Presidential Election Year

Summer, 1987, we visited with Richard's aunt Theo Rice in Kansas, the oldest of his mother's siblings.
She recalled a trip to visit her grandparents in Nemaha County, Nebraska,  when she was a child, during the presidential election campaign of 1896.   Her dad, John Samuel Barnes, drove a covered wagon;  her uncle and his family accompanied them in a second wagon.   All travelors on the road had political  signs on their wagons and  called out their  party  and favorite candidate to those they met.  Theo's dad (Richard's grandfather) was Republican and their candidate was William McKinley (the eventual victor); her uncle was a Democrat and supported William Jennings Bryant.   Our country has a long history of strong  political feelings!