Guernsey County, Ohio - Chapter 6: Tolitical County, Static and National Representation, 1911

Chapter 6: Tolitical County, Static and National Representation

While it is not the province of this work to go into any great detail as to the various political movements within Guernsey county and the many heated campaigns that have exercised the minds of the voters, it may not be without profit, for the present and future, to make some plain statements regarding the votes at important dates, speak of the more exciting political campaigns, and especially to give as complete a list of the county, state and national representation for Guernsey county as the illy-kept election records will permit.

In 1824, Henry Clay received three hundred and forty-six votes, Andrew Jackson, two hundred and forty-five votes, and John Ouincy Adams, fifteen votes for President of the United States, in the thinly settled county of Guernsey.

The Campaign Of 184O

The campaign of 1840 was the first in which the two opposing parties were united in their choice of partisan candidates. This campaign will be handed down as the traditional one in the political history of this nation. The first Whig national convention at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was held in December, 1839. Before this convention were presented as candidates Gen. William Henry Harrison, Gen. Winfield Scott and Hon. Henry Clay. After a session of three days, General Harrison was chosen as the candidate. General Scott and Henry Clay pledged themselves to give earnest support to the candidates nominated. This great uprising of the people at once began to shape the course of events that were to give to the country a campaign unequaled for monster meetings, doggerel verse and carnival pomp. Webster said in his great speech before the convention, "Every breeze says change." The Democrats charged Harrison with having been born in a log cabin, living on corn bread and hard cider, and being an "old granny." The Whigs made use of all these charges to stir up the people. Harrison became the log-cabin candidate and the cider-barrel, the coon skin and the cabin door latch-string and cabins adorned every procession, and the songs of "Tippecanoe and Tyler

The Whig central committee stirred up the woods of old Guernsey as never before nor since, making the great mass meeting at Cambridge on the 12th of September, 1840, the largest ever gathered by any party, taking into consideration the country population at that time. They came from east and west, north and south, and returned to their homes singing:

We copy from the Guernsey Times, of January 4, 1840, the following as a part of the proceedings, issued under a call of the central committee, for the organization of a county "Tippecanoe club." The meeting was organized by calling Naphtali Luccock to the chair, and appointing Richard Hatton and Lambert Thomas secretaries. This meeting was held on the first day of January, 1840, at which delegates were appointed to the Whig convention, to be held in Columbus, Ohio, February 22, 1840.

Naphtali Luccock, who is second on the list of the Whig central committee of 1840, was born in England, and received an education at Cambridge College, and was apprenticed to John Blacket, grocer and iron monger, Cheapside, London. After serving out his apprenticeship he emigrated to America in 1 82 1, stopping for a time in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Where he engaged in the commission business. In 1824 he joined the moving tide that was pressing out into the new west, and settled in Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, and later at Coshocton and Plainfield, where he opened a general country store. In 1830 he removed to Liberty, Guernsey county, where he continued as a country merchant and farmer until he turned his large business over to his two sons, Thomas S. and Samuel W., in i860. Naphtali Luccock was a typical Englishman, of good family, and had rubbed against the squalor and slum in Cheapside and other marts of the city of London, so that as a naturalized citizen of this republic, he was active in all that tended to advance the people in morals, religion and politics. During his long business life at Liberty, he stood before the public as a model business man, honored and re- spected by all. He was twelve years a justice of the peace, and the first postmaster at Kimbolton. When the office was established, Liberty was proposed as the name for the postoffice, but the department ordered that another name be chosen, there being at the time too many Libertys in Ohio. Mr. Luccock gave it the name of Kimbolton, after his ancestral home in Huntingdonshire, England. He took a first and active part in the formation of the Methodist Episcopal church at Liberty, which was an off-shoot from the Cambridge church, through the labors of Christian Wyrick and Hamilton Robb, local preachers. Naphtali Luccock was the first class leader and continued a leading member throughout his life. Two of his grandsons are preachers of the Methodist Episcopal church and one a preacher of the Presbyterian church, and his son, Hon. T. S. Luccock, is a retired minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. In the family there is a copy of Fox's "Book of Martyrs," handed down from 1537. This is evidence of their religious training.

