Today we are continuing my series on Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow in Florida. This series is looking at Florida politics from the 1860s to 1900; tracking the rise of Black political power and voting rights, eventually seeing the rise of Jim Crow and a repression of democracy.
This issue picks up where Part 2 left off; the violent midterm elections of 1870 and the explosion of Klan violence in the state.
Like all of the former confederate states, the newly freed Black population in Florida was subjected to violence and threats from the Ku Klux Klan and assorted “regulator” organizations. These groups sought to kill or scare off white and Black Republican leaders, as well as ensure that Black communities could not effectively organize. The effect of this terror campaign was a massive drop in Black turnout between 1868 and 1870, allowing white Democrats to win several offices.
That violence was watched closely by Washington DC and the Grant administration. As a result, 1871 would see a major shift in federal policy around protecting the newly freed Black population; with federal troops being sent into the southern states to safeguard elections and human life. This would have major impacts on the elections of 1872.
Lets dive in.
Fighting the Ku Klux Klan
The violence that gripped the 1870 Florida election continued into 1871. More murders of prominent Republican officials took place across Florida. Justice continued to be selectively enforced, with violent attackers rarely caught or convicted of their crimes. This perfectly encapsulated in Lake City (Columbia County) - where Republican State Representative John Mahoney was shot and killed; with the killer then acquitted by a local jury. White raids and night-riding continued in many places; especially in Jackson County. That spring, Jackson’s last white Republican official, former union solider and then Clerk of the County Court, John Q. Dickinson, was gunned down as he returned to his home one night.
All of this sparked further action from Washington DC. At the start of 1871, the Second Enforcement Act was passed; which permitted federal oversight into state and local elections if complaints warranted from locals. Then in the summer of 1871, Congress placed the Third Enforcement Act, best known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. The act in question passed on a strict party-line vote; with all Republicans supporting and all Democrats rejecting the measure. Florida’s lone Congressman, Black Republican Josiah T Walls, voted for the measure.
This act had several major provisions designed to crush Klan violence.
Made many Klan activities, from violence to intimidation, federal offenses.
Moving such cases out of the southern juries that refused to convict the guilty.
Allowed the deployment of the army to combat Klan activities when the President declared
Several counties in South Carolina, for example, would be declared in a state of insurrection
Allowed the suspension of habeas corpus, hence allowing suspects of Klan activities to be held indefinitely
Made knowing of Klan conspiracies and not reporting them a crime
The acts greatly expanded the power of the Grant administration to combat the lawlessness that had spread across the south. Grant’s Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Amos T. Akerman, was aggressive and committed to stamping out the Ku Klux. Akerman gave the directive to his team of district attorneys
“If you cannot convict, you, at least, can expose, and ultimately such exposures will make the community ashamed of shielding the crime.”
Over the next several years, the Justice Department would bring over 3,000 indictments and secure over 1,000 convictions related to its war on the Klan.
Meanwhile, in Florida, a Congressional investigation committee was established that November to discuss Klan attacks and activities. The hearings revealed what many already knew, that Florida was in a state of violence and lawless thanks to the regulators and Klan.
Federal Justices Comes to Florida
With federal legislation and the examples from the 1870 elections, federal enforcement came to Florida. Those found to have committed violence in the midterm elections saw themselves brought before federal juries. The most high profile was Abraham Allison, the former acting Governor of Florida that had led armed men in keeping Black people from the polls in Gadsden the year before. The federal jury convicted Allison and he was forced to serve 6 months in jail.
The federal agents pushed indictments and brought people in for questioning even if cases could ultimately not go forward. At this time, being summed to court to answer on possible charges was a long affair involving travel and being away from your shop or farm. Even a lack of charges still left the accused with lost time and income. The point was clear, be involved with the Klan and you will pay for it, even if you don’t end up in a jail cell. Likewise at least three Democratic State Senators were hauled in for questioning and faced charges for their activities in the 1870 elections. Those found to be involved with violence were not seated in the legislature.
Lawless and killings remained an issue in many counties through the summer of 1871. White Republicans and Black citizens continued to be subjected to beatings or murder. However, by the end of 1871, the Klan violence began to get under control in Florida. A combination of indictments, the worry of federal intervention, and the sad reality that several prominent Republican and Black leaders were now already dead, likely contributed.
