A Slice in Third Party Vice-Presidential Time: 1880-1881
Here's some fun historical trivia. Between the dates of the birth of Otis Lee Spurgeon (April 10, 1880) to the death of Joseph Lane (April 19, 1881) there were 80 Third Party Vice-Presidential Candidates living between the Earth and the sky. By April 1881 sixteen of these individuals had already served as VP nominees. [Update note: Enoch Holtwick born Jan. 3, 1881 has since been added]
Here's mosaic of this unique group and where they were between April 10, 1880 to April 19, 1881--
Charles Francis Adams Sr. (August 18, 1807 – November 21, 1886)
VP candidate for Free Soil Party 1848
In 1880 Adams realized his memory was failing him and he began to retreat from public life.
Charles C. Foote (March 30, 1811 – May 3, 1891)
VP candidate for National Liberty Party 1848
Presbyterian minister in Detroit, active with the Prohibition Party.
George Washington Julian (May 5, 1817 – July 7, 1899)
VP candidate for Free Soil Party 1852
In Irvington, Ind. retired from politics and following literary interests. Campaigned for the Democrats in 1880.
Charles Jones Jenkins (January 6, 1805 – June 14, 1883)
VP candidate for Union Party 1852
Trustee of the University of Georgia. Living in Summerville, Ga.
Reynell Coates (December 10, 1802 – April 27, 1886)
VP candidate for Native American Party (aka American Party) 1852
Living in Camden, NJ.
Joseph Lane (December 14, 1801 – April 19, 1881)
VP candidate for Constitutional Democratic Party 1860
Died April 19, 1881, Roseburg, Oregon.
Frederick Douglass (ca. February 1818 – February 20, 1895)
VP candidate for Equal Rights Party (aka People's Party aka Cosmo-Political Party aka National Radical Reformers) (1872)
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass published Jan. 1881. Appointed by President Garfield as Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia, March 1881.
John Quincy Adams II (September 22, 1833 – August 14, 1894)
VP candidate for Straight-Out Democratic Party (1872)
Attorney in Quincy, Mass. Had decided to retire from seeking public office.
Benjamin Gratz Brown (May 28, 1826 – December 13, 1885)
VP candidate for Liberal Republican Party and Democratic Party (1872)
Attorney in St. Louis with 8 children.
John Russell (September 20, 1822 - November 4, 1912)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1872)
Methodist minister, living in Marquette, Mich. Member of the Prohibition Party National Committee.
Samuel Fenton Cary (February 18, 1814 – September 29, 1900)
VP candidate for Greenback Party 1876
Attorney in Cincinnati and active on the lecture circuits.
Donald Kirkpatrick (September 9, 1830 - September 19, 1889)
VP candidate for American National Party (aka Anti-Masonic Party aka Anti-Secret Society Party) (1876)
Living in Syracuse, NY with his twin brother (both single) running a salt factory.
Gideon Tabor Stewart (August 7, 1824 - June 10, 1909)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1876)
Declined the Prohibition Party Presidential nomination, 1880. Attorney in Norwalk, Ohio.
Barzillai Jefferson Chambers (December 5, 1817 – September 16, 1895)
VP candidate for Greenback Party 1880
Nominated for VP by the Greenback Party in June 1880. Fell from a train in Kosse, Texas in July, rendering him out of commission for much of the campaign. Farmer in Cleburne, Texas.
Samuel Clarke Pomeroy (January 3, 1816 – August 27, 1891)
VP candidate for Anti-Masonic Party (aka American Party aka Anti-Secret Society Party aka National American Party) (1880)
Nominated for VP by the Anti-Masonic Party. Living in Washington, DC in 1880. "A few years ago when Samuel C. Pomeroy came into Atchison he was greeted by booming artillery, playing bands and shouting citizens. He passed through yesterday, but nobody seemed to care, and he went uninterruptedly from one depot to the other."--Atchison Globe, June 17, 1880.
Henry Adams Thompson (March 23, 1837 – July 8, 1920)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1880)
Nominated for VP by the Prohibition Party, June 1880. President of Otterbein University.
Absolom Madden West (1818 – September 30, 1894)
VP candidate for Greenback Party 1884
Ran for the US Senate in Mississippi under the Greenback Party in 1880. Ran for the Greenback Party Presidential nomination in 1880. He was defeated both times.
Marietta Lizzie Bell Stow (1830? – December 27, 1902)
VP candidate for Equal Rights Party (aka National Equal Rights Party) (1884)
VP candidate for National Woman Suffragists' Party (1892)
Ran for San Francisco School Director as part of the Greenback Party in 1880 and was defeated. In 1881 she formed the Women's Independent Political Party.
