A Rare 1840 William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal

BillJones

Here is an early, very scarce William Henry Harrison medal from his 1840 presidential campaign. William Henry Harrison won the 1840 Whig Party presidential nomination in December of 1839. On May 4, 1840 the Whigs held a ratification / pep rally convention for Harrison in Baltimore, Maryland. National political conventions were often held in Baltimore in the 19th century because the city was centrally located on the Eastern Seaboard and had an easily accessible harbor. The "young men" aspect was undoubtedly intended to get the young and first time voters energized and enthusiastic for the upcoming campaign.

The 1840 William Henry Harrison presidential run set the standard for the modern political campaign. The Whigs pulled out all the stops with huge rallies, parades, barbeques and other events. At one point the Whigs built a huge ball, with slogans written on it, that was 10 feet in diameter and started to push it from Cleveland, Ohio to Lexington, Kentucky. The idea was to "keep the ball rolling" and get the voters out to polls. It was said the parade behind this ball stretched at one point to nine miles long.

The Whigs also issued a large number of tokens, ribbons and other campaign items. The output exceeded all previous campaigns, and would exceed most all succeeding elections until the landmark 1896 canvass. As a result there are many political medalets with Harrison on the obverse and a long cabin on the reverse. Here is a typical example, listed as WHH 1840-50.




The strategy worked. Harrison won the presidency despite that fact that the Whigs were the minority party and they were running against in incumbent president, Martin Van Buren. The voter turnout also impressive. Eighty-five percent of the eligible voters cast ballots, which is an amazing percentage compared with today's statistics, which usually hover around 50%.

Unfortunately Harrison's presidential campaign was much more exciting that his presidency. On Inauguration Day he stood in the cold and rain without a hat and coat and gave the longest inaugural speech in history. He caught a cold with developed into pneumonia, became progressively weaker and died 30 days after taking office. His vice presidential successor, John Tyler, proved to be more of Jefferson Democractic Party man than a Whig. He vetoed a re-charter for the Bank of the United States, which was the cornerstone of the Whig platform and soon became a president without supporters or a political party.

This piece is listed as WHH 1840-1 in Sullivan / DeWitt. It is a very scarce piece, and represents a significant upgrade from me. If anyone has an interest in my old one, which grades VF, send me a PM. I'll warn you these pieces are not cheap. My guess is there are no more than 20 of these pieces still in existence.

ricko

Interesting medals....and, as always, interesting history. Thank you BillJones... always enjoy your posts. Cheers, RickO

NumisOxide

That's a real nice high grade example!

coinkat

Congrats they look nice

Bill- did you ever meet J. Doyle DeWitt?

OldEastside

Steve

EXOJUNKIE

Wow...very nice.

Do you by chance have any pics of your VF?

remumc

Very interesting post, thanks!

BillJones

<< <i>Congrats they look nice

Bill- did you ever meet J. Doyle DeWitt? >>



No, but I hesitate to say more ... I will PM you if you have to know more ...

BillJones

<< <i>Wow...very nice.

Do you by chance have any pics of your VF? >>



Yes, here it is. It came from a Joe Levine sale some years ago.

breakdown

Love these threads -thanks for sharing. I can't help but wonder how history might have turned if Harrison had worn a coat for his inauguration or recovered from his illness. Oh yeah, cool medals too.

coinkat

My apologies Bill- I did not mean to put you on the spot- just thought you might have an interesting story or two to share. As I am sure you know, he made significant contributions in the area of Political collectibles. His collection was on display at the University of Hartford before being sold.

Treashunt

excellent write up

BillJones

<< <i>Love these threads -thanks for sharing. I can't help but wonder how history might have turned if Harrison had worn a coat for his inauguration or recovered from his illness. Oh yeah, cool medals too. >>



I don't know if things would have changed that much. The fundamental problem with the Whig Party was that it was more against something than it was united on some positive principles. The "something" was a common dislike for Andrew Jackson and his successors.

