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CHAPTER 3Blood and Bones

One of John B. Church’s Wogdon dueling pistols. From the collection of the JPMorgan Chase Archives.

In 1799, there is only one bank in New York City—Alexander Hamilton’s Bank of New York. It deals mainly with the merchant aristocracy and excludes the middle class craftsmen, of which many are members of the Society of St. Tammany. Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr, the former New York Senator and future Vice President, sets out to correct this. Through political maneuvering he is able to form the Bank of the Manhattan Company, begun ostensibly to establish a water system for New York City. Burr, though never a member, is a major influence on Matthew L. Davis and the Society of St. Tammany, helping it to become a political machine. A faction of the Democratic-Republican Party known as the “Burrites” is formed. It consists of members from the Society of St. Tammany. The turn of the century witnesses Thomas Jefferson defeating John Adams. It was almost not to be. Burr ties with Jefferson in the election of 1800, and is defeated only after a special election. In response to this, Jefferson will shut out patronage of the Burrites and transfers the patronage process to New York’s Governor George Clinton. This will lead to the rise of the Governor’s nephew De Witt Clinton.

In the beginning of the 19th century, New York City’s daily newspapers become highly politicized. James Cheetham’s American Citizen and William Coleman’s New-York Evening Post stand out. Federalist Alexander Hamilton backs Coleman. Cheetham criticizes the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans alike. One of his main targets is Aaron Burr. Cheetham will fan the flames of the rivalry between Burr and Hamilton that results in America’s most famous duel.

Before 9/11, before the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, before the burning of the General Slocum, there was Wallabout Bay. Lying in Upper New York Harbor, it was the location sixteen British prison ships—rotting hulks actually—where over eleven thousand unfortunate American prisoners of war perished during the American Revolutionary War. Beginning in 1803, the Society of St. Tammany seeks to built a memorial and to address what to do with the thousands and thousands of bones of the dead prisoners, that had been dumped unceremoniously off the ships, and had washed up on Brooklyn’s shore. It will take until 1808 for the society to construct a crypt and inter the bones, thus gaining much political good will.

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Blood and Bones

1796

1797

1797

1797

1797

From November 4 to December 7, the Presidential Election of 1796 is held. John Adams, running on the Federalist ticket, defeats Thomas Jefferson supported by Aaron Burr running on the Democratic-Republican ticket, to become President of the United States in what is the first contested election under the First Party System. Jefferson becomes Vice President. (This was before presidential candidates picked their running mate. The person who came second became vice president.)

On March 4, Adams and Jefferson are inaugurated President and Vice President of the United States.

On March 31, a notice in the New York Daily Advertiser announces a:

“Tammany Election. The members of the Society of St. Tammany or Columbian Order, are hereby notified, that the annual election for Sachems, Treasurer, Secretary and, Wiskinkie for the existing year will be held at their Wigwam, on Monday Evening next, 3rd April at 7:00 o’clock, the members are requested to be punctual in their attendance on that occasion.John P. Pearss, Sec’y”

On April 19, a notice in Time Piece reports:

“At a numerous meeting of republican citizens convened by public notice at Hunters’s hotel, on Thursday evening 13th of April. Cortland Van Buren, in the chair. The following persons were nominated and agreed to held up as proper characters to the city and county of New-York in the assembly of this state.

William Denning,Aaron Burr,DeWitt Clinton,Samuel L. Mitchill,Thomas Storn,Ezekiel Robins,James Fairley,Ebenezer S. Burling,Jacob De La Montagine,Williad Boyd,James Hunt, 3rd ward merchant,Philip I. Arcularius,George WarnerBy order if the meeting,Matthew L. Davis, Sec.”

Burr had resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate following Adams election. He goes on to win the New York Assembly seat from 1798 - 1799. This notice demonstrates the early connection of Burr and Tammany sachem Matthew L. Davis.

On May 12, Time Piece, showing it’s anti-federalist colors, publishes a letter from John Skey Eustace, a major general in the U.S. Army from New York. It refutes a report in the Morning Post that he is an agent for France. He goes on to lash out at, among others, President Adams:

“That I am a democrat is most true: If Mr. Washington, Mr. Adams and Mr. Jay are not so, they are red scoundrels; for they have sworn, with all their federalist citizens, to respect and sustain that form of government of the United States. I trust they will not apologize as a promise of eulogium from the editors of the malicious prints of Great Britain.”

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America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany

1797

1797

1797

On May 15, the New York Daily Advertiser publishes an account of the annual:

“Tammany Anniversary. Friday last being the 12th of May, the Tammany Society or Columbian Order celebrated their anniversary festival in their Wigwam in Broadway. At 12 o’clock the Society met for the dispatch of ordinary business, At One o’clock the doors of the Wigwam were opened for the admiration of visitors; when a considerable number of gentlemen honored the Society with their attendance.”

Once again, this demonstrates the private agenda and the public social functions of the Society. 16 toast are drunk. The third to: “The Republic of France and Holland and all governments founded on the genuine principles of liberty.” The thirteenth is to: “The liberty of the press.” President Adams will challenge the notion of a free press in the following year.

John Adams, by Asher B. Durand, from the public domain.

On June 11, Time Piece publishes an “Arrangement For the Celebration of the 4th of July, 1798, the Twenty-Third Anniversary of American Indepencence.” It is signed “By order of the Committee, S. Delamaker, Chairman. M. L. Davis, Secretary.”

On July 6, the New York Daily Advertiser reports of the 16 toasts drunk by the “Tammany Society or Columbian Order.” The fourth toast is to “The Republic of France: 9 cheers.” The tenth is to “The Peace Maker, Buonaparte: 15 cheers.”

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Blood and Bones

1797

1797

On July 31, responding to England’s establishing martial law in Ireland after France’s failed invasion, “A Letter from a gentleman of respectability at Newry, to his friend in this city, dated May 29,” is published in Time Piece. It says in part:

“I am sorry to inform you of the convulsed and disturbing state of this country; probably before this reaches you we may be in a state of civil war. The whole county of Ulster, and I may warrantably say, that the majority of the kingdom are dissatisfied at our present civil government, and I apprehend a considerable part of the army.”

It goes on to say:

“A correspondent thinks the present moment ill chosen by Mr. Adams for paying a visit to Massachusetts, when the public mind is so highly convulsed on account of an alarming conspiracy—at such a time the pilot should be at the helm.”

France is furious with the United States for its Proclamation of Neutrality and for its refusal to pay the war debt, incurred with the French Monarchy. In response to this, the French Navy’s capture of American merchant ships trading with England swells. In July, President Adams sends diplomats Elbridge Gerry, John Marshall and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to France to try to negotiate a settlement to prevent an impending war. The attempt fails when French Foreign Minister Talleyrand demands a bribe before formal negotiations begin. The Americans refuse and leave France without receiving a commission. These events are termed the XYZ Affair, for Adams substituting the letters X, Y and Z for the French diplomats in documents detailing the affair.

A hand colored etching published by S.W. Fores of London,from the collection of the Library of Congress depicts:

Property protected-à la Françoise.It shows five Frenchmen plundering lady “America” while John Bull sits laughing

across the English Channel.

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America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany

1797

1798

1798

On August 28, in increasingly strident criticism of Adams, Time Piece, publishes a letter, which in part states:

“The British faction in Boston are making a very great parade with John Adams—It seems they have prepared a ‘feast of gratitude’ for him—for what? What have been his achievements since he became president by three stolen votes?”

It goes on to say:

“If Adams was not in his dotage, this feast would not be flattering to him; for it must be obvious that it is given to the officer and not to the man, if the man was entitled to it, it would have been given before he became president—The farce of idolatry, however, it seems must be kept up—the creator must worship the creature, or that order of things cannot be made to come to pass, which ‘a detestable and nefarious conspiracy’ in this country are seeking to bring about—Monarchy.”

On May 17, the New York Daily Advertiser reports:

“Saturday the 12th, being the anniversary festival of the Tammany Society or Columbian Order, the members assembled in their Wigwam, at 10 o’clock for the dispatch of ordinary business, at the close of which, brother George L. Eacker, agreeable to appointment, delivered at long talk which for elegance and diction and patriotic sentiment was highly applauded. In the evening the members re-assembled and partook of a handsome entertainment provided by brother Martling.”

16 toasts are drunk. No mention is made of France.

In June, Adams has had enough of the anti-Federalist press. His wife Abigail, speaking of the New York newspaper Time Piece declares it a “daring outrage which called for the Arm of Government.” 1 Sensing the shift in public mood against France, and seeing an opportunity to crush the Democratic-Republicans, he pushes through Congress a series of bills collectively known as the Alien and Sedition Acts, “that set new standards for nativist paranoia and political repression.” 2

A detail of a print of Abigail Adams.From the collection of the New York Public Library.

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Blood and Bones

1798

1798

1798

1798

1798

The Acts are comprised of four different laws:

An Act to Establish a Uniform Rule of Naturalization (Naturalization Act), extending the length of time from five to fourteen years for resident aliens to achieve full citizenship.

An Act Concerning Aliens, authorizing the government to deport any resident alien deemed “dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States.”

An Act Respecting Alien Enemies, which allowed the apprehension and deportation of any resident alien whose native country, was at war with the United States.

An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes against the United States (Sedition Act), allowing imprisonment of two years anyone who was convicted of publishing “false, scandalous, and malicious writing.” 3

The Naturalization Act is clearly meant to keep new immigrants from joining the Democratic-Republican Party. It is repealed by Thomas Jefferson in 1802. The Act Concerning Aliens further enforces this. The Act Respecting Alien Enemies is still in force today as Title 50 of the United States Code, Chapter 3. The Sedition Act severely limits freedom of the press. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison react to the acts by drafting the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. These resolutions, written in secret, argue that the acts are unconstitutional, maintaining that the States could declare federal laws it did not agree with, null and void. Decades later, during the Civil War, future president James Garfield says that Jefferson’s Kentucky Resolution “contained the germ of nullification and secession, and we are today reaping the fruits.” 4

The result of the XYZ Affair is the so-called Quasi-War. On July 7, Congress rescinds the United States treaties with France. The undeclared war with France takes place at sea.

On July 13, Time Piece reports of 4th of July “Toasts of the Tammany Society, or Columbian order.” Toast three is to “Thomas Jefferson, the Philosopher, Patriot: may the declaration of independence, the work of his pen secure him the gratitude of his country and the admiration of the future ages.” Toast nine is to “The Freedom of Speech and Liberty of the Press; may every wanton and unjust abridgement of them be deemed High Treason against the majesty of a free People.” Toast fifteen states “May the existence of Kings terminate with the 18th Century.”

In late July, the editor of Time Piece, John Daly Burk is arrested on charges of libel and sedition and the newspaper is shut down. Aaron Burr and Tammany sachem Peter R. Livingston bail him out. 5

On November 15, a notice appears in the New York Daily Advertiser:

“TAMMANY SOCIETY. The Members are required to wear the usual badge of mourning for thirteen days, as a testimony of respect to the memory of Sachem Thomas Greenleaf, Sachem John Waldron, and Brothers George Snowdon, Lawrence Connelly and others, who have fallen victims to the late epidemic.

By order of the Grand Sachem, D. Dodge, Sec’ry.”

The epidemic referred to is Yellow Fever.

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America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany

1799 Aaron Burr is never a member of Tammany Hall, but his minions are. The key players are William P. Van Ness, John and Robert Swartwout and Matthew L. Davis, known as the “Little Band” or “Burrites.” Under Burr’s direction, Davis tightens up the Democratic-Republican three man ward committees. They prepare a roster of every eligible voter in the city, listing how the person had voted in the past, his interest in the Democratic-Republican cause, his financial profile, thereby allowing the ward committees to lock up the voters. 6 “Burr was our chief ” said Matthew L. Davis. 7

Aaron Burr, by John Vanderlyn, from the public domain.

