Tammany (c. 1625–c. 1701)

Delaware chief. According to legend, he welcomed William Penn to America in 1682; little is known about him except for his name in several contemporary texts. For his legendary character and loyalty to white Americans, he became known as Saint Tammany, the patron saint of America and a symbol of the American resistance to the British.

Tammany was born near the Delaware River near present-day Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Several American organizations subsequently took his name, the most famous being New York City's Society of Saint Tammany (1789), originally so named to reflect the members' disdain for pretentious Americans. Later it became known as Tammany Hall and functioned as the Democratic Party organization of New York.