The Whigs were fundamentally split over the issue of slavery. The northern wing of the party over time become increasingly abolitionist while the southern Whigs supported to the continuation and in many cases the spread of slavery to more states and territories. By the early 1850s the slavery issue was ripping the Whig Party apart. From its ashes the Republican Party emerged and grew as more anti-slavery, pro-union people joined it.

The slavery issue almost killed the Democratic Party too, but it survived as the more conservative of the two major parties until William Jennings Bryan took it on a leftward swing starting in 1896.

Some historians say that William Henry Harrison was "a failure." I don't think that is fair because the poor man only held the presidency for 30 days and was ill for most all of it. I don't think that his presidency can be rated.

Some say that Harrison didn't have the talent to be president. I think that it would unfair to judge him in that way. Others were thought to be unqualified when they came to office and turned out to be pleasant surprises. Two that come to mind immediately are Chester Alan Arthur who turned to be a bit of reformer after having been a political hack and "wire puller" previously. The other was Harry Truman, whom some people called "that little man" and "the senator from Prendergast (a Missouri political boss who went to jail). Now many historians rate Truman as a "near great" president.

EXOJUNKIE

<< <i>

<< <i>Wow...very nice.

Do you by chance have any pics of your VF? >>



Yes, here it is. It came from a Joe Levine sale some years ago.


>>



Thanks Bill. It is also ex-HA circa 2004. I can only find a couple of distinct examples over the last 15 years or so. Very tough piece! Thanks again for sharing it and its story.

breakdown

<< <i>

<< <i>Love these threads -thanks for sharing. I can't help but wonder how history might have turned if Harrison had worn a coat for his inauguration or recovered from his illness. Oh yeah, cool medals too. >>



I don't know if things would have changed that much. The fundamental problem with the Whig Party was that it was more against something than it was united on some positive principles. The "something" was a common dislike for Andrew Jackson and his successors.

The Whigs were fundamentally split over the issue of slavery. The northern wing of the party over time become increasingly abolitionist while the southern Whigs supported to the continuation and in many cases the spread of slavery to more states and territories. By the early 1850s the slavery issue was ripping the Whig Party apart. From its ashes the Republican Party emerged and grew as more anti-slavery, pro-union people joined it.

The slavery issue almost killed the Democratic Party too, but it survived as the more conservative of the two major parties until William Jennings Bryan took it on a leftward swing starting in 1896.

Some historians say that William Henry Harrison was "a failure." I don't think that is fair because the poor man only held the presidency for 30 days and was ill for most all of it. I don't think that his presidency can be rated.

Some say that Harrison didn't have the talent to be president. I think that it would unfair to judge him in that way. Others were thought to be unqualified when they came to office and turned out to be pleasant surprises. Two that come to mind immediately are Chester Alan Arthur who turned to be a bit of reformer after having been a political hack and "wire puller" previously. The other was Harry Truman, whom some people called "that little man" and "the senator from Prendergast (a Missouri political boss who went to jail). Now many historians rate Truman as a "near great" president. >>



Great follow up post. I wish I could find a good history forum with such information. Thanks for sharing, Bill.

Tallpaul000

Great post, always love the history behind the piece. Didnt know about Tyler killing the bank, I knew Jackson gave up much to do the same, hence the HTTs, depression, but kept the country clean.

DorkGirl

Thanks for sharing.

bidask

Picked this one up at Long Beach show .

Dove in ....😎

thisistheshow

Amazing medal!
Felicidades!

BillJones

This is a very old thread. I went back and fixed the photos that were on Photobucket so that you can see the pieces. I sold the VF a long time ago.

Here is a bit more of the history about the “Young Men’s Harrison Convention” that was held on May 4, 1840. It was really more of an “in your face” political rally for the Whigs. The Whigs had already nominated Harrison for president. They came to Baltimore to disrupt the Democratic Party Convention that was held there.

The young Whigs held a big noisy parade that went past the hall where the Democrats were meeting. They were loud enough to disrupt what the Democrats were doing. From what I’ve read the Democratic convention was more like a wake. They met to re-nominate Martin Van Buren, but given the fact that he had presided over one of the worst economic depressions of the 19th century in America, the Democrats were not jumping for joy.

