Francis C. Speight

Francis C. Speight (May 16, 1816 – March 20, 1877) was an American law enforcement officer and police inspector for the New York City Police Department. A noted crimefighter, credited for running out the criminal elements from Manhattan's Eighteenth and Nineteenth Wards in the 1850s, he also took part in the Police Riot of 1857 and New York Draft Riots of 1863. Prior to the outbreak of violence at the Third Avenue draft office, Speight was the only officer to maintain control of his station, the Broadway draft office, during the early hours of the riots.

Biography

Early life and career Francis C. Speight was born in Ithaca, New York on May 16, 1816. He first arrived in New York City in 1830 where he was apprenticed as a ship-smith until he was 21 years old. A strong supporter of the Whig Party, he became involved in local politics as a young man and held considerable influence in the Eleventh Ward as a political organizer for the party. This was most evident during the 1840 U.S. presidential election which resulted in the successful election of William Henry Harrison.

In 1845, Speight was appointed to the police force by Alderman Jance D. Oliver and assigned to the Fifteenth Ward. His success against the criminal elements in the area soon earned him promotion to second lieutenant, a position being the modern equivalent to police sergeant. Speight's term of office expired in 1849. With the Whigs not then in power, he was not reappointed and briefly retired to private life.

His body was escorted by aids and personal friends from his home in Carmansville to his church, his pallbearers being Police Inspectors McDermott and Thomas W. Thorne, Captains Petty, Caffrey, Hedden, Bennett, Davis and Mount, and services performed by Rev. George W. Houghton and E. C. Houghton. The hymn "Rock of Ages" was sung by the church choir and a police battalion under Inspector George W. Dilks formed on Twenty-Ninth Street in front of the church. At the service's conclusion, a band played a dirge and the battalion presented arms as the casket was taken to Evergreen Cemetery for burial.