Samuel M. Bell

Samuel M. Bell

VP candidate for Liberty Party 1852

Running mate with nominee: William Goodell (1792-1878)
Popular vote: ?       
Electoral vote: 0/296

The campaign:
After being eclipsed by the Free Soil Party, the Liberty Party was a shadow of what it once was. They had to hold three conventions before finally having enough delegates to nominate a ticket in 1852. The Party selected William Goodell of New York and depending on what source you read, his running mate was either named Samuel M. Bell, or, Samuel M. Piper, or, S.M. Riper. Bell had been active with abolitionist activities in western Virginia since the 1840s. It appears Bell was a substitute VP as the convention originally nominated Charles C. Foote, who was the National Liberty Party VP candidate in 1848.

The voter turnout for the Liberty Party was so low they have to be counted in the "others" category which in 1852 was 2843 (0.1%).

Election history: ?

Other occupations: ?

Buried: ?

Notes:
Help us fill in the blanks.

John Anthony Quitman

John Anthony Quitman, September 1, 1798 (or 1799) (Rhinebeck, NY) – July 17, 1858 (Natchez, Miss.)

VP candidate for Southern Rights Party 1852

Running mate with nominee: George M. Troup (1780-1856)
Popular vote: 2,331 (0.07%)        
Electoral vote: 0/296

The campaign:
The Southern Rights Party had splintered off the Democratic Party by Southerners who had no faith in Franklin Pierce and strongly opposed the Compromise of 1850. In addition to being unapologetic advocates for slavery, they openly promoted secession from the Union. Although the Party rose and fell quite rapidly, they did anticipate the coming national conflict.

Former Georgia US Sen. George Troup was a lukewarm standard-bearer. Being in his early 70s he stated in a letter that he thought he would die soon (he died in 1856), didn't really want the nomination, and was going to vote for Pierce. His handlers managed to keep a lid on most of this until after the election. Former Mississippi Governor and Troupe's running mate John Anthony Quitman, was a transplanted Northerner but became pro-slavery "Fire-Eater" radical on the subject of secession.

The Southern Rights Party ticket was on the ballot in two states, with low percentages that had no impact on the outcome: Alabama 2,205 (4.99%) and Georgia 126 (0.20%).

Election history:
1826-1827 - Mississippi House of Representatives (National Republican)
1835-1836 - Mississippi State Senate (Whig)
1835-1836 - Governor of Mississippi (Whig) - acting Gov. as Pres. of Senate
1848 - Vice-Presidential nominee for Democratic Party - defeated
1850-1851 - Governor of Mississippi (Democratic)
1851 - Governor of Mississippi (Democratic) - dropped out of race
1855-1858 - US House of Representatives (Miss.) (Democratic)
1856 - Vice-Presidential nominee for Democratic Party - defeated

Other occupations: teacher, attorney, delegate to Mississippi state constitutional convention 1832, State Court Judge in Mississippi 1838, General in the Army during the US-Mexican War, Military Governor of Mexico City during US occupation,

Buried: Natchez City Cemetery (Natchez, Miss.)

Notes:
Was the leader on the first two Democratic convention votes for VP nominee in 1856, but lost to John Breckinridge on the 3rd vote.
Was the runner-up on Democratic convention votes for VP nominee in 1848 but lost to William O. Butler.
Freemason.
First President of the Aztec Club.
Was involved in the near invasion of Cuba (one sanctioned by the US, one not) on two different occasions during the era he ran for Vice-President.
Was forced to resign as Governor in order to defend himself in court due to his first foray into Cuban invasion plans but he was not convicted.
If elected VP in 1852 he would have become President upon the death of Troup in 1856.
Died as a result of the mysterious National Hotel Disease.
Was encouraged by his Prussian born father to become a Lutheran minister.
President of an anti-gambling society and anti-duelling society in Natchez in the 1820s.
Quitman County, Miss. created in 1877 in his honor.
The city of Quitman, Miss., named in his honor 1839.
Plantation owner ("Monmouth") with over 50 slaves.
Once engaged in a fistfight with his opponent during a public election debate.
Neither Troupe or Quitman lived long enough to experience the Civil War.

