The Differences Slavery Made: A Close Analysis of Two American Communities

Franklin County Churches and Voting Precincts

In Franklin County precincts that voted for Lincoln in 1860 also contained the majority of churches in the following denominations: Dunker, German Reformed, Manees, Methodist Episcopal, Union, and United Brethren. Some denominations (Lutherans and Catholics) had churches located in precincts that went for Lincoln as well as those that went for Breckinridge. The lone African church was located in a precinct that went for Lincoln. The geographic locations of churches relative to the precinct's voting pattern in 1860, then, reveal few clues about ethnicity and political expression.

Denominations Lincoln Breckinridge
African 1 0
Baptist 1 0
Catholic 1 1
Coventer 1 0
Dunker 4 1
German Episcopal 0 1
German Lutheran 1 0
German Reformed 8 4
Lutheran 4 4
Manees 5 0
Methodist 1 0
Methodist Episcopal 6 2
Methodist Presbyterian 1 0
Presbyterian & Methodist 1 0
Presbyterian 3 1
Seceder 1 0
Union 7 1
Union Bethel 0 1
United Brethren 7 2
Unknown 5 1
White Presbyterian 1 0



Denominations High Lincoln Precincts High Breckinridge Precincts High Douglas Precincts
African 0 0 0
Baptist 0 0 0
Catholic 0 1 0
Coventer 0 0 0
Dunker 0 1 2
German Episcopal 0 0 0
German Lutheran 0 0 1
German Reformed 1 2 1
Lutheran 0 1 0
Manees 0 0 2
Methodist 0 0 2
Methodist Episcopal 0 2 0
Methodist Presbyterian 0 0 0
Presbyterian & Methodist 0 0 0
Presbyterian 0 0 0
Seceder 0 0 0
Union 0 0 3
Union Bethel 0 0 0
United Brethren 0 2 2
Unknown 0 1 1
White Presbyterian 0 0 0



High Lincoln Precincts High Breckinridge Precincts High Douglas Precincts
Denominations German Reformed (1) Catholic (1) Dunker (2)
Dunker (1) German Lutheran (1)
German Reformed (2) German Reformed (1)
Lutheran (1) Manees (2)
Methodist Episcopal (2) Methodist (2)
United Brethren (2) Union (3)
Unknown (1) United Brethren (2)
Unknown (1)



Note: Precincts that gave "high" support to a candidate were defined as the 3 districts which gave the highest percentage of support to each candidate. Because this includes only 9 of the 23 voting precincts in Franklin, the church totals do not match those given in the table for the whole county.

Edward L. Ayers and William G. Thomas, III
Franklin County Churches and Voting Precincts
2001.

Points of Analysis to this Data:

"Franklin was slightly more churched than Augusta. Its denominations were more concentrated in the German traditions, but Augusta's churches were larger and more expensive."

"The white literacy rates and educational opportunities in both places were relatively high, but substantially better in Franklin."


Citation: Key = E164
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