Recently in politics Category

Another election has just passed, this one with little fanfare. No federal offices were at stake and only judicial ones at the state level. Many county and local officies were not up for election and some of those who were had only one candidate.

The flier above for the 1924 Republican Party candidates caught my eye when I was looking through a file on elections at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. The gentlemen certainly look "SAFE--SANE--STEADY."

Even though 1924 was a presidential election year, it wasn't an exciting election. The American Presidency Project shows that Coolidge won with 54% of the popular vote. Democrat John W. Davis carried only the "solid south" and Progressive candidate Robert M. LaFollette only took his native Wisconsin.

Who were these 1924 Republicans and where is the York County connection?

Simon Snyder, Pennsylvania Governor 1808-1817

Simon Snyder, who served from 1808 to 1817, was the first of many Pennsylvania Governors to have Pennsylvania German roots. George Leader, Governor from 1955 to 1959, the only York County-born governor, was another.

Even though Simon Snyder wasn't born in York County, biographies of Governor Snyder agree that he was educated, both as a tradesman and academically, during the eight years he lived in York, to which he moved about 1776.

The information below is from an unidentified biography in Simon Snyder's manuscript file at York County Heritage Trust, as is the engraved image above, but the story in confirmed in many other sources.

William Findlay is shown on the left and Joseph Hiester on the right in these images from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Nineteenth century Yorkers took their politics very seriously, as you can see in the rather long ad that Frederick Hoke took out in February 1818 in the York Gazette. His candidate, William Findlay, narrowly defeated Joseph Hiester for Governor of Pennsylvania a few months before. Hiester supporters Joseph Blackford and Jacob Knisely evidently didn't pay up on their election bets, and boy, was Hoke ticked.

People's Advocate Masthead, June 21, 1853

Politics are just as popular as ever. Now we can get out political fix on 24-hour cable channels and the internet as well as regular radio and television stations and the newspapers. Trouble is, except for the printed newspapers, which last for a while and can be microfilmed for longevity, how are we going to have a record of today's politics in the future?

I recently quoted the York Democratic Press to show what an interest our forebears took in political matters and how partisan many of the papers were. Another York County newspaper of the 19th century, the People's Advocate, tried to cover a wide range of interests, as you can see by the masthead above.

Click here to read about the Democratic Press.

The illustration might be a little small, but it says:

York County has had a good share of visits from U.S. Presidents. In one of a series of recent posts on presidential visits to York County, Jim McClure mentioned that William Howard Taft spoke to Yorkers from the back of a train. Click here for more on Taft's visits.

The photo postcard above, recently donated to the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives, was sent by one of the members of the crowd to a friend.
It is addressed to Miss Mary Roser, Glen Rock, PA and was sent from Daniel Knaus, 258 E. King St. It was postmarked at York, Pa on April 6, 1910.

The message, written on both the front and back reads:

Democratic Press Logo

The York Democratic Press of 1841 was very Democratic, in the political sense of the word. The newspaper was extremely true to the Democratic Party, as you can tell by the way it listed candidates for the upcoming election for governor of Pennsylvania.

Under an image of an eagle with a shield David R. Porter was announced as the DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION FOR GOVERNOR. Immediately below, the Democratic Press described Porter's opponent as:

Henry Fortenbaugh didn't figure he would be elected Sherriff of York County in 1877. Besides, he didn't want to run anyway.

The York Gazette ran excerpts from a "long letter" to the York Press concerning his extreme displeasure with the York Republican and his not-good chances in the upcoming election.

The Gazette article of October 30, 1877 reads:

Lewis Miller drawing of 1840 W.H.Harrison campaign headquarters.
In 1840 Democrats derisively campaigned that the Whig candidate for President, William Henry Harrison, would be more at home in a log cabin. The Whigs seized the idea and used it as a symbol, giving the idea that Harrison was one of the common people.

That wasn't exactly correct, seeing that Harrison was the son of a Virginia planter, college educated and a career army officer before he got into politics.

The log cabin image was so striking, however, that Whigs all over the country built log cabins to use as campaign headquarters. Did York?

Republicans try to get out the European vote with absentee ballot info.

This post is about making history instead of reporting on it. And make history we will, whatever the outcome of the imminent presidential election.

Earlier this month, while wandering the cobblestones of the beautiful old city of Prague, I was stopped short by the sight in the photo above. My first reaction was that there can't be that many Americans in the Czech Republic that it would be worthwhile to have a rolling signboard advocating absentee balloting.

Then I realized, given the close proximity and relatively small size of many European nations, one painted automobile could cover quite a bit of area. When you think of all the American military personnel, business people, and tourists in Europe at any give time, reminding them of absentee voting doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Both congressional candidates were York County natives.

The incumbent was a successful newspaper publisher and could boast of having marched off with the York Company to the defense of Baltimore in 1814. He had been a member of the committee to escort the great Lafayette when the Revolutionary hero returned to visit York in 1825.

The challenger was a successful attorney and had served in the Pennsylvania Senate. He too was known to Lafayette, having received a letter of condolence from the Frenchman upon the death of his father.