Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Old Time Sanchez Politics

I came across some newspaper articles that were in the Floridian & Journal in the 1850s that were politically charged. The Sanchez family in Alachua and St. Johns Counties were Democrats. They also appear to be active in the party.

The May18, 1850 article reviews the results of the Alachua County Convention. Francis Roman Sanchez’ sons, George W. and John J., are party officers. Other familiar surnames like Colding, Dell, & Standley are also mentioned. The resolutions from the convention are detailed and are certainly pro-slavery,

The August 3, 1850 article rehashes the replacement of U.S. Marshall Col. Joseph S. Sanchez with Maj. John Beard that was originally reported in the St. Augustine newspaper in Sept. 1842. The story goes on to say, Col. Sanchez was removed from office by the Whig (Federalist) Congress because he was a Democrat. However his replacement was also a Democrat since no Whig was nominated for the post. It was called whiggery.

I found these two articles using GenealogyBank which is an electronic database of some historic newspapers that is offered in the Hillsborough-Tampa Public Library. The coverage is spotty. I hope that you will be able to see the articles by clicking the dates.