MONROE — It was not always the case that the men who ran for President of the United States would be on the campaign trail; that was left up to the candidate for vice president.
The first candidate for office of president to run a national tour was William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic candidate on three occasions: in 1896 and 1900 against William McKinley and in 1908 against William Howard Taft.
Bryan would serve as Secretary of state under President Woodrow Wilson. He is most remembered for acting for the prosecution in the Scopes Monkey Trail in 1925, where he would debate Clarence Darrow who defended John Scopes for teaching evolution.
Five days after the trail ended, Bryan would die in his sleep on July 26, 1925.
1908
On Oct. 24, 1908, Bryan’s campaign train arrived at 11:15 a.m. for a five-minute stop by the Monroe station. The large crowd await Bryan’s arrival, were being entertained by the Monroe Band.
The Ramapo Valley Gazette reported that Bryan commenced his address by urging the election of a Democratic state senator, who would be able to help in the selection of United State Senator, and also the election of a Democratic representative in Congress to aid in putting into law the principles set forth in the Democratic platform, which he then briefly enumerated.
The photo shows the train stopped by the Monroe Railroad Station. The building served as the station from 1841 until it was replaced by the new station in 1913. That new station was destroyed by fire in 1977 after being unused for a number of years.
The 1841 railroad station would serve as a candy store, music store, and tavern for many years.
The building was recently renovated and today it is a new business, the Star Cafe owned by Linda and Derek DeFreitas.
TR, too
This is not the first campaign train to stop in Monroe, 10 years before a train transporting Teddy Roosevelt who was then running for Governor, stopped in Monroe. He would be elected Governor of New York, and in 1900 elected Vice President of the Untied States, but this is a story for another day.
This story was provided by James A. Nelson, the Town of Monroe historian.