William Estabrook Chancellor
Encyclopedia
William Estabrook Chancellor (September 25, 1867 – February 4, 1963) was an American academic and writer. An opponent of the Republican
presidential candidate Warren G. Harding
, Chancellor wrote a study of his family just prior to the 1920 election alleging that Harding had an African-American ancestor, in the hopes of turning voters against him based on prejudices of the time.
, Ohio
. After graduating from Amherst College
, he went into teaching. In 1906 he was the superintendent of schools of Paterson, New Jersey
. He wrote prolifically, publishing around 40 books and hundreds of articles between 1904 and 1920. He married into the family of Harriet Beecher Stowe
. He was a Democrat.
When Chancellor was a professor at the College of Wooster
in Wooster
, Ohio, he began to research the background of Republican candidate Warren G. Harding
. He wrote two pamphlets about this subject prior to the 1920 presidential election, unleashing a major scandal as he alleged Harding was of mixed-race descent. The college dismissed Chancellor from his post four days before the election. Copies of Chancellor's pamphlets were confiscated by federal agents and destroyed; only five are thought to be in existence, three of which are owned by rare book collectors
, the other two owned by museums.
residents that Harding was of mixed race. Chancellor claimed that Harding had a great-grandmother, Elizabeth Madison, who was black. The affidavits by elderly residents in Galion, Ohio
, served as the basis for Chancellor's book.
Harding was born in 1865 near Corsica (now Blooming Grove), Ohio
. Harding's father, Dr. George Tryon Harding, was a homeopathic physician
; Harding's mother Pheobe Dickerson Harding was a midwife who later qualified for an Ohio medical license
. Dr. Harding relocated his family to Caledonia
in eastern Marion County
when the younger Harding was a young boy. Unless Chancellor's sources had intimate knowledge of Harding's genealogy, the rumor is probably untrue.
Relying upon the affidavits, Chancellor moved forward with his book, which lacked primary source records to validate his claim. Chancellor could not produce an Ohio birth record for Harding (who was born in 1865) because Ohio did not mandate the recording of births until 1867. Furthermore, Chancellor could find no court records, deed
s, or other legal documents that could prove that Harding was of mixed race. Chancellor also could not verify his position through U.S Census
records because popular schedules made prior to 1850 did not provide a complete enumeration by name and race of all people in a given residence. Instead, 1840 and earlier census records only listed the name of the head of household and counted by "hash-mark" the age-group and sex of other persons living with that head of household.
After Harding was elected, Chancellor published his biography of the president; however, federal agents acted immediately to suppress the distribution of the book. Chancellor was also monitored by federal agents. Unable to research or find a teaching position, Chancellor moved to Canada
.
In the spring of 1922, Chancellor was in Dayton, Ohio (his hometown as well as that of 1920 Democratic Presidential candidate and prominent newspaper publisher James Cox) long enough to publish a biography of Warren Harding. In it Chancellor developed the race rumors at great length. He included some additional research, including the first notice of Harding's poor cardiovascular health. The book is normally credited to Chancellor, although no explicit claim of authorship is made, nor is the additional research obviously Chancellor's. After it was published, a statewide organization sold the book door-to-door during the midterm election
year.
In 1927 Chancellor was hired by the University of Cincinnati
, and he taught there until his retirement. He died in Cincinnati in 1963, aged 96, having given several interviews to journalists over the years in which he denied writing either book or pamphlet. He never suggested who might have been responsible.
spread by Amos Kling, Harding's father-in-law, who opposed him politically. Dean, who lived in Marion as a teenager, claimed that Kling spread the rumor as retribution for positions taken by Harding in his newspaper The Marion Star. Dean characterized Chancellor as racist.
Following Chancellor's death, the author Francis Russell attempted to research the theory that Harding was of mixed race. His book, The Shadow of Blooming Grove noted he was unable to substantiate Chancellor's conclusions beyond circumstantial evidence
. Further discussion of Chancellor's claims appears in the book The Strange Deaths of President Harding by Robert H. Ferrell, published in 1998. (This work should not to be confused with the book by Gaston Means's The Strange Death of President Harding, which uses the singular "Death"). Russell wrote, "To anyone who tracks it down today, Chancellor’s book comes across as a laughable partisan screed, an amalgam of bizarre racial theories, outlandish stereotypes and cheap political insults. But it also contains a remarkable trove of social knowledge — the kind of community gossip and oral tradition that rarely appears in official records but often provides clues to richer truths."
