Thomas Coxon Acton Sr.

Thomas Coxon Acton Sr. (February 23, 1823 – May 1, 1898) was an American public servant, politician, reformer, police commissioner of the New York City Police Department and the first appointed president of its Board of Police Commissioners. He and Commissioner John G. Bergen took control of the police force during the New York Draft Riots with Acton directing police and military forced against rioters in Manhattan. He served on the Board of Police Commissioners from 1860 to 1863 and as President of the Board of Police Commissioners from 1863 to 1869. The strain on his health during the riots forced him to take a leave of absence from the force for the next five years. ) and later helped establish the Republican Party in Tammany Hall-dominated New York with the help of Marshall B. Blake and Fred A. Conkling, brother of U.S. Congressman Roscoe Conkling. He soon put himself in an awkward position by deciding to personally sign every gold certificate issued by the department. This required manually signing over 100,000 notes valued at between $20 and $10,000 each. He signed about three certificates per minute for weeks on end.

In 1887, he was nominated to run as the Republican candidate for the Mayor of New York City but refused to accept due to his own business dealings at the time. He would again decline to run at the next election as well. He did, however, remain an opponent to Tammany Hall and its policies. Among his personal friends were Horace Greeley and George W. Jones, editors of the New York Times and New York Tribune, respectively.

Legacy Over one hundred of Acton's letters documenting his career as a member and president of the Board of Police Commissioners are held in the Lloyd Sealy Library's Special Collections at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.