York County’s Democratic congressman, Joseph Bailey, voted against recruiting black soldiers. He later supported President Lincoln’s war efforts.
Politics Archives
The leading newspaper in York PA strongly supported the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law and chastised the governor for obstructing it after the Christiana Riot.
Lincoln researcher Scott E. Rosenau will be the featured speaker at the February 19, 2020, monthly meeting of the York Civil War Round Table. 7 pm. Free!
York newspaperman David Small, an ardent Democrat, questioned why President Lincoln did not send his own son off to war while ordering others to do so.
Michael Wunsch will discuss “Abraham Lincoln & the National Union Party Convention, Baltimore, Maryland, June 7-8, 1864,” at the York CWRT April 17 at 7 pm
York’s chief burgess, Democrat David Small, endorsed famed Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin as a possible candidate for PA governor in 1863. It was not to be.
A doctor at York’s army hospital lost his job because of corruption. Also, a pair of civilians were imprisoned for harboring deserters from the hospital.
Pennsylvania’s heated gubernatorial election of 1863 led to sharp words, acts of vandalism, and gunfire on the streets of York.
Scott E. Rosenau will speak on Nov. 14, 2018, at the York Civil War Round Table. His topic is “Lincoln and the Founders: Completing the Unfinished Work.”
York County normally voted Democratic in presidential elections throughout the 19th century. 1864 was no exception, when President Abraham Lincoln garnered less than 45% of the vote.