The objective significance of Chancellor's attempts at research into Harding's racial background weighs far less heavily than does their perceived significance in the context of Harding's times. At a period when widespread prejudice
existed about racial issues even in 'polite' society, Chancellor's weak and speculative claims may have seemed more relevant than they would have in later decades.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
presidential candidate Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
, Chancellor wrote a study of his family just prior to the 1920 election alleging that Harding had an African-American ancestor, in the hopes of turning voters against him based on prejudices of the time.
Biography
Chancellor was born in DaytonDayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. After graduating from Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, he went into teaching. In 1906 he was the superintendent of schools of Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
. He wrote prolifically, publishing around 40 books and hundreds of articles between 1904 and 1920. He married into the family of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
. He was a Democrat.
When Chancellor was a professor at the College of Wooster
The College of Wooster
The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college primarily known for its Independent study program. It has roughly 2,000 students and is located in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, United States . Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian church as the University of Wooster, it was from its creation...
in Wooster
Wooster, Ohio
Wooster is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Wayne County. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio approximately SSW of Cleveland and SW of Akron. Wooster is noted as the location of The College of Wooster...
, Ohio, he began to research the background of Republican candidate Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
. He wrote two pamphlets about this subject prior to the 1920 presidential election, unleashing a major scandal as he alleged Harding was of mixed-race descent. The college dismissed Chancellor from his post four days before the election. Copies of Chancellor's pamphlets were confiscated by federal agents and destroyed; only five are thought to be in existence, three of which are owned by rare book collectors
Book collecting
Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given individual collector. The love of books is bibliophilia, and someone who loves to read, admire, and collect...
, the other two owned by museums.
Research
Chancellor's theory on Harding's lineage was based upon affidavits provided by aged Crawford County, OhioCrawford County, Ohio
Crawford County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. It was named for Colonel William Crawford, a soldier during the American Revolution....
residents that Harding was of mixed race. Chancellor claimed that Harding had a great-grandmother, Elizabeth Madison, who was black. The affidavits by elderly residents in Galion, Ohio
Galion, Ohio
Settlers arrived in the area as early as 1817. The location was at the crossroads of a north-south road from Columbus to Portland , and the east-west route that later became the Lincoln Highway and subsequently the Harding Highway....
, served as the basis for Chancellor's book.
Harding was born in 1865 near Corsica (now Blooming Grove), Ohio
Blooming Grove, Ohio
Blooming Grove is an unincorporated community in northeastern North Bloomfield Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States. The community is located at the junction of State Route 97 and Morrow County Road 20. The nearest city is Galion, Ohio, located to the northwest...
. Harding's father, Dr. George Tryon Harding, was a homeopathic physician
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
; Harding's mother Pheobe Dickerson Harding was a midwife who later qualified for an Ohio medical license
Medical license
In most countries, only persons with a medical license bestowed either by a specified government-approved professional association or a government agency are authorized to practice medicine. Licenses are not granted automatically to all people with medical degrees...
. Dr. Harding relocated his family to Caledonia
Caledonia, Ohio
Caledonia is a village in Marion County, Ohio, United States. The population was 578 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Caledonia is located at ....
in eastern Marion County
Marion County, Ohio
Marion County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 66,501. Its county seat is the city of Marion and is named for General Francis "The Swamp Fox" Marion, an officer in the Revolutionary War....
when the younger Harding was a young boy. Unless Chancellor's sources had intimate knowledge of Harding's genealogy, the rumor is probably untrue.
Relying upon the affidavits, Chancellor moved forward with his book, which lacked primary source records to validate his claim. Chancellor could not produce an Ohio birth record for Harding (who was born in 1865) because Ohio did not mandate the recording of births until 1867. Furthermore, Chancellor could find no court records, deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
s, or other legal documents that could prove that Harding was of mixed race. Chancellor also could not verify his position through U.S Census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
records because popular schedules made prior to 1850 did not provide a complete enumeration by name and race of all people in a given residence. Instead, 1840 and earlier census records only listed the name of the head of household and counted by "hash-mark" the age-group and sex of other persons living with that head of household.
