USA > New York > Franklin County > Historical sketches of Franklin county and its several towns > Part 13
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Nor should mention be omitted that in political practices of the olden time in many localities (chiefly urban, and I think never in Franklin county) was included employment of gangs of fighting bullies to loiter about the polls on election day to challenge decent citizens, force an excuse for assaulting them, and deter them from casting their ballots. But naturally so high-handed and repugnant methods could not long endure in a free people possessing any spark of resolute spirit, and ballot-box stuffing and repeating were substituted as equivalent agents. Ballots printed on so thin paper that it was called onion skin, folded into the regular ballots, would be deposited in the boxes, and when the excess number so introduced were drawn out and destroyed by election officers it was easy to distinguish by the "feel " of the paper between the onion skins and the regulars, so that only the latter were withdrawn, leaving the fraudulent to effect the count. Many an elec- tion was thus carried, though never locally. Then, or perhaps simul-
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taneously with this particular form of trickery, gangs of repeaters were marshaled in cities to go from poll to poll and vote upon fictitious names that had been placed on the registry books for them, or upon the names of genuine electors. It is gratifying to be able to add that Franklin county never countenanced or employed this practice either. Sometimes, however, inability to comprehend how so large Rupub- lican majorities could be gained here legitimately, Democratic news- papers in New York city and elsewhere have charged that considerable numbers of Canadians were brought over the border to vote. There was never even a shadow of warrant for so assuming with regard to general elections, though I regret to be compelled to record that occasionally at hotly contested town meetings in some towns men who were not residents or even citizens have been brought out from the lumber camps and permitted to vote.
Referring again to the unlawful use of money at elections, such use obtained commonly on the part of both Republicans and Democrats for many years, and was winked at, if not actually encouraged and par- ticipated in, by men of high character. The buying of votes here was most common in the years from 1876 to 1904, and if the Republicans resorted to it more than the Democrats it was solely because they were the more often supplied with funds, though occasionally the Demo- crats had the better plenished campaign chest - notably so in 1892. The practice began with the purchase of the votes of ignorant men who had no fixed political convictions, but as it grew voters of means and intelligence, seeing how freely funds were lavished, came to itch for a part, and, though this class would not bargain with Republicans if they were Democrats or vice versa, they came to insist upon their own respective parties paying them for "their day's time," or for the use of their teams on election day. The price on straight vote buying at ordinary elections was usually a dollar or two each, and at Presidential elections when interest was eager it ran at times to five or even ten dollars apiece. In 1892 the money so spent in Malone, or pocketed by workers who pretended to have spent it, was probably at least five thousand dollars. In 1888 the like expenditure in Chateaugay was in the vicinity of four thousand dollars, and correspondingly large in Bangor and Fort Covington. While this practice still continues, it is much less prevalent, the funds for prosecution of it have become smaller in amount, and those who engage in it operate more timidly and furtively. And now that women have the franchise it is likely to dis- appear completely.
