The “Wide Awakes” were a nationwide grassroots Republican campaign organization that was founded by 5 dry goods clerks in Hartford, Connecticut in March of 1860. The movement was made up of young white men who donned uniforms, lit torches and marched in “pseudomilitary” companies. It spread across the country and had hundreds of thousands of members by November.

The Wide Awakes introduced a generation of young Republican men to politics that became members of a Wide Awake army with uniforms and ranks. They appealed to the “militia fever” sweeping the north. There were tens of thousands of active members in Central Connecticut. The primary interest of the group was defeating Democrats in their home districts. Wherever elections were the most contentious groups sprung up. Men formed in groups of about a hundred and met several evenings a week in storefront clubhouses. Publicity in local newspapers aided the spread of the organization. Many of their members would vote for the first time in the 1860 Presidential election and became some of the earliest volunteers in the Union Army. Eighty percent of the original Hartford company served. Their activities triggered massive interest in local and nationwide elections.

The history of the formation of the Hartford Wide Awake Club

The club organized during the hotly contested Connecticut Governor’s election between Republican William Buckingham and Democrat Thomas Seymour. They served as a bodyguard to escort Republican speakers through the streets of Democratic Hartford. When the Republican won by less than 600 votes the “Wide Awakes” were credited in aiding the victory. The group took their name from an article published in the Hartford Courant on January 26, 1860. Their first meeting took place in the rooms of J. Allen Francis (over City Bank) at the southeast corner of Main and Kinsley in Hartford, Saturday evening, March 3, 1860 (see Major Rathbun’s paper). The meeting was called to order by H. P. Blair, who was elected chairman. James S. Chalker was elected Captain and James P. Carpenter Secretary and Treasurer. A committee of six was selected to transact club business that included: Mr. Newell; Stockbridge; Speare; Humphrey; Francis; and Carpenter. Lieutenants were appointed including: Mr. Newell; Carpenter; Humphrey; Blair; Hitchcock; and Francis. They voted to adopt the name “Wide Awakes” with a glazed cap and cape as uniform, and to carry a swinging torch. The name came from an article by the city editor of the Hartford Courant by William P. Fuller entitled ” Republicans Wide Awake! ” At a meeting held at Odd Fellows Hall, (Union Hall), March 12th, thirty-three names were added to the club. They even adopted their own cheer- “Hurrah! Huzza! Hurrah! Huzza! Hurrah! Huzza!” and membership card.

On March 10th, another Republican club was organized in Hartford calling themselves the “Wide Awakes”. Their officers were: President- Rowland Swift; Vice-Presidents- William H. Banks; Corresponding Secretary- Henry T. Sperry; Recording Secretaries, Joseph G. Woodward, Horace B. Winship. The Executive Committee was made up of: Rowland Swift, George S. Gilman, E. R. Lee, Daniel F. Seymour, William H. Banks, Francis Fellows, Jr., and James S. Chalker. The two groups eventually met together at 311 Main Street. The second company in the state was formed in Waterbury, then others in New Haven, New Britain and in many other towns. The Hartford group raised money to build a temporary building for meetings. The lot on the east corner of Asylum and High streets was secured and an immense “Wigwam” was erected capable of accommodating several thousand people. None of the buildings mentioned above are still standing.

Sources

“Young Men for War” The Wide Awakes and Lincoln’s 1860 Presidential Campaign by Jon Grinspan. The Journal of American History September 2009.

“The Wide Awakes” The Great Political Organization of 1860 by Major Julius G. Rathbun. Connecticut Quarterly Volume 1, page 327, October 1895.