William Marcy TWEED, Congress, NY (1823-1878)
TWEED, William Marcy, a Representative from New York; born in New York City April 3, 1823; completed preparatory studies; learned the trade of chair maker; alderman in New York City in 1852 and 1853; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1855); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1854 to the Thirty-fourth Congress; school commissioner in 1856 and 1857; member of the board of supervisors for New York County in 1858; defeated as the peace candidate for sheriff in 1861; deputy street commissioner 1861-1870; elected to the State senate in 1867 and 1869, serving four years; again elected in 1871, but was not permitted to take his seat; commissioner of the department of public works in 1870; tried in 1874 on charges of official embezzlement, found guilty, and sentenced to twelve yearsâ imprisonment; escaped in December 1875 and was captured in Spain; brought back to the United States on a man-of-war; again confined in prison in New York City from November 23, 1876, until his death, April 12, 1878; interment in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Bibliography
Hershkowitz, Leo. Tweedâs New York: Another Look. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press-Doubleday, 1977; Ashby, Ruth. Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall. San Diego, Calif.: Blackbirch Press, 2002.Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
