Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-04-19

! been Twecds counsel, went to the iail
at about I: 80 o'clock. and was present
at the inquest. TO reporter of the
! Post Mr.. Townsend said he had been
told by Mr.. Edelstein that Tweed made
the following remark to him about
twenty minutes before his death "Til.
den and Fairchild-I guess they've
killed me at last. have tried hard to
do the best | could latterly, but they
wouldn't let me. They will probably
be satisfied when | am carried out OF
! here tomorrow"
| Coroner Woltman went TO the iail
this afternoon and held an inquest, as
the Revised Statutes provide that the
| body of any person who dies during
confinement in prison shall not be re-
moved until after the Coroner's investi-
cation. A jury was impaneled and
viewed the body The deposition of
DR.. Carnochan was taken and II verdict
rendered in accordance with his state
ments. The doctor testified that death
was causedby pericarditis inflammation
of the membranes around the heart)
pneumonia. bronchitis and chronic
disease of the kidneys. He added, al
though this was not included i'm the dep
osition, that death was also caused
by moral shock, produced by the con-
stant excitement under which Tweed
had been laboring.
The body was removed from the Jail
to the house of Tweed's son-in-law.
Mr.. Douglass, on Seventy-seventh street.
William Marcy Tweed was born i'm
New York city on the Sd of April. 1928.
His father was chair-maker and
young Tweed learned the trade with him
He had few educational advantages,
and of books he knew little or nothing,
all the learning that served him in after
years being derived from the newspa-
pers, of which he was Il constant reader.
Tweed was n hard worker and soon put
himself in comfortable circumstances.
His brother and himself were Joint pro-
prietors of chair factory and a store.
Tweed's ambition when young was to be
the leading member of II good fire COM
pany. which was gratilied when he be-
came the foreman of No. q (known us
Big SiX'O. Through his connection
with the firemen he became very popu-
lar and in 1923 he was an Alderman
from the Seventh Ward. Then he was
elected to Congress, serving from March,
1858, to March, 1855. He made no mark
in Congress. In 1896 he was Il MEM
Der of the Board of Education, and was
made Supervisor in 1857. He held
that office till 1870, when the board was
abolished. While member of the
Board of Supervisors, he was elected Il
State Senator 0S67 and was reelected
to that office in 1870. From 1868 to
1870 he was Deputy Street Commits
sioner. He was at one time Il candi-
date for Sheriff, but was defeated
only important political reverse until
the overthrow of the Ring.
In the Tammany Hall party Tweed
was indisputably the master, and his
despotic action in the General Commit
tee, when presiding, earned for him
the nickname of " Boss Tweed. When
u question WAS to. he voted upon which
he wished to have decided in his favor
he would neglect to call for the mega
tive votes, and decide in the aifirma-
tive, with n sharp look at the opposing
side; and from his decision no one ip-
pealed.
In 1870 Tweed was made 4 Commits
sioner of the Department of Public
Works of the city, and it was in this
position that he made himself master
of New York, clutched that municipal
ity in his grasp, welded it to his pur-
poses, owned everything, managed
everything, organized "ring' to
piunder the public funds, and success
fully engineered one of the most mon
strous frauds that ever startled man
lyinl wifi, ,tS Er.,,N-t binfr N
New York which was built or managed
by the Department of Public Works
contributed its share to enrich Tweed.
He was the " boss" the king, of polit-
ical New York. No man could be elected
without his permission, no man could
hold Office against his will His power
was absolute, his decision without APP
| peal, and it seemed as though his grasp
| could never be broken.
On Oct. ~, 1871, Tweed was arrested
in civil suit on charges of malfeasance,
brought by Charles O'Conor on behalf
of the people, and gave bail in 81 ,000,-
600. In November of the same year he
was reelected to the State Senate, but
did not take his seat. On Nov. II hC
was arrested on criminal charge OF
| fraud, but was released on 50, 600 bail.
| On Jan. 80, 1873, the first of the suits
was tried, and the jury disagreed. On
| Nov. Is he was found guilty of fraud
and was sentenced to twelve years i'm,
prisonment on as many different counts
and to pay fine of $t2, $50. He wa,
sent to the Penitentiary on Blackwell :
Island Nov. 20, 1873. On April I, 1870
Il suit was begun in the Supreme Cour
of New York to recover So, 900, 900 from
him.
These are the principal suits, bOtl
civil and criminal, brought against him
On June ID, 1875, the Court of Appeals
decided that his further Imprisonment
was illegal, on the ground that the
court below had exceeded its powers il
its cumulative sentence, and ordered
his discharge. He was then ordered Il
find bail to the amount of 81, 600, 600 il
the pending civil suits, and in defaul
was sent to Ludlow Street Jail. Dec
1, 1875, while visiting his residence in
charge of two keepers, he escaped from
custody. Several months later he wa
arrested in Vigo, Spain, by Spanisl
officers and delivered over into the Gus
tody of American authorities. He wa
placed in Ludlow Street Jail, where h'
remained until his death.
His private secretary, +. 5. Dewey
said to reporter on the night of hi
death:
Mr.. Tweed made no will-he had nothing
to leave in will to anybody, lie did not ever
have any personal property worth making
win for. People say he has not accounted 70
all his property! lie has accounted for all tn
property he had left, but people don't know
how much money he has disposed of in tn
last five years. Ii he had To account for wha
he paid out, there would be good many pee
pie who would feel badly to have the publ
know what they have dragged out of the oil