Decatur County, Indiana - Chapter 20: Early Elections in Decatur County, 1915

Chapter 20: Early Elections in Decatur County

There is no more interesting field to the historian than that of politics and in no field is it so difficult to arrive at definite conclusions. It is natural that newspapers should set forth the virtues of the political party which they support and at the same time try to discount any possible merits which opposition parties might have. In the early history of our country this feature was more pronounced than it is today, although there are still partisan papers which would have their readers believe that their particular party had a monopoly on all the political wisdom of the country. In the days of Jackson, in the thirties and forties, party spirit ran high, and opposition papers vied with each other in vitriolic remarks. To the Jackson followers, John Ouincy Adams was the acme of aristocracy, the arch enemy of democracy and a man who hated the common herd. On the other hand, the followers of Adams pictured the old warrior as a Mephistopheles, a demon with a fire-brand in each hand and a man who would plunge his country into anarchy. Even gentle and unassuming as William Henry Harrison was, the Democratic papers made him out as a disciple of the Evil One, a man who made a diet of whiskey alone and a weakling who had neither brains nor courage. Such, in general, was the condition of politics up to 1840.

The first vote for President in Indiana was taken in 1824.. In 1816 and 1820 the Presidential electors had been chosen by the state Legislature. There were no clearly defined parties in the state during the eight years preceding 1824. All were followers of Jefferson and called themselves Republicans. However, no boss ever controlled a state more perfectly than did Governor Jennings the young state of Indiana. He lived at Jeft'ersonville, where he could take advantage of the anti-slavery sentiment and the desire of the people to move the capital to the center of the state. \\'illiam Hendricks, of Madison, and Senator James Noble, of Brookville, were the other members of this early triumvirate.

It was against these conditions the people of the state rose in rebelHon under Jackson - an attempt by the common people to take a hand in the government. The leaders tried to head off the uprising, but were unsuccessful. Clay had a strong following in all parts of the state. It was thought the people could agree on him. Admirers of Clay got together and put an electoral ticket in the field.

In the meantime the reputation of Jackson was rapidly spreading. His services in the Revolution, in the Creek \\'ar and at New Orleans helped, but his chief claim to popular support was the fact that he was not a politician. "He knows nothing of politics," was the argument of his friends.

Straw votes were taken at the county musters. At Richmond such a vote showed ii6 for Adams, 37 for Jackson and 8 for Clay. One at Spencer, Owen county, gave Jackson 57; Clay, 42, and Adams, 9. One at Lawrenceburg gave Jackson 305, Clay, 90, and Adams, 70. One at Indianapolis gave Clay 158, Adams 2, and Jackson 2. In ^\'ashington county a straw vote gave Jackson 88 out of a total of 132.

Pursuant to call, the state convention of Jackson men met in the court house at Salem, September 18, 1824. Eighteen delegates, representing thirteen counties, were present. Each delegate was required to present his properly signed credentials before being admitted. Samuel Milroy. of Washington county, was made chairman. Jacob Call, of A'incennes, was made secretary. David Robb, Samuel Alilroy, Elias McXamee, Jonathan JNIcCarty and John Carr were placed on the electoral ticket.

The platform was uniciue. It was, first of all, a eulogy of Jackson. He was heralded as the second Washington. Just as George Washington had shown himself a trusty statesman, so would General Jackson prove to be. Alexander, Caesar and Kapoleon had t}Tannized over a corrupt people. Jackson came to rescue the people from corruption. The present officers, it was pointed out, were engaged primarily in petty thieving, and no less a master than Old Hickory would be necessary to drive the money changers from the temple.

It would be interesting to know how the campaign was carried on, but the records fail us. Jackson carried twenty-four counties and received 7,343 votes in the state. Clay carried twenty-six counties, with 5,315 votes. Adams carried two counties, with 3,093 votes. In general. Clay was supported by the politicians, Adams by the settlers from the East and Jackson by those from the South.

The following was the vote cast at the first election ever held for Presidential electors in Indiana, November 6, 1824. There was no contest in 1820, when James Monroe was re-elected, hence no election. There could not have been an election in Decatur county anyway, because the county was not organized until 1822.

