Reformers
| Name | Portrait | Life | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev. A.C. Arnold | Founder of the Howard Mission and, with several members of his congregation, stormed John Allen's notorious Fourth Ward dive bar and held a prayer meeting in 1868. | ||
| Jacob Brown | Civil servant and city street commissioner who unsuccessfully proposed that the drainage area known as "the Collect" be drained and filled. | ||
| Daniel Drew | 1797–1879 | One-time industrialist who was part of the committee which negotiated the purchase of the Old Brewery district on behalf of the Missionary Society in 1852. | |
| Oliver Dyer | 1824–1907 | Journalist for Packard's Monthly from which he criticized a number of saloons, clubs and other immoral establishments. Among these were John Allen and was the first to refer to him as "the wickedest man in New York". He was also one of the signatories of the Walter Street "street preaching" document which described attempts by religious leaders to convince saloon keepers and other criminal figures to abandon crime as a way of life. | |
| James W. Gerard | 1867–1951 | Journalist who studied the London police force and later published a series of articles on police reform among these including the introduction of a permanent uniform. He was also one of the civilian volunteers who joined Police Chief George Washington Matsell in protecting the waterfront from river pirates. | |
| John W. Goff | 1865–1924 | Judge and later member of the Supreme Court. While a recorder in his early career, he was the first judge to sentence Jack Zelig to prison. A member of the Lexow Committee. | |
| Jonathan H. Green | 1813–1887 | Reformed gambler and agent for the New York Association for the Suppression of Gambling. In 1850, he conducted an exhaustive report detailing illegal gambling operations active in the city. | |
| Henry Hilton | 1824–1899 | Attorney for the widow of Alexander T. Stewart. He was involved in the burial and in the initial negotiations with grave robber Henry G. Romaine for the return of Stewart's body. | |
| Archbishop John Hughes | 1797–1864 | The first Roman Catholic archbishop appointed in New York City, he was one of the many religious leaders who attempted to call for reforms against crime and corruption. He later appealed to mobs during the New York Draft Riots on the final day of the rioting. | |
| Patrick H. Jones | 1830–1900 | Lawyer and postmaster general who was involved with police Superintendent George Walling in the investigation and later negotiations with the grave robbers who had stolen and held for random the body of Alexander T. Stewart. | |
| William Travers Jerome | 1859–1934 | District Attorney responsible for the conviction of Abe Hummel in 1905 and ordered raids on a number of illegal gambling resorts forcing many gamblers to leave the city, most notably, Richard Canfield. | |
| Huie Kim | Chinese-born Christian missionary and founder of the Morning Star Mission. He spoke out against criminal figures in Chinatown and publicly condemned the Tong wars. | ||
| Jerry McAuley | 1839–1884 | A reformed gambler and alcoholic, he was the founder of McAuley's Mission which served free meals to the homeless on Water Street. It was originally opened as The Cremourne, the name of the popular dive bar next door, and was often confused by its patrons who often entered his place instead. He was supposed to have locked the front doors and not allow these customers to leave until they had listened to one of his sermons. | |
| Frank Moss | 1860–1920 | Lawyer who served as council for Rev. Charles Henry Parkhurst and an assistant to District Attorney Charles S. Whitman. | |
| Rev. Charles Henry Parkhurst | 1842–1933 | Leader of the New York Society for the Prevention of Crime, a civic organization which protested against vice districts and police corruption, and whose campaign eventually revealed the "Tenderloin" police district and resulted in the resignations of Inspector Alexander S. Williams and Captain William S. Devery. The organization also provided evidence of graft and political corruption to the Lexow and Mazet Committee. | |
| Rev. Lewis Morris Pease | 1818–1897 | First Christian missionary to arrive in the Five Points district at the behest of the Ladies' Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1850. He and his wife set up a room on Cross Street and later started a mission near the Old Brewery district from where they conducted humanitarian efforts including setting up schools for adults and children as well as providing legitimate employment by supervising garment work for local clothing manufacturers. | |
| Rev. T. De Witt Talmage | 1832–1902 | Longtime street preacher who regularly spoke at the Brooklyn Tabernacle during the 1870s and, with Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, visited vice districts in Manhattan Island where they conducted street sermons in areas which he often referred to as "the modern Gomorrah". | |
| Lewis Tappan | 1788–1873 | Abolitionist whose home was attacked by a mobs during rioting between Tammany Hall and the Know Nothings in 1834. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Identities In The Gangs Of New York (book), Other Personalities
Famous quotes containing the word reformers:
“Christ is the prince of Reformers and Radicals.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Of all reformers Mr. Sentiment is the most powerful. It is incredible the number of evil practices he has put down: it is to be feared he will soon lack subjects, and that when he has made the working classes comfortable, and got bitter beer into proper-sized pint bottles, there will be nothing left for him to do.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“We are reformers in spring and summer; in autumn and winter, we stand by the old; reformers in the morning, conservers at night.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)