Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act which would lead to several other organizations like it appearing in other cities. The presence of these organizations was one of the first steps in trying to up end the spoils system in America. The assassination of President James A. Garfield moved the Civil Service Reform from city organizations to a leading topic in the political realm. President Garfield was shot in July 1881 by Charles Guiteau, because Guiteau believed the president owed him a patronage position for his "vital assistance" in securing Garfield's election the previous year. Garfield died two months later, and Vice President Chester A. Arthur acceded
Moses J. Liddell loss of slave labor. As a result of these conditions the Jones-Liddell feud came to a boil when Liddell's father, St. John Richardson Liddell, was assassinated by the Jones family on February 14, 1870. In ratalliation of his father's murder, on February 18, 1870, when Moses J. Liddell saw the accused assassin of his father, Col. Charles Jones, Liddell shot him while Jones was being transported to the boat in custody at Harrisonburg. Jones did not die as a result of the gunshot wounds. As a result of the political unrest due to the sensationalized feud, Moses J. Liddell along