the 

 inscription "Tammany Society, 1 ' with the dates 1789 

 and 18i>7. Between these in a niche is the marblo 

 statue of an Indian warrior, twelve feet hitli. 



The delegates to the ircncral committee origiinlly 

 came from each ward, but in 1S43 from each clce-.ion 

 district and finally from each precinct. The bxly 

 thus grew from 33 members to over HIM), snd 

 from having management of the campaigns to ha\ii;g 

 entire control of the political action. The society still 

 owned the hall and held formal celebrations but had 



hands of the great showman Barmim. But such ideas 

 were WKMI discarded bv its practical memtiers. ( )nc of 

 its main objects was the extension of the elective fran- 

 chise whicli had been restricted in the New York 

 Stale Constitution to freeholders of a certain amount 

 of real estate Yet actually for many years it did 

 nothing to secure this object, its energies being ab- 

 sorbed in the contest with De Witt Clinton, who had 

 at one time been its scribe but had been alienated by 

 its subserviency to Burr, and its later alliance with the 

 Livingston family, noted for its wealth in land. 

 Throughout Madison's presidency there was a rivalry 

 between him and the Clintons "old George," the 

 vi.:e-preaident, and his greater nephew De Witt hav- 

 ing some elements of that lietwcen Jefferson and Burr. 

 From Madison Tammany obtained the control of the 

 F dcral patronage, while at Albany Daniel D. Tomp- 

 kins early and late a member of I he society was now 

 governor of the State. In 1811 Tammany had reached 

 Mii-h financial success that it built its first hall. Its 

 incctin-js had heretofore been held in taverns, and 

 e-i|>ccially in Martling's Long 1 loo in, a one-story struc- 

 ture built for dancing-parties. 



After the war with Great Britain (1812-15) De Witt 

 Clinton, who was supposed to lie completely crushed 

 bv his political enemies, renewed his grand project of 

 the Krie Canal with such vigor that the people elected 

 him governor though Tammany showed its spite by 

 naming an opposition candidate The society however 

 had gained a powerful ally in Martin Van Biiren. and 

 in a number of instances it was enabled by his shrewd 

 in in.igcmcnt to win political a 1 vantages and even to 

 appear mure favorable to internal improvement, sup- 



{iort of which was the ground of the governor's popu 

 ariiy. A general meeting in Tammany Hall in 1820 

 KM! to the State constitutional convention which in JS2I 

 removed some of the restrictions on tin; elective fran- 

 chise which had been one of the society's earliest griev- 

 ances. The society itself was correspondingly enlarged 

 and became too unwieldy to conduct affairs by general 

 meetings. In 1822 a general council was therefore 

 formed, consistinz of three delegates from each of the 

 eleven wards. This council, or general committee us it 



c.nne to be called, gradually assumed the powers of the ; nephew of Cardinal McCloskey, who had assisted in 

 g'-ner.il meeting, and the society merely preserved its ] expelling the Tweed Rinir. Personally pure and with- 



hardly the semblance of power. Kvcn the 

 committee was too unwieldy for its nominal task and a 

 "committee on organization " did the serious work. 

 The chairman of this committee was the "boss" cf 

 the Hall. 



After the civil war came a succession of "rings" 

 controlling the action of the Hall. The most notorious 

 of these was the corrupt combination formed bv \V.n. 

 M. Tweed, A. Oakev Hall, Kichard B. Connolly, ami 

 Peter B. Sweeny. Having obtained from the Si ae. 

 Legislature an amended city charter, which gave t IK-IB 

 as office-holders irresponsible control of the < ity 

 finances, they doubled the annual expenditure, and in- 

 creased the bonded debt by more than fl(X>,(*> 

 A standing army of voters was obedient to their will 

 eM-rci-ed through the ai-nicy of Tammany Hall. After 

 years of wholesale peculation and embezzlement, a eferk 

 revealed to the Aeio Yurie Timex the fraudulent ac- 

 counts. Kvcn after their exposure, Boss Tweed could 

 arrogantly ask, " What are you going to do atniut it ? " 

 A committee of seventy, with the aid of Chailes 

 ii'Conor, Samuel J. Tilden, and other prominent 

 Democrats, undertook to battle, with the ring and i y 

 heroic efforts succeeded in ousting its members from 

 office ami driving them into exile or into prison. 



