The following are abstracts from articles found in the Medina County Gazette, Medina County, Ohio which reference Joseph Reno ( 1813-1872). Joseph was my 3rd great-granduncle, the brother of my 3rd great-grandmother.

#1
18 March 1870--"Joe" Reno an old colored man at the American House, celebrates the adoption of the 15th Amendment by taking a trip to Cleveland.

#2
8 April 1870--Joe Reno casts his first vote under the 15th Amendment.

April 1870........."At the election in the village this last Monday, Joseph Reno, colored, (everybody knows "Joe") cast his first vote. Sixty years old and a tax-payer for many years, he comes into the exercise of a right which all now are bound to respect. It is needless to say that Joseph voted the straight Republican ticket"

I wonder would Joseph Reno, the old colored man, "vote the straight Republican ticket" today? Methinks the Grand Old Party (GOP), the Party of Lincoln, the Republican Party of today (2012) is not the same Party and would not curry such a favor from "old Joe".

Art Thomas