"Boss" Tweed : the story of a grim generation / by Denis Tilden Lynch.

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"Boss" Tweed

The Tweed charter passed the Assembly before it was considered by the Senate. Tweed had little worry over its passage
through the lower house, although the Black Horse Cavalry,
who knew no brother in matters legislative (as Tweed had
taught them) charged him sorely for their support. The
measure was on the Assembly's Third Reading Calendar, on
Monday night, March 28, awaiting the motion of its sponsor:
"Mr. Speaker, I move its final passage."
This Monday night was one of the most important sittings
in the legislative session of 1870. Tweed should be there. The
leaders of the Young Democracy contrived that Tweed should
not be in Albany when the Clerk of the Assembly read his
charter, whose crooked clauses they knew by heart. O'Brien,
Genet, and Morrissey, also planned to have The Boss preside
at a meeting of the General Committee of Tammany Hall on
that night and entertain a motion calling for his deposal and
the election of one of their number in his stead as Chairman of
the Democratic County Committee.
No mere ward politicians devised this humiliating program
for Tweed to sit through. Under the rules and by-laws of
Tammany, Tweed had no choice but to call the meeting as
demanded by the Young Democracy, as more than half the
total membership of the General Committee signed the demand.
For Tweed to refuse would render him liable to removal on
charges.
Sheriff O'Brien, on this Monday afternoon, a few hours before the scheduled hour of the meeting, flung public defiance
in the face of Tweed by summarily removing from office Deputy
Sheriff John J. Gumbleton, one of The Boss's most ardent
followers.
It was a momentous day for Tweed. From early morning
he sat in his law offices at 59 Duane Street receiving reports
from the camp of the enemy, his alert mind intent on a means
of avoiding the snares laid for him that evening. We learn
from The Evening Post of the following day:
"Reporters called upon Tweed at his office in Duane Street.
The stairways and ante-rooms leading thereto were perfectly be