After Harding was elected, Chancellor published his biography of the president; however, federal agents acted immediately to suppress the distribution of the book. Chancellor was also monitored by federal agents. Unable to research or find a teaching position, Chancellor moved to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
In the spring of 1922, Chancellor was in Dayton, Ohio (his hometown as well as that of 1920 Democratic Presidential candidate and prominent newspaper publisher James Cox) long enough to publish a biography of Warren Harding. In it Chancellor developed the race rumors at great length. He included some additional research, including the first notice of Harding's poor cardiovascular health. The book is normally credited to Chancellor, although no explicit claim of authorship is made, nor is the additional research obviously Chancellor's. After it was published, a statewide organization sold the book door-to-door during the midterm election
Midterm election
Midterm elections in the United States refer to general elections in the United States that are held two years after the quadrennial elections for the President of the United States...
year.
In 1927 Chancellor was hired by the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
, and he taught there until his retirement. He died in Cincinnati in 1963, aged 96, having given several interviews to journalists over the years in which he denied writing either book or pamphlet. He never suggested who might have been responsible.
Evaluation
According to Harding biographer John Wesley Dean, Chancellor's theories were partly based upon a rumorRumor
A rumor or rumour is often viewed as "an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern" However, a review of the research on rumor conducted by Pendleton in 1998 found that research across sociology,...
spread by Amos Kling, Harding's father-in-law, who opposed him politically. Dean, who lived in Marion as a teenager, claimed that Kling spread the rumor as retribution for positions taken by Harding in his newspaper The Marion Star. Dean characterized Chancellor as racist.
Following Chancellor's death, the author Francis Russell attempted to research the theory that Harding was of mixed race. His book, The Shadow of Blooming Grove noted he was unable to substantiate Chancellor's conclusions beyond circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
. Further discussion of Chancellor's claims appears in the book The Strange Deaths of President Harding by Robert H. Ferrell, published in 1998. (This work should not to be confused with the book by Gaston Means's The Strange Death of President Harding, which uses the singular "Death"). Russell wrote, "To anyone who tracks it down today, Chancellor’s book comes across as a laughable partisan screed, an amalgam of bizarre racial theories, outlandish stereotypes and cheap political insults. But it also contains a remarkable trove of social knowledge — the kind of community gossip and oral tradition that rarely appears in official records but often provides clues to richer truths."
The objective significance of Chancellor's attempts at research into Harding's racial background weighs far less heavily than does their perceived significance in the context of Harding's times. At a period when widespread prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
existed about racial issues even in 'polite' society, Chancellor's weak and speculative claims may have seemed more relevant than they would have in later decades.
Publications
- The United States: A History of Three Centuries, 1607-1904 (1905) with Fletcher Willis Hewes
- Our City Schools, Their Direction and Management (1908)
- Class-teaching and Management (1910)
- A Life of Silas Wright 1795-1847 (1913)
- Our Schools: Their Administration and Supervision (1915)
- Educational Sociology (1919)
- The Health of the Teacher (1919)
Further reading
- John W. Dean, Warren G. Harding, The American Presidents Series, Arthur M. Schlesinger, General Editor (Times Books, 2004)
- Robert Ferrell, The Strange Deaths of President Harding (University of Missouri Press, 1998)
- John A. Murphy, The Indictment (2000)
See also
- SwiftboatingSwiftboatingThe word swiftboating is an American neologism used pejoratively to describe an unfair or untrue political attack. The term emanates from the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth and its widely publicized, then discredited, campaign against 2004 US Presidential candidate John Kerry.Since the political...
- October surpriseOctober surpriseIn American political jargon, an October surprise is a news event with the potential to influence the outcome of an election, particularly one for the U.S. presidency...
- African-American heritage of United States presidentsAfrican-American heritage of United States presidentsThe African American heritage of United States presidents is a disputed topic relating primarily to five or six presidents of the 19th and early 20th century who were commonly considered part of white society, but may have descended from Africans....