In January 1890, the Shell Manifesto was released by the Farmers' Association and it denounced the current Conservative Democratic state government while calling for a convention to be held in March. It was signed by the President of the Farmers' Association, George Washington Shell, but it was written by Ben Tillman who sought to manipulate the Association into supporting his candidacy for governor. The manifesto called for the nomination of candidates for statewide office, with the intent of giving Tillman an early advantage over his Conservative Democrat rivals.
The Farmers' Association convened in Columbia on March 27 and immediately a call was made by W. Jasper Talbert to vote on proceeding with nominations for the statewide ticket. However, the tally from the delegates was 116 votes against nominations and 115 for nominations. Nevertheless, Talbert turned a one-vote defeat into a six-vote victory by switching votes of delegates without their consent and allowing votes of an unseated delegation from Beaufort County. The official vote to proceed with nominations stood at 120 to 114 and Talbert then simply announced the nomination of Tillman for governor without even obtaining a vote from the delegation.
Democratic Campaignedit
Conservative Democratsedit
The Conservatives and the state press condemned the Farmers' Association for trying to disrupt the unity of the state Democratic party. In addition, they stressed that if the Farmers' Associations candidates failed to achieve nomination at the Democratic convention, then their cause would lose all relevancy. Furthermore, the News and Courier conducted a straw poll of over a thousand residents in the state and released the results showing that John Calhoun Sheppard was the most favored candidate for governor, followed by Johnson Hagood and in third was Ben Tillman.
An anti-Tillman farmers convention was organized by the Conservatives and held in Columbia on April 23. Politics remained out of the public discourse at the conference, but discussions were ongoing in private to determine and select the man best to oppose Tillman for governor at the Democratic convention. In the end, they settled on John Bratton because he was a farmer and not a career politician. Many Conservatives disapproved of the choice of Bratton and instead favored either former Governor James L. Orr or Joseph H. Earle. The lack of unity on the part of the Conservatives was troubling as they were facing a formidable opponent in Tillman, who had unified most of the farmers behind his candidacy and was steadily gaining strength in the state.
Aware that Tillman was winning control of the Democratic party organization, the Conservatives pressed for a primary election to select delegates to the state nominating convention. Tillman had long called for primary elections, but he refused to endorse it when he sensed that he had greater strength in the county organization. The Executive Committee of the state Democratic Party called for a state convention in August to consider it nonetheless.
On July 10, a conference of straightout Democrats led by A.C. Haskell was held in Columbia to discuss a possible primary and how best to defeat Tillman. Among those attending, were Wade Hampton and other leaders of the Democratic Party who had redeemed the state from Radical Republican rule in 1876. A call was issued for the formation of new Democratic clubs in the counties because Tillman's forces had so thoroughly taken over control of the county party machinery. However, despite the best efforts of the Conservatives, they were too late in the game and failed to generate enough support in order to block the election of delegates for Tillman.
Democratic Conventionsedit
At the August 13 convention called by the state Democratic Executive Committee to consider primary elections, the assembled delegates installed Tillmanites in leadership positions and soundly defeated calls for a primary election. A month later at the nominating convention on September 15, Tillman's supporters had an even greater majority than the preceding convention and Tillman was selected as the governor without opposition.
Straightout Democratsedit
Many Democrats resigned to their fate and accepted the choice of Tillman, but a few hardcore Conservatives bolted from the convention to form a Straightout Democrat ticket. They met on October 9 in Columbia and nominated A.C. Haskell as their choice for governor along with a full statewide ticket. The delegates wore red shirts to evoke memories of the Straightout Democrat victory in the 1876 gubernatorial election.
Most of the newspapers in the state disagreed with the decision of the Conservatives to adopt a separate statewide ticket and even Wade Hampton refused to vote for the Straightout ticket. Haskell tried to gain the support of black voters, but they rebuffed his advances because of his harsh methods he used against the blacks in the 1876 campaign. The state Republican party decided to endorse Haskell because Tillman wanted to disfranchise the black voters of the state.
"Election Returns." Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina at the Regular Session Commencing November 25, 1890. Volume I. Columbia, SC: James H. Woodrow, 1891, p. 604.
"A Sensation in Columbia". The News and Courier. November 22, 1890. p. 2.
Cooper, William J. Jr. (2005). The Conservative Regime: South Carolina, 1877-1890. University of South Carolina Press. pp. 185–203. ISBN1-57003-597-0.
Simkins, Francis Butler (1964). The Tillman movement in South Carolina. Duke University Press. pp. 103–134.
