[1512] Ho. Mis. Doc., No. 111, 40th Cong., 2d Sess. The whites were complaining loudly because of the scarcity of labor, and few would discharge a negro laborer, no matter how often he might vote the Radical ticket. General Hayden sent a list of eighteen questions in regard to the election to every election official. They covered every possible point, and full answers were required. One of the questions was in regard to the proportion of white voters. A summary of the answers is here given: 1. Elmore County. Intimidation and threats of discharge; of the 1000 to 1200 whites who registered, from 12 to 15 voted. 2. Autauga. No intimidation, but threats of discharge; of the 900 whites registered, 200 voted. 3. Chambers. Fair election, with 23 white voters of the 1400 registered. 4. Russell. Threats of discharge; one-thirty-sixth of the whites voted. 5. Tallapoosa. “Persuasion and arguments” deterred the blacks from voting; 20 whites voted of the 1500 who registered. 6. Coosa. Two discharges; one-third of the whites voted. 7. Montgomery. “Ostracism,” and two discharges; 41 whites voted of the 4200 who registered. 8. Macon. Fair election and 4 whites voted of the 800 registered. 9. Lee. One discharge and threats; 30 or 40 whites voted of 1500 registered. 10. Randolph. Fair election. 11. Clay. Threats of ostracism and one discharge. 12. Crenshaw. Two discharges. 13. Lowndes. Three threats of discharge; “too much challenging;” 10 whites voted of 850 registered. 14. Barbour. Four threats of discharge; “whites afraid of social proscription.” 15. Bullock. “Needless questions” to voters, and three threats of discharge; no whites voted. 16. Pike. One threat of discharge; one-fourth of the whites voted. 17. Butler. Eight threats; 3 whites of 1400 voted. 18. Covington. “Threats;” 225 whites voted of the 900. 19. Coffee. “Threats” and “proscription.” 20-21. Dale and Henry. No election; no registrars; none would serve. In Dale County were a number of “outrageous acts committed by a Mr. Oats.” 22-27. Mobile, Washington, Baldwin, Clarke, Monroe, and Conecuh. “Threats and social ostracism;” 125 of 3750 whites voted. 28. Walker. Fair election; one negro driven away; “more whites voted than were expected.” 29-30. Winston and Jackson. More whites voted than were expected; one threat in Jackson. 31-32. Madison and Lauderdale. Fair elections; in Lauderdale 150 of 1500 whites voted. 33. Lawrence. “Persuasion;” 311 of 1400 whites voted. 34-35. Colbert and Franklin. Twenty-five per cent of the whites voted; 75 per cent “were opposed to article 7, paragraph 4, of constitution.” 36-38. Limestone, Morgan, and Cherokee. Fair elections; few whites voted. 39. Marshall. “Threats”; one-third of the whites voted. 40. De Kalb. Fair; 650 of the 900 whites. 41. Baine. “Handbills advised people not to vote;” only one-fifth voted. 42. Blount. One threat; “persuasion;” one-fourth of the whites voted. 43. St. Clair. Threats; one-third of the whites voted. 44-45. Marion and Jones. Fair; two-sevenths of the whites voted. 46. Fayette. Speeches published against the constitution, three drunken men threatened the managers at one box; liquor given to negroes to “vote against their intentions,” all of which “prevented full and free expression of opinion by ballot”; two-sevenths of the whites voted. 47. Shelby. Fair; one-fourth of the whites voted. 48. Talladega. Fair, though threats were heard; three-tenths of the whites voted. 49. Perry. Fair; 24 of the 1066 whites voted. 50. Bibb. Fair; 167 of the 1021 whites. 51. Dallas. Fair; 78 whites voted; others suffered from “want of independence.” 52. Wilcox. Ten threats; 12 whites of 800. 53. Tuscaloosa. One threat; one-fifth of the whites voted. 54. Pickens. “Threats too numerous to mention;” 60 to 70 of the 1100 whites voted. 55. Jefferson. Fair; one-fifth of the whites voted. 56. Sumter. Threats against blacks; whites to be ostracized. 57. Greene. Threats, though the “Union Men” were afraid to tell who threatened them; 446 ballots had “Constitution” torn off. 58. Marengo. Voters were refused at one box because the names were not on the list, though the parties were willing to swear they had been registered. Threats and speeches were made at the polls and one man made 16 discharges; 16 whites of the 997 voted. 59-62. No reports from Choctaw, Calhoun, Cleburne, and Hale.
Nearly all officials reported quiet elections; the assertions about threats were almost invariably hearsay. Even the few specific instances were based on hearsay. The worst complaint was that Conservatives sometimes attended and challenged the votes of certain negroes, and made speeches or used persuasion to induce the negroes not to vote. Much importance was attached to the ridicule and jeers of the white leaders. These reports were made by the election officials, who were thoroughgoing reconstructionists. General Meade denied the charges of fraud and intimidation.
It will be noticed that the heaviest white vote was cast in the counties where there were few negroes, and where the Peace Society had been strongest during the war. If the estimates given above by the registrars were correct, it is doubtful if 5000 whites voted in the election, as was asserted. The judges were supposed to mark “C” on the ballot of a negro and “W” on that of a white. Ho. Mis. Doc., No. 111, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.; Ho. Ex. Doc., No. 303, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.; Report of Meade, 1868; Montgomery Mail, Feb. 19, 1868; N. Y. World, March 14, 1868.
[1513] Strobach, the Austrian, went so far off in the Northwest that after the state was admitted he could not return to the special session of the legislature. He drew his pay, however, the Speaker certifying that he was present. N. Y. World, Oct. 8, 1868; Montgomery Mail, April 14, 1869; Nationalist, Feb. 18, 1868.
[1514] In North Alabamian, 1868.
[1515] He had evidently not seen Meade’s report.
[1516] Dustan had been a candidate for major-general of militia.
[1517] Annual Cyclopædia (1868), p. 16.
[1518] Globe, Feb. 17, 1868, p. 1217.
[1519] Cong. Globe, March 10, 11, and 17, 1868, pp. 1790, 1818, 1821, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1827, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938.