Kewaunee County's First Presidential Election: 1852

Franklin Pierce never made Mt. Rushmore and today few know much about the obscure president. What sets him apart in the annals of Kewaunee County is that he won the presidential election of 1852, taking the county which was little more than 6 months old that November. Pierce, the “dark horse” Democrat, trounced his opponent war hero General Winfield Scott, running as a Whig, by a vote of 23-5.

Though, even then, few had heard of Pierce, well known Democrats such as Stephen A. Douglas and James Buchanan (who eventually became presidents) were strongly opposed by one faction or another. As unknown as Pierce was, his reputation did not precede him. The man who was a fine speaker - and reported to be quite handsome - won the nomination on the 48^th ballot. By then the Democrats had to be tired enough to just want to get it over with, however it took 53 ballots to nominate Scott who was very well known. The popular Scott ran a poor campaign and the rest is history.

In a day lacking electronic media, there was as much mudslinging and trashy talk as there is today, 162 years later. History tells us that it was an election Scott lost more than Pierce - the youngest candidate to that date - won. History also tells us that one newspaper called it the most "ludicrous, ridiculous, and uninteresting presidential campaign" ever. Both sides danced around the questions of slavery, apparently managing to stay away from the country’s leading issue. The Whigs accused Pierce of being a coward during the Mexican-American War and further said he was a drunk. The Democrats also crowed about cowardice as Scott had once refused to duel with President Andrew Jackson. The party tried frightening the electorate saying that Scott would be a military dictator.

Pierce was a president distracted. His brothers were killed in an accident and his son died. His wife Jane was unable to cope. The White House was a cold cheerless place and the country seemed ready for James Buchanan, a man running in the second presidential election in which the men of Kewaunee County voted. Democrat Buchanan, called Old Buck, was thought to be the man who could save the Union, which was in danger of being blown apart by slavery. Old Buck attempted runs in the three elections prior to 1846. His opponent that year was John C. Fremont, then a senator, but a military hero of the Mexican-American War. The United States was sharply divided. The Enterprise was only a few months old in the fall of 1859 when it encouraged immigrants to file their "first papers" so they could vote.

Perspectives on slavery brought doom to the political life of both Buchanan and Stephen Douglas. The Democratic Party fell apart, giving rise to the backwoods, upstart, unknown Abraham Lincoln. The Whigs also disintegrated, giving rise to both the Republican and the American parties. Though many have relished the job, the presidency has been called the loneliest job in the world. Franklin Roosevelt didn’t want to leave though others had no choice and were voted out. Until FDR, presidents followed George Washington’s example of serving two terms.

Buchannan’s campaign was heated, however the Democrats operated with a slogan that cried “Anybody But Pierce.” Millard Fillmore, another little remembered president, was running a third party campaign for the American Party, far better remembered as the Know-Nothing Party. The Know-Nothings ignored slavery and ran on anti-immigration. Surprisingly, the party did receive about 20% of the vote.

The election of 1860 was Kewaunee County’s third presidential election and again tempers flared. A May 1860 Enterprise contained a reprint from the Green Bay Advocate saying Abraham Lincoln's nomination astonished everyone at the Chicago convention, even the party’s. Editorializing, the Enterprise wrote that the nomination was a wet blanket on Republican hopes and felt within a day's drive, twenty Wisconsin farmers could be found who were equal to Lincoln.

Lines were drawn between Kewaunee County Democrats and Republicans before the 1860 election, but it was said those lines were shaken with the election of Abraham Lincoln. Edward Decker had supported Stephen Douglas and it was apparent in his paper's comment, again reprinted from the Green Bay paper, that "no nomination for the presidency was hailed with as much enthusiasm as Douglas."

Harriet Warner Hall was no doubt visiting her grandmother in Waukegan, Illinois when she heard Douglas speak. She later said she would have liked to have heard Mr. Lincoln. During the summer the Comet brought news to Ahnepee, and men from Forestville, Clay Banks and other settlements came to town on Saturdays just to hear it. They read about Douglas’ barbs aimed at Lincoln, too, saying he was a "horrid-looking wretch, sooty and scoundrelly in aspect, a cross between the nutmeg dealer, the horse-swapper and the nightman." He further pronounced that "Lincoln is the leanest, lankest, most ungainly mass of legs and arms and hatchet face ever strung on a single frame."  Lincoln took a lot of what most today would term “crap” but he was good at giving it back. In one encounter with Douglas he said what Douglas said was true. He had indeed been a shop keeper, a school teacher and sold whiskey over the counter, however he left his side of the counter while Douglas remained on the other side.

In November 1860, it was generally accepted that Lincoln won the election, however the year old Enterprise neither proclaimed the fact in a headline nor in an article. The paper did, however, carry Mr. Lincoln's inaugural address the following March. 

David Youngs, Simon Hall and W.S. Finley supported Abraham Lincoln. Kewaunee and Pierce towns were carried by the Shanghuys,* thus tipping the election in Lincoln's favor there, but Douglas carried the county by 362 votes. George Wing would write about the "stiff neck old Democrats like Elliot, Yates, Major McCormick, Orin Warner and William Van Doozer." Wing said they saw nothing good in abolitionism or republicanism and then saw their sons "follow false gods of other political creeds."

Lincoln's election brought North-South controversies to a head and Ahnepee residents spent an anxious 1860-61 winter. Weekly mail brought stories about a war that seemed almost certain. News ensured that residents of Ahnepee spoke of little else. With the exception of the weekly mail, there was little connection with the outside world. George Wing wrote that settlers and woodsmen gathered nightly at the Tremont or Kenosha House or Boalt's store to discuss news that had come by letter or a paper from Manitowoc. They heard about "secesh" and wondered if one "secesh" could really lick ten Yankees as they had boasted.

Tensions ran high in Ahnepee as well as in the rest of the state.  Suspicions of loyalty lurked within the Democratic Party in 1861, and some Wisconsin Democrats abandoned the name "Democrat" to support a "Union Ticket" which endorsed a largely Republican state ticket. "Union meetings" were held at Milwaukee and Green Bay for both political parties. Ahnapee was a Democratic community. Older residents were reluctant to see war come, but, when the war did come, the slogans were "Save the Union at all costs" or "Save the Country." Feelings of patriotism ran high among some and Major McCormick, who was then 75, said he would fight if necessary.

Just before Abraham Lincoln’s second election, the Advocate weighed in. The paper encouraged all electors to vote and to remind others to do so. People were urged not to stay away from the polls because they felt their vote was not necessary. After the vote, the Advocate advised working toward suffrage. That would take a little over another 55 years. The paper also told people to vote early and promote the cause for the remainder of the day. The “cause” at the time was preservation of the Union. Causes change, but the Advocate’s words could be rerun today, 151 years later.

The more things change, the more they remain the same!

Notes:
Ahnepee became Ahnapee in 1873.

*Kewaunee County had few residents. Men only had the vote and immigrants had to have filled a Declaration of Intent, also called first papers, to vote. According to the Wisconsin Constitution, filing of a Declaration of Intent was all one needed to acquire land under the 1862 Homestead Act. Filing the Declaration indicated the intention of becoming a citizen, to support the U.S. Constitution and renounce foreign allegiance.

Shanghuys: A term applied to Abolitionists.

Sources: An-An-Api-Sebe: Where is the River?, c. 2001; Ahnapee Record/Algoma Record Herald; Door County Advocate; Wisconsin Blue Book, Manuel of the Assembly. The presidential photos were  found online at https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos.