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Eugene W. Chafin

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Eugene W. Chafin
Personal details
Born
Eugene Wilder Chafin

(1852-11-01)November 1, 1852
Mukwonago/East Troy, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedNovember 30, 1920(1920-11-30) (aged 68)
Long Beach, California, U.S.
Political partyProhibition (1881–1920)
Other political
affiliations		Republican (before 1881)
SpouseCarrie Arvilla Hunkins
Children2
Parents
  • Samuel Evans Chafin (father)
  • Betsy Almira Pollard (mother)
RelativesRobert Hastings Hunkins (father-in-law)
Benjamin Hunkins (brother-in-law)
Amos Pollard (uncle)[1]
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison (LL.B.)
Signature

Eugene Wilder Chafin (November 1, 1852 – November 30, 1920) was an American politician and writer who served as the Prohibition Party's presidential candidate during the 1908 and 1912 presidential elections. He was active in local politics in Wisconsin, statewide elections in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Arizona, and campaigned throughout the United States and the world in favor of the prohibition of alcohol.

After serving as a delegate to multiple Prohibition national conventions he rose to serving on the national committee and then received the presidential nomination twice, but declined to seek the nomination again for the 1916 presidential election.

Early life

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The program for a Chautauqua movement lecture that featured Chafin

Eugene Wilder Chafin was born on November 1, 1852, to Samuel Evans Chafin and Betsy Almira Pollard on his family's farm in between East Troy and Mukwonago, Wisconsin.[2] Chafin attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison and graduated on June 17, 1875, with a law degree and during his education shared a room with future Governor, Senator, and presidential candidate Robert M. La Follette.[1] From 1875 to 1901 he practiced law in Waukesha, Wisconsin. On November 24, 1881, he married Carrie Arvila Hunkins and later had two children with her, one that died after birth on February 22, 1884 and Desdemona Eleanor on March 17, 1893.[1]

On October 1, 1901, he moved to Chicago to become the superintendent of the city's Washingtonian home, which housed 1,500 alcoholics, and served in that position until 1904. From 1904 to 1908 he served as a lecturer as part of the Chautauqua movement.[1][3] In 1909, he was admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of the United States after being presented by Senator La Follette and with Carrie Nation in attendance.[4]

Career

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Local politics

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In 1881, he left the Republican Party and joined the Prohibition Party and in the same year ran for District Attorney in Waukesha county. From 1884 to 1920, he served as a delegate to the Prohibition national conventions, from 1888 to 1896 he served as a national committeeman from Wisconsin and again for Arizona and California from 1912 to 1920, at the 1884 convention he served as the Sergeant-at-Arms and gave one of the seconding speechings for John St. John, and in 1900 he served on the platform committee.[1][5]

In 1877, he was elected as the Justice of the Peace in Waukesha and served until 1883 and then served as Police Justice until 1885. He later served on the school and public library board. Chafin ran for the House of Representatives in Wisconsin in 1882 and in Illinois in 1902. In 1886 and 1900, he ran for attorney general in Wisconsin and later ran for attorney general in Illinois in 1904. In 1898, he ran for Governor of Wisconsin.[1]

Presidential

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1908

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On July 16, 1908, Chafin was nominated by A. G. Wolfenbarger and Chafin won the Prohibition presidential nomination on the third ballot with 636 delegates voting for him against William B. Palmore, Daniel R. Sheen, Alfred L. Manierre, Will W. Tracy, Frederick F. Wheeler, James B. Cranfill, and Oliver W. Stewart. The vice presidential nomination was offered to Palmore due to him receiving the second highest amount of support, but he declined and the position was instead given to Aaron S. Watkins.[6] While running for president he was also simultaneously running for the Prohibition gubernatorial nomination in Illinois, but was defeated in the primary by Daniel R. Sheen.

