Election Day in Memphis, Tennessee

As voters in Memphis cast their ballots, the Appeal reported that no “disagreeable incidents” took placed and a “general good feeling…prevailed at the polls.” Yet later that night residents waited outside the telegraph office with “much anxiety” for election updates. While the crowd greeted reports favorable to John Bell, John Breckinridge, or Stephen Douglas with “long and loud shouts,” news about Republican victories “was received…in silence.” (By Don Sailer)