in the liberal appropriation contained in the first section, in the
following words: ‘That any person who is the head of a family, or who
has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the
United States, or who shall have filed his intention to become such,
as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, shall,
from and after the passage of this act, be entitled to enter, free of
cost, one quarter section of vacant and unappropriated public lands
which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to private
entry, at $1.25 per acre, or a quantity equal thereto, to be located in
a body, in conformity with the legal sub-divisions of the public lands,
and after the same shall have been surveyed.’”
“The other sections of the bill are either explanatory of the first,
or designed to guard against mistake or fraud in its execution. Its
general purport and object is, as its title indicates, to secure
homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain.”
Mr. Kelly next enters into a minute history of the vast extent of the
public lands of the United States, how and when title to them was
acquired, from whom derived, and an interesting resumè of the subject
from a period anterior to the adoption of Articles of Confederation
between the thirteen original States, down to the latest acquisition of
territory in 1854, known as the Gadsden Purchase. After an instructive
review of European, and especially of English colonization, he
continues as follows:
“But, sir, humanity claims for this bill the serious consideration of
every member of this House, more especially of those who, like myself,
represent in part any of the large and populous cities of the Union.
For the laboring classes, large cities and towns, with superabundant
populations, are too often but the portals from wretchedness to death.
They can find no employment whereby to earn their bread by the sweat of
their brow, and idleness, poverty and crime are the inevitable results.
The very shifts they resort to, the avocations they follow in quest of
subsistence, even if they desire to live honestly, yield but scarcely
sufficient to supply unwholesome, scanty, unnutritious diet; and hence
the statistics of city life exhibit a frightful mortality. * * Does not
humanity, then, as well as patriotism, invoke our favorable action
on a bill which will withdraw from our large cities this overplus
population, and by giving a proper incentive to its industry and labor,
rescue it from pauperism and death? It is not for the worthless vagrant
who is found in every large city, lurking amid the haunts of vice and
wretchedness, I appeal. This pauperism strikes down those who are able
and willing to work, and, therefore, are fit subjects for the bounty
of Congress. It is a truism in political economy that when pauperism
siezes upon this class of citizens, the wages of labor are reduced to
the cost of subsistence. The whole class must therefore be subjected to
the necessity of working, rather to avoid the poor-house than to better
their condition. Rescue these and such as these, not only from New York
or Boston, or New Orleans or Baltimore, but from every city, and town,
and village in the Union; rescue them from drudgery and death, and
transform them into useful and industrious citizens of a free Republic.
The earth which God made is man’s. Give him, at least, a share of it,
a spot for a cot and a garden, and a grave when he dies, else God will
hold us as usurpers and faithless stewards, when the great day of
reckoning shall come.”[51]
Nothing in the political career of John Kelly has been more marked than
his hostility to the great land cormorants, particularly the railroad
corporations, and in nearly all his public utterances from that day
to this he has uniformly denounced the venal men who have controlled
the lobbies of Congress, and bought legislation by bribery and gifts,
whereby they have usurped so vast a part of the public domain. A true
history of Congressional grants to those corporations has yet to be
written. The annals of Congress show nothing so disgraceful, and so
disastrous to the public welfare, as the wholesale donations of the
lands of the people to the great railroad monopolists.
In closing this rapid sketch of John Kelly’s Congressional career, it
may be observed that necessarily many things have been omitted which
properly should find a place in his complete biography. The object
sought here is to elucidate his character, and the transactions which
have been selected for this purpose were among those in which he more
especially displayed the bent of his mind, his love of human kind, and
the practical business direction of his thoughts and language. Mr.
Kelly had not reached his thirty-fourth year when he entered Congress.
He had had no former experience in National politics, and was called
upon to contend with statesmen of great ability, long service, and
with a large following in the House. Two or three terms are required,
generally, before members can hope to attain prominence as legislators
and debaters in a body where men of so much ability are in rivalry
for the palm of superiority. In spite of these obstacles, Mr. Kelly
took rank among the leading men even during his first term, and during
his second he was placed on the Committee of Ways and Means, the most
important committee of the House, was recognized as one of the leaders
of his party, and wielded an influence with the Administration scarcely
exceeded by any one. Had he remained in the House of Representatives,
considering the high position he won there in two terms, and judging
from the remarkable ability he has displayed in his subsequent career,
in all probability John Kelly would have become one of those few great
parliamentary worthies whose names occupy so large a space in American
history. He has given ample evidence that he possessed the requisite
qualifications to have succeeded Stephen A. Douglas as leader of the
Northern Democracy, when death snatched the sceptre from the hands
of that gifted man. Of the calibre of Kelly, the reader has seen the
opinions in the preceding pages which were expressed by such weighty
statesmen as Lewis Cass, and Alexander H. Stephens. The gauge and
measurement which those distinguished men took of him over a quarter
of a century ago have been justified by the events of the past fifteen
years, and the marvellous grip upon the minds and imagination of the
American people which the very name of Kelly has come to possess.
Hardly had he taken his seat in Congress when he was confronted by
Wm. H. Seward, as leader of the Banks forces, in the famous contest
over the Speakership in the Thirty-fourth Congress, and yet after nine
weeks of stubborn battle in the House, John Kelly named a candidate,
William Aiken, as competitor against Mr. Seward’s candidate, and Aiken
came within two votes, in a House containing seventy-four Democrats
and one hundred and four Republicans, of beating Mr. Banks for Speaker
of the House of Representatives. In his second struggle with Mr.
Seward, when the Collectorship of the Port of New York was at stake,
Mr. Kelly may be said to have entered the lists almost single handed
against a powerful adverse interest in the Senate and House from his
own State. He was, nevertheless, completely successful in securing the
confirmation by the Senate of Augustus Schell for that office, as he
had been mainly instrumental in procuring his nomination by President
Buchanan. In a letter to a friend in New York, written some time after,
Mr. Kelly said: “Mr. Schell’s nomination was opposed very bitterly by
a large number of Democrats, and I have no doubt but that it was my
influence with Clay, Orr, Dowdell, Shorter, Fitzpatrick, and I might
say quite a number of the members of the Senate, that brought about
the confirmation of Mr. Schell.” John Kelly and Augustus Schell were
devoted personal and political friends, although in the factional
divisions in New York the former had been a Soft Shell and the latter
a Hard Shell Democrat. They stood shoulder to shoulder in victory and
defeat, thinking the same things about the Republic, inseparable in
affection and fellowship throughout a long and tempestuous period in
the politics of the country. In city, State and National conventions
of the Democratic party these two men always appeared together, and in
their journeys to and fro they travelled together, roomed together, sat
at the same table, and presented a picture to the public eye of more
than brotherly affection. In looking at them, as they conversed with
each other at such times, one would be reminded of Gales and Seaton in
real life, or of the Cheeryble Brothers of romance. The death of Mr.
Schell, in 1884, was a grievous blow to Mr. Kelly. All who heard his
speech at the memorial meeting for his departed friend at Tammany Hall,
will remember the unwonted emotions under which he labored.
Society at the Capital during Mr. Kelly’s day in Congress was very
agreeable and homelike, and the manners and tastes of the people
were formed in the school of frugality and simplicity well befitting
a Democratic Republic. Boast as men may of the material progress of
the country, the old school which held sway at Washington, during
Democratic Administrations, was the nursery of civic virtues, and had
about it the flavor of the golden age of the fathers. This was the
school Jefferson founded, and Madison and Monroe illustrated. It was
the school in which appeared John Taylor of Caroline, Rufus King,
William Pinkney, Governor Gore, Josiah Quincy, William Gaston, and
Littleton Waller Tazewell. Along Pennsylvania Avenue John Marshall and
Daniel Webster might be seen wending their way to market with baskets
on their arms, while Chancellor Bibb has gone fishing to the Long
Bridge, John Quincy Adams to have a swim in the Potomac, and John C.
Calhoun has gone out in the old-fashioned omnibus to Georgetown College
to talk philosophy with Father Dzierozynsky.[52] This society was based
on simplicity, the heritage handed down from Revolutionary soldiers,
offshoot of freedom and downrightness. There was no charlatanism in
Washington then, neither had there been any since Jefferson came to
tell the people “we are all Republicans, all Federalists.” For fifty
years the official rogues could be counted on the ten fingers. How
different in that respect since the antique school has passed away. The
great wars have blown out the old-fashioned virtues, and money-changers
have unhinged the morality of the people. Corruption in high places
has prevailed, and it has been in Washington as it was in Rome during
the last days of the Empire, when Fabricius and Tully were forgotten,
and turgid and loquacious rhetoricians mouthed in the Capitol. The
golden age of manners, and tastes, and honest living still survived
while the subject of this memoir sat in Congress. To be a gentleman
above reproach was glorious. Poverty was no badge of disgrace, for
James Monroe had given his fortune to the country in the war of 1812,
and died, “like rigid Cincinnatus, nobly poor.” Henry Clay could never
reach the White House, because after the fashion of the simple great
ones he would rather be right than President. Webster was an old school
patriot, for after Calhoun’s speech in 1833, he modified his views so
greatly that he never afterwards denied that the Government of the
United States was a compact between sovereign States. The rule of right
living was so inflexible that Calhoun relinquished all hopes for the
Presidency, rather than have his wife visit Bellona, at the dictation
of General Jackson.
Happy days! Fortunate John Kelly! to have been there to witness the
antique social phases, and to have come away again before the era was
quite passed and gone, and another and a different one had arisen in
its place.
FOOTNOTES:
[44] The reference in the speech was to the murder of a waiter named
Keating, in the spring of 1856, at Willard’s Hotel, by a drunken
Congressman from California named Herbert. Great indignation was
aroused by this unprovoked crime, and although after two trials,
the jury failing to agree in the first, Herbert was acquitted, his
usefulness as a representative was destroyed. “He remained in Congress
till the end of his term,” says Gobright in his _Recollection of
Men and Things at Washington_, “but failed to be respected by his
fellow-members,” p. 164.
[45] Cong. Globe, p. 2, 1st Sess., 35th Cong., p. 1919.
[46] Cong. Globe, p. 2, 1st. Sess. 35th Cong., p. 1919.
[47] Cong. Globe, p. 2, 1st Sess. 35th Cong., p. 1919.
[48] Cong. Globe, P. 2, 1st Sess. 35th Cong., pp. 1918-19.
[49] Cong. Globe, p. 3, 1st Sess. 35th Cong., p. 2,977.
[50] “The American Irish,” pp. 70-1-3.
[51] Cong. Globe, Appendix, 1st Sess., 35th Cong., p. 430.
[52] “Father Curley tells me that John C. Calhoun used to come to the
College to talk philosophy with old Father Dzierozynsky.” Extract from
a letter of the late Father J. S. Sumner, of Georgetown College, to the
author.
CHAPTER VIII.
ELECTED SHERIFF—MASTERS DUTIES OF OFFICE—RE-ELECTED—NOMINATED
FOR MAYOR AGAINST A. OAKEY HALL—CAUSES OF HIS WITHDRAWAL—GOES TO
EUROPE—VISITS HOLY LAND—INNER LIFE—HIS CHARITIES—RELATIONS WITH
S. J. TILDEN—LEADER OF TAMMANY—SECOND MARRIAGE—COMPTROLLER OF NEW
YORK—SPEECH AT LOTOS CLUB, ETC.
