Mountain advocate., 1913-08-29
From Whence Came the
Democratic Rooster?

| - - wv '"bhN Ntdi1 dEb AHdA
the rooster was used as the emblem
of victory following n national or
State campaign, and it was pretty
generally adopted by the rural news
papers ira local campaign. Every
well regulated newspaper Office had
many cuts of this fowl on. hand
ready for use. They were OF all
sizes, from the little one column red
top to a rooster large enough to-
cover a page OF the biggest news
paper The advancement in jour.
nalism has somewhat regulated the
rooster. but the fowl is a favorite
with some newspapers
As general thing the bird is of
Democrats extraction, but it has
been used Tor the same purpose by
all publications. No one seems to
know when it came into use, which
paper first printed it and who sug.
gested it. There was a time, that,
without a rooster or two on ban.
ner at "A Democratic gathering, the
omission would have been vital 1t
was so popular a bird at one time
that it was printed on the party
ballots, and was put in the same
class in campaigns with the Ameri
can eagle.
The rooster as party emblem
has been traced as far back as the
"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" cam.
paign of 1910. In fact, that seems
to have been the campaign for the
origination of many novel ideas in
politics and for the boosting of a
party. And in that campaign roost-
ers were not only used IN the news
papers and on the ballots, hut live
fowls-the largest in captivity
were brought out upon parade and
the party men tried to Guido one
another in seeing who could get the
biggest live rooster To carry ia
parade.
As late as the campaign in 1880.
when the Democratic candidate was
General " 5. Hlnc ck, of Pennsvl-
vania, and James A. Garfield. OF
Ohio, was the Republican candidate,
in the Democrats convention in
Cincinnati July %, OF that year,
the Rooster was adopted by clubs
all over the country as an emblem.
On the ba' ner appeared growing
rooster with a hand pointing to ii,
the rooster and the hand being
sort OF puzzle picture spelling
Hancock "
There probably are few Demo-
Gratis Of national prominence today
who have not their own IDEAS about
their party emblem for so many
years One of these. who is walk
ing encyclopedia about everything
connected with the Democratic par
ty, is Champ Clark, Speaker OF the
National House of Representatives
This is Speaker Clark's story OF
origin of the rooster:
Back in 1910 there lived in lndi.
ana an enthusiastic Democrat nam
ed Joseph Chapman. He lived at
Greenfield. He enjoyed considerable
local tame through the fact that at
every meeting OF the Democrats he
crowed liks a rooster until he was
finally know throughout his section
as Growing Joe Chapman. So
faithful aud realistically did he crew
that the Indiana Democrats regard
ed it as presage of victory.
in 1912, after the Democrats had
carried an election in Indiana,
Chapman received "a letter in which
the writer urged him 10 crow.
Crow, Chapman, cro~ = became a
political by.word in Indiana. aud
from thsre it spread to other parts
OF the country. Coimldrnt with
iIs spread came the adoption OF the
rooster as an emblem al the Demo.
cratic party"
II this statement is tn be relied on,
il is likely the rooster first Mas