Timothy Daniel Sullivan (July 23, 1862 – August 31, 1913) was a New York politician who controlled Manhattan's
Bowery
The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. ...
and
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally ...
districts as a prominent leader within
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
. He was known euphemistically as "Dry Dollar", as the "Big Feller", and later as "Big Tim" because of his physical stature. He amassed a large fortune as a businessman running vaudeville and legitimate theaters, as well as nickelodeons, race tracks, and athletic clubs.
Sullivan in 1911 pushed through the legislature the
Sullivan Act
The Sullivan Act was a gun control law in New York state that took effect in 1911. Chapter 195, enacted May 25, 1911, effective September 1, 1911. The NY state law requires licenses for New Yorkers to possess firearms small enough to be conceal ...
, an early
gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with onl ...
measure. He was a strong supporter of
organized labor
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
and
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...
. The newspapers depicted Big Tim as the spider in the center of the web, mentioning his criminal activities and his control over gambling in the city. Welch says that "assigning the role of vice lord to Sullivan gave Tammany's enemies a weapon to be wielded in every municipal election between 1886 and 1912".
Personal life

He was born in the slum of
Five Points to Daniel O. Sullivan, who emigrated from
County Kerry
County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the cou ...
, Ireland, and his wife, Catherine Connelly (or Conley), from
Kenmare
Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the Anglicisation, anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay.
Location
Kenmare is located at the hea ...
, County Kerry. His father, a Union veteran of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
, died of typhus in October 1867 at age thirty-six, leaving his wife to care for their four children. Three years later, Catherine Sullivan married an alcoholic laborer of Irish descent named Lawrence Mulligan and had six children by him.
At age eight, Sullivan began shining shoes and selling newspapers on
Park Row in lower Manhattan. By his mid twenties, he was the part or full owner of six saloons, which was the career of choice for aspiring politicians. Sullivan attracted the attention of local politicians, notably Thomas "Fatty" Walsh, a prominent
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
ward leader and father of stage actress
Blanche Walsh.
In 1886, Sullivan married Helen Fitzgerald. He gradually began building one of the most powerful
political machine
In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...
s, which controlled virtually all jobs and vice below 14th Street in Manhattan. His base was his headquarters at 207 Bowery. By 1892, Tammany Hall leader
Richard Croker
Richard Welstead Croker (November 24, 1843 – April 29, 1922), known as "Boss Croker," was an Irish American political boss who was a leader of New York City's Tammany Hall. His control over the city was cemented with the 1897 election of ...
appointed Sullivan leader of his assembly district of the Lower East Side.
In May 1910, Sullivan sailed to England on a boat with many social luminaries among his fellow passengers. One of them,
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. L ...
, wrote years later in her autobiography about Sullivan, calling him "a tall, well-set-up, smooth-shaven Irishman, who talked a blue streak in the voice and phraseology of the New York-Irish of the East Side...." In her judgment years later,
Sullivan was "as straight and well-intentioned and genuinely sympathetic in his personal relations and humanitarian enterprises, as he was callous and corrupt politically."
Political career
Sullivan was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 2nd D.) in
1887,
1888
In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...
,
1889,
1890
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa.
** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River.
* January 2
** The steamship '' ...
,
1891
Events
January–March
* January 1
** Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany.
** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence.
**Germany takes formal possession of its new Africa ...
,
1892 and
1893
Events
January–March
* January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America.
* Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson.
* January 6 – Th ...
.
He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1894 to 1902, sitting in the
117th,
118th (both 9th D.),
119th,
120th,
121st,
122nd,
123rd,
124th and
125th New York State Legislatures (all seven 11th D.).
He was elected as a Democrat to the
58th and
59th United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1903, until his resignation on July 27, 1906. According to some accounts, Sullivan's resignation was prompted by the graft and anonymity of Washington political life. He was quoted as saying, "There's nothing in this Congressman business. They know 'em in Washington. The people down there use 'em as hitchin'-posts. Every time they see a Congressman on the streets they tie their horses to him."
He was again a member of the State Senate (12th D.) from 1909 to 1912, sitting in the
132nd,
133rd,
134th and
135th New York State Legislature
The 135th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to March 29, 1912, during the second year of John Alden Dix's governorship, in Albany.
Background
Under the provi ...
s. In November 1912, he was elected to the
63rd United States Congress but, due to ill health, did not take his seat, and died a few months into his term.
It could be said that Sullivan was one of the earliest political reformers, since he was aligned with women's rights activist
Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the 4th United States secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of t ...
and sponsored legislation limiting the maximum number of hours women were forced to work, improving the conditions of stable and delivery horses and the
Sullivan Law
The Sullivan Act was a gun control law in New York state that took effect in 1911. Chapter 195, enacted May 25, 1911, effective September 1, 1911. The NY state law requires licenses for New Yorkers to possess firearms small enough to be conceal ...
