seCession pin 1993
Consolidation ballot 1894 On November 6 , 1894 , Staten Island residents voted in favor of becoming a borough of the City of New York , as did residents in the areas that became the boroughs of Brooklyn , Queens , and the Bronx . Nearly one hundred years later , sentiment on Staten Island ran high in the opposite direction . The secession movement of the 1990s , which sought to separate Staten Island from New York City , culminated in a 1993 vote in which secession was approved by the residents of Staten Island . The secession movement later stalled due to resistance from the City and State of New York . An article in the New York Times just prior to the
1894 election stated that the brevity of the Consolidation ballots , which were printed simply “ For Consolidation ” and “ Against Consolidation ,” would make voting easy “ even for persons who cannot read .” tHe eleCtion of 1876
Many of us remember the disputed outcome of the 2000 U . S . Presidential election , but few people recall that the year 1876 witnessed an equally contested and controversial event . Republican Rutherford B . Hayes ran against Democrat Samuel J . Tilden , and while
Tilden clearly won the popular vote , the electoral vote was disputed in several states . Congress established an Electoral Commission to resolve the matter , and in the end , with the vote following party lines , Hayes was declared President of the United States .
Among a group of letters that belonged to Mary Catherine ( Haughwout ) Butts of Mariners Harbor is a letter written in
Clifton on November 12 , 1876 , which describes how the political events of the day unfolded on Staten Island : “ I thought I would not write to you until I knew who was to be our President but as I dont know when it will be decided I will not wait any longer . Did you ever know such a time I am afraid Tilden will be the one , every thing went Democratic here , we have had some good meetings and processions here , I sat up until 12 o ’ clock one night to see a Republican procession pass and it was nice I can tell you . I saw a Democratic one pass to one evening but oh what a lot of rufscuffs if such a set are to rule I don ’ t know what the country will come to especially with Tilden for President , but we must leave it in God ’ s hands .”
10 The STaTen ISland hISTorIan