NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
3 3433 08190270 6
EARLY HISTORY
-OF-
VERMONT.
BY Lafayette wilbur,
OF JERICHO, VT.
VOLUME in.
'•Great things thro' greatest hazards, are achieved,
And then they shine."
JERICHO, VT.
ROSC(3E PRINTING HOUSE.
1902.
PUBLIC LIBRARY'
253291
ASTOB, tENOX AMD
TJLDEN FOUNDAi
B 190'-'
Entered according to act of Congress. 1902 by
Lafayette vvilbue.
In the office of the Librai'ian of Congress at
Washington, D. C.
'Twas blow for blow, disputing iach by inch,
For one would not retreat nor t'other fLinch.—Bi/ron.
Now no more the drum
Provokes to arms, or trumpet's clangour shrill
Affrights the wives, or chills the virgin's blood:
But joy and pleasure open to the view
Uninterrupted —Philip''-
PREFflGL
In continuing the Early History of Vermont in
this third volume, we pass for a time from the con-
sideration of war and from the troublesome scenes
of Vermont's earh' settlers, and the struggles inci-
dent to pioneer life, to the consideration of the
arts of peace. When the controversy of New^ York
had ceased and an amicable adjustment of the sub-
jects of contention, that have been so fully por-
trayed in the preceding volumes, had been reach-
ed, the leading minds of the State at once began
to inquire what should be done to advance the
interests of the young and growing State, that it
might take a position of influence among the Fed-
eral States of the Union, and that her people
might keep pace v>ith the advancing state of
civilization. The leading men of Vermont during
the time of the struggle for an independent posi-
tion, showed they were persons of courage and
ability with practical experience, and equal to any
men of the nation in managing the affairs of the
State and fostering her material interests. Ver-
mont being an inland State, the attention of her
citizens were turned to the subject of increasing -
facilities of communication in the State, and the
improvement of her water-ways, not only within
the State, but to establish facilities of communica-
tion with other States and foreign nations. These
(5)
b EARLY HISTORY
subjects and internal improvements generally are
considered in Chapter I.
Many years after the Revolution had closed,
General Lafayette, who did so much to enable the
American Colonies to establish their independence,
visited America and paid a visit to Vermont. The
subject of his visit, and also the visit of President
Monroe and Henr3^ Clay to Vermont, are consid-
ered in Chapter II. The unfriendly conduct of the
British towards the United States, undoubtedly,
growing out of the loss of the Colonies to them,
causing disturbance on the Northern Frontier,
claims the attention of the reader in Chapter III.
The Internal affairs of the State and of the
United States, so far as thev concern Vermont, are
considered in Chapters IV., V., and VI. The causes
of the second war with Great Britain and the his-
tory of that war, so far as it affected our State,
are considered in Chapter VII., VIII., and IX.
There were but few Indians who made the
wilderness of Vermont their place of abode; they
used the lands of Vermont as their hunting
grounds, but from 1798, until 1874, from time to
time they persistently urged the Vermont Legisla-
ture to grant them compensation for their hunt-
ing grounds. These claims are considered in
Chapter X.
The place of holding the Sessions of the Legisla-
ture, the description of the Capitol buildings, Li-
brary and Supreme Court rooms are given in
Chapter XI.
In the two following Chapters, the sketches of
the lives of the earlvVermonters, commenced in the
OF VERMONT. 7
second volume, are continued. The description of
these characters show that many of the early set-
tlers in Vermont were men of more than common
courage, ability, and unsw^erving patriotism. The
last Chapter gives a further list of State officials.
When one looks back and studies the lives of those
who were prominently instrumental in establish-
ing Vermont's independence, and then making her
one of the States of the American Union, and aid-
ing in developing her resources and making her sec-
ond to no other State, in proportion to her pop-
ulation and size, every citizen of the State may
well feel proud of Vermont and her pioneers.
LaFayette Wilbur.
Jericho, Vt., January l, 1902.
He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause.
line.
ERR/\X/V
On page 8, line 14, word "ertlflcate" should read "certificate "
On page 47, line 1, word "horses" should read "shores."
On page 74. line 8, name "Edward'" should read "Lewis.'"
On page 114, line 2, word "era"" should read "area."
On page 161, line 25. word "branch"' should follow "each."
On page 194, line 1, word "were" should read "was."
On page 238, line 13, word "minutable" should read "immutable."
On page 250, line 14. word "silence" should read "silencing."
On page 259, line 10, ivord "partis" should read "parties."
On page 264, line 20. letters "ce" should be joined with "for" in same
On page 314, last line, the date "1768" should read "1798"
On page 373, in line 8 from bottom, "principles" should read "princi-
pals.
On page 384, " + resigned November, 1890" should be erased.
gW On page 382 of Volume II. in line 6 from the bottom, the name "Ben-
nington" should read "Brattleboro."
Oh, peace ! thou source and soul of social life ;
Beneath whose calm, inspiring influence
Science his view enlarges, Art refines,
And swelling Commerce opens all her ports;
Blest be the man divine who gave us thee !- Thomson.
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead.
Who never to himself hath said—
This is my own— my native land !"
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. (Pagel.)
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. ,
CHAPTER II. (Page 40.)
DISTINGUISHED VISITORS TO THE STATE IN ITS
EARLY DAYS.
CHAPTER HI. (Page 76.)
DISTURBANCES AND BRITISH AGGRESSION ON THE
NORTHERN FRONTIER FROM 1791 TO 1798 AND VER-
MONT'S PART THEREIN.
CHAPTER IV. (Page 108 )
ACCEPTANCE AND RESIGNATION OF OFFICIAL PO-
SITIONS — EXTRADITION OF FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE
— COLONIZATION SOCIETY — SLAVERY.
CHAPTER V. (Page 131.)
INCIDENTS, LEGISLATION AND INTERNAL AFFAIRS
OF VERMONT FROM 1791 TO 1808.
CHAPTER YI. (Page 149.)
INCIDENTS, LEGISLATION, EMBARGO, SMUGGLING
AND INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF VERMONT FROM 1808 TO
1836.
CHAPTER VII. (Page 173.)
BRITISH AGGRESSION AND CAUSE OF THE WAR
OF 1812 AND VERMONT'S ATTITUDE RESPECTING IT.
CHAPTER Vin. (Page 196.)
VERMONT IN THE WAR OF 1812-1814.
(9)
10 EARLY HISTORY
CHAPTER IX. (Page 225.)
WAR OF 1812-1814.— CONTINUED.
CHAPTER X. (Page 284.)
CLAIMS OF INDIANS TO LAND IN VERMONT.
CHAPTER XL (Page 315.)
THE PLACE OF ft:OLDING THE LEGISLATIVE SES-
SIONS, THE CAPITOL AND LIBRARY BUILDINGS, AND
SUPREME COURT ROOMS.
CHAPTER XII. (Page. 340.)
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PIONEERS OF THE
NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS AND VERMONT.
CHAPTER XIII. (Page 359.)
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PIONEERS OF THE
NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS AND VERMONT.— CON-
TINUED.
CHAPTER XIV. (Page 380.)
LIST OF TREASURERS, SECRETARIES OF STATE,
AUDITORS OF ACCOUNTS, SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES, CLERKS OF THE HOUSE, SEC-
RETARIES OF THE SENATE, AND LEGISLATIVE SES-
SIONS IN VERMONT SINCE 1 777.
GHflPTtR I.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
ON the admission of Vermont as one of the
members of the Federal Union, the calami-
ties of war and warlike preparation and the ex-
citement of controversy', had passed, which was
welcome, and propitious to the pursuit of private
business and the prosecution of public concerns.
The State government was placed in the hands of
men whose talents and virtues the people had the
utmost confidence in — the control of men of un-
doubted courage and capacity. Governor Chit-
tenden, as a magistrate and as a man, had long-
been endeared to the people of the State, and his
characteristics were such as a new State required.
The great need for the security and advancement
of the people was the improvement of the natural
and civil advantages which were already in their
possession. The resources of the State were to be
developed. New towns were to be granted, roads
to be laid out and worked, manufactures and
commerce to be fostered, and schools and learning
encouraged. Were the people equal to the task ?
