Life

He was the son of a livery stable keeper, and was born on Pearl Street

Pearl Street (Manhattan)

Pearl Street is a street in the Lower section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running northeast from Battery Park to the Brooklyn Bridge, then turning west and terminating at Centre Street...

. He was apprenticed to carriage painter James Flynn, in Eighty-sixth Street near Third Avenue. He joined the 45 Engine Company as a runner, and got his certificate when he was twenty-one years old. His comrades elected him secretary. Carriage painting injured his health, and he abandoned the trade to become a policeman. He became a lieutenant, and held this rank in the 19th Ward when the fight between the Municipal and Metropolitan Departments began. Resigning from the force, he entered United States Weigher Dennis McCarthy's office as clerk, and remained there about a year.

He was a friend of Boss William Tweed who launched him on his political career. From 1859 to 1867, he was engrossing clerk of the Board of Alderman

New York City Council

The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...

 with a desk at the City Library. In 1860, he was elected a member of the Board of School Trustees of the 19th Ward, and served for two terms. At the close of his second term, he was chosen School Commissioner. In 1861, he was elected a member of the Tammany Hall

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 political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...

 General Committee, and in 1863 became its Secretary. In 1864 he was made a trustee of the Fire Department.

He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1867.

He was a member from New York County of the New York State Assembly

New York State Assembly

The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...

, and was Speaker

Speaker of the New York State Assembly

The Speaker of the New York State Assembly is the highest official in the New York State Assembly, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party....

 in 1868, 1870 and 1871.

In 1870, when the "Tweed Charter" reorganized the Metropolitan Fire Department

New York City Fire Department

The New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department of the City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response...

, he became President of the Board of Fire Commissioners.

After Tweed's fall, he joined the County Democracy, a faction of the Democratic Party opposed to John Kelly

John Kelly (U.S. politician)

John Kelly of New York City, known as "Honest John", was a boss of Tammany Hall and a U.S. Representative from New York from 1855 to 1858-Career:...

.

In 1887, he was arrested as an insane person and taken to Bellevue Hospital.

Sources

• http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9C05E4D71530E633A25757C2A9669D94669FD7CF&oref=slogin His arrest in NYT on October 24, 1887
• http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A00E5DF123BE033A25754C1A9679C94639FD7CF Meeting of the Anti-Kelly faction in NYT on January 17, 1882
• http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/hitchens-hoag.html#RQP0UR7LH Political Graveyard
• http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D00E2D8143BE63BBC4953DFB366838B669FDE The new Fire Commissioners, in NYT on May 1, 1870
• http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/fire/31-40/ch31pt4.html Bio at History of New York Fire Department
• http://dlxs2.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=nys;cc=nys;q1=Hitchman;rgn=full%20text;idno=nys612;didno=nys612;view=image;seq=155;page=root;size=S;frm=frameset; Bio in Life Sketches of Executive Officers, and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York by H. H. Boone & Theodore P. Cooke (Weed, Parsons & Co, Albany NY, 1870)