The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-02-02
TAMMANY.
osTGTN ANp GRowTH or THIS FAMOUS
new YORK. SOCIETY.
gts Reunders Twenty Years AEo-wbat
TsmmaBy Hes DoDe-rhe secret
Of lts Political Power.
IN. 7. Herald I

dian chief by the name Of Tammany Ia not
worthy of serious notice. There seems to
have been, In William PENIS days, an In ian
chief named Tamanend, with whom ard
others Penn made treaties; but no fair rela-
ton Of facts can make famous man Of this
Indian. It il said that Trufnbull, the author
of "McFingaIl,'' was the originator Of the
name st. Tammany, and that "ssint" was
put to obscure old Tamanend's name, to rld-
Guile the propensity o. the people for saints"
st. George, St. Denis, ST. Andrew, St. David,
and other foreign saints, who already gave
names to societies in the new land of liberty.
And 50 St. Tammany was canonized- ia The
political index.
Washington was inaueurated President at
the old City Hall where the sub-treasury
now stands,) ut Wall and Nassau streets, on
the thirtieth Of April, 1889. Two weeks after
ward the est Tarnmany Society, or indie
pendent Order Of Liberty" for that was It's
original narne.J vas organized, and It's exist
enoe was thus announced:
"This being an American society, consists
Of native born VINO fill all Offices, aud adopted
Americans. who are eligible to the posts Of
warrior and hunter. The officers are one
grand ssehen, twelve saehenbs, one secretary
and one doorBeeper. The officers for the pres
y
William Matlaek brewer; Philip Hone, car
penter; John Burger, goldsmith; Jons than
Pierce, tavern-keeper; Thomas GreeDleAf,
printer; James Tylee, inspector Of leather
John Campbell grocer; Gabriel FurHan
eorker. Abel Butcher, Oliver Clean and
Joseph Goodwin, saehems; Thomas Ash,
ehairmaker, treasurer, Anthony Ernst, sec
Rotary; Gardner Baker, shoemaker, door
Keeper"
Thereare no great men In this list. and few
h, be rernern bered at ali. Mooney was him
self Of Irish descent, 50 there must have been
some power behind him or he would not have
excluded naturalized citizens from holding
office We believe that restriction still con
tinues.l Mooney was an upnolsterer, then
keeper of porter. house, and finally keeper Of
the ansh0use, which position he held when
he died. He was active in the society, and its
grand saGhsrn for more than thirty years.
It has been supposed that the real founder
Of the Tamnnany society WAS Aaron Burr, who
was 50 intimate with Mooney as to owe him
several large bills for upholstery. 1t is also
believed that the society was meant to conn
teract the arstocratic society OF the Cincin-
natl of which Washington was the head, and
all the members Of which we're from the army
or navy. Subsequent events showed that the
Tammany people were In favor OF Burr and
bitterly opposed To HAM ton.
re was not long before the society started
by shoemakers aud carpenters attract the
attention 81 other classes, and among It's
early memba we find the eminent lawyer,
Josiah Ogden Hoffman He was Immediately
followed by such men as Cad wallader G.. Col
den. John and Robert Y H9rtWOut BENJAMIN
R0Inalns. Judah Hammond, Meancton Smith,
Stephen Allen Clarkson CrOlius, Napthali
Judah, Walter Browne, John Targee, Peter
Sharpe and others who we're or who soon be-
came magDates In the Republican (subSe-
quentiy Democratic party.
In Its second year the name OF the society
was modified by dropping Sons of Liberty"
1t was proposed to substitute Order Of st
Columbus" but the discoyerer was a for
eigner, and 20 for time 50. Tam many was
continued; but not long after the est" was
dropped, and at last the society got legal
name In the act Of Incorporation, passed In
1905; that name was and now is fhe Tam
many Society or Columbian Order
The society first met at Barden's city tav-
ern In Broadway; then at MantliDgs Long
Room" 10 ~ old wooden building. where the
tract house now stands, corner Nassau ard
spruce streets q place contfmptuously
called "The PiR-Pen" There was q carouse
after each session, and songs we're sung, beer
drunk and pipes smoked Fitz Greene Hal
leck says:
There's barrel Of porter IN TammHny hall,
And the BGcktalls are swinging II all the night
long.
In the days 81 nv youth twas pleasure To call
For seat and q pipe mid the joVial throng.
Ia order 70 be Enthusiastically native Ameri-
can the 1ammaDy society was divided into
tribes, each headed by q sacheIn. Each Of the
thirteen original Stat 3 represented O. tribe,
and was named after some animal. New York
Otter; Massachusetts, the Panther; Rhode
Island, the Beaver; Connecticut, the Bear;
New j rsey, the Tortoise; Pennsylvania the
Rattlesnake; Delaware, the Tiger Maryland,
the Fox; Virginia the Deer; North Carolina
the Buffalo; South Carolina, the Rsceoon,
and Georgia, the Wolf When member was
Initiated be indicated what tribe he would
Join. In the early parades the society formed
In such tribes and appeared In Indian cos
tunes, with bows and arrows, tomaha ks
and knives.
Soon after the society was organized about
thirty prominent chiefs Of the Greek Indians,
led by Alexander McGilivray, a half breed,
visited President Washington 4 he Federal
government was then in this city, and before
they left the real Indians were entertained by
the bogus red men Of fammany. When the
supposed, some Of their own people, ami
raised whoop Of Joy that made the bogus
lnciahs turn pale. The Creeks sung and
danced Tor 10y, VIM. Pitt Smith, the grand
lSachem, made speech to them. the calumet \
was smoked and the waters Of the great |
spring duly sampled after which the whole /
crowd went to the Park theatre At this |
carouse were such men as Coy. George Gin |
ton, Chief Justice John Jay, Mayor James |
DuarO, and Secretary qf State Thomas Jeffer- /
son. Before tie Creeks went home they con-
Guided 2 treaty with Washington, whom they
called the Chief of Thirteen Fires aIludino
to the thirteen tribes they had seen repre-,
sented In the lammany society
In It's second year the society established a
museum for collecting and pre8rving things
relating to the history Of tho country. The
common council gave q room 10 the q tv hall
and Gardner Baker took charge This col.
lection formed the beginning OF SC1Idder's
museum, and Scudder's was the beginning If
the American museum, which for 30 MANY
years occupied the site Of the present H.rntd
Office.
The annual election Of officers was On .be
second Monday OF April, and they took their
places month afterward, when there was
parade, generally march to some garden
or tavern out of town, q dinner, speeches. etc,
and sometimes fireworks ut night. For a long
time the people observed these parades c9
they did any other holiday. There were spe-
cial attractions at the theatre, and one feature
that gave immense satisfaction to Young
America was the burning on the common
CITY Hall Park Of stuffed figure repre-
senting Benedict Arnold. The society was
for many years very particular In the OBJ
Seryance OF the FOurth Of July and EvacIla-