These elderly gents posed together in 1899 on the steps of the Baldwin Feed Mill, located near Railroad Street, west of the former train tracks. Earlier there were three streets crossing the track, now there is only one.

Six of the men  are Charles Gray (age 71), Otis Thompson (age 92), Ezra Doolittle (age 82), Daniel Shaw (age 84), Frank Patterson (age 76) and Jonathan Smith (age 79). The occasion marked fifty years of voting in the Brooklyn area.

Some of the names that voted in the election of 1850 and 1875 were the above, Davis Fenton, C.D. W. Leonard, Alonzo Purinton, David Heathman, John Pace, C.A. Montgomery, O.P. Stowell, J.F. Eggleston Joel Smith, Joseph W. Haseltine, Jeremiah Anderson, W.R. Smith Jr.,William Kirkpatrick, Powell Shell, Willis W. McLaughlin, Sylvester Gray and his son, Charles Gray.

The 1899 election took place at the Samuel McComb Hotel. McComb charged the township a fee of five dollars for the use of the premises. Charles Hough earned one dollar and twenty-five cents for setting up the booths.

Three Williams worked at the polls; William Krause, William Gill and William Larner. George Moore defeated Krause for the chairman buy lasix without rx position. A.L. Patterson and Phin Root were the top candidates receiving votes for the two supervisor slots, leaving Henry Smith trailing in third place.

Hiram Patterson won the clerk’s job. P.A. Haynes got three more votes then E.E. Purintun for the assessor ticket. Haynes resigned before the month was out, Purintun was appointed to take his place.

Both E.Q. Knapp and Julius Baldwin were declared Justice of the Peace eliminating the remaining candidate (Emory Smith received a single vote.) C. Baldwin and C.T. Bartlett became constables, each getting 243 votes. William Larner retained the weed commissioner position.

There was a referendum for ‘licensing the sale of strong spirituous malt and intoxicating liquors.’ M. Mason and Hans Knudson were licensed in Mason’s basement bar. Fred W. Eggleston was licensed to sell liquor at Mrs. Heathman’s Hotel in Attica. The license, seen at the Ellis Drug Store at Brooklyn read, ‘Not to drink at this site, only for medicinal or scientific purposes.’

Dr. P.A. Fox headed the Board of Health with George Moore, E.Q. Knapp and Hiram Patterson.

All documents and photo’s are property of Sharon George, who has graciously offered to share them.