By Rich MacAlpine
Nearly 1,500 Yates County men voted against Abraham Lincoln and the Republican ticket in the 1860 Presidential election. They voted instead for the “Fusion ticket” of Democrats which combined the tickets of Stephen Douglas, John C. Breckinridge, and John Bell. Except for the staunchest and most vocal “War Democrats”, in the eyes of Stafford C. Cleveland (Editor) and the Yates County Chronicle they were all referred to as “Copperheads.” Although Republicans were thinking in terms of snakes in the grass, some Democrats favored the term and cut the copper heads of Liberty off of pennies and wore them as lapel pins. Throughout the Civil War, the Chronicle heaped invective on local Democrats and the Penn Yan Democrat threw it back. The relationship between the two local weekly newspapers was acrimonious and this poem, written by an anonymous local poet, was a good example.
“The Copperheads”
The Yates County Chronicle – April 23, 1863
Who are the men who clamor most
Against the war, its cause and cost,
And who Jeff Davis sometimes toast?-
The Copperheads.
Who, when by wretched whisky tight,
Hiss out in rage their venom spite,
Who crawl and sting, but never fight?-
The Copperheads.
Who hold peace meetings, where they pass
Lengthy resolves of wind and gas,
Much like the bray of Balaam’s ass?-
The Copperheads.
Who when false faction is forgot,
When patriots keep a common thought,
Have discord and contention taught?-
The Copperheads.
Who swear by bondage, and would see
Rather the country lost than free;
Who dread the name of Liberty?-
The Copperheads.
Who hate a freedom-loving Press,
The truth and all who it profess;
Who don’t believe in our success?-
The Copperheads.
And who when right has won the day,
Will take their slimy selves away,
And in their dirty holes will stay?-
The Copperheads.
And who will be the hiss and scorn
Of generations yet unborn,
Hated, despised, disgraced forsworn?-
The Copperheads.