Naphtali Luccock was the Whig candidate for representative in 1849 anc^ was defeated by Matthew Gaston, Democrat. This was the year of the new county craze which passed over Ohio, defacing the heretofore county boundaries that were made with some little regard to symmetry and parallel lines. into the present zig-zags of many counties ; notably among these are Guernsey, Monroe, Morgan and Washington, sliced up and sawed up to form that monstrosity of a county that was to be called Noble. In this craze, Guernsey was to be fleeced on every side, and every little town, north, south, east and west, wanted to be the county seat of a new county. There was Cumberland county on the east, with Fairview as the county seat. On the strength of this new county, a paper was started at Fairview by the late John Morton, Esq. On the south, Hon. Isaac Parrish wanted Orange, with Sharon as the county seat. On the west, New Concord was to be the county seat of a new county, and Bloomfield and Otsego vied with each other as to which should unfurl the flag of shirehood. On the north, old Senator William Scott wanted a county of Chester. And "On, Stanley, on ! Charge, Chester, charge !" went this battle of new counties. This was the time of "roorbacks." "Look out for roorbacks !" was the cry in every paper. Charges were made in one section, and counter-charges in another, but there seemed to be nothing at issue except new counties. Mr. Luccock, too honest to be an intriguer, making no pledges to either quarter, was defeated. The county at that time was very close. Another question came into this campaign that had its effect in the defeat of Mr. Luccock, the slavery question. The Sheppard family, with which Mr. Luccock was connected as a relative, had removed from England to South Carolina, and became the owners of slaves. Upon this question he was known as a very conservative man. In 1848, General Taylor, in his celebrated Captain Allison letter, had said: "I am a Whig, but not an ultra Whig!" So Mr. Luccock was a conservative Whig, and had at one time expressed himself, that if he were in the South, he would be the owner of slaves. This, no doubt, came from the relationship existing between himself and the Sheppard family in South Carolina, and was drawn, perhaps, from their painting the beauties of slavery.

This came to the ear of John B. Mitchell, of Liberty township, then a leading free-soiler and a man of veracity, who published the statement over his own signature, and the Free-soilers and Democrats used it with great effect against Mr. Luccock, who would not or did not deny the statement. Tom Corwin had but a few years before made the mistake of his life, when he said, "Were I a Mexican," etc. So this, from a Northern standpoint, was a mistake. But who among us can say that if born and reared under the influences of slavery, that we would not have been its zealous advocates? Naphtali Luccock died in 1868.

In 1840, the Baltimore Republican, a prominent Van Buren paper, speaking sneeringly of Gen. William Henry Harrison, said : "Give him a barrel of hard cider, and settle a pension of two thousand a year, and our word for it, he will sit the remainder of his days contented in a log cabin." Hence has come the much-used and well-known term "Log Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign of 1840."

Notes On The Campaign Of 1 844

After the result of the election in 1844 was known to be Democratic in the election of James K. Polk, President, the Democratic leaders in Cambridge fixed a day for a general demonstration of joy over the victory of Polk and Dallas. The headquarters were still at the United States Hotel, kept by John A. Scott. There were at that time an old six-pound cannon, that had been used during the militia muster days by an artillery company at Cambridge. This cannon was common property, and was used on public occasions of rejoicing by the citizens. At a jollification by the Democrats in 1842, over the election of Wilson Shannon as governor, some Whig succeeded during the excitement in spiking the cannon, which stopped that part of the program.