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THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860
By 1860 local Republicanism had become strong and the spirit of its adherents confident, resolute and eager. Thus the campaign of that year was one of fiery enthusiasm from its very beginning. Its most distinguishing feature, apart from the deep convictions that animated it, was the Wide-Awake organizations, which were of a semi-military character. The members wore black oilskin caps and capes, and carried pitch torches perhaps two feet long by two inches in diameter, and when special effects were sought each man had a roman candle or two to discharge as he marched, and sympathizers along the route fired rockets and illuminated and decorated their stores, offices and resi- dences. The purpose of the clubs was not merely to afford a spectacle, but even more to enlist the interest of young men, and make them zealous in missionary work during the campaign and in service on election day in getting out the vote, and in assuring order, freedom of action and fair play at the polls. The Democrats affected to see in the clubs a public danger and a plan to intimidate voters, and called their members "nigger skins." Nevertheless in many localities, though not in Franklin county, the Douglas faction of the Democracy organized similarly, but with uniforms of orange instead of black. Chateaugay organized the first Wide-Awake club in the county in June, and Bangor, Fort Covington and Malone followed quickly. The first meeting of the campaign was held at Malone, with intention when it was appointed that it should be simply a town rally at the old King's Hall; but interest and enthusiasm had been so kindled that the people literally took the affair out of the hands of the committees, and proceeded to manage it themselves. Ogdensburg sent announcement that its com- pany of Wide-Awakes would attend, and neighboring towns reported that their delegations and clubs also were coming, so that it was seen that the hall would not begin to hold the foreshadowed crowds. The freight depot was thereupon cleared of its contents and seating arrange- ments in it improvised; but not even that structure could house the throngs, and the meeting had to be in the open air. Thousands attended, including a hundred Wide-Awakes and a band from Ogdens- burg, and the gathering was the largest that had occurred in Malone since 1844. Soon afterward a like meeting at Brushton assembled thousands from all over the county, the number from Malone alone having been between 1,500 and 2,000, and a little later Malone sent a still larger representation to a rally at Ogdensburg. There was of
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course organized effort by committees, but upon the whole the cam- paign almost ran itself, and was ardent in the extreme throughout the summer and autumn. Men did not need to be urged to appear at the- polls, nor was much money required for financing the contest aside- from that invested in uniforms and torches or paid for bands, hall rent. and special railway trains. The irreconcilable remnant of the Know- nothing party fused with the Douglas Democracy on a county ticket,. and the Breckinridge Democrats nominated their own candidates for county offices, but could not poll even twenty votes for them, though they cast 1,038 votes for Presidential electors. Extreme Democrats as- the Breckinridge men had been, they yet hated the other Democratic faction so bitterly that a number of them afterward aligned themselves. with the Republicans. The Republican pluralities ranged between 664 and 842.
A UNION PARTY DURING THE CIVIL WAR
When civil war threatened disruption of the Union the Republicans, though apparently able to command a majority single handed, placed country above party, and invited war Democrats to amalgamation with: them in an organization that should be called the Union party, and whose platform should be simply a declaration for the preservation of the Union. As a particular evidence of their sincerity, they proposed to concede to Democrats one-half of the places on the county ticket, including the head, which went to Albert Andrus. A mass convention ratified the selections, and the ticket was given a majority of about. 1,350 - Chateaugay having been the only town in the county that was carried by the Democrats. A like arrangement continued throughout the duration of the war, and would probably have obtained in 1866 also except that, Franklin having proposed the nomination of Mr. Andrus for State Senator, and St. Lawrence having refused to accept him, he became the head of a movement to organize an "Andrew Johnson party," with the understanding that the President had promised him control of federal appointments here. The movement was a good deal of a fiasco, and notwithstanding it and the Democracy became prac- tically one locally a majority of about 900 was massed against it - the Republicans having called themselves in the campaign Union Republicans, but with most of the town caucuses having been held as straight Republican. During each of the years of the war the Union party had been dominant, though in 1862, owing to the absence of so many Republicans in the army and because taxes had become onerous
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and a draft was impending, it won out by only 75 to 100 majority. The majority in 1864 was 1,002.
The Republican pluralities in the county in Presidential years have been :
Year
Plurality
Year
Plurality
1860*
664
1892.
2,499
1864.
1,002
1896
3, 701
1868.
1,139
1900
3,768
1872.
1,295
1904.
3,832
1876.
1,158
1908.
3,065
1880
1,386
1912.
1,224
1884
1,690
1916.
1,497
1888
2,729
It is improbable that any other county in the State can parallel the foregoing record for Republican steadfastness, with almost continu- ously increasing pluralities through forty-four years. The exception of 1876 is explained by the fact that, Mr. Wheeler having been the candidate for Vice-President, that master of political arts and organiza- tion, Mr. Tilden, directed particular effort to be made in this county to dissuade Democrats from giving him a complimentary vote, to bring every Democrat to the polls, and to secure as large a part of the pur- chasable electorate as could be won by a generous campaign fund. Still, the Republican vote increased 600 over that of 1872, but the Democratic vote increased by a yet larger figure. Mr. Wheeler's plurality exceeded that given to the Republican candidate for Gov- ernor by 75.