On Christmas Day, 1858, having been elected Sheriff of the City and
County of New York, November 2d of that year, Mr. Kelly resigned his
seat in the Thirty-fifth Congress. He remained in Washington at his
post until it was necessary to go to New York to enter upon his new
office; but in refreshing contrast to those Representatives in a
subsequent Congress, the Forty-second, who voted themselves back-pay,
he declined, after his election as Sheriff, to draw any salary at all
for his service as a member of Congress. The total number of votes cast
at the election for Sheriff was 69,088, of which John Kelly received
39,090, and William H. Albertson received 29,837, scattering 161.
Kelly was the regular nominee of the Democratic party of the city. His
majority was 9,092.
He entered with characteristic energy upon the duties of Sheriff,
that most ancient of county officers known to the common law,
_Vice-comes_ to the Earl, as Blackstone calls him. The difficulties
and responsibilities of this office in New York are peculiarly
great. The reported cases upon Sheriff’s law in that city indicate
the immense number of statutes applicable to the office, and the
subtleties, refinements, and nice legal distinctions, together with
the liabilities, which constantly press upon the Sheriff in the
discharge of his duties. As laymen nearly always have been elected to
the office, it was the rule, before Kelly’s term, for incumbents to
rely for guidance upon legal advisers and prompters behind the scenes,
whose special knowledge of business was supplemented by professional
knowledge of law, and by training and experience in the office. But
John Kelly set resolutely to work with his law books, for it is one of
the leading traits of his character to perform conscientiously whatever
duties are imposed upon him, and he was determined to delegate to no
one else a labor which the people had elected him to do himself. While
he was in the office the Under-Sheriff ceased to be the High-Sheriff.
After reading one or two good elementary books, he next applied himself
to the Code of Procedure, the Revised Statutes, and Reported Cases,
and wrote out a syllabus, or private digest for himself, of opinions
delivered in the lower Courts and the Court of Appeals in relation to
Sheriff’s law. To master such questions he worked with unflagging zeal,
not only by day but far into the night, during the greater part of his
term. In the meantime he acquired familiarity with the routine and
usages of the office. Thus equipped, he was perhaps the first Sheriff
who thoroughly understood the duties of the office, and discharged them
in person. He became a favorite among the members of the bar, and was
an authority, theoretically and practically, upon disputed questions of
Sheriff’s law. In the Sheriff’s Court Mr. Kelly himself presided over
the intelligent juries there empanelled. He heard arguments of counsel,
passed upon authorities cited, was conversant in the law applicable
to cases, and in the opinion of leading members of the profession he
displayed a judicial mind of high order.
The best body of jurors in the United States is undoubtedly the
Sheriff’s Jury in New York city. The members of this jury are chosen
annually by an eminent Commission of judicial and other high officers,
and are selected from among the foremost citizens in the community,
whose wealth, intelligence, and established character afford a
guarantee of their freedom from improper influences. Large fines for
absence are imposed, and cheerfully paid. An annual banquet, known of
all men, _ubique gentium_, as the Sheriff’s Jury’s Dinner, is provided
for with the ample sum thus accumulated. Delmonico’s choicest menu is
laid under requisition, and a distinguished and brilliant company is
always brought together.
That accomplished and discerning gentleman, Mr. Rosewell G. Rolston,
President of the Farmers’ Loan and Trust Company of New York, was
one of the members of the Sheriff’s Jury during Mr. Kelly’s term. He
once expressed to the writer of these pages his high respect for the
Sheriff, and descanted upon his sturdy qualities, saying, that while he
was a stern and austere man to look at, he was, nevertheless, brimful
of kindly human nature. After mentioning some occurrences which had
come under his own observation, he said, with no little earnestness,
“John Kelly is a love of a man, a grand fellow undoubtedly.”
Under-Sheriffs had presided at the trial of Sheriff’s cases before Mr.
Kelly’s entry into the office. The Jury was surprised now to see the
usual rule broken, and the new Sheriff going upon the bench himself.
The more experienced members gave each other a smile of astonishment
and a knowing wink, for they suspected that Kelly was led away by
zeal, and by ignorance of the mysteries of the law, into whose knotty
labyrinths he would be plunged presently by wrangling lawyers. But Mr.
Rolston and his fellow-jurors quickly discovered that the imperturbable
Sheriff behaved like a veteran under legal fire, and the lawyers
themselves were surprised to find him not only familiar with questions
at issue, both of traverse and demurrer, but practically master of
the situation. He had broken the precedent, and what had been before
a fiction was now a fact, a Sheriff of New York who knew more about
his office than any of his subordinates. John Kelly made a reputation
for honesty and capacity as Sheriff, which in the whole history of the
office has never been excelled by any man who has occupied it. The
best evidence of this is found in the fact that at the earliest moment
when he was eligible under the Constitution of the State, namely, at
the expiration of the term of Sheriff Lynch, his immediate successor,
John Kelly was renominated and re-elected Sheriff of New York. He
is the only man since the foundation of the Government who has been
elected twice to this important office. In the early day, before the
Hamiltonian or monarchical features of the State Constitution had
been abolished, and the Jeffersonian or elective principle had been
substituted for them by constitutional amendment, the Governor and
Council held the appointment, not only of judicial and other great
officers, a most fruitful source of corruption and centralization,
but they were likewise clothed with the power to appoint Sheriffs and
County Clerks in the several counties of the State. But twice only,
in the early history of the State, did the Council of Appointment at
Albany select the same men to fill a second term as Sheriff of the
city and county of New York. Marinus Willett was appointed Sheriff
of New York in 1784, and served until 1787. He was re-appointed in
1791, and held until 1795. Benjamin Ferris also held the office by
appointment from 1808 to 1810, and again from 1811 to 1813. On the
6th of November, 1864, John Kelly, who had filled the office so
faithfully from 1859 to 1861, was re-elected Sheriff of New York, an
unprecedented honor, as well as endorsement of his official integrity,
now bestowed for the first time in the history of the city, by the
people themselves, upon any individual.
At this election there were three candidates in the field, two
Democrats and a Republican, but after an exciting canvass John Kelly
led the poll by a plurality of nearly 6,000, his Republican competitor
coming next. The whole number of votes for Sheriff was 106,707, of
which Kelly received 42,022, John W. Farmer 36,477, and Michael
Connolly, commonly called the “Big Judge,” 28,099. The number of
scattering votes was 109. Mr. Kelly’s second term expired December 31,
1867. That it was a repetition of the first one in his fidelity to the
important interests and duties confided to his charge, was universally
declared at the time, without one whisper of dissent. In the fierce
conflicts of party fifteen years after his first term as Sheriff, and
seven years after the second, when his talents and commanding position
in the community had made him a formidable antagonist, John Kelly’s
official integrity as Sheriff was called in question for the first time
by certain political opponents, whose misconduct he had exposed, and
whose arbitrary acts he had resisted. These tardy shafts of malice fell
harmless at his feet.
In the year 1868, eleven months after he had ceased to be Sheriff a
second time, a still handsomer testimonial to the stainlessness of his
character was tendered to him than that implied in his re-election as
Sheriff; an emphatic endorsement of his qualifications for the highest
civic preferment was received by him when the Democratic Union of New
York nominated him for Mayor of the city against A. Oakey Hall, the
candidate of the Tweed Ring. In a laudable and patriotic attempt to
drive the Ring from power at the Charter election of November, 1868,
New York’s best citizens,—merchants, bankers, tradesmen, mechanics,
and members of the various professions, turned to John Kelly to lead
them, to the man whose admirable administration of the trusts he
had previously held as Alderman, Congressman, and Sheriff, afforded
satisfactory proof of his fitness to grapple with the Ring, and if
elected, to crush it, and restore honesty and economy in the various
municipal offices.
Among those who looked to Mr. Kelly at this interesting and critical
hour in the history of New York, as a safe leader against the notorious
triumvirate of Tweed, Sweeny and Connolly, were Samuel J. Tilden,
Andrew H. Green, Augustus Schell, and still another—tell it not in
Gath! mention it not in the streets of Ascalon! for it is surprising
to relate—Nelson J. Waterbury himself. Yes, in the very next year
after John Kelly had ceased to be Sheriff, this gentleman, who has
since lavished so much savage abuse upon him for mythical misdeeds
as Sheriff, the self-same Nelson J. Waterbury was an enthusiastic
supporter of John Kelly for Mayor of New York.
The support which Mr. Tilden was disposed to bestow upon Mr. Kelly
was a more important incident of that eventful campaign. For a long
time they had been intimate acquaintances, and Tilden not only looked
upon Kelly as a man of invincible honesty, but recognized in him a
born leader of men. It was a most unfortunate thing that Mr. Kelly’s
health, at this particular juncture, was so much impaired that it was
not possible for him to stand the strain of such a contest, or, indeed,
of any contest at all. The blackest chapter in the history of New
York was about to be written. He felt the magnitude of the occasion,
and rose from a sick bed to go meet the people half way, when they
called him to lead them in the fight. No personal sacrifice could be
too great, not even life itself, when the stakes were the reformation
of the public service, and the rescue of a million people from the
corrupt domination of such a Ring. “You will never live to reach the
army,” said Voltaire to the feeble and emaciated Mareschal de Saxe, as
the leader was setting out for Fontenoy. “The object now,” replied the
fiery commander, “is not to live, but to go.” But Mr. Kelly, however
willing to act his part, soon found that nature’s barriers are not to
be overcome. The hand which had rejoiced in its strength was relaxed
and powerless under wasting illness, and like that of Old Priam,
_telumque imbelle_, no longer could strike an effectual blow. He was,
indeed, destined to smite the Tweed Ring a death-blow, but not now, nor
until four years had come and gone, when, with health restored, and
energies all on fire, he drove them from Tammany Hall, and inscribed
his name among the benefactors of New York. He lived, like Saxe, to
fight and win his Fontenoy.
From early life Mr. Kelly had suffered from bronchial troubles, which
always were increased by public speaking. His mind is intensely
active. “I must be occupied in some way,” he once said to a friend,
“and I can’t sit still five minutes without doing something. I cannot
be an idler.”[53] Whatever he undertook to do, his faculties became
concentrated upon the task until it was accomplished. His occupations
for a long time had been engrossing and laborious, and his health had
suffered under the strain. “For twenty years,” to repeat the remark
of the editor of the _Utica Observer_, quoted in a preceding chapter
of this volume, “he had devoted several hours of every day to the
pursuit of literature and science,” and at length his constitution was
seriously impaired. Domestic afflictions also came upon him about this
period, and his physical maladies were increased fourfold.
John Kelly had entered into wedlock when a very young man, and for
twenty years his circle of domesticity was unclouded by a single
shadow. His wife, _nèe_ McIlhargy, was the daughter of an Irish
adopted citizen of New York, and an interesting family, a son and two
daughters, grew up to the verge of manhood and womanhood about him.
Mrs. Kelly, whom the present writer knew well, and greatly respected
for the excellent but unostentatious qualities of her character, was
a good wife, a devoted mother and a pious Christian woman. In the
year 1866 she fell a victim to consumption. Her son Hugh, a bright
and winning young man, just as he had turned his twenty-first year,
succumbed to the same disease, and followed his mother to the grave.
Symptoms of consumption also appeared in the daughters, and it was
evident that death had marked them both for its early victims. To a
man of John Kelly’s strongly affectionate nature, wrapped up in his
home and family, these visitations falling upon him like unmerciful
disasters, one after another in quick succession, proved well nigh
irreparable. His health already impaired, gave way entirely, and his
friends were seriously apprehensive of his own early demise.