William Daniel (January 24, 1826 – October 13, 1897)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1884)
President of the Maryland Temperance Alliance.
John A. Colvin (January 8, 1841 - February 15, 1900)
VP candidate for Industrial Reform Party (1888)
Switched from the Democratic to Republican Party in 1880. Farmer in Wild Cat Township, Kan.
Peter Dinwiddie Wigginton (September 6, 1839 – July 7, 1890)
VP candidate for American Party (1888)
Moved to San Francisco in 1880. District Attorney of Merced County (Calif.)
William Harrison Thompson Wakefield (December 13, 1834 - July 26, 1913)
VP candidate for United Labor Party (1888)
Newspaper editor in Kansas.
Charles E. Cunningham (July 1, 1823 – April 21, 1895)
VP candidate for Union Labor Party (1888)
Farmer in Little Rock, Arkansas active in the Greenback Party.
John Anderson Brooks (June 3, 1836 – February 3, 1897)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1888)
A minister in Missouri and a Democrat. Became the President of the newly organized Prohibition State Alliance, July 4, 1880.
Charles Stuart Welles (February 22, 1848 - February 5, 1927)
VP candidate for Equal Rights Party (1888)
Daughter Utica, later Lady Utica Celestia Beecham, born 1881.
Charles Horatio Matchett (May 15, 1843 – October 23, 1919)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1892)
Living in Massachusetts?
James Gaven Field (February 24, 1826 – October 12, 1901)
VP candidate for People's Party (1892)
Virginia Attorney General (Conservative Party). Quoted Sept. 15, 1880, "We killed a great many Yankees during the War, and I wish we had killed twice as many more,-- enough to have given us the victory and our cause success."
James Britton Buchanan Boone Cranfill (September 12, 1858 – December 28, 1942)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1892)
A doctor in general medicine in Turnersville, Tex. Also opened J.B. Cranfill's Cash Store in 1880 and started a monthly newspaper, The Turnersville Effort, in Feb. 1881.
Simon Bolivar Buckner (April 1, 1823 – January 8, 1914)
VP candidate for National Democratic Party (1896)
Widowed and back at the family estate in Munfordville, Ky., restoring the place after neglect during the Civil War.
Hale Johnson (August 21, 1847 – November 4, 1902)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1896)
Attorney in Newton, Illinois. Active in regional Republican Party politics.
Matthew Maguire (June 28, 1850 (some sources have 1855) - January 1, 1917)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1896)
Secretary of the Spread the Light Club, a socialist group in Brooklyn, NY. Ran for Congress in Brooklyn under the Greenback/Socialist Labor fusion parties in 1880.
Thomas Edward Watson (September 5, 1856 – September 26, 1922)
VP candidate for People's Party (1896)
Active with the Democratic Party in Georgia at the state level.
James Haywood Southgate (July 12, 1859 – September 29, 1916)
VP candidate for National Prohibition Party (aka Liberty Party aka Silver Prohibitionists aka Free Silver Prohibitionists aka National Party) (1896)
Life and fire insurance agent in Durham, NC. Democrat.
Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (November 3, 1831 – January 1, 1901)
VP candidate for People's Party (aka Populist Party aka Middle of the Road Populists) (1900)
Living in Minnesota. Spent a good part of 1880 appealing to Congress to investigate his 1878 election loss and even attempted to bill them for his expenses in doing so. Also was working on his book, Atlantis: The Antediluvian World.
Henry Brewer Metcalf (April 2, 1829 – October 5, 1904)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1900)
Trustee of Tufts College. Involved with his Pawtucket Haircloth Company in Rhode Island.
David Herron Martin (Mar. 28, 1849 - 1933)
VP candidate for United Christian Party (1900)
Editor living in Bellevue, Penn., 1880.
Valentine Remmel (March 9, 1853 - May 9, 1929)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1900)
Working in a glass factory in the Pittsburgh area and living with three adult sisters. All are single.
Job Harriman (January 15, 1861 – October 26, 1925)
VP candidate for Social Democratic Party (1900)
Teenager in Jackson, Indiana.
Thomas Henry Tibbles (May 22, 1840 – May 14, 1928)
VP candidate for People's Party (aka Populist Party) (1904)
Journalist in Omaha. Published Ponca Chiefs (1880), which was written under the pen name "Zylyff", and Hidden Power (1881).
George Washington Carroll (April 1, 1855 - December 14, 1935)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1904)
Foreman in his father's saw mill company in Beaumont, Tex. Married and living in Jasper County, Tex.