Troops Monitor Special Elections
The true test of the newly expanded federal powers under the Enforcement Acts came in December of 1871. In Jackson County, special elections for the state legislature needed to be held. The county had seen massive Klan violence against Black voters in 1870 that saw Republican margins collapse as a result.
A detachment of 20 infantry men set up camp in Marianna for the election. In addition, James Cooker, one of the leaders of the white regulator militias, was arrested and transferred out of the county for the duration of the election. While conviction was not likely due to lack of hard evidence, the point was to kneecap the leadership of the Jackson regulators before the vote. With this federal presence, no violence or intimidation was reported in the subsequent election.
As a result, both Republican candidates for the two vacant seats easily won their elections. The margins were reported to be 500 for both candidates; closer in line with the 1868 margins. In 1870, amid all the violence in Jackson County, the vote had been a near-tie. Considering Jackson was majority-Black, the special election results better reflected the popular will than the 1870 contests had.
The effect of the troops showed that orderly elections could be held.
The 1872 Elections
While federal force was being used to ensure the 1872 contests went smoother than 1870, this did not mean Republicans in Florida were guaranteed victory. The party was still very much divided; torn between factions and personal clashes.
Republicans Fracture
Republicans had a great deal to be divided about heading into the 1872 contests. Governor Harris Reed continued to fall out his own party as his four year term came to an end. Similar to the story that played out in 1868, Reed was again impeached by the Florida House in 1871 for claims of corruption. The State Senate, however, would eventually acquit him. This biggest reason Reed likely was not fully removed was because Republicans anticipated that Republican Charles Day would soon be replaced as Lt Governor with Democratic William Bloxham; as the court case of the 1870 disputed contest continued. Had Reed been removed and Bloxham eventually installed, it would have given Democrats the Governorship.
The longtime feud between Governor Reed and Senator Thomas Osborne continued to drive a great deal of Republican politics. The disfunction left many of the business-oriented conservative Republicans floating the idea of forming a coalition with the Democrats for the 1872 election. This sentiment was especially high in eastern Florida, were carpetbagger Republicans sought investment and tourism for Florida, but found Reed’s administration to be woefully incompetent.
In the legislature, Republican lines fractured even more and alliances changed as expediency dictated. No better example was seen with Liberty Billings, the once radical Republican Black carpetbagger who was denied the Governor nomination in 1868. Billings had eventually been elected to the Senate, and in this time he wound up aligning with Democrats and Conservative Republicans to rescue Reed’s fortunes as the impeachment debate had waged. Part of this alliances was Billings help in defeating a new Civil Rights bill. In the wake of this, Black House member Daniel McInnis of Jacksonville pushed a resolution directed at turncoats like Billings
“We, the colored members, and those who honestly sympathize with us, do unhesitatingly repudiate such friendship, and do now and henceforth withdraw from and decline from ever affiliating with, politically, or to aid in electing any such man or men who have so basely misrepresented our people.”
As Republicans went into the 1872 elections, it was clear Reed could not win re-nomination for Governor. Reed did not seem to want the job anyway. Instead, Reed wanted to be appointed US Senator by the legislature in 1873; when the term of Thomas Osborn would be up. Reed believed he could win such an appointment with a coalition of Democrats and Conservative Republicans.
Republican Nomination and Fights
Republicans would select their candidate for Governor in a August convention. Many of the Black delegates, tired of carpetbagger fights, flexed their muscle even more in the proceedings. Before this gathering, Black leaders had already secured greater proportion of the delegate seats, ensuring they would not be steamrolled like they had been in 1868.
A candidate many Black leaders would come to back was Ossian Hart, a Southern Unionist then serving on the state Supreme Court. Hart had started off as a much more conservative Republican at the start of reconstruction, but had become a hardened believer in Black voting rights by 1867. He expressed disgust at the treatment of freedmen by the native white population; leading to his shift in views. He was never a radical Republican, but over the years his support for Black political interests earned him more and more support with Black leaders. Hart was initially not seen as a frontrunner for the nomination, but his base built through the summer, with Charles H. Pearce, the Black State Senator from Leon County, having Hart speak at the opening of a Black Minister School in Live Oak.
