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Democracy in Delaware The Story of the First State's General Assembly Carol E. Hoffecker � 1 f\ '""' Cedar Tree Books Wilmington, Delaware The Right in the People to Participate in the Legislature is the Foundation of Liberty and of all Free Government Declaration of Rights and Fundamental Rules of the DelavvareState September 11, 1776 First Edition Published by: Cedar Tree Books 9 Germay Drive, Wilmington, Delaware 19804 ISBN: l-892142-23-6 Title: Democracy in Delaware Copyeditor: Barbara Benson Cover design: Sandy Hughes Layout and book design: Phil Maggitti ©2004 by Carol E. Hoffecker Library of Congress Catalog in Publication Data Hoffecker, Carol E. Democracy in Delaware : the story of the First State's General Assembly I Carol E. Hoffecker. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN l-892142-23-6 1. Delaware. General Assembly-History. 2. Delaware-Politics and government. I. JK3766.H64 2004 328. 751'09-dc22 2004004298 Printed in the United States of America Made from recyclable materials. Table of Contents Dedication vii Acknowledgments ix List of Illustrations xi Foreword xiii Introduction Chapter 1: The Three Lower Counties on Delaware, 1682-1763 7 Chapter 2: Creating the Delaware State, 1764-1781 29 Chapter 3: The First State, l782-1815 51 Chapter 4: The Border State, 18 16-1860 73 Chapter 5: Delaware's Inner Civil War, 1861- 1875 99 Chapter 6: Setting a New Course, 1876-1905 117 Chapter 7: The Du Pants and Delaware, 1906-1921 141 Chapter 8: The Legislature Faces Good Times and Bad, 1922-1951 169 Chapter 9: Federalism in Action, 1952-1972 l 95 Chapter 10: The Citizen Legislators, 1973- 2004 229 275 Notes Index 28 7 Dedication This book is dedicated to past, present, and future legislators of the Dela­ ware General Assembly, and especially to the memory of my great-uncle Frank R. Zebley, member of the House of Representatives, 1935-1940, Speaker in 1939-1940, a man who loved Dela\vare and its history. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The task of reconstructing the Delaware General Assembly's long history has involved the assistance of many people. Librarians and archivists are the historian's guides into the materials of the past. At the Historical Society of Delaware Dr. Constance J. Cooper, Ellen Rendle, and Edward Chichirichi were unfailingly helpful, as were Joanne Mattern, Bruce Haase, Dawn Mi tchell, and other staff members of the Delaware Public Archives. Those who assisted in the search for appropriate illustrations included Randy Goss of the Delaware Public Archives, Ellen Rendle of the Historical Society of Delaware, Barbara Hall and Lisa Gensel of the Hagley Museum and Library, Charlotte Walker of the News­ Journal Papers, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives JoAnn M. 1-Iedrick, Supervisor of Legislative Printing Debby Messina, and Madeline E. Dunn, Jenna Hickman, Beverly Laing, Cindy Snyder, and Ann B. Horsey of the Delaware State Museums. In writing the story of the modern legislature I was most grateful for the insights of a variety of people who have lived that history first hand as legislators, governors, lobbyists, legislative staff, and observers. The names of those who provided those interviews include, in alphabetical order: Thurman Adams, Jr., Steven H. Amick, Myrna L. Bair, Patricia M. Blevins, John Brook, Michael N. Castle, Nancy W. Cook, Richard S. Cordrey, Joseph G. DiPinto, Pierre S. du Pont IV, Orlando J. George, Jr., Robert F. Gilligan, Bethany Hall-Long, Margaret Rose Henry, George C. Hering III, Andrew G. Knox, Jerome R. Lewis, Margaret R. Manning, Jane Maroney, Robert L. Maxwell, Ruth Ann Minner, William S. Montgomery, Lisa M. Moreland, James P. Neal, Russell W. Peterson, Roger P. Roy, Thomas B. Sharp, Wayne A. Smith, Alan V. Sokolow, Liane M. Sorenson, Terry R. Spence, Stephanie A. Ulbrich, and Mary Margaret Williams. The book would not have been written but for the leadership of House Majority Leader Wayne A. Smith; and it is much richer for the aid of others as well. Mary Margaret Williams, Richard B. Carter, and William S. Montgomery offered valuable suggestions and helped me make contact with several key political figures. Fonner House Speaker George C. Hering III loaned his collection of the Legislative Roster, an annualpublication of the Delaware Chamber of Commerce, . which was an invaluable resource. The present House Speaker, Terry R. Spence, and Majority Leader Wayne A. Smith invited me to observe a meeting of the House majority caucus. Ryan Thompson undertook several tasks including an analysis of the increasing length of service of twentieth-century legislators. Walter C. Feindt, the director of the Delaware Legislative Council, and his co-worker Debby Porter managed the finances for the project. Marie Perrone, an expert in word processing, put my raggedy typed version of the manuscript into final publishable form. Lastly, the author and readers owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dr. Barbara E. Benson, the book's editor. Her deep knowledge of Delaware history,high editorial standards, and painstaking work are an unseen but invaluable presence on every page. The responsibility for any remaining errors lies entirely with the author. Carol E. Hoffecker Hockessin, Delaware October 2003 Illustrations 1. William Penn 6 2. Map 13 3. New Castle plan 23 4. Laws of Delaware title page 26 5. Thomas McKean 34 6. Caesar Rodney 37 7. Mason-Dixon boundary marker 39 8. George Read 41 9. Resolution 43 10. A communication dated February 3, 1787 54 11. The Delaware State House. 