ANTI BOSS TWEED RING MAYOR YORK CITY FIRE DEPT PRESIDENT LETTER SIGNED 1874
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WILLIAM HULL WICKHAM(1832 – 1893)DEMOCRATICPARTY REFORM MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY 1875-1876, ANTI-BOSSTWEED RING - TAMMANY HALL REFORMER WHO HELPED TOPPLE THE CORRUPT BOSSCHAIRMAN OF THE APOLLO HALL DEMOCRACY, A POLITICAL GROUP THAT WORKED TO BRING BOSS TWEED TO JUSTICE&CIVILWAR ERA PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK FIRE DEPARTMENT.Political reformer William Hull Wickham seemed no match for notoriousstrongman Boss Tweed and his colossal New York City political machine. But whenthe dust sett...led, a disgraced William Marcy Tweed was in jail and Wickham wasMayor of New York City!HERE’SA RARE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY WICKHAM, 2pp., DATELINED, 338 LEXINGTONAVENUE [NYC], SEPT. 22, 1874 TOCOL. EMMONS CLARK(1827 – 1905)CIVIL WAR COLONEL and COMMANDER OF THE7th NEW YORK INFANTRY REGIMENT, N.Y.S.M.&GETTYSBURG and NEW YORK CITY DRAFTRIOTS COLONELTHELETTER INTRODUCES WIKHAM’S PERSONAL FRIEND, DR. PETER BROWN WYCKOFF, ANAPPLICANT FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF “VACCINATOR”IN CLARK’S DEPARTMENT, AND ASKING THE COL. FOR HIS ASSISTANCE IN GETTING HIMTHE JOB…This document has neverseen the collector market as it was acquired as part of the estate papers ofCol. Emmons Clark - - Fresh From theColonel’s Desk!The document measures 5 ¾” X 5¼” and isin VERY GOOD CONDITION.A RARE ADDITION TO YOUR NEWYORK CITY POLITICAL and MILITARY HISTORY AUTOGRAPH, MANUSCRIPT & EPHEMERA COLLECTION!<<>::<>>BRIEF BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH OF WILLIAM H. WICKHAMWilliamHull Wickham (July 30, 1832 – January 13, 1893) was a NewYork Mayor and anti-Ring Democrat who helped to topple corruptpolitician Boss Tweed.William Hull Wickham was born on July30, 1832 at Smithtown on Long Island, but spent virtually his entire life inNew York City. He was the son of Daniel Hull Wickham and his wife Ruth Hawkins, and had a sister named Julia. William's father was a New York City diamonddealer descended from an old colonial family that had settled the North Fork ofLong Island in the 1600s. Some of his relatives, such as second cousin William Wickham, still lived on the East End of LongIsland, while other relatives, such as third cousin William Hull Wickham (1846-1925), a prominent healthcare pioneersharing his name who resided at 270 Park Avenue, also lived in the Big Apple.While not as wealthy as Manhattan's moneyed elite, William's parents maintainedan affluent household at 71 West Eleventh Street and had family connectionswith many historic and influential individuals, including Thomas Wickham, who advised General Washingtonduring the American Revolution, and John Wickham, the attorney who successfullycleared Vice President Aaron Burr's name during his trial for treason. Hisuncle was celebrated educator and clergyman Joseph Dresser Wickham. The Wickhams traced their ancestryback to Thomas Wickham (1624-1688), a Puritan English settler whoestablished himself in Wethersfield, Connecticut in about 1648. Throughout hispublic career, William would rely on the time tested Puritan values of hardwork, compassion, honesty, and ingenuity to guide his policy decisions.Duringhis early life, William worked as a ticket agent for the Pacific Mail SteamshipCompany in the office of Howland & Aspinwall. Afterwards, he followed hisfather's footsteps and entered the jewelry business for several years, being adealer in diamonds at 24 Maiden Lane. He was also a volunteer fireman for theNew York City Fire Department. While service in the Fire Department wasgenerally viewed as being for the lower-middle class, the Wickhams had anold-fashioned sense of public service and saw nothing wrong with rolling upone's sleeves to help a neighbor. William joined Mutual Hook and Ladder CompanyNo. 