The 1868 FL Constitutional Convention

Purman was present among the thirty delegates (out of 46 elected) in attendance at the convention's opening on Jan. 20. He immediately threw himself in with the moderate Republican contingent led by Osborn to devise a plan to thwart the “radical” republicans who initially seized control of the convention. This moderate opposition included eventual governor Harrison Reed, O.B. Hart, Marcellus Stearns and future U.S. Senators Osborn and Conover. The moderates sought to delay the convention until more allies arrived, but radicals insisted on proceeding. Purman took a leading role in the schemes to prevent the radicals from obtaining a quorum, including challenging the credentials of delegates and finally leading 18 delegates (including all four Jackson Co. delegates) to form a separate convention in Monticello. The radical delegates worked in Tallahassee until Feb. 8 when they completed a constitution. The rump moderate convention, now 22 strong, returned to Tallahassee, convening in the state house close to midnight. (The Radicals accused Hamilton, not a delegate, of allegedly rousing two radical delegates from their beds and bringing them to the capitol to give the moderates a quorum, but the Moderates claimed this account was “false in every particular”). Purman presented resolutions protesting the actions of the radicals, and calling for the re-election of a new president and officers to form a new convention. Purman then led the Committee on Eligibility which declared the radical leaders as ineligible as delegates based on residency requirements. The moderates drafted and signed their own constitution and the competing document was sent to Congress and accepted in place of the radicals’ document.


Solon Robinson, reporting for the New York Tribune, described Purman as the moderates' “chief speaker” and a leader. The source of Purman’s confidence and brazenness in parliamentary tactics is a mystery. Nothing in his previous record, other than his experience as a public speaker and organizer for the Republican Party, suggested he was capable of the schemes involved in seizing control of the convention. It is also a surprise that immediately on his arrival at the convention, Purman assumed the role of leader on behalf of Osborn’s faction. The is no hint from the existing record of the development of such a close working relationship between the two men. The irony that Purman went to such extremes on behalf of the moderates was completely lost to his white, Jackson County constituents who continued to consider Purman, and Hamilton, the most vile of radicals.