The 1890s Populist Movement in Union Parish Louisiana As Told Through Articles from the Farmerville "Gazette" abstracted and edited by T. D. Hudson THE POPULIST MOVEMENT: Southern farmers attempting to recover from the economic depression that followed the War Between the States and Reconstruction faced repeated set-backs during the 1870s and 1880s. Farm prices fluctuated repeatedly during the 1870s before plummeting in the 1880s, causing many small farmers and sharecroppers across the South to become deeply in debt. These events rekindled long-term grievances the Southern and Western farmers held against the northeastern financial interests, who they blamed for the depressed economy. Groups such as the Farmers’ Alliance and Knights of Labor emerged throughout rural areas in the latter 1880s, and this led to the formation of the Populist, or People’s, Party in 1891. The Populists gained their primary support from the middle and lower-class white farmers, previously solid Democratic supporters. They had suffered from years of economic depression and saw the Populist platform as a way to improve their condition. However, race played a major role in American politics of that era, and the fear that a Democratic split could revive the old Republican–black alliance kept many Southern farmers firmly in the Democratic camp. Thomas Watson of Georgia energized the Populist movement in 1892. He condemned the lynching of Southern blacks and encouraged black males to vote. Watson urged Southern white farmers to overcome their antipathy toward blacks because both groups were suffering at the hands of the same oppressors – Northern industrialists. This was a radical political ideal for an era in which the concept of white supremacy permeated all aspects of American life. Additionally, the Populists were the first political party to actively include women in their affairs. They also advocated the free and unlimited coinage of silver to provide economic relief, arguing that silver should replace gold as the currency standard. Other Populist goals included public ownership of railroads and steamboat lines, banking reform, voting by secret ballot (public voting was still the common done in many areas), direct democracy, and the popular election of United States Senators. The Populists ran strong nationally in 1892, and in 1896, they managed to gain control of the Democratic Party through the concept of fusion and secure the nomination of William Jennings Bryan for President. Bryan’s narrow defeat severely damaged the Populist Party, and the movement lost steam and died out in the early 1900s. Ironically, the Democratic Party adopted many of the Populist ideals, and these became law in the early years of the twentieth century. THE POPULISTS IN LOUISIANA Building up to the 1896 election, the Populists attempted to sway black voters to support them instead of the Democratic establishment. While this worked to some extent in the hill parishes of north/central Louisiana, in the Mississippi Delta region, the wealthy Democratic plantation owners maintained control over their black sharecroppers, keeping them firmly in the Democratic column. The result was that, although they ran well, the majority of the statewide Populist candidates lost by slim margins in 1896. The strong showing of the Populist candidates across Louisiana and the South worried the Democrats, who realized that to retain their political power, they needed to neutralize the black vote. This quickly led to suffrage reform, laws enacted that required literacy and land ownership in order to register to vote, unless one’s father or grandfather had voted prior to 1867. These “Grandfather Clause” laws effectively prevented the vast majority of Southern blacks from voting. In fact, not one single black man registered to vote in Union Parish in 1898. Louisiana held a Constitutional Convention in 1898, one important goal of which was suffrage reform. Like most states across the South, Louisiana’s Grandfather Clause became law that year. This is an ironic outcome of the Populist attempt to improve racial attitudes and equality only a few years earlier. The Grandfather Clauses in the Southern states remained in effect until 1915, when the United States Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional. DUELING FARMERVILLE NEWSPAPERS: "GAZETTE" VS. "HERALD" District Court Judge James E. Trimble (22 Feb 1834 – 19 Dec 1887) founded the Farmerville “Gazette” in 1878. A Yankee by birth, Trimble was a professed supporter of U. S. Grant during the 1868 Presidential campaign, casting the only Republican vote for president recorded in Union Parish that year. After Trimble’s death in a shootout on the Farmerville