In August, he was swimming at the YMCA in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he almost drowned, but was rescued by three people.[5] On August 14, 1908, he was giving a speech in Springfield, Illinois, when a lynch mob started a race riot in an attempt to kill three black prisoners and while he was taking his handkerchief out from his pocket a member of the mob believed that he was pulling a gun out and threw a brick at him.[7] In the general election he received 254,087 votes for 1.71% of the total popular vote.[8]

1912

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Chafin started his second presidential campaign on January 5, 1912, in Tucson, Arizona, and then traveled east towards Atlantic City, New Jersey, where on July 12, 1912, he won the Prohibition presidential nomination on the first ballot with 594 delegates after having his name presented by F. J. Sibley and Watkins was selected as his vice president again after two ballots.[9] After winning the nomination he traveled towards the western United States and campaigned in all of the states along the Pacific Coast before the general election. During the campaign he traveled a total of 36,300 miles through thirty states and received 208,156 votes for 1.38% of the popular vote in the general election.[10]

1916

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In December 1915, he stated that he would not seek the Prohibition presidential nomination again for the 1916 presidential election and that he believed that Representative Richmond P. Hobson would receive the nomination. He also gave his support to Henry Ford's Peace Ship and that he would put forward a vote to add abolishing the War and Navy Departments and establishing a Department of Peace at the 1916 National Prohibition Convention.[11]

Chafin attempted to draft Henry Ford for the Prohibition presidential nomination, but he made no attempt.[12] At the national convention he put forward former New York Governor William Sulzer for the presidential nomination, but he was defeated by former Indiana Governor Frank Hanly with 440 delegates to 188 delegates on July 21, 1916.[13] An attempt was made to make Hanly's nomination unanimous, but it failed after Chafin objected.[14] He also objected and stopped efforts to rename the party to either the Progressive, American, or National party and criticized Virgil G. Hinshaw for writing to John M. Parker in an attempt to fuse the Prohibition and Progressive parties.[15] In the general election, Hanly and Ira Landrith received 221,302 votes for 1.19% of the popular vote.[16]

Later life

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In 1908, Chafin was appointed to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and in October 1909, he and his family moved to Tucson in the Arizona Territory.[1] Following Arizona's admission into the United States as a state he ran in the House special election and received 0.41% in fourth place.[17]

In January 1913, he started a campaign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to fundraise $1,000,000 for the Prohibition party to use during the 1916 elections and later participated in a fundraising event in November across Ohio to raise $10,000 for the party.[18][19]

On January 29, 1914, he announced that he would run in Arizona's Senate election and received 15.05% in the general election and from 1914 to 1915 gave lectures as part of the Flying Squadron of America.[20][21] Chafin also campaigned in favor of a California ballot proposition to prohibit alcohol in 1914 and during it stated that women who voted against it deserved to be beaten by their husbands.[22]

On January 6, 1919, Chafin and his family boarded the S.S. Sonoma to travel to Australia to help the Australian prohibition movement.[23] The Eighteenth Amendment banning alcohol was ratified while he was traveling on January 16, 1919, and he was interviewed after disembarking in Australia.[3]

On November 20, 1920, Chafin was lighting his gas heater at his home in Long Beach, California, in the Los Angeles area, and his clothing caught fire.[3] He suffered burns and was initially saved by Henry Murray who wrapped him in quilts, but he died from his injuries on November 30.[24][25] In 1921, his cremated remains were buried in Prairie Home Cemetery in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and the National Prohibition Committee had a memorial hour for Chafin at its November 1921 session.[26][27]

