1791 Gubernatorial Election: Hancock vs Dana
THE FOLLOWING CONTEST, SCHEDULED FOR ONE TERM IS FOR THE 1791 GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION! INTRODUCING FIRST THE CHALLENGER. HE IS THE ASSOCIATE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME COURT, "FIGHTIN" FRANCIS DANA!
The challenger
The incumbent
RIP James Bowdoin
"Vermont is a state now, now bow down and kiss my royal feet!" - Thomas Chittenden
"Lord North can take his proposal and stick it in his ear" - Francis Dana
"Who the hell voted for me?" - Theophilus Parsons
"I almost lost to a dead guy, you people suck" - Nathaniel Gorham
'Haha, third place, eat my dust Lincoln" - Thomas Russell
Round 1....Fight
Straight belt to ass
and....STILLLL....GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS...JOHNNN HANCOCK
AND HIS OPPONENT. HE IS THE CURRENT REIGNING, DEFENDING, UNDISPUTED GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS...JOHNNNNN HANCOCK!
The winds of change swept through Massaschusetts in 1790 and into 1791 heading into the Gubernatorial election. On July 16th, the nation's capital was named in Maryland called Washington District of Columbia. On August 4th, what would eventually be known as the Coast Guard was founded. Unfortunately tragedy struck in November. In the last election it was mentioned that it would be the final showdown between James Bowdoin and John Hancock? On November 6, 1790, James Bowdoin passed away of a combination of "putrid fever" and dysentery. He was only 64 years old, pour one out for Jimmy.
On March 4, 1791 Vermont was introduced as the 14th state. A day later, Thomas Chittenden is voted the first Vermont Governor. Congratulations Tommy.
So with Bowdoin dead, who was going to run against the mighty Hancock? Many candidates stepped up including ex-Senator Tristram Dalton, current Senator Caleb Strong along with the usual suspects Benjamin Lincoln, Samuel Adams, David Cobb and John Lowell. "Fightin" Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry and Azor Orne would be running as well. So what was Dana's background? He was born in 1743 and graduated from Harvard in 1762 to become a thriving lawyer. Just before the Revolutionary War started, he was a member of the Sons of Liberty with John Hancock and the Adams cousins. He initially traveled to Great Britain to come to a peaceful resolution but the British weren't interested. In fact, Lord Frederick North basically wanted to forget the whole thing and go back to the way things were, but Dana was having none of it. He was transferred to be a peace ambassador to Russia until the War ended. He was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1785 as an associate justice and the rumor was he was about to be elected Chief Justice. Why not run for Governor while you're at it? Also, famously he wanted to duke it out with Elbridge Gerry over the Bill of Rights, specifically the abolition of slavery.
So now that we know all about Dana, let's get to the election results. First the obligatory write-ins. Some idiot voted for ex-Lt. Governor Thomas Cushing who died 3 years earlier, more on stuff like that in a minute. James Warren got a vote, Massachusetts Supreme Court associate justice George Thatcher got a vote, one of the guys who voted AGAINST the Constitution, Amos Singletary also got a vote. A name to watch out for, Increase Sumner, also got a vote. Noted scientist Andrew Oliver got a vote and John Hancock's brother Ebenezer got a vote. Another associate justice James Sullivan got 2 votes, Lincoln County Judge William Lithgow got 2 votes and John Quincy Adams' math tutor Theophilus Parsons got 4 votes. Yes, a math tutor got more votes than everyone else I previously mentioned.
Now for the sad part. Senator Caleb Strong and Elbridge Gerry both got 10 votes, Battle of Lexington/Concord war hero General William Heath got 12 votes and ex-Senator Tristram Dalton got 19 votes. All that pales in comparison to James Bowdoin getting 20 votes. Its one thing when one guy tries to be funny by voting for Thomas Cushing who died 3 years earlier, but TWENTY people voted for Bowdoin who died the previous November. Nathaniel Gorham managed 21 votes, wonder what he thought of just barely beating out a dead guy.
Azor Orne pulled in 25 votes, Lt. Governor Samuel Adams pulled in 37 and David Cobb got 38 votes. Now for the heavy hitters. In sixth place with 98 votes was John Lowell. In 5th place with 121 votes was ex-Lt. Governor Benjamin Lincoln. In fourth place with 126 votes was Samuel Phillips Jr. In third place with 176 votes was Boston merchant Thomas Russell. Of all the candidates, he might have been the most surprising to beat out everyone else.
That left it up to a duel between John Hancock and Francis Dana, who wins? Let's find out.
As usual.....ITS A LANDSLIDE! In the most lopsided election to date, John Hancock secured 93% of the votes with 16,055 while Dana had just 278 for less than 2%.
Once again it was clear no one was touching Hancock, especially with his good buddy Samuel Adams as Lt. Governor. With James Bowdoin out of the picture, it would take someone like a John Adams to dethrone Hancock but he was busy with other business. The following year would see the next Presidential and Senate elections, most of the competition would be gearing up for the Senate election so it seemed likely Hancock would win again. As of now, he was still the champ.
Comments
Post a Comment