In the midst of the Democratic and Republican conventions and the upcoming Presidential election, it occurred to me that I don't know much about my ancestors' political beliefs. Were they among the 40 to 60 percent of Americans who historically vote in an election? Did they align themselves with Democrats, Republicans, Federalists, Whigs, Progressives, or some other party? How were their lives affected by the hot issues of the day and the outcome of elections? Did they have connections with elected officials or even run for office themselves?

Personally, I can get passionate about politics. This season's controversies, fueled by televised hearings, tell-all books, and Fahrenheit 9/11, have led to stimulating conversations and debates with friends, strangers, and colleagues. I wondered if there are ways to learn whether any of my ancestors were similarly intrigued about the doings of government? Are there sources that could tell me how involved some might have been in the politics of their day?

American history is replete with controversial issues that excited strong feelings among Americans and served to define the campaigns of political parties and candidates. At the founding of our nation, there were heated debates between loyalists and those who yearned for independence. After the colonies became a nation, there were border disputes and questions over expansion and territories and statehood. State's rights and slavery prompted violent emotional reactions, culminating in the Civil War. Certainly, in every era there were always proponents and opponents of U.S. engagement in wars. Social concerns such as suffrage and workers rights as well as local/regional issues, including building of canals and railroads, engendered intense political debate. Just as in recent times, some candidates themselves provoked strong reactions from their fellow Americans.

Citizen Rights
Many of our ancestors must have taken sides over the divisive issues of their times. Unfortunately, I've seen little or nothing written about sources for discovering the political leanings of our forebears. One familiar source to family researchers that may be useful is a voter registration list. Although commonly consulted by genealogists to document the residence of an ancestor, finding ancestors' names on a voter registration list offers a first glimpse at the political side of their lives. Researchers must recognize, however, that suffrage was far from universal until the late twentieth century, so the absence of an ancestor's name from the local voter registration list may mean he or she was not qualified to vote or had not satisfied local residency requirements, which in some places was more than a year.

To find voter lists that are accessible online check out Cyndi's List for links to several free sites and Ancestry.com, where numerous lists are available by subscription. Some of the links on Cyndi's List include 1855 Kansas, 1907 Cleveland, several for various California counties, and a few for other states, plus several for Britain and British Columbia, Canada. The USGenWeb is another online resource that may help you locate voter lists, though I was surprised how few I found when I did a search on the state archives. California, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee were the only states that produced voter registration lists or poll books.

During my search for online resources, I came upon a note indicating that in 1777 the women of New York lost the right to vote. I was not aware that women were enfranchised anywhere much before the nineteenth amendment was passed. So I was surprised to learn that in the early years of our nation women had the right to vote, until most lost that privilege in 1787 when the Constitutional Convention decided that states would determine voting rights. New Jersey, in 1807, was the last state to prohibit women from voting by limiting suffrage to white men.

Following are some of the significant dates to be aware of when using voter lists:
1830 Most restrictions based on property ownership and religions have been abolished.
1838 Kentucky allows widows to vote.
1855 Only five states allow blacks to vote.
1870 Fifteenth amendment gives voting rights to black males (though most Southern states soon find ways to hinder this).
1889 Women in Wyoming gain full voting rights.
1920 Nineteenth amendment gives voting rights to women.
1924 Indian Citizenship Act gives Native Americans the right to vote.
1971 Twenty-sixth amendment lowers voting age to 18 (previously age 21).

Political Landscapes
Whether or not your ancestors voted, they may have taken part in political discussions, or their attitudes could have been influenced by the opinions of friends, neighbors, or prominent people in their community.

To get an idea of how your ancestors may have voted in Presidential elections, or at least whether they lived in a state that was strongly partisan for a particular candidate, a great site is Dave Liep's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. This website provides information through maps or charts on election statistics from George Washington to the present. You'll find all the presidential candidates for each election along with their parties, the Electoral College and popular vote for each candidate, and graphic representations for each state on the percentage of votes that went to each candidate. For some years there is even county- level statistical data. Another source, although not as extensive, is Geostat Center: U.S. Presidential Election Maps 1860-1996. Some examples of what you may learn here.

If you had family in Georgia, Mississippi, or Missouri in 1832 it's a sure thing that your ancestors voted for Andrew Jackson, since 100% of the popular vote in these states went for him.

In 1892, while residents of most states debated about supporting the Democrat, Grover Cleveland, or the Republican, Benjamin Harrison, if your ancestors were in Idaho, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, or North Dakota, they were debating between the Populist, James Weaver or the Republican, and Weaver carried their state. Voters in Zavala County, Texas, and Winston County, Alabama, also favored the Populists, although the rest of their state did not agree with them.

People loved FDR in 1936, but none more so than the voters in Mississippi and South Carolina who cast 97.1 percent and 98.6 percent of their votes for Roosevelt. The popular vote in most states was in the range of 50-80 percent.