A disinterested Virginian, who visited Vermont in
the summer of 1791, wrote to a friend in Benning-
ton in September of that year and gave a descrip-
tion of Vermont and its people, as follows, viz: —
2 EARLY HISTORY
"Before I left Virginia, I had conceived but a
very indifferent opinion of the Northern States,
and especially of the State of Vermont. I had
tormed the idea of a rough barren country, inhab-
ited b3' a fierce, uncivilized, and very unpolished
people. I made m_v tour up Connecticut River,
east of the Green Mountains, near the northern
boundarv of 3'our State, and returned on the
western side, by the lake, through Bennington. I
must confess I was surprised and astonished be-
yond measure, to find a fertile, luxuriant soil, cul-
tivated by a virtuous, industrious and civilized
set of inhabitants ; many of whom lived in taste
and elegance, and appeared not unacquainted
with the polite arts. The rapid progress in popu-
lation and improvement, and the many surprising
incidents that have taken place since the short pe-
riod of 3'our existence as a State, will furnish ma-
teria.1 for some able historian, to give the world a
histor3' that shall be both entertaining and in-
structive."
This writer might have also, in truth, referred
to extraordinarv opportunity^ of extending and
developing her manufacturing interests b\^ reason
of her water power facilities along her rivers. The
attention of Ira Allen, Levi Allen, and other lead-
ing Vermonters was earl 3^ turned toward the proj-
ect of improving the waterway between Lake
Champlain and the river St. Lawrence 133- cutting
a canal. It is stated in Ira Allen's histor3' of Ver-
mont that Lake Champlain is a noble sheet of wa-
ter and so deep that ships of war have sailed in it.
It is sprinkled with many beautiful, fertile and well
OF VERMONT. 6
inhabited isles, but it is to be lamented that the
wealth of its waves should be mereh^ confined to
the fishermen, when they might be converted to
the noblest purposes of trade and useful naviga-
tion, for the mutual benefit of millions, b3' a nav-
igable cut to the river St. Lawrence. In conse-
quence of an application made by Ira Allen of this
State to Governor Haldimand, Governor of Can-
ada, in 1784? and 1785, General Haldimand
thought so highly of the proposition that he ap-
pointed Captain Twist, the engineer of that prov-
ince, to make a survey and estimate the expense of
the canal. The captain began his survey" at the
rapids of St. Johns and carried it on along the side
of the river Sorel to Chamblee. His estimate of
the expense sufficient to bear vessels of two hun-
dred tons burthen was £27,000 sterling. He said
it was impossible to calculate the advantages of
the undertaking in a commercial point of view ;
such an undertaking would promote agriculture,
population, arts, manufactures, handicrafts, and
all the business of a civilized State.
Ira Allen, in an interview with his Grace, the
Duke of Portland, laid down the advantages that
would mutually result to the two countries, if
such a communication should be carried into ef-
fect, but his Grace objected to his government pay-
ing any share of the expenses. He expressed a
readiness to receive, and to consider proposals for
carr^'ing the project into execution. Allen offered
to cut the canal at his own expense on condition
that he should be secured for the money expended
b}^ an order from government by the assignment
4 EARLY HISTORY
of a tonnage on A^essels navigating the lake; and
that shipping built in the lake by the citizens
of Vermont, should be permitted to pass to and
from the open sea, paying such tonnage as ma3' be
deemed reasonable on passing Quebec; that the
manufactures, raw material, and produce of Ver-
mont, should be permitted to pass to the open
sea; and that the manufactures, etc., of Great
Britain should be permitted to be imported or ex-
ported in the shipping of Vermont, free, by Act of
Parliament or the Legislature of Lower Canada.
And he presented to his Grace many advantages
that would result to both governments from such
an arrangement, which were set forth as follows : —
"That contiguous to said Lake was a fertile
country abounding in lumber, iron ore, marble,
&c.; that the soil produced wheat, Indian corn,
peas, barley, hemp, grass, &c., in great abun-
dance; that the country was erected into a settle-
ment after the conquest of Canada, by the late
Lord Amherst, in 1761, and is now estimated at a
population of 150,000 souls. That Great Britain,
through the medium of the said canal and navi-
gation, would, in fact, reap the advantage of the
trade of Vermont, and of the northern part of the
State of New York, which parts, contiguous to
Lake Champlain and Iroquois, would then find it
their interest to become a part of the State of Ver-
mont.