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Blood and Bones

1799 Up to this time there is a monopoly in banking in New York City. It is the Bank of New York, founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1784. It demonstrates exclusionary practices that keep out Democratic-Republican investors. 8 Aaron Burr sets out to correct this. Knowing that he would be fought setting up a competing bank directly, he devises a scheme whereby he proposes a publicly chartered body called The Manhattan Company to build a reservoir and lay pipes that will deliver potable water to the city in reaction to the Yellow Fever epidemic. He quietly adds an amendment to the charter that allows the new company to invest surplus funds as it sees fit. The plan to provide fresh water to the city has bipartisan support and the Federalists ignore Burr’s amendment, added just before the votes are cast. The measure passes and the city earmarks two million dollars for the creation of the water project. The directors, headed by Aaron Burr, use one hundred thousand dollars to deliver water from pumps at the Collect, the fresh water pond located at Five Points, to a series of underground pipes made from hollow logs. 9 On April 17, the Manhattan Company forms a committee to decide what to do with the surplus—one million nine hundred thousand dollars. It becomes clear that Burr’s amendment enables the company to found a bank—and it does: The Bank of the Manhattan Company begins business on September 1 at 40 Wall Street. The bank eventually evolves into JPMorgan Chase & Company.

Section of wooden water pipe. From the collection of the New-York Historical Society.

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America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany

1799

1799

1800

1800

On September 3, the New York Daily Advertiser publishes a notice of:

“Officers of the Manhattan Company, and its different branches: President, D. Ludlow, Secretary, John B. Prevost Directors, Aaron Burr, Brockholst Livingston, John Broome, Samuel Osgood, Paschal N. Smith, John B. Coles, William Edgar, John Watts, Henry A. Coster, John B. Church, John Stevens, and the Recorder of New York ex officio, Solictor, William T. Broome,

SUPPLY OF WATER Superintendent, Joseph Browne, M.D.

BANK Cashier, Henry Remsen Tellers, 1st Whitehead Fish; 2nd Ralph Thurman. Book-keepers, 1st John S. Hunn; 2nd W.Rathbone. Discount Clerk, Juan F. Lewis Runner, Matthew L. Davis Notary, William Bleecker.”

Again, the connection between Aaron Burr and Matthew L. Davis is shown. Another director is John B. Church, who is Alexander Hamilton’s brother-in- law. The day before the bank’s opening Burr and Church quarrel with Church reportedly calling Burr a scoundrel. Burr challenges Church to a duel. At the duel in Hoboken, New Jersey, a pair of pistols owned by Church are used. These pistols will have a long history. Church knocks a button off of Burr’s coat with the exchange of fire. Before the seconds can reload, Church offers an “amende honorable” and the matter is settled. 10

On December 14, George Washington dies. John Adams reluctantly names Alexander Hamilton Senior Officer of the United States to deal with the Quasi-War.

On January 3, the New York Daily Advertiser reports:

“On the 31st of December, the Day appointed by the Citizens of New-York to pay the most solemn Funeral Honors to the MEMORY of their beloved Chief and Fellow-Citizen General GEORGE WASHINGTON, every thought was employed in preparation for the melancholy solemnity—the order of which had been announced on the proceeding day, by the Committee of Arrangement.”The procession consists of:Officer and Eight Dragoons.Sixth Regiment, in Platoons, by the left with Arms and Colours reversed—Drums and Fifes in Mourning.Eight Pieces of Field Artillery, taken in different battles during the Revolutionary War, from the British.Cavalry.Rifle Company.Officers of the Navy of the United States.Officers of the Army of the United States.Adjutant-General of the U. States and Suite.Major Gen. Hamilton and Suite.Citizens.St. Stephen’s Society.Tammany Society.”

On March 10, James Cheetham founds the New York City newspaper American Citizen.

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1800

1800

1800

Between March 31 and April 1, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, along with Henry Brockholst Livingston, successfully defend Levi Weeks in the infamous Manhattan Well Murder trial. Gulielma “Elma” Sands had disappeared on the evening of December 22, 1799. Two days later, some of her possessions were found by a well dug by The Manhattan Company at the intersection of Greene and Spring Streets. On January 2, 1800, her body is recovered from the well. Weeks had been courting Sands. According to her cousin Catherine Sands, she said that she and Weeks were to be secretly married. Other witnesses claim seeing Weeks leave with Sands, and seeing Weeks measure the well the previous Sunday. Weeks is acquitted and his defense is described as: “The Original Dream Team,” by the writer Doris Lane, in a reference to the defense of O. J. Simpson. 11 Weeks is the brother of Ezra Weeks, a prominent builder who builds Hamilton Grange, the county seat of Alexander Hamilton. Rumor has it that he is the architect and builder of Gracie Mansion, the county seat of merchant Archibald Gracie, that lies in what is now Manhattan’s Carl Schurz Park overlooking Hell Gate and the East River. The first person to document the trial is a young lawyer named William Coleman. 12

An article from the New York Daily Advertiser of January 4, 1800.

On April 4, Congress enacts the Bankruptcy Act of 1800 and the principal series, a list of case file’s of the bankrupt is published. It is in response to the depression of 1797. It is the first bankruptcy law in the United States. It applies only to merchants, brokers and traders. “It allowed the sale of the bankrupt’s assets to satisfy creditors, permitted the bankrupt to keep a percentage of his assets, and established that the consent of two-thirds of the creditors could discharge the bankrupt from any unsatisfied indebtedness.” 13

On April 4, the American Citizen publishes the notice:

“Tammany Society. The Annual Election of fourteen Sachems, A Treasurer, Secretary and Wiskinkie, will be held in the great Wigwam on Monday Evening, the 7th—The members are required to attend, with their ballots prepared; according to law.

By order if the Grand Sachem.D. Dodge, Sec’ry.”

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America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany

1800

1800

1800

1800

1800

On April 21, the New York Daily Advertiser reports: “Extract of a letter from a gentleman of unquestionable veracity, in Goshen, Orange County, to his friend in Albany, dated April 11th, 1800. ‘At a county meeting held on Tuesday last in this town, AARON BURR was unanimously nominated a Candidate for Member of Assembly’.” Burr chooses to run for assembly in Orange County rather that New York City because of his controversial role in forming the Manhattan Company. 14 He goes on to win the assembly seat.

With the Quasi-War winding down, Adams and the Federalists are denied the anti-French sentiment that it had used to suppress the Democratic-Republicans. Aaron Burr seizes on this and steps up his electioneering with the use of “Faggot voting.” The term faggot, meaning bundle. The technique involves having many workingmen become joint owner of a single piece of property, thereby allowing scores of otherwise disenfranchised Democratic-Republicans the right to vote. On May 1, the Democratic-Republicans take all thirteen-assembly seats from New York City. Columbia University professor Dr. Samuel Latham Mitchill, another Democratic-Republican wins the city’s congressional seat. This locks up the state federal electors to the Democratic-Republicans for the impending presidential election. The United States congressional Democratic-Republican caucus nominates Thomas Jefferson it’s presidential candidate and Aaron Burr for vice-president.

On May 21, the New York Daily Advertiser reports: “The MUSEUM FOR SALE. To be sold, the collection of curiosities, made by Gardener Baker, deceased, formerly exhibited in the Exchange, and at present in the building erected for the Panorama, in Greenwich Street.” Gardener Baker dies of Yellow Fever.

On August 22, there appears an obscure notice in the New York Daily Advertiser:

By this time, stung by the resurgence of the Democratic-Republicans, Adams and Hamilton begin to quarrel openly, pointing fingers at each other. Adams calls Hamilton a “bastard” claiming that he had formed a “damned faction” of “British partisans.” Hamilton responds by publishing a pamphlet accusing Adams of “disgusting egotism,” “ungovernable indiscretion,” and “distempered jealously.” 15

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Blood and Bones

1800 On October 28, the second series, certificates of discharge of the Bankruptcy Act of 1800 were published. On the roll case list is John Pintard. 16 The founder of the Society of St. Tammany is allowed to be released from debtor’s prison and resume his life. In addition to founding the New-York Historical Society, he is a trustee of the New York Society Library, and the secretary of the Mutual Assurance Company. In 1803, he travels to New Orleans, and subsequently files a report praising the French Colony to President Jefferson’s Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin and Minster to France James Monroe, to whom Pintard is related by marriage. It has been said that Pintard’s report helped convince Jefferson to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France. Deeply religious, he makes St. Nicholas the patron saint of the New-York Historical Society. In 1809, New-York Historical Society member Washington Irving, who is a cousin of Pintard, makes references to St. Nicholas in his book “Knickerbocker’s History of New York.” In 1810, Pintard publishes a broadside depicting St. Nicholas bringing gifts to the good girl and sticks to the bad boy. C. Clement Moore, who is a member of the New-York Historical Society and belongs to Pintard’s church, is clearly influenced by Pintard in his 1820 classic “A Visit from St. Nicholas (The Night Before Christmas)” thereby sealing the Santa Claus tradition for Christmas in the United States. Prior to this, the celebration of Christmas was mixed. The celebration was outlawed in Puritan Boston from 1659 to 1681.

A detail of St. Nicholas, from a broadside published by John Pintard. From the collection of the New-York Historical Society.

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America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany

1800 On October 31, the Presidential Election of 1800 begins. It pits John Adams and Charles C. Pickney, Federalists, against Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, Democratic-Republicans. The voting will last until December 3 when South Carolina breaks the tie at 65 electoral votes each by casting all 8 electoral votes to the Democratic-Republicans. However, because the electors can cast two votes, the Democratic- Republican voters cast equal votes for Jefferson and Burr, and they are tied at 73 electoral votes each. The matter will not be solved until February 17, 1801 when the Contingent Election of 1801 finally breaks the tie, electing Jefferson President and Burr Vice President. Jefferson will never forgive Burr for drawing out the election.

Thomas Jefferson, by Rembrandt Peale, from the public domain.

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1800

1801

1801

On November 24, the American Citizen reports:

“Tammany Society, or, Columbian Order. The members of the Tammany Society are requested to attend in their Great Wigwam on Tuesday next, the 25th day of November, one hour after the setting sun, to celebrate the Evacuation of this city by British troops.Each member is requested to wear a Buck Tail, the distinguishing badge of the Society, in honor of the day.A Collation will be provided by Brother Martling at Seven o’clock precisely, on when Tickets may be had on application.

By Order if the Grand SachemF. Roberts, Sec’ry.”

The “Great Wigwam” is Martling’s Tavern at Nassau and Spruce Street.

On February 17, the New York Daily Advertiser reports:

“TOASTS. Thomas Jefferson, our President elect—May congress respect the voice of the people. 5 guns and 3 cheers—Tune—Hail Liberty.

Aaron Burr—whose views would be dishonored, and whose feelings would be insulted, by being made an instrument to disappoint the wishes and expectations of the United States. 4 guns— Tune—Republican Triumphant.

Our late envoys to France—They deserved well of their country; had they not accommodated our differences with that nation, they would have deserved well of the Senate of the United States. 4 guns—Tune—Marseilles Hymn.

The state of South Carolina—She spurned at the idea of sacrificing political to local considerations. 4 guns and 3 cheers—Tune—Carmagnoh.

Agriculture—The chief strength and support of a free people—Arts, not arms, our study—no more provisional armies, and no more loans of EIGHT per cent. 3 guns. Tune—Drank the Huge Oak.

