BOSS TWEED: The Corrupt Pol who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York (70 page)

Chapter 19. Prison
(pages 280–293)

1. “The reporters did this”
   :
   New York Sun
   , November 25, 1873.
   

2. “as well as I can be …”:
   New York Sun
   , November 25, 1873.
   

3. “The sight or thought of William M. Tweed …”:
   New York World
   , November 20, 1873.
   

4. Barlow sent Brennan a blistering … “that William M. Tweed be at once removed…”: Letters between Barlow and Brennan, November 28, 1873, in the
   New-York Times
   , November 29, 1873.
   

5. “Perhaps I ought to be grateful …”:
   New-York Times
   , November 30, 1873.
   

6. Blackwell’s Island: See Jackson, p.1020-1021, and
   New-York Times
   , November 27, 1873.
   

7. “You have brought me here …”: Report of Commissioner Stern, from
   New York Sun
   , April 10, 1871.
   

8. “Tweed would have been killed …”:
   New York Sun
   , April 6, 1874.
   

9. “A woman comes [to Tweed’s room] …”:
   New York Sun
   , April 18, 1874.
   

10. “The sentence which consigned Tweed …”: Report of Commissioner Stern, in
    New York Sun
    , April 10, 1871.
    

11. “William M. Tweed might, in the eyes…”:
    New-York Times
    , April 10, 1874. See also
    New-York Times
    , April 5,6,10,17, and December 11, 15, 31, 1874.
    

12. inmates … faked … cases of smallpox:
    New-York Times
    , April 17, 1874.
    

13. “There he goes.” “There’s the old man”: Description of Tweed from
    New York Sun
    , June 20, 1874.
    

14. Tweed … letter to his sister-in-law Margaret: Letter to Margaret Tweed, March 21, 1874, in Hershkowitz, p. 266.
    

15. Tweed’s … testimony: Proceedings from the
    New York Herald
    , June 20, 1874. Asked if officials from the Tweed Association had asked him to contribute money to the club, Tweed said: “I should think they did… they called so often, I got tired of them and would not see them.” Asked if he’d refused the request, he said: “I did, because I hadn’t it. I was in trouble about the negotiation of property.” The trial would end on a jury deadlock.
    

16. “expression of almost tearful pleasure …”:
    New York Herald
    , June 20, 1874.
    

17. “enforced regularity of the life …”:
    New York Herald
    , December 18, 1874.
    

18. “We have got it!” ... “Well, I expected it …”:
    New-York Times
    , June 16, 1875.
    

19. “grim satisfaction [of a] public humiliation …”: Letter from O’Conor to Noah Davis, June 30, 1875, in
    New-York Times
    , July 16, 1875. See also Townsend, p. 110.
    

20. “He was the best…” “He stood his imprisonment…”:
    New-York Times
    , June 16, 1875.
    

21. “You are my prisoner…” “Oh, I know that…”:
    New York Sun
    , June 23, 1875.
    

22. “His hair has become white”:
    New-York Times
    , June 23, 1875.
    

23. “walked briskly and with an upright bearing…”:
    New York Sun
    , June 23, 1875.
    

24. “We do not now believe—…”:
    New-York Times
    , November 26, 1875; Bowen, p. 201.
    

25. “because he is the only leading member …”:
    New-York Times
    , June 16, 1875.
    

26. The warden had allowed Tweed this privilege: Warden Dunham acknowledged four occasions; interviews by
    New York Times
    reporters confirmed seven sightings including Thanksgiving Day.
    New-York Times
    , December 6, 1875.
    

27. Joseph Johnson … ”merely nominal”:
    New-York Times
    , December 6, 1875. On “Mrs. MacMacMullin, see letter from Carolyn O’Brien Bryant to Charles Fairchild, in
    New-York Times
    , July 19, 1877.
    

Chapter 20. Escape
(pages 294–314)

1. “Now, is it likely …”: New-York Times
   , December 30, 1871.
   

2. “I shall follow him wherever …”: New York Sun
   , December 5, 1875.
   

3. Tweed had kept his plan utterly secret: There is no definitive account of Tweed’s escape and flight, through Tweed, speaking through lawyer John Townsend, described as “perfectly correct” the narrative that appeared in
   Harper’s Weekly,
   April 14, 1877. (Tweed testimony, Aldermen, p. 373-375.) See also
   New York Herald
   , September 13, 1876, and sources cited below. For a different slant, see the tale told by Captain James Bryan of the schooner
   Joe Kelly
   , who spoke to a reporter twelve years after the fact and claimed to have personally carried Tweed from Coney Island to Cuba, in
   New York Tribune
   , April 1, 1888.
   

