Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1893-05-04


until the time of his death, early in the
spring of 1876; but after that event A.
II. Pettibone seemed to have a cinch
on the nomination for Congress and
the probabilities are that had Petit
bone been nominated that year the Re-
pulican party would have been spared
much of the strife and bitterness that
marked its subsequent history for a
number of years. Butsby some process
that often marks the proceedings of
conventions, Pettibone ''got left," and
Judge James H. Randolph, of New
port, was nominated. He resigned his
Judgship and made the canvass against
Hon. VIM. Mcfarland, the Democratic
candidate. The Judge was not as able
a speaker as was Andy johnson in his
palmy days, nor did he come quite up
to Horace Maynard, but told his fun
niest "almalac stories''-plenty of
them-and by holding fast to the Pres
idential ticket, he was pulled through
and went to Congress.
In the year 1878 Mr.. Randolph was
again candidate for Congress, also A.
II. Pettibone and A. A. Taylor. Petit
bone had been a candidate for Elector
for the State at large in 1875, and Mr..
Taylor had won some laurels as a can
didate for District Elector at the same
time. Pettibone seemed to stand in
with the machine, and to have most
of the war horses of the party at his
back while Taylor seemed to have a
good majority of the rank and file of
the party at his back. Thus, while
Taylor made friends of and trusted to
the plain people for the nomination,
Pettibone looked after the leaders and
the workers of the party. Mr.. Taylor
also, perhaps, made the mistake of an
tagonizing, rather than making friends
of. Randolph's followers. So when the
convention met here, in Jonesboro,
August Is, 1878, Pettibone was in the
lead and Taylor next, while Randolph
brought up the rear. After few bal
lots Randolph's friends went to Petit
bone, and he was nominated. The
Taylor men were, of course, very much
disappointed at the defeat of their ia
vorite. The very next week the Demo.
cratic convention met here, and while
the excitement was still at fever heat,
took advantage of the situation and
nominated Bob Taylor as their candi
date. Thus the Congressional canvass
of 1878 became repetition, in small
way, of the Polk-Jones races for Gov
ernor in 1S41-43. Pettibone, like Polk,
was posted in current politics and made
able and eloquent speeches, while Bob
Taylor, like Jones, seemed to have an
inexhaustable fund of anecdotes so
with his droll stories and his mimicry,
he literally ruined Pettibone, and went
to Congress by several hundred major
ity.
The year 1880 Bob Taylor was again
the Democratic candidate for Congress
and Pettibone received the Republican
nomination without any opposition.
AS it was Presidential year, and as
the Republicans had largely got their
satisfy" of having Democratic
member of Congress from this district,
Pettibone was elected by handsome
majority.
The year 1882 was pretty much a rep
etition of the year 1880, so far as this
district was concerned. Pettibone and
Bob Taylor were again the candidates
for Congress, and the battle was fought
along the old lines of 1880, and with
the same result-Pettibone election.
In 1884 Hon. A. A. Taylor was again
a candidate for the Republican nomi
nation for Congress, and his friends
claimed that there had been prom Sc
made by Major Petitioners friends in
1882 that the Major would not be in
Mr.. Taylor's way in 1884 For time
it seemed as if Mr.. Taylor would have
walk over" for the nomination; but
along in the summer Pettibone became
a candidate, and the picnic season
opened out in real earnest. Strife and
divisions marked the proceedings of the
county conventions, and double dele
cations came from almost every county
in the District to the convent ton, which
met here, in Jonesboro, July 10, 1884,
The result was a split, and two nomi-
nations. The very clouds of the heav-
ems seemed to weep over the disruption
of the grand old party, and such
storm-such a down pour of rain-such
flood and washout never, perhaps,
visited this town before. And it is
known to this day as the great Taylor
and Pettibone flood of July, 1884.
In order to settle the Congressional
muddle primary election was resorted
to, and some one said that Pettibone
"won" the prize, but there is no one
now, however, that wants to ever think
of that time again. Anyway, Petit
bone defeated o. Z. King for Congress