Did you know that at one time, Ridgeway elected its postmaster? On November 19, 1914, the Ridgeway Journal announced that Postmaster Melvin would leave his post the next February and that Congressmen J. W. Alexander decreed that the next Ridgeway postmaster would be chosen by public ballot. The election would be held “by Australian ballot system” on November 27 from 7 am to 7 pm. At the time the article was written, three democrats had announced their candidacy: Charles E. Johnson, James T. Jefferies, and F. M. Spragg. By November 26, four more candidates were vying for the job: C.O. Buzzard, J. C. McCaul, C. A. Stoner, and C. E. Switzer. The paper concluded with “take your pick –it’s bound be a democrat any way you choose. “
The race was on and it was “a warm number from start to finish. The seven candidates worked hard, and automobiles played a very prominent part by bringing in the country voters. Much electioneering was done by friends of the candidates and as a result, it is said that many votes failed to land where they were originally promised.” The paper went on to say that there was more interest in this local postmaster election that for a presidential election and no one had any idea who would win until the votes were counted. C. A. Stoner won with 63 votes, easily beating F. M. Spragg who had 52 votes and J. T. Jefferies with 51 votes.
FYI, the “Australian ballot system” is the system we use today for voting in public elections. Also known as the “secret ballot’, it uses a pre-printed ballot, and the voter remains anonymous.