That such reciprocal navigation and interest in
the canal, would cement and promote friendship
betwixt the people of the two Canadas, and those
near the Lake and the Iroquois, and would tend
OF VERMONT. 5
very much to strengthen the treaty made betwixt
Great Britain and the United States of America in
1794, under which treaty British ships are permit-
ted to navigate Lake Champlain for commercial
purposes. That in case of war betwixt any pow-
ers, except those of Great Britain and America,
the commerce of said Lake might be conveyed to
Europe in Vermont or British bottoms, free from
capture, high insurance, or expense of convoy.
Hence the enterprising inhabitants of Vermont
would find it their interest to support the govern-
ment of Great Britain in Canada, whilst the re-
mainder would be satisfied with the canal and
commerce. In peace or war, it would render the
price of salt, English goods, &c., cheap, and in
time of war, the exports of Vermont would bear a
high price, in consequence of the ease and safet\' of
transportation. The people of Vermont thus situ-
ated, would be averse to war; they would, in
fact, be a neutral body betwixt two great na-
tions ; whilst their Representatives in the Legisla-
ture of the United States would oppose every idea
of hostilities between Great Britain and the United
States, on principles of mutual interest ; thus the
most permanent contracts established, and the
blessings of peace and prosperity the rewards.
"The said canal would extend navigation 180
miles into a fertile countr}^ abounding in all kinds
of iron ore, suitable to make pig iron, bar iron
and steel, marble, white and clouded, copper and
lead mines, fir-trees, ash, white and red oaks, ce-
dar, and various other trees. There are also a va-
riet3^ of rivers, with proper falls to erect iron-foun-
b EARLY HISTORY
dries, refineries, saw mills, &c., where pig and bar
iron are made; deal boards, marble slabs, &c.,
ma^' be sawed by water. Masts spars, staves, &c.
furnished in abundance; of the preceding articles
but little use is made for exportation. Wheat, rj^e,
barle3% Indian corn, oats, beans, pease, hemp, flax,
beef, pork, butter, and cheese, are produced, in
great abundance. The farmer in clearing the tim-
ber from his lands, can furnish great supplies of
charcoal to serve furnaces, refineries, &c., and fur-
nish large quantities of ashes to make pot and
pearl ashes; these articles ma^- be furnished cheap
by the farmer, which would pay him, in many in-
stances, for clearing his lands, instead of burning
the timber on the ground to clear his lands.
**A ship canal would be the means of importing
salt, and exporting the preceding articles cheap;
the remittances that would be made on these raw
materials would enable the merchant to make
punctual remittances ; it would draw commerce
from the east, that now centers at Boston, New-
bur3^Port, Portsmouth, &c., and add to the popu-
lation of Lake Champlain. These measures would
almost, beyond calculation, increase the commerce
at both ends of said Lake. Admit that heavy arti-
cles would principally pass the ship canal, yet
when the reader takes into consideration the
length of the river St. Lawrence, the frozen sea-
son, that goods are seldom imported but once a
year to Quebec, that spring and fall shipments are
seasonably made to New York, the necessity- of
making earh^ remittances, etc., the proprietors of
the canal from Hudson's River would be benefit-
OF VERMONT. /
ted b^' said ship canal, in consequence of the exten-
sion of business. One circumstance that would
tend much to draw commerce from the east to
said Lake is, that it is customary for the merchant
and farmer to move most of their heav^^ goods
and produce b\^ sleighs, in the frozen season; that
the changeable weather on the sea coast at Bos-
ton, etc., spoils the sleigh path, so that about one
journe\' in three are lost, while the more temper-
ate and health3^ climate of Vermont insures good
sleighing for two months."
