James John Walker, known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced to resign during a corruption scandal in which he accepted large sums of money in exchange for municipal contracts.
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local political machine of the Democratic Party and played a major role in controlling New York City and New York state politics. It helped immigrants, most notably the Irish, rise in American politics from the 1850s into the 1960s. Tammany usually controlled Democratic nominations and political patronage in Manhattan for over 100 years following the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854, and used its patronage resources to build a loyal, well-rewarded core of district and precinct leaders; after 1850, the vast majority were Irish Catholics due to mass immigration from Ireland during and after the Irish Famine of the late 1840s.
Charles Francis "Silent Charlie" Murphy, also known as Boss Murphy, was an American political figure. He was also the longest-serving head of New York City's Tammany Hall, a position he served from 1902 to 1924. Murphy was responsible for transforming Tammany Hall's image from one of corruption to respectability as well as extending Tammany Hall's political influence to the national level. Murphy was responsible for the election of three mayors of New York City, three governors of New York State, and two U.S. senators, even though he was never listed as a leader of Tammany Hall.
Richard Welstead Croker, known as "Boss Croker", was an Irish American political boss who was a leader of New York City's Tammany Hall. His control over the city was cemented with the 1897 election of Robert A. Van Wyck as the first mayor of all five boroughs. During his tenure as Grand Sachem, Boss Croker garnered a reputation for corruption and ruthlessness and was frequently the subject of investigations. As his power waned following the 1900 and 1901 elections, Croker resigned his position and returned to Ireland, where he spent the rest of his life.
Thomas Francis Gilroy was the 89th mayor of New York City from 1893 to 1894.
William Lafayette Strong was the 90th Mayor of New York City from 1895 to 1897. He was the last mayor of New York City before the consolidation of the City of Greater New York on January 1, 1898.
Lexow Committee was a major New York State Senate probe into police corruption in New York City. The Lexow Committee inquiry, which took its name from the committee's chairman, State Senator Clarence Lexow, was the widest-ranging of several such commissions empaneled during the 19th century. The testimony collected during its hearings ran to over 10,000 pages and the resultant scandal played a major part in the defeat of Tammany Hall in the elections of 1894 and the election of the reform administration of Mayor William L. Strong. The investigations were initiated by pressure from Charles Henry Parkhurst.
John William Goff Sr. was an American lawyer and judge from New York City.
William Bourke Cockran, commonly known as Bourke Cockran or Burke Cochran in contemporary reports, was an Irish-American attorney, Democratic Party politician and orator who represented the East Side of Manhattan in the United States House of Representatives for seven non-consecutive terms between 1887 and 1923. Although associated with the liberal and progressive reform movements, he became widely known as the leading national spokesman for the Tammany Society, the powerful Democratic Party political machine in New York. As an advocate for the gold standard, he crossed party lines to endorse William McKinley in the presidential election of 1896.
Clarence Lexow was an American politician and member of the New York Senate from 1894 to 1898.
Charles Henry Parkhurst was an American clergyman and social reformer, born in Framingham, Massachusetts. Although scholarly and reserved, he preached two sermons in 1892 in which he attacked the political corruption of New York City government. Backed by the evidence he collected, his statements led to both the exposure of Tammany Hall and to subsequent social and political reforms.
Hugh John Grant served as the 88th mayor of New York City for two terms from 1889 to 1892. First inaugurated at age 30, he remains the youngest mayor in the city's history. He was one of the youngest mayors of a major American city, and was the second Roman Catholic mayor of New York City.
Timothy Daniel Sullivan was a New York politician who controlled Manhattan's Bowery and Lower East Side districts as a prominent leader within Tammany Hall. He was known euphemistically as "Dry Dollar", as the "Big Feller", and later as "Big Tim" because of his physical stature. He amassed a large fortune as a businessman running vaudeville and legitimate theaters, as well as nickelodeons, race tracks, and athletic clubs.
William Stephen Devery, nicknamed "Big Bill". was the last superintendent of the New York City Police Department police commission and the first police chief in 1898. Devery and Frank J. Farrell later co-owned the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball.
Alexander S. Williams was an American law enforcement officer and police inspector for the New York City Police Department. One of the more colorful yet controversial figures of the NYPD, popularly known as "Clubber Williams" or "Czar of the Tenderloin", he oversaw the Tenderloin and Gas House districts as well as breaking up a number of the city's street gangs, most notably, the Gas House Gang in 1871. He, along with William "Big Bill" Devery and Thomas F. Byrnes, were among several senior NYPD officials implicated by the Lexow Committee during the 1890s.
Nelson Jarvis Waterbury was an American lawyer and politician from New York.
Willis Holly was secretary of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and a member of Tammany Hall. He entered politics in the administration of Mayor Hugh J. Grant, and became Mayor Thomas Francis Gilroy's secretary. He died on August 4, 1931, at his apartment at the Hotel Chelsea.
The Fassett Investigation, or Fassett Committee, was an 1890 probe by the New York State Senate into political corruption in the New York City. The committee was mainly looking for evidence of bribery among appointed officials and the Board of Aldermen. Most of these were Democrats under the leadership of Tammany Hall "Chieftain" Richard Croker and Mayor Hugh Grant.
Joseph Koch was a Jewish-American lawyer, judge, and politician from New York.
An election for Mayor of New York City was held in November 1903.