It was in the midst of these afflictions that he was nominated for
Mayor against A. Oakey Hall. He was placed in nomination by the
Democratic Union, which held its convention at Masonic Hall, November
18, 1868, and he received on the first ballot 240 votes, to 51 for
John W. Chanler, and 1 each for John McKeon and Fernando Wood. On the
second ballot John Kelly received every vote in the convention, and was
declared the unanimous nominee for Mayor. A committee was appointed by
the chair, Mr. Roswell D. Hatch, to notify Mr. Kelly of his nomination,
and to invite him before the convention. The chairman of this committee
was Mr. Nelson J. Waterbury. After some time Mr. Kelly entered the hall
escorted by Mr. Waterbury, by whom he was presented to the convention
in appropriate terms, as the reform candidate for Mayor.
He was warmly received, and made a brief speech, vigorously denouncing
the Tweed and Sweeny Ring, which had usurped control of Tammany Hall.
He referred in terms of praise to those honest Democrats, many of whom
he saw before him, who formerly like himself had been identified with
the Wigwam, but who had retired from it in disgust, as he himself
had done when the Ring obtained control. “I see many gentlemen in
this convention,” said Mr. Kelly, “who formerly were associated with
me in Tammany Hall, and who felt the same grievances there which I
myself have experienced. I have no desire for this nomination, but
while I have not sought it, I will only say this, I shall stand by
those who have so generously nominated me for Mayor, and if elected,
I will discharge the duties of the office honestly and faithfully. In
accepting your nomination I fully realize that both yourselves and
myself will have to work strenuously against the corrupt men opposing
us, if we expect to secure victory. But by working together in good
faith we can succeed, for the people of New York feel the importance
of the contest, and the necessity of putting down the bad men who have
obtained control of the city government. I accept your nomination, and
if elected will do the best in my power to realize all your legitimate
expectations.”[54]
Abram R. Lawrence was nominated for Corporation Counsel. The candidacy
of Mr. Kelly greatly alarmed the Ring leaders and their Republican
allies. The latter sought to control the Republican convention which
was held the next day, and force through a straight Republican ticket
for Mayor and Corporation Counsel, as the most effective way to secure
the election of A. Oakey Hall. But fortunately there was a reform
element among the Republicans, as well as among the Democrats, and
the opponents of the Ring were in a majority in the Republican city
convention. That excellent citizen, Mr. Sinclair Tousey, was President
of this convention. The main struggle was between those who favored
the endorsement of John Kelly for Mayor, and, therefore, wished
the convention to adjourn over, and those who advocated the prompt
nomination of a straight Republican ticket. The latter class was led
by Charles S. Spencer, who vehemently demanded immediate action. But
the opponents of Spencer prevailed, and secured an adjournment to
the following Monday. “It was understood,” remarked the _Herald_ of
November 20th, “that the party of compromise was engaged in fixing up
quite a neat little arrangement, by which the Republicans would endorse
the nomination of John Kelly for Mayor, in consideration of having Mr.
Shaw substituted for Mr. Lawrence as candidate for Corporation Counsel.
The compromisers gave out that Spencer and the party of action were
simply acting in the interest of Tammany Hall in endeavoring to have
the Republican convention make regular nominations.”
In this campaign the _Herald_ opposed John Kelly, and championed A.
Oakey Hall for Mayor. This was not evidence of any complicity on the
part of that paper in the misconduct of the Ring, for in 1868 there was
no positive proof in possession of the public of the criminality of
the Ring, and hence the _Herald_ or any other journal was not justly
obnoxious to unfavorable criticism at that early day in the history
of the plunderers for advocating the election of Hall. “The Ring,”
says Mr. Tilden in his history of its overthrow, “became completely
organized and matured on the 1st of January, 1869, when Mr. A. Oakey
Hall became Mayor. Its duration was through 1869, 1870 and 1871.”[55]
The morning after Mr. Kelly’s nomination the _Herald_ declared for
A. Oakey Hall and against Kelly, in one of those plausible leading
articles by which it has so long and so remarkably influenced public
opinion for or against men and measures. The reference to Mr. Kelly as
a nabob was an adroit campaign stroke, and although he was living quite
unostentatiously in a modest three-story brick house at the corner of
38th Street and Lexington Avenue, an impression was created that he was
surrounded by princely opulence, in the fashionable quarter among the
millionaires. The _Herald_ editorial was as follows:
“John Kelly is a good citizen and a respectable man; but he has already
been elected by the Tammany Democracy, to which he owes all his past
political favors, to the offices of Councilman, Alderman, member of
Congress, and twice to the valuable position of Sheriff of New York,
being the only man, we believe, who has held that lucrative office a
second term. John Kelly was brought up a lad in the _Herald_ office,
when he first came to New York, and was well brought up; but he went
into politics in spite of his early training. We supported him for
office while he was poor and lived in the locality of the Fourteenth
Ward. Now that he has made himself a millionaire, and lives like a
nabob in the high locality of one of the most fashionable avenues of
uppertendom, we think he should be satisfied, and give place to others
who have not enjoyed such good fortune.”
“If the Democrats nominate A. Oakey Hall, as it is said they will,
as their candidate for Mayor, he will no doubt be elected by a large
majority. He will suit those who take a pride in the dignity of the
city, because he is a man of superior ability, a profound thinker,
an eloquent talker, and understands thoroughly the details of the
municipal government.”[56]
The Ring men got thoroughly frightened after the adjournment of the
Republican City Convention without a nomination, for it was becoming
quite clear that independent citizens, both outside and inside of the
respective political parties, meant to support Mr. Kelly for Mayor
against the Ring candidate. This state of things caused the _Herald_ to
discard special pleading respecting the “nabobs of uppertendom,” and to
redouble its attacks on Kelly. He was now denounced as a deserter for
having retired from Tammany Hall, and joined the opponents of William
M. Tweed. “The fight,” said the _Herald_, “is to be made against the
Democratic organization with the object of breaking down Tammany, and
thus giving the death-blow to the regular Democracy in its stronghold.
The _Tribune_, _Times_ and _World_ are co-laborers in this work—the two
former openly, and the latter in an underhanded but not less vindictive
manner. They are preparing to unite on John Kelly, who has deserted
the Democratic organization for the purpose of leading the Republican
forces in the battle. District Attorney A. Oakey Hall will be the
Democratic nominee, and will no doubt be elected; but it will be one of
the greatest fights we have ever had over a Charter election, as the
breaking down of the Democratic organization at this end of the State
would be the death-blow of the party, and is therefore a stake worth
playing for by the Republicans, who feel the loss of power in New York
very severely.”[57]
Against this pretended but sham regularity, not only Mr. Kelly, but Mr.
Tilden also revolted. “Weighty pressure,” says Tilden, “was brought
on me from powerful men all over the State to ‘save the party.’ I
denied that the system of organization then in use in the city had
any moral right to be considered regular, or to bind the Democratic
masses. I told the State Convention that I felt it to be my duty to
oppose any man who would not go for making the government of this city
what it ought to be, at whatever cost, at whatever sacrifice. If they
did not deem that ‘regular,’ I would resign as chairman of the State
Committee.”[58]
The exertion made by Mr. Kelly in leaving a sick bed to go before the
Democratic Union City Convention to accept its nomination for Mayor,
increased the illness from which he suffered. His physician called
eminent doctors into consultation, and it was the opinion of them all
that his continuance in active political movements would have a fatal
result. This professional decision was communicated to Mr. Kelly by
that eminent physician, the late Dr. Marion Sims. Thus admonished that
the excitement of the campaign would kill him, Mr. Kelly, on the 27th
of November, reluctantly sent in his withdrawal from the Mayoralty
contest to the Executive Committee of the Democratic Union, and the
vacancy was filled by the nomination of Mr. Frederick A. Conkling.
Mr. Kelly, who was a sufferer from insomnia, soon after sailed with his
two daughters for Europe. He made an extended tour in Europe, Asia and
Africa, visiting, among other places, the Holy Land. He first went to
Ireland as a pilgrim would return to the home of his fathers, spending
some time in the beautiful Island of Saints, where Christianity made
its only bloodless conquest in the world. During fourteen hundred
years, while other Christian nations have rushed back into infidelity
and again become Christian, Ireland has never lapsed into infidelity,
nor into a scoffing, Godless philosophy, the invariable accompaniment
of unbelief and paganism. After visiting the various capitals of
Europe,—London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Madrid, St. Petersburg, and
other places, he repaired to Rome, the city of the soul, the Niobe
of nations, shrine of saints and martyrs, of doctors and confessors,
where he spent a considerable period in rest and retirement, and in
viewing its wonderful ruins, monuments, and churches. Repairing to Holy
Land, Mr. Kelly remained for some time at Jerusalem, the cradle of
Christianity; which Titus, in fulfilment of prophecy, left not a stone
upon a stone of; where Christ had walked about among the people, and
where He died upon Calvary.
In contemplating scenes associated with the earthly life and death
of the Redeemer, the traveler no doubt derived comfort in his own
bereavements, dignified by such a fellowship of suffering as was there.
What a lesson of humility the ignominious Cross must have preached
to his reflective mind. He was leading a contemplative life, and his
letters at this period dwell much upon the Mount of Olives, the Way of
the Cross, and the Holy Sepulchre. He had read somewhere in allegory
of the contest in which the trees of the forest are represented as
debating among themselves who should be their king. Had the contest
occurred in the days of the Redeemer, small chance the ignoble tree of
the Cross would have had to win the crown. Mr. Kelly had read Cardinal
Wiseman’s beautiful thoughts on the subject. “Apply the allegory,”
said he once in a circle of his friends, “and let us enter some forest
of Judea filled with stately trees, lofty, tapering pine, and royal
cedar, and hear the proud possessor give orders as to how their worth
should be realized into wealth. He says to the forester: ‘See that
elegant and towering tree which has reached the maturity of its growth,
how nobly will it rise above the splendid galley and bear itself in
the fell fury of the wind, without breaking or bending, and carry
the riches of the earth from one flourishing port to another. Cut it
down and destine it for this noble work. And this magnificent cedar,
overcasting all around it with the solemnity of its shade, worthy to
have been built by Solomon into the temple of God, such that David
might have sung its praises on his inspired lyre; let it be carefully
and brilliantly polished, and embarked to send to the imperial city,
there to adorn those magnificent halls, in which all the splendor of
Rome is gathered; and there, richly gilded and adorned, it shall be an
object of admiration for ages to come.’ ‘It is well, my lord,’ replies
his servant, ‘but this strange, this worthless tree, which seems
presumptuously to spring up, beneath the shadow of those splendid
shafts, what shall we do with it? it is fitted for no great, no noble
work.’ ‘Cut it down, and, if of no other use, why, it will make a cross
for the first malefactor!’”
