Election of 1912

This being a presidential election year, I thought it might be interesting to re-examine the voter rolls of my ancestors from one hundred years ago.  It was also a special presidential election because it was the first my female ancestors in California were able to vote in.

My great-grandmother was too young in 1912, but her mother, sister and sister-in-law all appeared on the rolls - as did her father and brother:

Yreka Precinct Ward 1
Siskiyou, CA Voter Rolls 1912, page 125
I think it is interesting that my great-great-grandfather is registered as a Socialist and the rest of his family is not.  I wonder if it created any familial friction...

My great-grandfather, his brother, sister and his mother all were registered:

Oakland Precinct 132
Alameda, CA Voter Rolls 1912
So was my great-great-great-grandmother and her daughter:

San Francisco Assembly District 25
San Francisco, CA Voter Rolls 1912

...And her son, my great-great-grandfather, whose name is quite mutilated on the roll:

Alameda Precinct 2
Alameda, CA Voter Rolls 1912
As well as my great-grandfather and his father:

Woodbridge Precinct
San Joaquin, CA Voter Rolls 1912
If my ancestors decided the winner in 1912 (assuming they voted along party lines), all added up the results are:
Woodrow Wilson: 4
Theodore Roosevelt: 0*
William H. Taft: 8
Eugene V. Debs: 2

*My great-grandmother (who was only a girl in 1912) always loved Theodore Roosevelt, so it is possible her father Lauren voted for him in 1912 instead of the Socialist candidate, Debs.

Comments

  1. Leah, what a fun post, to look back to your ancestors' registration to vote. Where did you find voter rolls?

    ReplyDelete

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