1 in 1850 and became foreman, then resigned in 1854 and organized theBaxter Hook and Ladder Company No. 15, located on Frankfort Street, betweenWest Broadway and Hudson Street. He then steadily moved up the ranks of the NewYork City Fire Department, being elected Secretary in 1858, Vice President in1859, and President from 1860-61. He also married Louise S. Floyd of LongIsland on September 8, 1857 and had several children with her including LouiseFloyd Wickham, Julia Petrie Wickham and Stephen Hull Wickham, who worked as anauditor.Bythe 1870's, William was Chairman of the Apollo Hall Democracy, a groupdedicated to the overthrow of William M. Tweed, better known as Boss Tweed (seepicture), who is probably the most notorious figure of alltime in New York City politics due to a series of stupendous frauds tied to hisname. Like William, Boss Tweed had come up through the ranks via the FireDepartment, but there the similarities abruptly ended. Born in 1823, Tweedspent his childhood on New York's Lower East Side as a brawler and schooldropout. After becoming the leader of the local volunteer fire company, he waselected to the Board of Aldermen, and then to Congress. He returned to New Yorkand was elected to the Board of Supervisors, and then to the State Senate.Meanwhile, he became the leader (called the "Grand Sachem") ofTammany Hall, a political machine associated mainly with the poor and immigrantsthat controlled Manhattan's Democratic Party for decades. In 1871, it wasdiscovered by investigators that Tweed had formed a "Ring" thatincluded Mayor A. Oakey Hall to bilk the public out of as much as $300 millionthrough bribes and kickbacks.Anoutraged public formed a group called the Executive Committee of Seventy, ofwhich William was a member, to obtain good government and honest officers.Their efforts to examine the city accounts got off to a rocky start whensomeone broke into City Hall and stole 8, 500 vouchers relevant to theinvestigation, but in 1873 Tweed was convicted of forgery and larceny, andsentenced to jail. Meanwhile, Tammany Hall, which many thought would collapseunder the weight of the odious revelations, made an extraordinary effort to reinventitself under the leadership of John Kelly, who invited many of the reformerswho had sealed the doom of Boss Tweed and his ring to join Tammany. The successof this effort and the continuing need for the working class and immigrants tohave a political group dedicated to their interests resulted in a revival ofsorts, and William eventually reconciled with the new leaders.Inthe Autumn of 1874, William was nominated by the Democrats for Mayor, withTammany's John Kelly giving the nominating speech, calling William "mycandidate." To the astonishment of many who thought that the Tammanymachine was down for good, William won the election by a wide margin, pullingin 70, 071 votes, against 24, 226 for Oswald Ottendorfer, the Independent Democraticcandidate, and 36, 953 for Salem H. Wales, the Republican. In the same election, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, a future presidential candidate who also helped putBoss Tweed behind bars, received Tammany's support and was elected Governor ofNew York. After William took office on January 1, 1875, theRepublican-controlled New York Times immediately expected William topreside over a new round of scandals, but years later was forced to concedethat what they uncovered "was not remarkable in any way" (seehim at a reception). One of his most importantappointments was to make anti-corruption crusader William C. Whitney the Cityof New York's legal counsel. A Harvard Law School graduate, Whitney went on tobecome Secretary of the Navy during the Cleveland administration. William alsohelped kickoff the fundraising for building the pedestal for the Statue ofLiberty. Midway through his term, New Yorkers received the startling news thatBoss Tweed had escaped from jail. Tweed fled to Spain and posed as a fisherman, but was recaptured and extradited back to the United States.Williamdeclined to be renominated in 1876, and never again took much interest inpolitics, although he did speak out against the mayoral candidacy of William R.Grace. In 1890, he served as foreman on the Coroner's jury investigating acollision in the Fourth Avenue tunnel and for several years served on the Boardof Education. In 1892, he was a member of the Committee of One Hundred for NewYork's Columbian celebration. Towards the end of his life, he also was aDirector of the Consolidated Coal Company of Wyoming. During the last months of1892, he became ill from a heart condition and by December was confined to hishome at 338 Lexington Avenue. A trained nurse remained with him constantly andhe was able to receive visitors, but on January 13, 1893 he suddenly died (seegrave). As the New York Times worded it, "With no warning whatever, Mr. Wickham suddenly moved in his chair about2:30 o'clock in the morning, and died in a moment." He was survived byboth his parents, his wife, their only daughter, and his sister's three children, who he adopted after her death. Upon the news of William's death, Mayor Gilroyordered that the City Hall flags be displayed at half mast. In December 1894, asteamer dubbed the William H. Wickham was put into service to ferrypassengers from the East 70th Street dock to Roosevelt Island. Hewas a distant cousin of John Wickham, the attorney for Aaron Burr during his trial fortreason. It was Burr who transformed Tammany into a political machine for theelection of 1800.Healso has a street named after him in the north Bronx.