IN the year 1812 a secret
political society was formed at Hamilton as a branch of the Tammany
Society of New York. Their place of meeting, which they called "
Wigwam No. 9," was first established at the house of William
Murray, who then kept a tavern on the corner of Dayton and Water
Streets. It was afterwards removed to the house of Michael
Delorac, who also kept a house of entertainment in the upper part
of Rossville. James Heaton was their first grand sachem,
and Benjamin D. Pardee, a printer, was secretary. Their number,
in the most flourishing condition, amounted to about one hundred. Many
of the most respectable citizens of Butler County were initiated
members of the society. From the time of their organization they
continued to meet regularly at stated periods, until some time in the
year 1816. They had their celebrations and long talks, as they called
their orations, and on certain anniversary occasions paraded the
streets in procession with their flags and banners "waving in the
breeze" and buck-tails stuck in their hats by way of plume. At the
head of the procession was borne the .flag of the United States, and
at intervals in the procession were carried small white flags,
corresponding in number with the number of the States in the Union,
with the name of a State painted on each. They had a seal or emblem,
having in the center the word " Illumino," a rising sun above, with a
heart below, and the wing of an eagle on each side. A celebration and
procession was held at Hamilton on the twelfth clay of May, 1815, at
which a "long talk" was delivered by Thomas Henderson,
of Cincinnati. A celebration was also held at Middletown on the
twelfth day of October, 1815, and a " long talk" delivered by
Benjamin D. Pardee.
In their notices and transactions they gave their own
peculiar names to the months. January they called the month of
beavers, February the month of snows, May the month of flowers, June
the month of heats, October the month of travels, etc., and dated from
the year of discovery (A. D. 1609).
This society was a fraternity bound together by, a
written constitution, the members of which pledged themselves, under
the solemnities of an oath, to keep the proceedings of the society a
profound secret. At their business meetings, which were usually held
at night in their wigwam, illuminated by a council fire, they
deliberated on the weighty affairs of the country, and decided what
was to be done, dictated politics, interfered with elections, and
decided who should be elected to office; which decision every member
of the fraternity was bound to support, denouncing every other person
who did not belong to their society as federalists and enemies to
their country. They kept a regular system of espionage, issued
circulars, and employed runners to carry them and learn what was doing
in every part of the country, thus enabling them to spring upon their
opponents like savages from an ambuscade.
During the short time they flourished at Hamilton they
furnished abundant evidence that self-interest was their ruling, if
not their only, motive. They exerted an influence which was
extensively felt, and in the short period of their existence did
considerable mischief. Through the efforts of the Tammany
Society the civil institutions of our State were nearly reduced to a
state of anarchy, from which a recovery was effected with difficulty.
The society created considerable excitement and opposition in the
community at large during its existence ; but about the year 1816,
four years after its organization, it dwindled away, and was no longer
publicly known.
The following is a copy of one of their notices of a meeting,
published in the newspapers of the time:
" NOTICE.—The members of the Tammany Society No.
9 will meet at their wigwam at the house of brother William
Murray, in Hamilton, on Thursday, the first of the month of heats,
precisely at the going down of the sun. Punctual attendance is
requested.
"By order of the Grand Sachem.
"The ninth of the month of flowers, year of discovery
323.
WILLIAM C. KEEN,
Secretary."
Tammany was an Indian chief of the Delaware
nation. Mr. Heckewelder, in his historical account of
the Indian nations, devoted part of a chapter to this chief. He spells
the name Tamaned. All we know of him is that he was an ancient
Delaware chief who never had his equal. We infer from Gabriel
Thomas, who published "An Historical and Geographical Account
of Pennsylvania and West Jersey," at London, in 1698, that Tammany
might have been alive as late as 1680 or 1690.
"The fame of this great chief extended even amongst the
whites, who fabricated numerous legends respecting him, which,
however, Heckewelder says he never heard from the mouth of an
Indian, and therefore believes them all fabulous. In the Revolutionary
War, Tammany's enthusiastic admirers dubbed him a saint, and he
was established under the name of 'St. Tammany,' the patron saint of
America. His name was inserted in some calendar, and his festival
celebrated on the first day of May in every year. On that day a
numerous society of his votaries walked together in procession-,
through the streets of Philadelphia, their hats decorated with bucks'
tails, and proceeded to a handsome rural place, out of town, which
they called the ' Wigwam;' where, after a long talk or Indian speech
had been delivered and the calumet of peace and friendship had been
duly smoked, they spent the day in activity and mirth. After dinner,
Indian dances were performed on the green in front of the wigwam, the
calumet was again smoked, and the company separated. -
It was not until some years after the peace that these yearly meetings
were discontinued. In New York, however, they worshiped Tammany
as an Indian saint, and a benevolent society was named after him. In a
few j^ears it became a political society, but until the diffusion of
universal suffrage, in 1846, had not acquired the unsavory odor it now
has. Since the close of the Revolutionary struggle, Philadelphia, and
perhaps other places, have had their Tammany societies,
Tammany balls, etc. Among the multitude of poems and odes to
Tammany, the following is selected to give the reader an idea of
the acts said to have been achieved by him.
" Immortal Tammany of Indian race, Great in the field, and
foremost in the chase! No puny saint was he with fasting pale; He
climbed the mountain, and he swept the vale, Bushed through the
torrent with unequaled might; Your ancient saints would tremble at the
sight; Caught the swift boar, and swifter deer with ease, And worked a
thousand miracles like these. To public views he added private ends,
And loved his country most, and next his friends. With courage long he
strove to ward the blow (Courage, we all respect, even in a foe), And
when, each effort he in vain had tried, Kindled the flame in which he
bravely died. To Tammany, let the full horn go round, His fame let
every honest tongue resound, With him let every gen'rous patriot vie,
To live in freedom, or with honor die."*
