BackStory With the American History Guys just aired a radio show on the
history of voting that you might be interested in; it includes a
soundscape and verbal description of what it would have been like to
vote in colonial Virginia. Check it out!
<http://www.backstoryradio.org/2008/10/early-and-often-voting-in-america-2/>
Levy, Suzanne S. wrote:
> This article appeared in today's online Ancestry Weekly Journal.
>
>
>
> Elections: Eighteenth Century Virginia Style
>
>
>
> by Michael John Neill
>
> Ever wonder why they don't allow alcohol and electioneering at a polling
> place? That's because it can get out of hand, like it did in Orange
> County, Virginia, more than 200 years ago. As the November elections
> approach, I thought it would be fun to take a look at what things were
> like when only landowners were allowed to vote. It was not quite as
> dignified and genteel as one might think.
>
> My ancestor John Rucker brought more than just himself to the election
> for the Virginia House in 1741. It took six months, but the orneriness
> of him and several others got the results thrown out. The scene is
> outlined in government journals, which appear in edited form (Journals
> of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1742-47, pp. 50-51).
>
> In the report dated, Friday, 4 June 1742, a Mr. Thomas-Wright Belfield
> filed a petition complaining,
>
> "That as soon as the Poll was opened [a group of men] throng'd
> into the Court-house in a riotous Manner, and made such a Disturbance,
> that the Sheriff and Candidates were obliged to go out of the Court-
> house, 'til the House was clear'd . . .
>
> "And that the said Mr [Thomas] Chew, whilst he was on the Bench,
> called for a Bowl of Punch, and had it brought to him; upon which, the
> Sheriff stay'd the Poll, and said he would not have any Punch drank on
> the Bench, but wou'd have a fair Election; to which Mr Chew replied, he
> would have Punch, and drink it, and that the Sheriff should not hinder
> him.
>
> ". . . the Candidates and Sheriff return'd into the Court-house,
> and proceeded in taking the Poll; Mr Jonathan Gibson and John Newport,
> the Under-Sheriff . . . [stood at] . . . the Court-house Doors, with
> drawn Swords across the Doors, in order to let the Voters pass in and
> out quietly and regularly in their Polling.
>
> "That after the Under-Sheriff was placed at the Door, one Mr
> John Rucker came to the Door, and demanded Entrance, which he had; and
> then the said Rucker threw the Under-Sheriff and another Person headlong
> out of the Doors; and when the Under-Sheriff recovered his Post, the
> said Rucker insisted to clear the Doors, so that everyone might have
> free Entrance, and seized the Under-Sheriff's Sword with both his Hands,
> endeavouring to break it, which the Under-Sheriff prevented, by drawing
> it through his Hands.
>
> "That then one John Burk came to the said Rucker's Assistance,
> and laid violent Hold on the Under-Sheriff, who was rescued by the By-
> standers. That towards Night . . . the People throng'd into the
> Court-house in a drunken riotous Manner, one of them jumping upon the
> Clerk's Table, and dancing among the Papers, so that the Sheriff was
> unable to clear the Bar, or the Clerks to take the Poll:
>
> "It also appeared to the Committee, that the said John Rucker
> did, before and during the Time of the Election give several large Bowls
> of Punch amongst the People, crying out for those Persons who intended
> to vote for Mr Slaughter to come and drink of his Punch; and that the
> said Rucker stood at the Court-house, and kept out those who were Mr
> Belfield's Friends and after the Election was over, confessed he had won
> several Pistoles upon Mr Slaughter's being elected the First Burgess."
>
> (Note: The term "Pistoles" most likely refers to a Spanish coin and not
> to a gun.
>
> On 5 June 1742, the House of Burgesses declared that Slaughter had not
> been duly elected. They also stated that John Rucker (among others) were
> "guilty of great misdemeanors and breaches . . ."
>
> On 19 June 1742 a petition was read from John Rucker (and others) which
> indicated they were truly sorry and that they would not behave in a way
> that would incur the displeasure of the house in the future. They were
> discharged from custody and paid their fees.
>
> John Rucker apparently lived a fairly short, low-key life after the
> voting altercation. His will was probated in Orange County on 28 January
> 1742 [sic]; he lived a little over a year after the election incident.
> Interestingly enough, in his will he gives a lot in Fredericksburg,
> Virginia, to Thomas Wright Belfield, the man he was "campaigning"
> against. Belfield did not live long after the incident either and I
> found a record of his wife transferring ownership of the lot after
> Belfield's death. Those with Ancestry subscriptions can see abstracts
> of deeds where Belfield's widow sold the land he inherited from Rucker.
>
>
> It has been conjectured by some that John's hands might have been
> injured in the sword pulling incident and that this might have in part
> led to his death. We will never know whether this was the case or not.
> What is known is that he died at a relatively young age and his wife
> survived him by nearly thirty years. None of John's children were as
> involved in politics as he was. (If they were, they were a little more
> discreet.)
>
>
> Those who wish to learn more about voting in Colonial America might want
> to take a look at an article by Ed Crews in the Colonial Williamsburg
> Journal, Spring 2007, "Voting in Early America". It provides an
> interesting background to the shenanigans that took place in Orange
> County.
>
>
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