4. “GONE AT LAST”:
   New York Herald
   , December 5, 1875.
   

5. Tweed … in Canada, Long Island, Savannah, Cuba, Texas: See
   New-York Times
   , December 16, 23, 25, and 29, 1875. Even now, some New Yorkers sympathized with him. James Gordon Bennett Jr.’s
   New York Herald
   argued that Tweed had acted only to strengthen his hand in negotiating with prosecutors or to get vengeance on former allies “who have of late, to use the vernacular, ‘gone back on him.’”
   New York Herald
   , December, 14, 1875.
   

6. “What could I do with myself?”:
   Harper’s Weekly
   , April 14, 1877.
   

7. “I am ruined” … “like an insane man”: Keeper Hagen’s statement, in
   New York Herald
   , December, 5, 1875.
   

8. “Flight is always interpreted…” “a great mistake”: Hershkowitz, p. 285 and 286.
   

9. “letting all the alleged wrongdoers go free…”: Proceedings in
   The Daily Register
   , March 4, 1876.
   

10. Theories … Hunt’s actual identity: See, for instance, letter from Adee to Fish, September 7 and 11, 1877. NARA; Lynch, p. 300; Transcript of Young’s interview with Hamilton Fish, November 29, 1877. Fish papers. LC.
    

11. Spain … no extradition treaty: At the time, the United States had extradition treaties with fifteen governments: eight European (Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Norway and Sweden, the Swiss confederation, and Belgium), two West Indian, and one each in Central and South America and South Africa, plus similar arrangements with Mexico and the Sandwich Islands.
    

12. “I should have lived in Spain…”: Tweed interview,
    New York Herald
    , October 26, 1877.
    

13. “terribly sunburnt, his face being as brown…”:
    New York Herald
    , September 13, 1876.
    

14. “As soon as I got free …”: Tweed interview,
    New York Herald
    , October 26, 1877.
    

15. “I felt indisposed to talk …”: Tweed interview,
    New York Herald
    , October 26, 1877.
    

16. “Sir!” he’d screamed, “a man who is not …”: Flick, p. 274.
    

17. the “Era of Good Stealings”: See generally Summers.
    

18. FN: “When Dr. Johnson defined patriotism…”:
    New-York Times
    , September 27, 1877.
    

19. “You and Tweed went to Philadelphia …”:
    The Daily Register
    , February 29 and March 1, 1876.
    

20. “The sheriff alone …”:
    New York Herald
    , December 87, 1875.
    

21. “Tweed-le-dee and Tilden-Dum”:
    Harper’s Weekly
    , July 1, 1876; Paine, p. 336.
    

22. “Jon Brown, New Court House…”: Hershkowitz, p. 287.
    

23. New York sheriff’s wanted poster: Wanted Poster, December 6, 1875. Tweed collection, NYPL. It described Tweed as “very portly, ruddy complexion, has rather large, coarse, prominent features and large prominent nose; rather small blue or grey eyes, grey hair, from originally auburn color; head nearly bald on top from forehead back to crown, and bare part of ruddy color; head projecting toward the crown.”
    

24. “Vessel Arrived Safely”: Hall to Fish, July 28, 1876, NARA, in Hershkowitz, p. 287-288.
    

25. “If Secor is Tweed…”: Fish to Hall, July 11, 1876, in Hershkowitz, p. 288.
    

26. “No sooner had I got to Havana …”:
    New York Tribune
    , November 16, 1876.
    

27. “[H]is wife had great influence …”: Memo on Fish-Young interview, November 29, 1877. Fish papers, LC.
    

28. “had rec’d orders to let Secor …”: Transcript of Fish-Young interview, November 29, 1877. Fish papers. LC.
    

29. “I thought Tweed was a persecuted …”: Transcript of Fish-Young interview, November 29, 1877. Fish papers. LC. See also Hall to Cadwalader, September 21, 1876, and memos, November 29, 1876, State Department Archives. NARA.
    

30. “I am at this moment in receipt …”: Fish to DA Phelps, July 28, 1876. Tweed papers, NYHS.
    

