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The nexus of Republican power in the Nickajack was in Huntsville where Alabama Governor William Hugh "Skedaddle" Smith had a powerful base of Scalawags and Carpetbaggers. They collected around the railroad money, which was fed down by Washington Republican interests. Limestone County politics, however, remained dominated by the Democrat Greeks. They were putting up their own candidate for governor in the next election - "Bourbon George" Smith Houston.  Rocked by scandal over railroad bonds, Skedaddle Smith's hold on power was shaky.  Distrust was growing among local white Republican reformers over rampant and shameless corruption controlled by Washington.  This growing cynicism was amplified by the powerful Democrat press and establishment in Montgomery, which Bourbon George called his "Swamp."  

Back in Washington, Benjamin "Spoons" Butler wrang his small hands over what should be done to maintain their Party's hold on Alabama.  "Pig Iron" Kelly sat nervously in an ornate armchair whose arms curved uncomfortably inward as though to clasp him. He held onto his whiskey with both hands as Spoons Butler raved in one of this nervous tantrums.

The Consortium had a lot invested in the railroads there, and these goddam bonds!  If Skedaddle Smith can't make payments on those state railroad bonds, then we'll be tits up he said. Spoons threw his arms in exasperation. If they elect Bourbon George, he will end Reconstruction and we'll be left holding a bag of shit.  

Pig Iron cleared his throat. Sir, I think we can fight Bourbon George and the Greeks in their own backyard.  There's a strong base of Republicans we've allowed to languish in Limestone County in the freedman's camp they call Strangetown.  It is quite literally in Bourbon George's back lawn.  Ever since the Freedman's Bureau was defunded, our man there has been floating on railroad contracts. Bonwit Vrooman is his name.  They call him The Major.  We've got the money there in Limestone County. We just need the right man to pull everything together and put some easy candidates up. Give our base some hope.  Bownit? He's just another government contract dimwit. But I think I have someone in mind.

And so that man arrived in Alabama by way of Chicago where he had been an early Party organizer among free persons of color.  He had impeccable Party credentials.  He had organized torchlight parades by the Wide Awakes. He had even been there at the Great WigWam when Lincoln was nominated in 1860.  Loyal, hard-working and black, he was exactly what the Limestone County Republican Party needed to fight back.  Spoons Butler was delighted at the idea. He didn't bother asking this person's name, so Pig Iron volunteered it.  

His name was Bartholomew Hogan, but everyone called him "Barry." He was a graduate of the Institute of Colored Youth in Philadelphia whose family were influential freedman of that city.  He moved out West to Chicago where he sought work in the young Republican Party, and he found a knack for bringing out the vote.  He was rakishly handsome, well-spoken and remarkably keen at wielding Party power among the coloreds. Moreover, he excelled at it on both the stump and in the streets. The man has style, promised Pig Iron Kelly.  And Barry did.  He had that ease of familiarity that warmed everyone over, inspired them even.  

When he arrived in Athens, he immediately moved the Republican Party headquarters into Strangetown. The old headquarters on Pryor Street had been sacked by the Ku Klux Klan, and it would be vulnerable anywhere else but in the heart of the Party's base. Barry's investigation into this curious community revealed that the real power of Strangetown lay behind a hoodoo witch named Maw Possum, whose activities on the Underground Railroad helped feed Strangetown with contraband slaves during the war.  And so he paid homage to the Witch, and after a productive conversation with what he smugly assumed was a brilliant old con artist, Maw Possum gave him an obsidian stone, which she called a Quark.  She cast an uncomfortable spell over the stone and cautioned that he may only come to see her by bringing this Quark and placing it in a basket as an offering.  Then she wrestled a dove out of a cage and slit its throat to seal this vaguely unholy covenant and bid him well.  Whatever this bizarre ritual meant, he felt compelled to protect the stone thereafter.  

And then Barry got to work. He had two offices in mind that he'd like to fill with Republicans. The first was Sheriff of Limestone County.  For that he searched for a white candidate.  The second office was far more ambitious.  It was Congressman for the Nickajack.  A negro at that. For that he already had one man in mind - James Thomas Rapier - called Jimmy Sugar.