This Clements Chronicles blog entry begins a series of periodic posts, each of which contains a complete transcription of a letter, document, or other manuscript, but is provided with only minimal notes about its context. We hope that they will inspire curiosity, encourage research, invite analysis and conversation, and expand awareness of materials held by the Clements Library.
This transcription is dedicated to all the poll workers and clerks whose careful procedures and work keep democracy a democracy, and to everyone who has suffered disenfranchisement at the hands of voter suppression. – CJS
Content statement: This letter includes derogatory language. Read our Harmful Language Statement here.
Clerk’s account of the 1880 U.S. Election, written to his wife.
Letter from John P. Varnum to Josephine Varnum, November 6, 1880; Jacksonville, Florida.
My dear Wife:
I have been so
busy since my return from Mad-
ison county that I have not
had opporatunity for writing – I
went up to Madison Sunday
night driving there at about 4
oclock Monday morning – I found
no hotel but a young democrat
named Shaw who took me for a
drummer found me a place to
sleep till daylight – I did not
get up till about ten oclock –
I found Madison in a deal of
2
excitement – Crackers with shot
guns were coming in rapidly – on
horseback and were collecting in Knots
about the streets, drinking &c – As
I walked up the street I found
all the stores closed – A little shop
on the street was open – a sort of
blacksmith or wheelwrights shop in
which two men were busy
cleaning and polishing up muskets –
Returning to my lodging a young
cracker engaged in conversation with
me – He said “the young men up
at Tallahassee boxed four United States
3
Marshals last night – I asked him
what he meant by boxing – He
said the boys put them on the train
and made them “light out” – He said =
There are some here in Madison and
the boys are going to do them the
same way at eleven o’clock – He
said that if the boys th Marshals didn’t
go they would get Killed – The boys
wouldn’t fool with them a minute –
(I had not come as a marshal
but as a private citizen-)
I had not then heard that any
Marshals had come up from Jackson-
4
ville, so I didn’t pay any at-
tention to what was said –
I strolled about town but soon
found I was spotted – I walked
down toward the depot to find
some colored man whom I
might ask where Eagan lived –
A little out of town two young
men passed me in wagons –
One of them said in a loud
tone, intended for my ears, “I
wonder what G— D— scoundrel
that is!” The other said “I don’t
know” – The first one resumed = “Some
5
G— D— spy, I reckon – I’ll
bet I can get down and whip
him in five minutes” –
I found E. J. Alexander who
drove me out to Eagan’s – I there
found Burke and Sammis of Jackson-
ville who had that morning been
ordered to leave town – Frank de
Medici, another marshal had got
scared and had gone back – We
were a mile and a half from town
but we could shortly hear the yells
and shootings of the drunken mob
in town – A colored man came out
6
and reported that a mob was forming
to come out and hang Eagan and
the marshals but that Willard, the
Sheriff, who got a taste of the
U.S. Court two years ago, was
preventing it – As dark came on
a the negroes came in with shot
guns and surrounded the house –
About two hundred of them guarded
it all night – Sammis left for
Moseley Hall and Burke for Ella-
ville at dark – At two in the
morning of Tuesday we got up and
after breakfast Eagan and I started
7 –
for town – At the railroad
Eagan left me and I, with 20
men, went up to near the depot
and stayed in the dark till the
train came – It did not come
till just before 5 – When it
did come I left the darkies
walked up to it and got into
the sleeper – Word had been
sent to Greenville for darkies
to meet me there – Word had
also been sent by the democrats
8
that a marshal named Varney
was coming and must be
disposed of “according to law” –
The distance from Madison to
Greenville is 15 miles – As the train
stopped I stood on the steps of
the sleeper and looked forward –
I saw in the gray light a
crowd of men – I got off and
walked to them – As I reached
them I saw they were black –
“Hollo, boys”, I said, “I’m your
man” – They gave a little shout
9
and surrounded me – “We
got him – Here he” – they shouted
I saw then several white men
jump off the platforms of the cars
and come toward us but the
darkies flocked about me and we
walked rapidly down the road
to a little church where we
stayed till day –
We had a sad day – no
disturbance, but threats and savage
looks – We polled 389 votes –
262 republican votes and 127
democratic – a republican majority
10
of 135 – I stood all day right
in front of the polls about a hundred
feet from it on the side of the
steep hill, surrounded by colored
men who obeyed me implicitly
in every order I gave – In the
evening when the count began
I went to the window but we
were surrounded by crackers
who carried every where that
day huge clap clasp Knifes
open it in their hands – The
colored men took me forcibly
11 –
away, back to my station on the
hillside – They built two fires there
and, surrounded by fifty colored men,
armed only with clubs, I prepared to
stay till morning –
The republican U.S. superviser
inside the polls was a Mr. Stripling
whose boy belongs to the crowd of
Greenville cut throats – Stripling
was safe from personal harm on
that account – The inspectors began
counting tickets – no – not counting but
tallying votes without first counting
the number of votes ^or tickets in the box –
12 –
That you may understand just
how the fraud was committed I
will explain that as the voters deposit
