1816 Indiana gubernatorial election

none January 2025 January 2025 1816 Indiana gubernatorial election Indiana File:Flag of the United States (1795-1818).svg Presidential no 1819 Indiana gubernatorial election 1819 August 5, 1816 x150px Jonathan Jennings 4ab390 5,211 56.98% x150px Thomas Posey 6f40cc 3,934 43.02% File:1816 Indiana gubernatorial election.svg 200px County resultsJennings: #0c7e58 80–90% #085d41 >90% Posey: #ab8ee3 50–60% #6f40cc 70–80% #5732a2 80–90%#cccccc No data #808080 Non-voting area Governor Thomas PoseyAs governor of the Indiana Territory. Jonathan Jennings The 1816 Indiana gubernatorial election took place on August 5, 1816. Jonathan Jennings, the longtime U.S. delegate representing the Indiana Territory's at-large congressional district and former president of the Indiana constitutional convention, defeated the incumbent territorial governor Thomas Posey.Riker Thornbrough 1960 137 This was the first gubernatorial election held following ratification of the Constitution of Indiana. The short turnaround between the adjournment of the constitutional convention on June 29 and the date of the election left a narrow window for electioneering.Carmony 1998 6 Of the roughly 12,000 eligible voters, more than 9,000 cast ballots for governor, indicating substantial popular interest in the election.Riker Thornbrough 1960 xii The Democratic-Republican Party was dominant nationally following the War of 1812, and the politics of the new state were conducted on a nonpartisan basis. Jennings and Posey represented political factions held over from the territorial period.Riker Thornbrough 1960 xvi Jennings, a resident of Clark County, was the leader of the antislavery eastern faction, while Posey was associated with the proslavery western faction based out of Vincennes.Riker 1932 229 Posey, a Federalist and a slaveholder, was unpopular, politically isolated, and too ill to actively campaign. He had opposed the movement for statehood as premature, for which he was accused of seeking to retain his position as the unelected territorial governor.Posey 1990 254, 256 With his residence in Jeffersonville, he was too far from the territorial capital in Corydon to effectively respond to events. Jennings conducted a campaign typical of the era, speaking to voters directly at log rollings, militia musters, and other public functions, while maintaining the pretense of indifference to his election expected of nineteenth-century candidates.Riker 1932 233 Posey's surrogates attempted to link Jennings to the recent unpopular congressional salary increase and the non-payment of militiamen during the War of 1812. Charges that Jennings had pursued statehood against the wishes of the western counties failed to mobilize the electorate against the new constitution. On Election Day, Jennings defeated Posey with strong support from voters in the eastern counties, while Posey performed well in the western part of the state.Carmony 1998 7 General election Results 1816 Indiana gubernatorial electionRiker Thornbrough 1960 137 Dubin 2003 55 Lampi 2012 Nonpartisan candidate Jonathan Jennings 5,211 56.98% Nonpartisan candidate Thomas Posey (incumbent) 3,934 43.02% 9,145 100.00 9,145 75.50 12,112 Results by county The original manuscript returns appear to be lost. Records kept by the Indiana House of Representatives show topline figures for Jennings and Posey, noted above, but omit the county-level data.Riker Thornbrough 1960 137 Phil Lampi locates complete or partial data for eight out of fifteen counties.Lampi 2012 County Jonathan Jennings Thomas Posey Margin Total Votes Percent Votes Percent Votes Percent Clark ** No data ** No data 544 ** No data ** No data Dearborn ** No data ** No data ** No data ** No data Franklin 506 90.52 53 9.48 453 81.04 559 Gibson ** No data ** No data ** No data ** No data Harrison ** No data ** No data ** No data ** No data Jackson 124 84.93 22 15.07 102 69.86 146 Jefferson ** No data ** No data ** No data ** No data Knox 174 23.36 571 76.64 -397 -53.29 745 Perry ** No data ** No data ** No data ** No data Posey ** No data ** No data 279 ** No data 326 Switzerland ** No data Orange 66 12.86 447 86.94 -381 -74.27 513 Warrick ** No data ** No data ** No data ** No data Washington 257 41.72 359 58.28 -102 -16.56 616 Wayne ** No data ** No data ** No data ** No data Notes References Bibliography Carmony Donald Francis Indiana 1816-1850: the Pioneer Era 1998 Indiana Historical Society Indianapolis 0-87195-125-8 https://books.google.com/books?id=BkYhDQAAQBAJ Dubin Michael J. United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776–1860: The Official Results by State and County 2003 McFarland and Company Jefferson, NC https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesgube0000dubi Lampi Philip J. Indiana 1816 Governor https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/zc77sq99c A New Nation Votes American Antiquarian Society October 9, 2025 January 11, 2012 Posey John Thornton A Federalist on the Frontier: General Thomas Posey Illinois Historical Journal Winter 1990 83 4 247–58 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40192323 Riker Dorothy Thornbrough Gayle Indiana Election Returns: 1816-1851 1960 Indiana Historical Bureau Indianapolis https://archive.org/details/indianaelectionr0000unse Riker Dorothy Jonathan Jennings Indiana Magazine of History December 1932 28 4 223–239 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27786567 1816 Gubernatorial Indiana Category:August 1816