Thomas C. Acton
Thomas Coxon Acton Sr. | |
---|---|
Edwin Denison Morgan | |
Assistant Treasurer of the United States | |
1st President of the Bank of New Amsterdam | |
Succeeded by | Wykoff |
Personal details | |
Born | February 23, 1823 Saybrook, Connecticut, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Sarah Elizabeth Kelsey |
Children | Thomas Coxon Acton, Jr. Agnes Acton Sarah Acton Caroline Acton |
Occupation | Civil servant, politician and reformer |
Known for | Political and social activist |
Signature | |
Thomas Coxon Acton Sr. (February 23, 1823 – May 1, 1898) was an American public servant, politician, reformer,
A noted political and social activist, he also held several important government positions throughout his career including superintendent of the New York Assay Office,
Biography
Acton was born in Manhattan on February 23, 1823, near Washington Square Park. From a relatively poor background, he was educated in public schools and found employment as a deputy clerk under Clerk Bradford. He eventually held a position as a Deputy Register for nearly six years. He was appointed police commissioner of the old Metropolitan police district by Governor Edwin D. Morgan in May 1860 along with John G. Bergen and Superintendent John Kennedy.[1]
Acton was made president of the Board of Police Commissioners when
Acton temporarily re-assumed command during the
Following his departure from the NYPD, Acton became the superintendent of the
A strong supporter of President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist movement, Acton was also one of the most important political activists in the city during the post-Civil War era. He was an honorary member of the Union League Club since 1864 (and Chairman in 1883[4]) and later helped establish the Republican Party in Tammany Hall-dominated New York with the help of Marshall B. Blake and Fred A. Conkling, brother of U.S. Congressman Roscoe Conkling.[1]
On January 3, 1882, Acton became Assistant Treasurer of the United States, having been nominated by his old friend, President Chester A. Arthur.[5] He soon put himself in an awkward position by deciding to personally sign every gold certificate issued by the department. This required manually signing over 100,000 notes valued at between $20 and $10,000 each. He signed about three certificates per minute for weeks on end.[6]
In 1887, he was nominated to run as the Republican candidate for the
In 1896, he moved to his
Legacy
Over one hundred of Acton's letters documenting his career as a member and president of the Board of Police Commissioners are held in the Lloyd Sealy Library's Special Collections at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Thomas C. Acton Is Dead. He Expired at His Home in Saybrook, Conn., After a Long Illness. Made History In This City, He Stopped the Draft Riots Here During the War. An Abolitionist in Earlier Days and Helped Form the Republican Party". The New York Times. May 2, 1898. p. 5. Retrieved April 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 1-56025-275-8
- ^ Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (1906). "Acton, Thomas Coxon". The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. Boston: American Biographical Society. pp. 33–34. Retrieved October 21, 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Action of the Union League Club". The New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved April 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Affairs at the Sub-Treasury". The New York Times. January 4, 1882. p. 3. Retrieved April 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mr. Acton's Autographs". The New York Times. October 12, 1882. p. 4. Retrieved April 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Manuscript Collections". Lloyd Sealy Library, John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
Further reading
- Bernstein, Iver. The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
- Cook, Adrian. The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1974.
- Costello, Augustine E. Our Police Protectors: History of the New York Police from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. New York: A.E. Costello, 1885.
- McCague, James. The Second Rebellion: The Story of the New York City Draft Riots of 1863. New York: Dial Press, 1968.
- Mohr, James C. The Radical Republicans and Reform in New York During Reconstruction. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1973.
- Morris, Lloyd R. Incredible New York: High Life and Low Life of the Last Hundred Years. New York: Random House, 1951.
- See also: Thomas Coxon Acton papers (not digitized) at the Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (New York City).