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| Elections in Massachusetts |
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 Massachusettsportal |
The 1871 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1871. Incumbent Republican Governor William Claflin did not run for a fourth term in office. He was succeeded by Republican U.S. Representative William B. Washburn, who defeated Democrat John Quincy Adams II.
Through July, Benjamin Butler denied that he was a candidate for governor and George B. Loring appeared to be the early favorite, owing to strong support in the state's rural and agricultural communities. [3] Butler entered the race soon after, placing two candidates from the Northeast in open opposition to the Claflin administration. [2]
By August, Governor Claflin had unequivocally ruled out a fourth term, and his reformist supporters primarily went to Harvey Jewell or Alexander H. Rice in the east or William Washburn in the west. [2] Washburn, though the last candidate to enter due to his loyalty to Claflin, was considered the strongest; he had unanimous support in the four western counties and northern Worcester County (led by his House colleagues Henry L. Dawes and George F. Hoar) and the support of many temperance and reform advocates in the east. [2] He was also the second choice of many Jewell or Rice supporters. [2]
In the days leading to the convention, Butler was the most active candidate on his own behalf, with the other candidates and their supporters generally aligned against him. [4] In pre-convention credentials rulings, Butler won delegations from the 6th ward of Boston, from Athol, and from Milford. Despite this, Butler was still expected to be fifty votes short of a majority. [4]
On the night before the convention, Butler delivered a speech denouncing the press and comparing his treatment to the Passion of Jesus. He endorsed President Grant, though his speech was followed by a supporter alluding to Butler as the "future Chief Magistrate of this country." [4] His opponents focused on organizing into a united bloc against Butler. [5]
The party convention was held at Mechanics' Hall in Worcester on September 27.
As the delegates entered the convention hall, Butler made a grand entry, marching to the edge of the platform and acknowledging the cheers of his supporters before elbowing through the crowd. His entrance caused a great deal of confusion among the delegates, which Butler was seen to relish. [5] Loring, as party chair, called the convention to order and was elected temporary chair. He took the opportunity to deliver a speech professing loyalty to the Republican Party and President Grant. [5]
At the start of business, Butler moved that the galleries "be thrown open to the people, to whom they rightly belong, that they may observe the action of their delegates." The motion, seen as a test of strength, passed 524 to 437 to the cheers of Butler supporters. [5] Henry L. Dawes then presented a resolution to give contested delegates the right to vote until the credentials committee made a final determination; Butler denounced the resolution as unprecedented and unfair, launching into a campaign speech against machine control of the party. Dawes and Butler began a series of back-and-forth insults and barbs until the resolution was finally referred to the Committee on Credentials. [5]
George Frisbie Hoar, an avowed supporter of Washburn, [4] was elected permanent chairman and president. [5] Loring then surprised the convention by withdrawing his name from consideration; most took this as an indication of unity among anti-Butler forces, but some Butler men attempted to lobby Loring supporters. [5] Soon after, Alexander Rice withdrew and delivered a speech imploring the delegates to "act as Republicans," taken to be an anti-Butler gesture. [5]
By 5:30 p.m., the Committee on Credentials had failed to report, and Butler moved that they issue a partial report so that voting could commence. The move was rejected, but an adjournment until 7 p.m. was achieved, taken as a victory for the Butler forces. [5] When the convention reconvened, most of the committee's report was accepted unanimously. [5] However, the vote on the credentials of delegates from Boston's Ward Six went to anti-Butler forces by 607 to 460. Butler attempted to impeach the conduct of the vote but failed. [5]
The vote was taken and announced at 12:30 a.m.:
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | William B. Washburn | 643 | 57.62% | |
| Republican | Benjamin Butler | 464 | 41.58% | |
| Republican | George B. Loring | 8 | 0.72% | |
| Republican | Alexander H. Rice | 1 | 0.09% | |
| Total votes | 1,116 | 100.00% | ||
Butler delivered a concession speech, criticizing his opponents but declining to challenge Washburn, noting that he would not "bolt" the ticket as his opponents had threatened. He pledged to continue his campaign within the Republican Party. [5]
The party platform embraced "strict adherence to those principles that have preserved the Union, secured freedom and equality before the law to all classes, and diminished the burdens of the people by an honest and economical administration of the Government." It celebrated the 1868 national party platform, endorsed the Ulysses S. Grant administration, and labeled itself the party of progress and reform with the "great mission... to blot out class distinction on American soil." [6]
Washburn formally accepted his party's nomination in a letter to Hoar dated October 17. [7]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | William B. Washburn | 75,129 | 54.92% |  2.02 | |
| Democratic | John Quincy Adams II | 47,725 | 34.89% | 2.62 | |
| Labor Reform | Edwin M. Chamberlain | 6,848 | 5.01% |  9.58 | |
| Prohibition | Robert Carter Pitman | 6,598 | 4.98% | N/A | |
| Write-in | 336 | 0.25% | 0.12 | ||
| Independent | Benjamin F. Butler | 157 | 0.12% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 136,793 | 100.00% | |||
George Sewall Boutwell was an American politician, lawyer, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served as Secretary of the Treasury under U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, the 20th Governor of Massachusetts, a Senator and Representative from Massachusetts and the first Commissioner of Internal Revenue under President Abraham Lincoln. He was a leader in the impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson, and served as a House manager (prosecutor) in the impeachment trial.
