With the Tweed Courthose back in the news, there are once again numerous references in the press to William "Marcy" Tweed. That version of his name is so widely accepted that it is hard to believe that it's not correct. Apparently, however, his middle name was really Magear (which was also his mother's maiden name). That's how he is listed, for instance, in "American National Biography," although not in numerous book-length biographies. According to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center (http://www.rbhayes.org/mssfind/ga_coll/nast%20th.htm), which holds the papers of cartoonist Thomas Nast, it was Nast who called him William Marcy Tweed. The idea was to identify him with Senator (later Governor) William Marcy in the public mind. In 1831 Marcy, while defending the patronage appointments of his own "boss," Martin Van Buren, had told the Senate that "to the victor belong the spoils." Unfortunately, the reference seems to have gove over everybody's head.

Best,
Scott Monje