, city gun-control legislation.
Rise to power in Tammany Hall

Along with his political and criminal activities, Sullivan was a successful businessman involved in real estate, theatrical ventures (at one point partnering with
Marcus Loew
Marcus Loew (May 7, 1870 - September 5, 1927) was an American business magnate and a pioneer of the motion picture industry who formed Loew's Theatres and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio (MGM).
Life and career
Loew was born in New York City, ...
), boxing and horseracing.
Along with various other Sullivans, Big Tim also branched out into popular amusement venues such as
Dreamland in
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to th ...
, where he installed a distant relative, Dennis, as the political leader. Sullivan, whose control extended to illegal
prizefights through the
National Athletic Club, influenced the New York State Legislature to legalize boxing in 1896 before ring deaths and other scandals caused the law's repeal four years later.
Among other laws he helped pass was the
Sullivan Act
The Sullivan Act was a gun control law in New York state that took effect in 1911. Chapter 195, enacted May 25, 1911, effective September 1, 1911. The NY state law requires licenses for New Yorkers to possess firearms small enough to be conceal ...
, a state law that required a permit to carry or own a concealed weapon, which eventually became law on May 29, 1911. Upon first passage, the Sullivan Act required licenses for New Yorkers to possess firearms small enough to be concealed. Possession of such firearms without a license was a misdemeanor, and carrying them was a felony. However, with many residents unable to afford the $3 registration fee issued by the corrupt New York Police Department, his bodyguards could be legally armed while using the law against their political opponents.
He was extremely popular among his constituents. In the hot summer months,
tenement
A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...
dwellers were feted to steamboat excursions and picnics to College Point in Queens or New Jersey. In the winter months, the Sullivan machine doled out food, coal and clothing to his constituents. On the anniversary of his mother's birthday, February 6, Sullivan dispensed shoes to needy tenement dwellers. The annual Christmas Dinners were a particularly notable event covered in all of the city papers. Although he had a loyal following, his involvement in organized crime and political protection of street gangs and vice districts remained a source of controversy throughout his career.
Electoral fraud
Sullivan was an expert in using electoral fraud to retain his power. In a quid pro quo arrangement, constituents voted the way that they were instructed. In return, they were the recipients of Tammany largesse which included coal in the winter, clambakes and outings in the summer, jobs on the city payroll and all-around assistance. In 1892 when his pct went 395 to 4 for
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
over
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
in the presidential election he said, "Harrison got one...more vote than I expected, but I'll find that feller!" His most common tactic, with no voter ID, was to use "repeaters." Here's how he described it, "When you've voted'em with their whiskers on you take'em to a barber and scrap off the chin-fringe. Then you vote'em again with side lilacs and a mustache. Then to a barber again, off comes the sides and you vote'em a third time with the mustache. If that ain't enough, and the box can stand a few more ballots, clean off the mustache and vote'em plain face. That makes every one of 'em good for four votes." (Rothstein by David Pietrusza. Pgs 53–55.)
Involvement in criminal activity
During the turn of the century, he developed contacts with many influential figures, including
Monk Eastman,
Paul Kelly,
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athleti ...
and disgraced NYPD Lieutenant
Charles Becker, who was able to obtain for the latter a high-ranking position on the New York police force in 1893.
A close associate of
Charles Francis Murphy
Charles Francis "Silent Charlie" Murphy (June 20, 1858 – April 25, 1924), also known as Boss Murphy, was an American political figure. He was also the longest-serving head of New York City's Tammany Hall, a position he served from 1902 to ...
, who succeeded the exiled
Richard Croker
Richard Welstead Croker (November 24, 1843 – April 29, 1922), known as "Boss Croker," was an Irish American political boss who was a leader of New York City's Tammany Hall. His control over the city was cemented with the 1897 election of ...
as head of Tammany Hall in May 1902, the two forced corrupt police chief
William Stephen Devery out of Tammany's Executive Committee as part of Murphy's campaign to eliminate any direct links between vice districts and Tammany Hall.
However, Sullivan was allowed to keep his
kickbacks from the Lower East Side and
Chinatown as a means of keeping him from becoming Murphy's political rival (he had used his considerable political influence from keeping Croker's reform group, the ''Committee of Five'', out of the Bowery only two years before). In exchange, Sullivan had to furnish gang leaders
Monk Eastman and
Paul Kelly, amongst others, to commit
election fraud on behalf of Tammany Hall.
