Get the gun out!
On November 4, 1862, election day in many states, the Democrat party enjoyed good results in New York state, most notably with the election of Horatio Seymour as governor. Here’s a couple clippings from one or two [1]Democrat-oriented newspapers in Seneca County, New York from 1862. The first is a headline that includes an image of a firing cannon and a U.S. (20 star?) flag:
Victory! Victory!
Bring out the Gun!
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NEW YORK REDEEMED!
Horatio Seymour Elected Governor!
Entire Democratic State Ticket Elected.
The Assembly Democratic
A Majority of the Congressmen Democratic.
Wadsworth Still Governor – – of
Washington.[2]
ALL HAIL, NEW YORK!
Here’s a second clipping that indulges in a bit of triumphal sarcasm; we might call it “spiking the football”:
in the Valley of the Mohawk
Gen. James S. Wadsworth.
Gen. WADSWORTH in his speech at Cooper Institute, a few days before the election used these truthful and prophetic words:
Wait till you hear from the hills of St. Lawrence in the north; wait till you hear from the hills of the Alleghany on the South; wait till you hear from the Valley of the Mohawk and the Onondaga; wait till you hear from them, gentlemen, and you will hear a voice which will bring joy and glad tidings to every loyal heart in the land (Great Cheering) and make it cry out, The country is safe! (Renewed Cheering.)
Has Gen. WADSWORTH heard the news? Has he heard the “voice which brought joy and glad tidings, to every loyal heart?” How truthful were his predictions. HORATIO SEYMOUR, not Gen. JAMES S. WADSWORTH, was elected Governor and all the people say Amen.
The full image of the envelope with the image of cannon and flag can be viewed at the Library of Congress.
Seneca Falls was known to fire off cannon salutes to honor Washington’s birthday.
I think one of the themes of this Sesquicentennial is technology. The image of the train in Little Falls is said to be from around 1838 – “only” 13 years after the completion of the original Erie Canal.
‘and all the people say Amen’
- [1] The Seneca Falls, New York public library has a couple notebooks full of newspaper clippings, which the town historian laboriously and lovingly culled from newspapers apparently falling apart. There were at least two papers that are represented in the notebooks, but both seem to be Democrat papers↩
- [2]Republican gubernatorial candidate was miltary commander of the Washington, D.C. defenses during much of 1862.↩