Benjamin Hanford (1861 – January 24, 1910)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1904, 1908)
Printer in Chicago.
William Wesley Cox (February 5, 1865 — October 29, 1948)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1904)
Working on family farm, Madison County, Ill.
William C. Payne, b. 1867
VP candidate for National Negro Liberty Party (aka National Liberty Party aka Liberty Party aka Civil Liberty Party) (1904)
Teenage laborer on Tappahannock, Va.
Albert A. King (September 8, 1869 - February 29, 1908)
VP candidate for Continental Party (1904)
Boy in Missouri?
Lorenzo Stephen Coffin (April 29, 1823 - January 17, 1915)
VP candidate for United Christian Party (1908)
Farmer near Fort Dodge, Iowa. Involved in Grange activities.
Samuel Wardell Williams (February 7, 1851 – August 5, 1913)
VP candidate for People's Party (aka Populist Party) (1908)
Prosecuting Attorney of Knox County, Ind. ending in 1880.
John Temple Graves (November 9, 1856 – August 8, 1925)
VP candidate for Independence Party (aka Independence League aka National Independence League) (1908)
Teacher in Decatur, Ga.
Aaron Sherman Watkins (November 29, 1863 – February 9, 1941)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1908, 1912)
Teenager in Ohio.
Emil Seidel (December 13, 1864 – June 24, 1947)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1912)
Teenager working in a Milwaukee spice mill.
Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866 – August 6, 1945)
VP candidate for Progressive Party (aka Bull Moose Party) (1912)
Teenager in Sacramento, Calif.
August Gillhaus (June, 1867 - May 4, 1932)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Industrial Labor Party) (1912, 1920)
Boy in the New York City area.
John Milliken Parker, Sr. (March 16, 1863 – May 20, 1939)
VP candidate for Progressive Party (aka Bull Moose Party aka Middle-Road Progressive Party) (1916)
Teenager in Louisiana.
Ira Landrith (March 23, 1865 – October 11, 1941)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1916)
Teenager in Texas.
George Ross Kirkpatrick (February 24, 1867 – March 23, 1937)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1916)
Teenager in Ohio.
Caleb Leroy Harrison (September 20, 1879 - June 8, 1938)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1916)
Small boy in Pennsylvania.
Maximillian Sebastian Hayes (May 25, 1866 - October 11, 1945)
VP candidate for Farmer-Labor Party (1920)
Teenager in Fremont, Ohio.
Seymour Stedman (July 4, 1871 – July 9, 1948)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1920)
Sheep herder in the area of Solomon City, Kan.
Richard Clarence Barnum (July, 1879 - Aug. 27, 1961)
VP candidate for Single Tax Party (aka National Single Tax Party) (1920)
Small boy in Ellis County, Texas.
William Jervis Hough
VP candidate for American Party (1920)
He was busy being mysterious, even as a little kid.
David Leigh Colvin (January 28, 1880 – September 7, 1959)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1920)
Infant in Madison, Ohio.
Leander Lycurgus Pickett (February 8, 1859 - May 9, 1928)
VP candidate for American Party (aka Ku Klux Party aka Ku Klux Klan Party) (1924)
Married and with an infant child in Fannin County, Tex.
Marie Caroline Brehm (June 30, 1859 – January 21, 1926)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1924)
In Sandusky, Ohio.
John Cromwell Lincoln (July 17, 1866 - May 24, 1959)
VP candidate for Commonwealth Land Party (aka Single Tax Party) (1924)
Teenager in Blair, Illnois.
Wesley Henry Bennington (May 18, 1861 - October 30, 1928)
VP candidate for National Party (aka Greenback Party) (1928)
Teenager working in an iron factory, Blackbird, Del.
John Clinton McGee (June, 1863 - March 31, 1936?)
VP candidate for National Progressive Party (aka Progressive Party aka Bull Moose Party) (1928)
Teenager in Washington, DC where his father is a Post Office clerk.
Simon Peter William Drew (August 6, 1870 - December 12, 1934)
VP candidate for Interracial Independent Political Party (aka National Interracial Party) (1928)
Boy in Margarettsville, NC?
James Hudson Maurer (April 15, 1864 - March 16, 1944)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1928, 1932)
Teenage hat sizer in Reading, Penn.
James Arthur Edgerton (January 30, 1869 - December 3, 1938)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1928)
Boy in Ohio.
Jeremiah Daniel Crowley (May 2, 1875 - September 23, 1960)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1928)
Small boy in Onandaga, NY.