Commerce—May it be extended on peaceable and honorable principles, but never be made a pretext to involve us in dangerous connections, expensive armaments, or unnecessary wars. 2 guns. Tune—America, Commerce, and Freedom.

May the 19th century be as auspicious to the progress of liberty as the close of the last; and, with the progress of liberty may every nation not only know her own rights, but learn to respect those of others. 3 guns. Tune—Ca Ira.”

“Carmagnoh” and “Ça Ira” are French fighting songs. Edith Piaf sings “Ça Ira” in the 1954 French film “Royal Affairs in Versailles” during the pivotal scene at the storming of the palace at Versailles.

On February 21 , the American Citizen reports:

“At an extra meeting of the Tammany Society or Columbian Order, held at the Great Wigwam, on Friday evening the twentieth day of February, convened for the purpose of making arrangements for celebrating the recent Triumph of Republicanism in the election of our patriotic fellow citizens, THOMAS JEFFERSON and Aaron Burr to the offices of President and Vice President of the United States. It was unanimously Resolved,That Monday next, the twenty third day of February, current, the standard of the Society, be hoisted on the Great Wigwam, at sun rise.That at the setting of the sun on the same day, the Wigwam being generally Illuminated, the Society will assemble for the transaction of ordinary business; after which the members will partake of a collation, to be prepared by brother Martling—To which collation, each Brother may invite a invite a Republican Friend.That the Great Standard, Cap of Liberty, and banners, be arranged in the most suitable manner—That the Sachems and other Officers, appear in the Insignia of their Office.”

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America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany

1801

18011801

1801

1801

On March 4, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr are inaugurated President and Vice President of the United States.

Jefferson pardons those convicted by the Sedition Act.

In April, George Clinton runs again for Governor of New York on the Democratic-Republican ticket. His Federalist opponent is aristocrat Stephen Van Rensselaer, who is Alexander Hamilton’s brother in law. One of Rensselaer’s main supporters is William Coleman. Coleman is derided in the April 22 issue of James Cheetham’s American Citizen, predicting that Coleman, a “seller of two-pence halfpenny pamphlets, this sycophantic messenger of Gen. Hamilton will at one time or another receive a due reward.” 17 Clinton wins the election to serve his seventh term.

On May 15, the American Citizen reports: “On Tuesday, the 12th day of May, the members of the Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, assembled in their Great Wigwam, for the purpose of celebrating the anniversary of the institution.” Sixteen toasts are drunk. The fifteenth toast states: “May the Sons of Tammany who have been lost in the wilderness of aristocratic separatism, soon find the right path and be again restored to their fathers in the old wigwam.”

In early summer, William Coleman, along with Alexander Hamilton, and others, draft a plan to form a pro-Federalist newspaper. The New-York Evening Post is founded at a meeting at Gracie Mansion, the country seat of Archibald Gracie. William Coleman is named editor. Early subscribers are Tammany members Philip Livingston and Robert Swarthwout. 18

William Coleman, by H.B. Hall.From the collection of the New York Public Library.

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1801

1801

After Jefferson is inaugurated, the political infighting between Jefferson and Burr commences:

“Shortly after Jefferson’s inauguration Matthew L. Davis called upon the President at Washington and talked in a boastful sprit of the immense influence that New York had exerted, telling Jefferson that his elevation was brought about solely by the power and management of the Tammany Society. Jefferson listened. Then reaching out his hand and catching a large fly, he asked Davis to note the remarkable disproportion in size between one portion of the insect and its body. The hint was not lost on Davis, who not knowing whether Jefferson referred to New York or himself, ceased to talk on the subject.” 19

Burr submits a list of Burrites for patronage positions to Jefferson. The Little Band expects federal appointments in reward for their work in the election. Matthew L. Davis particularly craves the position of chief of the federal customhouse. It is not to be. Jefferson conveys all patronage for New York State to the new governor George Clinton. Clinton’s nephew, thirty-two year old De Witt Clinton is named head of the Council of Appointments. 20 Rather than holding elections, the Council of Appointments, which had been established by the New York Constitution in 1777, has the power to appoint all state, county and municipal officials including the New York City mayor. Thus begins the decades old battle between De Witt Clinton and Tammany Hall.

De Witt Clinton, from an etching based on a painting by John Trumbull.From the collection of the New York Public Library.

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America Through the Eyes of St. Tammany

1801

1801

1801

1801

On July 3, the New York Daily Advertiser reports:

“ARRANGMENTS For celebrating the twenty-sixth Anniversary of American Independence. At a joint meeting of the Committees from the Mechanic, Tammany and Coopers Societies, and from the Militia Officers of the Brigade if the Counties of New York and Richmond, held in Hatfield’s Tavern, for the purpose of making arrangements for celebrating the ensuing FOURTH OF JULY.Lieut. Col. Benjamin North, in the Chair.”

This notice demonstrates the connection between the between the various tradesmen of New York City.

On November 16, the first issue of the New-York Evening Post is published. In the prospectus, most likely written by editor William Coleman and publisher Alexander Hamilton, the newspaper promises to support Federalism while remaining even-handed.It states: “that honest and virtuous men are to be found in each party.” It goes on to say: The design of this paper is to diffuse among the people correct information on all interesting subjects, to inculcate just principles in religion, morals, and politics; and to cultivate a taste for sound literature.” 21 It exists to this day as Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post.

On December 3, the New York Daily Advertiser reports:

“The following gentlemen are elected Directors of the Manhattan Company for the ensuing year:Daniel Ludlow, John B. Coles,John B. Church, Walter Bowne,Brockholst Livingston, Aaron Burr,William Edgar, Samuel Osgood,Isaac Clason, John Watts,Pascal N. Smith, John R. Livingston.”

On December 15, the New-York Evening Post reports on further “Faggot voting”:

“Much public attention having been excited by the late Election of Charter Officers, for the fourth and fifth wards of this city, we have judged that it would be proper to publish a fair and correct statement of those transactions. By the charter of the city, the aldermen and assistants are to be annually chosen by the freemen being inhabitants, and the freeholders of each respective ward: and by an act of the Legislature the freehold must be of the value of fifty dollars over and above all debts charged upon it, and have been possessed at least one month before the day of such election.”

It goes on to say:

“The election, according to law was to be held on the 17th day of November. On the 10th day of October, Jasper Ward, a noted zealot of the anti-federal party, purchased from Abraham Bloodgood, the currier, another person of the same description, a lot of ground in the fifth ward, with the currier’s shop upon it, at the price of two thousand dollars, and took a conveyance for the same to thirty-nine persons, as tenants in common. On the same day a similar purchase was made in the fourth ward at the price of 3700 dollars and a conveyance made in like manner to seventy-four persons: but the premises were subject to a mortgage, upon which 1,500 dollars, besides interest were due. Both these purchases were clandestinely made for the sole and avowed purpose of procuring qualifications to vote in the next election of Charter Officers.”

On the list of newly enfranchised voters are Tammany Burrites Matthew L. Davis, Robert Swartwout and William P. Van Ness as well as American Citizen publishers James Cheetham and David Denniston.

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On February 9, De Witt Clinton delivers the following letter from George Clinton to President Thomas Jefferson in Washington:

“My nephew, Mr. De Witt Clinton, will have the honor of delivering you this letter. Permit me to recommend him to your friendly notice…. It is reasonable to conclude that I feel partiality for him, as well from the consanguinity that exists between us, as from his having, at an early period in his life, been of my family, in the confidential capacity of my private secretary. But I can with great truth, assure you that these considerations have no influence upon me in giving you his character.His present appointment (which was from a large majority) as well as different elective advantages he has previously filled, afford good evidence of his possessing the confidence of his fellow-citizens. His political principles are pure, and he has too much dignity ever to deviate from them; nor will you find him destitute of talents and information.” 22

On February 23, De Witt Clinton wins the by-election for U.S. Senator from New York.

On April 7, the American Citizen prints a response by William Coleman to a previous article in the Citizen. Coleman states:

“From the New-York Evening Post.In the Citizen of January last appears a paragraph, in which the Editor of the paper, after attempting to fix some dishonorable conduct on me, charged me with having withheld from Col. Burr his part of profits from our law partnership; which taking the whole paragraph in connection, must mean a fraudulent withholding.”

The article goes on at length, refuting the claim by reprinting two letters written to Burr. It concludes:

“Hon. Aaron Burr Esq. To account for the interval that has passed, I have only to say, that several letters have been written on my part, but, I have the mortification to add, that nothing has been received in reply of which I am permitted to avail myself in print. I must therefore rest satisfied for the present, with simply exhibiting the above, leaving it to the candid to make their own conclusions from what appears. I shall not admit a syllable by way either of explanation or comment—It only remains for me to declare, which I now do in terms explicit and unequivocal, that the charges above alluded to, are utterly false and groundless, and that I defy malice of my bitterest enemies to produce a shadow of proof in support of them. W.C.”

In April, Alexander Hamilton writes to Senator James A. Bayard of Delaware expressing his concern over the growing power of New York’s Society of St. Tammany:

“Nothing is more fallacious than to expect to produce any valuable or permanent results in political projects by relying merely on the reason of men. Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals, for the most part governed by the impulses of passion. This is a truth well understood by our adversaries who have practiced upon it. With no small benefit to their cause, for at the very moment that they are eulogizing the reason of men, and professing to appeal only to that faculty, they are courting the strongest and most active passion of the human heart, vanity!”

He goes on to suggest a competing society:

“But in determining upon the propriety of the deviations, we must consider whether it be possible for us to succeed, without, in some degree, employing the weapons which have been employed against us, and whether the actual state and future prospect of things, be not such as to justify the reciprocal use of them. I need not tell you that I do not mean to countenance the imitation of things intrinsically unworthy, but only of such as may be denominated irregular; such as, in a sound and stable order of things, ought not to exist.”

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Senator Bayard replies to Hamilton, shooting the idea down:

“Such an association must be bottomed upon a stronger and more active principle than reason, or even a sense of common interest, to render it successful. There is more material for such an association upon the other side than upon ours. We have the greater number of political calculators, and they of political fanatics.” 23

On May 11, the American Citizen prints a notice of the annual celebration of the Society of St. Tammany. It is dated “Season of Blossoms, Year of Discovery 310.”

On May 28, the New-York Evening Post publishes a review of A Narrative of the Suppression by Col. Burr, of the History of the Administration of John Adams, late President of the United States by John Wood, published by James Cheetham and David Denniston.

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It is a pamphlet critiquing Aaron Burr’s politics. The review says in part:

“… is the ‘Preface to the Narrative’ so poisonous a dart as to pierce the heart of this scribbler of the faction? What, may we ask, will be his feeling (if he said so much now) when shall have read the faithful narrative itself of the pretty but honorable intrigues of him whom General Hamilton shamefully branded with the appellation of Caroline?”

It goes on to say:

“It should seem that this little secret-spying band have notwithstanding their ‘dark consolidators’ have been able to discover the writer of the narrative.”

The reference to “appellation of Caroline” is obscure. It is almost as if the journalists of the day are responding in code to each other. It may be referring to Hamilton’s support of the lesser of two evils, South Carolina’s breaking the tie between Jefferson and Burr, electing Jefferson president.

On May 31, the New-York Evening Post prints:

“Extract from the 21 number of the New-York Journal. ‘It seems Mr. Burr has dis pleasured some of the Jeffersonian party, and of course they threaten to give him a coat of fashionable Billingsgate Black-Ball.”

The reference to “Billingsgate Black-Ball” is obscure as well.