Similar information is available on Congressional elections, though only since 1920. I was unable to find any historic information on the election of state officials, although I suspect archives of old newspapers may prove useful for locating some data on state and local elections and the issues that fueled the campaigns.

In Their Own Voice
Of course, the best source of information on an ancestor's political beliefs is through a diary or letters. Few genealogists are lucky enough to have this kind of treasure. However, with many archives now posting some of their manuscript collections online, we can read personal accounts that reveal attitudes about elections and candidates in earlier times. Interviews conducted for the Federal Writers' Project specifically asked about political views. The two excerpts that follow are examples of the personal politics expressed in digital archives.

Mrs. Louie D. Bradley of Athens, Georgia, described her politics: “My husband was old-fashioned in his ideas of what women should and should not do. One night he came home from work with a part cross and part hurt expression on his face. I was worried for he was usually in a good humor. I didn't say anything, just waited for him to speak. ‘Well', he said, ‘I was certainly hurt and surprised at something I heard this afternoon.' Why, what have I done, I said? ‘I never thought the time would come,' he said, ‘when my wife would take part in politics.' Well, I didn't vote that year. After that his views began to change and soon he was taking me to the polls every Election Day. I don't take any active part in politics, but I vote my convictions. I think every woman should do that. I am interested in public affairs, but I don't go wild over elections like some people. Of course, I think we all get a ‘kick' over seeing our man go in.”

Anders Lian [Andrew Lee] of Wisconsin, in a letter dated 25 May 1896, mentions four political parties that had candidates running and describes an event he attended. “The Prohibition Party had its State Convention here in Eau Claire a couple weeks ago. I had the opportunity to hear St. John, the ex-governor of Kansas, give a speech. Also Mrs. Gangar of Indiana. She is the best speaker I have ever heard. A farmer there said ‘That was a terrific woman' and I agree with him in that. She spoke for 2 1/2 hours on the theme ‘Give us work or bread.' Over 3,000 listened to her speech.”

I can't imagine listening to a speech for two and a half hours! But even if the writer exaggerated the numbers that attended the speech, it still gives us information that unemployment and poverty were major concerns in Wisconsin in 1896. Looking up election statistics for 1896, I found that the voters of Winnebago, Waushara, Waupaca, Waukesha, and Washington counties in Wisconsin did not cast a single vote that year for either of the two major candidates, Republican William McKinley or Democrat William Bryan.

Winning an Office
Some of our ancestors did more than support a candidate or political party. They ran for office themselves or worked for the government. Data on those in the federal government is easiest to find.

The Congressional Biographical Directory allows you to search for a surname, so you can do a quick check to see if any of the main lines you are tracing could have had a family member who served in Congress. If the name is common, you can limit it to a specific state. You can also list every representative or senator, or limit it by party or year. If you find a potential relative, clicking on the name brings up a biography of the individual. If your ancestor served in the House of Representatives, the Congressional History page reports the leadership of the House since 1789 and, in addition, lists the clerks and chaplains of the House.

If there is a senator in your lineage, the Senate Historical Office has several interesting pages. Click on Historical Statistics for a variety of lists, including annual salaries since 1789. Another allows you to list all the senators of a state, providing some highlights on interesting or unusual facts.

Federal judges are another group for whom there is plenty of information available. The Federal Judicial Center has a biographical database on “all judges who have served on the U.S. District Courts, U.S. Circuit Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the Supreme Court since 1789.” The information here is more comprehensive than the PDF list on the Supreme Court's site of its previous Justices since 1789.

At the state level, the National Governor's Association is posting a directory online of all past governors of every state with biographical information. State websites or those of a states' library or archives, may also list previous governors.

Check your library for the official history manuals of states your ancestors lived in. A new edition is generally published each time there is a new legislature, but for genealogical purposes, an old one will do.

It is unfortunate that all the past legislators are not posted online, since being the lowest level of state government it is the level more of our ancestors had more likelihood of achieving. A good starting point to locate historic websites for various states is the American Local History Network.

The Political Graveyard is an interesting source that records biographical data and the burial places of elected and appointed officials at all levels of government. Although it is a work in progress, it has almost 121,000 politicians, judges, and diplomats in its database. There are a variety of indexes and methods of searching, based on people, places, dates, offices held, etc. The Political Graveyard also includes incomplete lists of delegates to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, beginning in 1832 for the Democrats and 1856 for the Republicans.

Plain Folks and Politicians
Although many people today are cynical about politicians, in past times when our ancestors lived, elections and the right to vote were important to many Americans. Your family tree may include just plain folks or there may be a politician among the branches. As you research their lives, don't ignore the political side. Broaden your understanding of the cultural milieu in which they lived by consulting some of the resources suggested here. Dress up your ancestors by hanging their bones with some red, white, and blue political bunting.

Candace L. Doriott has served on the board of directors of the Detroit Society for Genealogical Research. The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors has recognized her for her excellence in writing. She can be contacted at cdoriott@earthlink.net.

Return to October/November/December 2004 issue of Genealogical Computing.