Brown was a relatively unknown figure in Georgia politics before his governorship, with his victory over John H. Lumpkin, a close associate of former governor Howell Cobb,[3] for the Democratic nomination shocking many people, with Robert Toombs reportedly asking "who the devil is Joe Brown" upon hearing his nomination.[4]
Brown grew up poor and was not a planter, only owning 13 slaves. A self-made man, he went Yale University to study law and became a lawyer in Canton. Over half his assets came in stock and bonds (including railroad securities) and less than a fourth of his wealth resulted from his ownership of slaves. Additionally, the district that had elected him was in the mountain region of Georgia where very few owned slaves.[3]
Brown's victory over Hill in the general election, as commented by one writer, "was in its moral effect similar to the accession of Andrew Jackson to the Presidency in 1828 - a shock to the aristocratic regime in Georgia."[4]
On election day, October 5 1857, Democratic nominee Joseph E. Brown won the election by a margin of 10,835 votes against Know Nothing (Sam)[b] nominee Benjamin Harvey Hill, thereby continuing Democratic control over the office of Governor. Johnson was sworn in for his first of four terms on November 6, 1857.[5]
^ abIncluding returns from Clay and Webster County that were not included in the official count.
^ abcIn Georgia the Know Nothing Party was called "Sam" by the local Democratic party. Its use was so widespread that even some Know-Nothings adopted it. According to Royce McCrary, the origins of the term are obscure. Sam was a term applied to the raw Irish immigrants in the 1850s. Apparently the Democrats, in a mocking way, meant to imply that the anti-Irish Know-Nothings were actually Irish.[1]
^ abDubin, Michael J. (2003). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1776 1860: The Official Results By State And County. McFarland. pp. 43–44. ISBN9780786414390.