On May 31, the American Citizen reports on the annual celebration of the Society of St. Tammany on May 12. Sixteen toasts are made. The Citizen states that the third toast is to:

“Aaron Burr, Father of the Columbian Council: He has deserved well of his country.”

On June 1, the New-York Evening Post prints the following disclaimer by the Society of St. Tammany:

“The Editor of the Evening Post is requested to publish the following—Resolved, That the Society of Tammany do not approve the mode in which the 3rd Toast drank at the anniversary of this institution has been inserted in the Citizen, and that they never authorized any publication which might lessen the patriotic character of the Vice President* Aaron Burr, Father of the Columbian Council: He has deserved well of his country.”

On June 2, in the American Citizen editor James Cheetham, responds to New-York Evening Post editor William Coleman’s review of May 28. It says in part:

“The review, however, as it is laughably enough termed by Mr. Coleman, consists almost entirely of extracts from the Narrative. With the cause of the studious avoidance appropriate comments on the contents of it, we are not unacquainted. A mutual and implacable hatred between Hamilton and Burr is known to exist. The former, though himself subtle, dislikes the more cunning and intricate character of the latter. They both set out in their journey in life on an equal footing. But Mr. Burr, by means unaccountable to the country, and which cannot be explained by himself, has soared in the political world far above his rival. The Narrative, and the extracts from the suppressed history, plainly evince that Mr. Burr views Hamilton as ‘dangerous competitor.’ Burr, when he was supposed an honest politician, considered Hamilton an enemy to freedom he now sees in him a bar to the completion of his boundless views on unwarrantable ambition. Hamilton, who certainly can boast consistency of political character, if it be not a good one, has always seen in Mr. Burr a man in whom most of the evil and dangerous qualities of the human heart were centered.”

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Cheetham goes on to state:

“Mr. Coleman has yet to learn some of the very necessary arts of an able editor.”

Cheetham fans the flames of the Burr-Hamilton rivalry that will come to a head in two years.

On June 4, the American Citizen responds to the Society of St. Tammany’s claim of fabrication of the third toast. It says in part:

“In the paragraph alluded to it is stated, that the third toast, which appeared in our paper of Monday last, as having been drunk by the Tammany Society of the city ‘was a fabrication by Citizen Cheetham.’ Permit me to say that this is not true. The toasts were brought to us for publication by Mr. George I. Warner, a respectable member of the Society.”

It goes on to say:

“ Mr. Warner is, however, of the opinion, that the word ‘has’ was not marked in the manuscript, which he communicated to us, to be printed in the italic letter.”

Thus quite a lot of press in generated over the use of an italic font.

On July 3, the American Citizen prints a notice of the Society of St. Tammany’s impending celebration of the Fourth of July. It is dated “Season of Fruit, Year of Discovery 310.”

By this time De Witt Clinton seeks to oust Aaron Burr from the directorship of The Manhattan Company. Little Band member John Swartwout is identified as a fellow director who is to be removed by historian Gustavus Myers in his 1917 The History of Tammany Hall. No citation is given. In her history De Witt Clinton, from 1933, author Dorothie Bobbe repeats the claim of Swartwout’s directorship. Again, no citation is made. In 1993, Oliver E. Allen, in his book The Tiger, The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall, falling into step with Bobbe and Myers claims that Swartwout is a director, citing Bobbe. In the annual notices of the directors of The Manhattan Company in the New York Daily Advertiser from September 3, 1799 and December 3, 1801, no mention is made of John Swartwout. In any case, bad blood between De Witt Clinton and John Swartwout ensues. Swartwout accuses Clinton of trying to ruin Burr’s political career. Clinton responds by calling Swartwout “a liar a scoundrel and a villain.” The result, in what would be a rehearsal of events two years later, is a duel between the two men on July 31, across the Hudson River in New Jersey. Swartwout turns out to be a lousy shot and stubborn as well. Clinton wounds him twice in the leg before the seconds end the duel. 24 And so Clinton begins a fight, both political and in fact, with the Society of St. Tammany that will finally be won by Edward I. Koch in the 1960s.

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On October 23, the American Citizen prints the following

“REMARKS. The affidavit is written by Mr. Swartwout’s own hand and dictated by his own head which, with its usual acuteness, had explored and closed every crevice out of which we might have crept. Ah! Me, how sad we are! But why all this swearing? Was the Marshal, a high federal officer, apprehensive that his word would not, but that his oath be believed? ‘Tis absolutely sporting, Mr. Marshal, with the solemnity of an oath. The affidavit contains nothing more than the certificate we a few days since published from the same inimitable hand. But we disbelieve the certificate. Were it not that the batter and the sheller of corn are afraid that the Marshal not bridle his rage, they would still say that they have the same reason to discredit the affidavit. And egad they might as well pluck up their courage any say it now as any other time, for the Marshal cannot yet walk out of his house! However, as prudence is the better part of valor they had better keep their bones whole while they are so. For who knows what unbridled passion might do, especially when swelling in the bosom of the valorous champion of the Vice President? But why this solicitude on the part of the stinking little band to form and swear about immaterial points? Rely upon it, my little fellows, ‘tis bad policy.” It concludes:

“Now for the Marshal’s furious conclusion. He says ‘I owe the public an apology for thus noticing Denniston and Cheetham.’ Bless me what a cutting stroke! …The Marshal will find it more difficult to bridle the press than he was wont to do his horses.”

What affidavit James Cheetham, in the verbose writing style of the time is referring to is unclear. Also unclear is who the “Marshal” is. What is clear is that Cheetham has it in for Tammany sachem John Swartwout and Vice President Aaron Burr.

On November 22, the American Citizen prints a notice of the annual celebration of Evacuation Day by the Society of St. Tammany. It is dated “Season of Hunting, Year of Discovery 311.”

The Society of St. Tammany tries again to solicit support for the construction of a “Wigwam.” On December 9, the New York Daily Advertiser and the American Citizen print a “Communication.” It says in part: “It has been considered, that the present and future welfare of the society will be considerably secured by the erection of a Wigwam, wherein the Sons of Tammany may, when assembled at the Council Fire, talk over the deeds of their ancestors.” It goes on to say: “It is with considerable pleasure we learn, that at a meeting of the Society on Monday evening last, when a small proportion of the members was present, near one thousand dollars were subscribed for the erection of a Wigwam.”

On December 9, the New York Daily Advertiser prints the following notice:

“The following gentlemen were yesterday elected directors to the Manhattan Company for the ensuing year.Daniel Ludlow, John Watts,William Edgar, Samuel Osgood,Brockholst Livingston, Pascal N. Smith,John B. Coles, Isaac Clason,John B. Church, Walter Browne,John R. Livingston, Daniel Phoenix.”

Notably absent is Aaron Burr. Thus the two factions of the Democratic-Republican Party emerge: Burr versus Clinton.

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1803 On January 29, the New York Daily Advertiser prints the following notice:

“TAMMANY SOCIETY or COLUMBIAN ORDER.To the Sons of Tammany.Brothers,YOU are requested to attend a stated meeting of the Institution at the great Wigwam in Nassau-street, THIS EVENING, one hour after the setting Sun, for the purpose of affixing your signatures to a memorial, intended to be presented to Congress, relative to the unfortunate Americans who perished in the Revolutionary War, on board the British Prison ships at the Wallabout, and for the dispatch of other business of importance.By orderC. Osborn, Sec.Season of SnowYear of Discovery, 311.”

A detail of a map from The Rumsey Collection. Drawn by S. Stiles and published by J. H. Colton.

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Wallabout Bay is located on the northwest shore of Brooklyn, in upper New York harbor, between present day Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. It is the location of 16 British Prison ships where over 11,000 American prisoners of war perish during the American Revolutionary War.

On February 10, Democratic-Republican Congressman from New York, Samuel L. Mitchill, tries unsuccessfully to get the Federal Government to fund a monument to the martyrs of Wallabout Bay. 25 It is worth noting that the number of American prisoners of war who died in Wallabout Bay exceeds the number of American soldiers killed in battle.

On May 13, the New York Daily Advertiser prints a notice of the annual celebration of the Society of St. Tammany. It is held at Abraham “Brom” Martling’s Tavern. It says in part:

“At 1 o’clock precisely a long talk will be delivered, agreeably to the law of the society, by brother Samuel Cowdrey, to hear which every member may bring a republican friend. At 7 o’clock the society will partake of a dinner, to be prepared by brother Martling, and to which a republican friend may be invited. ”

It is dated: “Season of Blossoms, Year of Discovery 311.” The notice demonstrates the Society trying to increase their membership.

On May 16, the American Citizen reports of the toasts of the Society of St. Tammany on their annual celebration on May 12. It states that the fourth toast is to:

“ The memory of our beloved Grand Sachem, George Washington—first in our councils, first in the field, and first in the hearts of his grateful countrymen—may the fragrance from our calumet rise in grateful commemoration of his virtues.”

On May 16, the New York Evening Post takes issue with the fourth toast:

“The malignant attacks made by the democrats on the fame of Washington, in his lifetime, who hired a libeler to accuse him of ‘audacious usurpation and despotism,’ of ‘scandalous hypocrisy’ and of ‘authorizing the robbery and ruin of his own army’. All these infamous attacks on this great and good man, were not so detestable and disgusting at their present hypocritical fawning upon his memory, when he no longer stands in the way of their schemes.”

On May 20, in the American Citizen, “A Son of Tammany” responds to the Evening Post:

“Whoever can either by construction, ingenuity or sophistry pervert the meaning of the Tammany society in this respect into ‘hypocritical fawning’ must either have a heart whose blackness cannot be increased, or an understanding which even chaos cannot equal.”

On July 4, the New York Daily Advertiser prints a notice of the Society of St Tammany’s celebration of American Independence. It is dated “Season of Fruits. Year of Discovery 311.”

On July 4, President Jefferson announces to the American people the signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty by Americans Robert Livingston and James Monroe, and head of France’s Trésor public, François Barbé-Marbois, on April 30 in Paris.

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The treaty allows the purchase of over 800,000 square miles of territory west of the Mississippi stretching from New Orleans to the Canadian border, for $11,250,000 and cancellation of $3,750,000 in debt to France. The purchase effectively doubles the size of the United States. The formal ceremony transferring ownership takes place on March 10, 1804 in St. Louis.

Louisiana Purchase, by Samuel Lewis. From the collection of the Library of Congress.

That summer, the New York federal attorney’s office conducts an audit of New York City that reveals some forty thousand dollars is missing from public funds. Edward Livingston is mayor. It has been said that Livingston was recovering from Yellow Fever at the time and is not implicated, but he takes responsibility and resigns, moving to New Orleans. In the fall, The Council of Appointments names De Witt Clinton mayor. He immediately resigns his Senate seat, saying that the office of mayor was “…among the most important positions in the United States.” 26

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On September 10, the New York Daily Advertiser prints the notice:

“Toasts drank by the Democrats, in 18031. Aaron Burr, Vice-President of the United States—3 flashes in the pan—rogue’s march.2. Aaron Burr and Benedict Arnold—may traitors always receive their reward.3. The Vice President of the United States—‘Oh! fling away ambition, by that sin Fell the angels’—rogue’s march.4. May the wheels of government never be clogged with Burrs.5. Aaron Burr—a tear on his infirmities, and let him and them be forgotten forever.”

