lines to a comstock graveyard

On yonder hillside, bleak and barren,
Lies many a friend of William Sharon,
Who in election's hurly-burly,
Voted often, voted early.
But since old Sharon went to glory
The younger Billy bosses Storey,
And at his beck those sons of witches
Rise, to vote without their britches.
To take a hand in the election
And bustle back without detection.
As we recall those mem'ries hoary,
Let's bless the graveyard vote of Storey.

-- Sam Davis, newspaperman (ca 1880s?)


The preceding has been stuck in my head lately. Nice theme for October and election season.

I used to have this copied out and hung on my dorm room wall. This is from Barbara and Myrick Land's A Short History of Reno. [The one customer reviewer didn't like the book -- "hollower than a gourd," s/he remarks. I can't recommend it or disrecommend (not a word, I know) it because it's been a good eight years since I've read it.]