Inquiries into the town’s ambiguous history made their way to the desk of President Harry S. Truman, who reached out to the town in a sarcastically-worded letter. President Truman writes, “Why don’t you run down the fattest calf in Erie County, barbecue it and serve it with fixin’s in the old blacksmith shop where the ruckus started? Who can tell? The dissidents might decide to resume citizenship.” (1)
The citizens heeded his advice and did just that on October 27th, 1945, although rejoining the Union was not the primary issue at hand. Citizens instead decided to repeal the ordinance that bound the town to the Confederacy, although questions remain as to whether this relationship actually existed. Later, on January 7th, 1946, the Town Line Reconstruction Committee reached out to members of Congress, inviting them to the rescheduled vote which was to take place on January 24th, 1946. Although the Congressmen unanimously declined the offer, the day was not without prestige.
Luckily for Town Line, the premiere of the movie “Colonel Effingham’s Raid” brought some glamour to the town on the day of the vote to rejoin. To celebrate the film, celebrities Cesar Romero (of Batman fame) and Martha Stewart were sent to be photographed and count the ballots (pictured below).
(1) Photograph from Blair’s Hardware found on Oct. 19, 2018.
(2) Photograph from Blair’s Hardware found on Oct. 19, 2018.
(3) Document from Blair’s Hardware found on Oct. 19, 2018.