streets in 1887, control over his paper passed to his sons. The younger Trimble brothers were firm supporters of the Democratic Party. When the Populist movement began in earnest in the 1890s, they wrote scathing editorials in the “Gazette” against the Populist ideals and principles, as well as the Populist candidates. To give the Populists a voice in print, Mr. B. T. Johnson founded the Farmerville “Herald” in late June 1895, and a Mr. Anderson later worked as editor on the paper. The two Union Parish newspapers frequently dueled in print over the differing political principles of the Democrats and Populists. Unfortunately, no issues of the “Herald” are known to have survived, so we only have the Democratic side printed in the “Gazette” to study today. The “Herald” remained in publication until after 1900, but as the Populist principles became absorbed into the Democratic Party platform and the influence of the Populists waned, the paper probably folded a few years after 1900. From the Farmerville "Gazette"; issue of Wednesday, 4 April 1894, page 3, column 3 Mr. J. C. Rockett authorizes us to announce that President Pickett and Lecturer Benoit, of the State Alliance, will be in Farmerville, April the 10th, to address the people of Union Parish. Everybody are respectfully invited to attend on that occasion, and especially all Alliance men. NOTE: The State Alliance was one of the groups that formed the core support of the Populist Party during the 1890s. From the Farmerville "Gazette"; issue of Wednesday, 4 July 1894, page 3, column 1 Mr. R. W. Goyne has been appointed by the governor a member of the Parish School Board, for the Spearsville ward, vice J. H. Rockett, resigned. The new appointee qualified last week. Note: This article contains a typographical error - it should have said that J. C. Rockett had resigned. Joseph Cannon Rockett was first sworn in as a member of the Union Parish School Board on 6 October 1888. He was elected while still a Democrat, so his resignation may have been associated with his switching party affiliation from Democrat to Populist. From the Farmerville "Gazette"; issue of Wednesday, 5 September 1894, page 3, column 3 People Party Convention. -------Pursuant to a call of the executive committee of the Peoples party of Union parish, La., delegates from the various wards met in the court house at Farmerville on Sept. 1st, 1894. House called to order by chairman of executive committee. On motion, E. A. Dawkins was elected temporary chairman and L. P. McDonald secretary. The chairman at once proceeded to appoint a committee on credentials as follows: J. C. Rockett, Hale Feazel and A. J. Roach. After the committee on credentials had reported E. A. Dawkins was elected chairman and Lopez McDonald, secretary. The following delegates were elected to attend the Congressional convention, which convenes at Monroe Sept. 6: Q. A. Hester H. D. Pardue Eli Rugg J. C. Rockett J. S. Cobb L. McDonald R. J. Tabor A. J. Roach J. A. Gordon E. A. Dawkins D. Jones J. M. Dawkins Mac Stancil Cole Calloway L. B. Hester Jno. Hester J. M. Gore R. H. Reed D. H. Webb William Feazel and W. A. Burk. The Convention then proceeded to elect members for the executive committee, as follows: J. M. Dawkins J. C. Rockett J. W. Pardue L. B. Hester S. Welch J. W. Halley R. H. Reed Jas Pearson J. A. Gordon and C. A. Callaway. The delegates elected to the congressional committee were instructed to support no man for Congress who does not fully endorse and pledge himself to support the Peoples party platform. E. A. DAWKINS, Chairman L. P. McDONALD, Secretary From the Farmerville "Gazette"; issue of Wednesday, 25 December 1895, page 3, column 2 The Populist parish convention was in session here Saturday presided over by Mr. J. E. Furgerson, of Shiloh, and its proceedings were written by Mr. C. L. Gunby, secretary. Delegates were elected to the state convention, to the senatorial convention and a member of the Populist state central committee was selected. A long set of resolutions, one of which contained a declaration for the free and unlimited coinage of silver at the ration of 16 to 1, and another denouncing the proposed suffrage amendment to the constitution were adopted without a dissenting voice. A full ticket for all parish officers was nominated, and the following gentlemen compose that ticket: J. M. Dawkins, clerk; John S. Cobb, sheriff; C. L. Gunby, representative; A. C. Harper, assessor; Dr. A. R. Tarkington, coroner; S. L. Holmes, surveyor. J. C. Rockett was endorsed for state senator and C. B. Roberts for district attorney.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Jun 2013 15:02:22 +0000
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