The failure to increase the plurality in 1892 over that of 1888 was due to the wave of sentiment that swept the entire country for " a change," and to the fact that the Democratic campaign fund was inordinately large.
No particular reason is assignable for the reduced plurality in 1908 except perhaps that party ardor was not then quite as fervent as it had been, and that the personality of Mr. Taft counted for less than that of Mr. Roosevelt; and the collapse in 1912 was occasioned prin- cipally by the great Republican defection to the National Progressive party, which, besides taking away 1,200 or 1,300 votes directly, caused general demoralization. The National Progressive vote in the county was 1,368, of which few were drawn from the Democrats. In 1916
* The Douglas and Breckinridge fusion in 1860 was with agreement that the faction which should poll the larger vote would receive the votes of all the electors for its candidate. The Douglas vote in the county was 1.402 and the Breckinridge vote 1,038, so that 664 was the Republican majority instead of a pluraltiy.
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hundreds of Republicans, while still protesting adherence to their party in a general way, voted nevertheless for Mr. Wilson because he had " kept us out of war." It was one of the inexplicable mutations in politics that this condition should obtain to such an extent in Franklin, while other counties on all sides of us gave substantially their cus- tomary Republican majorities.
ELEMENTS OF REPUBLICAN STRENGTH
Consideration of the causes which have influenced the people so largely to Republican affiliation here opens an interesting field for con- jecture. These causes have seemed to me to be in the main: (1) the nomination, with rare exceptions, of a high class of men, both in respect to ability and character, at least for the more important local offices ; (2) the silent appeal, not at all definitely measurable, but surely largely potent, that was carried to the masses by the mere fact that so large a proportion of those eminent in business, in the profes- sions, in the churches, and in furthering worthy public enterprises were outspoken Republicans and active workers for their party; (3) the consistent and unfailing battling of the Republican party against the fads, isms and heresies which developed from time to time (including repudiation, greenbackism, free silver coinage, and assaults upon the courts), while the local Democracy temporized and flirted, and some- times actually got into bed, with them; (4) freedom from factionism; (5) accession of Irish voters, beginning in 1884, and continuing appre- ciably for a number of years; (6) the strong conviction, shared even by many Democrats, that the policy of protection comprehended more of benefit to the locality than that of a tariff for revenue only; (7) a distrust, natural on the part of countrymen, of a party dominated by city influences, and especially by Tammany Hall; (8) the gravitation by a certain type of men to the stronger party, and the realization by others that their only hope for political preferment lay in affiliation with the Republicans; and (9) the superior organization which the Republicans created and maintained.
ยท FEATURES OF SOME CAMPAIGNS
It is unnecessary and would be tedious to review campaigns year by year, and it must be enough merely to indicate the special features which characterized some of the Presidential contests, and to refer briefly to a few of the particularly interesting so-called off year elections.
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In 1868 marching organizations, called Tanners' Clubs because General Grant had been a tanner, were formed in a number of towns. The members wore uniforms and carried torches. At a parade by these clubs at Chateaugay the procession was stoned, and a number of persons were injured - one of them so seriously that he never recovered. A banner offered by the county committee for the largest gain by any town over its 1867 vote was won by Dickinson. The vote was: Repub- lican, 388; Democratie, 37.
There were Tanners' Clubs again in 1872. At one stage of the cam- paign the inclination on the part of considerable numbers of Republi- cans to vote for Mr. Greeley occasioned grave forebodings, but this disturbing condition was offset by Democratic antipathy to the man who, almost more than any other, had hurled epithet and denunciation at that party for a generation, and in mid-October it had become so manifest that Republican success was assured that little further effort was exerted.