61 12. The first floor of the Delaware State House 63 13 . The restored Senate Chamber 66 14. Senate chamber with George Washington portrait 72 15. John M. Clayton 74 16. Willard Hall 77 17. School Law of 1829 pamphlet 78 18. Broadside announcement 85 19. A recruitment poster for the 3'dDelaware Regiment 104 20. Draft lottery wheel 108 21. The interior and exterior of the State House 112 22. Capitol Hotel 118 23 . Bayard House 119 24. The Dover Railroad Station 120 25. John Edward O'Sullivan Addicks 121 26. This map from 1885 illustrates the importance of railroads 122 27. Members of the House of Representatives elected in 1888 124 28. Hotel Richardson 127 29. The first known photograph of the House of Representatives 137 in session 30. This visualization of T. Coleman duPont's proposal for a multi-use 144 highway 31. Old muddy road 146 32. T. Coleman's highway 147 33. At the climax of a public ceremony held in Dover on July 2, 1924 148 34. Pierre S. duPont 152 35. 'John G. Townsend, Jr. 153 36. Suffrage rally on Dover Green, May 1920 163 37. Wooden school 166 38 . New school 166 39. A last hurrah for the old State House 175 40. The preliminary plan for the first floor of Legislative Hall 176 41. Legislative Hall under construction in 1932 178 42. One view of Legislative Hall 18 0 43. One more view of Legislative hall 18 1 44. Vera G. Davis 190 45. An election ballot of 1952 197 46. Speakers of the House of Representatives of the 1960s 205 through 1980s 47. GovernorElbert N. Carvel 211 48 . State police evicted welfare demonstrators from Legislative Hall 216 49. Governor Russell W. Peterson 224 50. A reunion of the 11Class of '74" 234 51. Two Republican governors 237 52. New members of the House of Representatives being sworn in 240 53. The Senate of 198 7-88. 247 54. Legislative Hall is a beehive of activity 264 55. President William J. Clinton 268 56. Governor Ruth Ann Minner 270 57. Photograph by Kevin Fleming 273 Foreword WAYNE A. SMITH COMMtTIEI!.S Majority Leader House Administration. Chair STATE REPRESENTATIVE Ethics. Chair Sc\'cnth District HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Hoose Rules Legislative Council STATE OF DELAWARE LEGISLATIVE HALL DOVER, DELAWARE 19901 h is with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation to write these brief words in front of Carol Hoffecker's wonderful history of the Delaware General Assembly's first 300 years, Democracy in Delaware, the Story ofthe First State's General Assembly. We arc fortunate to have one of our slate's great historians to describe this story. We have also been fortunate to have the support of the General Assembly's Legislative Council, under the leadership of Senate President Pro Tempo re Thurman G. Adams, Jr., and Speaker of the House Terry R. Spence, in marking the tercentenary of the First State's Legislature. This book is n major part of that cifort. Our small state rightly boasts a close relationship between the legislature and those they serve. While this has been an important constant in the years between 1704 and today, that intimate relationship has not always produced working, effective or good government. It took many years to develop fair rules, broad suffrage, equal representation and yes, even the right mind set, to come to where we stand in 2004 - a vibrant and functioning democratic institution. Dr. Hoffecker shows that the journey to this time has been in !its and starts. The history of the Delaware General Assembly has produced great moments where a body has risen high to meet the sweep of progress and carry our ideals forward - as well as occasions where the unblinking lens of hindsight revealed another to be lacking in the foresight or even basic functionality needed to join that progress which today seems inevitable, preordained and just plain right. Like other legislative bodies, the Delaware General Assembly has seen high moments and low. This story serves as both a lesson in haw a people can govern themselves in our great democracy as well as how bodies of politicians at different times have often failed to fulfill their intended constitutional purposes or even their basic democratic obligation to provide a forum through which the public can conduct its business.
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