Strange counsels of men! The soaring pine dashed the freight that
it bore against the rocks, and rolled a wreck upon the beach. The
noble cedar witnessed the revels of imperial Rome, and fell by the
earthquake, or in the fire kindled by the barbarians, charred into
ashes. But that ignoble tree, spurned by proud man and put to the
most ignominious of uses, bore the price of the world’s redemption
upon Calvary, its every fragment has been gathered up, and treasured
and enshrined, and in every age it has been considered worth all that
the world dotes on, and sets its heart on. An Empress crossed the
seas and searched among the tombs of the dead for that material wood
of the Cross of Christ. For that holy rood was built a magnificent
church on Mount Sion. For it the Emperor Heraclius made war on the
King of Persia; and when he had recovered it, bore it as his Master
had borne it before, barefoot and in humble garb to Calvary. For that
tree Constantine the Great built a noble church, yet standing among
the ruins of the palaces of Rome, and brought the very earth from the
Savior’s own land, as though none were worthy to be there save that
upon which had first fallen the precious blood of redemption. For
eighteen hundred years this relic has been the most priceless treasure
of Christians. Its smallest fragment has been enshrined and vestured
in gold and precious stones, and housed and sheltered in magnificent
temples piled up with the richest materials and noblest productions of
art. The ignoble tree which the world despised has conquered the world
itself.
Mr. Kelly’s correspondence at this time made it apparent that he had
ceased to feel interest in the busy trifles of politicians, and that
his thoughts were directed to problems of the moral world, to reveries
upon the mysteries of redemption, like that outlined in the preceding
allegory upon the Cross, and to the works of mercy, both spiritual and
corporal. He brought back from Palestine souvenirs and patristic relics
of much interest. He had familiarized himself with the topography of
the hallowed scenes of Holy Land, and those who have heard him describe
them and relate the history and traditions connected with them, have
been struck with his reverence as a narrator, as well as with his
closeness as an observer of manners, customs and places. While he was
abroad unfounded rumors reached New York that John Kelly had withdrawn
from the world, in order to spend the remainder of his days in monastic
retirement. Perhaps this story originated from the circumstance that he
travelled much in the company of clergymen in Europe. Vicar-General
Quinn of New York was his companion on the Continent. The late Bishop
McGill of Richmond, Virginia, a man of ascetic tastes and profound
learning, often shared Mr. Kelly’s carriage in the latter’s drives
about Rome. Another thing which may have given color to the rumor was
the fact that Mr. Kelly had educated, and was still educating, many
young men for the ecclesiastical state, not only American youths, but
those of Irish and German and Swiss nationalities. While he was in
Switzerland his attention was directed by his daughters to a pious
little boy, the son of a poor gardener, who with another boy of wealthy
parentage, served at the altar every morning. The wealthy man’s son
soon departed for the University, when Mr. Kelly sent for the son of
the gardener, and finding that he wished to become a religious, told
him that he would afford him the means to carry out his purpose, and
amid the grateful tears and prayers of the boy’s parents, he sent him
to a renowned German University, and defrayed all his expenses until
he was graduated. That boy has since become a learned scholar and
minister at the altar. While Mr. Kelly was in Rome he became warmly
interested in the American College, a noble seat of learning in that
city for the training of young ecclesiastics for the American Missions,
and he generously established a bursary in the College. He gave to its
President, Dr. Chatard, who since has been raised to the Episcopate,
five thousand dollars for the maintenance of this charitable Kelly
foundation. It reflected no credit upon the managers of the New York
Cooper Institute meeting, held in 1884, to denounce the spoliation of
the Propaganda, of which the American College at Rome is a part, to
have omitted one of its benefactors, and so prominent a representative
man as John Kelly, from the list of the officers and speakers of that
meeting. Those managers were then burning incense to Monsignor Capel,
a clerical gentleman of know—ledge, not knowledge, who thinks American
Catholics are too illiterate yet awhile to aspire to a University.
The beautiful pictures in stained glass, which adorn the windows of
St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, are, with the exception of the
examples in the French Cathedral in Chartres, perhaps unsurpassed in
modern times, as figured scenes from the Scriptures and lives of the
saints. In this pictorial religious epic is a beautiful window placed
there by John Kelly in memory of his lost ones, or more correctly
of those members of his family who have been called to the better
life. “Before quitting the Sanctuary,” says the writer of a pamphlet
descriptive of the exterior and interior of the Cathedral, “we will
bend our steps towards the Lady Chapel. The window in the first bay
represents the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin in the Temple. The
high priest, in gorgeous vesture, advances to receive the child, while
St. Joachim and St. Anne modestly remain standing behind. The friends
of the family are assembled to witness the ceremony. This bears the
inscription, ‘John Kelly—_in memoriam_.’”[59]
Some years before the completion of the new Cathedral, and while Mr.
Kelly was in Rome, he gave an order to a celebrated artist in that
city of art treasures to execute for him four great oil paintings
representing the Baptism of our Lord, the Marriage feast of Cana, the
Return of the Prodigal Son, and St. Patrick preaching at Tara. He
afterwards embraced two additional scenes from sacred history in his
scheme, the Ascension of Our Lord, and the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin. The artist, Galliardi, produced a noble work after the best
masters. These six magnificent paintings were sent from Rome to America
as a present from Mr. Kelly to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and are the
only paintings in canvas upon the walls of that grand church.
When he was in England he visited a region inhabited almost entirely by
miners—English, Irish and Welsh. Those people were, to a great extent,
ignorant of the truths of Christianity, and there were no facilities
in the wild mountain region they inhabited to improve their moral
condition. Working in the mines day and night, and constantly exposed
to death in the midst of their subterranean toil, these poor people
appealed to friends at a distance to send them a clergyman to minister
to their spiritual wants. The appeal was answered, and the Reverend Mr.
Dealy arrived there to open a mission a short time before Mr. Kelly
visited that part of England. The clergyman found himself destitute of
every worldly appliance for a proper ministration of the functions of
his spiritual office, no church, no school-house, no charitable home
or asylum for the sick and helpless, all things, in a word, wanting,
and no adequate means to provide them. He was an excellent and zealous
man, and he stated his situation, and the necessities of the people
to Mr. Kelly. He told him that if he had the money to build a church
and school-house, incalculable good might be done. He poured his story
into sympathetic ears. Help was promised, and faithfully was the
promise kept. Mr. Dealy some time after, upon Mr. Kelly’s invitation,
set sail for America, and took up his residence in the latter’s house.
When Mr. Kelly reached home he organized a movement among those of his
immediate friends, whose opulence and charity admitted of the appeal,
and in the course of a few months Mr. Dealy, as he informed the writer
of these pages, was the fortunate possessor of a purse of over twelve
thousand dollars, inclusive of Mr. Kelly’s own handsome donation. Those
poor miners in England soon had their church, and a school for their
children, and their pastor had reason to bless the day when he first
made the acquaintance of the subject of this memoir.
After John Kelly had re-entered the field of politics, and even when
immersed in public affairs, his charity and philanthropy continued to
be the controlling principles of his conduct. During the past five
or six years he has been a frequent lecturer in various cities of
the Union. His lectures, respectively upon the Sisters of Charity,
the Early Jesuit Missionaries in North America, and upon the Irish
Settlers in North and South America, were replete with historical
information and sound practical instruction, and wherever he appeared
on the platform as a lecturer he always drew crowded houses. Mr. Kelly
realized from his lectures, which he delivered repeatedly in the North,
South and West, over fifty thousand dollars, and this immense sum he
gave in charity to educate and clothe the poor, to build schools, or
to lift the burden of debt from charitable institutions. His heart
was in his work. He would not allow one penny of the proceeds of
his lectures to be diverted from the sweet uses of charity for his
traveling expenses, but in every instance, wherever he went to lecture,
he insisted on paying his railroad fare, and hotel bills, out of his
own pocket.
Bagenal, the London traducer of the American Irish, with unblushing
mendacity, classes John Kelly as a leader of “shoulder-hitters and
ballot-stuffers,” and ignorantly accuses him of being an enemy of Irish
colonization in the West. The simple truth is that Kelly is one of the
originators and prime leaders in the movement to get poor emigrants out
of the overcrowded Eastern cities, and has contributed thousands of
dollars to make their colonization in the West a success.
Dr. Ireland, Bishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, one of the great pioneers
in this benign scheme, while speaking kindly of Mr. Bagenal in a
letter to the present writer, still shows how erroneous he is in his
strictures upon Mr. Kelly. The Bishop’s comment upon Bagenal, is as
follows: “He is mistaken, of course, in his remarks about Mr. John
Kelly. But I do not think he will be sorry to be set right. He mixes
up Mr. Kelly with the average politicians of New York—not knowing,
as I know, Mr. Kelly’s exceptional qualities, his sterling honesty,
his true love for his fellow-Irishmen, and his general nobility of
character.”[60]
When he retired from politics in 1868, Mr. Kelly had resolved to enter
upon that field no more. Chastened by domestic affliction, and loss of
health, the plan of his life was changed. Public station had lost its
charm for him. To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and open the doors
of colleges, or advanced schools, to those whose talents were good, but
who were too poor to gain admittance, these things afforded to him his
greatest pleasure. He sought out the companionship of holy men, and
of holy books. Thomas à Kempis became his _vade mecum_. He took more
delight in the pages of the Following of Christ than he had ever known
in the conflicts of politics, either in the halls of Congress or the
city of New York. It was not altogether surprising, therefore, that
people’s conjectures should consign him to the prospective seclusion
of a monastery, and that rumors to that effect should have gained
circulation. The _New York Times_, on one occasion, shortly after Mr.
Kelly’s second marriage, made editorial reference to these rumors, and
spoke of him as that remarkable individual who had escaped being a monk
at Rome, in order to become the nephew of a Cardinal in America.
These revelations of the inner life of John Kelly are not laid before
the public without a great deal of reluctance. Some may think it were
better to keep them back until after his death, and the writer knows
perfectly well that no one else would prohibit their publication at any
time, or under any conceivable circumstances more sternly than John
Kelly himself. But these pages have been written without consultation
with any human being in the world, and recollecting the unparalleled
and shameful abuse which this man has been subjected to for doing his
duty as God has given him to see it, the writer is resolved to tell
the truth about him, and let the unprejudiced reader know something
of his real character. Indeed hardly a tithe of those charities and
good works of John Kelly which are within the personal knowledge of
the present writer, have been mentioned in these pages. During the
war for the Union, especially, were the kindly impulses of his nature
displayed. He went about among the hospitals visiting and cheering the
sick and despondent, supplying articles for their relief and money
for their wants, and doing what he could for the wounded. He did not
confine these ministrations to the hospitals in New York, but went to
Washington and got a pass from Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, whom
he had known well in former years, to visit the Army of the Potomac,
and particularly the camp hospitals. Thither he repaired, and extended
his aid not only to New York soldiers but to those of other States,
with characteristic zeal and liberality. A letter was published in the
New York _World_, November 1st, 1875, from Mr. James Murphy, in which
reference is made to one of Mr. Kelly’s visits to the army in Virginia.