This spike, a rat-tail file, was afterward drilled out by A. W. Beatty, Esq., who claimed that a war with England was in the air, and that the cannon must be made ready for the defense of our frontier from northern invasion. At the demonstration in 1844, the cannon had been kept under guard for several days by the Democrats, for fear the Whigs would play the 1842 game again. It was hauled into the field, now Gaston addition, and unlimbered and made ready for use. Its boom, reverberating up and down Wills creek, announced the Democratic victory. As the firing went on, the enthusiastic cannoneer became more jubilant, and kept increasing the charges as the number of Democratic states were one by one counted in the victor's boom. When it came the time to give the boom for Tennessee, the home of the Presidentelect, the cannoneer put in an extra heavy charge, ramming it down well with wads of dog fennel. Just before the match was to be. applied, a cry of "fight" was heard, and the crowd hurried to the fight, leaving the cannoneer in charge. The match was applied, and the old cannon gave its last boom. The fragments of the cannon and carriage filled the air, flying in every direction. Alvin Maxfield, the cannoneer, reaching over one of the wheels to apply the torch, was unhurt, although the wheels were torn to splinters and the tire thrown hundreds of feet away. The fight drew the crowd away from the cannon, and no doubt saved many from being killed or wounded. The fight was not a political one, although the parties were a Whig and a Democrat. Walter Carr and John Clark were the belligerents. Carr was a shoemaker, and Clark charged him with taking some of his leather he had left at his shop. The fight Was one of advance and retreat, chasing each other up and down the alley, consuming a good deal of time and creating a good deal of fun for the onlookers, but there was no blood drawn, or blows struck, except beating the air. It was a war of words and feints.

Old-Time Flag Poles

The author published in the Cambridge Times in 1896, the following concerning early flag-poles in this county, and the same will be here reproduced :

The first political flag pole raised within the memory of the writer was in 1838 by the Democratic party. From the top of this pole floated to the breeze a banner inscribed, "Wilson Shannon and Bank Reform." This pole was a hickory, and the top branches were left on it. It was perhaps fifty or sixty feet high. It was located in the public square, east of the present Shaffner block. The pole raising was fixed for Saturday, and a general call was issued for the Democrats of the county to be present and give a lift for Democracy and "sound money." After the pole was raised the crowd was addressed by the Hon. Isaac Parrish, candidate for Congress, and Doctor Drake, an Irish stump orator from Zanesville, Ohio. He was known as the progressive Democrat, as one of his chosen sentences in all his speeches was, "Democracy is Progressin'." Somebody had attempted to paint on the flag an eagle in flight. The Whigs pronounced it a turkey buzzard, the carrion bird, fit to represent the rottenness of Wilson Shannon and "Bank Reform." These were the days of bitter political battles, and neither party was very choice in words. When the Democrats of Cambridge arose on Sunday morning, expecting to see their proud banner of reform floating on the quiet zephyrs of the day of rest, their dismay was unbounded when they beheld their pole bored down, and their banner trailing against the side of the Shaffner house opposite. Some Whigs in stealth and darkness, beyond the "wee sma' hours ayont the twath," had laid low the buzzard and reform.

The next pole raising was by the Whigs in 1840. A large poplar pole, more than one hundred feet high, was prepared, and a call issued for the Whigs of the county to assemble at Cambridge, Ohio, on the day fixed, to give a "lift at the Tippecanoe pole raising." The place selected was in front of the old court house. The hole in "which the pole was to be planted was dug the night before by Alfred H. Tingle, father of Alfred H., the McKinley Club chairman of Cambridge. This hole was guarded through the night for fear some Democrats would fill it up, and the pole was under like guard for fear the Democrats would cut it up. When morning came, load after load of Whigs came in, singing the old rally song of the 22d of February -convention :

At the appointed hour the pole began to rise. A block and tackle was made secure to a strong beam across the north door, and another was secured to the south door, to carry the rope when the latter was properly adjusted to the pole, the slack being to the south. At the word of command, given by Gen. James M. Bell, the hundreds of stalwart Whigs, arranged two and two along the rope, moved toward the south, and with the aid of pike poles, forks and guy ropes, the pole soon stood erect. With pulleys and cord, the banner, with the names of Harrison and Tyler, was soon flapping to the breeze, and above all, from a long streamer made out of American silk, floated, "Protection to American Manufacturers." Speeches were made by General Bell, Major Evans, Samuel and John Lindsey, William Lindsey, St., Moses Sarchet, Colonel Lofland, Matthew Thompson, and others sang:

John Lindsey had charge of the flag, and on nice days the flag was flung to the breeze. And when September came, and Vermont voted, the banner went up. When "Maine went h - 1 bent for Governor Kent," the banner went up. But there came a time before the November election when the banner didn't go up. Some Democrats, in retaliation on the Whigs of 1838, cut the flag rope and stole it away. And "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" went up no more. But Harrison and protection triumphed at the election just the same.

