On this day in 1840, a “log cabin on wheels” was drawn from Northfield to Burlington bearing the motto “The People are coming!”

In 1840, the Whigs were running a strong grass roots campaign for William Henry Harrison as president. They coined the phrase “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” referring to Harrison as “Old Tip” and his running mate John Tyler.

The country seemed determined to defeat incumbant Democrat Martin Van Buren by painting him as a “dandy.”

Charles Paine, Northfield businessman and future Whig party Vermont governor, was responsible for the log cabin on wheels.

Photo courtesy the Library of Congress.