John Davis Long was an American lawyer, politician, and writer from Massachusetts. He was the 32nd governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1880 to 1883. He later served as the Secretary of the Navy from 1897 to 1902, a period that included the primarily naval Spanish–American War.
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Henry Laurens Dawes was an attorney and politician, a Republican United States Senator and United States Representative from Massachusetts. He is notable for the Dawes Act (1887), which was intended to stimulate the assimilation of Native Americans by ending the tribal government and control of communal lands. Especially directed at the tribes in Indian Territory, it provided for the allotment of tribal lands to individual households of tribal members, and for their being granted United States citizenship. This also made them subject to state and federal taxes. In addition, extinguishing tribal land claims in this territory later enabled the admission of Oklahoma as a state in 1907.
William Barrett Washburn was an American businessman and politician from Massachusetts. Washburn served several terms in the United States House of Representatives (1863–71) and as the 28th governor of Massachusetts from 1872 to 1874, when he won election to the United States Senate in a special election to succeed the recently deceased Charles Sumner. A moderate Republican, Washburn only partially supported the Radical Republican agenda during the American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era that followed.
William Claflin was an American politician, industrialist, and philanthropist from Massachusetts. He served as the 27th governor of Massachusetts from 1869 to 1872 and as a member of the United States Congress from 1877 to 1881. He also served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1868 to 1872, serving as a moderating force between the Radical and moderate wings of the Republican Party. His name is given to Claflin University in South Carolina, a historically black college founded with funding from him and his father.
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The 1876 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Exposition Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 14–16, 1876. President Ulysses S. Grant had considered seeking a third term, but with various scandals, a poor economy and heavy Democratic gains in the House of Representatives that led many Republicans to repudiate him, he declined to run. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio for president and Representative William A. Wheeler of New York for vice president.
The 1877 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in January 1877. Incumbent Republican Senator George S. Boutwell, who had won a special election for the remainder of Henry Wilson's term, was defeated by reformist U.S. Representative George Frisbie Hoar.
The 1883 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in January 1883. Incumbent Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar was re-elected to a second term in office despite a serious challenge from Democrats and members of his own party.
The 1880 Greenback Party National Convention convened in Chicago from June 9 to June 11 to select presidential and vice presidential nominees and write a party platform for the Greenback Party in the United States presidential election 1880. Delegates chose James B. Weaver of Iowa for President and Barzillai J. Chambers of Texas for Vice President.
The 1876 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 7. Incumbent Republican governor Alexander H. Rice was re-elected to a second term in office over former Minister to Great Britain Charles F. Adams.
The 1878 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 5. Former acting Governor Thomas Talbot, a Republican, defeated Benjamin Butler, who ran as an independent Greenback candidate with Democratic support. Butler's supporters secured a majority of delegates to the Democratic state convention, but his nomination was rejected by the state party committee after his supporters used violent tactics to exclude anti-Butler delegates from the convention hall.
The 1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 15. American Party candidate Henry J. Gardner was elected to his first term as governor, defeating incumbent Whig governor Emory Washburn.
The 1860 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 6. Incumbent Republican governor Nathaniel Banks did not run for re-election to a fourth term. He was succeeded by Republican John Albion Andrew, a radical abolitionist.
The 1874 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1874. Republican acting Governor Thomas Talbot, who took office after the resignation of William B. Washburn, was defeated by Democrat William Gaston, a former Mayor of Boston.
The 1872 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1872. Republican governor William B. Washburn was re-elected to a second term in office over businessman Francis W. Bird, a Liberal Republican nominated with support of the Democratic Party.
The 1868 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 3.
The 1867 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 5.
