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by them. On one of these occasions, Speight was seriously injured after being struck on the forehead with a blunt object and confined to his bed for several weeks. The scars he received from the injury would remain for the rest of his life. Using aggressive and heavy-handed tactics, Speight directly confronted the street gang and was able to successfully drive them out of the district.
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were active and where they based their criminal activities for nearly a decade. Reinforced by Fire
Department roughs, these criminals had been a constant source of trouble to the local police. Speight decided to take on the criminal gang and headed police squads sent out at every disturbance caused
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Shortly thereafter, Speight was appointed
Inspector of Customs by then Collector of the Port Hugh Maxwell. He held that position until 1853 and returned to the Municipal police the following year by appointment from the Board of Police Commissioners, then including Mayor Westervelt, City Judge Buebe
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In 1845, Speight was appointed to the police force by
Alderman Jance D. Oliver and assigned to the Fifteenth Ward. His success against the criminal elements in the area soon earned him promotion to second lieutenant, a position being the modern equivalent to police sergeant. Speight's term of office
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had been overwhelmed by the mob and forced to flee from the building after a brief siege when it was set on fire with assistance from members of the
Volunteer Engine Company, No. 33 ("The Black Joke"). Speight would be on constant duty throughout the riots.
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and
Recorder Tillon. On June 3, 1854, Speight received his commission as police captain and was made commander of the recently created Twenty-First Ward, formerly comprising the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Wards.
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draft office. No trouble occurred there under
Speight's watch and drafting went ahead as scheduled and uninterrupted until noon when it was adjourned for twenty-four hours. The same force under Captain
182:, he became involved in local politics as a young man and held considerable influence in the Eleventh Ward as a political organizer for the party. This was most evident during the
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among others, and he was returned to his former post. Many of these had been former Whigs who now aligned themselves with the New York
Republican Party. He also took part in the
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at his home on Eighty-Third Street. Although it was known that
Speight had been ill, his sudden death was unexpected and came as a great shock to the police force.
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Death Of
Inspector Speight. The End Of A Busy Life – Over Thirty Years In The Public Service – An Active And Efficient Officer Action Of The Police Board
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on May 16, 1816. He first arrived in New York City in 1830 where he was apprenticed as a ship-smith until he was 21 years old. A strong supporter of the
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His body was escorted by aids and personal friends from his home in
Carmansville to his church, his pallbearers being Police Inspectors McDermott and
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in 1857 and turned his office to the new organization. He was among the first senior police officials to join the Metropolitans, Inspector
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490:
Our Police Guardians: History of the Police Department of the City of New York, and the Policing of Same for the Past One Hundred Years
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dispatched sixty-nine patrolmen under the command of Speight and Sergeants Wade, Wolfe, John Mangin and Robert McCredie to guard the
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The Draft Riots in New York, July, 1863: The Metropolitan Police, Their Services During Riot Week, Their Honorable Record
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295:, Dewitt C. Wheeler and Sidney P. Nichols, ex-Police Commissioners Barr and Voorhis, former Police Superintendent
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The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War
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expired in 1849. With the Whigs not then in power, he was not reappointed and briefly retired to private life.
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287:, popularly known at the time as "The Little Church Round the Corner", and was attended by members of the
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Our Police Protectors: History of the New York Police from the Earliest Period to the Present Time
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In the area where the Twenty-First Precinct was located, a particularly violent group of
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draft office, Speight was the only officer to maintain control of his station, the
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Speight remained in command of the Twenty-First Ward until the formation of the
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141:. A noted crimefighter, credited for running out the criminal elements from
133:(May 16, 1816 – March 20, 1877) was an American law enforcement officer and
145:'s Eighteenth and Nineteenth Wards in the 1850s, he also took part in the
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The Second Rebellion: The Story of the New York City Draft Riots of 1863
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The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the New York Underworld
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in front of the church. At the service's conclusion, a band played a
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The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863
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and the battalion presented arms as the casket was taken to
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Police Riot of 1857 and the New York Draft Riot of 1863
161:draft office, during the early hours of the riots.
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478:. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1974.
392:. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. (pg. 117)
186:which resulted in the successful election of
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153:. Prior to the outbreak of violence at the
471:. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
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543:Burials at the Cemetery of the Evergreens
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523:New York City Police Department officers
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350:and a police battalion under Inspector
283:His funeral was held days later at the
246:, upon news of crowds gathering at the
538:Deaths from pneumonia in New York City
464:. New York: Baker & Godwin, 1863.
276:On March 20, 1877, Speight died from
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202:Police captain of the 21st Precinct
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492:. New York: John J. Hickey, 1925.
319:. Politicians and city officials
235:assisting in the arrest of Mayor
485:. New York: A.E. Costello, 1885.
441:The Funeral Of Inspector Speight
346:"Rock of Ages" was sung by the
184:1840 U.S. presidential election
174:Francis C. Speight was born in
139:New York City Police Department
92:New York City Police Department
242:During the early hours of the
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499:. New York: Dial Press, 1968.
289:Board of Police Commissioners
285:Church of the Transfiguration
533:People from Ithaca, New York
151:New York Draft Riots of 1863
113:New York Draft Riots of 1863
244:New York Draft Riot of 1863
221:Municipal Police Department
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317:Yonkers Police Department
297:George Washington Matsell
254:, Police Superintendent
481:Costello, Augustine E.
107:and participant in the
16:American police officer
256:John Alexander Kennedy
188:William Henry Harrison
528:People from Manhattan
299:, Chief Police Clerk
272:Later years and death
170:Early life and career
250:draft office and in
356:Twenty-Ninth Street
291:Williams F. Smith,
233:Police Riot of 1857
225:Daniel C. Carpenter
147:Police Riot of 1857
109:Police Riot of 1857
62:Manhattan, New York
364:Evergreen Cemetery
336:George W. Houghton
321:Charles F. Maclean
311:including Captain
131:Francis C. Speight
74:Evergreen Cemetery
23:Francis C. Speight
467:Bernstein, Iver.
460:Barnes, David M.
305:George W. Walling
303:, Superintendent
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495:McCague, James.
488:Hickey, John J.
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332:Thomas W. Thorne
176:Ithaca, New York
135:police inspector
105:police inspector
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425:New York Times.
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386:Asbury, Herbert
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352:George W. Dilks
309:police captains
293:Joel B. Erhardt
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265:Galen T. Porter
229:George W. Dilks
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119:Political party
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301:Seth C. Hawley
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58:(aged 60)
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248:Third Avenue
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56:(1877-03-20)
39:May 16, 1816
518:1877 deaths
513:1816 births
447:24 Mar 1877
427:21 Mar 1877
313:John Mangin
507:Categories
370:References
354:formed on
180:Whig Party
123:Whig Party
80:Occupation
35:1816-05-16
278:pneumonia
208:"rowdies"
165:Biography
143:Manhattan
307:and all
260:Broadway
159:Broadway
137:for the
88:Employer
315:of the
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342:. The
360:dirge
394:ISBN
344:hymn
338:and
227:and
149:and
111:and
102:NYPD
64:, US
51:Died
29:Born
443:".
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