{"id":896,"date":"2014-01-30T10:38:18","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T15:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=896"},"modified":"2025-04-18T11:19:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T15:19:53","slug":"belatedly-old-glory-rises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/belatedly-old-glory-rises\/","title":{"rendered":"Belatedly, Old Glory rises"},"content":{"rendered":"

In late January 1946, the people of Town Line, New York, raised an American flag<\/span><\/a> to mark the end of the war. But they weren\u2019t noting the conclusion of World War II six months earlier. They were observing the end of the Civil War in 1865.<\/p>\n

\"Cesar
Cesar Romero addresses Town Line residents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Located near Buffalo, Town Line assembled 113 of its residents \u2013 and a Hollywood actor \u2013 to celebrate their hamlet reentering the Union.
\n
\nReentering? Does that mean a northern city, located in a region where efforts to abolish slavery were very strong, was part of the Confederacy? It does. For reasons no one in Town Line could remember in the mid-1940s, their ancestors had voted in 1861 to secede from the United States.<\/p>\n

After the War Between the States, the village fell into a slumber, never dreaming it was still part of Dixie. In 1945, the residents woke up and decided to hold a \u201cBack-to-the-Union Day.\u201d They even wrote to President Harry Truman to ask what protocol they should follow.<\/p>\n

With tongue in cheek, Truman replied, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you run down the fattest calf in Erie County, barbecue it and serve it with fixin\u2019s\u2026.The dissidents might decide to resume citizenship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Town
Town Line voters cast their ballots in 1946.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So the people of Town Line did just that \u2013 but with a flare. Someone arranged for actor Cesar Romero to take part, adding a bit of movie glamour to the proceedings. The well-fed voters cast their ballots to rejoin America. Amazingly \u2013 and probably jokingly \u2013 23 of them still preferred the Confederacy.<\/p>\n

The only rebel to show his face in public was a dachshund that darted among the voters\u2019 legs while wearing a sign that read, \u201cBeat the Damned Yankees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Voters
Voters line up for lunch before rejoining the Union.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A national news service reported that \u201cRomero acted in a semiofficial capacity, having just been made an honorary sheriff of Town Line and charged with \u2018protecting\u2019 nearby Tioga creek and its tributaries.\u201d The news didn\u2019t say what he was protecting them from, unless there were still marauding Johnny Rebs in the woods with their Stars and Bars flags<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the votes counted, the beef eaten and the village restored to both its senses and the Union, a Confederate flag<\/span>, flown for many months in anticipation of reunion, was brought down its staff. In its place rose the Stars and Stripes, finally back where they belonged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In late January 1946, the people of Town Line, New York, raised an American flag to mark the end of the war. But they weren\u2019t noting the conclusion of World War II six months earlier. They were observing the end of the Civil War in 1865. 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His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \\\"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\\\" and co-author of \\\"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\\\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. 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