USA > Pennsylvania > Butler County > History of Butler County, Pennsylvania > Part 14
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114
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
injunction as prayed for. Taylor, the contractor, and Bailey, the architect, each presented his petition to court, praying to be permitted to become co-defendants to the bill. Upon this, rules to show cause, were issued, and answers were filed. After hearing, rules were made absolute. The December grand jury-D. R. Ken- nedy, of Muddy Creek township, foreman-protested against the erection of a court-house on the Bailey plans, as being too expensive and extravagant, con- demned the stone walls proposed, and wanted a fire-proof building erected at a cost of $76,000.
"Thus matters stood when the old board retired, and the new board, composed of John M. Turner, of Parker township, J. C. Breaden, of Clay township, and John C. Kelly, of Adams township, took their seats on the first Monday of Jan- uary, 1885. Bailey and Taylor took out a writ of error and had the case heard on January 23, 1885, in the Supreme Court, then in session in Philadelphia, which tribunal dissolved the injunction at the cost of the plaintiffs. After some further delay the commissioners ratified the contracts entered into by the old board, with Bailey and Taylor, as found on the minute book in the commissioners' office."
The work of razing the walls of the old building was begun May 8, 1884, under the direction of George Schaffner, and within ten days the site was ready for the builders of the new edifice. Work was not begun, however, until April 6, 1885, owing to the delay caused by the legal controversy over the letting of the contract. The stone used in the foundation was obtained from Joseph Kelly's farm, near Euclid, and from the walls of the old building. The outside walls, twenty-two inches thick, are built of rock-face stone and lined with brick. The stones for the walls above the foundation were quarried within a radius of three miles from town, and hauled in on wagons, while the brick for the partitions and the lining of the stone walls were moulded and burnt in Butler by J. George Stamm. The sandstone used was obtained from the Berea quarries in Ohio.
The architecture is of the composite order, being a mingling of the Gothic and second pointed style of the French. The tower adds to the imposing appearance of the building, which may well be regarded as an eloquent witness of the public spirit and progressive ideas which characterize the people of Butler county, and which never fail to assert themselves in all matters involving county pride or public good.
The interior of the building is handsomely finished, and the court room and offices commodious, convenient and well finished. Vaults are provided for the safe-keeping of records, books and papers, and the building is well-heated and lighted throughout. The clock in the tower " takes note of passing time," and serves to attract the attention of the " stranger within the gates" to the hand- some edifice, wherein justice is administered " without fear or favor," and crime punished in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth.
CHAPTER IX.
POLITICAL AFFAIRS.
INTRODUCTION-EARLY POLITICAL STATUS OF COUNTY -CONGRESSIONAL, SENATORIAL, REPRESENTATIVE AND JUDICIAL DISTRICTS- FIRST GENERAL ELECTION-EARLY CAM- PAIGN METHODS-PARTIES IN 1828-SONGS AND TOASTS -- CASE OF HUGH LEE -- ANTI- MASONIC MOVEMENT -WHIG FLAG INCIDENT-CONSTITUTION OF 1838- APPORTION- MENT CHANGES - ANTI-SLAVERY AND LIBERTY MEN - FREE SOILERS AND FREE LABORITES-ANTI-SLAVERY MEETING-THE KNOW NOTHINGS -- ELECTION OF 1854-THE UNIONISTS OF 1856-CAMPAIGN OF 1856 -- A REPUBLICAN VICTORY-PEOPLE'S REFORMED TICKET OF 1857 -- CAMPAIGN OF 1860- ELECTION OF 1864 -- CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1873 -- SENATORIAL APPORTIONMENT OF 1874 -- CAMPAIGN OF 1874 -CONGRESSIONAL AND REPRESENTATIVE APPORTIONMENT OF 1887 -- JUDICIAL APPORTIONMENT OF 1893- VOTES OF 1892 AND 1893-PUBLIC OFFICIALS.
E VER since her organization, Butler county has played an important part in the various congressional, senatorial and judicial districts to which she has belonged. in addition to exercising a fostering care over her own internal political affairs. Her citizens have been jealous of their rights, watchful of their interests, and unfalteringly devoted to those principles and doctrines, which to their minds were but calculated to conserve the highest interests of the Nation and the State. Here, as elsewhere, party spirit has, at times, run high, and occasion- ally individuals, thinking themselves entitled to more than their parties were willing to give them, have seen fit to test their personal strength and popularity at the polls, as independent candidates. At various times, also, new parties have sprung into existence to contest the county with the great parties that have embraced within their following a large majority of her citizens from the ear- liest years of her history.
