Referendum on Ordinance of Secession 1861

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More than 75 percent of Texas voters endorsed secession from the United States in the referendum held Feb. 23, 1861.

Of the 122 counties that had been organized at that time, in only 18 of the counties did those who were against secession make up a majority (shaded in the list).

Sources differ slightly on some county returns. The source for the tabulation following is the archives of the Texas State Library, using amended returns when they differ from original reports.

The total vote for secession has been reported in Texas historical sources as 46,153 to 14,747 or 46,129 to 14,797.

Whatever the total number of voters, between 60,825 and 60,950, it was more than 2,000 fewer than the total voting in the presidential election of 1860.

Others sources used:

Secession and the Union in Texas by Walter L. Buenger (one of the alternative count totals presented in the table below).

"The Referendum in Texas on the Ordinance of Secession, February 23, 1861: The Vote," by Joe T. Timmons in the East Texas Historical Journal, Fall 1973.

"Secession Movement in Texas," in the Historical Atlas of Texas by A. Ray Stephens and William M. Holmes.

The New Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association, 1996.