“I well recollect,” said the writer, “that thirteen years ago, when
I was a soldier in the Second Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac,
and stationed at Stafford Heights, Virginia, opposite Fredericksburg,
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. John Kelly. His mission was one of
the noblest that man ever followed. He was going round from hospital
to hospital, and from tent to tent, visiting the sick and wounded of
the poor and neglected soldiers of the New York regiments, to see to
their wants, and alleviate their sufferings as much as lay within his
power, and questioning them as to their treatment as compared with
the treatment of the soldiers of other States.” Many persons in the
border States, as those adjoining the scene of military operations were
called, who were guilty of no disloyal acts, were nevertheless made
victims of spies and detectives, and they and their families suffered
great hardships. One of these was Mr. John Henry Waring, a prominent
and wealthy citizen of Prince George’s County, Maryland, whose property
was confiscated, whose large family, mostly ladies, were banished, and
who was himself imprisoned for the war in Fort Delaware. This was the
work of Baker, the notorious detective, and a more cruel persecution
hardly occurred during the war. Mr. Kelly was appealed to on behalf of
Mr. Waring, and after he was satisfied that injustice had been done
to that excellent citizen, he went to Washington and saw Mr. Lincoln,
and Secretaries Stanton and Montgomery Blair, on behalf of the Waring
family and estate. But Baker had poisoned the mind of Stanton against
the Warings, and, notwithstanding the Secretary’s regard for Mr. Kelly,
he refused the clemency that was asked. Mr. Kelly returned to New
York, and enlisted in Mr. Waring’s favor the powerful co-operation of
Governor Morgan, Archbishop Hughes, Thurlow Weed, James T. Brady, and
about fifty other leading men, and, thus strengthened, he renewed the
appeal for justice and executive clemency. Postmaster General Blair had
become warmly interested in the case, and to him Mr. Kelly confided
the petition of the citizens of New York named above, and Mr. Blair
in conjunction with Mr. Kelly ceased not to press the case until Mr.
Waring was liberated, his family were recalled from banishment, and his
beautiful home and plantation on the Patuxent river were restored to
him.
Mr. Kelly returned from Europe in the fall of 1871, much improved in
health, but not yet restored to his old vigor. The present writer gave
to Mr. J. E. Mallet, of Washington, D. C., who was going to Europe,
a letter of introduction to Mr. Kelly, while the latter was abroad.
Although they were near each other several times in Europe, Mr. Mallet
did not become acquainted with Mr. Kelly until they accidentally met
on the same steamship, the _Republic_, in returning to America. In a
letter published in the Baltimore Catholic _Mirror_, Mr. Mallet gave an
interesting account of this voyage, and of the amusements improvised on
shipboard. “One evening,” said he, “we organized a musical and literary
entertainment. The chairman made a speech, a lady played a fine musical
composition, a gentleman gave a recitation, a young bride sang a
beautiful ballad, Hon. John Kelly, of New York, sang in excellent style
an amusing Irish song, then a duet was sung by two ladies, some one
sang a French song, Father Sheehy sang an Irish ballad on St. Patrick,
and the entertainment concluded, and the assemblage dispersed during
the reading by the Rev. Dr. Arnot, of one of his old sermons.”
“A valued friend had given me a letter of introduction to Mr. Kelly,
to present in France or Switzerland, but I met that gentleman only
on the wharf at Liverpool, and then almost accidentally. Mr. Kelly
has travelled throughout Europe and the Holy Land, and is one of the
most interesting travelling companions whom I have ever met. I was
particularly pleased with his manner of presenting the true history of,
and reasons for certain religious and national practices in Ireland and
Italy, in opposition to the theories and suppositions of certain of our
fellow-voyagers, who ignorantly calumniated the one, and ridiculed the
other.”
During the three years of Mr. Kelly’s absence in Europe, New York
had been given over to every form of official rascality and plunder.
No sooner had he reached the city than he was besieged by leading
citizens, such as Mr. Tilden, Mr. Schell, Mr. Hewitt, Mr. Belmont,
Mr. Chanler, Mr. Clark, Mr. Green and others, all of whom urged him
to take the lead in a movement for the overthrow of the Tweed Ring.
To each one of these gentlemen he said that it was not in accord with
the plan of life which he had marked out for himself for the future,
to re-enter the field of active politics. But his friends redoubled
their importunities. They told him there was no other man in New York,
scarcely one in the United States, so well fitted as himself to head
such a movement, and that in the lifetime of but very few persons did
so grand an opportunity offer itself to serve the people as that which
now awaited him. His friends finally prevailed, his private plans were
changed, and his memorable reappearance in New York politics occurred
in the year 1872. “My health remains about the same as when I saw
you,” said Mr. Kelly, in 1872, in a letter to the present writer. “I
was compelled to take part, for the reason that my old associates
would not take No for answer. My active participation has not helped
me much in point of health, nor does it seem possible for me to live
in New York without being more or less mixed up in politics.” In an
interview published in the New York _World_, October 18, 1875, Mr.
Kelly explained more fully how he was induced to return to politics.
Details omitted, the salient points of that interview were as follows:
“When I returned from Europe in the fall of 1871, it was my intention
to have nothing to do with politics at all. I had been sorely afflicted
by the loss of my family, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life
as a private business man. I was met by a number of leading men, who
told me that during my absence the Democratic party in the city had
become utterly demoralized, and that the Grant Republicans, taking
advantage of this state of affairs, had come into full possession in
this great Democratic city, and they begged me to assume an active
part. I had hundreds of the leading men in the city here at my house,
asking me to take hold and help them up. After much importunity, I
consented, and threw my whole heart into the work. I suppose I have
some foresight. I think I generally see things pretty clearly, and this
is probably why they trust to my judgment. Whenever I fail to win their
confidence it will be an easy matter for them to dispense with me. I
am not commissioned as a leader by any constituted authority. But as
what power and influence I have depend entirely upon the good will and
confidence of the people who choose to recognize me as a leader, and
listen to my advice, I am wholly in their hands, and they can keep me
or reject me any day.”
Mr. Kelly’s part in public affairs prior to 1872 had been creditable
and marked by ability, but there were other public men who, in like
circumstances, had attained equal or greater distinction. In the year
1872 he was called upon to prove whether he was endowed with that
highest of all the gifts of Heaven, the capacity to lead men in a
supreme emergency, and it is not the language of eulogy to say that he
displayed consummate ability as such a leader; and that his courage,
coolness and good judgment enabled him to achieve results which no
other citizen of New York, with similar resources at command, and
similar obstacles in his way, could have accomplished.
[Illustration: _yours truly_
_John Kelly_
(AT THE AGE OF 50 YEARS.)]
In a city of a million inhabitants, where a Government had prevailed
for years, such as disgraced Rome in the days of Caligula, when the
tyrant made his horse a Roman Consul; or in the epoch from Tiberius to
Nero, when folly, crime and profligacy ran riot in all departments of
the Empire, such as Tacitus describes so vividly in the Annals, and in
the immortal Life of Agricola; in such a state of affairs it was an
enormous task for John Kelly to head a successful movement against a
Ring intrenched in office, with millions of stolen money at command,
and backed up by a purchased Legislature. This task he undertook and
accomplished, and history will record the fact on its imperishable page
that the gallant attack upon the Ring in the Courts and Legislature,
by Charles O’Conor and Samuel J. Tilden, was not crowned with final
success until John Kelly carried the war into Tammany Hall, and drove
the Ring politicians from its portals. O’Conor and Tilden scotched the
snake in 1871, and John Kelly killed it in 1872. Tammany Hall, the
cradle of American Democracy, whose patriotic Sachems in the year
1819 were addressed in a speech by Andrew Jackson,[61] and in long
friendly letters at the same period by Thomas Jefferson, the elder
Adams, and James Madison,[62] was rescued from disgrace and placed
again in control of honest men in 1872 by John Kelly. Not only the
political organization, but the Tammany Society was wrested from the
control of the Ring. No political contest in the history of the city of
New York was more stubbornly fought on both sides, or has been followed
by happier results to the people at large. If great public service
entitles a man to rank among the worthies of the Republic, John Kelly
won that title when he succeeded in expelling the Ring men from Tammany
Hall. His victory marked an epoch. The Board of Sachems of the Tammany
Society for 1871, and the Board for 1872 tell the story of this great
revolution:
1871. 1872.
_Grand Sachem_: _Grand Sachem_:
WILLIAM M. TWEED. AUGUSTUS SCHELL.
_Sachems_: _Sachems_:
RICHARD B. CONNOLLY, CHARLES O’CONOR,
PETER B. SWEENY, SAMUEL J. TILDEN,
A. OAKEY HALL, JOHN KELLY,
JOSEPH DOWLING, HORATIO SEYMOUR,
SAMUEL B. GARVIN, SANFORD E. CHURCH,
ETC. AUGUST BELMONT,
ABRAM S. HEWITT,
ETC.
On the retirement of Mr. Belmont from the Chairmanship of the National
Democratic Committee, in 1872, that distinguished position was tendered
to Mr. Kelly at the meeting of the National Convention in Baltimore.
But domestic affliction had again visited him about that time, in the
death in New York of his only surviving daughter, his elder daughter
having died some time before in a city in Spain, where her father had
taken her in a vain pursuit of health. Cast down by these afflictions,
Mr. Kelly declined the Chairmanship of the National Committee of
his party, but suggested his old friend Mr. Schell, who was elected
Chairman. “Who is John Kelly?” asked some of the younger delegates at
Baltimore, when they heard his name mentioned as their first choice
by the New York delegation. They were informed by Mr. Schell that Mr.
Kelly was detained at home in the house of mourning, but that he was a
great leader in New York politics, and a true patriot in public life;
and that he had sat in Congress before many of those young men were
well out of the nursery.
It was about this time that the Committee of Seventy set out to reform
the city government, but those worthy old gentlemen soon became engaged
in an amusing scramble for office, and beyond putting their chairman,
General Dix, in the Governor’s chair, and another of their number,
Mr. Havemeyer, in that of Mayor, they did not set the river on fire,
nor perform any of the twelve labors of Hercules. As soon as the
Committee of Seventy became known as office-seekers, their usefulness
was at an end. John Kelly sought no office, for he had to fight a
battle with office-holders, then a synonym for corruptionists, and
he appreciated the magnitude of the struggle more correctly than to
leave it in anybody’s power to say that the Ring men and the Reform
element, the latter marshalled by Tilden and himself, were fighting
over the offices. A mere scramble for office between the Ins and Outs
is always a vulgar thing. When they became place-hunters, the Committee
of Seventy ceased to be reformers. Kelly, with better statesmanship,
sought no office, and would accept none. When every other event in his
life has been forgotten, his memorable battle in the County Convention
of 1872 will still be remembered. A fiercer one was never fought in
American politics. To employ the words of Mr. Tilden, in his history
of the overthrow of the Tammany Ring, Kelly had to confront on that
occasion, “an organization which held the influence growing out of the
employment of twelve thousand persons, and the disbursement of thirty
millions a year; which had possession of all the machinery of local
government, dominated the judiciary and police, and swayed the officers
of election.”[63]
Harry Genet was leader of the Ring men in the Convention.
Prize-fighters and heelers swarmed upon the floor; and when Samuel
B. Garvin was again placed in nomination for District-Attorney, the
fighters and heelers roared themselves hoarse with applause. Mr. Kelly
took the floor to oppose Garvin, when he was interrupted by Genet. He
replied to the latter in scathing language, arraigned him and Garvin
with the utmost severity, and although hissed by the hirelings of the
Ring, and interrupted by volleys of oaths, John Kelly kept the mob in
sufficient restraint until he caught the eye of the chairman, and moved
an adjournment to 3 o’clock the next day. Mr. Schell, who was in the
chair, put the motion to adjourn, and it was carried, in spite of the
protests of the mob.
The next day the same emissaries of the Ring were there to overwhelm
the Convention again, but this time Kelly was prepared for them. He
had a force stationed at the doors of Tammany Hall, and no man, not a
delegate to the Convention, and not provided with a delegate’s ticket,
was allowed to enter the building. The police and city authorities were
on the side of the desperadoes, but no policeman was allowed inside
the premises. This bold stand of Mr. Kelly had the desired effect. By
his personal intrepidity, and readiness to resist attack, he cowed the
rowdies, and no others but delegates got into the Convention. Garvin
was defeated, and Charles Donohue was nominated for District-Attorney.