On September 10, the New-York Evening Post weighs in:

“The voice of the people, or Democratic consistency—At the last presidential election, Col. Burr received as many votes for the office as Mr. Jefferson. He was then, without doubt, Just as much ‘the man of the people.’ Every democratic throat became a trumpet to sound his praise. He was caressed in public. He was flattered in the newspapers. He was toasted at festivals. He was, in short, the idol of his party—But, alas! Within the short space of three years, what a change has taken place—(Not, indeed, in the character or conduct of Mr. Burr—but in the sentiments and voice of the people.) He is now denounced as a ‘traitor’ saluted with ‘flashes in the pan’ and greeted with the ‘rogue’s march.’ Here are both sides of the picture—Balance.

Toast drank by Democrats, in 18011. The Vice President, The man that’s resolute and just. Firm to his principles and trust.2. Aaron Burr, Vice President. May his exertions to preserve republican government be justly rewarded by his country.3. Aaron Burr, Vice President. Despising alike federal calumny and intriguing friendship, has uniformly advocated the rights and dignity of man.4. The Vice President. May our government never be deprived of the talents of a Burr.5. Aaron Burr, Vice President—rendered immortal by his undeviating patriotism.”

Editor William Coleman implies the Burr did not become corrupt, but that he was always corrupt, and his supporters finally realize it.

On September 12, the New York Daily Advertiser reports on the embezzlement from the bank of The Manhattan Company. One Benjamin Brower, second bookkeeper, takes a deposit of ten thousand dollars from a cashier on a Saturday. He does not show up for work on Monday, Tuesday on Wednesday. On Wednesday the fraud is discovered.

“An enquiry was immediately instituted respecting Mr. Brower. The result was, that he had left the city on Sunday, with his family, but no person could give information to what part of the country he had absconded.”

On November 11, the American Citizen prints a notice from the Society of St. Tammany commemorating the death of former governor of Massachusetts Samuel Adams on October 2. Though Samuel Adams was the second cousin to Federalist President John Adams, he himself was a Democratic-Republican, thus meriting condolences from the Tammany Society. The notice is dated: “Season of Hunting, Year of Discovery 311.”

On November 28, the American Citizen reports on the Society of St Tammany’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of Evacuation Day on November 25. 16 toasts are made, including toasts to Washington, Franklin and Adams, George Clinton and to the “Wisdom of Jefferson” regarding the Louisiana Purchase. No mention is made of Aaron Burr.

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At the beginning of the year, knowing his chances of being re-nominated as Vice President are slim, Aaron Burr begins a campaign for Governor of New York. He selects Oliver Phelps, a Federalist, as his running mate. The Clinton faction of the Democratic-Republican’s picks Morgan Lewis and John Broome as candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

James Cheetham begins his assault on Burr’s campaign for Governor. On January 25, the American Citizen reports:

“The most ridiculous reports are spreading about the country by agents and dupes of the Burr party. A few days hence, it was reported in Saratoga county, that seven of the republican members of the Senate of the United States had declared openly for Burr: it was next said, that a meeting of three hundred had taken place in Dutchess county, to nominate Burr for Governor—And directly on the heels of this came another rumor, equally unfounded, that a meeting of fourteen hundred of the Orange county electors had actually nominated Burr for Governor and Oliver Phelps for Lieutenant-Governor. These reports are absolute falsehoods, intended to forestall public opinion, and to intimidate the true republicans—but they are not to be duped nor intimidated in such means.”

On February 14, the American Citizen publishes the following satire. It says in part:

“MULTITUDES CRYING OUT FOR AARON BURR AS THEIR NEXT GOVERNOR.Doctor! Doctor! Help, help!—the people want your boluses, your finacea’s and your remedies—The Multitude want your skill—they are sorely afflicted with an itching for Col. Burr —and you have a sovereign remedy that will cure half a million a minute—I will vouch for your pills as being genuine, and that one box will cure all the infected—Your skill is more famous than the man, who advertises that secrecy and honor may be depended on, moderate terms!—And as this famous empiric is famous for curing the ——, I think that you may fairly be put in competition with him as the curer of the Burr-itch.”

On February 24, the American Citizen continues with the medical analogies:

“COMMUNICATIONIt would be well for the Little Band to be consistent, if consistency could be expected from such incongruous characters. Genuine Republicans! This is a kind of quackery, and for which we expect they will soon vend pills.”

On February 25, in Washington, a convention of Democratic-Republicans meet in the Senate chamber and nominate Thomas Jefferson and New York Governor George Clinton to be their candidates for President and Vice President.

On February 28, in rare agreement with the American Citizen of February 24, the New-York Evening Post follows suit with an extract:

“Governor—The Albany Register informs us the at a meeting of the Republicans in that place, it was unanimously determined to support Aaron Burr as the candidate for Governor: And that a meeting of Genuine republicans it was determined to support Morgan Lewis as Governor. This (says the editor of the Albany Sentinel resembles strongly the common quackery of the day. We can see a similar display on every corner and post. Genuine Worm Lozenges, Genuine Corn plaster, and Genuine Lip salve, and Genuine Republican nominations &c &c. We would as cautiously avoid the one as the other, if we value our lives or our liberties, for they are alike in the inventions of Quacks and are made up of the crudest poisons.”

Often in newspapers of the day, an italicized word was code for irony.

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On March 2, the New York Daily Advertiser publishes the following notice:

“ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANATAMMANY SOCIETY.

Resolved, that a Committee of seven persons, be appointed to assist in the making of necessary arrangements to celebrate the EXTENTION of the EMPIRE OF FREEDOM! And that it be the duty of this committee, to meet and confer with other committees of a similar nature, appointed by the different societies and public bodies in this city, for the like purpose.

In Society,J. HAMMOND, Sec.”

An identical notice is published in the American Citizen of March 9.

On March 9, the American Citizen directly attacks the “Burrites” or “Little Band,” which is made up of Tammany members William P. Van Ness, John and Robert Swartwout and Matthew L. Davis:

“Mr. Burr’s friends very cunningly tell the people in the South, that Burrism flourishes in the West. This is very extraordinary news. We scarcely know a Burrite in Oneida county, or in the western district; and by information we have obtained from the south, we are assured that his party is confined to New-York (commonly called the Little Band) and a few stragglers in some of the lower counties—say one or two each. However, he may ‘cut a dash’ at the next election, if the Feds lend him a few votes. At any rate, he wishes to know how many electors in this state will vote for Aaron Burr, and forsake every principle of propriety, honor and patriotism.”

De Witt Clinton directly supports James Cheetham’s efforts to ruin Aaron Burr. 27

On April 12, Dr. Charles D. Cooper, a colleague of Alexander Hamilton, publishes an electioneering letter to Andrew Brown, of Bern, New York, in which he quotes Hamilton as saying that Aaron Burr is “a dangerous man, and who ought not to be trusted.” 28

On April 25, Morgan Lewis defeats Aaron Burr in a landslide to win the New York Gubernatorial Election.

On May 12, the American Citizen prints a notice of the annual celebration of the Society of St. Tammany. It states:

“Brothers, At eight o’clock, A.M. This Day, your punctual attendance is expected at the COUNCIL FIRE at the GREAT WIGWAM—The celebration of the acquisition of LOUISIANA by the NATION, and the anniversary of our institution invite and require your prompt compliance and attention. Fifteen years have rolled away in regular succession, and Our Council Fire, tho’ burning bright, Emits a splendid blaze and still brightening, And by time improved.” Near two hundred moons have shed their pale silver light over the lofty mountains and cheered the dark forest, and yet the links of the great chain of our fraternal union continues to increase in number, strength and lustre.”

On June 15, Congress ratifies the 12th Amendment to the Constitution. It allows electors to cast 2 separate votes for president and vice president. Prior to this they were allowed to cast only one vote for president and the person who came in second was elected vice president. By this time Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton are campaigning hard.

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On June 18, Aaron Burr writes directly to Alexander Hamilton:

“Sir,I send for your perusal a letter signed Ch. D. Cooper which, though apparently published

some time ago, has but very recently come to my knowledge. Mr. Van Ness who does me the favor to deliver this, will point out to you that Clause of the letter to which I particularly request your attention.

You might perceive, Sir, the necessity of which a prompt and unqualified acknowledgment or denial of the use of any expression which could warrant the assertions of Dr. Cooper.

I have the honor to by Your Obt SvtA. Burr”

The clause Burr refers to states: “…I could detail to you a still more despicable opinion which General Hamilton has expressed of Mr. Burr.” 29

On June 20, Hamilton responds with a letter to Burr. It says in part:

“The language of Doctor Cooper plainly implies, that he considered this opinion of you, which he attributes to me, as a despicable one; but he affirms that I have expressed some others still more despicable; without however mentioning to whom, when, or where. ‘Tis evident, that the phrase ‘still more despicable’ admits of infinite shades from very light to very dark. How am I to judge the degree intended? Or how shall I annex any precise idea to language so indefinite? Between Gentlemen, despicable and more despicable are not worth the pains of distinction.” 30

Burr will have none of it. His political career in shambles, he blames Hamilton. In a letter of June 21, he responds:

“Sir, Your letter of the 20th. inst. has been this day received. Having Considered it attentively I regret to find in it nothing of that sincerity and delicacy which you profess to Value. Political opposition can never absolve Gentlemen from the necessity of a rigid adherence to the laws of honor and the rules of decorum: I neither claim such privilege nor indulge it in others. The Common sense of Mankind affixes to the epithet adopted by Dr Cooper the idea of dishonor: it has been publicly applied to me under the Sanction of your name.”

He concludes:

“Your letter has furnished me with new reasons for requiring a definite reply. I have the honor to be sir your obt st

A. Burr” 31

A Series 2004 United States ten-dollar bill.

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So on and on it goes. Of course, we all know that the result will be a duel. Letter after letter goes back and forth between Burr and Hamilton. Hamilton tries repeatedly to beg off. Burr keeps upping the ante. Hamilton prepares a letter to his wife Elizabeth to be given to her in the event of his death. It is like watching a slow-motion train wreck. From 1795 to 1807 at least 16 duels are held in New York City. 32. The New York newspaper The Balance states on January 5, 1802: “Dueling is much in fashion.” The violent gun culture of 21st century America has its seeds in the dueling of early 19th century New York City.

On July 4, the American Citizen reports on the “Arrangements for the Celebration of the Twenty Eighth Anniversary of American Independence.” It lists the following societies for the procession:

“Hatter’s Society Taylors SocietyMercantile Society Tammany SocietyHibernian Provident Society Officers of the General and State General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen GovernmentsMilitary Officers of the City and County of New York.”

At dawn on July 11, Burr and Hamilton arrive in separate rowboats under the Palisades at Weehawken, New Jersey. Dueling had been outlawed under penalty of death in New York. Burr’s second is Tammany and Little Band member William P. Van Ness. Hamilton’s is Nathaniel Pendleton. Hamilton provides the pistols. What actually transpires at the duel is the subject of conjecture for the next two centuries. What is clear is that Burr mortally wounds Hamilton with a shot to the hip. Hamilton is evacuated to Manhattan and is carried to the house of his friend William Bayard. He dies the next day. Hamilton’s brother-in-law, John B. Church, owns the pistols that were manufactured by the British gunsmith, Robert Wogdon. It is worth noting that in 1801, Hamilton’s son Philip dies in a duel with Tammany sachem George L. Eacker at the same site using the same pistols. 33 In 1930, Church’s granddaughter sells the pistols to The Bank of The Manhattan Company, now JPMorgan Chase & Company. In 1976, the Smithsonian Institute examines the pistols and a hair trigger is discovered. The hair-trigger takes only a half-pound of pressure to fire the gun as opposed to the normal ten pounds. 34 How this affects the duel, and Burr’s actual intention, are the subjects of debate.

The Duel at Weehawken, from the public domain.