Forces aligned with Hart and the Black delegates had to contend with the Osborn machine, which was eager to maintain control of the party. Osborn’s candidate for Governor was Marcellus Stearns, a carpetbagger and current house member for Gadsden County, and a much more conservative member at that. Stearns had been Speaker of the House and led the push to impeach Reed
Early in the convention, Black delegates began to unite around Hart, putting the Justice within striking distance of Stearns in informal balloting. Lower-listing candidates dropped out, and a formal ballot of Hart vs Stearns took place. By internal accounts, the vote was a virtual tie, with Hart dominating with Black delegates. The Osborne people, who controlled the convention, apparently tried to switch some votes and declare Stearns the nominee. This led to a near-riot at the convention, with the Black delegates refusing to allow such a move. In the wake of this, Stearns withdrew his name and Hart was nominated by acclimation. To thank Stearns, he was named the candidate for Lt Governor.
The result was a major victory for the Black delegates, who struck a major blow to Osborne’s machine. Many Republicans had high hopes for Hart, as his nomination would keep Black voters engaged and he could likely earn support from white southern unionists and old Whigs.
Congressional nominations came much easier than those for Governor. Josiah Walls, who’d been elected in 1870, but was still having his win challenged in the US House by his Democratic challenger, was re-nominated. Florida secured two House seats for the first time with the 1870 census, but lawmakers opted not to divide the district into two single-member seats. Instead two candidates would run statewide. The second Republican nominee was State Senator William Purman, the Jackson County Republican who’d survived an assassins bullet back in 1869.
The Democratic (or Liberal Republican) Nomination
While the Republicans attempted to keep their party together, the Democratic coalition believed that they were in a prime position to win the Governorship. William Bloxham, who by this point had been installed as Lt Governor after the disputed 1870 election was decided in his favor, was a lock to be the Governor nominee.
The question for Democrats was what to do about the “Liberal Republican” faction that had sprung up. Nationally, President Grant was not being challenged by a Democrat, but instead by Horace Greely, a defecting republican. Greely, while an early Republican Party founder and abolitionist, had broken with Grant on corruption and called for the end of military occupation of the South. They formed the “Liberal Republican” party. To clarify, here the term liberal was used in the classic anti-monarchical sentiment from Europe, not what we would modern Americans generally use to reference as “left leaning.”
In Florida, a Liberal Republican coalition did try to form, even sending delegates to a planned convention that would happen the same day as the Democratic convention. The emerging coalition did not always follow clear ideological lines, and included many Republicans who’d simply fallen out with all other camps. While many business-oriented conservative Republicans had gone to this camp, so had Liberty Billings, the once massive force in radical politics.
Bloxham endorsed creating a fusion ticket to unite with the disaffected Republicans. However, a vast majority of Democratic leaders did NOT endorse this view. Most hardened Democrats wanted to cast out Republicans of all stripes. At the Democratic convention in Jacksonville a major debate and series of votes raged over whether to make overtures to the Liberal Republican convention also in town. A meeting was held, but Democrats would not agree to Liberal Republican requests to name the candidate for LT Governor and one of the two Congressional seats. Talks broke down between the two camps.
The Democrats named Bloxham as their nominee for Governor and filled the rest of the ticket with their men. This left the Liberal Republican convention with a decision to make on how to move forward. Some delegates wanted to form their own ticket with Bloxham at the head and their own slate of Liberal Republicans for the down-ballot. Instead the majority voted to endorse the entire Democratic slate. As a result, a large number of the delegates in the minority walked out, refusing to back the full Democratic ticket.
The Democratic Party’s unwillingness to forge an agreement with the Liberal Republicans was a major blunder. While Bloxham himself portrayed his campaign as aiming to appeal to a broad swath of the state, the sentiment of the party was much more vitriolic. The party message, for any faint moderation in Bloxham speeches, was fully “radical rebel” - aka a firm return to home rule and white supremacy. The Democratic actions at the convention and subsequent campaign only succeeding in uniting the Republicans more, causing many Republican defectors to return to the Hart camp as the fall progressed.