Decatur county entered the political arena by casting a preference for Henry Clav. There were only 144 votes cast in the county, as follows:

It will be obser\'ed that if the Adams men had voted with the Jackson men, it would have been a tie. Adams township, which contained about the same number of voters as Fugit, was not counted by the returning board on the ground that the returns had not been properly made. The election commissioners were Samuel Bryan, Andrew McCoy and Martin Adkins. The record was made to Henry H. Talbott, county clerk, who made out the report, which was duly signed by the three gentlemen named above. There is no list of the names of voters, which would be of interest had they been preserved.

At this election, and also in 1828, Indiana was entitled to only five electors. In 1832 the number was increased to nine, and Indiana began to cut cjuite a figure in national elections.

The Presidential Election Of 1828

During the four years between 1824 and 1828 the voting population of Decatur county increased from 144 to 638, or more than fourfold. General Jackson was again a candidate, and, although he carried the state by 22,237 votes against 17,625 for Adams, he did not carrj- Decatur county, although he did run a pretty good "hickory."

Sand Creek township failed to record her vote, although she cast seven votes in 1824. The election commissioners were Ben Jones, Griffey Griffiths, Isaiah Kimble and William Hopkins.

The first county election in Decatur county was held on Monday, August 4, 1823, to elect a state senator for eight counties, ^^larion, Madison, Hamilton, Johnson, Henry, Rush, Shelby and Decatur; a member of the House for four counties, Henry, Rush, Shelby and Decatur; a county commissioner, and to decide whether a convention should be held.

There were then only three townships. Washington township was in the center and ran from east to west, the entire breadth of the county, embracing what is now Marion, Sand Creek, Jackson, Clay, Washington and Salt Creek townships. Fugit had its present limits and the eastern half of Clinton township. Adams embraced its present territory and the western half of Clinton township. It is interesting to note how sparsely settled the county must have been at that time. Washington township cast only 104 votes in 1824. Probably half of these voters lived outside of the then struggling little village of Greensburg, which could not possibly have had a population of over 300 souls, and was only two and a half years old.

The first election of any kind held in the county was the township election held on June i, 1822, to elect justices of the peace. Two justices were elected in Washington and one in each of the other townships. In Washington the election was held at the home of Thomas Hendricks, with Richard Hall as inspector; in Fugit at the home of Thomas Throp, with Isaac Darnell as inspector; in Adams at the home of Edward Tanner, with Paul Brown as inspector. William Miller and William O. Ross were appointed constables for Washington; Henry Hobbs for Fugit, and Solomon Robinson and Daniel Howard for Adams, by the county commissioners.

In 1824 Henry Clay received votes in the county, Andrew Jackson 55, and J. O. Adams 17. In 1828 J. O. Adams received 346 and Jackson 292. It will be observed that the pioneer fathers and grandfathers of Decatur county showed a decided preference for Henry Clay and the Whig partv. The \-oting population was increasing rapidly. In 1832 the vote was as follows :

In 1840 the total vote again got a big boost, and the \\'hig majoritv continued to increase. Clay and Jackson townsliips were the (inly ones that went Democratic. The result was as follows :

Harrison again carried the state with 65,362 votes to 51,695 cast for Van Buren. The vote in Sand Creek township at this election was a tie - 96 to 96.

Party spirit ran high during the Civil War and personal encounters on election day were of very frequent occurrence. On October 14, 1863, an election was held for state and county officials, and, although the state went Democratic, Decatur returned a majority for the Union ticket. The vote in the county was as follows :

Congressional Vote

Colonel Gavin, for Congress, carried this county by 173 and Ohio by 7. The other counties went for Holman, who was re-elected by 2,934. l-Acn Rush county ga\e Holman 208 majority. The state went Democratic bv 9.591. The Democrats elected seven members of Congress, while the Union party got four. Julian, Dumont, Orth and Colfax. The i^emocrats had Law, Cravens, Harrington, Holman, V'oorhees, Edgerton and McDowell.

County Officials

The result of the election in Decatur county was very gratifying to the Union party. Over a thousand men were absent in the army at this time. Practically all of them would have supported the Union ticket if tliev had been at home.

The election of i860 was one of the most bitterly contested in the whole history of Decatur county, coming as it did on the eve of the Civil War. As will be seen from the accompanying table, Lincoln carried all but three townships, while the Republican majority over the Douglas Democrats was 482. Breckenridge received only 93 votes in the whole county, and Bell, the candidate of the Constitutional-Union party, received only 20 votes. The vote by townships for Lincoln and Douglas was as follows: