Vermont Political Broadside Regarding A Controversial Election. "To The Freemen Of Rutland County"

FREEMEN OF RUTLAND COUNTY

Publication: Privately printed, n d (ca 1849), N P

4 3/4" x 11 1/4" broadside plus a stamped envelope (3" x 5 1/4") addressed in ink to Ira M. Clark. The main purpose of the broadside was to lambast the favorite candidate for the State Attorney's Office for Rutland County, Edwin Edgerton, Esq., thus swaying the "freemen's opinion" and to support the candidacy of a better "irreproachable character," one Elijah Ross. Evidence of a complicated case was presented as well as a lawsuit, describing Edgerton's abuse of power while Town Clerk of the town of Windsor in 1835, in the matter of his fraudulently repaying a debt with a mortgage for a land not rightfully his own. The broadside goes on to further state, "Other instances of similar character might be named, but one will suffice..... You ask what is to be done in this emergency? We simply reply that it can be accomplished by laying aside party prejudices and casting our votes for a gentleman who has been nominated by an opposite political party -- Elijah Ross of Middletown." Research shows that Edwin Edgerton was born in 1791 and died in 1891, making him at the time, the oldest lawyer in the state of Vermont. He was also the oldest graduate of Dartmouth, obtaining his law degree in 1824 at the age of 33. Apparently he did win this election and held what would be his only political office ever in 1850. Not much is known about his opponent, Elijah Ross, apart from the fact that he lost this election. A few scattered, small spots of foxing and three faint horizontal creases caused by having been folded to be inserted into a letter, else a near fine copy.

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