The 1876 Presidential Election

By Arva Moore Parks

"Counting the electoral vote : David Dudley Field objects to the vote of Florida." Hand-colored print from a sketch by Theodore R. Davis. Harper's Weekly, February 17, 1877. Image no. 1993-234-1.

As November arrived, the people in Dade County looked forward with some excitement to the upcoming election on November 7th. Although the rest of the nation was involved in the heated contest for President of the United States between Samuel J. Tilden, Democrat, and Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican, the residents of Dade County showed more interest in their local affairs.

In November, 1876, there were seventy-three registered voters in Dade County, the largest number ever registered. It was decided that for the first time three precincts would be opened in the county, which included among others the present counties of Broward and Palm Beach.One was at Jupiter; that had almost no residents except the lighthouse keepers. The second precinct was at Lake Worth, which by 1876 had over ten men of voting age. The third precinct was at the home of Michael Sears, which had been used as the voting precinct since the election of 1870. In this election E. T. Sturtevant, T. W. Faulkner and W. H. Jenkins were made inspectors of the "Sears Precinct." On November 7th all the voters were coaxed, threatened and promised in all manner of ways as never before to come to the polls. But even with this, only 55 voted on election day.

The election was passing off quietly at the Sears Precinct as one eyewitness recalled, until three voters, all sailors of foreign birth who had registered previously with no incident and had obtained their “declaration of intention” to become citizens of the United States, were challenged by the inspectors. It was customary in those days to allow those with “declarations” to vote. An inspector, who acknowledged that he had the required declarations in his possession at the clerk's office at Biscayne (Miami Shores) allegedly offered to produce them if the voters cast their vote as the inspector requested. This statement nearly caused bloodshed which was only averted by dispatching the lighthouse boat to Biscayne to get the required papers. When the time for the closing of the polls neared, the boa was sighted offshore. The men, who had waited all day, again prevailed and the polls remained open until the boat arrived and the men voted. Immediately after they voted the polls were closed. This incident, however, was just the beginning. As the count began, witnessed by several bystanders, fifteen or twenty ballots blew, fell (or were knocked) to the floor. Several of the bystanders picked up the ballots, returned them to the table and the count continued. When the count from the three precincts was completed: Stewart had received 34 and Varnum 18; Brown 27, and Gleason 24. Incidentally, but of little interest to most of Dade's voters, the Tilden electors had received 28 and Hayes 27.

The excitement caused by the election was soon forgotten and everyone went back to their normal life. But the election was by no means over. Before the official canvass on November 17, William H. Gleason, as usual, decided to contest the election. . . . By doing this, the count from Dade County was not sent on to Tallahassee until the controversy was settled. This delay unwittingly thrust Dade County into the forefront of the disputed election of Tilden and Hayes. Dade's notoriety was so sudden and its whereabouts so unknown, that a reporter reputedly asked: “Where in the hell is Dade?”

Unknown to most of the electors in Dade County, the Presidential election was as heated and controversial as their own. Samuel Tilden, like Stewart and Brown, had gone to sleep on election night believing that he had been elected. The next day, the New York Tribune headlined: “Tilden Elected.”

Then an incredible thing happened. John C. Reid of the New York Times did some arithmetic. It appeared that Tilden had 184 electoral votes and needed only one more for election. Hayes had only 166 electoral votes and was trailing Tilden in the popular count by several hundred thousand. But the three states not in, Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana, from which Tilden needed his one more vote, were the three states still under carpetbag control. So the same day the Tribune announced Tilden's victory the Times declared:

“Results still uncertain. A solid South except Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina.”

Before long national interest focused in Florida where, on November 27th, the official tally was begun by the state canvassing board. It had ten days to determine the results of the election because Florida's four presidential electors were required by law to cast their votes on December 6th. As the chairman read each county return, each was challenged by one side or the other. On the first reading it appeared that Hayes had a slim forty-three vote majority. But there was another important factor—Dade County's returns were missing!

On November 29, 1876, Dade County made the front page of the national press. The Times reported:

“It should be noted that all the thickly populated counties where there is civilization and protection to life gave Republican majorities. Democratic majorities came from the sparsely settled, half-civilized and lawless southern counties . . . Dade County cannot change the result a dozen votes one way or the other. There are only forty or fifty voters in the county and the Republican majority in 1874 for Congressman was 13.”

During the next few days the newspapers were filled with the arguments, accusations and counter accusations of fraud and intimidation brought before the board in Tallahassee by several of the more populous counties. But there was notice given to the fact that Dade's returns were still missing. This was holding up the final tally and adding to the rumors.

On December 2nd it was reported in the Times:

“The returns from Dade County are expected tonight. There are several hundred Indians in that county who are legal voters but whether they voted at the last election is unknown.”

If, in fact, Dade had several hundred voters the whole election would change overnight. Of course, the Indians were not registered voters in 1876 but this type of speculation was common.

In the midst of all of this no one in Dade, except perhaps Gleason, was cognizant of the strange set of events that was surrounding the presidential election, or that the nation was awaiting their vote. The county canvassers in Dade met to hear Gleason's case. Gleason alleged that irregularities and illegal voting took place at the Sears Precinct. One irregularity listed was that Simeon Frow voted after dark. The second was that A. F. Bracklin and R. H. Thompson were foreigners by birth and did not present their naturalization papers. Third, Gleason alleged that between the time the ballots fell to the floor and were returned, several were changed. Following these allegations were eight pages of depositions by various individuals supporting Gleason's claims. This testimony indicates that Gleason had the Republican tickets printed while the Democratic tickets were handwritten.

The final result was that the board of canvassers, David Brown, William J. Smith, and W. H. Laneheart, threw out the entire Sears Precinct. With the Sears Precinct out, the result of the election gave Gleason 7, Brown 4, and Stewart 6, Varnum 5. (Stewart died on his return to Lake Worth.) The Hayes electors were victorious over Tilden 8 to 5. On Friday, December 2nd, Gleason finally brought the returns to Tallahassee. He had managed to not only elect himself, but also deliver Dade County for the Republicans.

By this time, however, because of mass shifting of votes the day before and assorted chicanery, it was becoming more and more apparent that Hayes would be declared the winner in Florida. Therefore, the long awaited returns from Dade County could not change the course of the election. They did, however, offer a comic relief to the whole debacle. The Secretary of State announced to the crowded room: “Dade County—Hayes 9, Tilden 5.” The heretofore grim proceedings broke up in laughter.

Fourteen votes had held up the count from Florida and had brought about an untold amount of rumor and wild speculation by the national press. But most of all, Dade County had received national attention. The following day the New York Times chose Dade County to write what they considered to be the epitaph for the whole election. “The Last Straw for the Democratic Camel, Dade Comes in with a Republican Majority.” The Tribune added: “The returns from the only remaining county, the far off 'Kingdom of Dade,' have come and have been opened. Hayes received 9 and Tilden 5.”

The national election controversy was not over—only Dade's part in it. Florida ended up sending three different sets of electors to the Congressional Electoral Commission. The nation did not know who was elected president until the evening before the inauguration, when Tilden, in an effort to unite the nation conceded the election to Hayes even though he had grounds to continue the fight. Hayes brought political Reconstruction to an end and restored home rule to the last three Southern States under carpetbag control—Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina.

Excerpt from "Miami in 1876," by Arva Moore Parks. In Tequesta, Volume XXXV, 1975. Copyright 1976 by the Historical Association of Southern Florida.