Reynell Coates

Reynell Coates, December 10, 1802 (Philadelphia, Penn.) – April 27, 1886 (Camden, NJ)

VP candidate for Native American Party (aka American Party) 1852

Running mate with nominee: Jacob Broom (1808-1864)
Popular vote: 2,667 (0.08%)        
Electoral vote: 0/296

The campaign:
It would be another four years before the "Know Nothings" would be a significant force in a presidential election. In 1852 the xenophobic, anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant party was still building steam. At the start of their July 1852 convention they were called the Native American Party with a ticket of Daniel Webster and George Corbin Washington (Pres. Washington's grandnephew) but by Election Day they were the American Party with the ticket of Jacob Broom and Reynell Coates.

They nominated US Sec. of State Daniel Webster without his blessing or permission with George Washington Corbin as his running mate. It is unclear exactly when Coates was made the running mate, since Washington apparently dropped out as the VP nominee. When Webster died 9 days before the election on Oct. 24, 1852, the hastily paired names of Jacob Broom and Reynell Coates appeared on the ballots in three states. The results were dismal for the American Party: Mass. 158 (0.12%), PA 1,678 (0.43%), NJ 831 (0.88%).

Election history: none.

Other occupations: physician, US Navy ship's surgeon, natural scientist, scientific and medical author and editor, poet.

Buried: Friends Southwestern Burial Ground (Upper Darby, Penn.)

Notes:
Apprentice to Dr. Benjamin Rush.
Founder of the Patriotic Order Sons of America 1847, a youth offshoot of the United Sons of 
  America, a secret fraternity associated with the Native American Party.
Went bankrupt in 1844.
Quaker.
Said to have slapped Andrew Jackson in the face during a political argument in 1829.
Had an intense dislike of homeopathy.
Moved to Camden, NJ in 1845 after the death of his wife and only child.
"When he went over the river he had little money and less inclination for work, and used to sleep on a board with a block of wood for a pillow, in a little room over the Camden dispensary. When he got hungry he used to go and catch a mess of fish which he fried in his chamber, where he did all his cooking."--From his obituary in the Boston Daily Globe, Apr. 28, 1886. 

Charles Jones Jenkins

Charles Jones Jenkins, January 6, 1805 (Beaufort, SC) – June 14, 1883 (Augusta, Ga.)

VP candidate for Union Party 1852

Running mate with nominee: Daniel Webster (1782-1852)
Popular vote: 6,994 (0.22%)        
Electoral vote: 0/296

The campaign:

The short-lived Union Party consisted mostly of Whigs from the Southern States who could not accept Winfield Scott as the mainstream Whig nominee. They nominated US Sec. of State Daniel Webster of Massachusetts for President with Jenkins as his running mate. Webster did not seek this nomination, nor did he protest it. Webster was also nominated by the Native American Party but with a different running mate.

In spite of the fact Webster died 9 days before the election on Oct. 24, 1852, the Webster/Jenkins ticket was still on the ballot in their homes states where they polled 5,324 (8.50%) in Georgia and 1,670 (1.31%) in Massachusetts.


Election history:
1830 - Georgia House of Representatives (States' Rights Democrat)
1831-1834 - Attorney General of Georgia
1834 - Georgia House of Representatives - defeated
1836-1841- Georgia House of Representatives (Whig)
1842 - Georgia House of Representatives (Whig) - defeated
1843 - Georgia House of Representatives (Whig)
1845 - Georgia House of Representatives (Whig)
1847 - Georgia House of Representatives (Whig)
1849-1850 - Georgia House of Representatives (Whig)
1853 - Governor of Georgia (Union Party) - defeated
1856 - Georgia State Senate (Union Party)
1865-1868 - Governor of Georgia (Conservative/Democratic)

Other occupations: attorney, Justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia 1860-1866, President of the Georgia State Constitutional Convention of 1877, University of Georgia Trustee 1871-1883

Buried: Summerville Cemetery (Augusta, Ga.)

