1858 SILVER 3CS PR67

In a small subsidiary town - known as the Jefferson Parish before 1874 and now known as Carrollton - within the borders of the great city of New Orleans, havoc broke out on the morning of April 5, 1858. The annual mayor election was set up and the city intended it to happen just like those that came before. This election had two tickets for which the people could vote, the “Mason” and “Citizen” tickets. The Mason ticket, with Benjamin Mason as the candidate, is what essentially created the controversy behind this election. On the morning of the election, an armed gang that consisted of twenty to thirty men arrived in Carrollton with “bludgeons, pistols, and bowie knives,” in hand; several of whom had been identified as members of the New Orleans police department. Before the polls opened the men paraded around town and threatened, intimidated, or hurt townspeople while they claimed “more Dutchmen than ever before will be killed if the ‘Mason’ ticket did not win.” Panic increased as voting started and the gang began firing shots into the air, pushing around voters, and set off fire alarms. By the end of the day only seventy-three people were able to submit their ballots, with sixty-nine for Mason and four against. To make matters worse the gang topped their day off by killing a foundry-man in the coffee shop. In the aftermath of the shenanigans the townspeople were outraged by the obvious rigged result and demanded the decision be overturned. At the parish level court, the judge decided there should be a revote but the Mason party challenged this ruling. After, it was sent to the Louisiana Supreme court where the decision was overturned on the claim that those who challenged the vote had no standing to do so.