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John B. Church’s Wogdon dueling pistols. From the collection of the JPMorgan Chase Archives.

On July 13, the American Citizen prints the following notice:

“Tammany Society, or Columbian Order.Season of Fruits—Year of Discovery 312.29th year of the American Independence,

July 13, 1804 This society feeling in common with their fellow citizens the deepest sensations of regret for the untimely and unfortunate death of ALEXANDER HAMILTON, whose revolutionary services, whose public and whose private virtues have justly rendered him the object of esteem and veneration, Do Resolve that they will unite in paying all respect to his memory, and that for that purpose they will assemble tomorrow morning, the 14th inst. at 9 o’clock, at their Great Wigwam, in order to join the funeral procession, in honor their deceased fellow citizen. Resolved, That the national standard be hoisted on the Wigwam at sun rise half staff, that the members will wear the usual badges of morning and that their wigwam and standard be also be hung in black. The members will appear with the buck’s tail in their hats.

A.C. VAN SLYKE, G. Sachem”

On August 4, the New York Daily Advertiser reports”

“After a long and laborious session, the jury of inquest summoned by the coroner to examine the cause and concomitant circumstances into the cause of the untimely death of Gen. Hamilton, late on Thursday evening, brought in the following VERDICT: That Aaron Burr, Esq. Vice-President of the United States, was guilty of MURDER of ALEXANDER HAMILTON—and that William P. Van Ness, Esq. Attorney at Law, and Nathaniel Pendleton, Esq. Councilor at Law, were Accessories.”

On August 10, the American Citizen prints a notice by the Society of St. Tammany requesting an “extra meeting” stating “Brothers—The Osage Chiefs intend paying us a visit to smoke the Calumet of peace, and drink the waters of the Great Spring.”

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1804 On November 24, the American Citizen prints a notice for the impending celebration of the twenty-second anniversary Evacuation Day, which occurred on November 25, 1783.

Between November 2, and December 5, the presidential election of 1804 is held. Virginian Thomas Jefferson and his running mate New York Governor George Clinton, running on the Democratic-Republican ticket, defeat South Carolinian Charles C. Pinckney and New Yorker Rufus King, running on the Federalist ticket, in a landslide. Jefferson receives 162 electoral votes to Pinckney’s 14.

George Clinton, by Ezra Ames, from the public domain.

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On December 5, the New York Daily Advertiser reports:

“The following gentlemen were on Tuesday declared Directors of the Manhattan Company for the ensuing year: Daniel Ludlow, William Edgar, Paschal N. Smith, Daniel Phoenix, John Broome, De Witt Clinton, James Fairlie, James Arden, Walter Bowne, Henry Rutgers, and George Lewis.”

On March 5, Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton are inaugurated President and Vice President of the United States.

On March 25, the New York Daily Advertiser reports:

“Last evening, says the Philadelphia True American, arrived here, in the Packet Rising Sun, captain Moffat, being on their way from Washington to the eastward, Aaron Burr, Esq. Commodore Preble, and John Q. Adams, one of the Senators of the United States.”

His political career in grave doubt, Burr is indicted for the murder of Alexander Hamilton in New York and New Jersey, but never convicted. Several years later he is charged with treason for allegedly trying to secede land from the Louisiana Purchase. Again no conviction is made, but the trial puts an end to Burr’s political career and he fades into ignominy and insolvency. He dies on September 14, 1836. Loyal to the end, Tammany sachem Matthew L. Davis becomes his biographer.

On May 13, the American Citizen prints a notice of the annual celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the Society of St. Tammany. It is dated: “Season of Blossoms—Year of Discovery 313, and 19th of the Institution.”

Reeling from the demise of Burr and of the rise of De Witt Clinton, the Society of St. Tammany takes the first step in seeking new legitimacy in the eyes of the public. On June 20, two and a half months after it is enacted, the American Citizen gets around to making public:

“STATE OF NEW YORK [PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY] AN ACT

To incorporate the society of Tammany or Columbian order, in the city of New-York—passed the 9th of April, 1805. Whereas William Mooney and others, inhabitants of the city of New-York, have presented a petition to the legislature, setting forth, that they, since the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, have associated themselves under the name and description of the society of Tammany or Columbian order, for the purpose of affording relief to the indigent and distressed members of the said association, their widows and orphans, and others, who may be found proper objects of their charity: they therefore solicit that the legislature will be passed by law to incorporate the said society for the purpose aforesaid, under such limitations and restrictions as to the legislature shall seem meet. Therefore, Be it enacted by the People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That such persons as now, or from time to time become members of said society, shall be and are hereby ordained, constituted, and declared to be a body corporate and politic, in deed, fact and name, by the name of ‘Society of Tammany or Columbian Order, in the city of New-York.”

Thus the separation of the public patriotic and private political aspects of Tammany Hall is made official, as defined by Longworth’s American Almanac, New York Register and City Directory, 1807-1808. It states:

“This society, has a constitution in two parts—the public and the private—the public relates to all external or public matters; and the private, to the arcana and all transactions which do not meet the public eye, and on which its code of laws are founded.” 35

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The public aspect being clarified, Matthew L. Davis seeks to shore up the private. Reacting to criticism from fellow Democratic-Republicans for selecting candidates in private by the three man ward committees, the Tammany Hall General Committee is formed. The ward committees gather as a group in a general meeting at their “wigwam” Martling’s Tavern. It is the beginning of the political Machine.

On July 9, the American Citizen prints a notice of the 29th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, as celebrated by the Society of St. Tammany. Seventeen toasts are drunk. The 13th toast is to:

“Our infant navy; tho’ small, the pride of our country; our forests contains hundreds of ships, our cities and towns thousands of brave seamen.”

It is dated: “Season of Fruit—Year of Discovery 313.”

On November 23, the American Citizen prints a notice of the Society of St. Tammany’s annual celebration of Evacuation Day, in what will be a long history of the Society using quasi-Indian terms:

“Tammany Society or Columbian Order.EVACUATION CELEBRATION.

Sago, Sago, Brothers! Two hundred and eighty six moons passed since the warriors of a mighty nation beyond the great waters departed from our peaceful shores: Brothers, the Great Spirit permitted them by their customary mode of warfare to possess and destroy many of our villages and wigwams, of over-run our hunting ground, to deprive us to buy corn and furs, to tomahawk many of our sachems, warriors and hunters, to carry many of them into captivity beyond the great lakes, and rob us of our squaws. Brothers, ninety eight moons did your did your fathers, conducted by their Kitchi-Okeman, Washington, defend your wigwams, your hunting grounds, your squaws and your papooses against those foreign tribes.”

The Society of St. Tammany tries to dispel opposition with this patriotic Indian banter. With the impending War of 1812, the ritual of the society using Indian customs will be taken to task.

On November 29, the American Citizen prints a list of the toasts made by the Society of St. Tammany during its Evacuation Day celebration. The seventh toast is made to “Morgan Lewis, Governor of the State.”

On December 2, the following rebuttal is made:

“It is stated to me by a respectable member of the Tammany Society, that the toast published in the Citizen of Friday last, in relation to his Excellency, our worthy Governor, was by some private and unauthorized hand, most shamefully mutilated. The Toast drank by the Society, I am told, was this—‘Morgan Lewis, Governor of the State: How pleasant it would be were his administration agreeable to the wishes of the people, his masters.’ Peter R. was in the Society when the toast was drank, and a little before, going round from member to member, he courteously whispered ‘I hope you’ll not forget his Excellency.’ No, they replied we will remember him.”

Thus, in veiled terms, the members of the Society of St. Tammany still bear a grudge against Governor Lewis for defeating Aaron Burr.

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1806 With the Napoleonic Wars raging between Great Britain and France, the English station a squadron of ships off of New York City to stop French goods from being shipped to America. On April 25, one of the squadron’s ships, the HMS Leander fires on the American merchant ship Richard. On board the Richard is seaman John Pierce. The shot hits the taffrail and a shard of wood hits Pierce, killing him. The Richard is able to make it to New York Harbor where an angry mob forms, marching Pierce’s mangled body through the Street. 36 President Jefferson issues a proclamation:

“Whereas satisfactory information has been received that Henry Whitby, commanding a British armed vessel called the Leander, did on the 25th day of the month of April last, within the waters and jurisdiction of the United States, and near to the entrance of the harbor of New York, by a cannon shot fired from the said vessel Leander,  commit a murder on the body of John Pierce, a citizen of the United States, then pursuing his lawful vocation within the same waters and jurisdiction of the United States and near to their shores; and that the said Henry Whitby can not at this time be brought to justice by the ordinary process of law; 

It goes on to say:

“…I do hereby further require that the said armed vessel the Leander, with her officers and people, and the said armed vessels the Cambrian and Driver, their officers and people, immediately and without any delay depart from the harbors and waters of the United States. And I do forever interdict the entrance of all other vessels which shall be commanded by the said Henry Whitby, John Nairne, and Slingsby Simpson, or either of them.” 37

John Pierce who was murdered by a shot from the Leander a British 50 gun ship fourth rate.

By John James Barralet.From the collection of the Library of Congress.

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On April 28, the American Citizen prints a notice of the Society of St. Tammany reaction to the death of Pierce:

“Tammany Society or Columbian Order. BROTHERS!—The dye is cast—the disturbers of the world’s peace have spilt the innocent blood of your country-man, John Pierce! The Standard of the Nation will be hoisted half mast, at sun-rise, on the Great Wigwam. The Society are requested to attend precisely 9 o’clock, this morning with buck tails in their hats, and black crape edged with red on their left arm , in order to join the Corporation, and the rest of their fellow-citizens, in paying a tribute of respect and honor the names of their murdered countryman. Brothers, on this solemn occasion, you will appear without your tomahawks, your bows, or your arrows, Nevertheless, you will have your tomahawks well sharpened, the arrows pointed, and your bows well strung. The enemy are on our borders. The black belt of wampum, stained with American blood, is now before your eyes in the great council chamber of the nation

By order of the Grand Sachem,JAMES D. BISSETT, Sec.”

On April 29, the American Citizen prints a notice of a special meeting of the Society of St. Tammany. Seven resolutions are made. The third resolution states:

“ Resolved, That this society are ready to unbury the Tomahawk whenever their COUNTRY’S GOOD requires it.”

The so-called Leander Affair is the beginning of a series of events that will culminate six years later.

On May 23, the American Citizen prints a notice of the annual celebration of the Society of St. Tammany on May 12. Seventeen toasts are drunk. The eighth toast states:

“The marauders of the seas, as cowardly as they are insolent—they keep at distance from our shores, in their canoes; let them come and attack us on land, and we will convince them that our tomahawks are as keen, our arrows as pointed, our bows as well strung, and our warriors as brave and expert as in ‘76’.”

On July 11, the American Citizen prints a notice of the Society of St. Tammany celebrating the Fourth of July, with the usual Indian jargon.

On November 27, the American Citizen prints a notice of the Society of St. Tammany’s annual celebration of Evacuation Day on November 25. Seventeen toasts are made. The third toast states:

“The Tribe of Manhattan—May they never forget the day the cow thieves and sheep stealers greased the flagstaff and sneaked away.”

This in fact happens. On November 25, 1783, as they are preparing to sail away from Manhattan, the British nail the Union Jack to the top, remove the halyards, and grease the flagpole at the Battery. One John Van Arsdale, a young veteran who had survived the British prison ships at Wallabout Bay, is able to climb to the top with the help of cleats and nails. He tears down the British standard, replacing it with the Stars and Strips. As the crowd cheers, the Americans give a thirteen-gun salute before the British sail out of sight. 38

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Frontispiece. From Evacuation Day, 1783, With Recollections of Capt. John Van Arsdale of the

Veteran Corps of the Artillery.By James Riker.