The Civil War Period

In 1859, the vote on governor in Guernsey county stood: Rufus P. Ranney (Democratic candidate), 1.663; William Dennison (Republican), 2,103; totai< 3./66.

In 1863, C. L. Vallandigham (Democratic) was the defeated in this county by more than one thousand votes, John Brough being the Republican nominee.

Friday, July 31, 1896, was the day set by the Grand Army of the Republic post of Cambridge to pay a visit to ex-Governor McKinley at his home in Canton. The day dawned bright and clear, and about two hundred and twenty-five ladies and gentlemen boarded the train, and others joined them throughout the county. The visitors were met at the depot by a reception committee, a squad of Canton troops, members of George D. Harter and Canton Posts, and the McKinley Drum Corps, and were escorted to the McKinley home. After well-rendered selections by the United Order of American Musicians, Band of Cambridge, H. S. Moses, commander of George D. Harter Post of Canton, introduced Col. J. D. Taylor to Major McKinley as the spokesman for the delegation.

After an appropriate and stirring speech by Colonel Taylor, Rev. W. H. McFarland, chaplain of the Ninety-seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, spoke briefly. There was vociferous and hearty cheering as Mr. Mc- Kinley rose and spoke as follows :

"Col. Taylor, Doctor McFarland, My Comrades and Fellow Citizens : It gives me great gratification to receive this call from my old friends and neighbors and fellow citizens of Guernsey county. I have made many visits to your county in years gone by, and know most of you personally. I know something of the quality of your population. I know something of the spirit of your people. I know something of your loyalty and devotion to the Union in war, and I know much of your loyalty and devotion to patriotism and good government in peace [cheers] and knowing you as well as I do know you, I am certain that neither flood nor fire would stop you from doing what you proposed to do. [Laughter and applause.]

"I am glad to meet the representatives of labor who are assembled here this morning. I congratulate them upon the advance that has been made in the tin-plate industry, to which Colonel Taylor has referred. I am glad to know that Republican legislation gave to this country an industry that gives work and wages to American workingmen. and brings happiness to American homes. [Great cheers and applause.]

"I am glad, my fellow-citizens, to meet my old comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic [applause], my comrades of thirty-five years ago, for the war commenced thirty-five years ago, and it is nearly thirty-two years since its close. It seems not so long, nor so far away, but as I look into the faces of the old soldiers before me today, I see that age is stamping its lines of care upon them. Their step is no longer as firm and as steady as it was thirty-five years ago, but their hearts are just as loyal to the old flag of the Union. [Tremendous cheering.] And they are just as loyal to national honor today, as they were loyal to national unity then. [Applause.] When the war closed, there were two great debts resting upon this government. One was the debt due to the men who had loaned the government money with which to carry on its military operations. The other debt was due to the men who had willingly offered their lives for the preservation of the American union. [Cheers.] The old soldiers waited on their pensions until this great debt of the government was well out of the way. They waited patiently until the government of the United States had reduced nearly two-thirds of that great money debt. The old soldiers were never in favor of repudiating that debt. [Applause.] They wanted every dollar of the debt paid in the best coin known to the commercial world [great applause] and every dollar of that debt up to this hour has been paid in gold or its equivalent, the best recognized money in the world [cheers], and every dollar of that debt, my comrades, yet to be paid, will be paid in the same unquestioned coin. [Tremendous cheering.] Most of that debt is out of the way. The great debt of this government now is to the surviving soldiers of the republic. [Applause.] There are nine hundred and seventy thousand pensioners on the honored pension roll of this government today, and the government pays out of its public treasury in pensions over one hundred and forty million dollars every year to the soldiers and sailors, their widows and their orphans. Every dollar of that debt must be paid in the best currency and coin of the world. [Great cheers, and cries of "The Republican party will see to that."] There is nobody more interested in maintaining a sound and stable currency than the old soldiers of the Republic [applause, and cries of "You are right, Major"], their widows and their orphans. Your old commander, General Grant [applause], whose memory is cherished by all of you, performed two great and conspicuous acts while President of the United States, one vetoing the inflation bill, that would have cast us upon a sea of depreciated currency, and the other was the signing of the act for the resumption of specie payments that placed every dollar of money upon the sound foundation of financial honor and unquestioned national honesty."