Electoral history

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Eugene W. Chafin electoral history
1882 Wisconsin Second Congressional District election[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Daniel H. Sumner 10,671 50.40% +3.78%
Republican John Samuel Rowell 8,870 41.89% −10.08%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 1,006 4.75% +4.75%
Greenback Lorenzo Merrill 627 2.96% +1.55%
Total votes '21,174' '100.00%'
1898 Wisconsin gubernatorial election[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Edward Scofield (incumbent) 173,137 52.56%
Democratic Hiram Wilson Sawyer 135,353 41.09%
Populist Albinus A. Worsley 8,518 2.59%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 8,078 2.45%
Social Democratic Howard Tuttle 2,544 0.77%
Socialist Labor Henry Riese 1,473 0.45%
Independent write-ins 327 0.10%
Total votes '329,430' '100.00%'
1902 Illinois Sixth Congressional District election[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican William Lorimer 16,540 49.67% +0.20%
Democratic Allan C. Durborow Jr. 15,555 46.72% +1.59%
Socialist H. P. Kuesch 667 2.00% +2.00%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 536 1.61% +1.06%
Total votes '33,298' '100.00%'
1908 Prohibition presidential first ballot[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Prohibition William B. Palmore 273 26.63%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 195 19.02%
Prohibition Alfred L. Manierre 159 15.51%
Prohibition Daniel R. Sheen 124 12.10%
Prohibition Will W. Tracy 105 10.24%
Prohibition Frederick F. Wheeler 72 7.02%
Prohibition Oliver W. Stewart 61 5.95%
Prohibition James B. Cranfill 28 2.73%
Prohibition George R. Stewart 7 0.68%
Prohibition Charles Scanlon 1 0.10%
Total votes '1,025' '100.00%'
1908 Prohibition presidential second ballot[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Prohibition William B. Palmore 418 32.84% +6.21%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 376 29.54% +10.52%
Prohibition Daniel R. Sheen 157 12.33% +0.23%
Prohibition Alfred L. Manierre 121 9.51% −6.00%
Prohibition Will W. Tracy 81 6.36% −3.88%
Prohibition Frederick F. Wheeler 73 5.73% −1.29%
Prohibition Oliver W. Stewart 47 3.69% −2.26%
Total votes '1,273' '100.00%'
1908 Prohibition presidential third ballot[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 636 59.22% +29.68%
Prohibition William B. Palmore 415 38.64% +5.80%
Prohibition Daniel R. Sheen 12 1.12% −11.21%
Prohibition Will W. Tracy 7 0.65% −5.71%
Prohibition Alfred L. Manierre 4 0.37% −9.14%
Total votes '1,074' '100.00%'
1908 Prohibition presidential fourth ballot[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 1,087 100.00% +40.78%
Total votes '1,087' '100.00%'
1908 Illinois gubernatorial Prohibition primary[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Prohibition Daniel R. Sheen 3,604 53.58%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 3,123 46.43%
Total votes '6,727' '100.00%'
1908 United States Presidential election[33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican William Howard Taft 7,678,174 43.04% −4.85%
Democratic William Jennings Bryan 6,409,007 43.04% +5.45%
Socialist Eugene V. Debs 420,856 2.83% −0.15%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 254,081 1.71% −0.21%
Independence Thomas L. Hisgen 82,580 0.55% +0.55%
Populist Thomas E. Watson 28,862 0.19% −0.65%
Socialist Labor August Gillhaus 14,031 0.09% −0.16%
Republican Davidson Faction 987 0.01% +0.01%
United Christian Daniel Turney 463 0.00% +0.00%
Independent Write-ins 69 0.00% −0.00%
Total votes '15,048,834' '100.00%'
1912 United States Presidential election[34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Woodrow Wilson 6,296,284 41.84% −1.20%
Progressive Theodore Roosevelt 4,122,721 27.40% +27.40%
Republican William Howard Taft (incumbent) 3,486,242 23.17% −28.40%
Socialist Eugene V. Debs 901,551 5.99% +3.16%
Prohibition Eugene W. Chafin 208,156 1.38% −0.33%
Socialist Labor Arthur E. Reimer 29,324 0.19% +0.10%
Independent Write-ins 4,556 0.03% +0.03%
Total votes '15,048,834' '100.00%'
1914 Arizona Senate election[35]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Marcus A. Smith (incumbent) 25,800 53.23% +2.88%
Republican Don Lorenzo Hubbell 9,183 18.95% −24.90%
Independent Eugene W. Chafin 7,293 15.05% +15.05%
Socialist Bert Davis 3,582 7.39% +7.39%
Progressive J. Bernard Nelson 2,608 5.38% +5.38%
Total votes '16,617' '100.00%'

