{"id":4191,"date":"2014-12-17T23:22:31","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T04:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.riotnumbers.com\/?p=41"},"modified":"2014-12-17T23:22:31","modified_gmt":"2014-12-18T04:22:31","slug":"phoenix-south-carolina-1898","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2014\/12\/phoenix-south-carolina-1898\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix, South Carolina (1898)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ballotbox\"<\/a><\/p>\n

November 1898.<\/p>\n

\"3to2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Black to white ratio in the general area of Greenwood County, South Carolina.<\/p>\n

\"3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Years since changes to the South Carolina constitution that raised the voting requirements. One needed to be able to answer any questions about constitutional provisions asked and one needed to pass a literacy test. Anyone whose grandfather had been able to vote, however, did not need to pass the new qualifications.<\/p>\n

\"familytree\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Tolbert family was a Republican family which was virtually unheard of in white post-Reconstruction South Carolina. While the Tolberts had served their time during the Civil War in the Confederate army, they had disagreed with secession and had been known to vote for President Grant in the 1868 election. Additionally, this family owned considerable land, paid higher wages than other landowners did, and even had black tenant farmers in a community where some whites were unable to achieve the means to farm. These factors meant that the Tolberts were well-known (infamous?). This also meant that the Tolberts, at times, suffered threats and property damage, including\u00a0arson, at the hands of other community members.<\/p>\n

One of them, Robert R. Tolbert \u00a0was running for a seat in Congress during this election. Other Tolberts planned to, on election day, station themselves at\u00a0polling spots and take\u00a0affidavits from black would-be voters who were not allowed to vote in the election. At this time, blacks tended to vote overwhelmingly Republican. The intention here\u00a0was to use the affidavits in order to challenge Robert Tolbert’s\u00a0expected defeat.<\/p>\n

\"3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Types of affidavits being collected.<\/p>\n