Ramsey County History – Fall 1992: “Whistles, Crowds and Free Silver: St. Paul’s Noisy Election Night in 1896”

Whistles, Crowds and Free Silver: St. Paul’s Noisy Election Night in 1896

Author: Thomas C. Buckley

Though William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan were the principal candidates in the 1896 presidential election, the central figure in this article is James J. Hill. Hill provided the giant steam whistles used to broadcast the election results, in a simple code, to the public gathered downtown. Though a Democrat normally, Hill strongly favored McKinley because of Bryan’s cheap money platform.

PDF of Buckley article