Compromise of 1877

People Involved

The Electoral Commission determined the results of the Presidential Election of 1876.  The results of the decision led to the Compromise of 1877 here is the biography of the key players in the decision.

Rutherford B. Hayes[5]

Hayes was a politician, a lawyer, a military leader and the 19th president of the United States (1877-1893).  His opposing candidate in the largely disputed 1876 presidential election was Samuel J. Tilden.  Hayes was born in Delaware on October 4, 1822 in Delaware, Ohio and died on January 17, 1893 in Fremont, Ohio of a heart attack.  He served three consecutive terms a governor of Ohio from 1867 to 1876.  Hayes also avowed to only serve one term as President and was succeeded in Presidency by James A. Garfield.

Samuel J. Tilden

Tilden opposed Rutherford B. Hayes in the largely disputed election of 1876, where he won the popular vote but lost overall election.  Tilden led fight against the corruption of Tammany Hall and fought to keep taxes low.  He earned bachelors degree before graduating from New York University and became chairman of the Democratic State Committee.  He attended a school of law and became a Corporate Lawyer.  Tilden also boosted his popularity with the destruction of the Canal Ring which was a corrupt organization that profited from canal maintenance schemes.

Electoral Commission Members

The Electoral Commission included fifteen government officials whose assignment was to come up with a compromise in the chance that a presidential election ever was disputed.  The commission consisted of five Senators, five House Representatives, and five Court Justices:

  • Thomas F. Bayard (Senate, Democrat) was an American lawyer and politician.  He served three terms as a Senator from Delaware. He was born on October 29, 1828 and died on September 29, 1898 at the age of 69.

  • Allen G. Thurman (Senate, Democrat) was a lawyer, politician, judge, and secretary.  He was the United States Senator from Ohio.  He was born on November 13, 1813 and died on December 12, 1895 at the age of 82.

  • George F. Edmunds (Senate, Republican) was a politician and a lawyer, as well as the United States Senator from Vermont from 1866-1891.  He was born on February 1, 1828 and died on February 27, 1919 at the age of 91.

  • Frederick T. Frelinghuysen (Senate, Republican) was a lawyer and politician as well as the 29th United States Secretary of State.  He was born on August 4, 1817 and died on May 20, 1885 at the age of 67.

  • Oliver Hazard Perry Morton (Senate, Republican) was a politician, lawyer, and a judge as well as the United States Senator from Indiana.  He served as Senator for 10 years (1867-1877).  He was born August 4, 1823 and died on November 1, 1877 at the age of 54.

  • Josiah Gardner Abbott (Representative, Democrat) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts.  He worked as a teacher and lawyer, then became a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1836.  After that he became a member of the Massachusetts State Senate from 1841-1842.  He was born on November 1, 1814 and died on June 2, 1891 at the age of 77.

  • Eppa Hunton (Representative, Democrat) was a brigadier general in the Virginia Militia. He was born on September 24, 1822 and died on October 11, 1908  at the age of 86.

  • Henry B. Payne (Representative, Democrat) was a politicians well as a Untied States House Representative for one term.  He previously ran for Governor of Ohio and for the United States Senate but was unsuccessful.  He was born on November 30, 1810 and died on September 9, 1896 at the age of 86.

  • James Garfield (Representative, Republican) was a Major General in the U.S. Army, as well as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.  After this he successfully ran for President of the United states.  He became the 20th president of the United States.  He was born on November 19, 1831 and died on September 19, 1881 at the age of 49.

  • George Frisbie Hoar (Representative, Republican) was a lawyer and a Senior Senator of Massachusetts.  He was born on April 29, 1826 and died on September 30, 1904 at the age of 78.

  • Nathan Clifford (Justice, Democrat) was a lawyer, politician, teacher, and a judge.  He was also an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States as well as the 20th U.S. Attorney General.  He was born on August 18, 1803 and died on July 25, 1881 at the age of 77.

  • Stephen Johnson Field (Justice, Democrat) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was born on November 4, 1816 and died on April 9, 1899 at the age of 82.

  • Joseph Philo Bradley (Justice, Republican) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant.  He was born on March 14, 1813 and died on January 22, 1892 at the age of 78.

  • Samuel Freeman Miller (Justice, Republican) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln.  He was born on April 5, 1816 and died on October 13, 1890 at the age of 74.

  • William Strong (Justice, Republican) was an American jurist and politician.  He was a justice on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States.  He was nominate for Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States by President Ulysses S. Grant.  He was born on May 6, 1808 and died on August 19, 1895 at the age of 87.

David Davis[4]

In 1877, David Davis turned down the opportunity to be the first man to ever single-handedly elect the President of the United States.  He was a Supreme Court Justice in the United States from December 10, 1862 – March 4, 1877, and was nominated to that position by President Abraham Lincoln.  Davis was born March 9, 1815 in Cecil County, Maryland, and died on June 26, 1886 in Bloomington, Illinois at the age of 71.  He was a registered independent, and was nominated for president in 1872 but withdrew himself after he did not receive the Liberal Republican Party[3] nomination.