The Difference One Vote Can Make
How Ridgeley, WV Became an Incorporated Town
Whether the 1,300 residents of Ridgeley should incorporate in order to get lighting and police protection for the town was on the 1914 ballot. Voter turnout was expected to be large among the town’s 237 registered male voters.
Yet, there was one man in Ridgeley who wanted to vote but wasn’t allowed although he was registered.
Denied the Right to Vote
When J.T. Bowers walked into Baker’s Barber Shop in Ridgeley, it wasn’t for a shave and a haircut. He wanted to vote in the election, just like he expected most everyone on Ridgeley was doing that Thursday.
However, the election judge told him that because he had left Ridgeley for three months earlier in the year, he wasn’t eligible to vote in the election. It didn’t matter that J.T. hadn’t wanted to move. He’d had to because the house he had been renting in Ridgeley had been sold. He hadn’t been able to find a new place to live in a reasonable time so he’d been forced to move across the river to Cumberland, Md. He hadn’t stopped looking for a place in live in Ridgeley, though, and had been able to move back in August.
But the election judge said he hadn’t lived in Ridgeley long enough so his vote didn’t count.
The truth was very much the opposite. That vote would count very much.
The Argument for Incorporation
Incorporation became the hot topic for the town and both sides were out trying to persuade voters to see things their way. On Oct. 2, a public meeting was held in the school. Keyser, WV, attorney W.C. Grimes and Mineral County Sheriff Nethkin attended the meeting and spoke in favor of incorporation. “It was clearly shown at the meeting that many were in favor of the progressive move of the town; it was also evident that there were some against it. It seems however that as the time for deciding the question is at hand those in favor of the question are in the majority,” reported The Cumberland Evening Times.
The Argument Against Incorporation
Opposition came from people who said that house rents would go up $6 to $12 a year if the town was incorporated. Those in favor said that municipal taxes wouldn't increase rents by that much and would be offset by elimination of the county roads tax and the district road levy. Fire insurance rates would also be lower in an incorporated town.
The Vote is Tallied
Most people seemed to think that incorporation would pass easily. At the end of election day, October 15, 1914, 210 men, or 89 percent of the registered voters in town had voted.
The final tally was 105 for incorporation and 105 against.
Making One Vote Count
J.T.’s vote would have been the tie-breaker so took action. The Mineral County Circuit Court was petitioned to allow J.T.'s vote. J.T.’s lawyer argued, “During the time that Mr. Bowers lived in Cumberland, he never gave up his claim to a vote in Ridgeley as he only was in Cumberland until he could get back in Ridgeley,” reported The Cumberland Evening Times.
Judge F.M. Reynolds ruled that the vote would count Nov. 28 and Ridgeley was allowed to incorporate.
Becoming a Town
The search then began for candidates to be the founding fathers of Ridgeley. Among the candidates for mayor and town councilmen were a full slate put forth by the Socialist Party. The first election was held January 7, 1915 and James T. Vandergrift became the first mayor of Ridgeley.
Never let it be said that your vote doesn't make a difference. One vote created Ridgeley.
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