1864 New Hampshire National Union Republican Ballot

With Electors Pledged to Abraham Lincoln of Illinois for President

and Andrew Johnson of Tennessee for Vice President

___________________________________________

Meet the only five people from New Hampshire to have the privilege to vote directly for Abraham Lincoln for president in 1864

New Hampshire did not print official ballots for state-wide use until 1892. Previously, voting was not a private exercise. Candidates and political parties published their own ballots of various shapes, sizes and colors, distributing them to their supporters. On Election Day, a person would go to the polls and cast his vote with a balloting "ticket" provided by one of these parties or candidates. According to NH. historian Leon W. Anderson, this open practice “led to promiscuous fraud, and vote buying, as ballots could be readily identified by observers when extended by voters as they were dropped into the polling boxes.”* New Hampshire was one of the first states to adopt the so-called “Australian,” or secret ballot process we use today, in the legislative session of 1891.

The men listed on this ballot are New Hampshire’s Presidential Electors to the Electoral College pledged to the Lincoln-Johnson ticket. Final national electoral vote: Abraham Lincoln: 212, General George McClellan 21.The electors, all of whom were distinguished New Hampshire citizens, are identified below – Dean Dexter

William H. Y. Hackett of Portsmouth, 1800-1878, school teacher, lawyer, banker, state representative, state senate president, 1862-1863, elector for Whig Party in 1852, delegate to the Republican National Convention 1872, nominating President Ulysses S. Grant for a second term, and New Hampshire native Henry Wilson for vice president.
Daniel M. Christie of Dover, 1790-1876, lawyer, long-time head of NH state bar, state representative for 11 terms, railroad director, twice declined office of NH Supreme Court Chief Justice.
Archibald H. Dunlap of Nashua, 1817-1894, founder of a large garden and flower seed company, church deacon, director Nashua & Rochester Railroad, state railroad commissioner for a three year term starting 1858, two term state representative, 1869-1870.
Allen Giffin of Marlow and Keene, 1802-1887, school teacher, banker, state legislator, selectman, register of probate, member executive council, 1857-1858.
Henry O. Kent of Lancaster, 1834-1909, banker, newspaper editor and publisher (Coos Republican), state senator, 1885-1886, clerk of the house, 1885-1859, joined the Democrats in 1874, unsuccessful candidate for congress in 1875 against Henry W. Blair of Plymouth, and for governor in 1894 against Charles A. Busiel of Laconia. Appointed Naval Officer, Port of Boston by President Cleveland, 1886-1890.

*To This Day, The 300 Years of the New Hampshire Legislature, Leon W. Anderson, Phoenix Publishing, Canaan, NH, 1981. Pages 187-188.

1864 balloting ticket found in a family bible, Dean Dexter Collection. Authenticity verified by New Hampshire Secretary of State William M. Gardner, June 7, 2012.

Posted: January 12, 2014

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