Hill, David B. (David Bennett), 1843-1910

Frederick W. Kruse writes to Police Commissioner Roosevelt in support of his actions regarding the excise statute of 1892.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1895-07-17

William Stephen Devery and a saloon known as “the pump” have returned to the Democratic party with fanfare. Although the article points out that Devery had previously been removed from the Democratic party, his return has been greeted warmly by high-ranking party officials including Thomas Taggart and Norman Edward Mack. Other articles on this page include commentary on vice presidential candidate Henry Gassaway Davis’s age, the delay in the opening of the subway system, and the inspection of the boat, the Grand Republic.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-03

David B. Hill and “Aunty Democracy” stand behind “Parker—famous talking parrot.” “Roosevelt’s reply” is on the ground. Parker says, “The trouble with me was I talked too d-n much!” Caption: Aunty Democracy—Dave, you should never have taught that bird to talk.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11

In one vignette, David B. Hill jumps into a “Wolfert’s Roost” tree with a sign that reads, “I really couldn’t wait until Jan. 1.” In the second, “the silent voter” sphinx shouts, “Roosevelt!” from a megaphone as Alton B. Parker runs away. In a third vignette, Chair of the Republican National Committee George B. Cortelyou tells Chair of the Democratic National Committee Thomas Taggart, “Kindly make allowances for me, Tom, as this was my first campaign.” In the fourth, President Roosevelt looks at a Republican elephant who holds a scroll that reads, “339 + electoral votes.” The elephant says, “Theodore, you’ve established a hard record for me to keep up with.” In the fifth, Henry Gassaway Davis opens a fence as West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins rushes toward him and says, “Welcome home, pop!” In the sixth, Williams Jennings Bryan looks at a piecemeal donkey and says, “I guess there’s enough to work on.” In the seventh, “Southern democracy” looks at the shoes of “Northern democracy” stuck in a snowdrift and says, “Nothin’ but de feet!” In the eighth, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon looks through binoculars and says, “Wanted! A few minority members for House committees.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-13

David B. Hill wears an “I am a Democrat” feather and speaks to William Jennings Bryan, who has a Democratic donkey in his pocket. Caption: Brer Dave Hill—Habn’t seen a stray donkey, hab ye? Brer Bill Bryan—Do you call it a donkey? I picked up what ‘peared to me a scared rabbit.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11

Several Democratic Party leaders ride on a train together, including August Belmont, Patrick Henry McCarren, David B. Hill, Charles Francis Murphy, Henry Gassaway Davis, Thomas Taggart, William F. Sheehan, and William Jennings Bryan. Alton B. Parker wears several bandages, including a “$50,000 law job from Belmont” around his head and a “Solid South” bandage on his hand.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-09

New York Senators Thomas Collier Platt and Chauncey M. Depew led a durbar procession, which includes President Roosevelt, who holds a paper that reads, “the presidency compliments of the people,” sitting on a Republican elephant. Democratic party leaders, including Arthur P. Gorman, David B. Hill, Alton B. Parker, August Belmont, and Henry Gassaway Davis, watch from the side. Uncle Sam bows toward the procession.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-29

According to Frank Campbell, state Democratic party chairman for New York, Judge Alton B. Parker will not be a candidate for president if David B. Hill decides to run. Parker and Hill are longtime political allies.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-02

Article defends President Roosevelt from attacks claiming he is against the 14th Amendment.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-14

This newspaper clipping from The Globe includes several marked articles. “The First Speech of Mr. Higgins,” describes a speech of Frank Wayland Higgins, New York gubernatorial candidate, in his hometown. “Very Queer Business” highlights the hysterical situation in the press surrounding Judge Alton B. Parker, as the newspapers seem to not trust Parker to act on his own “as a self-respecting man and leader of his party.” This stands in sharp contrast to the mood of the democratic campaign itself, which seems much more sanguine. Finally, “A Notable Accession” is a partial article highlighting the choice by Robert Treat Paine of Massachusetts, a former Democratic gubernatorial candidate, to vote for President Roosevelt rather than Parker.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-20

This advertisement for a subscription package for both the New York World and the Citizen announces the impartiality of the World in covering the upcoming elections.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-27

Several Republican leaders believe that an article about Judge Alton B. Parker published in the Evening Post was “needlessly unkind.” Included is a reprint of the article discussed and several other articles from the Post about Parker.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-18

Theodore Roosevelt and three potential presidential rivals are depicted as different species of flowers. A female figure labeled Columbia (likely representing the U.S.) is watering the Roosevelt flower, Beautii Americanus Teddyum, with a can labeled 1904. The flower names given to the rivals portray them in a negative way. They are Groverum Third Terminus (Grover Cleveland), Sixteen to Oneicus Rubberum (William Jennings Bryan), and Peanutti Politicus Dave Hillum (David B. Hill).

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-04-15

A young boy in uniform and cap labeled “1905” sweeps an office clean of many papers labeled “Yellow Peril 1904, Broken Resolutions, Dave Hill ‘I was a Democrat’ 1904, [and] St. Louis Graft 1904” and a large crown labeled “Imperialism.” Some papers labeled “Tom Taggart, [and] Campaign Oratory 1904” are already in the wastebasket.

Comments and Context

Frank Nankivell, Puck‘s Australian-born, Japanese-trained cartoonist, opened the new year of 1905 with traditional New Year Baby in a decidedly contemporary office-boy uniform, the model of efficiency, clearing the floors of old issues, old controversies, and old public figures.

The cartoon does a favor for future researchers and historians, because its file drawers, litter, and waste basket are filled with the memorable issues of the past year, and of the Roosevelt administration’s first term.

