DIARY OF THE 1888 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
1888. Leather bound. Holographic diary for the year 1888 of a young man who attended the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis. During harvest season, James L.N. Donnally (1864-1947) worked on the family farm in Marrion, Ohio and spent the rest of the year in Charleston, West Virginia living with his aunt and uncle. Donnally’s father was killed during the Civil War and his mother remarried. On May 8, 1888, Donnally was with his uncle, attorney Wesley Mollahan, at the local democratic convention held at the opera house "to select delegates to the St. Louis convention. Wes was elected as one of them." Following the election, Donnally returned to Ohio to work in the fields for a month before departing on June 3 for the National Convention. He and Mollahan traveled all night by train, reaching St. Louis in the morning. Donnally recorded his impressions of the convention in his daily diary entries. Wednesday, June 6: "Cleveland was nominated today. There was a wild scene in the convention after the nominating speech. 1500 people shouted at the top of their voices for over a half hour. The clubs are marching and the bands playing tonight." The next day was also filled with activity. Thursday, June 7: "Thurman was nominated for vice president today, the platform was also accepted. When Thurman was nominated the red bandanas waved over the entire hall – it was such a relief." Thurman, a former senator from Ohio, was selected by President Cleveland as his running mate after Vice President Thomas Hendricks died in office. Democrats turned Thurman’s red bandana handkerchief into an emblem of the campaign, tying red bandanas to the top of canes in political parades, and manufacturing bandanas with the candidates’ faces on them. Thurman's appeal came from his popularity among old-line Democrats, distrustful of Cleveland's liberalism and his known hostility to railroad monopolists. Following the vice presidential nomination, Donnally headed back to Ohio and wrote often in his diary about the lack of rain and his work on the farm. He commented on the November election, noting that it was too close for a victor to be declared for several days. But on Thursday, November 8, the newspaper carried an eagle on it: "Harrison is selected to the presidency without a doubt. Democratic defeat was rather unexpected…" Although Cleveland won the popular vote in the 1888 election, Harrison won the majority in the Electoral College. Donnally concludes the year with more work around the farm before traveling back to West Virginia on December 20, spending the remainder of the year with his aunt and uncle. The diary is very good condition, bound in limp red leather with two newspaper clippings affixed to the rear pastedown. Very good. Item #71682
Price: $250.00