James Wood's Only Election is a Brawl
5 days ago, November 20, 1741, the man who created this town of Winchester VA in 1744 was in an election in Orange County, the county Frederick was carved from.
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The Election went out of control, all day long, off and on.
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One of the candidates paid a voter to disrupt the polls. Another candidate insisted on drinking his alcoholic punch resisting the Sheriff. The under sheriff was pulled from his post in front of the courthouse polling place and beaten up. Another guard left his post allowing the mob to run in and dance on the tables disrupting all the papers. Some of the candidates wanted the Sheriff to close the polls to restore order. The Sheriff refused unless the candidates put up a bond to defend the Sheriff from a fine or penalty. Not all of the candidates agreed to do so after awhile.
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James Wood was one of 7 candidates.
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He didn't win.
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He never ran for office again.
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Instead, after designing and submitting a street plan of Winchester VA to the House of Burgesses, he won appointment as Clerk of Court.
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And that election? It was investigated by the House of Burgesses. The two winners were thrown out. Some of the candidates and voters were jailed.
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This event is found in the record of House of Burgesses.
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Here is that record - see this link.
Believe it or not, the record of the riot in this election is one long sentence.
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The old age didn't believe in using periods.
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For easier reading, this one very long sentence is broken up for the modern reader to digest.
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See two links:
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