Gayles also had a successful political career after the war , initially as an appointed civil servant , and from 1872 until 1887 as an elected official . On September 17 , 1869 he was appointed member of the Board of Police for District Number Three , Bolivar County by George A. Ames , and on August 2 , 1870 he was appointed Justice of the Peace for the Fifth District , Bolivar Count by Governor James L. Alcorn . On August 29 , 1870 , Gayles was appointed supervisor of the Fifth District , an appointment he held only until November . He was elected to numerous Republican State Conventions starting in 1869 and was a delegate to the 1880 Republican National Convention . In 1880 , Republicans were split between a number of candidates , and Mississippi republicans were split between John Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant . At the convention , Grant originally received the largest share of the vote , James G. Blaine was the initial second largest vote getter and Sherman third , but none received a majority . Gayles was a member of the " three hundred and six " which supported Grant in all ballots , but Grant never got more than 308 votes and the eventual nominee and then president was James A. Garfield
1880 Republican National Convention
1880 Republican National Convention
George W. Gayles