David B. Hill appears as a farm wife feeding chickens, geese, and pigs. Vignette scenes show Hill working the farm, shopping, and pontificating to a group of hayseed farmers. The final scene shows Hill in bed receiving the “Presidential Nomination” from Columbia.

Comments and Context

David B. Hill had served in many offices as a New York Democrat — state assemblyman, lieutenant governor, governor, United States Senator, as a supporter and opponent of New York’s Grover Cleveland, and as a supporter of his party’s presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan. He also was, for roughly two decades between 1884 and 1904, an aspiring presidential candidate.

His last substantial role in party politics was as campaign manager for presidential candidate Alton Brooks Parker, a New York State Appellate Judge, in 1904. At the conclusion of that campaign — an unprecedented loss for the Democrats, against Theodore Roosevelt — Hill announced his retirement from public life. As this cartoon imagines, Hill would return to his farm in Wolfert’s Roost, near Albany. That he never really practiced farming is portrayed by the cartoon’s vignettes; and lingering presidential aspirations are depicted as continuing to inhabit his dreams.

Judge Alton B. Parker pulls a donkey to safety across a bridge constructed of planks labeled “Conservatism, Sanity, Tariff Reform, [and] Anti-Trust.” Falling into the chasm are William Jennings Bryan, hanging onto the “Financial Plank,” and David B. Hill. The donkey’s bridle is labeled “Telegram.”

Comments and Context

In 1904, presidential candidates did not attend their nominating conventions. The ritual included informing the candidate by telegram and the candidate’s acceptance by telegram, followed by transmission of the platform, and delegations visiting the candidates’ homes for the”formal” notifications and acceptance speeches.

The Democratic donkey’s bridle labeled “telegram” is thus explained. New York Appeals Court Judge Alton Brooks Parker was nominated by the Democrats as a “safe and sane” alternative to eight years of Populist-tinged influence of William Jennings Bryan.

Alton B. Parker, William Jennings Bryan, David B. Hill, Arthur P. Gorman, Tammany Hall boss Charles Murphy, William Randolph Hearst, an unidentified rower, and Grover Cleveland sit in an eight-oared racing shell in a race against President Roosevelt, who is rowing as a single sculler in an eight-oared shell. The Democrats are proving to be poor scullers, as they are unable to manage their oars. Caption: Stroke Parker–Now […], boys, get together!

Comments and Context

Cartoonist Keppler’s depiction of the 1904 presidential race is a fair analogy. Unseen in this battered, vintage copy is President Roosevelt, the lone sculler in the Republican scull, and far ahead. The only satisfied figures among the Democrats are candidate Alton Brooks Parker, presidential candidate, at the front, and former president Grover Cleveland, the party’s elder statesman whose influence succeeded in Parker’s nomination and a conservative platform. Mirroring the dissatisfaction of the Democrats is the cross-purposes of their oars in the water.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Democrats and Republicans, capitalists, social reformers, political symbols, and others enjoy a summer outing at a park.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-08-17

At center, Uncle Sam looks into a mirror while descending a stairway in a hall. “Swallow” and “Watson” are standing in the hall, holding candles. In the vignette at lower left, the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, Roosevelt, Fairbanks, Parker, and Davis, arrive in costume. On the lower right they are unmasked and engaged in a game with Columbia. On the middle left is “Bryan” as “An Old Timer,” and on the middle right “Taggart” and “Belmont” play a prank on an elderly woman with a “Bogie Man” labeled “Militarism.” At top left, bobbing for “Campaign Funds” are “Taggart, Bliss, Cortelyou, [and] Belmont,” and at top right “Odell, Shaw, [and] Hill” are “Jumping the Issues.”

Comments and Context

Puck, a major Democratic publication, seems extremely unconcerned with the outcome of the imminent presidential election: little more than a week before balloting, its center-spread cartoon — traditionally a forum for powerful, persuasive political cartoons — instead published genre cartoons on a Halloween theme. Yes, with politicians as the characters, but more humorous than partisan. It possibly saw the writing on the wall, a massive Democratic defeat.

President Roosevelt sits on a fence on a hill, flying a kite labeled “Popularity.” Below are several potential Democratic presidential candidates, all of whom are having difficulty flying their kites. From left to right are William Jennings Bryan labeled “W.J.B.” holding a bellows labeled “Moral Issue” and blowing on his tattered kite labeled “1896” and “1900” with ribbons on the tail labeled “Free Silver, Populism, Anti-imperialism, [and] Free Riot.” Next is David B. Hill holding a kite labeled “Parker Boom,” then Charles Francis Murphy holding a kite under his arm labeled “McClellan Boom,” followed by Grover Cleveland, then Richard Olney holding the string to a kite labeled “Past Record” lying on the ground, with ribbons labeled “1884” and “1892,” “Tariff Reform, Independent Vote, [and] Personal Popularity,” and then Arthur P. Gorman whose kite is tangled on a tree branch labeled “Panama Blunder.” In the center is a little yellow child labeled “Willie” who is all tangled up in his own kite string. The kite, lying on the ground, is labeled “Yellow Journalism” and the string spells “McKinley Slanders.”

Comments and Context

This cartoon is a simple and accurate portrayal of the political situation as the United States entered the presidential campaign of 1904. The Democratic field was divided among several weak candidates, and harbored a fear that a third nomination of William Jennings Bryan would result in a third substantial defeat at the polls. And President Roosevelt, as the incumbent, seemed sure of victory as enjoyed widespread popularity in the country and could boast of many policy victories.

A key to the Democratic figures will explain the nature of the potential candidates and their status as nominating conventions approached.