Thaddeus

He almost had to be a crook with a name like Thaddeus Moriarty. While this may be true, he was also my great-grandfather's brother. The three brothers arrived in New York City in 1851. The youngest was about three years old, the oldest, Thaddeus, was eight, and my great grandfather, Daniel, was five. They were the last wave of nearly two million Irish immigrants to arrive in the United States during the Irish Potato Famine.

Ireland's population fell from almost 8.4 million in 1844 to 6.6 million by 1851. Due to British rule, the Penal Laws of the early 19th century prohibited Catholics from owning land, voting, or holding elected office. As a result, English and Anglo-Irish families owned most of the land, and Irish Catholics were tenant farmers who paid landowners rent. In the 16th century, potato farming spread from South America to Europe, eventually settling with impoverished Irish tenant farmers. The potato grew in even the worst soil, was slow to spoil, had three times the caloric value of grain, and was cheap and easy to grow in a backyard. Potatoes eventually became the sole food source for a third of the Irish. A second unwelcome American visitor arrived on Emerald Island in the 19th called Phytophthora (water mold). In Ireland in the 19th century, this fungus caused the Great Potato Famine of 1845–49.

Since I am not a professional genealogist, I can only speculate about how the brothers lived after they arrived in New York City. The few passenger records suggest that they arrived in Manhattan aboard a packet ship (a vessel designed to carry small packages and mail). It appears that they came with their widowed mother. Based on some early census records, I think they ended up in Manhattan's notorious 7th Ward, the lower east side. Martin Scorsese's 2002 Gangs of New York depicted the infamous Five Points Slum in the 7th Ward. Thaddeus Moriarty would have been about the same age as Leonardo DiCaprio's fictional character Amsterdam and probably experienced similar circumstances. Compared to the 1850s Irish Catholic Mulberry Boys and the anti-Catholic, anti-Irish Bowery Boys, the 1990s Compton gang wars between the Bloods and the Crips are nothing. The 7th Ward was also a stronghold for Tammany Hall, named for Saint Tammany, the patron saint of America. Ironically, Tammany was not a recognized Christian saint.

According to the historical record, Thaddeus was either very fortunate or particularly opportunistic. When he got to New York, he was eight years old. At 15, he left school and took a job as an office boy in a dry goods store. After just a year, he was promoted to cashier and bookkeeper and then a traveling salesman. At the age of 17, he joins Deforest, Armstrong, and Company, one of the largest dry goods houses in New York. Between the 1850s and the turn of the century, the industrialization of America gave many Americans more money than they could spend. As a result, many small dry goods stores gave way to large-scale department stores. When Thaddeus was 25, he became a full partner in Manhattan's most successful furniture store Jordan, Moriarty & Co.

After the Civil War, William 'Boss' Tweed, the "boss" of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine, was on a Committee on School Furniture. Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall were notorious for alleged kickbacks related to all things, including school furniture. Along the way, Thaddeus found his calling in this nexus between furniture and New York City school systems. Thaddeus seemed to have caught the attention of the Tammany Hall machine when he was appointed school treasurer in 1875 at the age of 30. In 1878, the 82nd Mayor of New York City, Smith Ely Jr., appointed Thaddeus School Commissioner. Before becoming mayor, Ely served on the School Commission and as Commissioner of Public Instruction. In 1901, the New York City board of education members gave great uncle Thaddeus a surprise dinner at Delmonico's to celebrate his 25 years of service to the New York City school system.

You decide if this is a conflict of interest, owning one of Manhattan's most successful furniture stores while managing the purchase of supplies for New York City schools for 25 years. Indeed, dear old great uncle, Thaddeus rubbed elbows with Tammany Hall big shots, such as Boss Tweed, John Kelly, "Honest John," and family legend says he even dined with Theodore Roosevelt.

The two other brothers weren't angels either. Both Daniel Moriarty, my great grandfather, and John Moriarty were in the furniture business. I suspect that they were also involved in Thaddeus' furniture cabal. According to family folklore, they had a furniture store called Moriarty brothers at some point; however, I couldn't find any record of this. John Moriarity owned a lot of prime New York area real estate at his death. He was probably the muscle of the organization. Occasionally, I would find a newspaper clipping about John Moriarity getting into trouble or hiding out of town from a court case. Since many people named John Moriarity in the late 19th century, it's hard to tell if these stories were about him or someone else. I can only conclude that the three boys grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods in American history and lived hard. They grew up in the 7th Ward in the 1850s.

Here's where things get interesting. My aunt Genevieve, the daughter of Daniel Moriarty, told me when I was a boy that my family would have been very wealthy except that my great uncle had ripped off his brothers. According to the story, Thaddeus Moriarty cheated his brothers into giving up their inheritance.

That was the end of her tale. In researching this story, I found a couple of interesting newspaper articles about John Moriarty's widow suing Thaddeus Moriarty, corroborating my aunt's story. Mary Moriarty, the widow of John Moriarty, claimed her husband was incompetent when he signed his will. In some court documents, John Moriarty was described as an alcoholic. At the end of his life, he had a failing memory due primarily to multiple applications of something called the "Gold Cure." The Gold Cure was a commercial medical operation that treated alcoholics in the late 19th century, famously administered to William Faulkner near the end of his life. Strychnine, alcohol, apomorphine, willow bark, ammonia, and atropine were thought to be the ingredients in the Gold Cure. According to the contested will, Thaddeus' wife and his 28-year-old son inherited over 100k of property in 2022 worth approximately 3 million. Interestingly, Thaddeus was not mentioned in the will.

The story I can't find is what happened to my great grandfather during all of this. Genevieve, my aunt, told me that my great-grandfather was also cheated out of his inheritance. I can almost see him not wanting to make a fuss while letting his older brother cheat him out of his wealth. Been there done that, but that's for another story. Thaddeus and his brothers grew up in a rough time making tough decisions. In the end, I believe my aunt and believe that my great uncle Thaddeus Moriarty had to be a crook.