Abram R. Lawrence was nominated for Mayor. It was in that day’s
struggle that the backbone of the Ring was broken, and it ceased to
be a compact organization, and melted away after that day’s defeat.
Havemeyer of the Committee of Seventy was elected Mayor, with Lawrence
a close second, and O’Brien a bad third. Phelps beat Donohue for
District-Attorney. But Reformed Tammany, in spite of predictions to the
contrary, polled a surprisingly large vote, and although it did not
elect, it was a vote of confidence in John Kelly, and discerning men
saw that the future belonged to the old organization. Mr. Havemeyer,
who had been an excellent Mayor in early life, now proved a failure.
His defiance of the Supreme Court in the case of Police Commissioners
Charlick and Gardner raised a storm of indignation about his head,
and led to his reprimand by Governor Dix, who threatened his removal
from office. Charlick and Gardner had been indicted for a violation of
the election laws, and Mr. Kelly was very active in bringing on their
trial. They were convicted by the Jury, and sentenced by Judge Brady
to pay a fine of $250 each, but conviction carried with it a still
severer penalty, forfeiture of their offices and disability to fill
them by reappointment. The Mayor’s attempt to reappoint them was an act
of surprising folly, but when the Governor’s reprimand reached him,
with the statement that his age, and near completion of his term of
office, alone saved him from removal for contumacy, Mayor Havemeyer’s
rage vented itself in an extravagantly abusive attack on John Kelly.
He held Mr. Kelly responsible for the trial of Charlick and Gardner,
and after astounding the community by defying the Supreme Court with a
vain attempt to re-instate the guilty officials, he brought the matter
to an impotent conclusion by pouring out a torrent of abuse upon John
Kelly, and assailing his record for honesty when he was Sheriff of New
York. During all the long years which had elapsed since Mr. Kelly had
held that office, not one syllable had ever been uttered derogatory to
his exalted character for honesty as Sheriff, until Mayor Havemeyer
made his reckless charges. Smarting under a sense of humiliation after
the Gardner-Charlick fiasco, the Mayor allowed bad temper to get the
mastery of his judgment, and the explosion of wrath against Mr. Kelly
followed. The animus of the attack was perfectly apparent on its face,
and the good sense of the people was not imposed upon by the revengeful
ebullitions of the angry old gentleman. Mr. Kelly promptly instituted a
suit for damages, but on the very day the trial began, by a remarkable
coincidence Mayor Havemeyer, stricken by apoplexy, fell dead in his
office. The passionate events of the moment were forgotten, and a sense
of sorrow pervaded the community. Mr. Havemeyer’s long and honorable
career was remembered, and the unfortunate passage in his last days
was generally, and justly imputed to the misguided counsels of his
friends.
The Tammany Democrats were completely victorious at the election of
1873. Those able lawyers, Charles Donohue and Abram R. Lawrence, were
elected to the Supreme Court. The late William Walsh and the late Wm.
C. Connor, both excellent men, were elected County Clerk and Sheriff.
Again, in 1874, victory perched on the standards of Mr. Kelly. This
time its dimensions were larger. In addition to a Mayor (Mr. Wickham),
and other city officers, a Governor (Mr. Tilden), and other State
officers, were chosen by overwhelming Democratic majorities.
Mr. Kelly had been the first man to suggest Mr. Tilden’s nomination for
Governor. His splendid services in the war on the Ring pointed him out
as the fit candidate of his party. Tired out, after his long labors,
Mr. Tilden, in 1874, went to Europe to enjoy the first holiday he had
allowed himself for years. But such was his confidence in the judgment
of Mr. Kelly, that a cable message from that friend was sufficient to
cause him to cancel his engagements in Europe, give up his tour, and
take passage in the first steamer for New York. The Canal Ring was
in motion against Tilden’s nomination, and Kelly, who had found this
out, thought there was no time for delay. Tilden at first expressed
disinclination for the office, but the Tammany Chief had set his heart
on his nomination, and the author of these pages has heard Mr. Tilden
say that Mr. Kelly’s persistency finally controlled his decision, and
won his acquiescence. One of the leading delegates to the Convention of
1874 was Mr. William Purcell, editor of the _Rochester Union_. “To John
Kelly,” said Purcell editorially, shortly after the election, “more
than any other man does Governor Tilden owe his nomination and his
majority at the election. Governor Tilden was personally present at the
nominating convention, in close counsel with Mr. Kelly, than whom he
lauded no man higher for his personal honesty, his political integrity,
and his purity of purpose.”
Mr. Tilden was a constant visitor at Mr. Kelly’s house during this
period, and no two men could have evinced more respect and friendship
for each other. The last time Mr. Tilden attended a meeting in Tammany
Hall was at the election of Sachems on the third Monday of April, 1874.
The late Matthew T. Brennan and others ran an opposition or anti-Kelly
ticket, and so anxious was Mr. Tilden for the defeat of this movement
that he came down to the Wigwam, and took an active part in favor of
the regular ticket. He sat with Mr. Kelly, and when the result was
announced warmly congratulated him upon the victory.
In the latter part of January, 1875, a few weeks after Mr. Tilden’s
inauguration as Governor, the author spent a morning at his residence
in Gramercy Park, and there met ex-Governor Seymour and Mr. Kelly,
in company with Governor Tilden. The conversation of these three
distinguished men, in the abandon of social intercourse around the
hearthstone of Gramercy Park, was very agreeable and entertaining.
The author was an attentive listener and observer, and afterwards, on
the same day, wrote out in his diary his impressions of these three
celebrated New Yorkers. Although ten years have elapsed since those
impressions were written, they are here reproduced in the exact words
in which they were then put down in the diary, without the alteration
of a single sentence:
[Conversed with Messieurs Seymour, Tilden and Kelly at 15 Gramercy Park
to-day. Big fellows all of them, but entirely distinct types. Let me
see if I can depict them.
Horatio Seymour is a man well advanced in life, tall, well-shaped,
though rather spare in build, with a beaming open countenance, a
bright speaking eye, expressive mouth and a large nose. The marks
and lines of the face and forehead are deep and strong. His language
is quite Saxon in its selection and character, words of one or two
syllables prevailing. His expression of thought was clear enough to
be taken down by a stenographer as prepared utterances. His range of
subjects is large, and his treatment of each ready and versatile.
It is conversation all the time, not platform or stump-speaking.
The fault with him seems to be one which any person of such eminent
parts might be liable to—it is an occasional tendency to diffusion,
a Narcissus-like disposition to dwell on the shadow mirrored in the
wave; not vanity, but an introspective play of thought. His mental bent
is speculative, which perhaps accounts for his sometimes presenting a
thought under a great variety of aspects. He throws out an opinion, and
follows it up by a profusion of suggestive considerations. Instead,
however, of pausing after the stroke was dealt, he would now and again
keep on elaborating his points until the conversation began to expand
into a disquisition. The key remained conversational still, while the
range was widening. But let an interruption occur, and the ex-Governor
knew how to conclude with a hasty stroke or two. His descriptive power
is good, but not so good as his reach and closeness of observation into
general principles, and his capacity to grasp and develop causes and
effects. He is more of a philosopher than a delineator, and has humor
too, which draws the laugh at will.
Governor Tilden is a spare, close-cut man, of rather a nautical
appearance. You might mistake him in a crowd for a weather-beaten old
tar retired from the deck of a man-of-war, to enjoy a little needed
repose. His movements and quiet speech suggest the idea to a stranger
of a cold, formal, negative man, reticent, receptive, and not easily
to be enlisted in ordinary matters. Five minutes conversation with him
will suffice to upset such an opinion. First you will most probably be
struck with his eyes, which have an indefinable expression. It would
be spectral, if it were not now melancholy, and again indicative of a
womanly tenderness. There is a peculiar play in them which expresses
a great deal. His voice is low, and one might suppose, till he begins
to converse, that he is a better listener than talker. The forehead is
gnarled and concentrated, and on phrenological principles would not
indicate a marked presence of the intellectual faculties, considered
by itself; but if you draw an imaginary line from the tip of the ears
across the head, it is evident that the brain power from the brows
to this line is proportionately very large, and phrenologically very
strong. His nose is a decided aquiline, the mouth full but compressed,
and the chin prominent, and indicative of a marked preponderance of
the vital forces. His conversation is more nervous than Seymour’s,
but not so copious. He seems better pleased with the suggestion than
elaboration of ideas. He can, however, when you don’t want to talk but
to listen, throw an analytical strength into his expressions which
sustains his reputation for sagacity and vigor. Governor Tilden is
classical in diction. The right word is used all the time, although
not a shadow of art is perceptible in the language. He seems bent
on convincing you by what he has to say, and not by his manner of
saying it. His method of reasoning is logical and exhaustive, and yet
it is analytical and not synthetical. He leaves his listener to draw
conclusions. He is less given to generalization than to subtle methods
of mastering subjects. He has a quiet way of talking, and of saying
trenchant, sententious things. Governor Tilden strikes me as a man who
would be very slow to gain popularity by dash of manners or exterior
conduct, but as having grit in him, and a genius for accomplishing what
he undertakes. He is already named in several quarters as a prominent
Democratic candidate for the next Presidency.
John Kelly, leader of Tammany Hall, remains to be described. He is a
very different man from Seymour or Tilden. An English traveler once
heard Daniel Webster on the stump in an interior New England town. As
he gazed at “Black Dan” with his massy brows playing with ponderous
thought, and his great arm and big body swaying back and forth in
obedience to the ideas he was expressing, the first impression of the
Englishman was: “Why this man Webster, with his herculean frame and
sledge-hammer fist, would have proved the most formidable gladiator
that ever entered the arena—if Providence had not given him a still
bigger head than body. He is a magnificent creature considered as
an animal, but a still more magnificent man.” Kelly answers this
description. The New York _Herald_ once compared him to General
Grant on account of his quiet manners and reticence. He stands two
or three inches under six feet, weighs about two hundred and thirty
or forty pounds, is active and firm in step and movement, and from
his leonine aspect must be the envy of those who delight in the manly
art of self-defence. His forehead is massive and broad, with a wealth
of phrenological development; over his physiognomy are the lines of
decision and benevolence of character. The under jaw is large and
firmly set, imparting to his face an air of command and resolution. In
conversation he is modest and direct, and seldom speaks of himself.
That he is a man of action is at once revealed to the observer. He has
humor and a keen appreciation of the amusing side of human nature. His
manners are quiet and frank, but underneath there is discernible a
cool and commanding spirit. A mingled air of _bonhommie_ and sternness
proclaims to all that he knows how to command obedience as well as
respect, and if once fairly aroused no man can confront an enemy with
sterner mien, or more annihilation in his glance. Those who have seen
him in stormy public place, where such qualities alone avail, have
often witnessed this quiet man’s transformation into the fiery ruler of
his fellows.[64]]
The extraordinary victories of the Tammany Democracy for several years
after Mr. Kelly became its leader, at length aroused jealousies and
rivalries, and it began to look as though the successful leader had
enemies in Printing-house Square. Perhaps the editors thought they
should have been consulted more frequently in regard to nominations
and other matters, and perhaps Mr. Kelly made a mistake in not oftener
seeking their advice. At all events, an animated newspaper fire was
opened upon him in 1875. He was called a boss, a dictator; “one man
power” was furiously denounced; and so savage was this onslaught, that
if the editors had not modified their expressions after election,
and even begun again to speak handsomely of him, one might have
imagined that John Kelly was a veritable Ogre, a lineal successor
to Tweed, instead of the destroyer of Tweedism. But it was all only
a custom of the country at elections, and not an expression of the
editorial conscience. No man occupying a high place ever escapes these
fusillades; John Kelly formed no exception to the invariable rule.