At the time, it was widely known that Sullivan and his subordinates were active in a number of illegal activities, including prostitution, gambling and extortion. A number of these revelations came to light in the New York State
Lexow Committee
Lexow Committee (1894 to 1895) was a major New York State Senate probe into police corruption in New York City. The Lexow Committee inquiry, which took its name from the committee's chairman, State Senator Clarence Lexow, was the widest-ranging of ...
hearings as well as through the investigations of the Rev.
Charles Henry Parkhurst.
Later years
Suffering from
tertiary syphilis during his later years, his health continued to deteriorate until he was judged mentally incompetent and finally committed to a sanitarium in 1912. According to the Incompetency hearings, Sullivan elicited paranoid delusions, believed he was being spied upon and his food was being poisoned. On January 12, 1913, the ''New York Sun'' reported in a prominent page two article that he was mourned after being committed, "beyond cure" (without naming illness), suffering from "religious mania".
After nearly a year, he managed to escape from his brother's house after eluding nurses on the early morning of August 31 (although other accounts claim he had escaped from orderlies after an all-night card game). Within a few hours, his body was found on the tracks in the Eastchester area of the Bronx, New York.
Sullivan's family did not report him missing for more than 10 days, and his body was brought to and held at the local Fordham morgue. Finally, after a fortnight, Sullivan was classified as a vagrant and scheduled for burial in
Potter's Field despite his tailored clothing and "TDS" diamond monogrammed cufflinks.
Just before removal, his body was finally recognized by Police Officer Peter Purfield, who was assigned to the morgue detail. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' later speculated that Sullivan might have been killed and placed on the tracks. In fact, the engineer of the train that struck Sullivan stated that he thought the body was already deceased. And, adding to the speculation of foul play, Thomas Reigelmann, the Bronx coroner and Tammany political appointee who signed the death certificate, failed to recognize the body of his longtime friend despite the lack of trauma to the decedent's face.
Sullivan's wake was held at his clubhouse, located at 207 Bowery, and over 25,000 people turned out for his funeral at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, New York, on Mott Street. He was interred in
Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York.
For the next seven or eight years, there was a protracted battle over Sullivan's estate, which by some estimates ranged as high as $2.5 million. After creditors were satisfied, the bulk of the assets went to Sullivan's full siblings, Patrick H. and Mary Anne, and half-brother Lawrence Mulligan. For several years after Big Tim's death, Patrick H. Sullivan attempted to maintain his late brother's political and criminal clout. However, he proved to be an ineffectual leader and withdrew from politics to pursue real estate ventures.
Sullivan had one child with his wife, Helen, a daughter who died in infancy. He did, however, father at least six illegitimate children, many with actresses affiliated with his theatrical ventures, two of whom were
Christie MacDonald and
Elsie Janis
Elsie Janis (born Elsie Bierbower, March 16, 1889 – February 26, 1956) was an American actress of stage and screen, singer, songwriter, screenwriter and radio announcer. Entertaining the troops during World War I immortalized her as " the sw ...
.
In popular culture
He was portrayed by
Joseph Sullivan in the 1914
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...
''The Life of Big Tim Sullivan; Or, From Newsboy to Senator'', one of the earlier people to be the subject of a biographical film. He was also a main character in Kevin Baker's novel ''
Dreamland'', about life in turn-of-the-century New York, set in part in the
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to th ...
amusement park of the same name.
On film himself, Sullivan appeared in ''Actors' Fund Field Day'',
a 1910 silent short film denoting an actors' fundraising. Sullivan more than likely knew many of the persons in the film.
A fictionalized account of some of Big Tim Sullivan's later years is featured in
Dreamland (Kevin Baker), and he plays a minor role in
E. L. Doctorow's novel
Ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...
.
See also
*
*
J. Raymond Jones
References
Further reading
*Czitrom, Daniel. "Underworlds and Underdogs: Big Tim Sullivan and Metropolitan Politics in New York, 1889-1913." ''Journal of American History'' (1991) 78#
in JSTOR
*Harlow, A.F. ''Old Bowery Days: Chronicles of a Famous Street''. (1931).
*
*MacIllwain, Jeffrey Scott. ''Organizing Crime in Chinatown: Race and Racketeering in New York City, 1890-1910''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2004.
*Dave Ranney, or Thirty Years on the Bowery - Autobiography of a Bowery Dweller, published in 1910, from Project Gutenberg
*Welch, Richard F. ''King of the Bowery: Big Tim Sullivan, Tammany Hall, and New York City from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era'' (SUNY Press, 2009).
*
Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Timothy D. Sullivan'. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office (1914).
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Timothy
1862 births
1913 deaths
19th-century American politicians
American gun control activists
American people of Irish descent
American political bosses from New York (state)
American Roman Catholics
Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens)
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly
Democratic Party New York (state) state senators
People from Five Points, Manhattan
Political corruption
Railway accident deaths in the United States