<<>::<>>BIOOF DR. PETER B. WYCKOFFDr Peter B Wyckoff - Thoroughly well trained at GeneseeAmherst and Bellevue he was for ten years a member of the firm of Munroe &Wyckoff. Born at Oswaco Lake near Auburn NY he was prepared for college atCazenovia and Lima NY seminaries took his Freshman and Sophomore years atGenesee College now known as the Syracuse University and his Junior and Senioryears at Amherst College, where he was graduated in 1868 with the degree of A.B.Taking the full course at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, he entered themedical profession in 1870, and held various medical positions in the municipaldepartments OF New York City for the next ten years; Ambulance Surgeon toBellevue Hospital in 1870-71; he was resident physician to the Nursery andChildren's Hospital at Randall's Island in 1871-72; Examining Physician to theDepartment of Public Charities and Corrections from 1872 to 1873; DistrictPhysician to 1874; Assistant Sanitary Inspector to the Health Department in NewYork from 1874 to 1880. He was Vice President of his class at Amherst andmember of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity.Hehad a Life membership in the Psi Upsilon Club in New York, he belonged to theMetropolitan St. Nicholas and Riding Clubs, and to the Country Club ofWestchester County. He retained his membership in the Medical Society, is adirector of various business corporations, and a member of the AmericanNumismatic and Archaeological and Holland Societies of New York.DrWyckoff in 1875 married Miss Cora Dillon daughter of Sidney Dillon.Source: Select Organizations in the United States, edited by William Van Rensselaer Miller, 1896<<>::<>>BIOGRAPHY OF GENERAL EMMONS CLARKEmmons Clark, CivilWar Colonel and Post war General, was born at Huron, Wayne County, N. Y., on October14, 1827. Educated at Dauby, and at Owego and Groton Academies; graduated atHamilton College, N. Y., 1847; studied medicine, but removed to New York Cityin 1852, and was a railroad agent at No. 173 Broadway, 1852 to 1864; wholesaledruggist at No. 149 Chambers St., 1864-'65; Secretary of the New York HealthDepartment, March 4, 1860 to 1891, the date of this record. Candidate forSheriff of New York on the Citizens' ticket in 1883; appointed FireCommissioner of New York City by Governor Fenton, 188, and consul to Havre byPresident Harrison in 1880, which appointments were declined. Enlistedin Second (B) Company, Seventh Regiment, N. G. S. X. Y.j in 1857; elected firstsergeant and second and First Lieutenant successively, and in 1860 Captain ofthat company. Served as Captain of Second Company, Seventh Regiment, N. G. S.N. Y., in the campaigns of that regiment in the United States service atWashington, D. C, 1861 ; Baltimore, Md., 1862; and Baltimore and Frederick, Md., 1803. ElectedColonel Seventh Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., June, 1864, and was retired from thatoffice in 1889, at his own request, after twenty-five years' service, with therank of brevet brigadier-general, conferred by Governor Hill in compliance witha resolution of the Legislature of the State of New York. Authorof "History of Second Company, Seventh Regiment" (186-1), and "Historyof the Seventh Regiment " (1890). Married Adelia Augusta Hallett, atEdgewater, X. J., November 15, 1859. Resided (1891) in New York City. Col.Clark died on Aug. 9, 1905 in Manhattan, and is buried in Trinity ChurchCemetery in New York City.I am a proud member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club(UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society and theAmerican Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). Isubscribe to each organizations' code of ethics and authenticity is guaranteed.~Providing quality service and historical memorabilia online for over twentyyears.~
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