At the election of that year the Tammany ticket was badly defeated.
Replying to these denunciations against the Tammany Chief, Mr. Abram
S. Hewitt, then Chairman of the General Committee of the Tammany
Democracy, made a speech, October 30, 1875, in the course of which he
said:
“The assertion that John Kelly is a dictator is an insult to Tammany
and its members. All organizations must have leaders, and no one but
John Kelly could have done the work that he has performed. The city
of New York owes to that calumniated man honors that statues could not
adequately pay. There is no desire in John Kelly’s breast so strong as
to be relieved from his present onerous position but if some one of
respectability was not found to do such labors, the city of New York
would be soon as uninhabitable as a den of wild beasts.”[65]
One of the shrewdest political observers who has figured during recent
years in New York politics, was the late Hugh J. Hastings, editor
of the _Commercial Advertiser_. As a Republican he was opposed to
Democrats, but he had the blunt candor to speak of John Kelly in the
following manner:
“On the ruins of Tweed rose Kelly, of Tammany Hall, and Tilden,
Hewitt, and Cooper joined his Court, and were numbered among his
legions. Under Kelly the condition of society has improved in the
city, and we might add the municipal government,—all know there was
great room for improvement. Kelly has ruled the fierce Democracy in
such a manner that life and property are comparatively safe. It is a
fearful responsibility to hold this wild element in check. Beasts of
burden may easily be managed by a new master. But will the wild ass
submit to the bonds? Will the unicorn serve and abide his crib? Will
the leviathan hold out his nostrils to the hook? The mythological
conqueror of the East, whose enchantments reduced wild beasts to the
tameness of domestic cattle, and who harnessed lions and tigers to his
chariot, is but an imperfect type of the man who can control the wild,
whiskey-drinking and fierce spirits that make up the worst elements
of this great city. It requires a great man to stand between the City
Treasury and this most dangerous mass. It demands courage, activity,
energy, wisdom, or vices so splendid and alluring as to resemble
virtues. Again we say, dethrone Kelly, and where is the man to succeed
him?”[66]
The spirit of faction, the curse of New York politics from the
beginning of the century, was again distracting the Democratic party.
New York and Albany are natural political antagonists, as were Carthage
and Rome of old.
The Constitutional Conventions of 1821 and 1846, by enlarging the
elective features of government, had greatly relieved New York, and
greatly diminished the power of the Albany Regency, but the love of
power is inbred in man, and special legislation at the State capital
still holds the giant metropolis in political leading strings. During
Mr. Tilden’s administration as Governor, he and his old friend Mr.
Kelly became involved in unfortunate differences as leaders of rival
wings of the Democratic party of the State. It were useless here to
recapitulate the story of this disastrous breach between two statesmen
who had done so much when acting together to purify the public service;
each occupying the place he held at the wish, and by the powerful
assistance of the other; Kelly in Tammany at Tilden’s urgent request,
and Tilden called back from Europe by a cable dispatch from Kelly to
run for Governor of New York. It were worse than useless to revive the
bitter memories of the strife. Let them be buried in oblivion. A few
weeks before the St. Louis Convention in 1876, Mr. Tilden called upon
Mr. Kelly, and talked over old times. Before leaving, the Governor
humorously remarked:
“Now John, you are my sponsor, or political godfather. You found me
not inclined to take any office two years ago, and you insisted that
I should take the nomination for Governor. No matter what differences
may have arisen since, remember John, you are my sponsor.” Mr.
Kelly smiled, but was non-committal. But that visit, and graceful
reminiscence of a happier day in their political lives did its work
well. Let the brilliant Philadelphia editor, Alexander McClure, tell
the sequel. In a letter to his paper from St. Louis, announcing Mr.
Tilden’s nomination for the Presidency, Mr. McClure said:
“The work of the Convention was then done, but it was electrified by
the appearance on the main aisle of the full-moon, Irish face of John
Kelly, the Anti-Tilden Tammany Sachem. Those who hissed and howled at
him yesterday, now greeted him with thunders of approval, and called
him to the platform. When he appeared there a whisper could have
been heard in any part of the hall, and when he gave in his adhesion
to Tilden and Hendricks, and pledged his best efforts for their
election, he was crowned and welcomed as the returning prodigal of the
household.”[67]
Right nobly did John Kelly keep that pledge. Rutherford B. Hayes came
in from the rural districts of New York 30,000 ahead of Samuel J.
Tilden. When he reached the Harlem River he found that Tammany Hall
had given Mr. Tilden 54,000 majority in the city of New York, and had
wrested the Empire State from the Republicans. President-elect Tilden
sent a message of congratulation on that memorable election night to
John Kelly, and his warmest salutations to the invincible tribe of
Saint Tammany, as “the right wing of the Democratic Army.”
By changing dates and names, it will be found that Mr. Kelly’s services
in the Cleveland campaign of 1884 were an exact repetition of his
services in 1876. He gave the same loyal support to Grover Cleveland
that he had given to Samuel J. Tilden. He held his forces in hand
magnificently, and if the high honor may be attributed to any one man
of carrying New York through the most desperate conflict ever waged
within her borders, safely out of the very jaws of defeat, to the
Democratic column, that honor belongs to Honest John Kelly. To save
Grover Cleveland, Kelly sacrificed every man on his local ticket, every
dear friend who bore the Tammany standards on that eventful day, which
decided the destinies of the United States for the next four years.
When John Kelly was appointed Comptroller of the City of New York by
Mayor Wickham, in 1876, the debt of the municipality which had been
uniformly accumulating under his predecessors until it reached over a
hundred million of dollars, was first arrested in its upward course,
and brought into a line of rapid reduction. In four brief years he had
reduced the debt $12,000,000, thus justifying the encomiums of the
press at the time of his accession to the office. The New York _Herald_
of December 8, 1876, the day after his appointment, said editorially:
“Mr. Kelly will make a very good Comptroller. He has firmness, honesty
and business capacity. He is the right man in the right place, and a
great improvement on Mr. Green. He will guard the treasury just as
jealously as the present Comptroller, without being impracticable,
litigious and obstructive. The people of New York will be satisfied
with Mr. Kelly.”
The New York _World_ of the same date, after dwelling editorially upon
his great ability, said:
“Mr. Kelly’s honesty and integrity are unquestioned, even by his
bitterest political opponents. He is a native of New York city.
Beginning life as a mechanic, by his energy and industry he very soon
made himself a manufacturer and a merchant. He sat for one term in the
Board of Aldermen, and was twice elected to Congress. At Washington he
handled questions of national importance with ability and decorum, and
by the force of his native good sense soon took rank above many men
who had more experience than he in the national councils. He is best
known to New Yorkers of the present day as the leader of the Tammany
organization, as the man who took hold of that ancient society after
it had been deservedly defeated, disgraced and overthrown under the
management of members of the old Ring. He reorganized it, filled it
with new life, and weeded out the men who helped to bring reproach
upon it. The property-holders and taxpayers of this city are to be
congratulated that the administration of their financial affairs has
fallen into such worthy hands, and will be entrusted to a man of Mr.
Kelly’s perspicacious brain and known probity.”
The New York _Evening Express_, of the same date, referred to Mr.
Kelly’s eminent fitness for the office, and to his services in the
election of Mr. Tilden to the Presidency, and said, editorially:
“Speaking in a political sense only, Mr. Kelly has well earned this
office, and even a higher one, for to him more than any other man is
the credit due for the immense Democratic majority in this city, which
gave the state to Governor Tilden.”
The New York _Sun_, of the same date, said editorially:
“Mr. Kelly is an honest and capable man, willing to do a great deal
of hard work, well fitted to look after the important and varied
business of his office, and the financial interests of the city. He is
the most popular man of the party that governs this city, and stands
well with the community at large. He will make a good Comptroller.
When the nomination of Governor Tilden was made in St. Louis Mr.
Kelly promised to do all in his power to insure the success of the
people’s choice. During the campaign Mr. Kelly’s labors were arduous
and continuous. He gave time and strength and money, and even deferred
his marriage until the fight should be over. That Mr. Kelly might have
secured the Mayoralty or any other local office for himself, had he so
desired, is no secret. That he was urged against his will to take the
Comptrollership is asserted by his friends as a fact.”
An interesting event in Mr. Kelly’s life is incidentally alluded to by
Mr. Dana in the preceding article from the _Sun_. This was his second
marriage, which took place on the 21st of November, 1876. His wife is
an accomplished lady in every sense of the word, the good helpmeet,
such as the Scripture describes. The following, account of the wedding,
is taken from the New York _World_:
“As announced in _The World_ of yesterday, promptly at the hour of 8 in
the morning, the ceremonies began that were to end in the marriage of
Mr. John Kelly to Miss Teresa Mullen, a niece of Cardinal McCloskey.
About 7.30 the very few who were to participate in the event assembled
at Cardinal McCloskey’s house in Madison avenue, where, in the private
chapel of His Eminence, the marriage was to take place. This alone was
a compliment of the highest order in Church etiquette, doubtless owing
to the relationship of the bride to His Eminence. The little company
invited to witness the ceremony was gathered together in the parlor of
the mansion. The party consisted, besides Mr. Kelly, of Mr. Francis D.
Cleary, brother-in-law of the bride; Mr. Edward L. Donnelly, Colonel
George W. Wingate, and Mr. Kelly’s nephew, Hugh Kelly. Above stairs
was assembled the bride with her two sisters, Mrs. Francis D. Cleary
and Miss Mullen. At the hour appointed the Rev. Father Farley made
his appearance at the parlor door, and announced that all was ready.
The gentlemen at once arose and proceeded to the chapel on the third
floor, Mr. Kelly and Father Farley being last. On the way to the chapel
Mr. Kelly was joined by the bride, and, arm in arm, the couple slowly
passed up to the double _Prie-Dieu_, before the altar under the escort
of Father Farley. Meantime all had taken their respective positions in
the beautiful little chapel, in the order peculiar to Catholic Church
etiquette. All knelt in silent prayer for some few moments, when the
venerable Cardinal made his appearance, preceded by the Rev. Father
Farley, Very Rev. Vicar-General Quinn, and one handsome little boy
dressed like a miniature Cardinal, who acted as candle-bearer to His
Eminence.
“The Cardinal in his scarlet robes then took his place before the
altar, with the Vicar-General to his right, and Father Farley and the
acolyte to his left. Immediately behind His Eminence knelt the future
husband and wife, side by side. After a moment’s silent prayer the
Cardinal began the services. Laying off the mozetta, the Vicar-General
and Father Farley enrobed His Eminence. The amice, alb, cincture,
pectoral cross, stole, cope and mitre having been placed upon his head
and shoulders, the Cardinal turned to perform the marriage ceremony.
The vestments worn were white and gold. The ring was blessed, and the
Cardinal said: ‘John Kelly, do you take this woman to be your lawful
wife?’
‘I do.’
‘Do you promise to love and cherish her until death?’
‘I do.’ And so likewise vowed Teresa Mullen to love and honor John
Kelly until death.