The stirring campaigns of the past ninety years, have called into action many bright and able men, who have made their individual influence felt, and acquired more than passing fame, in shaping the destiny of the Commonwealth. Besides those who have made for themselves distinguished names while yet claiming the county as their home, there are others, who, after acquiring homes elsewhere, have, by the force of their ability and energy, pushed them- selves to the front, and have become potential in the the councils of the State and Nation, confering honor alike upon the State of their nativity and the States of their adoption.
The act creating Butler county was approved March 12, 1800. Besides defining the boundaries, it made temporary provision for the political status of the new county by assigning her to the same senatorial district as Allegheny, Washington and Greene counties, and placing her in a representative district made up of Beaver, Mercer, Crawford, Erie, Warren and Venango counties,
116
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
which it was provided should be entitled to two representatives in the General Assembly.
Under the Constitution of 1790, then in force, members of the State Senate were elected every three years, and members of the House of Representatives every year. No member could serve more than four years in seven. Elections were held on the second Tuesday in October of each year, save for President and Vice-President of the United States, which were held in November, as at present. The terms of service of State Senators and Representatives began on the fourth Monday of October. The State capital was at Lancaster, and the senators and representatives, as well as other citizens having business there, usually made the journey on horseback, that being the only mode of conveyance, outside of walk- ing, previous to the establishment of stage-coach line, and the canal. Occasion- ally a prudent member took his own provisions with him. This, Jacob Mech- ling, one of the early members from this county, is said to have done, providing himself before starting on his journey with a liberal supply of cooked ham and other edibles.
The act above referred to also provided that :
The inhabitants of that part of the county of Butler in Elder's district of the Depre- ciation lands, who heretofore held their elections at the town of Freeport, shall be annexed to the district known by the name of McLure's district, and vote with the inhabitants thereof, at the house of Andrew McLure. And the inhabitants of that part of Butler county, in any of the Donation districts, who have heretofore held their elec- tions at the town of Freeport shall be annexed to what is called Buchanan's district, and vote with the inhabitants thereof.
The act of April 2, 1803, assigned Butler county to the Sixth judicial dis- trict, with Beaver, Mercer and Erie counties. That of April 11, 1503, divided the State in eleven congressional districts, the Eleventh district being composed of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Crawford, Mercer, Venango. Warren and Erie counties.
The first general election in the county was held in 1804. Members of Con- gress, State and county officers were voted for on the second Tuesday in October, and the presidential electors on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The candidates for Congress were J. B. C. Lucas, Democratic-Republican, and James O'Hara, Federalist. O'Hara was a resident of Pittsburg, a Revolutionary soldier and an adherent of the Hamiltonian strong government idea. There were eight candidates for representative and six for county commissioner. The foi- Jowing is the vote cast so far as disclosed by the record :
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POLITICAL AFFAIRS.
CANDIDATES
1ST DIST
2p
3D
4TH DIST
5TH
6TH
CONGRESS-
John B. C. Lucas
32
76
188
61
51
James O'Hara
32
6
63
9
8
ASSEMBLY-
James Bovard.
92
George Robinson
32
46
84
60
58
Jacob Mechling.
50
76
78
25
4
Abner Laycock.
32
22
80
43
58
John McBride.
32
8
196
43
66
Jonathan Coulter
32
34
50
25
5
Jacob Ferree
12
6
51
5
John Negley
102
. .
. .
COMMISSIONERS-
Abner Coats
12
40
60
James Scott ..
18
42
121
4
2
Francis Kearns.
1
72
23
3
David Armstrong
27
. .
. .
Hugh Lee.
13
40
1
. .
William Brown.
3
53
1
. .
. .
.
.
The election was held, in the First district, at Ezekiel Bredin's house, formerly James Buchanan's, where William Gault, Jacob Smith and Ephraim Harris were judges. In the Second district, the polling place was at the residence of Alex- ander Ramsey, the judges being Benjamin Fletcher, W. Furgeson and James Coulter. The judges and places of election for the Third and Fourth districts are not recorded. The judges in the Fifth district were W. Johnston, Samuel Dun- can and Moses Bolton. In the Sixth district the judges were Abdiel McLure, William Campbell and George Shannon. At Butler the judges were William Ayres, John Cunningham and John Gilmore. There were no returns from the Fourth district. The total vote cast for Lucas for Congress was 418. O'Hara, his opponent, received 118 votes.
