1861 Maryland gubernatorial election

none January 2025 September 2023 1861 Maryland gubernatorial election Maryland 1861 presidential no 1857 Maryland gubernatorial election 1857 1864 Maryland gubernatorial election 1864 November 6, 1861 File:Augustus Williamson Bradford - photo portrait standing (cropped).jpg 150x150px Augustus Bradford Unionist politician (American Civil War) 57,472 68.81% File:BenjaminChewHoward.jpg Benjamin Chew Howard Democratic Party (United States) 26,045 31.19% 1861 Maryland gubernatorial election results map by county.svg County resultsBradford: #FF80B2 50–60% #FF5599 60–70% #FF2A7F 70–80% #ed005dff 80–90%Howard: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks Know Nothing Augustus Bradford Unionist politician (American Civil War) The 1861 Maryland gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1861. It was held amid the early phases of the American Civil War and was contested between the Union Party's Augustus Bradford and the Democratic Party's Benjamin Chew Howard. Bradford supported the maintenance of the Union while Howard advocated for a peace treaty with the Confederacy. Concerned about pro-secession elements in the state, the federal government sent troops to supervise the vote and ordered electors to take an oath of loyalty to the Union. The election was won by Bradford with 68.8% of the votes. Format The previous elections had been held in 1857 and had seen Thomas Holliday Hicks of the American Party defeat the Democratic Party's John Charles Groome by 8,400 votes.Scharf J. Thomas History of Western Maryland: Vol. 2: The Civil War, Frederick County 8 September 2020 Jazzybee Verlag 978-3-8496-5865-6 263 https://books.google.com/books?id=sNT7DwAAQBAJ en Gubernatorial elections in Maryland were held on the first Wednesday in November for a four-year term. The sitting governor could not stand for election. The state was split into three districts: Eastern consisting of Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot and Worcester counties; Southern consisting of Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and St. Mary's counties plus the city of Baltimore and Northwestern consisting of Allegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Harford and Washington counties. The candidates had to come from a specified district, in rotation for the 1861 election this was the Southern District. The 1861 election was held on November 6. Candidates The election was between two candidates, Augustus Bradford for the Union Party and Benjamin Chew Howard for the Democratic Party. Bradford was a former Whig Party member and a strong Southern Unionist. He had the support of Hicks, who had appointed him as a delegate to the February 1861 Washington Peace Conference, a last-minute attempt to prevent the Southern states seceding and starting the American Civil War (which began in April). Howard was a former brigadier-general and four-time member of congress for the Jacksonians and (from 1835) the Democrats. He had been Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1843 and had also attended the peace conference.Howard, Benjamin Chew https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/H/HOWARD,-Benjamin-Chew-(H000835)/ History, Art & Archives US House of Representatives 9 November 2021 en Howard stood on a platform of peace with the Confederacy and was described by the Jeffersonian Democrat as a "Secession Democrat".Warfield J. D. The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland. A Genealogical and Biographical Review from Wills, Deeds and Church Records May 2009 Heritage Books 978-0-7884-0217-3 243 https://books.google.com/books?id=eUB5oCNIgJEC enRuffin Edmund The Diary of Edmund Ruffin: The years of hope, April 1861-June 1863 1972 Louisiana State University Press 133 https://books.google.com/books?id=LhNOAQAAIAAJ enThe Election in Maryland (Page 2) https://www.newspapers.com/image/72205704/ 11 November 2021 The Jeffersonian Democrat Newspapers.com 15 November 1861 en Federal intervention Ahead of the election US President Abraham Lincoln had, based on intelligence from General George McClellan, ordered the arrest of more than 24 members of the Maryland legislature who were suspected of holding secessionist sympathies. Ahead of the election it was reported in the press that pro-Confederate bands were conspiring to deny access to the polls by Unionists to secure a Democrat victory.Olson Gordon L. The Notorious Isaac Earl and His Scouts: Union Soldiers, Prisoners, Spies 14 May 2014 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing 978-0-8028-6801-5 22–23 https://books.google.com/books?id=H-AfAwAAQBAJ en McClellan ordered Major-General John Adams