their ballots during the day an inspector
“checks” each name on the registration
list and the clerk writes his name
each name on a new list which
is made as the voting progresses – This
list is called the poll list – The names,
as written, are numbered consecutively
When the poll closes the inspectors
open the box and first count the
number of votes or ballots in the box –
If they exceed the number of names
on the poll list they are put in
13 –
the box again and a blindfolded
inspector draws out the surplus –
It sometimes happens that a
surplus of three or four ballots
are found –
The inspectors at Greenville
began by tallying votes – That is,
they the inspector who took the tickets
from the box opened and read
them as they were taken out, the
clerk tallying – After about one
hundred votes were out a big
lowd loud voiced democrat came to
the window and raised a row
14
about it – He said it was all wrong –
They must begin all over – They
discussed it awhile and then shovelled
the ballots back in the box – Of course
the clumsiest man in the world
could have added handfuls to the
heap in front of him during that
discussion – They were counted –
There were 39 too many ballots
in the box – They were dis-
satisfied and poured them out and
counted them again – That time they
increased it to fifty three surplus –
The inspector was blindfolded –
15 –
The democratic tickets were printed
on tissue paper the republican tickets
on common newspaper stock – 43
republican tickets and 10 democratic
tickets were drawn out and destroyed
Our majority was reduced from
135 to 49 –
Meanwhile, outside the
polls things were lively – I will
not trouble you with all the
sickening details of that nights
cussedness – At about one in the
morning after various efforts g to get
16
me away from the darkies had failed –
A darkey crept in from the dark
and whispered to me that he had
heard one of the gang outside say
that there was plenty of time
before morning to get a pass at me –
“Wait”, he said, “till the niggers all
get to sleep” – Sure enough half
of them were asleep already – We
had it a gun in the crowd – I
only had my pistol but no ex-
tra cartridges for that – Very shortly
twelve or fourteen of the worst of
17
the democratic gang came to our
fire and sandwiched into our crowd –
We had noticed with alarm that some
of them had mounted horses and had
ridden out into the country – I watched
the scoundrels closely wondering what it
meant – I soon found out – Those
on the front began to talk loudly
to the darkies – “Oh, well, boys”, they
said, “its all over” – “We have got the
State anyhow – Leet’s have a political
meeting now and all belong to the
same party and have a big hurrah”
I watched them closely, almost too
long – for glancing over my shoulder
18 –
to see what was tal taking
place around me I was startled
at discovering creeping cat like
through the crowd at my left a
man named Jack Hines – a big
murderous looking villain – Of course
the fire gave little light – the darkies
were attracted by what Ben Horn
was saying in front and this
fellow was carrying out his part
of the programme – He had a
huge white oak stick in his hand
and when I saw him he was in the
very act of striking me – I covered him
19
with my pistol – We glared at
each other for a terrible half-
minute and he backed away into
the dark – By this time nearly every
colored man was awake and they
crowded closely about me – Dr. Bythe-
wood came up and in a loud tone
demanded “Where is that man with
the white hat?” No one replied –
My white straw had marked me
all day – Ben McKee, a colored
deputy marshal, caught me around
the body – “Mr. Varnum”, he said “I
am going to die by you tonight –
20
They have fixed up a plan
to murder you and unless you can
get out of here they will do it – Come
with me – We will walk right
up the hill into the dark and then
run” – I refused to go – I thought
Jacksonville would laugh at me
if I did it – I though too I
stood the best chance ^by staying with the
crowd – Five minutes later a
big fire was started, down near
the depot – I saw they had brought
in a wagon and I saw a man
dressed in a strange garb of white
21 –
cloth – we learn since there were five
of them – I confess I began to feel,
deep down in my boots, the fear of
death – A few minutes later a
loud yell came up from the depot
and then the cry “We are ready
fror for your meeting” – Then a
another voice = “Put out your pickets” –
Almost instantly the democrats in
our crowd drew out and walked
down to the polls – I turned to
Ben – I lose all my nervousness –
I needed no more to convince me
I was to be hanged –
22 –
I said : “Ben, we will go” –
By some strange common under-
standing, without an order being given
the darkies threw a load of wet
moss on the fire – some colored
man pulled my hat off and put
his own black one on my head
and Ben and I walked out into
the dark – I give you my
word I walked up that hill
expecting to find it posted, ex-
pecting death – For just a second
of time I saw in my mind the
sun rising on that hill, saw myself
23 –
lying on the road and saw you
standing there looking at me –
We passed over the hill, by a
long white fence and turned into
the woods – Ben said, “Run” –
We ran several hundred yards
to ^a fence and turning back found
five colored men following – We
sent them back – “Get into town
without being noticed – We will find
our way to Madison if we can –
Good night – God bless you” –
Ben and I turned and started toward
24
the east – We followed the edge
of the big swamp nearly half a mile –
We heard at last the yells behind us
that told us we were missed –
“How far ahead is the road, Ben”?
