Images(3)

Torch

Object number2004.2.1

Datec. 1872

MediumWood, Iron

Credit LineGift of Charles L. Armor

DescriptionCampaign parade torch. Long, thin pole topped by U-shaped bracket holding a small metal pot suspended by metal wire through bracket. Metal pot has opening at the top used for filling with a flammable liquid.DimensionsHeight x Width x Length: 4.875 × 4.5 × 61.75 in. (12.4 × 11.4 × 156.8 cm)
MarksProper left side of metal cap at end of wooden pole has text "PAT'D".
Historical NotesThis campaign parade torch was carried during Horace Greeley's presidential campaign of 1872. It was donated to the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania in 1930 by Charles L. Armor. Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery. The New-York Tribune (which he founded and edited) was America's most influential newspaper from the 1840s to the 1870s. Greeley used it to promote the Whig and Republican parties, as well as opposition to slavery and a host of reforms ranging from vegetarianism to socialism. Crusading against the corruption of Ulysses S. Grant's Republican administration, Greeley was the new Liberal Republican Party's candidate in the 1872 U.S. presidential election. Despite having the additional support of the Democratic Party, he lost in a landslide. He is the only presidential candidate to have died prior to the counting of electoral votes.

Related person Horace Greeley (1811 - 1872)

Related institution Liberal Republican Party

Related institution New-York Tribune

Related institution Whig Party

Related institution Republican Party (United States, founded 1854)

Subjects