The Vote and a Dollar for the Other Man

Two men asking for the opportunity to work

Earnest Johnson and Oscar “Ossie” Timmons both sought the treasurer’s office. Their campaign notices described the difficulty of supporting a household after losing, or living without, sight. Johnson’s signed February announcement said he had three young children to support. These were appeals made in a political campaign, but they also preserve the candidates’ own explanations of why the job mattered. [1]

Timmons’s appeal appeared with a family photograph on March 26. The accompanying text identified a mother and her children Mattie, John and Ossie, residents of Temple. It described the three siblings as blind and urged voters to give Ossie an opportunity to earn a living. The endorsers also made a practical claim: he was competent to fill the office. [2]

The photograph brings four people into a story that could otherwise become only a list of candidates. The newspaper names the siblings but does not assign names to individual faces or name their mother. We should leave those gaps visible. [2]

A suggestion beside the news

T. F. Connell’s letter, printed April 2 under “A Suggestion,” said he knew both Johnson and Timmons. He proposed that voters support one with a ballot and the other with a dollar. He envisioned contributions and receipts being handled by election managers. His proposal treated the election as a choice for office without making it the only way a neighbor could help. [3]

Connell framed his appeal in terms of gratitude to the Creator and Christian duty. That was his stated reason for writing. The record does not tell us whether the election managers agreed, whether other readers joined him or whether either candidate received money. A generous proposal is the finding; a completed fundraiser is not yet established. [3]

There is another detail worth preserving: the actual ballot included G. W. Fields as well as Timmons and Johnson. Connell discussed two men, but this was not a two-candidate ballot. [4]

What the election record establishes

The primary took place on April 15. The April 23 newspaper’s official list declared Earnest Johnson the Democratic nominee for treasurer. That is a primary result, not a general-election return. A separate notice in March 1910 identifies Johnson as the serving county treasurer, showing that he subsequently held the office. [5] [6]

We have not found the vote totals or a record of Connell’s proposed collection. Nor do these notices explain how Johnson organized the daily work of the office. Those are questions for county records and further contemporary reports, not details to supply from imagination.

The family beyond the campaign photograph

The Timmons family continued to appear in the local paper. In December 1916, a Temple correspondent described a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Mattie. The account also credited John and Oscar with contributing to their support through music and described Mattie’s church and Sunday School work. It records hospitality, skills and community life well beyond the election appeal. [7]

In March 1920, a Waco notice placed Ossie at a specific job: he had visited to tune pianos for Ross Ragan and Longino. The paper identified him as being from Temple and again associated the family with music. It did not record his fee, route or means of travel. [8]

Those later notices do not tell us what became of Connell’s dollar proposal. They do something else: they keep a family from disappearing behind a lost election. The portrait, dinner and piano-tuning visit belong beside the ballot when we remember these neighbors.

Sources and further reading

Sources reviewed October 29, 2026.

1. The Carroll Free Press, February 6, 1908, p. 3
   Fifth column, Announcements. Johnson signs E. C. Johnson; adjacent endorsement uses Ernest. Campaign statements are attributed.
2. The Carroll Free Press, March 26, 1908, p. 7
   Upper right, Please Consider: signed Ossie Timmons appeal, family photograph and Temple endorsements. Photograph exposure date unknown.
3. The Carroll Free Press, April 2, 1908, p. 4
   Second column, A Suggestion, signed T. F. Connell. Proposal only; no collection receipts located.
4. The Carroll Free Press, April 9, 1908, p. 5
   Lower right, official ballot for the April 15 Democratic primary. Three treasurer candidates.
5. The Carroll Free Press, April 23, 1908, p. 1
   First column, official nominees. Johnson named for treasurer; no vote totals transcribed.
6. The Carroll Free Press, March 31, 1910, p. 8
   Bottom of second column: Johnson identified as county treasurer.
7. The Carroll Free Press, December 7, 1916, p. 8
   From Temple, J. A. Mobley: Thanksgiving dinner and family work. Does not identify the cook.
8. The Semi-Weekly Carroll Free Press, March 4, 1920, p. 9
   Waco column: Ossie Timmons’s piano-tuning visit.