The applause following these remarks was overpowering. Imbued with emotion, his hearers cheered lustily, and broke into cries of "You are right, you are right !"

"I thank you. my fellow-citizens, for this call, so expressive of your good will and congratulations, and assure you that it will afford me much pleasure to meet each one of you personally." [Applause and cheers.]

Different Votes On Prohibition

With the passing of the decades, the voters of Guernsey county have frequently been called upon to express their views at the polls regarding the question of selling or allowing the sale of intoxicating liquors within the county. Among such elections may be named the following: In 1851, a vote was taken to determine whether a state constitutional amendment should be added, prohibiting the sale of liquors. In Guernsey county the vote was, for license, one thousand two hundred and ninety-eight; against license, one thousand seven hundred and twelve. The majority in all the townships was one hundred and nineteen for license; five hundred and thirty-three against license. Temperance was not popular then.

In 1883 the sentiment had materially changed and there was a total vote of four thousand two hundred and three for prohibition in the county. In 1894 there were four hundred and sixteen votes cast for the temperance candidate for President of the United States, out of a grand total of six thousand votes cast in the county.

The issue was up again throughout the state in 1908, when Guernsey county voted "dry" by a vote in October that year, of two thousand one hundred and forty-five to one thousand three hundred seventy-five "wet," since which time the county has been practically saloonless.

Ohio has furnished her share of Presidents of the United States. From this commonwealth have come the following men who were born here and finally elected to the highest office within the gift of the people: William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison (grandson). William McKinley, Jr., Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield and General U. S. Grant. All but Grant and Harrison were citizens of Ohio at the time thev were elected.

Of the delegates who helped frame the various state constitutions of Ohio, William Lawrence and Robert Leech came from Guernsey county and assisted in the making of the 1850-51 constitution, while Hon. Charles J. Albright was a delegate to the convention forming the third Ohio constitution of 1872.

From 1803 to 181 3 Ohio was represented in the Congressional House of Representatives by Jeremiah Morrow, of Warren county, who from 1813 to 1819 was one of the senators of the state in Congress; from 1822 to 1824 he was governor of Ohio. The members of Congress representing Guernsey county from 1810 are shown by the subjoined table:

From the eleventh to the twenty-second General Assembly, inclusive, Guernsey, Tuscarawas and Coshocton counties composed a senatorial district. From the twenty-third to the forty-third General Assembly, Guernsey and Monroe counties constituted a senatorial district. To the forty-fourth, fortyfifth, forty-sixth, forty-seventh, forty-eighth and forty-ninth General Assemblies, Guernsey and Coshocton joined in electing senators. From the fiftieth General Assembly, the first under the 185 1 constitution, Guernsey and Monroe have composed a senatorial district.

Guernsey county first obtained a separate representation in the lower House in 181 2. At present Guernsey county is within the nineteenth senatorial district, while it is within the fifteenth congressional district of Ohio.

State Senators And Representatives

Under the constitution of 1802, representatives to the Ohio General Assembly were chosen annually, at the October election. Senators were elected for the term of two years. The present (1851) constitution provides for an election of members of the Legislature every two years, senators and representatives being elected at the same time and for the same length of term.

In the ninth General Assembly of Ohio, which convened at Zanesville in December, 1810, being the first session held after the organization of Guernsey county, it was represented, with Muskingum and Tuscarawas, by Robert McConnell in the Senate, and George Jackson and David J. Marple, in the House of Representatives.

County Treasurers Clerks Of The Court

Cyrus P. Beatty. Zaccheus P. Beatty, Cyrus P. Beatty, Moses Sarchet, Thomas W. Peacock and George McLaran, served up to 185 1, in this order of succession.

"Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, all manner of persons who sue or implead, or stand bound by recognizance, or have otherwise to do before the honorable court of common pleas of Guernsey county, let them draw near, give their attendance and they shall be heard, for this court is now open. God save the state!"

Infirmary Directors

The first coroner of Guernsey county Was Joseph Smith, by appointment, when the first officers were selected at organization. From 1822 they have been these :