On Election Day, November 7, 1876, reporters for the Wilkes-Barre Record roamed the Coal Region city’s streets, noting an unusual calm. The presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden had stirred fierce passions across the United States, yet in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the polls stayed mostly peaceful.
It was one of the most controversial elections in American history – an era of deep political uncertainty in the aftermath of the Civil War as Reconstruction collapsed. Deep divisions threatened the nation’s future.
From the Wilkes-Barre Record newspaper, November 8, 1876:
The RECORD reporters roaming from poll to poll in the city found things remarkably quiet yesterday afternoon. Policemen were stationed at each voting district and preserved excellent order.
In fact up to the hour of closing, saving a slight altercation at the First district, Fourteenth ward poll, not a violent drunk or demonstrating disorderly person was visible.
In the evening the saloons and drinking places presented a brilliant appearance, and many passed the weary hours of night in them awaiting for the dawn to break and bring them news of victory or defeat, and decide their bets…
On the whole the day was quiet and without the usual brawls attendant upon such occasions.
When the votes were counted, Wilkes-Barre voters narrowly favored Democrat Samuel Tilden, 1,719 to 1,662.
But nationally, the disputed results handed the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes, ending Reconstruction and ushering in a new, uneasy political order.
The quiet streets and “brilliant” saloons of election night in Wilkes-Barre offer a local window into a turbulent national moment in post-Civil War America.
More stories about Election Day in the Coal Region
Wide Awake with poetry in support of Abraham Lincoln | Election of 1860
An election night murder in Tremont, Pennsylvania | 1864
A Pennsylvania Civil War soldier documents the 1864 election
President Harry S. Truman campaigning at Pottsville, PA | October 1952
Subscribe to the latest from Jake Wynn – Public Historian
Enter your email below to receive the newest stories.