St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-09-24
oLD.IIMEINDlANA CAMPAIGN.
Col. BrOwnlee Won the Day with
His Barrel of Old Peach Brandy

-~e~s
The Hon. James o. Clarke, of Kansas,
in the St. Louis Globe-Dmocrat: / have
now reached the advanced age of ninety
two years, and when l look back over
the last three-Quarters of century
many interesting "reminiscences of
pioneer life are recalled. One thing
particularly notice is that the whisky
traffic now eXerts it's influence in poll
tics in manner entirely different from
that of half a century ago. The most
exciting political campaign | ever wit
messed 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 county were Lawyer
Brown and Col. James Brownlee, and
the voters were divided into two nearly
equal factions, known respectively as the
Brownies and the BrOwnleeiteS. At
pected to provide plenty of free whisky
for the voters, and it was rare occur
renee for an election day to pass by with
out cOrnjuice in politics causing
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 capital the following
June for the purpose OF adopting a con-
StitutiOn preparatory to admission of
the state. Brown and BrOwnlee an
nOunced themselves as candidates, and
the hottest campaign | ever experienced
was inaugurated. Churches were brok-
Ell up, and neighborhOods and family
feeling became so bitter that years were
required to efface the effect of the quar-
rel. A few weeks before the election
Col. Brownlee sent his two young sons
and myself with team and wagon to
Cincinnati to get barrel of peach
brandy for election purposes. The trip
occupied about week, but we returned
home and secreted the barrel in cave
on the Brownlee farm without the OBJ
ject of our trip being learned outside.
The old colonel threatened to horsewhip
us if we opened our mouths on the sub
ject. Of course we kept the secret.
Col. Browulee knew that his rival had
provided barrel of common whisky for
the Brownies, and, anticipating the
effect the sudden tapping of 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, 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 liks wild fire, and
the way the Hoosiers swallowed that
delicious nectar would put to shame old
Bacchus himself. The Brownies
gathered grounded the Brownlee barrel,
and the faction following Brown, who
had furnished only common whisky,
went to pieces. Col. BroWnlee was
easily elected. The following 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'S cap
ital in those days being an Indian trail
blazed out through the vast forest
which covered the intervening country.