Francis Tukey
Francis Tukey was the City Marshal of Boston, Massachusetts, from 1846 to 1852 and a member of the California State Assembly.
Early history
Francis Tukey was born in Falmouth, Maine in 1814. His family was well established in the area of Falmouth. His father was Benjamin Tukey, as was also the name of his grandfather. His grandfather fought in the Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution. Upon the town's celebration of the surrender of General Burgoyne, the elder Benjamin Tukey was killed accidentally. As the celebration had commenced around Alice Greele's Tavern, Benjamin was mortally wounded by the premature discharge of a cannon. Benjamin Tukey left behind two children: Benjamin, Francis's father, and William. Francis Tukey is described as "5 feet, 9 inches tall, hair black as a raven, eyes large, dark and piercing with a pale face and an infectious smile." Francis Tukey was a mechanic by trade and left Falmouth for Boston, Massachusetts to practice his trade further. After moving to Boston, he decided that he would pursue a career in law instead. Tukey entered the Harvard Law School and graduated after two years in 1843. Francis Tukey was admitted to the Suffolk bar on March 6, 1844.Entering the law enforcement profession would be Tukey's calling and he would become appointed as the City Marshal of Boston by Mayor Josiah Quincy Jr. The position had been more of a revolving political door at the time. During the eight years between 1838 and 1846, there were six men appointed to the seat of city marshal. Francis Tukey was the successor to an office held by Benjamin Pollard, Daniel Parkman, Erza Weston, James Blake and Ira Gibbs. Tukey was appointed to the high-profile position at age 32.
Tukey era as City Marshal of Boston
The early years of Tukey's era as marshal was relatively quiet compared to what he would encounter close to the end of the decade. He began with the reorganization of the Boston Police Department. Under Tukey, the force increased to 22 officers during the day and 8 at night. They were dispatched throughout the city at $2.00 per day and $1.25 per night. The city was divided into sections and the order was set to clean up the streets of Boston. The increased visibility of officers gave rise to local notoriety to certain constables, such as Derastus Clapp and Samuel Fuller.During the 1848 public excavation on Boston Common, Tukey and his people discovered stolen money in front of an eager crowd. The January 7 excavation found $1100.00. This was the beginning of his public image in Boston and he welcomed the publicity.
He was in charge of the investigation of the Parkman-Webster murder in 184950.
In 1851, he returned runaway slave Thomas Sims to Georgia after a court ordered compliance with the Fugitive Slave Law.
Shortly thereafter, Tukey began using raids to clean up the city. Tukey had an eye on vice establishments in the city. The early results of the first raid concluded that nine men and sixty women were arrested for prostitution. The following week's raid is known as the "Celebrated Ann Street" raid. There were over 150 arrests made in the red-light district of Boston on 23 April 1851. The targets were gamblers and prostitutes, with Tukey finding great success.
Again in 1851, Francis Tukey instituted a weekly "show-up of rogues." The policy he established was to have known criminals show up and be identified in public as criminals. This was to make sure that the public knew their faces and could identify the criminals if they had to. The first collection brought 76 pickpockets, burglars, thieves and more that were forced to "run a gauntlet of crowing citizens who tore their clothing and marked their backs with chalk."
The results of Francis Tukey's time as city marshal are varied. During Tukey's reign, it is believed that he neglected the growing number of wandering children in the Boston streets. The children, if taken in, would become apprentices or domestics until they reached adulthood. This was a rather "unenlightened attitude toward juvenile delinquency" in Boston at the time.
Francis Tukey would be the city marshal until 1852, a tenure lasting six years. Benjamin Seaver, the mayor, removed Francis Tukey and most of the Boston Police force and replaced him with Gilbert Nourse Esq. The resignation was forced. Upon his removal, Tukey decided to relocate to Sacramento, California.