Yet Tammany Hall survived even this catastrophe. 

 In 1873 it passed into the control of John Kelly. 



existence for ownership of the hall and formal celebra- 

 tions. 



Before DC Witt Clinton died in JSi'S ho had again 

 b.'.'ii elected governor of New York in spile of his able 

 ami vigilant foes, but thereafter Tammany Society 

 woiked in harmony with the Democratic governors for 

 m my years. In v York city had obtained a 



charter m.iking the mayor cl<-etivc, ami a change which 

 produced increased political activity among the people. 



The " K^ml-rights" party .-nulled with the Tam- 

 many managers for control of the general meeting. An 

 inci lent of the meeting in |sr,.j gave the name "Loeo- 

 fo-ii " to these innovators and the name was afterwards 

 extended to the whole party. Tammany was defeated 

 in ire than once by the Loco-focon in local contests, but 

 in IS3'J harmony was re-established. The Democrats 

 however were defeated in 1S44, when James Harper 

 was elected mayor by the American party. When the 

 DaOMMntM party of the Slate divided into the 

 "Hunkers" anil " Barnburners " (y. pj a somewhat 

 corresponding division took place in Tammany Hall 

 between the Hards" and "Softs." the former being 

 the office holding faction. Though they united in 

 electing Fernando Wood mayor in 1854, the internal 

 MriKririe continued. In 1858 with the regular Tammany 

 nomination he was defeated and in the next year in 

 opposition to it he was elected. He began the system 

 t>f lavish municipal expenditure which had such dis- 

 astrous results soon after the civil war. 



In IHfiO the first Tammany Hall was reconstructed, 

 hilt on July 4, IKC>7. the corner stone of the i 

 bnildinc on Fourteenth street lictwi-cn Irvin: 1 Place and 



out ambition for office, he was an astuie and sn 

 political manager. The new nominations were of a 

 higher order than had been customary for many years. 

 But the growth of the Independent vote and the vari- 

 ous Democratic, secessions from Tammany had dimin- 

 ished its power. As economic questions again In^ame 

 prominent, the Democratic parly moved in the direc- 

 tion of Free Trade, while Tammany inclined to a pro- 

 tective tariff, claiming room tor that policy nn ler the 

 shield of Democracy. In IST'.I Tammanv boiled from 

 the action of the State convention MM made John 

 Kelly it.s candidate for governor, thus defeating Lucius 

 Kobinson. In ISSO its influence was used ac.iin.-t 

 (Jen. Hancock in the Presidential campaign. It en- 

 deavored to prevent Cleveland's nomination and 

 election in 1884, but without success Kelly's health 

 failed and he was obliged to withdraw from political 

 work. He died June 1, ISSiV No one has sii< 



to his power. But Tammany 1 1 all still remains I lie st 



compact organization of the Democratic party in N<-w 

 York city. _ Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, thon-rli not be- 

 longing to it, was elected mayor of New York on its 

 nomination in ISSO, but. as his Hiihscipicnt course gave 

 offeiici! to its mcnilicrs, he was defeated when :\ candi- 

 date for reelection in Isss. and H. J. Grant, Tam- 

 many'H candidate, secured the prize. (J. P. I,.) 



TANKY. K..HK.K BHOOKB(1777-18M), chief-justice 

 of the 1'nited Stales, was born in Calveit co . Md., 

 M irdi 17. 1777. He belonged to a Catholic family, 

 which had settled there a century earlier, and always 

 adhered to his ancestral faith. I le graduated at Dick- 

 inson College in I7'J.~>. and was admitted to the bar m 



Third avenue was laid and liuliunC. Virj.hn k dc- ITK'.i In the next year he was a member of the Mary- 