In 1805, James Martin received 207 and Samuel Ewalt 149 votes for senator in this county. In 1806, Jacob Mechling was elected to the legislature, receiving 229 votes in this county. Abner Laycock, received 232 and Francis McLure 231 votes.
By an act approved February 24, 1806, the legislature reconstructed the Sixth judicial district, placing in it the counties of Mercer, Butler, Venango, Crawford and Erie, and providing for the holding courts in Butler on the first Mondays in March, June, September and December of each year, for terms of one week. The act of March 21, 1808, put Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties in the same senatorial district, and Allegheny and Butler counties in the same representative district, and entitled them to four representatives. The act of April 4, 1809, changed the time of holding courts in Butler to the second Mondays of the months given above. An act was also passed at this time to validate the acts of justices of the peace from the erection of the county to November 1, 1808.
In 1809, also, Francis McLure and Samuel Ewalt were candidates for the State Senate. In 1810, James Patterson, candidate for representative, received a majority of the votes of this county. In the same year Walter Lowrie was
DIST
DIST
DIST |DIST
3
118
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
elected to the legislature and in 1811 to the State Senate. He was re-elected in 1814, and elected United States Senator in 1818.
The act of the General Assembly of March 20, 1812, apportioned the State into fifteen congressional districts, Allegheny and Butler counties constituting the Fourteenth district.
In those days, the complex political machinery of the present was unknown, and candidates ran, as a rule, upon their personal merits and popularity, and as the representatives of the political ideas and principles then dividing the people into parties. The followers of Jefferson, known as Democratic-Republicans, early attained to power in this county and continued in the majority for many years. Occasionally, however, the personal popularity of an opposition candi- date would land him in office. This result was more likely where too many candidates from the leading party sought the same office. In time this tended to render the "scrub race" unpopular, and to pave the way for delegate conven- tions and the methods that at present prevail.
As an indication of this tendency toward delegate methods of naming candi- dates, the following advertisement from a Pittsburg paper of 1814, is of more than passing interest :
At a general meeting of the Democratic-Republican delegates, from the different townships of the county of Butler, held at the court-house in the town of Butler, on the 4th day of July 1814, for the purpose of patting in nomination suitable persons to be sup- ported at the next general election, the following persons were unanimously agreed upon: Governor. Simon Snyder: Assembly, John Potts. It was resolved, That Hugh McKee and Robert Scott be delegates to meet two delegates from Allegheny county, at Mr. James Carnahan's, at such time as may be agreed upon: and that they be instructed to support John Potts, for a member of the House of Representatives of this State, in con- junction with three members from Allegheny county; and also after conference with the delegates from Allegheny county, to put in nomination a suitable person, to be sup- ported for a member in Congress from this district. Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the chairman and secretary, and published in the Pitts- burg papers.
The minutes of the meeting were signed by Robert Martin, as chairman, and Robert Lemmon, as secretary. Mr. Potts, who was a citizen of Butler county, was elected to the Assembly.
John Gilmore, who was elected representative in 1816-17-18-19 and 1821, was chosen speaker of the House in the latter year. He was a candidate for State Senator in 1821 and 1825, but was not elected, although he received a majority of the votes in this county. Moses Sullivan was elected representative in 1822 and 1823, and State Senator in 1824. He served three terms in the latter body.
In October, 1825, 612 votes were cast for and 691 against the proposed con- stitutional amendment. Robert Orr was elected to Congress, receiving 5,157 votes in Beaver, Butler and Armstrong counties, then composing the congressional dis- trict. Moses Sullivan was elected State Senator from the district composed of Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties, and John Brown, James Power, William Beatty and William B. Foster representatives from the district composed of Alle- gheny and Butler counties.
The three tickets presented to the people of Butler county in September,
119
POLITICAL AFFAIRS.
1828, were known as the " American System," " Independent " and " Jackson." William Purviance, of Butler, was the candidate for the Assembly on the first- named ticket, Robert Stewart on the second, and James McKee on the third. McKee was elected, receiving 3,250 votes, of which 720 were given to him in Butler county. The vote of the county was 1,068 for Andrew Jackson and 610 for John Quincy Adams, a majority of 458 for the former.
