As November voters drop their ballots into mailboxes, they are exercising a civic duty dating back to 1853 in Southern Oregon.
White settlers first arrived in the Upper Bear Creek Valley in 1851. By the time of the first election on June 6, 1853, the population had reached 120 men, women and children.
Voters gathered at the cabin of Eber Emery, owner of the Ashland Sawmill on Mill Creek, or today’s Ashland Creek. Emery and two other election judges verified that eligible voters were male, at least 21 years old and citizens of the United States, or had declared their intention to vote at least a year in advance. They had to be residents of the Oregon Territory for at least six months and of Jackson County for at least 90 days. Women could not vote.
Candidates ran for the positions of territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress, representative to the Oregon House of Representatives, justice of the peace, constable and county commissioner.
Election law took a lenient view of illiteracy, instructing judges to “disregard any misspellings or abbreviations of the names of the candidates …” as long as it was possible to determine which candidate the voter favored.
Today’s episode of As It Was was written by Kernan Turner, the program producer is Raymond Scully. I’m Shirley Patton. As It Was is a co-production of JPR and the Southern Oregon Historical Society. To share stories or learn more about the series, visit asitwas – dot.org.
Sources:
“Provisional and Territorial Records Guide (Oregon State Archives), Jackson County.”http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/provisionalguide/JacksonCounty.html
Atwood, Kay. Mill Creek Journal, Ashland, Oregon, 1850-1860. 1987.