Dix to intervene with federal troops to police the Eastern Shore during the election.Olson Gordon L. The Notorious Isaac Earl and His Scouts: Union Soldiers, Prisoners, Spies 14 May 2014 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing 978-0-8028-6801-5 21 https://books.google.com/books?id=H-AfAwAAQBAJ en Dix's men were in position from November 4. He ordered Eastern Shore judges not to allow any man who had participated in the Baltimore riot of 1861 or who refused, when challenged, to take an oath of loyalty to the government to vote. In Baltimore city more than 200 arrests were made on election day for "treasonous conduct", though the majority of these men were later released.The Election in Maryland, Page 8 https://www.newspapers.com/image/20427900/ The New York Times Newspapers.com 7 November 1861 7 November 1861 en Results All as per Dubin (2010). In 1860 Maryland had a total population of 687,049.Dubin Michael J. United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861-1911: The Official Results by State and County 11 June 2010 McFarland 978-0-7864-5646-8 251 https://books.google.com/books?id=WYJAIOabIPgC en This included 87,189 slaves and 303,275 free women who were not entitled to vote and 148,999 free males under the age of 20 (until the 1971 Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution the voting age was generally 21).Population of the United States in 1860: Maryland https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1860/population/1860a-18.pdf US Census 10 November 2021 1861 Maryland gubernatorial election Unionist politician (American Civil War) Augustus Bradford 57,472 68.81 Democratic Party (United States) Benjamin Chew Howard 26,045 31.19 31,427 37.62 83,517 Unionist politician (American Civil War) Democratic Party (United States) +CountyBradfordHowardVotes%Votes%Allegany3,02570.01,29730.0Anne Arundel1,03750.81,00449.2Baltimore4,61967.42,23532.8Baltimore City17,81784.12,26115.9Calvert31939.448960.6Caroline1,07666.354833.7Carroll3,40569.11,52230.9Cecil3,06273.71,09226.3Charles23926.566473.5Dorchester1,44169.363930.7Frederick5,32669.62,32330.4Harford2,20057.41,63142.6Howard99960.864439.2Kent1,09562.366337.7Montgomery1,32064.772035.3Prince George's89454.176045.9Queen Anne's1,03452.493947.6St. Mary's20715.91,09484.1Somerset1,83064.799735.3Talbot90550.090650.0Washington4,20077.51,22222.5Worcester1,42252.31,29547.7 Later events Having won the election Bradford took office in January 1862. His governorship came at a difficult time. He had to manage the balancing of the rights of his state against increasing federal government demands, manage the pro-secession sentiment in part of the state and deal with Confederate invasions of its territory, including one in summer 1864 that burnt his house.Tucker Spencer C. American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection 30 September 2013 ABC-CLIO 978-1-85109-682-4 208 https://books.google.com/books?id=9dvYAQAAQBAJ en Though Bradford had benefited from the federal government's intervention in the 1861 election he opposed their involvement in the 1863 elections for offices in his state. He argued unsuccessfully with Lincoln that Union General Robert Schenck's Order No. 53, which required Union army provost marshals to assist in administering an oath of loyalty to voters and to report election supervisors who refused to administer the oath, should be revoked.Blair William Alan With Malice Toward Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War Era 2014 UNC Press Books 978-1-4696-1405-2 183 https://books.google.com/books?id=9oVgAwAAQBAJ en Bradford claimed that the presence of Union soldiers near polling stations in the 1863 vote stifled "the freedom of election in a faithful state".Linden Frank Van der The Dark Intrigue: The True Story of a Civil War Conspiracy 2007 Fulcrum Publishing 978-1-55591-610-7 93 https://books.google.com/books?id=sCIWHCv8t5UC en Bradford supported the emancipation of slaves in the United States and helped establish a new constitution in Maryland in 1864 that outlawed slavery. Various changes to the format of the poll were brought in for the 1864 Maryland gubernatorial election (which was held earlier than required) and subsequent votes. The date was fixed as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and the restriction on sitting governors being re-elected was lifted, as was the requirement for the governor to represent a specified district. The 1864 election was won by the Unionist candidate Thomas Swann, though he did not assume office until January 1866, allowing Bradford to sit a full four-year term. References Gubernatorial 1861 Maryland Category:November 1861 in the United States