The campaign poet was abroad in the land thus early in the county's his- tory, as the following effusion, found in the columns of the Butler Sentinel of January 17, 1828, will show :
Old Uncle's sons have lately had some bouts Of wordy warfare 'twixt the ins and outs; Hick'ry and Oak have flayed each other's side- 'Tis said old Hick'ry has the toughest hide. Of " hearts of oak," we read in days of yore- But, zonnds! who heard of hickory hearts before?
The spirit engendered by that campaign is forcibly expressed in a toast, com- mon on Fourth of July and training days. It is as follows :
May the skins of the enemies of Jackson be converted into carpeting for his friends to dance upon.
Notwithstanding taunting boasts of this kind, evidencing the heated and bit- ter feelings of those belonging to the opposing parties of the time, personal encounters and deeds of violence, as the result of political differences, were rare. It was only occasionally that some hot-headed and over-rash champion of . Old Hickory " undertook to reduce to practice the sentiment of the above toast.
In March, 1829, the case of Hugh Lee, of Butler county, attracted general attention by its discussion in the legislature. Lee, who had filled the office of jus- tice of the peace from 1808 to 1830, was charged with being an alien. This charge was carried forward unrelentingly from court to court, and, ultimately, came before the legislature for adjudication. Lee refuted it with evidence that he had been naturalized in New Orleans prior to coming to Butler county. The leg- islature disposed of the matter by adjourning the debate, by a vote of fifty-four to twenty-eight.
By the act of April 20, 1829, Butler and Beaver counties were made a sena- torial district, and Butler county created a representative district, entitled to one member of the House of Representatives.
The Anti-Masonic movement appears to have reached Butler early in 1830, as on February 6 of that year, a meeting of those who had taken up with the new idea was held at the court-house. It was presided over by General Ayres, John Moser and Jacob Mechling were the vice-presidents, and Clark MePherrin and George W. Smith, the secretaries. At another meeting held on February 17, George W. Smith was chosen as a delegate to the State Anti-Masonic convention : John Dodds. John Parker, John Reynolds. John Welsh, John Levis, Jacob Mech- ling and William Ayres were appointed a committee of vigilance.
By an act approved June 9, 1832. re-apportioning the State into congres- sional districts, Armstrong, Clearfield and Butler counties were placed in the same district. William Ayres, candidate for Congress, received 1,264 votes in this county.
120
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
In October, 1835, this county cast 1,780 votes against the proposed Consti- tutional Convention, and 541 votes in favor of it. William Ayres and Thomas Denny, senatorial, and Samuel A. Purviance, representative delegates, were elected.
During the election of October, 1838, party feeling ran very high at Butler. The Whigs raised a flag on the Mechling corner, concealing their project so well, that no Democrat knew of it until the streamer flaunted defiance in the morning. A Whig flag, in the Butler of 1838, was out of the question. Soon the amazed Democracy formed in the vicinity. Paulhemas, the blacksmith, in apron and accoutrements of his trade, was there, and the flag was lowered without ceremony. The affair suggested " The Flag," a comedy, referred to in the chapter on The Press.
The constitutional amendments submitted at this election received a majority of 1,671 votes in the county, the vote for them being 2,383, and against them 712.
The election of October 11, 1839, was the first held under the amended con- stitution, the candidates for register and recorder, and prothonotary being elected by popular vote, for the first time. Joseph McQuistion and William Walker, can- didates for register and recorder, received 1,219 and 1,093 votes, respectively. while Jacob Ziegler and John Levis, candidates for prothonotary, received 1,318 and 1,021 votes, respectively. The vote for academy trustees was very close, John Gil- more and Rev. Loyal Young receiving 1,146 votes, while John Duffy and; Dr. James Graham received 1,143 votes.
In 1840, Joseph Buffington received 2, 100 votes, William Wilkins 1,804, and David Tarbox five votes for Congress in the county. The act of March 25, 1843, placed Butler county in the Twenty-fifth congressional district, with Armstrong, Indiana and Clearfield counties. The act of April 14, of the same year, placed Allegheny and Butler counties in the Twenty-fourth senatorial district, which was entitled to two members. Butler county was continued in a representative district by itself with one member.
The Anti-Slavery and Liberty men organized in 1844, at the court-house. John Waldron presided, with John Smith, secretary. One of the resolutions adopted asserted :-
That in organizing a Liberty party in Butler county, we do it from a sense of duty to God, and are determined to support no man or party in the management of political affairs, farther than measures and men in office are governed by the Bible, which we take as our supreme law, to which all other laws must conform.
