THE MILLER-THOMPSON ELECTION CONTEST The history of congressional elections in Iowa1 records nine contests2 which have been carried into the House of Representatives for adjudication. The first and in many respects the most interesting of these contests was that of Daniel F. Miller (Whig) against William Thompson (Democrat) growing out of the campaign and election of 1848 in the First Congressional District. It is the purpose of this paper to review the history of that struggle. Iowa was about evenly divided, politically, between the Democrats and the Whigs during the period from 1846 to 1854. Although defeated in the congressional campaigns of 1846 and 1847, the Whigs were nevertheless hopeful of electing their candidates in both districts in 1848. Solicitous over the outcome of the campaign in the First District, they entered upon a crusade to secure the votes of the Mormons 1 For a history of congressional elections in Iowa prior to 1850 see the writer's articles in THE IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS, Vol. X, pp. 463-502; Vol. XI, pp. 38-68. 2 The contested congressional elections which have been carried from Iowa into the House of Representatives for final adjudication are as follows: Daniel F. Miller vs. William Thompson, Thirty-first Congress, 1849-1851; S. B. Black vs. Augustus Hall, Thirty-fourth Congress, 1855-1857; Legrand Byington vs. William Vandever, Thirty-seventh Congress, 1861-1863; J. C. Holmes vs. John L. Wilson, Forty-sixth Congress, 1879-1881; John C. Cook vs. Marsena E. Cutts, Forty-seventh Congress, 1881-1883; Benjamin T. Frederick vs. James Wilson, Forty-eighth Congress, 1883-1885; Frank G. Campbell vs. J. B. Weaver, Fortyninth Congress, 1885-1887; William P. Hepburn vs. William D. Jamieson, Sixty-first Congress, 1909-1911; D. D. Murphy vs. Gilbert N. Haugen, Sixtysecond Congress, 1911-1913. See Rowell's Contested Election Cases in the House of Representatives, 1789-1901, for a brief historical and legal digest of the first seven of these cases. 3 The Constitution of the United States provides that each house of Congress 'shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members." Article I, Section 5. who had settled temporarily on the western frontier of the State. A considerable number of Mormons were at that time sojourning at the town of Kanesville (now Council Bluffs) in Pottawattamie County. The Kanesville district, however, had not been organized under the laws of Iowa for election purposes when the campaign of 1848 was inaugurated. Indeed, the greater portion of the western half of Iowa had not been organized into counties prior to the August elections of that year. That is to say, the counties in the eastern portion of the State were organized first. As the organization of counties proceeded, there remained unorganized country lying to the west and varying from one hundred to two hundred miles in extent. By a number of acts passed by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Iowa and by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa, all the country lying west of certain organized counties was attached to such counties for revenue, election, and judicial purposes, and the inhabitants of such attached country were entitled to enjoy all the rights and privileges of citizens of the counties to which they were attached. THE METHOD OF ORGANIZING ELECTION PRECINCTS In accordance with this practice, an act was passed by the Legislative Assembly on June 11, 1845, providing for the organization of Kishkekosh (now Monroe) County. This was one of the frontier counties of central Iowa which were bounded on the west by the unorganized counties of the State. The sixteenth section of this act provided that "the territory west of said county be, and the same is hereby 4 See Mr. Jacob Van der Zee's article on The Mormon Trails in Iowa, in the present issue of THE IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS. 5 See Garver's History of the Establishment of Counties in Iowa in THE IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS, Vol. VI, pp. 375-457. See especially Maps I to XVI inclusive, pp. 441–457. attached to the county of Kishkekosh, for election, revenue and judicial purposes." By the seventeenth section of a similar act approved on February 5, 1844, providing for the organization of Mahaska County, the country west of Mahaska County was attached to that county for election, revenue, and judicial purposes. And on February 16, 1847, the General Assembly of Iowa passed an act, the tenth section of which provided that the country west of Dallas County should be similarly attached to Dallas County.8 It is to be noted further that the elective franchise was secured to the inhabitants of the western portion of Iowa by an act of the Legislative Assembly approved on July 28, 1840, and by the State Constitution of 1846. The former provided that "all the country that is at present, or may hereafter be attached to any of the organized counties in the Territory, be, and the same is hereby attached for revenue, election and judicial purposes, and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to and enjoy all the rights and privileges of the county or counties to which they are attached that they would be entitled to were they citizens proper of some organized county." The Constitution of 1846 provided that "any country attached to any county for judicial purposes, shall, unless otherwise provided for, be considered as forming part of such county for election purposes."'10 • Laws of Iowa, 1845, pp. 103-106. On January 19, 1846, an act was passed by the Legislative Assembly changing the name of this county from Kishkekosh to Monroe.