A few Democrats got really PO’d. Three or four of them came out of the crowd as the Whigs were marching by. They struck one of the Whig marchers in the head with pole and killed him.

As it turned out, he was a young man with a wife and family. After their parade, the Whigs met at a race track for a rally. When word got out that the young man had died, the Whigs in attendance asked for donations. They raised over $5,000, which was an incredible amount of money at the time.

The piece that @bidask posted was issued during a rally the Whigs held at the Bunker Monument near Boston. There are a couple of other pieces that were connected to this event.

Jimnight

@BillJones
Was it a common practice to drill a hole in the medal so that it could be worn around the neck?

BillJones

@Jimnight said:
@BillJones
Was it a common practice to drill a hole in the medal so that it could be worn around the neck?

Yes, some political collectors prefer the pieces with a hole because it shows that the piece was probably used or intended to be used in a campaign. One short cut for making the hole was to drive a nail through it with a hammer. Sometimes they made a mess of the piece doing that, especially if it failed.

Zoins

Thread Revival

@BillJones said:

@Jimnight said:
@BillJones
Was it a common practice to drill a hole in the medal so that it could be worn around the neck?

Yes, some political collectors prefer the pieces with a hole because it shows that the piece was probably used or intended to be used in a campaign. One short cut for making the hole was to drive a nail through it with a hammer. Sometimes they made a mess of the piece doing that, especially if it failed.

I ran across this while doing some research on political campaign tokens and commented before I realized the date

I agree the holes have their place in a collection. When possible, I prefer holed pieces where the original hanger or ribbon is still attached. When there's only a hole, the piece is incomplete to me.

That being said, sometimes you can only get a holed piece without the original hanger or ribbon, and sometimes they have to be removed to be slabbed, so there are those considerations.

trueblood

Great info here, thanks.

Pioneer1

I consider one of these pieces (Dewitt WHH 1840-2 photo below) an unlisted very early SCD at 42.9mm that belongs in the HK-90 to HK-136 section of the H&K catalog. Raymond says this piece was used to raise money to complete the Bunker Hill Monument via the Ladies Fair on Sept 8, 1840. It's battle scene shows the death of General Joseph Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill (actually on nearby Breed's Hill), Warren having been killed by a musket ball. Joseph Warren, a Massachusetts politician and member of the colony's Committee of Safety, volunteered to serve under Colonel William Prescott in the defense of the redoubt which the colonists had constructed on top of Breed's Hill.

The scene shows John Small, a British major, holding a sword, preventing a fellow British soldier from bayoneting General Warren. The famous painting of this scene by John Trumbull depicted "distinguished acts of humanity and kindness to enemies" especially since Major Small had served earlier with the colonists in the French and Indian War.

The dies by are Francis Mitchell of Boston, MA (see underneath the battle scene). Wish I had the ribbon (or at least a photo of one).

My piece comes from Joe Levine's Presidental Coin auction.

Zoins

@Pioneer1 said:
I consider one of these pieces (Dewitt WHH 1840-2 photo below) an unlisted very early SCD at 42.9mm that belongs in the HK-90 to HK-136 section of the H&K catalog. Raymond says this piece was used to raise money to complete the Bunker Hill Monument via the Ladies Fair on Sept 8, 1840. It's battle scene shows the death of General Joseph Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill (actually on nearby Breed's Hill), Warren having been killed by a musket ball. Joseph Warren, a Massachusetts politician and member of the colony's Committee of Safety, volunteered to serve under Colonel William Prescott in the defense of the redoubt which the colonists had constructed on top of Breed's Hill.

The scene shows John Small, a British major, holding a sword, preventing a fellow British soldier from bayoneting General Warren. The famous painting of this scene by John Trumbull depicted "distinguished acts of humanity and kindness to enemies" especially since Major Small had served earlier with the colonists in the French and Indian War.

The dies by are Francis Mitchell of Boston, MA (see underneath the battle scene). Wish I had the ribbon (or at least a photo of one).

