Mercer County, Illinois - Chapter 9: Political Parties Ix Mercer County, 1914 (part 2 of 2)

E. C. Humphrey was one of the republican electors in 1880. The nomination of Garfield for the presidency pleased the republicans of this countv- The democrats were equally delighted with the nomination of Hancock and English. The campaign was spirited, many prominent speakers visiting the county. Richard Oglesby spoke at Aledo to over five thousand people.

In recent years local interest in the parties has not been of much consequence. There have been no issues of importance and the parties have contented themselves with merely advocating the policies advanced by their own factions. Very few contests of any importance outside of Mercer County have been made for over thirty years. The battle has been waged along state and national partisan lines.

In August, 1882, at the republican county convention, George Lytle served as chairman and H. Bigelow as secretary. J. R. Bassett was nominated for county judge; T. H. Doughty for county clerk; E. B. David, treasurer; J. A. Cummins, sheriff; Joseph A. Goding, county superintendent; W. C. Porter, coroner, and Mr. Ansley, representative.

At the democratic county convention, A. B. Swisher served as chairman and G M. Eames as secretary. The convention concluded not to nominate a county ticket, but to run a few candidates inde- pendently. They named delegates to the state, senatorial and congressional conventions and offered to fuse with the independents and name part of the ticket. This offer was in part accepted.

In 1884 the republican county ticket was: Circuit clerk, Alexander McArthur; state's attorney, Samuel D. C. Hays; surveyor, Cornelius S. Richey; coroner, William C. Porter. The democrats nominated: Circuit clerk, S. N. Adams ; surveyor, William McLaughlin ; coroner, Jacob Cool. No nomination for state's attorney was made.

The county democratic convention of 1884 met at the courthouse, Aledo, July 24th, and was called to order by Martin Boyd. C. V. Shore was elected chairman and George E. Eames, secretary. Delegates to the senatorial, representative, congressional and state conventions were chosen. The convention was addressed by Martin Boyd, John Whitsitt, John Downing, Louis Gradky and John Henry. Thomas B. Cabeen was elected chairman of the county central committee. A resolution was unanimously passed, heartily approving and endorsing the course of Hon. W. H. Neece, congressman.

In 1884 the prohibitionists were prominent in this county. The name of St. John and Daniels for president and vice president, and the wave of temperance reform which then swept the country, were sufficient to spur members of that party into activity. They assembled at Aledo and ratified the nomination of St. John.

Late in October, Robert T. Lincoln spoke at Aledo to an audience estimated at about ten thousand. Delegations were present from all parts of the county. Large pictures of Lincoln, Blaine and Logan were borne in the parades and posted conspicuously at the speakers' stands. All enjoyed listening to the son of Abraham Lincoln. The meeting was continued in the evening, other speakers being Clark E. Carr, T. J. Henderson and O. F. Berry. The grounds were lighted with Chinese lanterns and 800 torch bearers paraded the streets, led by bands.

In after years the political issues were national instead of local. In 1888 there was considerable enthusiasm over the national tickets. The renomination of Cleveland pleased the democracy and numerous democratic clubs were organized at various places in the county. What made this year memorable was the fact that A. J. Streeter, of Mercer County, was nominated by the union labor party for President of the United States. During the campaign he was opposed bv Robert H. Cowdry, who was the candidate of the united labor party for president. Mr. Cowdry challenged Mr. Streeter to a joint debate, but the latter declined because the issues between the two factions were not divergent enough to warrant warfare and Mr. Streeter declared he did not care to right over trifles. He stated that he was not in favor of Henry George's land tax theory - a principle which was supported by Mr. Cowdry.

The democratic county convention in 1888 made the following nominations : State senator, W. C. Williams ; representative, Thomas A. Marshall; county clerk, Charles H. Finch; state's attorney, Guy C. Scott; surveyor, William McLaughlin; coroner, John W. Landers. This convention was presided over by A. T. Forgy, with Ed N. Heaton, secretary. The democrats this year held an immense ralh at Mannon, where a seventy foot pole was erected and where Willi; Prentiss, Guy C. Scott and Mr. Heaton, of the Keithsburg News, were the principal speakers. The democratic club there was one of the largest in the county.

The republicans held their county convention late in August and the full ticket was nominated. They nominated Mr. McManus for circuit clerk; Mr. Brock for state's attorney; Mr. Porter for coroner, and Mr. Frew for surveyor. The prohibitionists nominated J. W. Mcintosh for Congress; F. Doud for state senator, and P. M. Carnahan for representative. Among the republican speakers who campaigned the county were Cullom, Carr, Gest, Berry and Milchrist. These men were all present at Aledo, three speaking in the afternoon and two in the evening. At an immense democratic meeting held in Keithsburg about the same time the speakers were C. S. Darrow, Thomas A. Marshall, W. J. McElhinney and Guy C. Scott. At another meeting in the same city the speakers were Black and

In 1890 the republicans nominated James H. Connell for county judge; R. J. Graham for sheriff; James S. Sexton, clerk; T. A. Vernon, treasurer; Alexander Calhoun, county superintendent. The prohibitionists nominated James Feather for county judge; E. R. Gilmore, clerk; C. W. Bridgford, treasurer; George Bloomer, county superintendent; William Henderson, sheriff. Governor Oglesby was one of the speakers during the campaign. The result was the success of the republican party as follows: Council's majority, 265; Sexton's, 279; Graham's, 164; Vernon's, 130; Calhoun's, 834.