-Laws of Iowa, 1845-1846, p. 108. 7 Laws of Iowa, 1843-1844, pp. 85-89. 8 Laws of Iowa, 1846-1847, pp. 63–66. • Laws of Iowa, Extra Session, 1840, p. 15. The Constitution of 1846 provided that "All the laws now in force in this Territory, which are not repugnant to this constitution, shall remain in force until they expire by their own limitations, or be altered or repealed by the General Assembly of this State."— Article XIII, Section 2, quoted from Shambaugh's Documentary Material Relating to the History of Iowa, Vol. I, p. 208. 10 Constitution of Iowa (1846), Article XIII, Section 7, quoted from Shambaugh's Documentary Material Relating to the History of Iowa, Vol. I, p. 210. But in what manner was the elective franchise of those resident in this attached country to be exercised? The Constitution of 1846 provided that "every white male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the State six months next preceding the election, and the county in which he claims his vote twenty days, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which are now or hereafter may be authorized by law."'11 But how were places for holding elections within the country thus attached to organized counties to be provided? An examination of the laws of Iowa prior to 1848 shows that the Boards of County Commissioners of the various counties to which unorganized territory was attached were empowered to organize such territory for election purposes. Three of these laws deserve special mention as bearing upon the later organization of Kanesville into an election precinct: (1) an act providing for the organization of townships, approved on February 17, 1842,12 the first section of which authorized the Boards of County Commissioners to divide counties into townships and to designate the places where the first meeting of the electors should be held; 13 11 Constitution of Iowa (1846), Article III, Section 1, quoted from Shambaugh's Documentary Material Relating to the History of Iowa, Vol. I, p. 194. 12 Laws of Iowa, 1841-1842, pp. 97-103. 13 This section provided "That the board of county commissioners in each county, not yet divided into Townships, shall as soon as they are of the opinion that a majority of the people of the county desire it, proceed to divide the county into townships in the following manner: They shall divide the county into townships of such shape and size as the convenience and interests of the citizens may require, confer upon each township the name preferred by the inhabitants of the same, and appoint the place where the first meeting of the electors shall be holden. The clerk of the said board shall record the name of each township, the time when it was set off, and a particular description of its boundaries."' This provision of the act of February 17, 1842, was finally repealed by the act of January 21, 1847, which superseded it. A complete copy of the act of February 17, 1842, providing for the organization of townships may also be found in Shambaugh's Documentary Material Relating to the History of Iowa, Vol. III, pp. 253–262. (2) "An Act providing for and regulating general elections", which went into effect on July 1, 1843,14 and by which the Boards of County Commissioners were required “at their regular annual session in July preceding the general election, where the counties are not organized into townships", to "appoint three capable and discreet persons, possessing the qualifications of electors, to act as judges of the election, at any election precinct"; and (3) an act approved on January 21, 1847, containing the following provisions: That the Board of Commissioners of each county, which shall not be divided into townships when this act takes effect, and of each county to which any county or counties, not so divided, shall at that time be attached for election and judicial purposes, shall, at any regular or called session, as early as practicable, divide such attached county or counties, into townships of size and shape most convenient to the inhabitants; giving to each such name as the inhabitants thereof may prefer, and shall appoint a central and convenient place in each township, for holding the first township election; and the Clerk of the Board shall record the name of each township, with a particular description of its boundaries; and every county afterwards established, or organized, shall be divided into townships, in like manner, at any regular or called session of the Board of Commissioners thereof, or of the county to which the same may be attached.15 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE KANESVILLE PRECINCT It is evident, therefore, that a method was provided by law for the immediate organization of Kanesville for election purposes in order that the Mormons resident in that vicinity might participate in the general election of 1848. Such organization the Whig campaign managers proceeded to accomplish in the opening weeks of the campaign. In this connection attention should be called to the fact 14 Revised Statutes of the Territory of Iowa, 1842-1843, pp. 244–256. 15 Laws of Iowa, 1846-1847, p. 29 |