[Democratic Ticket for the 1872 Election in the Third Congressional District of Texas]

[Tyler, 1872. Very good.. Small handbill, approximately 6.75 x 3 inches. Minor wear. Light soiling and tanning. An excellent ephemeral item from the election of 1872 in Texas, comprising the Democratic ticket for the Third Congressional District, then composed of eastern and central portions of the state. The candidate for the Democratic Party was DeWitt Clinton Giddings, a lawyer from Brenham and a veteran of the Confederate Texas Cavalry. Giddings had won his seat in a controversial and violent special election in 1871. Although he carried the initial count by 135 votes over William T. Clark, the Republican Governor E.J. Davis manage to reverse the result citing violence and intimidation against Black voters in a number of counties. Giddings appealed directly to the U.S. House of Representatives who eventually decided in his favor. The present ticket also presents the slate of eight electors for Liberal Republican and Democratic presidential candidate in 1872, Horace Greeley, as well as state candidates for district attorney, sheriff, treasurer, and surveyor. The two candidates for the state legislature, Adolph Geisecke and J.E. Shepard, were nominated to represent the Sixteenth District, which was then composed of Smith and Gregg Counties, so this ticket was likely produced by a job printer or on a newspaper press in Tyler or Longview.