Pennsylvania 1815 House of Representatives, Berks and Schuylkill Counties

Office:
House of Representatives (State)
Title:
State Representative
Jurisdiction:
State
Label:
Pennsylvania 1815 House of Representatives, Berks and Schuylkill Counties
Date:
1815
State:
Pennsylvania
Type:
General
Iteration:
First Ballot
Office/Role:
House of Representatives/State Representative
Candidates:
Christian Haldeman, David Hottenstine, Daniel Rhodes, Jacob Epler, Isaac Hiester, Marks John Biddle, Samuel Adams, George Oyster, Abraham Mengle, William Green, Jr., William Fisher, Henry Boyer, Jacob Keely
Candidates: Christian Haldeman[1]David Hottenstine[2]Daniel Rhodes[3]Jacob Epler[4]Isaac HiesterMarks John BiddleSamuel AdamsGeorge OysterAbraham MengleWilliam Green, Jr.William FisherHenry BoyerJacob Keely
Affiliation:RepublicanRepublicanRepublicanRepublicanRepublicanFederalistFederalistFederalistFederalistFederalistRepublicanRepublicanRepublican
Final Result: [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]228921271927170114761476132110701062996794326295
District of Berks and Schuylkill228921271927170114761476132110701062996794326295
Berks County[12]1879159515131347117711861053899847728731251271
Bethel423940374055553---
Croll's15615615114715344-41---
Forrest6035323636121134128129936711
Hamburg1641861831451826024252244222
Huff's57635656493738403934321
Kiely's10310232321997677677892
Kutztown216274257202230897538730402631
Muthardt's36484618143537393352372816
Oley804556493031202834932715
District of Reading5833363272592485995554754553343017450
Ruscombmanor6663624047279121916437
Schertel's104998590127455190125
Tulpehocken69697159112214121616579-
Whitehorse826178518265605021407415
Womelsdorf611935262475673549488266
Schuylkill County[13]410532414354299290268171215261637524
Blue's5144464639101176588-
Lower Mahantongo-21211---21-1921--
Orwigsburg21829120719816723421110919720031401
Pine Grove647762604424191631634-
Upper Mahantongo445950444491414-14---
West Penn334128551313497-2323

Notes:

[1]Elected.
[2]Elected.
[3]Elected.
[4]Elected.
[5]Daniel Rhodes is also listed as Daniel Rhoads.
[6]David Hottenstine is also listed as David Hottenstein.
[7]Abraham Mengle is also listed as Abraham Mengel.
[8]While several sources report vote totals for this election, The Der Readinger Adler (Reading, PA) from October 17, 1815 includes votes by townshiThis source has made addition mistakes in the reported totals and incorrectly lists 2107 total votes for David Hottenstine, 1906 total votes for Daniel Rhoads, and 1700 total votes for Jacob Epler despite the fact that the township totals do add up to the official vote totals. A few vote totals remain contradictory to other sources when adding the township totals for the remaining candidates: 1069 votes are reported for for George Oyster, 1060 votes for Abraham Mengle, and 989 total votes for William Green, Jr.
[9]"The two counties are entitled to five members. The Democratic Delegates put in nomination TEN candidates and the Federal party always willing to divide and conquer, took up three democrats and two federalists." The Democratic Press (Philadelphia, PA). October 16, 1815.
[10]The quotation from the Democratic Press states that ten Republican candidates were put in nomination, which does not necessarily mean that all of them remained candidates or even received votes. It only took a handful of people to put a candidate in nomination, often just by asking the editor of a newspaper to run an article stating that a person was a candidate for any given office. Some of the ten candidates put into nomination may have declined, or received such a small vote that the newspapers simply did not publish their votes.
[11]There was a tie for fifth place between Isaac Heister and John Marks Biddle each with 1476 votes. It is not clear which candidate won the fifth seat. Sometimes when there was a tie, lots were cast to see who would be chosen. On other occasions a special election was held and in a few cases the seat was just left vacant.
[12]Township totals reported in The Der Readinger Adler (Reading, PA) from October 17, 1815 add up to 898 votes for George Oyster and 845 votes for Abraham Mengle.
[13]Der Readinger Adler (Reading, PA) from October 17, 1815 lists 512 votes for David Hottenstine, 393 votes for Daniel Rhoads, 353 votes for Jacob Epler, 150 votes for George Oyster, 242 votes for William Green, Jr., and 42 votes for William Fisher in Schuylkill county. These are all mistakes in the addition of the reported township totals and the correct totals have been included here.

References:

Original Election Returns. Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg.
The Democratic Press (Philadelphia, PA). October 16, 1815.
Political and Commercial Register (Philadelphia, PA). October 17, 1815.
Der Readinger Adler (Reading, PA). October 17, 1815.
The Freeman's Journal and Columbian Chronicle (Philadelphia, PA). October 18, 1815.
Poulson's American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia, PA). October 18, 1815.
The Intelligencer, and Weekly Advertiser (Lancaster, PA). October 21, 1815.
United States' Gazette (Philadelphia, PA). October 21, 1815.
Der Standhafte Patriot und Berks Cauntier Averteiser in Reading (Reading, PA). October 25, 1815.

Page Images

handwritten notes
Phil's original notebook pages that were used to compile this election. These notes are considered a draft of the electronic version. Therefore, the numbers may not match. To verify numbers you will need to check the original sources cited. Some original source material is available at the American Antiquarian Society).
handwritten notes
Phil's original notebook pages that were used to compile this election. These notes are considered a draft of the electronic version. Therefore, the numbers may not match. To verify numbers you will need to check the original sources cited. Some original source material is available at the American Antiquarian Society).
handwritten notes
Phil's original notebook pages that were used to compile this election. These notes are considered a draft of the electronic version. Therefore, the numbers may not match. To verify numbers you will need to check the original sources cited. Some original source material is available at the American Antiquarian Society).
handwritten notes
Phil's original notebook pages that were used to compile this election. These notes are considered a draft of the electronic version. Therefore, the numbers may not match. To verify numbers you will need to check the original sources cited. Some original source material is available at the American Antiquarian Society).

These election records were released on 11 January 2012. Versions numbers are assigned by state. Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia are complete and are in Version 1.0. All other states are in a Beta version. For more information go to the about page.