Crichton & Company, Printers, 221-225 Fulton St. N.Y.

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On December 15, the Minutes of the Common Council of the City of New York states:

“Resolved that Benjamin Romaine Comptroller to this board be and hereby removed from Office, and that he forthwith deliver to his Successor in Office all the monies in his hands belonging to the Public with all books vouchers and every other thing relating to the said Office.”

Romaine is a Tammany sachem and a boss of the fourth ward in New York City, as well as a veteran in the Revolutionary War and a survivor of the British prison ships at Wallabout Bay. In what would be the first incidence in a long line of real estate malfeasance by Tammany Hall, he is charged with fraudulently obtaining land in the city without having paid for it. He is never prosecuted. 39

On January 26, the Minutes of the Common Council of the City of New York advise that Cornelius Warner, Superintendent of Public Repairs, and Philip Arcularius, Superintendent of the Alms House be summarily removed from office for defrauding the city. Both Warner and Arcularius are members of the Society of St. Tammany. It is worth noting that De Witt Clinton oversees the Common Council.

On April 9, the New-York Evening Post reports of a toast given by the Hibernian Provident Society:

“The Tammany Society—as it has commenced, so may it progress in support of genuine republicanism—and the only strife between it and our society, be, which will be most aiding in that honorable pursuit.”

Thus the Irish begin a long fight to gain acceptance with the Society of St. Tammany, which at this point bans immigrants from becoming members.

On April 9, New-York Evening Post editor William Coleman derisively states:

“A Jacobin Club is now therefore within our city, and we would do well to have and eye on it. The impudent effort to level Americans to the standard of United Irishmen, can never pass unnoticed by one who has the least feeling for his national or private character.”

On May 12, the American Citizen prints a notice of the annual celebration of the founding of the Society of St. Tammany. It says in part:

“Brothers—You are requested to attend punctually on the 12th inst. at 9 o’clock A.M. in the Great Wigwam, with the buck tail in the hat, to perform the ordinary business of the Society—At one o’clock P.M. Brother Benjamin Romaine, an old Sachem of the Beaver Tribe, will deliver the long talk—At half past three Dinner will be on the table: each brother may introduce a republican friend. Tickets of admission to dinner furnished by the three providing hunters and brother Martling, keeper of the Great Spring.”

On July 3, the American Citizen prints a notice of the Society of St. Tammany’s Fourth of July celebration. It says in part:

“They further resolve, as the sense of this committee, that it be recommended to the members composing the different societies, represented in this committee, and who intend to join in celebration of the 4th of July, instant, to wear a crape on the left arm on that day, in testimony of their indignant regret of the death of the American seamen recently killed on board of the American frigate the Chesapeake by shots discharged by the British ship of war the Leopard.”

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The Leopard, seeking out deserters, runs down the Chesapeake off of Norfolk, Virginia on June 22. After a brief battle, the Chesapeake surrenders. Three Americans are killed and eighteen wounded. The Leopard boards the Chesapeake. Four seamen are removed and tried for desertion. One is hanged. And so the inexorable march toward events five years later continues.

On December 18, the American Citizen, perhaps anticipating President Jefferson’s act in four days, prints a proclamation by the Society of St. Tammany that had been issued on October 16. The proclamation says in part:

“Whereas it has been represented to us, and is well known, that great numbers of our mariners and seafaring men, our natural born and legitimate citizens, have been, not only in some instances, enticed to enter the service of foreign states, but have been for the most part forced into the same....And we do hereby notify that all such of our citizens as aforesaid, who have voluntarily entered or shall continue on board ships of war belonging to any foreign state at enemy with us, are guilty of high treason, and will incur all the penalties of the law.”

On December 22, Congress enacts the Embargo Act of 1807. It is a response to Britain and France’s violating American neutrality in the Napoleonic Wars by impressing American seamen and seizing American cargo as contraband of war. It severely restricts trade to and from Europe. Tammany sachem Matthew L. Davis, in response to De Witt Clinton’s opposition of the act, and perhaps trying to get back on Jefferson’s good side, supports the act, while at the time being accused of smuggling flour out of the city. He is never prosecuted. 40 While Jefferson’s act tries to coerce Britain and France economically, it is a complete failure. All it does is to bring a decade of exceptional American prosperity to a standstill. 41 Jefferson repeals the act in the last days of his presidency.

Intercourse of Impartial Dealings.From the Collection of the New York Public Library.

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On January 23, in Washington, a convention of Democratic-Republicans meet in the Senate chamber and nominate James Madison for President and George Clinton to be re-nominated Vice President.

On February 11, the American Citizen publishes a:

[CIRCULAR]“The Committee appointed by the Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, of the city of

New York, to make arrangements respecting the interment of the Relicts of American Seamen, Soldiers and Citizens who perished on board the JERSEY PRISON SHIP during the Revolutionary War, now lying on the shores of the Wallabout, (Long Island,) beg leave to submit the subject of their appointment to the consideration of the surviving relatives and friends of those unfortunate persons in every part of the United States, and of their enlightened and patriotic fellow-citizens at large.

Various attempts have been made to accomplish this important and interesting object, but individual exertions have hitherto proved incompetent, and the public sensibility, too much occupied by other considerations, has not as yet been sufficiently excited by the appeals that have been made to it.

It goes on to say:

“They have accordingly appointed this Committee and invested them with powers to form a plan for the interment of that portion of the Remains of our countrymen now lying on the shores of Long-Island. The Committee have procured from JOHN JACKSON, Esq. on whose farm they were deposited and where they now lie, a Deed of a piece of ground, conspicuously and advantageously situated, being the head of the Navy Yard, and which will not be affected by any regulations that may hereafter take place.”

It continues:

“In the meantime, the relatives and friends of those unfortunate persons, and also our fellow citizens at large, are requested to forward immediately, either the Benjamin Romaine, Esq. Grand Sachem of Tammany Society, John Jackson, Esq. or the Chairman of this committee, by mail or other safe conveyance, such information as may be in their possession, or knowledge, of the names, places of birth, age, rank and families of those persons.”

It concludes:

“As it is desirable that the monument contemplated to be erected, should exhibit a finished specimen of American taste and patriotism, and will consequently be expensive in its materials and workmanship, such persons may be desirous of having the names of their relatives or friends who are intended to be commemorated, engraven upon it, and those who may have it in their power, and feel desirous to promote this undertaking, are requested to forward their contributions to either of the three persons before mentioned, or to authorize some person in the city of New-York to subscribe to the purpose in their behalf. The amount of this expense it is estimated need not exceed ten thousand dollars.”

Commenting of conditions on the shores of Wallabout Bay, Author Nathaniel S. Prime from his 1845 A History of Long Island, states:

“Near the Navy Yard, or within its precincts is the spot, 11,000 American Citizens were buried from the loathsome prison ships which they were inhumanly incarcerated, in the revolutionary war. When the hill was dug away for the construction of the Navy Yard, the bones of these numerous victims of British cruelty were disclosed, where the bodies had been huddled together, in the most promiscuous manner. The writer recollects to have stood by, and beheld skulls and feet, arms and legs, sticking out of the crumbling bank in the wildest disorder.” 42

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America Through the Eyes of St. TammanyWhat starts out as a simple crypt, evolves into a grand monument. The third version of the monument is dedicated in 1908.

The Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument, by McKim, Mead & White.Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn. Note the Freedom Tower rising in the background.

Photo-composite by Jeffrey B. Evans taken in January, 2013.

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On February 19, William Coleman’s New-York Evening Post reacts:

“Political Necromancy to be exhibited upon dry bones—from the old Jersey—the sacrilegious couch of a political society, (incorporated by an administration exclusively republican,) it is understood, is about to extend to the bones of the unfortunate prisoners, who perished in the old Jersey prison ship, at the Wall-about, And for what purpose is the Tammany Society to undertake this? Is it to honor the memory of the Heroes of the Revolution; or, is it to further the political view of the party?”

On March 7, the American Citizen prints the following notice:

WALLABOUT COMMITTEEFort Columbus, March 4

Gentlemen, I have the honour of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 24th of February, together with a copy of the circular letter of your Society, and after mature consideration beg leave to express my opinion of your resolutions. I consider them laudable, humane, and calculated to reflect honour not only of the society who promulgated the design, but on the country at large. I have therefore opened a subscription at this garrison for the purpose of contributing as much as possible towards carrying out your very praise worthy plans into effect. It is with pleasure that I inform you that the majority of the officers and soldiers under my command cheerfully entered into the subscription as liberally as circumstances would permit. Enclose you will find one hundred and fifty dollars, the amount of contribution, the receipt of which you will please to acknowledge. I have the honor to be, Very respectfully, Gentlemen, Your obedient humble servant, R. WHILEY, C.A. Com.”

Fort Columbus is on Governors Island in New York Harbor.

A procession takes place from Martling’s Tavern across the East River to Wallabout Bay led by the Society of St. Tammany. When it actually takes place is in dispute. Oliver E. Allen, in his 1993 history The Tiger states that in occurred on April 13.43 A second citation is from an article in the American Citizen of April 12 that begins “On Wednesday last…” making the date April 6. In any case a procession does occur and the corner stone is laid.

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The 1808 cornerstone.From Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument Association,

Dedication of the Monument and Other Proceedings.Published by Macgowen & Slipper, 30 Beekman St., New York, 1908.

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On April 9, the American Citizen prints a letter to President Jefferson from the Society of St. Tammany from January 11. It begins:

“The Tammany Society or Columbian Order, No.1 of the city of New-York, to Thomas Jefferson, President of the U States of America.Sir, An eventful period has arrived—an interesting crises in our public affairs has occurred, which presents to our countrymen the choice between national degradation and national honor—between the policy which shall invite further aggression by its pusillanimity, and that which shall put a stop at once to foreign insolence and domestic faction.”

It goes on to say:

“We most cordially approve of the measure which has been recommended by your sanction, prohibiting under the present emergency all commerce on our part with the offending powers. It is time convince them and the world that though we love peace, we cannot content to hold it on any other tenure than national sovereignty, uncontrolled by foreign domination, and unlimited by other principles than those of justice and equity.”

It concludes:

“May peace and prosperity with the length of days attend you—And may the parting beams which close of your existence be but the dawning of that light which proceedeth from neither the sun, nor moon, nor stars, but floweth from its Omnipotent and Benevolent Source to rejoice the spirit of the faithful and weary traveler. By order and behalf of the Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, No.1 of the City of New-York, (Signed) BENJ ROMAINE, Grand Sachem JONAS HUMBERT, Secertary WM MOONEY, Father of the Council.”

On April 9, the American Citizen prints Jefferson’s reply of February 29. It begins:

“To the Society of Tammany or Columbian Order, No.1 of the city of New-York. I have received your address, fellow-citizens and thankful for the expressions so personally gratifying to myself, I contemplate with high satisfaction, the ardent spirit, it breathes of love to our country and of the devotion to its liberty and independence. The crises which it is placed cannot be but unwelcome to those who love peace.”

It goes on to say:

“There can be no question, in a mind truly American, whether it is best to send our citizens and property into certain captivity and then wage war for their recovery, or to keep them at home.”

Jefferson concludes:

I receive with sensibility your kind prayers for my future happiness, and I supplicate protecting Providence to watch your own and our country’ freedom and welfare,(Signed) TH: JEFFERSON.”

Jefferson’s Embargo Act goes against the basic tenet of his politics: that the Federal government should stay out of the State’s business.

