1924 Election for Justice of the Peace and Tiebreaker for N.T. Dodge

I just found the following article from The Salida Record dated January 9, 1925. In the 1924 election, Nathaniel T. Dodge ran for the office of Justice of the Peace in Buena Vista. There were two positions available, and he was one of three candidates running. He ran against James Garrahan and I.C. Terry. James Garrahan won the first position, and Nathaniel tied with I.C. Terry for the second position. The Salida Record reported on the tiebreaker as follows:

In the recounts of votes in the November election, it was found that a tie existed between N.T. Dodge and I.C. Terry, for the office of constable. The matter of choice has finally been made by the tossing of a coin which resulted in favor of Mr. Dodge. The following from Judge Charles L. Poston and Judge Charles F. Catlin, is explanatory: “As members of the Canvassing Board at the Recent General Election and at the request of Mr. F.A. Bromley, County Clerk and Recorder, we have this day determined the tie vote at the said election between you by throwing a silver dollar in the air three times, each of us choosing either heads or tail which resulted in favor of Mr. N.T. Dodge. This was done in the presence of Mayor W.S. Buchanan, Mr. F.A. Bromley, Mrs. Cora Davidson and Mrs. F.A. Bromley. We sincerely trust that this will prove satisfactory to each of you as we assure you it was done absolutely fairly and without any personal choice or desire.” Charles L. Catlin. Justice of the Peace.

Below is the published newspaper article. Even though the article says he was elected to the office of Constable, it should read Justice of the Peace. Nathaniel served in this elected position until January of 1926, when he resigned due to health issues. Following Nathaniel’s resignation, Mr. I.C. Terry was appointed to take his place. In my previous research, I found that Nathaniel had won the tiebreaker, but until now, I didn't know how he won the tiebreaker. This is such an interesting story from the life of my ancestor. How neat would it be to go back in time and watch this unfold.