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| Black Day of the |
Top Story of the Week in Indiana History
Fisticuffs, chaos and even gunshots ring out as Indiana chooses a new senator.
Fisticuffs, chaos and even gunshots ring out as Indiana chooses a new senator.
A legislative brawl in the
Indiana Statehouse leads to fistfights, gunshots, and finally, the Governor
calling the police to put down the riot in the State Capitol. The melee added
fuel to the call for a Constitutional Amendment to end State Legislatures
electing United States
The Governor Wants to be a Senator
Democratic Governor Isaac
P. Gray wanted to serve as Senator in the United States Senate. In the days
before the Seventeenth Amendment, State Legislatures chose the state's
senators. Thus, the Indiana General Assembly would have to elect him. Gray's
problem was, he had been a Republican and some of his actions taken as a
Republican made the Senate Democrats hesitate to send him to the Senate.
Democrats controlled the Indiana Senate while Republicans controlled the House.
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| A Day in Indiana History - February |
Strategy Gone Awry
Senate Democrats convinced
the Lieutenant Governor, Mahlon D. Manson, to resign. Their strategy was, if
there were no Lieutenant Governor to replace the Governor, they could not elect
a sitting Governor to the US Senate. To counter this move, Gray and the Indiana
Secretary of State decided that a mid-term election for Lieutenant Governor was
constitutional, so they scheduled a special election to fill the vacant
Lieutenant Governor seat. Gray's wish that a Republican would win the special
election was granted when Republican Robert S. Robertson won the election. Gray
hoped that Republicans would support his election to the Senate, since his
replacement would be a Republican. This placed the Democrats in a quandary.
Legal Conflicts
The Democrats deemed the
special election unconstitutional and elected their own Lieutenant Governor,
Alonzo Green Smith. The Republicans countered by filing a lawsuit against
Smith, preventing him from taking his seat. The case went before the Indiana
Supreme Court, who decided that, since he had won a popular election, Robertson
could not be denied his seat.
Black Day of the Indiana
On February
24, 1887 ,
Robertson arrived at the Senate Chamber to preside over the Senate. A group of
Democratic Senators attacked him and beat him to the floor. The Senate
president pro tempore ordered the doormen to expel Robertson. The doormen
complied. Republicans soon raised a ruckus, demanding that Robertson be allowed
to take his seat. When the Democrats resisted, fights broke out all over the
Senate chamber. As the fighting progressed through the floor, one Democratic
Senator pulled a gun and shot a hole in the Senate Chamber's ceiling. He then
threatened the Republicans, saying he would start killing them if they did not
desist in fighting. This halted the conflict in the Senate, but people outside
the chamber, alerted to the happenings inside the Senate, began fighting. The
fight soon spread to the House of Representatives. They overwhelmed the
outnumbered Democrats and ran through the Capitol, dragging Democrats outside
to beat them. Another group broke down the Senate door and began dragging
Democratic Senators outside. Governor Gray was compelled to send for the
police, who came and brought the conflict under control. Four hours of chaos
led to a total shutdown of legislative activity for that session, as the
Democrats refused to communicate with the Republicans and the Republicans
refused to communicate with the Democrats. The legislative session ended the
next day. Gray's hope of becoming a United States Senator ended with the
session.
Proponents of ending the
State Legislature's role in selecting the United States
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