Tammany Hall

The Swamp: Tanneries, Bucktails, Loco Focos & Democracy

September 7, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

“The Swamp” was a lowland area in Lower Manhattan centered around Beekman’s Swamp, bounded roughly by modern-day Gold, Frankfort, Pearl, Water, and Ferry streets just south of the Brooklyn Bridge in the Financial District.

In the 17th century the marshy wetland was known by the Dutch as Bestevaer’s Kripplebush. It was later acquired by the Beekman and Roosevelt families and filled and drained over the 18th and early 19th centuries. [Read more…] about The Swamp: Tanneries, Bucktails, Loco Focos & Democracy

Henry Hilton in Saratoga: Power, Ambition, and a Gilded Age Fall

March 15, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Saratoga Springs is a community shaped by ambition, wealth, and strong personalities. Its streets and landmarks bear the names of early settlers, political leaders, and presidents — Bryan, Clark, Clement, Putnam, Walworth, Waterbury, among others.

One name, however, is notably absent despite its once-towering presence in the city’s history: Henry Hilton. [Read more…] about Henry Hilton in Saratoga: Power, Ambition, and a Gilded Age Fall

The Anti-Rent War: A Second American Revolution

September 29, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Between 1839 and 1845 tenant farmers in New York State revolted against paying rents to the patroon system — a system of land ownership implemented by the Dutch in New Netherland that prohibited farmers from owning their land outright.

Disguising themselves in calico gowns and leather masks to demand change. Their struggle, known as the Anti-Rent War, helped shape the future of American democracy and land ownership. [Read more…] about The Anti-Rent War: A Second American Revolution

Charles Frederic Adams: Man Against the Machine

June 19, 2025 by William M. Goodman Leave a Comment

On a cool, moist, spring evening in 1904, the outspoken lawyer and idealist Charles Frederic Adams (1851-1918) was traveling from his home in Brooklyn, by trolley and on foot, to a Milton Literary Society dinner in Manhattan. (He feared riding in automobiles.) But when crossing at an intersection, he was struck by a car and injured his back and scalp.

The driver of the vehicle stopped briefly, then sped off as a police officer tried to give chase. But scrupulous about obligations, Charles left the hospital he was taken to, and continued on to his dinner engagement. Only when he became ill there, would he let his friends help him home, where he took a few weeks to heal. [Read more…] about Charles Frederic Adams: Man Against the Machine

‘How We Poison Our Children’: The 1850s Swill Milk Scandal

April 25, 2025 by Alan J. Singer 1 Comment

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics all recommend drinking only pasteurized milk and eating dairy products made with pasteurized milk. Even organic milk is only safe to drink if it was pasteurized.

The safety of drinking unpasteurized milk and dairy products made from unpasteurized milk is in the news because Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. advocates drinking raw milk and is critical of federal regulations. [Read more…] about ‘How We Poison Our Children’: The 1850s Swill Milk Scandal

America’s First Politician: A New Martin Van Buren Biography

February 16, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

A new biography of the 8th president of the United States, the first chief executive not born a British citizen and the first to use the party system to chart his way from tavern-keeper’s son in Columbia County, NY, to the pinnacle of power.

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) was one of the most remarkable politicians not only of his time but in American presidential history. [Read more…] about America’s First Politician: A New Martin Van Buren Biography

Aaron Burr As New York State’s Third Attorney General

February 13, 2025 by Historical Society of the New York Courts Leave a Comment

Aaron Burr (1756-1836) is perhaps best known as the infamous Vice President who took a rather dramatic turn in American history and shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804.

But before he became a household name for all the wrong reasons, Burr served as New York’s third Attorney General from 1789 to 1791. He was known for his legal savvy and charm, navigating the post-Revolutionary legal landscape as something of a rogue. [Read more…] about Aaron Burr As New York State’s Third Attorney General

Honest Graft: Corruption By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet

September 10, 2024 by Dr. Bruce W. Dearstyne Leave a Comment

Is there any justification for politicians using inside information for their own financial gain when the public is seemingly not harmed directly?

Today, we would say no; in fact, there are laws against it. But in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the answer wasn’t always clear and the laws were lax or non-existent. Some politicians said that “honest graft” was OK. [Read more…] about Honest Graft: Corruption By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet

General Horatio Gates after the Revolution

November 10, 2023 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

This week on the Historians Podcast, New York City correspondent Jim Kaplan on Revolutionary War General Horatio Gates. American commander in the key victory over the British in the Battles of Saratoga, Gates’s reputation suffered at the end of the war.

He later moved to the city of New York and helped elect Thomas Jefferson as President in 1800. He is buried in Lower Manhattan. [Read more…] about General Horatio Gates after the Revolution

General Horatio Gates in New York City: A Political Legacy

October 8, 2023 by James S. Kaplan 2 Comments

For many years New York City has not been known for its patriotic ceremonies recognizing important Revolutionary War heroes or sites.

Recently this has begun to change, beginning with the rediscovery of the grave of General Horatio Gates, who many consider the second most important American general of the American Revolution. Until about ten years ago his grave located in Trinity Churchyard in Manhattan was completely unmarked.

Gates was the commanding general at the Battle of Saratoga in October of 1777, which most historians agree was the most important battle of the American Revolution and the turning point of the Revolutionary War. He played another important role in early American politics in the city of New York after the war. [Read more…] about General Horatio Gates in New York City: A Political Legacy

Albany’s Daniel Manning: Newspaperman & Secretary of the Treasury

October 4, 2023 by Peter Hess Leave a Comment

Daniel Manning was born in Albany, NY, on August 16, 1831, the second son of John and Eleanor Manning. The Mannings were of Irish, English, and Dutch descent.