The General Election
Heading into the fall campaign, Black leaders understood that victory was critical for Reconstruction to continue in Florida. Hart had firm support from Black officials and community leaders across the state, who canvassed extensively for Hart and the rest of the ticket. Congressman Josiah Walls laid it plain to a Black audience….
If Bloxham is elected it means the practical disfranchisement of the colored man. I would rather be defeated myself than see any one of the State ticket defeated. . . . It is your duty to support them as you do me, and it will be your fault if they are not elected.“
Governor Reed, meanwhile, continued to undermine his own party. Clearly aiming for a Senate appointment with Democratic help, Reed appointed several Democrats to vote counting positions in several counties. He likewise tried to get individual like Horatio Bisbee, a district attorney who was working to protect Black voting rights, removed from his post. Reed did stump the state for Grant, but at the same time he attacked Republican candidates like Purman. Reed proved in the end, as so many long believed, to not be any loyal Republican and no friend to Black Floridians.
Most importantly for the outcome of the contest, however, was the presence of federal troops. With the 1871 Klan Act passed; efforts to secure safe voting for Blacks across the south took place. Despite Reed’s interference, Republican leaders across Florida made sure to petition President Grant for troops to be present in major Black voting sites. These troops ensured that Black voting sites were free of major violence; leading is a massive spike in Black turnout compare to the 1870 midterms.
The Election Results
Both parties were optimistic they would win the 1872 contest. In the end, Ossian Hart easily prevailed in the state, winning by 5%; or 1,600 ballots.
Hart’s win came thanks to resounding margins in the heavily Black counties of the state. Bloxham won more land, but the heavily populated Black counties returned sizeable margins for the GOP.
The rest of the statewide ticket played out with little difference. Stearns won the Lt Governor race by a near identical margin as the Governor result. President Grant easily carried the state by 7%. Note these votes were technically for slates of electors, not the candidates themselves.
The biggest difference between the Presidential and Governor races was that fewer votes were cast for President. Some Democrats had little interest in backing the Greeley ticket, and his electors got 600 fewer votes than Bloxham. Grant’s electors and Hart got near identical vote totals.
In the Congressional contests, both Republicans William Purman and Josiah Walls easily prevailed by five points.
At the legislative level, Republicans retained narrow control of both chambers. The Senate was very close, just 13 to 11, while the State House was 29 GOP to 23 DEM. Both parties had a number of independent-minded members who would defect on different matters.
Democrats cried foul and challenged the results in courts, but these cases went nowhere. Correspondence from the time shows even the top Democrats knew they had been beaten. However, the narrative of an impose Government, elected by fraud, was core to Democrat’s “redeemer” narrative.
Analysis of the Results
The presence of federal troops was critical to boosting Black turnout. While both parties saw their total votes go up, Republicans netted 1,600 ballots compared with the 1870 Lt Governor contest. How the margin shifted by each county can be seen below.
The heavily Black counties of north Florida were the critical drive of the Republican gains. In the top 10 Black counties, the total votes increased by 4,600. Republicans made a net gain of 2,300 ballots compared with the Democrats. Jefferson, Gadsden, and Leon were the biggest source of these new votes.
The presence of troops saw Columbia and Jackson counties, the sight of so much violence in 1870, flip back to the Republicans.
Democrats had their strongest gains in a few key counties. Many of these, however, related to possible issue with vote tabulation.
Vote Tabulation Issues
One thing to keep in mind with this era of elections is that there is no shortage of issues with how the ballots were counted. Contrary to the statements from the current psychopath-of-a-President we have, elections today are more secure than they have ever been. In this era, however, vote counts could ofte seen discrepancies; sometimes due to human error and other times due to fraud. Disputes over polling site data and conflicting counts were common; leading to election challenges that would go on well past the election year.
We will see many of this counting debates rise with the 1876 contest in Florida. The 1872 debates did not effect the statewide returns, but they are worth highlighting. Issues here were not just the counting of ballots, but to what degree people had been kept from the polls. While violence and intimidation were way down, they were not zero, and order was much harder to enforce in the southern counties of the states.
Notable County Discrepancies
In Marion County, the Republican vote totals remained the same as 1870, a year that saw violence suppress votes there. Claims of intimidation came out of Marion, where the troop presence was lower, but the results of any investigation are unknown. Thanks to the static Republican vote total and a rise in Democratic votes, the county remained Republican but by a lower margin.
