HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
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and the military prestige of "Tippecanoe" gave him a majority in the county of 36 votes in a total of 1,584. In 1842 Thomas Ford, Democratic candidate for Governor, received 750 votes, and his Whig opponent, ex-Gov. Joseph Duncan, had but 457. This year the first "Liberty" ticket appeared in the county, and polled 32 votes for its candidate, Charles W. Hunter.
The Whigs nominated the great Kentucky statesman, Henry Clay, with Theodore Freling-huysen, in 1844, and the Democrats ran James K. Polk and George M. Dallas. The sharp and exciting contest resulted in 1,046 votes for Polk, 748 for Clay and 299 for James G. Birney, the "Abolitionist" candidate. It will be noticed that the Liberty vote had increased nearly tenfold, yet the combined opposition vote was but one greater than the Democratic.
In 1848 three tickets were fairly in the field, viz.: Cass and Butler, Democratic; Taylor and Fillmore, Whig, and VanBuren and Adams, Anti-slavery. But the Democrats were badly divided and the "Barn Burner" faction voted with the "Free-Soilers" for their old favorite, Martin Van Buren, who received 1,220 votes; General Cass, 783; and General Taylor, 855. The strengthening of the slave-power by the acquisition of Texas, the resulting Mexican War and the political action which led up to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, aroused the apprehension of the people and resulted in the phenomenal anti-slavery vote.
During the decade of the 'fifties, the country was plunged on in the mad political turmoil that culminated in the great war, and Kane County was in the thick of the fray. Wendell Phillips, Cassius M. Clay, Joshua R. Giddings, Owen Lovejoy, Ichabod Codding, and scores of other impassioned orators addressed immense assemblages of the people with tempestuous eloquence, while John F. Farnsworth, A. J. Joslyn, Isaac Preston and many other talented home-speakers kept the fires of liberty hotly burning. They sang:
"Ho! the car, Emancipation,
Rides majestic through the Nation,
Bearing on its train the story,
'Freedom is our Nation's glory.'
Roll it along, roll it along; roll it along
through the nation, Freedom's car, Emancipation." And the other refrain,
"Sound the alarm, sound the alarm, Sound the alarm, pulpits thunder, Ere too late you see your blunder,"
was literally obeyed by nearly every clergyman in the county. It is altogether impossible for the present generation to approach a realization of the intense and bitter excitement that characterized these campaigns. Gen. Franklin Pierce, Gen. Winfield Scott and John P. Hale were the presidential candidates in 1852. Pierce had 1,308 votes, Scott 1,160 and Hale 642.
In August, 1854, the first convention of the opponents of the further spread of slavery that was held in the county under the distinctive name of Republican, assembled at Geneva, and was presided over by "Father" E. W. Brewster. It was a gathering of able, high-minded, patriotic men, and the addresses given and resolutions adopted were eloquent, emphatic and strong. The next month, September 20, 1854, the first Republican congressional and county ticket was nominated at a convention held in the Congregational Church at Aurora. The entire ticket was elected except the candidate for Sheriff, who was defeated by the recently deceased L. P. Barker, of Batavia. In 1856, James Buchanan led the Democratic column, John C. Fremont the Republican and Millard Fillmore the "American." Fremont's vote was 3,750, Buchanan's 912 and Fillmore's 29.
In the ever memorable contest of 1860 Lincoln polled 4,207 votes, Douglas 1,651, Bell and Breckenridge 12. The vote in 1864 stood: Lincoln, 4,270 (the absent soldiers voting in the field); McClellan, 1,482. General Grant had 5,047 votes and Seymour 1,653 in 1868. In 1872 Grant had 4,657 and Horace Greeley 1,606. The vote in 1876 was: Hayes 5,398, Tilden 2,850 and Cooper 172. Garfield had 6,180 votes in 1880, Hancock 2,831 and Weaver 410. In 1884 Elaine had 7,143, Cleveland 3,558, Butler 124 and St. John 206. In 1888 the vote stood: Harrison, 7,572; Cleveland, 4,386; Fisk and Street, 147; in 1892 .Harrison, 7,967; Cleveland, 5,779; for Prohibition, 719; Social Labor, 353; in 1896 ,McKinley, 12,133; Bryan, 4,839, and 375 scattering. In 1900 McKinley had 12,031 votes; Bryan, 5,260; for Prohibition, 393 -and there were 129 scattering votes. It is worthy of note, that the first nominating Republican convention of the county was held in a church, and its candidates were elected; and
