1865 Mississippi gubernatorial election

none January 2025 January 2025 1865 Mississippi gubernatorial election presidential 1863 Mississippi gubernatorial election 1863 1868 Mississippi gubernatorial election 1868 no October 2, 1865 BGHumphreys.jpg Benjamin G. Humphreys Non-partisan democracy 19,036 42.20% 3x4.svg Ephraim S. Fisher Non-partisan democracy 15,551 34.48% William S. Patton 10,519 23.32% 3x4.svg Non-partisan democracy 1865 Mississippi gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 250px County results Humphreys: #b4c7ec 40–50% #8da9e2 50–60% #678cd7 60–70% #4170cd 70–80% #3358a2 80–90% #244079 >90%Fisher: #f0e6be 30–40% #d7c477 40–50% #c0a32f 50–60% #a88600 60–70% #735c00 80–90%Patton: #ddf0ca 30–40% #b1d68d 40–50% #87be51 50–60% #63a61f 60–70% #478e00 70–80% #387100 80–90% Governor William L. Sharkey Non-partisan democracy Benjamin G. Humphreys Non-partisan democracy The 1865 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on October 2, 1865. Benjamin G. Humphreys defeated Ephraim S. Fisher and William S. Patton.Glashan 1979 138–39 Andrew Johnson appointed William L. Sharkey provisional governor of Mississippi following the conclusion of the American Civil War. A prewar Whig and member of the Antebellum planter class, Sharkey's background reflected the profile of the Southern Unionist planters and entrepreneurs whose support Johnson sought for his planned bid for re-election.Foner 2014 187–88, 184 As governor, Sharkey oversaw the revision of the state's laws to comply with the terms of Presidential Reconstruction, abolishing slavery and annulling the 1861 Ordinance of Secession.Harris 1967 53–55 His staunch opposition to Black suffrage forced him to rely on the support of former Confederates to uphold his authority. Sharkey permitted former Confederate officials to keep their positions and clashed with Union Army commanders over his plan to reorganize the state militia with Confederate veterans.Foner 2014 188, 190 He took minimal action to recognize the civil rights of freedpeople as part of an agreement to curtail the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau, which was a major antagonist of white planters.Harris 1967 87 With elections to chose the governor and other members of the reconstructed state government set for October 2, members of the state convention held a caucus on August 23, 1865, and nominated Fisher for governor. A prewar Whig who had briefly served in the Confederate home guard in 1864, Fisher represented the choice of the convention's Unionist Whigs, who comprised 75 percent of the delegates. His opponents, Humphreys and Patton, were both Unionists who opposed secession in 1861; Humphries, like Fisher, was a prewar Whig, while Patton had been a Unionist Democrat before the war. The campaign revolved around the rights of freedpeople and the need for debt relief following the war. With few concrete differences separating the candidates, prewar allegiances and wartime activities were important issues. Humphreys's opponents alleged he was ineligible to serve as governor, as he had not received a presidential pardon for his Confederate military service, while in several counties voters were unaware of his candidacy until after the election. Humphreys's military record increased his popularity with Confederate veterans, who were a significant voting bloc in the state.Harris 1967 105–10, 112 The elections were a resounding conservative victory, as Whigs won the governorship, the state's five congressional races, and a majority in the Mississippi Legislature. Humphreys strongest performance was in the historical Whig heartland of the Mississippi embayment, while he received few or no votes in several counties in southeastern Mississippi. Patton carried the traditionally-Democratic southeastern counties; here, the combined vote for Humphreys and Fisher was less than the vote for John Bell in 1860. The strong correlation between Bell's showing and Humphreys's and Fishers's combined vote in the river counties, and between John C. Breckinridge's 1860 performance and Patton's vote in Southeastern Mississippi, indicates the persistence of partisanship despite the war. In contrast, the strong vote for Fisher over Humphreys in traditionally-Democratic Northeastern Mississippi represents a break with Second Party System allegiances influenced by the region's Unionist wartime leanings.Harris 1967 110–12 Results 1865 Mississippi gubernatorial electionDubin 2010 3 Glashan 1979 168–69 Non-partisan democracy Benjamin G. Humphreys 19,036 42.20% Non-partisan democracy Ephraim S. Fisher 15,551 34.48% Non-partisan democracy William S. Patton 10,519 23.32% 45,106 100.00 Non-partisan democracy References Bibliography Dubin Michael J. United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1861-1911: The Official Results by State and County McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers 2010 9780786456468 https://www.google.com/books/edition/United_States_Gubernatorial_Elections_18/WYJAIOabIPgC Foner Eric Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–77 2014 HarperPerennial New York Revised 978-0-06-235451-8 https://archive.org/details/reconstructionam0000fone_q8w6 Glashan Roy R. American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978 1979 Meckler Books Westport, CT https://archive.org/details/americangovernor0000glas/page/168/mode/2up Harris William C. Presidential Reconstruction in Mississippi 1967 Louisiana State University Press Baton Rouge https://archive.org/details/presidentialreco0000harr Category:Mississippi gubernatorial elections Category:1865 United States gubernatorial elections Category:1865 in Mississippi Category:1865 Mississippi elections