In the election that followed, John Shryock, the candidate of this party for commissioner, received only 146 votes, while Dodds, Democrat, received 2.103 votes, and Bracken, Whig, 2,066 votes.
The Anti-Masonic Whig nominations made in 1846, were Alexander Irvine, of Clearfield, for Congress; John Levis, of Zelienople, for senator ; John R. Har- ris, of Mercer, for the legislature; John Anderson, of Buffalo township, for commissioner ; George S. Jameson, of Venango township, for auditor, and S. D. Christy, of Cherry township, for auditor, short term.
In March, 1847, the people voted on the Option or Liquor Law, giving 1,960
121
POLITICAL AFFAIRS.
votes for the sale of liquors, and 1,225 against such sale. The vote on the road law, that year, was 695 votes for the new law, and 1,771 for the old law.
The Free Soilers and Free Laborites met at Portersville, July 29, 1845, to prepare for the conventions of their party, but little was accomplished. The debate in the Assembly, of March, 1848, on the charter to the Columbia Bank, was participated in by Jacob Ziegler, of Butler, who maintained that the personal liability clause was sufficient security. The representatives from Berks and Dauphin opposed the views of the Butler member, who, in the course of his reply, said that the first gentleman reminded him of the epitaph of John Hugg :-
"Here lies John Hugg As snug as a bug Tied up in a rug."-
And that the second gentleman reminded him of the inscription on John Hugger's inonument :-
" Here lies Jolin Hugger, A little snugger Than t'other bugger."
An anti-slavery meeting, held at Centreville, October 25, 1850, to consider the provisions of the new Fugitive Slave Law, was presided over by John Hays, with Thomas Stephenson, secretary. John T. Bard, William Vincent, Dr. William E. Marks, Thomas Stephenson and E. D. De Wolf were appointed a committee to draft a petition to Congress for the repeal of the law. A numerous committee was selected to obtain signatures to the petition. Meetings followed throughout the county and, so far as Butler county could oppose the law, her opposition was carried.
The vote cast October 11, 1853, for Thomas A Budd, Whig candidate for judge of the Supreme Court, was 1,952: for John C. Knox, Democratic candi- date, 1,835, and for William A. Stephenson, Free Soil candidate, ninety-five. The majorities for the State officers on the Whig ticket ranged from 126 to 193, and for the county officers, on the same ticket, from fifty-five to a fraction over 200. The total vote was 1,600 less than polled for President in 1852, the decrease being on the Democratic side, many Democrats casting their fortunes with the Free Soil interests.
The election for State and county officers in October, 1854, in the thirty- three townships, then recently organized under the general re-subdivision of that year, and in the four boroughs of the county, brought into light the dangers of introducing "isms" into politics. Though the Know Nothing party had a State ticket, it secretly gave its support to the Whig candidates, and by this means the Democratic ticket was badly defeated. In local elections the Know Nothings secretly supported those candidates on the Whig and Democratic tickets who were members of their dark-lantern organization, or whom they believed to be in sympathy with it. Thus the Know Nothing vote in this State in 1854 can- not be estimated by the ballots cast for the candidates of that party. The vote in Butler county for James Pollock, Whig candidate for Governor, was 2,955; that for William Bigler, the Democratic candidate, 2,381, and that for Ben R. Brad- ford, the Know Nothing candidate, fourteen. The highest Know Nothing vote
122
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY.
cast for assemblyman was sixty-one, for H. F. Aderhold ; W. McClelland, T. Berry and John Cowden receiving, each, seventeen votes. Samuel A. Purviance, the Whig candidate for Congress, received 2,903 votes, against 2,367 cast for O. D. Palmer, Democrat. In county affairs, John McKee, Democrat, received 2,675 votes, against 2,553 cast for J. A. Gibson ; Matthew F. White received 2,752 for prothonotary, against 2,445 cast for his Whig opponent, Nathan Brown. This vote was reversed in the battle for register and recorder, I. S. P. De Wolf, Whig, being victorious. John Graham, Democrat, received 3,484 votes, against 1,799 cast for S. P. Irvine, Whig. John Kennedy, Democrat, was elected commissioner : Jacob Bentel, Whig, coroner, and William Smith, Whig, auditor. The vote for the liquor law was 2.301, and against it 2,293. The vote for the gubernatorial candidates at this election in the different townships is as follows :
POLLOCK.
WHIG
RIGLER.
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