During the campaign of 1892 there was no important local interest at stake. The famous Aledo campaign quartet of the republican party traversed the whole county and enlivened the meetings. The labor question was all important, but was a national affair and involved factories rather more than farms. The result in Mercer County in November was as follows : Republican ticket, 2,467; democratic, 1,975; prohibition, 126; people's 60.

In 1894 the labor movement had become one of great importance in the great centers of population. It did not seriously affect Mercer County. William Mason, of Chicago, spoke at Cable to a large audience in September. He was introduced by J. B. McFarland. There was a large crowd present, two bands and a glee club. He also spoke at Keithsburg and other towns in the county. The republicans carried the election as follows: For county judge, J. H. McConnell won by over one thousand majority; county clerk, H. E. Burgess, 936 majority; sheriff, Cyrus E. Dryden, 654 majority; treasurer, Charles Kinsey, 761 majority; county superintendent, C. L. Gregory, 947. Miss Pepper was a candidate for county superintendent but was defeated.

The contest of 1896 was one of more importance because the labor question and the money question were brought to a climax during that campaign. Never before since the rebellion had the country been so stirred up over important issues as in 1896. The democrats under their leader, Mr. Bryan, brought the money issue prominently before the people and free silver and better conditions for the laborers in the cities were the slogans. The republicans named William Mc- Manus for circuit clerk; James M. Brock for state's attorney; W. B. Frew for surveyor, and Fred D. Dixon for coroner. The result in November was as follows: For president, McKinley (R.), 3.105; Bryan (D.), 2,314; Levering (Pro.), qi ; for county clerk, McManus, 931 majority; attorney, Brock, 877 majority; surveyor, Frew, 772 majority; coroner, Dixon, 915 majority. A few votes were cast for Mr. Palmer for president. This contest really settled the free silver question and the demands for laboring classes. The voters as a whole were convinced that with gold and silver as a basis and with a protective tariff regulated to benefit the working classes the country would be more prosperous than it had ever been before. The result in November, 1898, was as follows: County judge, William T. Church (R.), 2,687; John E. Mardock (D.), 1,468; county clerk, Fred Hendrickson (R), 2,709; Warren B. McClure (D.), 1,430; sheriff, Alfred H. Tomlinson (R.), 2,542; George W. Werts (D.), 1,615; treasurer, Charles A. Frene (R. ), 2,643; Alex P. Petrie (D.), 1,511; superintendent of schools, Charlton L. Gregory (R.), 2,720; John N. Cox (D.), 1,433.

One of the most interesting campaigns in recent years was the one in 1904, when Roosevelt ran for president to succeed himself. His opponent was Judge Parker, for whom little interest and enthusiasm was shown. The campaign was spirited, particularly on the side of the republicans, nearly all of whom were great admirers of Colonel Roosevelt. The result in this county was that he received 3,215 votes and Parker received 1,376.

In 1906 the new primary law came into effect. The Australian ballot was first used here early in the '90s and gave immediate satisfaction. The local contest in 1906 was livelier than it had been for

An event of local importance in 1909 was the nomination and election of George A. Cooke, democrat, to the supreme judgeship of this district to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Guy C. Scott, who had filled the position with ability and prominence for several years. Many republicans of this county voted for Judge Cooke, with the result that the republican candidate, McClure, was defeated.

Gilmore, 114; county superintendent, C. L. Gregory (R.). 2,056; S. N. Adams (D.), 918; Cleon Mason, 104. All through public policy questions carried.

The most important event in recent years in political circles was the formation of the national progressive party in 1912. A thorough organization was effected on April 27th at a mass convention held in Aledo. On that occasion the principles of the party generally were announced and delegates were named to the national republican convention at Chicago. The real principles of the party could not be announced until they had been prepared by the Chicago convention. After that event the principles defined were so broad, aggressive and advanced that hundreds of republicans left the ranks of the old party and cast their votes for the progressive candidates.

The state of affairs in this county is shown by the result of the primary election in April, when, for president, Taft received 459 votes; Roosevelt, 1,833; ar>d LaFollette, 376. At the same time, for state's attorney, J. M. Wilson received 1,369, and O. E. Carlstrom, 1,172. The result at the November election of 191 2 was as follows: For president, Taft (R.), 949; Roosevelt (Prog.), 2,027; Wilson (D.), 1,598; Chapin (Pro.), 117; Debs (Soc), 263; for governor, Deneen (R.), 1,158; Funk (Prog.), 1,872; Dunne (D.), 1,502; Worrell (Pro.), 109; Kennedy (Soc), 201. The entire republican county ticket was elected.