On May 11, the American Citizen prints a notice of the annual celebration of the founding of the Society of St. Tammany. It is dated “Seasons of Blossoms—year of discovery 316” Once again, each member is encouraged to bring a friend.

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1808 On May 11, a second notice is printed in the American Citizen:

“NOTICE—The Wallabout Committee have the satisfaction to announce to their fellow citizens that the Vault intended to contain the remains of the American prisoners who perished on board the prison ships of the enemy at the Wallabout is now finished. By a resolution of the Tammany Society the grand funeral procession will take place on the 25th inst. In paying this debt of national gratitude, it is hoped that all classes of citizens will participate. The military commanders, and committees of the different societies, military companies & public bodies in Brooklyn and in this city, are requested to meet at Martling’s on Friday Evening next at 7 o’clock to hear the report of arrangements intended for the occasion. By order of the committee, JACOB VANDERVOORT, Chairman. ROBT. TOWNSEND, jun. Sec’y”

The First Monument.From Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument Association,

Dedication of the Monument and Other Proceedings.Published by Macgowen & Slipper, 30 Beekman St., New York, 1908.

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On May 23, the American Citizen prints a notice from the Common Council. The council resolves that New Yorkers observe May 25 in a respectful manner. It also resolves that church and ship bells be rung, and that soldiers and officers be allowed to take part in the procession to Wallabout Bay.

On May 23, the New-York Evening Post reacts to interment of the bones:

“ The Bones—On Wednesday, we understand, the Tammany Society, and the military are to form a procession and parade to bury the bones of the Hessian and British soldiers, together with those of some American prisoners, that were thrown promiscuously under the bank at Wallabout, and covered with sand during the war, and which have since, by the washing away of the sand—been exposed to view. Little did those mercenaries, who were sent here to subdue us, dream of the honours they were destined one day to receive.”

On May 25, a grand funeral procession takes place. Thirteen open boats carrying symbolic coffins make their way to Wallabout Bay. Eighteen hogsheads filled with the collected bones are deposited in the vault. 44 A hogshead is a large wooden barrel of about 63 gallons.

On June 15, in what will be remarkably similar to the letter to Philadelphia’s Constitutional Sons of St. Tammany of May 6, 1786, the New-York Evening Post publishes an extract from the Baltimore American:

“Such is the idea which the Americans have of these tender ties of common origin, that they, in order to obliterate even the memory of that origin, have devised for themselves a tutelary saint of the savage race, named, from God know what cause, SAINT TAMMANY! And they keep the anniversary of this saint, in the same manner that the Irish and the Scotch keep the anniversaries of St. Patrick, and St. Andrew, and that the English, when abroad, keep that of St. George. At this festival they repeat Odes in praise of themselves (all of own making,) they sing song through their nose, they smoke large twists of tobacco, after the fashion of the savages; and they get drunk as ever St. Tammany or any of his forefathers did. In a day or two after we see all their three or four hundred newspapers filled the a detail of the proceedings of the folly stricken wretches.”

This letter’s main complaint is the sainting of Tamanend, but by this time the society has all but dropped “St.” from its title in public documents. However, the point of the society blanketing the press with its notices is well taken.

On July 4, the American Citizen prints a notice of the “Celebration of American Independence.” In part it states:

“When arrived in the Church the ceremonies of the day will be opened with an address to the throne of grace. After which, the Declaration of American Independence will be read by Adrian C. Van Styck, Esq.a member of the Tammany Society.”

On September 21, the American Citizen begins to focus on the strife between Irish immigrants and the Society of St. Tammany. The first article states:

“A specimen of Madisonian Conduct Mr. Abraham Stagg, who has not been two years a member of Tammany Order, but is now a Sachem of that society, recently remarked at a meeting of the Madisonians, who had convened for the purpose of affording relief to the Public Nuisance, that he was determined to exert himself to put down the IRISH, for what they were, a turbulent set of beings, and that he hereafter black-ball every of them who might be proposed in that society! Let Mr. Stagg deny this if he can!!”

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1808

1808

1808

The second article of September 21, continues is the same manner:

“Jacob Vandervoort—This gentleman has of late attracted some notice by having through intrigue, dissimulation and other art, foisted himself in as chairman of the committee of Tammany Society, to regulate the funeral ceremonies of our martyred countrymen at the Wallabout. When asked his opinion of the paragraph in the Public Nuisance of Saturday last, in relation to Mr. Patrick McKay’s ‘half clad regiment,’ he replied that Pat McKay & his followers might go where they chose; that republicans (meaning Madisonians) could do without them; and that if they were like McKay, it was no matter where they went”

On September 23, in the American Citizen, the Irish reply. The lengthy article begins:

“Persecution of the Irish Patriots—Wherever they go, persecution seems to be the lot of the Irish patriots. The rebellion in Ireland, as it was termed by the minions of the English king, was in fact overcome without the use of military force. If the Press and the Judges of Ireland had not been overawed, the one by force and the other by corruption, the patriots of Ireland might have succeeded in a separation from the mother country and in the establishment of a free government.”

It goes on to say:

“The successive republican factions with which we have been cursed since the year of 1800, the federal party were called down from power, have copied the federal example. Uniform and ardent in advocating the republican cause, the Irish patriots were made the butt of Burr ridicule and defamation. No epithets were too vile, nor insults too gross for that faction. And so of the Lewis faction which succeeded. Who, said the Morning Chronicle, when owned by Mr. Matorin Livingston, stocks our State Prison? The Irish, an ignorant, drunken, vagabond race.”

It concludes:

“Mr. Abraham Stagg, one of the Madisonians of this city, declared in the Nuisance office that he would black-ball any Irishman proposed from admission into Tammany Society! This infamous declaration was accompanied with remarks intended to degrade the Irish nation. Nor is this sufficient. The Nuisance obeying the will of its supporters, call the Irish ‘Pat McKay’s ragged regiment!’ Is this the recompense of virtue; of an unshaken adherence to the republican cause?”

On October 1, the American Citizen prints a “Communication” from “A Son Of Erin.” It says in part:

“A certain individual, V. who is too insignificant to have his name mentioned, endeavored (by shaking the souls from his shoes on Mr. Martling’s Long Room) to prevent the member from asserting his right, but a republican was not to be knocked down by such argument. There might be one or two of less note. Mr. S. V. & Co. may rest assured that the Son of Erin has never proposed, nor ever will propose a candidate from the ‘ragged regiment’ for a member of their society.”

It concludes:

“The son if Erin, who was present at the Mad-Son caucus, when asked if he was not a member of the Tammany Society, replied no, he never was, and should be sorry to be a member of a society where such sentiments were entertained by some of its members, alluding, I presume, to what he heard at the Mad-Son caucus.”

“Son of Erin” implies that the Irish have no interest in joining the Society of St. Tammany. They will.

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1808 From November 4, to December 7, the presidential election of 1808 takes place. Virginian James Madison, picked by Thomas Jefferson as his successor, and sitting Vice President George Clinton, running on the Democratic-Republican ticket, defeat Charles C. Pinckney of South Carolina, and New Yorker Rufus King, running on the Federalist ticket. It is the second defeat for Pinckney. It is worth noting that Clinton get six electoral votes for president by an anti-Madison faction of the Democratic-Republican Party.

James Madison, from the collection of the New York Public Library.

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America Through the Eyes of St. TammanyNOTES ON CHAPTER 3

1 Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898 (Oxford University Press 1999) p. 3272 Ibid. p. 3263 http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alien.html4 Stephen F. Knott, Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth (University Press of Kansas 2002) p. 485 Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898 (Oxford University Press 1999) p. 3276 Oliver E. Allen, The Tiger, The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall (Addison- Wesley Publishing Company 1993) p. 147 Gustavus Myers, The History of Tammany Hall (Boni & Liveright, Inc. 1917) p. 128 Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (Penguin 2004) p. 5869 John Kendrick Bangs, A Historic Institution, The Manhattan Company 1799 - 1899 (Harper’s, May 1899)10 The Church Pistols, Relics of the Burr-Hamilton Duel (JPMorgan Chase & Co.) 11 Doris Lane, The Original Dream Team (Crime Magazine, September 17, 2012)12 Allen Nevins, The Evening Post, A Century of Journalism (Boni & Liveright, Inc. 1922) p. 1513 http://www.archives.gov/publications/microfilm-catalogs/fed-courts/part-03.html14 Oliver E. Allen, The Tiger, The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall (Addison- Wesley Publishing Company 1993) p. 1515 Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898 (Oxford University Press 1999) p. 32816 http://www.archives.gov/publications/microfilm-catalogs/fed-courts/part-03.html17 Allen Nevins, The Evening Post, A Century of Journalism (Boni & Liveright, Inc. 1922) p. 1718 Ibid. p. 1919 Gustavus Myers, The History of Tammany Hall (Boni & Liveright, Inc. 1917) p. 1520 Oliver E. Allen, The Tiger, The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall (Addison- Wesley Publishing Company 1993) pp. 17-1921 Allen Nevins, The Evening Post, A Century of Journalism (Boni & Liveright, Inc. 1922) p. 1922 Dorothie Bobbe, De Witt Clinton (Minton, Balch & Company 1933) p. 8623 M.R. Werner, Tammany Hall (Doubleday, Doran & Company 1928) pp. 23-2424 Dorothie Bobbe, De Witt Clinton (Minton, Balch & Company 1933) pp. 88-9025 Robert E. Cray, Commemorating the Prison Ship Dead: Revolutionary Memory and the Politics of Sepulture in the Early Republic, 1776-1808 (William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, Volume LVI, Number 3, July 1999) pp. 578-57926 Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898 (Oxford University Press 1999) p. 33027 Mary-Jo Kline and Joanne Wood Ryan, Political correspondence and public papers of Aaron Burr (Princeton University Press 1983) Volume 2, pp. 641-46, 724-28.28 Harold Coffin Syrett, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton: May 1, 1802-October 23, 1804, additional documents 1774-1799, addenda and errata (Columbia University Press 1979) p. 24429 Ibid. pp. 242-24330 Ibid. p. 24831 Ibid. p. 25032 Joanne B. Freedman, Dueling as Politics: Reinterpreting the Burr-Hamilton Duel (The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, Vol LIII, No. 2, April 1996)33 Richard Brookhiser, Alexander Hamilton, American (The Free Press 1999) p. 19934 Merrill Lindsay, Pistols shed light on famed duel (Smithsonian Magazine, November 1976)35 Gustavus Myers, The History of Tammany Hall (Boni & Liveright, Inc. 1917) p. 2036 Robert Malcomson, Historical Dictionary of the War Of 1812 (Scarecrow Press 2006) p. 284

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Blood and Bones37 Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=65715#axzz1yqhkENmB)38 James Riker, Evacuation Day, 1783, Its Many Stirring Events: With Recollections Of Capt. John Van Arsdale. (Printed for the Author 1883) pp. 15-1739 Gustavus Myers, The History of Tammany Hall (Boni & Liveright, Inc. 1917) p. 2340 Oliver E. Allen, The Tiger, The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall (Addison- Wesley Publishing Company 1993) p. 2241 Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham, A History of New York City to 1898 (Oxford University Press 1999) p. 41142 Nathaniel S. Prime, A History of Long Island, From Its First Settlement by Europeans, To The Year 1845 (Robert Carter 1845) p. 36743 Oliver E. Allen, The Tiger, The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall (Addison- Wesley Publishing Company 1993) p. 2144 Nathaniel S. Prime, A History of Long Island, From Its First Settlement by Europeans, To The Year 1845 (Robert Carter 1845) p. 367