Daniel was six at the time of the Panic of 1837 when his father died, causing financial strain on the politically connected family. When Daniel was ten he was appointed a page in the New York State Assembly where he served for two years. During the second year, he also got a job distributing the Albany Atlas newspaper. [Read more…] about Albany’s Daniel Manning: Newspaperman & Secretary of the Treasury

Anna Rosenberg: A Key Aide to FDR and Truman

September 8, 2023 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

This week on the Historians Podcast, author Christopher C. Gorham discusses his biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman aide Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WW II and Shape Modern America (Citadel Press, 2023).

Anna Rosenberg was dubbed by Life magazine as “far and away the most important woman in the American government.” From New York City, Rosenberg devised a plan that helped diversify the ranks of factory workers during the Second World War. She also served as deputy defense secretary during the Korean War. [Read more…] about Anna Rosenberg: A Key Aide to FDR and Truman

Central Park Casino: The Epitome of Jazz Age New York City

July 5, 2023 by Holley Snaith 2 Comments

The Central Park Casino, situated at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street, was a premier New York City restaurant and nightclub, epitomizing the era of the Jazz Age. The Casino, with its grand dining room and perfectly polished dance floor, entertained some of the most prominent names in New York, from Tammany Hall politicians to Broadway stars and even royalty. Yet this exclusive, glamorous, and somewhat dangerous, appeal that was the Casino’s trademark, led to its demise during the darkest days of America’s great financial crisis. [Read more…] about Central Park Casino: The Epitome of Jazz Age New York City

A History of New York City’s July 4th Celebrations

June 20, 2023 by James S. Kaplan 2 Comments

Throughout the United States there are traditional Fourth of July parades and backyard barbecues, but in New York City the history of July 4th celebrations have been somewhat different. Although July 4th would appear to be a apolitical patriotic holiday, early July 4th celebrations in the city of New York were anything but nonpartisan. [Read more…] about A History of New York City’s July 4th Celebrations

Wall Street History: The Politics of New York’s First Banks

January 10, 2022 by James S. Kaplan 1 Comment

Prior to the American Revolution, there were virtually no banks in the United States. However, Alexander Hamilton, who was George Washington’s key advisor on financial matters, was familiar with the central banks of England and the Netherlands which had been key factors in the growth of the economy of those countries.

Unlike some agrarian Virginian politicians such as Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton believed that banking and credit was the key to the nation’s future. In 1781 he encouraged Robert Morris, the recently appointed Superintendent of Finance for the Continental government, to form the Bank of North America in Philadelphia. For a time up, until the British surrender of New York, this was the only Bank in the colonies. [Read more…] about Wall Street History: The Politics of New York’s First Banks

New Book Sheds Light on Jazz Age Disappearance of a NY Judge

December 6, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The new book Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age New York (Syracuse University Press, 2021) by Stephen J. Riegel is a fascinating chronicle of the life, times, and notorious disappearance of Judge Joseph F. Crater in Jazz Age Manhattan. [Read more…] about New Book Sheds Light on Jazz Age Disappearance of a NY Judge

Marinus Willet, Tammany Hall & The Treaty of New York

November 28, 2021 by James S. Kaplan 5 Comments

Every year in October the Lower Manhattan Historical Society holds its Saratoga/Yorktown celebration in Trinity Churchyard to celebrate the American victories at the Battles of Saratoga and Yorktown.

At that ceremony wreaths are lain on the graves of Revolutionary War figures associated with those battles — Horatio Gates, Alexander Hamilton and Marinus Willett. [Read more…] about Marinus Willet, Tammany Hall & The Treaty of New York

Saving the Broadway Theater Business (Podcast)

November 26, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

This week on The Historians Podcast, New York City attorney and walking tour guide Jim Kaplan explains the role played by Democratic Party district leader Jimmy McManus in reviving the Broadway theater industry and the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan.

An online version of Kaplan’s story was published in New York Almanack.
[Read more…] about Saving the Broadway Theater Business (Podcast)

NYC Politico Jimmy McManus and Tammany History (Series Conclusion)

November 11, 2021 by James S. Kaplan Leave a Comment

Jimmy McManus was interested in promoting the political history of Hell’s Kitchen and Tammany Hall. He occasionally would co-lead walking tours about the political history of Hell’s Kitchen for the 92nd Street Y or Culture Now.

One of McManus’s earlier activities in this regard was as a member and later President of the National Democratic Club of New York, which dated from 1834 and was credited with swinging the 1844 Presidential election to Democratic candidate James K. Polk, when as the Empire Club it helped carry New York State to James K. Polk over his opponent Henry Clay. [Read more…] about NYC Politico Jimmy McManus and Tammany History (Series Conclusion)

Tammany’s McManus Club: The Final Decades

November 7, 2021 by James S. Kaplan 2 Comments

In 1984, longtime Tammany politician and leader of McManus Democratic Club James R. McManus was challenged for his position as Hell’s Kitchen’s District Leader by a reform politician named Hamed Houssain. Houssain argued that it was time for the district’s voters to retire the last vestige of Tammany Hall and throw out the organization affiliated with the corrupt disgraced Camine DeSapio.

McManus however, was overwhelmingly reelected and Mayor Ed Koch attended his victory party. For the next 33 years, until his retirement in 2017, there would be no other challenges to Jimmy McManus for the position of District Leader in Hell’s Kitchen. [Read more…] about Tammany’s McManus Club: The Final Decades

Tammany Hall

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