Stephen H. Branch's Alligator, Vol. 1 no. 12, July 10, 1858 — Text and Context

Political Betrayal and the Mayoral Race of 1850

Branch recounts his involvement in the 1850 mayoral election, where he claims Bennett enlisted him to write editorials supporting Alfred Carson. According to Branch, Bennett secretly courted other wealthy candidates while assuring Branch of his loyalty. The narrative is detailed: Branch describes confronting Bennett “in a towering rage” and ultimately writing Carson’s declination, which “rocked the parties of that day to their foundations.” The account is framed as a personal betrayal, with Branch positioning himself as a defender of honest politics against corrupt newspapermen. The excerpt does not reveal the election’s outcome, but the episode illustrates Branch’s method of mixing firsthand testimony with moral outrage.

Scandalous Allegations Against Mayor Tiemann

Branch levels a grave accusation against Mayor Daniel F. Tiemann, alleging he forced a woman into a sexual relationship on Randall’s Island. The story includes a promise of $500, a friend’s written disclosure to a “Ten Governor,” and Tiemann’s reaction: “he colored into a ball of fire, and left in shame and silence.” Branch claims the governor suppressed the matter out of concern for Tiemann’s family, including his father and his wife, the adopted daughter of Peter Cooper. The language is incendiary—Branch asserts Tiemann is “guilty of crimes that should consign him to the rack, and to an eternal hell.” No corroborating evidence is provided, and the excerpt does not indicate any legal or public response.

Official Notices and Municipal Governance

Sandwiched between the personal attacks are two official notices from the City Inspector’s Department. One grants farmers free use of space at Broadway and Sixth Avenue for selling produce until noon. Another, dated June 18, 1853, orders the removal of all swine kept south of 86th Street, citing public health nuisances. The resolutions are printed verbatim, including the requirement that premises be “thoroughly cleaned and purified.” These documents contrast sharply with Branch’s hyperbolic style, offering a glimpse into the mundane regulatory work of antebellum New York. Their inclusion suggests Branch used his paper both as a platform for muckraking and as a public bulletin board for city ordinances.

Readers should approach Branch’s accusations with caution: the excerpts provide no external verification for the claims against Bennett, Barnum, or Tiemann. The paper’s value lies in its raw, partisan voice and its juxtaposition of scandal with official notices, revealing the tangled relationship between journalism, politics, and municipal governance in 1850s New York. The Alligator is best read as a primary document of personal vendetta and civic life, not as a reliable news source.

Reading Branch's furious little paper, I keep thinking how these old quarrels fade into odd poetry—the city's noise becoming almost ghostly. The Ghost of Chatham; A Vision Dedicated to the House of Peers — Reading Notes carries that same strange distance, like overhearing a voice from a room we'll never enter. Both feel less like arguments now, more like weather.