The Temperance Movement Gains Steam in Grays Harbor
Prohibitionists gather in Montesano to organize for the upcoming election, signaling a growing political shift across the county.
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The county convention of the Prohibition party was held in Montesano yesterday. The delegates from Aberdeen report a rousing convention with about 60 delegates present. Montesano reported having a club of about 60, with Aberdeen coming next. The total club membership in the county is now about 440, as there are also clubs at Johns River, Hoquiam, Cosmopolis, Oakville, Satsop, Westport, Elma, Ocosta, Artie, North River, and Wynoochee. Dr. N. B. Coleman was chosen chairman. Chas. N. Fuller, who declined the Populist nomination for state senator, was also an active participant, and said he would 'rather be a doorkeeper in the Prohibition party than to dwell in the tents of either of the old parties, with a fat office.'
“I would rather be a doorkeeper in the Prohibition party than to dwell in the tents of either of the old parties, with a fat office.”
This reflects the early, grassroots organizing that would eventually lead to Washington's dry laws in 1916. It captures a moment where local political identity was shifting from traditional party lines toward moral crusades that would define regional politics for decades.
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