Johnson County, Missouri - Chapter 29: - Political, 1918

The political temperature of Johnson county has passed through all degrees of intensity, varying from the heat of war-time days when men shot as they thought, politically, to the cool and conservative stage of voting for a candidate purely on account of his fitness for the office which he sought.

Before the Civil War. - When Johnson county was organized in 1834 two great national parties were Democrats and Whigs. The new county of Johnson was made up of a majority of Democrats. The Democratic and \A'hig parties continued to be the dominant contending political forces from the organization of the county until about 1855. At this time the Know-nothing party became quite a factor and in 1856 Thomas P. Akers of Lexington was elected to Congress from this district on the Know-nothing ticket, and practically the entire Democratic ticket of Johnson county was defeated by the \\nTigs.

Between 1856 and 1860 the constitutional LTnion party came into existence, but never attained any great organization in the county. During that period the opposition to the Democratic party in this county consisted of a fusion of the old Whig and Know-nothing parties. In the election of 1860, the National Democratic party was divided into the Douglas and the Breckenridge wings, and the Constitutional Union party carried the county. Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the Republican party, received two votes for President in Johnson county at this election.

Civil War. - When the Civil War broke out, in 1861, all former party lines were obliterated. Some men who had been staunch Democrats and pro-slavery men became strong Union men and others who had been Whigs, many of them from the North, took sides with the new Confederacy and became ardent supporters of the South. Even brothers differed on the great question which had finally forced itself to an issue. The first election held after the election of Lincoln was for the purpose of electing delegates to a state constitutional convention to decide whether Missouri should secede from the Union. Johnson county elected delegates favoring the Union. This election was held in February, 1861.

But still matters were unsettled. After the capture of camp Jackson in May, 1861, many who had supported the cause of the Union and voted for the Union delegates in February, immediately became ardent supporters of the Confederacy, and after President Lincoln had delivered his inaugural address, many who had supported the Southern cause up to that time became enthusiastic in their support of the Union. What a man's politics had been in the past was no criterion as to what position he would take now. Democrats, old line Whigs and Knownothings went side by side into both parties and both armies.

Shortly after the beginning of the war the Republican party was organized in this county. By an act of the Constitutional Convention in 1861 and 1862 Confederate sympathizers were prohibited from voting, and Union men were elected to all of the county ofifices. Still, there was a division between the Unionists and two parties were known as the radicals and the conservatives. Their chief contention was as to the manner in which the war was to be conducted. The radical element was practically made up of Republicans and the conservative element up of war Democrats, the name given to Democrats who favored the Union. The radicals or the Republicans, owing to the disfranchisement of the Southern sympathizers, were largely in a majority during the Civil War and for some time afterward, and as a matter of course, held polical control over the county.

After the Civil War. - At the close of the war the revised constitution of Missouri, July 4, 1865, prohibited voting by those who could not take "the ironclad oath." This oath required the subscriber to " have always been truly and loyally on the side of the United States."

Ministers, lawyers, and teachers could not follow their professions unless they had subscribed to a copy of the oath and filed it with the county clerk. It was also a condition precedent to holding office or serving on a jury.

Some of the most prominent professional men of the county were arrested and prosecuted under this law. One notable incident was the arrest of Reverend J. H. Houx. He was arrested "for preaching the gospel." Mr. Houx was one of the prominent pioneer ministers of the county of the Cumberland Presbyterian faith. He was arrested in September, 1866, and at the April term, 1867 the prosecuting attorney entered a nolle prosequi, and thus this case never came to trial . At the general election held in November. 1870, tlie liberal Republican movement for the abolition of the test oath carried in the county and in the state and by a proclamation of the go\ernor all disfranchising constitutional restrictions were removed.

At the next general election held in Johnson county, in November, 1872, the entire Democratic ticket of the county was elected over the Republicans by majorities ranging from 16 to 300. Since then, with scattered exceptions, the Democrats have prevailed.

The man who has seen the longest single service, the longest service altogether, and been elected the most times, is Lon Hank, of Holden, who has been councilman over twenty-five years continuously, and still is such. Other long terms have been, as county judges: William Trapp, 16 years and Uriel Murray, 13 years; as probate judge, W. L. Hornbuckle, 16 years; as justices of the peace, R. B. Wright of Centerview, 24 years, 1886 to 1910, John W. Brown of Warrensburg and J. W. Greenwood and W. W. Gaunt of Holden, each twenty years, and J. .\. Black of Columbus, 16 years. Messrs. Greenwood and Black are still serving.

The man who seemed to have held the most different of^ces was George W. Houts. who was constable from 1846 to 1850, assessor from 1850 to 1854, sherifif from 1856 to 1860, representative from 1862 to 1866, and county clerk from 1866 to 1870. He was the father of O. L. Houts. Judge N. M. Bradley was city attorney, prosecuting attorney, state senator and circuit judge.

Development. - The chief changes that have occurred in the politics of the county have been the weakening of party ties and the growth of independent voting, especially in local elections, the decrease of personal considerations in voting and the increase of fitness for oiifice, as a controlling factor in voting for men, and the increasing weight of moral questions in voting for measures and men. Elections are also steadily increasing in cleanness and absence of corruption, use of liquor, etc.