31. “I try to eat what is provided …”: Tweed journal, in
    Harper’s Weekly
    , April 14, 1877.
    

32. “the old fellow [Tweed] had no coat …”:
    New York Tribune
    , November 16, 1876; Lynch, p. 400.
    

33. “Mr. Tweed, put on your coat ..”:
    New York Tribune
    , November 16, 1876.
    

34. “I think it will be advisable …”: Grant to Fish, September 13, 1876. Fish papers. LC.
    

35. “Ascertain secretly and cautiously …”: Fish to Cushing, August 2, 1876. State Department archives. NARA.
    

36. Hunter to Adee, September 9, 1876. State Department archives. NARA.
    

37. Adee… asked … Don Benigno S. Suarez…
    Harper’s Weekly
    : Letter from Adee to Nast, January 28, 1892, in Paine, p. 336;
    

38. “The generous conduct of the Spanish ..”: Adee to Fish September 27, 1876. NARA.
    

39. “I hope you will find …”: Adee to Franklin, September 22, 1876. NARA
    

40. “Tweed, traveling as Secor, …”: Adee to Fish, September 7, 1876. NARA.
    

41. “Luggage should be guarded …”: Fish to Adee telegrams, September 17 and 18, 1876. NARA.
    

42. New York Herald
    … denied … access: See Adee to Fish, September 12 and 26, 1877. NARA.
    

43. “Say also [to the Spanish] … Hunt: Fish to Adee telegram, September 17, 1876. NARA.
    

44. “Hunt” … question forever unanswered: See Hershkowitz, p. 298-299; and
    Harper’s Weekly
    , April 14, 1877 claiming Hunt first learned at Vigo of Tweed actual identity and became indignant, fearing jail as an accessory.
    

45. “Twid”… a kidnapper or child abuser: Adee to Fish, September 11, 1876, NARA..
    

46. Tilden-Hayes campaign: See Roy Morris, Jr.; Boller, ch. 23.
    

47. “The word ‘reform’ is not popular ..”: Letter from Seymour to Tilden, October 25, 1876. Bigelow (Tilden letters), p. 470; Flick, p. 307.
    

48. “Turn the rascals out “: Flick, p. 308.
    

49. “Tilden and Tweed; The Twin Leaders …”:
    New-York Times
    , July 7, 1876.
    

50. “Samuel J. Tilden was personally …”:
    New-York Times
    , July 11, 1876.
    

51. “The capture of Tweed is no accident …”:
    New York Sun
    , September 17, 1876.
    

52. “a Naval vessel should be …”: Grant to Fish, September 7, 1876. Fish papers, LC.
    

53. “The [New York] Herald is very anxious …”: Grant to Fish, September 13, 1876. Fish papers. LC.
    

54. “These details, from a stranger …”: Adee to Fish, September 18, 1876. NARA.
    

55. “His behavior was that of a perfect gentleman ..”: Lynch, p. 401.
    

56. “He evidently regards himself …”:
    New York Tribune
    , November 16, 1876.
    

57. Suicide … “wicked”: Lynch, p. 401.
    

58. “hurricane”: See
    New York Sun
    , November 24, 1876.
    

59. “very amusing remarks signifying…”:
    New York Tribune
    , November 24, 1876.
    

60. “It’s the old man. I found him …”:
    New York Tribune
    , November 24, 1876.
    

61. “[w]alking slowly… stooping …”:
    New York Sun
    , November 24, 1876.
    

62. Is Reilly elected Sheriff? …” “I see they’ve got the wires…” “careworn ….”:
    New York Sun
    , November 24, 1876.
    

63. “Hooray for the ‘ould Boss””
    New York Sun
    , November 24, 1876.
    

64. “Yes, gentlemen; Tweed is locked up …”:
    New York Tribune
    , November 24, 1876.
    

65. “Well, I thought I’d come back …”:
    New York Sun
    , November 24, 1876.
    

66. “He is crushed and broken...”:
    New York Sun
    , November 24, 1876.
    

67. “His curious, ill-conceived escape …”: Hershkowitz, p. 295.
    

68. “I did not escape from the jail”: For quote and $60,000 cost, Tweed testimony, Aldermen, p. 373-4.
    

69. “No, sir…. Tweed shall not escape …”:
    New York Sun
    , November 25, 1876.