External linksedit
SCIway Biography of Governor Benjamin Ryan Tillman
1890, south, carolina, gubernatorial, election, held, tuesday, november, elect, governor, south, carolina, tillman, nominated, democrats, easily, general, election, against, haskell, become, 84th, governor, south, carolina, 1888, november, 1890, 1892, nominee,. The 1890 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday November 4 to elect the governor of South Carolina Ben Tillman was nominated by the Democrats and easily won the general election against A C Haskell to become the 84th governor of South Carolina 1890 South Carolina gubernatorial election 1888 November 4 1890 1892 Nominee Ben Tillman A C Haskell Party Democratic Straightout Democrat Alliance Republican Popular vote 59 159 14 828 Percentage 79 8 20 0 County Results Tillman 50 54 55 59 gt 65 Haskell 60 64 gt 65 Governor before election John Peter Richardson III Democratic Elected Governor Benjamin Tillman Democratic Contents 1 Farmers Association Convention 2 Democratic Campaign 2 1 Conservative Democrats 2 2 Democratic Conventions 2 3 Straightout Democrats 3 General election 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksFarmers Association Convention editIn January 1890 the Shell Manifesto was released by the Farmers Association and it denounced the current Conservative Democratic state government while calling for a convention to be held in March It was signed by the President of the Farmers Association George Washington Shell but it was written by Ben Tillman who sought to manipulate the Association into supporting his candidacy for governor The manifesto called for the nomination of candidates for statewide office with the intent of giving Tillman an early advantage over his Conservative Democrat rivals The Farmers Association convened in Columbia on March 27 and immediately a call was made by W Jasper Talbert to vote on proceeding with nominations for the statewide ticket However the tally from the delegates was 116 votes against nominations and 115 for nominations Nevertheless Talbert turned a one vote defeat into a six vote victory by switching votes of delegates without their consent and allowing votes of an unseated delegation from Beaufort County The official vote to proceed with nominations stood at 120 to 114 and Talbert then simply announced the nomination of Tillman for governor without even obtaining a vote from the delegation Democratic Campaign editConservative Democrats edit The Conservatives and the state press condemned the Farmers Association for trying to disrupt the unity of the state Democratic party In addition they stressed that if the Farmers Associations candidates failed to achieve nomination at the Democratic convention then their cause would lose all relevancy Furthermore the News and Courier conducted a straw poll of over a thousand residents in the state and released the results showing that John Calhoun Sheppard was the most favored candidate for governor followed by Johnson Hagood and in third was Ben Tillman An anti Tillman farmers convention was organized by the Conservatives and held in Columbia on April 23 Politics remained out of the public discourse at the conference but discussions were ongoing in private to determine and select the man best to oppose Tillman for governor at the Democratic convention In the end they settled on John Bratton because he was a farmer and not a career politician Many Conservatives disapproved of the choice of Bratton and instead favored either former Governor James L Orr or Joseph H Earle The lack of unity on the part of the Conservatives was troubling as they were facing a formidable opponent in Tillman who had unified most of the farmers behind his candidacy and was steadily gaining strength in the state Aware that Tillman was winning control of the Democratic party organization the Conservatives pressed for a primary election to select delegates to the state nominating convention Tillman had long called for primary elections but he refused to endorse it when he sensed that he had greater strength in the county organization The Executive Committee of the state Democratic Party called for a state convention in August to consider it nonetheless On July 10 a conference of straightout Democrats led by A C Haskell was held in Columbia to discuss a possible primary and how best to defeat Tillman Among those attending were Wade Hampton and other leaders of the Democratic Party who had redeemed the state from Radical Republican rule in 1876 A call was issued for the formation of new Democratic clubs in the counties because Tillman s forces had so thoroughly taken over control of the county party machinery However despite the best efforts of the Conservatives they were too late in the game and failed to generate enough support in order to block the election of delegates for Tillman Democratic Conventions edit At the August 13 convention called by the state Democratic Executive Committee to consider primary elections the assembled delegates installed Tillmanites in leadership positions and soundly defeated calls for a primary election A month later at the nominating convention on September 15 Tillman s supporters had an even greater majority than the preceding convention and Tillman was selected as the governor without opposition Straightout Democrats edit Many Democrats resigned to their fate and accepted the choice of Tillman but a few hardcore Conservatives bolted from the convention to form a Straightout Democrat ticket They met on October 9 in Columbia and nominated A C Haskell as their choice for governor along with a full statewide ticket The delegates wore red shirts to evoke memories of the Straightout Democrat victory in the 1876 gubernatorial election Most of the newspapers in the state disagreed with the decision of the Conservatives to adopt a separate statewide ticket and even Wade Hampton refused to vote for the Straightout ticket Haskell tried to gain the support of black voters but they rebuffed his advances because of his harsh methods he used against the blacks in the 1876 campaign The state Republican party decided to endorse Haskell because Tillman wanted to disfranchise the black voters of the state General election editThe general election was held on November 4 1890 and Ben Tillman was elected as governor of South Carolina only losing the counties of Beaufort and Berkeley to Haskell Turnout increased for this election over the previous election because it was the first contested general election for governor since the gubernatorial election of 1882 1890 South Carolina Gubernatorial Election Party Candidate Votes Democratic Ben Tillman 59 159 79 8 20 2 Straightout Democrat A C Haskell 14 828 20 0 20 0 No party Write Ins 137 0 2 0 2 Majority 44 331 59 8 40 2 Turnout 74 124 Democratic holdSee also editGovernor of South Carolina List of governors of South Carolina South Carolina gubernatorial electionsReferences edit Election Returns Reports and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina at the Regular Session Commencing November 25 1890 Volume I Columbia SC James H Woodrow 1891 p 604 A Sensation in Columbia The News and Courier November 22 1890 p 2 Cooper William J Jr 2005 The Conservative Regime South Carolina 1877 1890 University of South Carolina Press pp 185 203 ISBN 1 57003 597 0 Simkins Francis Butler 1964 The Tillman movement in South Carolina Duke University Press pp 103 134 External links editSCIway Biography of Governor Benjamin Ryan Tillman Preceded by1888 South Carolina gubernatorial elections Succeeded by1892 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1890 South Carolina gubernatorial election amp oldid 1173620029, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
