Sunday Favorites: The Tumultuous Election

PINE LEVEL – I think we can all agree that last year's presidential election was tumultuous to say the least. However, it was nothing compared the election of 1876, in which Manatee County played a key role. Back then folks were not happy with the results, and the whole thing culminated with the Clerk of Court being held at gunpoint.

It was the end of the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War and the Republican Party was grasping to retain control in the states that had been defeated by the Union Army, including Florida. Strong restrictions had been placed on those residents who were involved in the succession of the South, Historian Vernon Peeples described the situation in his book, ”Punta Gorda In the Beginning, 1863-1900.“

But after a decade of Republican control, united Democrats across the country thought they might have a chance to win the election. Floridians found Samuel Tilden, the Democratic candidate, to be a respectable man worthy of their support. On the other hand, Republicans were divided on the nomination of Rutherford B. Hayes, whose campaign platform called for relaxing reconstruction policies in the South, according to Peeples.

The events leading up to the election were heated to say the least, but Election Day went without incident. Back then it took a while for Florida residents to get the national victory results. A few days later the New York Times reported that Tilden had 184 electoral votes and Hayes had 181 electoral votes with only Florida’s four electoral votes remaining in doubt. If the state went Republican, Hayes would win by a majority of one.

After two days, the New York Times reported Floridians had voted Republican and a mass resistance began. It would be four months until the election was settled.

A Florida State Canvasing Board began investigating possible fraud charges. The board found Hayes won Florida by 43 votes, but contested the results of 14 counties – including Manatee. Governor Marcellus Stearns was accused of collusion to avoid having an election in Manatee County all together, which at the time was heavily Democratic.

The events leading up to the election were questionable. John Bartholf, Manatee County’s Clerk of Court, resigned a few weeks before the election. It was believed his resignation was meant to prevent Manatee County votes from being counted.

Back then, when the Clerk of Court for a county resigned, the Governor had to appoint a replacement. Stearns avoided appointing a successor until October 20, too late to prepare for the election. If that wasn’t enough, Peeples writes that the new Clerk of Court appointee, Andrew Green, refused to post the necessary bond in order to take office while Bartholf refused to hand over the voter registration list to Green until he was officially confirmed (with bond).

Voters considered the situation an intentional abuse of political power utilized for the purpose of keeping a large number of Democrats from voting. At that time, residents voted by taking an oath they were legally registered and casting their vote with their proper official, but because Bartholf’s resignation and Green’s delayed succession, there was no legal official to record their name.

Residents had foreseen this becoming a problem and took matters into their own hands prior to Election Day. Utilizing an old voter registration list, they did everything possible to comply with election law, giving notice of the election in public meetings and electing poll inspectors to tally and record votes. The inspectors swore in every voter just as the Clerk of Court had done in previously. The residents called themselves the Democratic Executive Committee.

As expected, Tilden took the county. However, it was up to Bartholf to report the results to Tallahassee. After several days passed and no returns received at the State Capitol, residents became restless and dismayed. Tallahassee needed Manatee County’s results, along with the results from six other counties, in order to call the Florida vote. Two investigators were sent to Pine Level, the Manatee County Seat, to determine the hold up.

The investigators were stopped along the trail down by members of the ”Democratic Executive Committee,“ a group of voter vigilantes that would not allow them the pass until they agreed ”not to tamper with the results“ and do as they were told by vigilante members, according to Peeples. The investigators turned around and went back to the state capitol.

The Democratic National Committee tried to report the election results to the State Canvassing Board but it they were thrown out for not having a certificate of election signed by the Clerk of Court, or John Bartholf.

Prominent Manatee County resident Josiah Gates rode all night though the pouring rain to Pine Level in order to get Bartholf’s signature, but when he got there Barholf refused to sign, claiming he no longer held the position. Gates then rode to Fort Ogden to seek the counsel of cattle baron Ziba King. (Remember him from last week?) King had a more convincing way to get Bartholf’s signature, he held his .45 caliber pistol to Bartholf’s head until he agreed to sign the returns.

Despite the efforts of Manatee County citizens, the votes were still rejected in Tallahassee and the election was called in favor of Hayes, who won by 43 votes. In Washington, Congress created a special 15-member electoral commission to rule on the disputed results and the commission ruled in favor of Hayes, 8-7.