Notes:
Author of the Georgia Platform which supported the Compromise of 1850.
Fled Georgia and the governorship, taking the State Seal with him, during Reconstruction. During 18 months of his exile status he lived in Europe and returned to Georgia in 1870.
Two presidential electors from Georgia pledged to Horace Greeley in the 1872 election cast their votes for Jenkins due to Greeley's death before the Electoral College met.
Jenkins County. Ga. created 1905 is named in his honor.
Speaker of the Georgia House 1840, 1843, 1845, 1847.
Presbyterian.
Declined an offer for Sec. of Interior by President Fillmore in 1851
Was considered for the position of CSA Attorney General
Initially opposed secession but supported it after the Civil War began.

George Washington Julian

George Washington Julian, May 5, 1817 (Centerville, Ind.) – July 7, 1899 (Irvington, Ind.)

VP candidate for Free Soil Party 1852
Running mate with nominee: John P. Hale (1806-1873)
Popular vote: 155,210 (4.91%)    
Electoral vote: 0/296

The campaign: This was something of a replay of the previous two presidential elections except in this case the abolitionist third party did not impact the outcome since Franklin Pierce won in an electoral landslide. This election took place in sort of a weird lull between the Compromise of 1850 and the rise of "Bleeding Kansas." The giants of the Senate Clay, Calhoun and Webster were dying off and the political winds were starting to shift.

There were some other third parties that were on the ballot-- Union Party, Native American Party, and Southern Rights Party-- and they collectively failed to gain even .05% so for now I'll pass them by and perhaps return in the course of this survey.

The Free Soil Party was on the ballot in 19 states, all in the North plus California. They placed third in every contest with their best showing in Maine (9.77%), Ohio (8.98%), Michigan (8.73%), and Illinois (6.36%). After this election the Free Soil Party merged with other political groups, such as the Whigs, to form the Republican Party. George Washington Julian was part of this transition.


Election history:
1845 Indiana House of Representatives (Whig)
1849-1851 US House of Representatives (Indiana) (Free Soil)
1851 US House of Representatives (Indiana) (Free Soil) - defeated
1854 US House of Representatives (Indiana) (Free Soil) - defeated
1860-1871 US House of Representatives (Indiana) (Republican)
1870 Primary, US House of Representatives (Indiana) (Republican) - defeated
1872 Nominee for Vice-President (Liberal Republican Party) - defeated

Other occupations: teacher, attorney, author, Surveyor General of New Mexico 1885-1889

Buried: Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana

Notes:
Raised in a Quaker household but converted to Unitarianism.
Son-in-law of Ohio Congressman Joshua Reed Giddings of whom he wrote a biography in 1892
Allied himself with the Democratic Party after 1872.
Was considered an extremist and radical regarding abolition and women's suffrage.
Is buried in the same cemetery as fellow unsuccessful Vice-Presidential candidates William Hayden English and John W. Kern, Democrats who ran in 1880 and 1908. Among the many other notables buried there is John Dillinger.
After the Civil War he supported the idea of executing of Jefferson Davis and also the impeachment of President Johnson.
Quotes about George Washington Julian:
"It is not a pleasant countenance to look upon, but rather grim and belligerent, touched perhaps with a little sense of weary sadness, which grows as you observe. Mr. Julian's head, face, and figure, is of the Round-head, Cromwellian type."--June 14, 1866, Observer
"Nature was in one of her most generous moods when she formed him, for he towers above the people like a mountain surrounded by hills. He dwells in a higher atmosphere and snuffs a purer air than most Congressmen, and this may account for his always being found in the right place, never doubtful. People know just what George Washington Julian will do in any national crisis."--Philadelphia Press, Mar. 3, 1868
"He uses vinegar when he might scatter sugar."--Gazette (Cincinnati) Feb. 14, 1870