New York town that seceded & supported the Confederacy June 15, 2011 By Michael Cushman Here is an interesting bit of history that surely few people know about: Anyone who has dabbled in history knows of the draft riots in New York City and that the potential of the city seceding from the Union, not to join the South but rather to become neutral leaving it able to deal and trade with both warring sides. This was not the case for all of New York. The town in question is sometimes known as “Two Rod” – The real name is Town-line, NY. It is located on the boundary line between Lancaster & Alden of which the name came from. Primarily it was a German community and rested on the northern edge of Lancaster which was a strong Democratic area, lodged between a strong Republican areas. In 1861, many of the Southern States, left the Union and joined the Confederate States of America, including Town-line. The town’s folk voted in the early summer of 1861 to leave the Union, and by a wide margin, (84 to 40) seceded from the Union. It was rumored that many of the men in town had left to join the Confederacy (documents show 12 out of 100 males of enlisting age, who did serve). There were only 100 souls over the age of 21. The reasons are unclear but an article in the Buffalo, New York Newspaper from 1945 cite discontent with President Lincoln’s, treatment of Confederate soldiers at a POW camp in Elmira, the interest of self-rule or perhaps an incident by some runaway slaves at a local underground railroad stop. It was also reported that Town Line sent five men through the Union lines to fight for the Confederate States under General Robert E. Lee. Other reasons stated were that they were unhappy with being forced to comply with President Lincolns request for 75,000 men and refused to comply. Being that most of their German community had recent left the OLD country, because of strife, and being a farming community, they were troubled. There were a number of men who did join the Union army (about a dozen, documented). By 1864, most of the residents who seceded in town were being badly harassed (terrorized as it was described), and packed up the plantation and their homes, and moved to a settlement in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada. When the WBTS ended, things went somewhat back to normal, just a few returned families that lived in the area. It wasn’t until it was brought up about the 1920s (from the town advisor in Alden) that Town-line was not paying taxes, and was still technically “out of the Union,” but nothing was done about it. It came up again in the 1930s and again in 1945. The town had formed a special committee to do something about it, and this special committee chairman even wrote President Truman about their problem. The President gave them some advice: (paraphrase) “Why don’t you run down the fattest calf in Erie County, barbecue it and serve it with fixins, and sort out your problems.” They voted in December 1945 and they vote failed again, but in January 26, 1946, the persons living in Town-Line, NY officially re-joined the Union… this made Town-line, NY the last stronghold of the Confederacy. The town made national news, and held a party to celebrate their rejoining and had several Hollywood starts came out (Cesar Ramaro “the joker” among others). Today, the residents can still find reminiscence of secession around. The large fire hall, on Broadway Road (Rt 20) has a unique patch that they wear on their arm, that reads: “Last of the Rebels 1861-1946, Town Line, NY – Fire Dept” and their fire equipment has a saying over there department logo that states “Rebel Rescue“. and on their shoulder patch. The desk where the signing of secession and rejoining still exists at the Alden, NY Historical Society. They may have not left the Union for the same reasons as the other Southern States (that being states’ rights), but they did believe in town rights – and held out longer than any other state or former Confederate community. Thanks to Steve Teeft and the Echoes Through Time Civil War museum and learning center, Springville, NY
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 20:22:40 +0000
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