Hoffman

and platform presence made him an asset for the
"Tweed ring/* and he, believing that Tammany
could best advance his political ambitions, threw
in his lot with the regular organization. In 1865
he was nominated for mayor and elected by 1,200
majority. He was reflected in 1867, having
meanwhile been defeated for the governorship
by Reuben E. Fenton.

Hoffman's personal popularity served as a
screen for the machinations of the organization
which supported him, and although no evidence
has been revealed that Hoffman himself profited
by Tammany graft, he was in intimate contact
with its members and must have known that
gross irregularities existed. His political am-
bition blinded him to the fraud of his colleagues.
He was Grand Sachem of Tammany from 1866
to 1868, and in 1867 he appointed Peter B. Swee-
ney, one of the inner circle of the ring, to the
office of comptroller. In 1868 he was again nomi-
nated for governor and by flagrant frauds in
New York City was elected by a majority of 10,-
ooo, Tweed himself was elected state senator at
the same time and assumed leadership in the
legislature. With Hoffman as governor and
Tweed as legislative leader, Tammany not only
had New York City at its mercy but aspired to
control the state also. When in 1870 Hoffman
was reelected to the governorship, predictions
were confidently made of his nomination for the
presidency. Meanwhile, however, public opinion
began to run high against Tammany and Hoff-
man himself began to show signs of breaking
with the organization. In defiance of the attempt
of Tammany authorities in New York City to
prevent a parade of the Orangemen in July 1871,
Hoffman called out five regiments of militia to
protect the paraders. And a few months later, in
his last message to the legislature, he openly
repudiated the "Tweed ring" (Journal of the
Senate of the State of New York, 1872, p. 24).
But by that time he was a politically ruined man.
Finishing his term as governor, he returned to
his law practice. Near the end of his life, his
health failed, and he traveled abroad in search
of a cure. He died at Wiesbaden, Germany. In
spite of his mistakes, he had been a courteous,
dignified, and accomplished gentleman. His mar-
riage in 1854 to Ella Starkweather, the daughter
of Henry Starkweather of New York City, began
a domestic life which was unusually tranquil and
happy. In person, he was tall, carried himself
well, and gave the impression of physical poise
and strength. In his latter years, the conscious-
ness of failure affected him deeply; his vigor and
strength were gone, and lassitude and disappoint-
ment were marked in his bearing.

Hoffman

[Hiram Calkins and De Witt Van Buren, Bioff.
Sketches of John T. Hoffman and Allen C. Beach
(1868); "Report of the Special Committee . . . Ap-
pointed to Investigate the 'Ring' Frauds, together with
the Testimony," Docs, of the Board of Aldermen of the
City of N. Y.} No. 8, 1877; M. R. Werner, Tammany
Hall (1928); Public Papers of John T. Hoffman
(1872) ; Chas. F. Wingate, "An Episode in Municipal
Government," North Am. Rev., Oct., 1874, Jan., July
1875 ; A. B. Paine, Thos. Nast, His Period and His
Pictures (1904) ; E. P. Oberholtzer, A Hist, of the U.
S. since the Civil War, vol. II (1922) ; J. F. Rhodes,
Hist, of the U. S., vol. VI (1906) ; De Alva S. Alex-
ander, A Pol Hist, of the State of New York, vol. Ill
(1909) ; E. A. Hoffman, Geneal. of the Hoffman Family
(1899); N. Y. Tribune, July 10-17, 1871, Mar. 25,
1888 ; N. 7, Observer, Mar. 29, 1888.]

HOFFMAN, JOSIAH OGDEN (Apr. 14,
1766-Jan. 24, 1837), lawyer, the son of Nicholas
and Sarah (Ogden) Hoffman, was born in New-
ark, N. J. He was descended from Martin Hoff-
man, born at Revel, on the Gulf of Finland, who
emigrated to New York in 1657. Coming from
a family which had been Loyalist in sympathy
during the War for Independence, he naturally
attached himself as a young man to the Federal-
ist party in politics, and, in the practice of the
law, he was associated with the Loyalist aristoc-
racy, becoming a law partner of Cadwallader
David Golden. His law practice just begun,
Hoffman launched into an active political career,
serving in the New York state legislature from
1791 to 1795, and again in 1797. As leader of the
Federalist party in the Assembly, he was a bitter
opponent of Gov. George Clinton and effected
the establishment of the new council of appoint-
ment, which was a stunning blow to the gover-
nor. In 1798 he became attorney-general of the
state of New York, serving until the hecatomb
of office-holders in 1801. Seven years later he
was chosen recorder of the city of New York
and continued in that office until 1815. Mean-
while, during the War of 1812, he led in oppos-
ing the ordering of the armed forces of the state
beyond its boundaries and was hostile to the
continuance of the conflict He actively support-
ed DeWitt Clinton for president in 1812 and
looked for restoration to public office when Clin-
ton came to power in New York in 1817. But
though the governor professed his gratitude for
Hoffman's services, he failed to reward him with
an appointment. Hoffman thereupon became a
party to the coalition between the Federalist mal-
contents and the sachems of the Tammany so-
ciety (W. A. Duer, Reminiscences of an Old
New Yorker, 1867, PP- 27~28), of which organi-
zation he had been made third Grand Sachem in
1791.

As a lawyer Hoffman was adroit, energetic,
and eloquent. Joseph Story, in ranking the bar
of New York in 1807, rated him just below the

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