In 1876 Hayes and Wheeler Clubs (many of them uniformed and known as Hayes and Wheeler Guards) were organized early throughout the county, and in most towns the roll of members equaled or exceeded the entire Republican vote cast by them in 1872. At the first rally of the campaign in Malone 300 uniformed voters joined in a parade, and for the final meeting there were 900. The evening parade included nearly 1,000 actual voters, and most residences and places of business in the village were a blaze of light. There were no electric lamps in those days, and illuminations were managed by placing innumerable candles in windows, often with grease damage to carpets and other furnishings. The Bangor contingent in the procession were all mounted, and in every hat and from every bridle an American flag waved. The Demo- crats attempted a counter demonstration, but only about 500 appeared in their procession, many of whom were boys. None of them was uniformed.
In 1880 several of the uniformed clubs were known as Boys in Blue, who were all veterans of the civil war, and numbered 350. There were also other uniformed organizations, known as Garfield and Arthur Guards and as " Company Q" of Malone. The latter was composed of about 150 young business men, each of whom paid for his own equip- ment, which consisted of white caps and capes and torches. The com- mittee expenditure for uniforms and torches was between $700 and $800. In one early parade in Malone there were :00 uniformed torch
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
bearers, and at the closing rally over 1,000, exclusive of a hundred business and professional men carrying lanterns. The route of march was four miles long, and by actual count more than 250 residences and business places were brilliantly illuminated and lavishly decorated. Free dinners were served at the old rink to 1,500 out-of-town visitors, and in the evening, before the speaking, 2,500 rations were distributed at Concert Hall, afterward the Malone Opera House, in Putnam Block.
Boys in Blue and Blaine and Logan Guards, all uniformed and sup- plied with torches, were the spectacular feature of the campaign of 1884. In a procession at Malone there were 700 torch-bearers, and so extreme was partisan rancor that the marching men were stoned and rotten-egged. To a meeting at Ogdensburg the county sent 500 uni- formed men by special train.
In the campaign of 1888 there was a less employment of spectacular agencies. Fewer of the towns than had been customary had uniformed organizations, and where there were any at all the membership was small except in Chateaugay. In some localities those who par- ticipated in parades carried lanterns instead of torches, and the tra- ditional log cabin, which was so marked a feature of the 1840 cam- paign, again appeared. Chateaugay had one which was a gem of its kind. The campaign was stirring and excellently organized, and it was in this year that the famous Morton Glee Club of Malone made its brilliant reputation. It appeared not only at many rallies throughout Franklin county, but also in other parts of the State generally - having been drafted into service in connection with the meetings which were addressed by the candidate for Governor. It was pronounced everywhere to be the finest glee club in the State.
The campaign of 1888 was the last in which uniformed organizations appeared, though there was one parade in Malone in 1892 of business men carrying lanterns shaped like the "Harrison hat." One of the 1840 methods was revived in this year, and speakers toured the northern towns of the county in a tally-ho coach drawn by four horses. The effect was not altogether satisfactory.
In 1896 the Republicans seized upon the American flag as their distinctive party emblem, and never were the national colors so pro- fusely displayed. Such use of the flag has since been prohibited by law. The mad vagaries of Mr. Bryan excited alarm in business circles, and not a few lifelong Democrats aligned themselves openly with the Republicans, and others voted with them quietly.
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The campaigns of 1900, 1904 and 190S were without marked inei- dents or characteristics other than the intense interest which animated them.
The first noteworthy off-year contest after the civil war was in 1878, when the Greenback craze fastened upon so many minds. It stood for an unlimited issue of paper money as a legal tender. with the pre- tense that the mere fiat of government could give to an irredeemable promise to pay an equal stability and purchasing power with that of a currency based upon coin of intrinsic value. It seemed likely at first to sweep a great mass of voters, especially those who were in debt, into its current. Greenback clubs were formed, and there was confident prediction that the new party would carry the county. The Republicans fought the movement strenuously by argu- ment, and the Democrats toyed with it, even making some of its county nominees their own. The Greenbackers polled about 250 votes for their State ticket, and the Republican pluralities ranged between 1,500 and 1,800, which were larger than had ever before been registered.