“A few more prayers, and His Eminence turned from the kneeling couple,
leaving them man and wife. The crozier, mitre and cope were laid aside;
and His Eminence, putting on the chasuble, commenced the nuptial Mass,
_pro sponsis_. The gospel of the Mass is the recital of the marriage of
Canaan, when Christ changed the water into wine. The Mass progressed
slowly to the communion, when the newly-married received the Sacrament.
Just after the _Pater Noster_, the two kneeling on the step of the
altar, His Eminence read from the missal, with mitre on head, the long
prayer imploring from God harmony and peace in the domestic relations
of the newly-married, and praying that if God should bless them with
children, they might be brought up in the fear of the Lord. This over,
the Mass soon ended. After the Mass the little congregation and the
clergy withdrew, leaving the Cardinal, and Mr. and Mrs. Kelly together.
A few kind words of encouragement, and advice, and congratulations
were administered by the Cardinal; and, while he remained to say a few
prayers, Mr. and Mrs. Kelly joined their friends, and received their
well wishes.”
* * * * *
In concluding this volume the author regrets that he has not found room
for more of Mr. Kelly’s speeches. They are all full of good sense, and
occasionally they display a high order of eloquence. The present plan
did not admit of their introduction. One, however, must be included, as
it illustrates the witty side of his character, and was spoken of by
those who heard it as a very happy after-dinner speech. It was made
before the Lotos Club, January 11, 1879, at the dinner given to Mayor
Cooper, soon after that gentleman had entered upon his duties as Mayor
of the city of New York.
The following is the report in the _Herald_ of January 12, 1879:
“The seating capacity of the large dining room of the Lotos Club was
taxed to the utmost last evening. Mayor Cooper, and the retiring Mayor,
Smith Ely, Jr., being the guests of the club. About ninety members and
guests found seats at the tables, and nearly as many more, who were
present during the delivery of the speeches, had to content themselves
with standing room. Mr. Whitelaw Reid, president of the club, presided
at the middle table, and at the heads of the upper and lower tables,
respectively, sat the vice-presidents, Noah Brooks and Dr. Charles J.
Pardee. Among the persons present as members or guests were Postmaster
James, Chauncey M. Depew, Augustus Schell, John Kelly, Judge Noah
Davis, Robert B. Roosevelt, Peter Cooper, Charles H. Chapin, Paul Du
Chaillu, Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, Colonel Thomas W. Knox, George Osgood,
Frederick B. Noyes, Moses Mitchell, Drs. Hammond, Arnold and Callen,
and General Barnum.
COMPTROLLER KELLY’S SPEECH.
Mr. Kelly was very cordially greeted when, in answer to a pressing
call for ‘a few words,’ he rose to speak.
“_Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Lotos Club:_— I have read
frequently in the papers of the Lotos Club, but never before had even
the honor to know where it met after it left Irving Place, and when
asking to-night where the Lotos Club was, I was informed that it was
directly opposite the Union Club. I do not know what progress the Lotos
Club has made in life since its organization, but certainly you are at
a point in this city—on Fifth avenue—where they say the aristocracy
live. If this is a specimen of the aristocracy I am entirely content to
mix with them at all times. (Applause and laughter). As the president
of the Club has said, you have a mixture here of all kinds, and that
political discussions are never brought among you. I will say that that
is a very friendly state of society when you can come together and talk
of everything but politics. I have always noticed in life, particularly
in public affairs, that the first topic broached was politics, and it
usually commenced by abusing somebody. (Laughter). Now that has been
my misfortune. I got along very well in my early political life. I had
very little said against me, but I found after a few years that I was
about as bad a fellow in the estimation of some people as could be
found in this community, or any other. (Laughter). But it don’t worry
me a bit. (Laughter). I have got to that state of mind that I feel
if a man is conscious that he is trying to do his best, as well as he
can understand it, he need care very little what may be said about
him. (Applause). A man’s conscience should at all times be his master.
(Applause). Now, I do not think that politics should be brought into
discussion here. Mayor Cooper has a very important duty to perform.
Probably he can hardly realize yet the amount of labor he must go
through, and no man can tell until he gets into the Mayor’s office.
I suppose our friend Ely here, when he first entered on his duties,
considered it a light place, but he was not there long before he saw
that the labor was immense. I do not mean to say that the intellectual
labor is immense, but the responsibility connected with the office. I
am exceedingly anxious, so far as I am concerned, that Mayor Cooper’s
administration may be successful. (Loud applause.) Mayor Cooper is not
the representative of a party; he leaves the party behind him. And he
undoubtedly will be successful, because I sincerely believe that he
has the full interest of the people at heart, and that he will do his
best to serve them. (Applause.) I have said so since his election,
and I said so before his election. People have various opinions about
parties. Our friend Reid here sometimes scolds, but probably if he
knew the truth he would not say such things about public officers as
he does. (Laughter.) I do not mean to say that he will allow himself
to be prejudiced or biased, but he will get a notion in his head, and
say, ‘That fellow is not doing right, and I will take him to task for
it,’ and so he goes at it. (Laughter.) Mayor Cooper now has the support
of the press of this city, but he will probably find that before the
end of his term the press will begin to find fault with him. Then
Mayor Cooper will say, ‘I have not done anything in particular that I
know of that they should abuse me. Damn the fellow; I will go and see
him.’ (Great laughter.) I do not mean to say that Mr. Cooper will do
that either, because he is a very sensible man, but I know that our
friend Ely did it repeatedly. (Great laughter.) I have often gone into
his office after he came in in the morning. He had read the papers at
home, and was full of them. Down he comes to the office, slaps his hat
on his head, and off he goes to the _Times_. The _Times_ man tells
him, ‘Well, we will look into this thing.’ (Laughter.) He has not got
a satisfactory answer from the _Times_, and off he starts for our
friend of the _Tribune_. Then Mr. Reid says, ‘Well, Mr. Ely, I don’t
know; there are various opinions about this matter. I cannot give you
a positive answer about it. I will look into the thing, and let you
know.’ (Laughter.) So, Ely goes the rounds. Back he comes disconsolate.
He says, ‘I have seen all these fellows of the press, and they are
all alike, they are abusing me for nothing. They can’t do that. I
have been in the leather business, and I refer them to that trade.
Go and ask Schultz; go and ask any fellow down in the Swamp whether
I ever took anything that didn’t belong to me.’ (Laughter.) Then he
becomes a philosopher and says, ‘What is the use of talking? They are
only one man. Each controls his paper, and has individual opinions.
The ‘boys’ are with me. (Loud laughter.) I will throw myself on the
‘boys.’ (Renewed laughter.) ‘They can say what they please about me.’
After a few days pass down he comes to the office again, and says,
‘The _Times_ is raising the devil this morning,’ and so the thing goes
on. (Laughter.) Now, gentlemen, I will say this. You have a very large
city. Some people in public office must be censured. It is necessary,
probably, sometimes that they should be, for it often has a beneficial
effect. There is a large number of people who will say that there has
been no reform in the city government, and will never take the trouble
to find out whether there is or not. During the time Mayor Ely has been
in office great progress has been made; but I venture to say that,
while the debt of the city has been reduced $6,300,000 inside of two
years, by the end of the term of the present Mayor, if things should
continue in the same way, as there is no reason why they should not,
you will find that the debt will have been reduced from $3,000,000 to
$4,000,000. (Applause.) That will be an accomplishment of $10,000,000
inside of four years. (Applause.) Yes; I venture to say that if I
remain in office—whatever has occurred, let that pass; I do not refer
to it—but if he and I work together in the interests of the city, the
debt in the next two years will be reduced $8,000,000. (Applause.)
I wish Mayor Cooper all the success in public life that any friend
of his can wish him, and I assure him and his friends that so far as
the official business of this city is concerned, there will be no
disagreement between us on matters which are really in the interest of
the people. (Long continued applause.)
Speeches were made during the evening by Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, Chauncey
M. Depew, Robert B. Roosevelt and Judge Noah Davis.”
* * * * *
As this volume goes to press Mr. Kelly, who has been indisposed
recently, is again recovering his health. His severe labors in the
recent Presidential campaign brought on an attack of his old trouble of
insomnia. He is now steadily improving, and rides horseback for one or
two hours every day. Referring to his sickness, the New York _Times_ of
December 12, 1884, contained the following remarks:
“The substantial shoes of Mr. John Kelly stand unoccupied in Mr.
Kelly’s Sixty-ninth street mansion, and their owner is taking all the
ease which ill-health and restlessness will admit of. Those shoes are
the object of a great deal of attention. In all the 50,000 voters in
the Tammany Hall organization, there is not one fit to succeed him as
the head of the party.”
* * * * *
The _Times_ might have added that there is no one in Tammany Hall who
desires to succeed Mr. Kelly, and that he has held the leadership of
that ancient organization nearly five times as long as any other leader
in the whole history of Tammany. But there are other men of no mean
ability in the ranks of that organization. They are all the friends,
and not the rivals, of the subject of this memoir.
The chief events of John Kelly’s past life are, at least in outline,
now before the reader. The task which the author set out to perform is
discharged, to tell the truth about a distinguished citizen, and to let
him speak for himself, both in his public and private career, during
the past forty years.
* * * * *
Mrs. Kelly, and two bright little children, a daughter and son, have
brought the sunlight back again to John Kelly’s home, where, after this
imperfect sketch of his remarkable career, we leave him a happy man,
and an honored citizen.
FOOTNOTES:
[53] _New York World_, Oct. 18, 1875.
[54] _New York Herald_, November 19, 1868.
[55] Life of S. J. Tilden, by T. P. Cook, p. 101.
[56] _New York Herald_, November 20, 1868.
[57] _New York Herald_, November 22, 1868.
[58] Life of S. J. Tilden, by T. P. Cook, p. 121.
[59] A Description of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, p. 37.
[60] Extract from a recent letter of Bishop Ireland to the author.
[61] Niles’s Register, Vol. 16, p. 28.
[62] Niles’s Register, Vol. 17, pp. 387-8.
[63] Life of S. J. Tilden, by T. P. Cook, p. 129.
[64] Extract from Author’s Diary for 1875.
[65] New York _Herald_, October 31, 1875.
[66] _New York Commercial Advertiser_, November 20, 1878.
[67] _Philadelphia Times_, June 30, 1876.
THE END.
Transcriber’s Notes
pg v Changed: gratify this curioisity
to: gratify this curiosity
pg 44 Changed: attemps to stifle the voice
to: attempts to stifle the voice
pg 49 Changed: upon a confinding people
to: upon a confiding people
pg 57 Changed: in the colums of at least
to: in the columns of at least
pg 59 Changed: the oppresssd were wiped away
to: the oppressed were wiped away
pg 62 Changed: the waterfall murmering
to: the waterfall murmuring
pg 124 Changed: the teritorial legislation known
to: the territorial legislation known
pg 171 Changed: been working in a conmon
to: been working in a common
pg 180 Changed: render this movemont effective
to: render this movement effective
pg 190 Changed: month of March, 1550
to: month of March, 1850
pg 190 Changed: United States will never entruss
to: United States will never entrust
pg 221 Changed: figured so conpicuously under
to: figured so conspicuously under
pg 258 Changed: respective politcal parties
to: respective political parties
pg 263 Changed: the world doats on
to: the world dotes on
The accents on resumè and nèe, and the open single quotation mark
before ‘What is the use ... on page 307, were printed that way.