1785 Gubernatorial Election: Cushing vs Bowdoin vs Lincoln vs Prescott

The winds of change spread into Massachusetts as the calendar turned to 1785. With the Revolutionary War over, the United States federal government was starting to figure out that they were piss broke. In order to gain funds spent in the war, taxes had to be introduced to generate revenue. In 1784, the federal government wanted to use hard currency but Governor John Hancock not only told them to pound sand, he refused to go after the delinquent rural citizens that were depending on goods to barter with instead of physical cash. With pressure coming from New York, Hancock decided he'd had enough. A lot of historians point that Hancock took the coward's way out, but the bottom line was the five time....FIVE TIME....elected Governor resigned on January 29, 1785. That meant come April, we were going to have a new Governor elected. This wouldn't be the last of John Hancock, but until the current tide turned, he was going to watch from the sidelines.

                                             "Hey Washington DC, I QUIT!" - John Hancock

Since Hancock resigned, Lt Governor Thomas Cushing became the acting governor until the election. We all know Cushing's background and how he came to be Hancock's second in command. He only had to hold the fort so to speak until the election. By April of 1785, the city of Boston was buzzing since this would be the first time an election didn't involve John Hancock. As it was, there would be four prominent nominees for the vacant championship. Technically, Cushing would be considered the incumbent.

             Introducing first....he is the acting governor.....Thomasssss Cushing!!!

His main opponent would be the man Hancock defeated in the very first election, James Bowdoin. Once again, Bowdoin's backstory has already been covered and how he got to the position he was in. This was probably his best chance to win since most people felt Cushing was a stooge for Hancock without the charm.

                                           and his opponent.....James Bowdoin!

Bowdoin and Cushing both got whooped by Hancock in the first three elections but now the race was wide open. Joining them would be two new players. The first was ex-War general Benjamin Lincoln. Lincoln was from a wealthy family in Hingham who was always involved in law enforcement in some capacity. He was Hingham's constable at age 21 in 1754. He also was in the army reserves during the Seven Years War, but saw no action. Just like his contemporaries, he was apart of the Massachusetts Provincial Assembly and publicly condemned both the British taxes and the Boston Massacre. When British General Thomas Gage came in to clean house upon being appointed colonial governor, Lincoln joined the others in the new Massachusetts Provincial Congress. Over the course of the War, Lincoln saw three major British surrenders under George Washington. John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga told Lincoln "WE GIVE UP!" He also oversaw the surrender at the Battle of Charleston and even though it was Washington's battle, Lincoln stuck around to formally accept General Cornwallis' surrender at the Battle of Yorktown. From 1781 to 83 he served as the US Secretary of War until the war finally ended. Returning home to Hingham, when it came time for the 1785 election, he threw his hat into the ring.

                        and their opponent....GENERAL BENJAMIN LINCOLN!

The final entrant into the race that had any chance of winning was Massachusetts medical physician Dr. Oliver Prescott. He was Harvard educated and was one of the colonial era's top medical professionals. On top of that, he was named Massachusetts Probate Judge in 1779. During the Revolutionary War he was a major general in the Mass militia and after the war, settled into his dual role as judge & doctor. By 1785, he decided to take a run at the Governor's office.

                                        and their opponent....Dr. Judge Oliver Prescott

The prevailing attitude going into the election was it was going to come down to Cushing vs Bowdoin since Cushing was the acting governor to begin with. With Hancock on Cushing's side, Bowdoin enlisted Samuel Adams as his advisor since he knew Hancock better than anyone. One of the pieces of propaganda Bowdoin hit Cushing with was there was a notorious club in Boston called the Sans Souci, which had the unmitigated audacity to have card games and dancing. Bowdoin and Adams said the club was causing the moral decay of Massachusetts and it was the fault of Hancock & Cushing for letting it happen. Nowadays Bowdoin would be laughed at but back then, people took him seriously since the separation of church and state hadn't caught on yet. Cushing, in return, used the same argument Hancock used 5 years prior. Cushing accused Bowdoin of skipping out on Continental Congress and refusing the Lt. Governor's role after James lost to Hancock. Benjamin Lincoln campaigned independently and whatever Prescott did has been lost to time. Either way, the battle lines were drawn. Who would win and become the new governor? Let's find out.

                                                 Fatal Four Way.....Fight

Prescott and Lincoln were eliminated early as Prescott garnered just 3.7 percent of the vote with 298. Lincoln procured 14.4 percent of the vote with 1,152 votes. Bowdoin actually finished ahead of Cushing with 3,510 votes compared to Thomas' 3,005. Still, even though Bowdoin had more votes, he didn't have enough for the majority vote. Much like the presidential election of 1824 being decided by the House of Representatives (a story for another time), the deciding vote would be decided by the Massachusetts General Court. When the Court adjourned it had announced....BOWDOIN WINS!

                                    With the big assist to the state later to be known as Maine

So on May 27, 1785, James Bowdoin took office as the new governor of Massachusetts. Thomas Cushing accepted his defeat with grace and returned to the Lt. Governor role he'd had since 1780. Almost immediately the vibe changed around the state. Bowdoin raised taxes in the commonwealth and set about collecting debt from the delinquents Hancock had left alone. The state was suffering from an economic depression following the War as it was, but now here comes the government to take what you had left. Clearly this was going to rub people the wrong way, but that's a story for another time. For the first time since 1780, we had a new governor. Congratulations to the new champ.

The winner....anddd......NEWWWWW....GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS...JAMES BOWDOIN!