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CONTACT:
Dean Dixon
Historical Resources Assistant
(941) 749-1800 ext. 4070
May 2002 Article
Introduction: The Manatee
County Historical Records Library is a wealth of information
about our local past. Documents from as early as the 1850's
describe the life and times of Manatee County residents
and weave many an interesting tale. Each month, we will
post a new story for you based on documents in our library.
We invite all of you to come to the library, located
at 1405 4th Avenue West, to see these documents for
yourself and to touch, feel and experience our heritage.
Florida Decides 1876 Presidential Election
Click here
to read the Official Election Record
In 1876 the United States of America was still suffering
the pains of the Civil War and the period known as Reconstruction
was still looming large over the southern states. As part
of Reconstruction, the South, overwhelmingly Democratic,
had been holding elections under rules that guaranteed victory
for Republicans. There was a Presidential election that
year between Democrat Samuel Tildon and Republican Rutherford
B. Hayes and the Democrats had their best chance of winning
since before the war. But, in Manatee County, there was
political trouble developing that would have national consequences.
John F. Bartholf was the Court Clerk in Manatee County;
he was the man responsible for holding local elections at
the time. Mr. Bartholf fell ill and realized that he would
be incapable of performing his duties, such as holding the
upcoming elections that included the Presidential election.
Bartholf decided that he would send the Governor his resignation
and he stipulated that the resignation would take effect
"on the qualification of his successor." He wanted
the county surveyor, G. H. Johnson, to replace him and he
included that in his letter. He sent his resignation on
August 24th 1876.
Florida Governor Marcellus L. Stearns, a Republican, received
Bartholf's resignation on September 20th and accepted it
three days later, but that was not to be the end of it.
James Green, a political ally of Stearns, saw an opportunity
to disqualify the County of Manatee, a Democratic county,
from the upcoming election. Upon hearing Green's plan, Stearns
marked through the line "on the qualification of his
successor" in the resignation letter, thereby accepting
Bartholf's resignation but not his replacement. Governor
Stearns then appointed the son of James Green, Andrew, to
the position of Court Clerk. Though Andrew Green took the
oath of office, he delayed posting the bond, which was a
requirement to accepting the office. The outcome of this
political shell game was that the Governor had done his
duty and appointed a Court Clerk, which meant that no one
else could perform the Clerk's duties. But, the appointee
could not legally perform his duties until posting a bound.
Therefore, Andrew Green technically could not, or would
not, put together an election in Manatee County and the
Governor thought he had effectively silenced a Democratic
County.
The state Democratic Party alerted the Manatee County Democrats
of the Governor's scheme and sent them ballots with which
to hold their own election. The leaders of the local party,
Dr. J. C. Pelot, Josiah Gates, John W. Harlee and Edger
M. Graham set out to do just that. Edger Graham was a county
judge and he used his authority to make the election as
official as he could without the clerk's participation,
putting together the proper documents himself. Meanwhile,
Andrew Green was urging fellow Republicans not to participate
in the "Rump election" to further undermine it
claiming it was not a legal election. The election was held
on schedule, Democrats and Republicans both cast their votes
after Edger Graham persuaded the Republicans it was legal.
It took six days for the votes to be counted and as expected
the vote turned out in favor of the Democrats.
After the ballots were counted, Josiah Gates and Ziba King
took the results in the dead of night from Pine Level (then
the county seat) to the village of Manatee, riding in the
cold drizzle through swamps and even swimming across a lake
with their horses. From Manatee, Judge Graham took the unofficial
vote count to Tallahassee by boat. Once the results reached
Tallahassee, the Republicans demanded an investigation of
the election. The investigators got as far as Desoto County
before meeting a mob that told them that there would be
no investigation. Fearing for their lives, they ceased any
efforts to look into the matter.
Passions ran high all over the United States as the country
waited for the results of the Presidential election to be
determined. The vote nationwide was close and who would
be President depended on Florida. Florida was so close that
including the results from Manatee County would elect Tilden
as President; excluding it would elect Hayes. Democrats
and Republicans from Florida submitted separate election
results to Congress, each favoring their own party. A Federal
commission was put together to determine who won the election
and eventually Rutherford Hayes, the Republican, was deemed
to be the winner because Florida was determined to have
voted Republican; Manatee County votes were excluded. Locally,
the Florida Supreme Court ordered the Manatee County results
included in the count for State offices and Governor Stearns,
up for reelection himself, was defeated.
The election of 1876 was, until the most recent election,
the closest in United States history. And like the most
recent election, Florida was the battleground state that
decided the outcome. The bitter fight between the parties
eventually had a positive outcome. The compromise that allowed
Hayes into office also put an end to the period in the South
known as Reconstruction. In the next Presidential election,
with the Democratic South unleashed, Hayes fell to Garfield.
In the Historical Records Library there are voting records
of Manatee County going back to the late 19th century.
Dean Dixon-Historical Resources Assistant, Manatee County
Clerk of Courts.
Sources: Florida's Peace River Frontier, Canter Brown
The Lures of Manatee, Lillie B. McDuffle.
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