My piece comes from Joe Levine's Presidental Coin auction.

Great info on this piece. I'm very curious about the following. Do you know what information John has to support this?

Raymond says this piece was used to raise money to complete the Bunker Hill Monument via the Ladies Fair on Sept 8, 1840

The following article from the National Park Service details the Ladies’ Fair fundraising for the Bunker Hill monument but doesn't mention anything about a medal. If John has such info, it would be great to provide it to the National Park Service ... and posted here of course

https://www.nps.gov/articles/bunker-hill-monument-fair.htm

Women associated with the men of the BHMA held their own fund drive that mimicked the men’s subscription tactic. Many men pushed back, saying that women had no right to donate money from household resources. Sarah Josepha Hale, the women’s fundraising coordinator, stepped onto her Ladies’ Magazine public platform and campaigned for women to contribute $1. Her stance was strongly criticized in newspapers that favored men only to raise Monument funds. By 1840, the Ladies’ Fund amounted to only $2,937.90.[3]

In the summer of 1840, a Boston women’s sewing circle of Seaman’s Aid Society members came up with the idea of using a familiar form, a women’s fair, to generate the necessary $30,000 for the BHMA. The sewing circle, comprised of female former fundraisers for the Bunker Hill Monument, approached the BHMA yet again with this tactical change. The BHMA appointed these women as a Fair Committee. This Committee contacted women’s networks throughout New England and down the Atlantic coast through newspaper articles and letters. These articles and letters requested that women’s clubs donate all manner of crafts, pieces of art, and kitchen specialties. Six weeks later, the Bunker Hill Monument Fair was held.[4] How was this incredibly short timeline possible? Sarah Josepha Hale’s 1831 article on Ladies’ Fairs shines some light onto this question:

Considering Ladies' Fairs among the chief graces of charity fostered by the needle, we give, in our plate, a beautiful illustration of industry, a young lady, surrounded by all the appurtenances and means of elegant enjoyment, is devoting herself sedulously to the old-fashioned employment of her needle, working for the Ladies' Fair, and thinking of a destitute and sick family to whom she hopes a part of the proceeds will be devoted to relieve.[5]

Ladies’ fairs gave women their own space to work productively and contribute to social causes in an organized form. What could be a greater social cause than funding a grand monument’s construction on a Revolutionary War battlefield?

Women Change the Fundraising Tactics

From September 10 to September 15, 1840, a women’s committee associated with the Bunker Hill Monument Association held a fundraising fair that, in the short span of five days, brought in substantially more cash than the goal of $30,000. The Bunker Hill Monument Fair occupied the second floor of “the Faneuil Hall Market” (today known as Quincy Market) right on the edge of the harbor in Downtown Boston. Ticket sales alone accounted for $9,884.59, close to one third of the goal sum. On the first day, Monday Sept 10, tickets cost 50 cents per person and 4,000 people paid to attend, totaling $2000. As ticket prices were reduced to 25 cents per person for the following four days, Tuesday through Friday, came an additional 31,600 people visited the Fair, bringing in approximately $7,900 in addition to the initial $2,000 in ticket sales. Considering Boston’s population of 93,383 in 1840, the total Fair visitation accounted for nearly 40% of Boston’s population, at 35,600.[6]

Visitors from all corners of New England gained entrance to the second-floor fair by climbing a temporary stairway erected in the street. When they reached the top of these stairs, they found themselves in the astounding central pavilion, with its large double dome topped with a glassed-in cupola above them. From here, they could explore 63 fair tables and additional displays, reaching from the East to the West wing. Visitors encountered women from seventeen local women’s groups, representing communities from Charlestown to Worcester, New Bedford to Nantucket, Lowell to Salem. As the 35,600 visitors explored, they purchased needlework, fabrics, household items, fresh or preserved delicacies, and much more, making the fair’s total profit $33,067 and 73 ½ cents (plus $9,885.34 earned afterwards). This profit, reached in five days, achieved the fundraising goal the Association had failed to attain for years.[7]

spacehayduke

great thread to revitalize.

Best, SH