A deplorable and melancholy event occurred in 1881. Major William D. Brennan was serving his third term in the Assembly, and William A. Wheeler was a candidate for United States Senator. The opposition to the latter was anxious that the nomination should precede the announcement of the Assembly committees, which were to be named by an anti-Wheeler Speaker, and it was assumed that inasmuch as some of the assignments were sure to be disappointing, the effect would be favorable to Mr. Wheeler. It was necessary to secure a given number of signatures to the call for the nominating cancus, and Major Brennan was persuaded to become one of the signers. His justification of him- self was that the required number was certain to be obtained without him, and that he would be unnecessarily and unwisely antagonizing the majority by standing out against an early caucus. But it was imme- diately charged openly at Albany that he had " sold out," and Mr. Wheeler and his friends recognized that if he had ever had any chance for election it had been lost. Then Major Brennan was appointed to the most important Assembly chairmanship, and it was flung at him that the assignment was his reward for having joined in the cauens call. There was correspondence between Major Brennan and Mr. Wheeler on the subject, and the former at once became depressed and morbid. Mr. Wheeler's active interest and somewhat high-handed intervention with delegates to the county convention in 1879 had alone brought about
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
Major Brennan's first nomination, and the closest and most affectionate relations had long subsisted between the two. Major Brennan talked freely about a " cruel letter " written to him by Mr. Wheeler, which he said had robbed him of ability to sleep and had broken his heart. He induced Frederick D. Kilburn to visit Albany for inquiry into the facts, and then to proceed to Washington to undertake to effect a recon- ciliation with Mr. Wheeler. The result of Mr. Kilburn's mission was not satisfactory to Major Brennan, whose nervous and depressed con- dition became worse, compelling a relinquishment of his legislative duties, and in March he committed suicide. Mr. Wheeler's letter to Major Brennan was never exhibited by the latter except possibly to one or two persons, and Mr. Wheeler, while admitting that it was cold and formal, denied that it contained anything " cruel." A copy of it which he showed me bore out that description. No one who knew Major Brennan could possibly believe that he ever intended, or even realized until too late, that in signing the caucus call he would injure Mr. Wheeler's interests, and his action was undoubtedly simply an error of judgment.
A NEW BALLOT LAW
Until 1890 each party had always supplied and distributed its own ballots, and a trusted voter could obtain one in advance and mark it to his liking at home. But in 1890 a law was passed providing for an official ballot, which could be had only at the polls from an election officer, and might not be taken elsewhere for alteration or consideration. These ballots were of as many kinds as there were separate parties, were uniform in appearance, and were each about five by seven inches in size. The use of pasters on them was permissible. The new law com- pelled an increase in the number of election districts, which, added to the cost of the ballots, and other new requirements, increased the expense of elections greatly. This form of ballot was continued until 1896, and in 1894 there were so many sets of candidates and so many propositions to be voted upon that seventeen separate ballots had to be handed by the election officers to each voter. The so-called blanket ballot first came into use in 1896. On it there were as many distinct columns as there were parties with nominations in the field, and each party had its own column, distinguished by its chosen emblem for the benefit of the illiterate. At the top of each column below the party emblem was a circle. A cross (X) mark in any circle meant a vote for every one of the candidates in such column unless the voter chose also to make
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FRANKLIN COUNTY POLITICALLY
a cross mark opposite the name of particular candidates in another column, in which case he voted what was called a " split " ticket - the mark within the circle giving his vote to everybody in the column except for the offices as to which marks had been made in other columns. Since probably eighty to ninety per cent. of the entire electorate ordi- narily vote "straight " party tickets, this form of ballot undoubtedly accommodated the large majority better than any other ; but it is the fad of a few that independent or discriminating voting ought to be encour- aged, and accordingly the form of ballot was changed in 1914 so that the names of all candidates for any given office are grouped together ; and now every elector must make as many separate cross marks as there may be candidates whom he desires to support. Thus a longer time is required by every voter for marking his ballot, and the election officers must spend more time in making the count. With the blanket ballot restored, the election districts need not be as many, nor would it be as difficult to induce capable men to serve as election officers. Is it right that public expense be unnecessarily increased, and four-fifths or more of the people inconvenienced in voting merely to satisfy the notions of a few goody-goodies or theorists ? We ought to return to the use of the blanket ballot.
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