“Just a little way, Sir” – “Does it cross
the swamp?” “Yes, Sir” – “Will it
not be posted?” “I am afraid so,
Sir” – Just then, right a head,
an owl hooted – Then away to
the South west another hooted –
“My God,” I said, “they have posted
the whole country” – “Can we
25
cross the swamp, Ben, without
going to the road?” “Yes, Sir, It is
about waist deep and about two miles
through” – “Come on” – We “piled
into” the swamp – a briar caught
my eye and tore my face and
eyelids badly – We were shortly up
to our bodies in water – The night
was cloudy – a drizzling rain was
falling – we could not see the stars –
In ten minutes we were hopelessly
lost – It was then about two
or half past two o’clock – We sat
down upon a log and laughed to
26
think how strange a fix we were
in – “We are safe in here” I said –
“Safe if they don’t beat the swamp
for us” said Ben – I hadn’t thought
of that – We Kept on walking till
six o’clock – We came out exactly
where we went in – We followed
the edge of the swamp till we
came to some shanties – Ben
crawled up to them found everything
safe and sent for me – We stayed
till night and then, taking three
young negro boys with us, walked
down the main road right back
into town – We stopped in the
27 –
dark near the same old
polling booth till the train came
and then Ben and I slipped down
and entered the train – We had not
been in the car five minutes before
Maston O’Neill, one of the crowd
who had tried to Kill us the night
before, came in and sat down
opposite – He examined me
closely and then just as the con-
ductor should shouted “All aboard”
went out and jumped off on the
piney woods side of the train –
28 –
I immediately pulled down
the blind – The train started –
“Bang“! If I had been sitting
straight in my seat my left side
would have been toward the window
I was sitting sideways with my
back to the window – I started –
– felt a strange dull pain in
my shoulder and turned to the window
The bottom of the sash was all
torn to pieces – I threw myself
on the floor of the car – Someone
rung the train down – I shouted
29
in my fright, “go on, damn
you, ring the train ahead – I am
not dangerously hurt – I am shot
in my right side” – The conductor
who was terribly frightened rang the
train on and the engineer who had
heard the report turned on full
steam – They took me into the
fr sleeper and examined my back –
My shoulder was black and blue
and the skin broken – My clothes
were not pierced – The ball had
struck the sash, torn off the brass
30
lifting attachment, had become
flattened of course and deadened and
came to a full stop against
my shoulder blade – An inch
higher and you would have been
a widow – I suppose – If the
ball had struck nothing but the
glass it would have passed
diagonally through me from
my left right side, behind, to my
left side in front – I have
the bullet and the old black hat –
I prize the hat because if I had
[page 31]
worn my white one out of the
crowd that night I should
have been seen – I will send
you the hat – The bullet
I will keep till we see if
it is possible for us to arrest
and try O’Neill
Yours, faithfully,
Jno. P. Varnum
Jacksonville, Fla.,
Nov. 6th 1880
[written perpendicularly in the right margin]
Don’t let any publisher get this –
I am going to write a better
account for the papers when I
get time
Monday –
W. H. Whitney, of Gainesville,
(“Whit”-) is dead –
Died here this morning
of congestion
Box has come OK