Bibliography

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  • Voters' Handbook, (1876)
  • Lives of the Presidents, (1896)
  • Lincoln, the Man of Sorrow, (1908)
  • Washington as a Statesman, (1909)
  • The Master Method of the Great Reform, (1913)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Chafin, Eugene (January 1, 1913). "The Master Method of the Great Reform". Lincoln Temperance Press. p. 5 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Chafin was born ... where?". Archived from the original on August 18, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Eugene Wilder Chafin, Twice Prohibition Candidate For U.S. President, Dies In This City". The Daily Telegram. Long Beach, California. November 30, 1920. p. 9. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Eugene Chafin Admitted". The Marlow Review. December 24, 1909. p. 15. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b Richardson, Darcy (January 1, 2007). Others: Third Parties During the Populist Period. iUniverse. p. 401. ISBN 9780595443048 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ ""Dry" Ticket Is Named". The Kansas City Kansas Globe. July 17, 1908. p. 7. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "One Man Killed; Other Injured; 5,000 in Streets". The Pittsburgh Post. August 15, 1908. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "1908 Presidential General Election Results".
  9. ^ "Chafin Named For President By Prohibitionists". The Pomona Daily Review. July 13, 1912. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "This Record Will Stand Many Years". Arizona Daily Star. December 29, 1912. p. 12. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Chafin Dopes Out Politics Of 1916". The Des Moines Register. December 12, 1915. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Urges Ford For "Dry" Ticket". The Daily Telegram. Long Beach, California. July 8, 1916. p. 6. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "US President - PRB Convention 1916". September 27, 2009.
  14. ^ "Hanly And Landrith". The Journal and Tribune. Knoxville, Tennessee. July 22, 1916. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Prohibitionists Refuse To Fuse". The Daily Capital Journal. Salem, Oregon. July 17, 1916. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "1916 Presidential General Election Results".
  17. ^ "Representative in Congress". The Coconino Sun. December 1, 1911. p. 12. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Defends Milwaukee". Appleton Evening Crescent. January 24, 1913. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Prohibitionists Start Campaign To Cover State". The Akron Beacon Journal. November 18, 1913. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Chafin Candidate For U.S. Senator". Arizona Republican. January 30, 1914. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Eugene W. Chafin of Flying Squadron was Former Pupil of C. L. Powers, of News Staff". The Joliet News. November 19, 1914. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Eugene Chafin Is A Radical". The Los Angeles Times. February 19, 1914. p. 16. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Chafin Starts Prohibition Crusade In Australia". Long Beach Press. March 28, 1919. p. 6. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Eugene Chafin Dies In L.A." The Sacramento Star. November 30, 1920. p. 3. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Eugene Chafin Prohi Leader Dies Suddenly". Pratt Daily Tribune. November 30, 1920. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Eugene Chafin Burial At Waukesha Monday". The Capital Times. Madison, Wisconsin. July 27, 1921. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Prohibition Party Will Make Plans". The Chanute Daily Tribune. November 25, 1921. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "WI District 2 1882". December 22, 2014. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  29. ^ "WI Governor 1898". July 25, 2005. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  30. ^ "IL District 6 1902". January 28, 2018. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  31. ^ a b c d "US President - PRB Convention". January 16, 2011.
  32. ^ "IL Governor-PRB Primary". July 27, 2019.
  33. ^ "US Presidential 1908".
  34. ^ "US Presidential 1912".
  35. ^ "AZ US Senate". August 4, 2003. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
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Party political offices
Preceded by Prohibition nominee for President of the United States
1908, 1912 		Succeeded by
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