A similar story existed for Hamilton County, which is the 11th most Black county, at 41%. In 1870, the county had given Republicans 130 ballots to Democrats 430. In 1872, Democrats got 460+, but Republicans got just 16! This county was a site of major counting disputes, so much so that Hamilton County canvassing board was apparently arrested by United States Marshall Sherman Conant. It seems very likely the result in Hamilton is due to counting issues that were never resolved. Any alternative vote totals that might exist have not turned up in my research.
Another county of question was Hernando County, which was 30% Black at the time. Like Hamilton, the reported vote total was just 6 Republican ballots to 182 Democratic ballots. In 1870, where violence suppressed the Republican vote, the GOP had gotten at least 130 votes and Democrats 313. Despite the Republican vote being reduced to almost nothing, the Democrats lost more ground; with 259 fewer votes cast. This seems likewise an issue of vote tabulation issues. However, intimidation of Black Hernando County voters was a long-running issue.
The other major issue was Brevard County, which you will see was blank on my maps. Brevard, then a very small rural county with less than 100 voters, did not submit its returns in time for the state canvass. I have been unable to find even a report of the vote totals, but it was believed to be almost entirely Democratic-leaning. This would not have effected the statewide returns. It did however, impact a state Senate election. I will discuss that more in my next article, however.
The biggest Democratic swing in the state was located in Monroe County. Unlike possible issues in Marion or Hamilton, this swing was NOT due to tabulation issues. The vote in the county was heavily dominated by Key West, which had a sizeable Cuban population by this point. Cuban voters had been for Grant in 1868, but disputes over the administration handling of Cuba’s independence fight with Spain led to them defecting to the Liberal Republican/Democratic ticket. Republicans had gone to Key West to try and win back the Cuban vote, but this clearly failed.
The Election Aftermath
The 1872 elections were the best result for Black Floridians since the beginning of reconstruction. With Governor Hart, they had a much more supportive figure in the most powerful office in the state, Josiah Walls had been returned to Congress, and their party retained control of the legislature.
The elevation of Hart had immediate impact on the Black community, as Hart was much more willing to seek advice from Black leaders on local appointments. In Jackson County, where violence had ruled the county for several years, Governor Reed had caved to white demands to appoint people they liked to local offices. As a result, Jackson County, despite being majority Black and majority Republican, was ruled by a Democratic county commission. Governor Hart reversed such appointments, elevating Black leaders in heavily Black counties. Like Reed, he did seek to work with the Democratic officials, but he was much less hostile to Black concerns than Reed had been. Meanwhile, the 1873 legislature also passed a new Civil Rights bill; albeit an imperfect one.
The new legislature was also tasked with electing a new Senator in 1873. So much of the 1872 Republican internal drama had been driven by Governor Reed and Senator Osborne fighting over this Senate seat. Well when the time came, neither man would get the position. Reed had virtually no support in the chamber, and Osborne had little backing as well. Instead balloting quickly moved to new faces. After days of balloting, Republican Simon Conover, then the Speaker of the House, won the job over Democratic Supreme Court justice James D. Westcott.
Conover’s election itself was a reflecting of the odd coalitions that would sometimes emerge in Florida Politics at this time. The lawmakers that backed Conover were Black lawmakers, several “Liberal Republicans”, and a majority of Democrats. Many Democrats said it was because they wanted to keep Westcott on the Supreme Court. It showed, however, that Conover was an acceptable Republican to Democrats in the state. Black lawmakers, however, also trusted Conover, who proved to be a more effective advocate for them than Osborne or Reed had been. Once in DC, Conover made moves to get several prominent Black leaders federal jobs based in Florida.
Unfortunately, this was the height things for Florida’s Black community. Governor Hart, who’d become sick during the 1872 campaign, remained ill through the first year of his Governorship. On March 18th of 1874, he would pass away.
It is a tragedy that Hart did not have more time to carry out is governorship, who knows how he might have done. However, it was clear that the rise of Lt Governor Stearns would not be good for Florida Republicans or the Black community. A firm conservative, Stearns would clash with Black leaders and many of his fellow Republicans. It would leave the party bitterly decided heading into the most critical elections of 1876.