U.S. Civil War map - Union in blue, border states in red, Confederacy in gray, neutral territories in whiteAfter the Civil War, Robert Monroe Brown of defeated North Carolina wrote to President Andrew Johnson asking for the job of local postmaster. (see Friends with the President, see Brown Pedigree Chart). He went to great lengths to show he had been opposed to the War and slavery all along. I thought that Robert was only exaggerating his beliefs to get a job, and to get by in a conquered country, but it turns out that he was indeed President Johnson's friend "privately, publicly, and politically," as he claimed. Robert gave the name of Governor W. W. Holden as a reference. He even attested to being a Union man in the newspaper.
I thought this was odd, and the description of Robert's Unionist activities during the War piqued my interest. So I looked into it. In fact, Robert was part of the most controversial and dangerous political parties in North Carolina, the Peace Party.
In the 1840s and 1850s, as the United States bitterly debated the issues of slavery and states' rights, William Woods Holden championed reform --universal education, equal suffrage, labor laws, help for those with disabilities, and improved lives for the common folk. A gifted newspaper editor and politician from Raleigh, Holden was popular, influential - and a threat to the wealthy planters. He and Robert Monroe Brown were friends.
After Abraham Lincoln was elected President in November 1860, the southern states began discussing secession, leaving the United States. The followers of Holden and his ally Zebulon Vance, a large minority, argued against it. In two separate votes, remaining in the Union won out. Once the shooting started 6 months later, however, Holden and Vance changed their minds; I think because they couldn't bear to take up arms against their own state. Vance became the governor; Holden lost his job in the Confederate government and reverted back to arguing for Union, using his newspaper in Raleigh, the North Carolina Standard.
W. W. Holden's grand house had one of the first bathtubs in Raleigh. He lived here instead of the Governor's Mansion during his two terms in office.
By the time of the 1864 election for governor, the War had gone on for 3 years. There was a significant peace movement in North Carolina, the only Confederate state to have this much sentiment. Proponents of peace believed that if the War continued much longer, the South would be completely destroyed, and it would be better to negotiate a surrender earlier and get more favorable terms. The peace politicians tried to convey this idea to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, but he wouldn't hear of it. The movement was strongest in the Raleigh - Wake County area, and because of it, hundreds of soldiers from that area deserted and went back home.
The only man willing to run on a peace platform for governor against Vance was Holden. He had come to believe that the agricultural economy of the South would not be sustainable into the future, and the region should seek to industrialize like the North. Holden wanted to change existing wealthy privilege in favor of progressive policies to help regular people.
Vance probably would have won anyway, but he employed a lot of dirty tricks to ensure his victory. He stationed soldiers at the polls to watch who cast a vote for whom. At the time, ballots were pre-printed with one candidate's name. A voter would choose the ballot for the candidate he wanted and drop it into the wooden ballot box. Vance had his ballots printed on expensive yellow paper, so it would be obvious to the election officials and the soldiers who everyone's choice was.
A secret society called Heroes of America had sprung up in the Raleigh area for believers in peace, or, as they were also known, traitors. Robert Monroe was among the members. As the election approached, one of the Heroes of America approached Robert and disclosed that he had infiltrated the group as a spy. This man intended to renege on his vow of secrecy and reveal the names of all the men in the society, which would lead to them all being hanged for treason. He would promise not to do that, however, if Robert would vote for Vance, and publicly prove it.
Robert agonized over what to do. On the one hand, he believed that voting for Vance would doom his home state to destruction. On the other hand, not voting for Vance would get him killed, along with a hundred other men who had vowed to have each other's backs. He wasn't sure whether to believe this spy or not, but could he afford to risk it? Finally he hit upon a satisfactory scheme.
To offset his upcoming forced vote for Vance, he would secure dozens of votes for Holden. In his position as election official, Robert got a hold of dozens of yellow Vance ballots ahead of time. He cut one of the two columns off, wrote Holden's name on them, and distributed them to as many Heroes of America members as he dared contact. Robert gave out 25 tampered ballots himself, and gave his friend Mr. Sugg 32 ballots to distribute. When the Holden supporters voted, their yellow ballots made it look like they were cast for Vance, and the watching eyes were none the wiser.
Robert still had to work out the problem of how to publicly prove he voted for Vance. He waited until the end of the day, when almost everyone had gone home, and then called a secesh man to witness him drop his Vance ballot into the box. If he had asked a fellow Union man to witness the act, Robert knew the Union man would be accused of lying. So he asked a supporter of secession, called a secesh, to vouch for him.
Vance won the governorship in a landslide anyway. He sent soldiers to round up all the deserters and force them back into the army. Whether the spy was bluffing or not, none of the Heroes of America were outed.
In the rapidly changing fortunes of wartime, Holden rose again. After the War was over, President Johnson appointed him the Governor for occupied North Carolina. Any supporters of his would gain positions also. Robert published a letter to Governor Holden in his newspaper, the Daily Standard, attesting his support for the Union, and in the next column was a letter from Mr. Sugg backing him up.
This is how we know the yellow paper story.
References:
The Peace Movement in North Carolina
"The earliest elections were conducted by voice vote or with paper ballots put into ballot boxes. These paper ballots, called “party tickets,” listed names from just one party, and they were counted under the watchful eye of local party and election officials....
...Voting in the 19th century usually involved casting a printed paper ballot. State election laws typically specified the dimensions and thickness of the paper, and the size of type to be used. The rest was left to the issuing parties, local party operatives, and candidates, resulting in various ballot forms and styles...
...More so than the distinguishing marks of party symbols or candidate portraits, color helped observers identify party ballots as they were cast—and who cast them. Voting was still not entirely secret. The parties printed and distributed paper ballots cut from sheets. Virginia’s Union Party issued a pink paper ticket in 1860." ~ 1800s Voting
Virginia Union ticket, 1860
Gift of Ralph E. Becker Collection of Political Americana
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