The Red Bank Register front page from Oct. 15, 1884. (Red Bank Public Library. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
They called it “the greatest parade held in Red Bank in years” and it must have been a stunning sight: 5,000 men in helmets and capes carrying torches and “battle axes” marching through town, then gathering en masse in front of the Globe Hotel, where one of them nearly blew himself up. 
In this edition of Red Bank Throwbacks, we wind the old Reussille’s clock back 1.2 million hours to Oct. 15, 1884, when the Red Bank Register newspaper’s page one headline read “A Grand Demonstration – A Republican Torch Lit Parade a Half Mile Long.”
The nation was gearing up for the 1884 Presidential Election between Democrat Grover Cleveland and Republican James Blaine. New Jersey Republicans decided to make their Red Bank meeting “one of the main features the Monmouth County campaign.”
We think our politics are nutty? Well, apparently, capes and torches and dangerous fireworks was how they did get-out-the-vote back then.
A Library of Congress photo of an 1860’s Republican Club in the typical cape and lantern getup they wore in marches. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
According to the National Museum of American History, mass gatherings of young men carrying torches and wearing capes was a staple of Republican political activism in the second half of the 19th century. It was a time in which voter turnout (among men) regularly topped 80 percent.
“In addition to caring about the issues, they probably also desired to be a part of a political party, an active part of the American Republican machine,” writes Stanford University Professor Thomas Plan in an article for Smithsonian.org. “Marching, carrying torches, lighting bonfires, and making a show of political force was just as important, if not more important, than getting to the polls.”
So, on Oct. 15, 1884, special trains from across the county brought uniform-wearing Republican clubs from Red Bank, Manasquan, Neptune Township, Long Branch, Eatontown and beyond, the paper reported.
“The uniforms consisted of cape, helmet and leggings and each man carried a torch,” the paper reported. “Some carried battle axes.”
The march wound down Bridge Avenue to Front Street, then Riverside Avenue, back to Front, then Spring, Wallace and Broad Streets before the crowd assembled in front of the Globe Hotel, where candidates in the upcoming election, including US Congressman John Kean Jr. (great-great uncle of current US Rep. Tom Kean Jr., and pictured right ) delivered “able and convincing” speeches.
There a few mishaps, any one of which would carry an entire cable news cycle today but barely warranted a mention in the Register article: a horse belonging to Lambert Ivens died, apparently scared to death by the fireworks. A Roman candle went off in the pocket of Joseph V. Morris “burning him badly.”
And the clothing of Mrs. S. B. West caught fire ‘while she was slitting oil fireworks, but the flames were extinguished by Capt. Charles Throckmorton before Mrs. West was injured.”
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
