THE PEOPLE'S TICKET... FOR GOVERNOR. A.G. BROWN/ FOR SECRETARY OF STATE. KINLOCH FALCONER/ FOR AUDITOR OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. SILVESTER GWIN./ FOR STATE TREASURER. W.L. HEMMINGWAY./ FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL. T.C. CATCHING/ FOR SUPERINTENDENT EDUCATION. J.A. SMITH/ FOR SENATOR 6TH DISTRICT. BENJ. KING/ FOR LEGISLATURE. J.B. REID/ FOR SHERIFF. WM. W. COOK/ FOR COUNTY TREASURER. A.J. HODGES/ FOR ASSESSOR. J.S. MARTIN/ FOR SURVEYOR. H.D. BURTON/ FOR CORONER AND RANGER

[Copiah County, MS, 1877. Broadside, 4-1/4" x9-1/4". Illustration of American Screaming Eagle at head of title. Light wear, Very Good.

The unrecorded and probably unique political ticket is from Copiah County, Mississippi: the candidates on the underticket-- Sheriff, County Treasurer, Assessor, and Surveyor-- were all from Copiah County. They won the election.
Mississippi Republicans-- whom white Mississippians viewed as pariahs-- did not nominate a candidate for governor in 1877. The contest was between the regular Democrats, who nominated John M. Stone for governor, and old-timer Albert Gallatin Brown, who had been Mississippi's governor a generation earlier. Brown was nominated by the People's Party, Mississippi's brief experiment with Populism. He lost overwhelmingly to Stone. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that the election results showed "that the Radicals have lost all their influence" and that "several negroes who last year voted the Radical ticket, this year voted with the Democrats." [The Times-Picayune Friday, Aug. 31, 1877, page 2, and Sunday, Nov. 11, 1877, page 11].
Brown [1813-1880] had been Governor, Congressman, U.S. Senator, and Confederate Senator. He had been an integral part of Mississippi politics for nearly forty years. Kinloch [Kinlock] Falconer [1838-1878] was a lawyer from Holly Springs, editor of the Holly Springs Reporter and one time mayor. During the Civil War he served with the 9th Regiment Mississippi Infantry and was assigned to General Bragg's headquarters. He was Secretary of the State in 1878 and died that year during the Holly Springs yellow fever epidemic.
Silvester Gwin [1830-1891] of Lawrence County was Clerk of the Circuit Court of the County before winning the Auditor's position. During the Civil War he was Captain of Co. A, 22nd Mississippi Infantry. William L. Hemingway [1839-1925] of Hinds County, was 2d Lieut. of Co. K, 11th Mississippi Infantry. He held the position of Mississippi State Treasurer from 1875-1890. In 1890 he was tried on charges of embezzlement when he was unable to account for a shortage of over $315,000. He was found guilty and sentenced to five years in the state penitentiary.
Thomas C. Catching (Catchings) [1847-1927] of Hinds County, Mississippi, joined the Confederate Army in 1861; was admitted to the bar in 1866, and was a perennial politician.