Charles Henry Parkhurst (17 April, 1842 - 1933), American clergyman and social reformer, born in Framingham, Massachusetts. Although scholarly and reserved, he preached two sermons in 1892 in which he attacked the political corruption of New York City government. Backed by the evidence he collected, his statements led to both the exposure of Tammany Hall and to subsequent social and political reforms. Jump to: navigation, search Framingham is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. As of the 2000 census, it had a total population of 66,910, making it the most populous town in Massachusetts. ... New York City, officially named the City of New York, is the most populous city in the United States, the most densely populated major city in North America, and is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture. ... Jump to: navigation, search Tammany Hall was the name given to the Democratic Party political machine that dominated New York City politics from the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854 through the election of Fiorello LaGuardia in 1934. ...

Born on an isolated farm, Parkhurst did not attend a formal school until he was twelve. Despite this, he showed a strong interest in education and graduated from Amherst in 1866. He became principal of the high-school in Amherst in 1867. Parkhurst studied theology at Halle in 1869, and became a professor in Williston seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, in 1870-71. After further studies in Leipzig in 1872-73, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He was pastor of the Congregational church at Lenox, Massachusetts, from 1874 until 1880, when he was called to the Madison Square Presbyterian church, New York City (1880–1918). Amherst is the name of several places, named for Jeffrey Amherst: Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador Middle Amherst Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador Upper Amherst Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador Amherst, New Hampshire Amherst, New York Amherst, Nova Scotia Amherst Head, Nova Scotia Amherst Point, Nova Scotia Amherst Shore, Nova... Easthampton is a city located in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... Lenox is a town located in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. ...

Interested in municipal affairs, Parkhurst was elected president of the New York Society for the Prevention of Crime in 1891. He inaugurated a campaign against the political and social corruption of Tammany Hall. The Hall had begun innocently as a social club, but had drifted into politics and graft. It acquired a lock on elections in the city, and its bosses protected crime and vice in Manhattan and surrounding boroughs. Grand jury investigations were ineffective, despite the appeals of social reformers. Few in Parkhurst's congregation recognized that Tammany Hall, the police, and organized crime were interconnected. On February 14, 1892, he challenged Tammany Hall from the pulpit. Pointing to the Hall’s political influence and their connection with the police, he noted that men fed upon the city while pretending to protect it. "While we fight iniquity, they shield and patronize it; while we try to convert criminals, they manufacture them..." When the municipal grand jury asked him for hard evidence, Parkhurst personally hired a private detective and, with his friend John Erving, went to the streets in disguise to collect proof of the corruption. From the pulpit on March 13, 1892, he preached a sermon backed with documentation and affidavits. Parkhurst’s campaign led to the appointment of the Lexow Committee to investigate conditions, and to the election of a reform mayor in 1894. Although Tammany Hall did publicly clean house, it remained influential on the both the political front and in organized crime until the 1950's. On April 17, 1932, Parkhurst again denounced the Hall. Lexow Committee (1894 - 1895). ...

Parkhurst was published in a number of magazines, and was the author of "The Forms of the Latin Verb, Illustrated by Sanscrit" (Boston, 1870) ; " The Blind Man's Creed, and other Sermons" (New York, 1883); and " Pattern in the Mount, and other Sermons" (1885). He also wrote "Our Fight with Tammany" (1895 reprinted in 1970) and "My Forty Years in New York" (1923).

Familiar quotations

• "Sympathy is two hearts tugging at one load."

• "All great discoveries are made by men whose feelings run ahead of their thinking."