Thomas County cat., 1889-10-31
MYSTERIES OF POLITICS
How Campaigns Were Conducted Three
Quarters of q Century Ago.

MYSTERIES OF POLITICS
How Campaigns Were Conducted Three
Quarters of q Century Ago.
/ have now reached the advanced
age of ninety-two years, and when l
look back over the last three quarters
of century many interesting reminis-
cences of pioneer life are recalled.
One thing particularly notice is that
the whisky traffic now exerts its in
fuence in politics in manner entirely
different from that of half century
ago. The most exciting political cam
paign ! ever witnessed was won by the
use of barrel of old peach brandy.
The year before Indiana was admitted
into the Union l was living with my
parents in Franklin County. that State,
near the present site of Connersville.
The chief political leaders in the coun-
ty were Lawyer Brown and Colonel
James Brownlee. and the voters were
divided into two nearly equal factions,
known respectively as the Brownies
and the Brownleeites. At all elec-
tions the candidates were expected to
provide plenty of free whisky for the
voters, and it was a rare occurrence
for an election day to pass by without
corn Juice in politics causing a
bloody fight. In the fall of 1915 an
election was called to elect delegates
to a convention which was to meet in
Corydon (then the capitaD the follow
ing June, for the purpose Of adopting
constitution preparatory to the admis-
sion of the State. Brown and Brown
lee announced themselves as candi-
dates, and the hottest campaign l
ever experienced was inaugurated.
Churches were broken up, and neigh
bOrhOods and family feeling became
so bitter that years were required to
efface the effects of the quarrel. A
few weeks before the election Colonel
Browniee sent his two young sons and
myself with a team and wagon to Gin
cinnati TO get barrel of peach brandy
for election purposes. The trip occu-
piSu Scouo "CCh, pue We IL
turned home and secreted the barrel
in a cave on tie Brownlee farm with
out the object Of our trip being learned
outside The Colonel threatened to
horsewhip us if we opened our
mouths on the subject. Of course we
kept the secret. Colonel Brownlee
knew that his rival had provided a
barrel of common whisky for the
Brownies, and. anticipating the eff
feet the sudden tapping of
a barrel Of ''old peach would
have on the voters. he
smiled contentedly as he thought
of the certain discontinue of Lawyer
Brown. On election day Brown opened
his barrel first and started regular
boom, and for time it appeared that
he would win the victory. But later
the Brownlee boys brought the barrel
OF old peach brandy to the polls. The
head was knocked in, a couple of
gOurds were hung on the sides and the
crowd invited to 60 for it. The news
that Brownlee had opened barrel of
real ''old peach" spread like wildfire,
and the way the Hoosiers swallowed
that delicious nectar would put to
shame old Bacchus himself. The
Brownies gathered around the Brown
lee barrel. and the faction following
Brown, who had furnished only COM
mon whisky, went to pieces. Colonel
Brownlee was easily elected. The fol-
lowing year, when the Colonel left
home to attend the convention, he
shouldered his gun and made the trip
to Corydon on foot, the only highway
to the Territory capital in those days
being an Indian trail blazed out
through the vast forest which covered
the intervening country.-Hon. James
V.Clarhe, in ST. Louis Globe-Democrat.