Frank Stewart Regan (October 3, 1862 – July 25, 1944)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1932)
Teenage store clerk in Rockford, Ill.
Julius J. Reiter (July 4, 1869 - November 29, 1940)
VP candidate for Farmer-Labor Party (1932)
Boy in Plainview, Minnesota.
Otis Lee Spurgeon (April 10, 1880 - April 5, 1942)
VP candidate for Liberty Party (Webb Faction) (aka New Liberty Party aka Liberal Party aka Liberty and Unity Party) (1932)
Born April 10, 1880 in Boone, Iowa.
Florence Garvin (February 27, 1876 - July 10, 1968)
VP candidate for National Party (aka Independent Party aka Greenback Party) (1932)
VP candidate for National Greenback Party (1936)
Girl in Cumberland, RI.
George A. Nelson (November 15, 1873 – May 4, 1962)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1936)
Boy in Wisconsin.
James Elmer Yates (March 12, 1874 - April 7, 1954)
VP candidate for Greenback Party (aka National Greenback Party) (1940)
Boy in Washington, Missouri.
Edgar Vaughn Moorman (January 21, 1878 - August 8, 1942)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (aka New Prohibition Party) (1940)
Boy in Big Spring, Ky.
Frank Jefferies (Aug. 4, 1874 - June 14, 1947)
VP candidate for Greenback Party (1944)
Boy in Deputy, Indiana.
Andrew Nathan Johnson (September 21, 1875 - August 30, 1959)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1944)
Boy in Kentucky.
Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass (February 14, 1874 - April 12, 1969)
VP candidate for Progressive Party (1952)
Girl in South Carolina.
John Orville Hopkins (July 19, 1876 - May 31, 1973)
VP candidate for Universal Party (1964)
Boy in Minnesota
Late addition:
Enoch Arden Holtwick (January 3, 1881- March 28, 1972)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1952)
Born January 3, 1881 in Rhineland, Mo.
Fun facts of the time slot:
1880 Apr. - Children in Cameron, NY later reported seeing tiny humanoids in shiny tight clothing and long fingers by a bridge.
1880 June 1 - US population is 50,155,783
1880 June 1 - First pay telephone, New Haven, Conn.
1880 June 3 - The Bush family of Cleveland claims mysterious blue flames show up and burn off their clothes.
1880 June 11 - Greenback Party nominates James B. Weaver and Barzillai J. Chambers.
1880 June 11 - Jeannette Rankin born (d. 1973)
1800 June 17 - Prohibition Party nominates Neal Dow and Henry Adams Thompson.
1880 June 27 - Helen Keller born (d. 1968)
1880 June? - Anti-Masonic Party nominates John W. Phelps and Samuel C. Pomeroy.
1880 July 12 - Tod Browning born (d. 1962)
1880 July 24 - First hydroelectric power plant, Grand Rapids, Mich.
1880 July 29 - A man with mechanical wings was alleged to have been seen in Louisville, Ky.
1880 Aug. 16 - Herschel Vespasian Johnson died (b. 1812)
1880 Aug. 22 - George Herriman born (d. 1944)
1880 Aug. 24 - Ouray died (b. ca. 1833)
1880 Sept. 12 - H.L. Mencken born (d. 1956)
1880 Oct. 4 - Damon Runyon born (d. 1954)
1880 Nov. 2 - James Garfield elected US President
1880 Nov. 4 - First cash register is patented.
1880 Nov. 8 - Sarah Bernhardt makes her US debut in New York.
1880 Nov. 10 - Jacob Epstein born (d. 1959)
1880 Dec. 24 - Johnny Gruelle born (d. 1938)
1880 Dec. 31 - George Marshall born (d. 1959)
1881 Jan. 3 - Anna McNeill Whistler (Whistler's Mother) died (b. 1804)
1881 Feb. 2 - Parkland earthquake, California. 5.6
1881 Feb. 5 - Phoenix, Ariz. incorporated.
1881 Feb. 14 - Fernando Wood died (b. 1812)
1881 Feb. 19 - Kansas is first state to embrace Prohibition.
1881 Mar. 4 - James A. Garfield inaugurated as the 20th President.
1881 Mar. 18 - Barnum and Bailey Circus debuts in New York.
1881 Apr. 8 - Mr. Strickland of Dent Township, Mo. reports an encounter with a creature matching the description of Sasquatch.
1881 Apr. 14 - Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight, El Paso, Tex.
1881 Apr. 16 - Bat Masterson's final gun battle, Dodge City, Kan.