Ira Allen had such an interest in the construc-
tion of the ship canal that about the year 1795
he went to England to obtain a grant from the
British Parliament and for the purpose of pur-
chasing military stores in Europe for the use of
the militia of Vermont, and in this business as-
sumed to act, to a certain extent, officially as the
agent of the State of Vermont. In fact he was
clothed with no official power. This claim was
put forth when he got into trouble with the Brit-
ish government. Allen purchased the arms in En-
gland as a private enterprise, and undertook to
ship them to Vermont with the design of reim-
bursing himself by making sale of them to the Ver-
mont militia. The^^ were seized b}' the British,
and the seizure of the arms was defended in the
British Admiralty Court on the ground that they
were to be used, not in Vermont, but for an armed
insurrection in Ireland. To rebut this unfounded
claim, that was ruining Allen, he claimed his in-
instructions w^ere such that he was warranted in
purchasing the arms for Vermont. It was a fact
8 EARLY HISTORY
that Vermont in 1794, passed an act for the reor-
ganization of the militia, in accordance with the
national militia act, and provided that all persons
subject to military duty should supply themselves
with arms and equipments, and on the 19th of
May, 1794, President Washington made a requi-
sition upon the States for troops, and on the 21st
of June, Governor Chittenden ordered 2139 Ver-
mont troops to be organized, armed, equipped and
held in readiness to march at a moment's warn-
ing. There was an urgent demand for military
supplies in Vermont, and the resort to Europe
was the best way of getting them. It was also a
fact that Governor Chittenden gave Allen a ertif-
icate under the seal of the State, bearing date Oc-
tober 27th, 1795, stating that Hon. Ira Allen of
Colchester, in the State of Vermont, has a disposi-
tion to go to Europe, setting forth important of-
fices he had held and positions of responsibitity
he had filled. This certificate was exhibited before
the High Court of Admiralty in London in his de-
fence in said proceedings in Admirality. It was
claimed by Allen that these circumstances war-
ranted him in claiming that he procured the arms
under the instructions of Governor Chittenden.
This version was a constrained one. He in fact
purhased them at his own risk ; and the ship canal
also was a private enterprise to be undertaken by
Allen himself, or by an incorporated Company in
case a charter could be procured.
Ira Allen in an address to the Governor and
Council and House during the October session of
the Legislature of 1S09, said that in 1795, he
OF A'ERMONT. 9
went to Europe, and applied to the Duke of Port-
land, one of his Britannic Majesty's principal Sec-
retaries of State, for a ship canal from Lake
Champlain to River St. Lawrence; his Grace and
the Prime Minister, Mr. Pitt, were in favor of
granting such ship canal as being interesting to
the mercantile interests of Great Britain and that
bankers and merchants in London assured him
they would cause stock in such company to be
subscribed to complete it. Allen in the address
urged the State of Vermont to authorize him
to apply for the support of the Executive of
the United States and the resident British
Minister, in favor of the project, and claimed
that a saving of more than 200,000 dollars a
year would be made to the people of Vermont.
He also addressed a letter to Governor Ga-
lusha on October 6, 1809, on the subject of the
ship canal and said, ''This being a National and
State question for public benefit, 1 hope that polit-
ical parties w411 unite for mutual advantages and
that the authoritv of the Legislature will be sent
me by post, on which I shall repair to Washing-
ton, and by the assistance of the Executive of the
United States, their Minister in London, with the
assistance and influence of the British Minister
with the British Government, and writing to
my friends in London, I have no doubt of ob-
taining a grant for a ship canal and sufficient
funds to complete the same. I consider this a fav-
orable time to accomplish this object, which I
have been more than twenty 3'ears in pursuit of."
Although the building of the ship canal was not
10 EARLY HISTORY
undertaken by Vermont and that Allen did not
succeed in sufficiently enlisting the British Gov-
ernment to carry forward the worthy enterprise,
it called forth the earnest zeal of a progressive, no-
ble Verm outer in its favor.
Vermont being an inland State there was a ne-
cessity for avenues of transportation out of the
State, and especially to the seaboard, and public
attention began to be turned wnth interest and
zeal to opening a waterw^ay between Lake Cham-
plain and Hudson River. A discussion of this en-
terprise first appeared in the Vermont Gazette of
September 6, 1790, as follows : —
"A correspondent from the countv of Rutland
informs, that the plan of opening a water commu-
nication between Lake Champlain and Hudson's
River, has become a subject of much conversation in
that section and the northern counties of this State.
A company of gentlemen in that part of the coun-
tr3^ have agreed to make an excursion a few weeks
hence, for the purpose of examining the ground be-
tween Fort Anne and Hudson's River, and deter-
mining the practicability of the scheme, by actual
mensuration, if necessar3\ Our correspondent
adds, that the practicability cannot be doubted, if
a stream of water can be found sufficient to supply
a canal, capable of being brought onto the highest
ground in the course. Wood Creek is boatable
from Lake Champlain to Fort Anne, fifteen miles,
except the Falls at Whitehall, which may easily
be locked; from Fort Anne to the Hudson is tw^elve
or fourteen miles through a level countr3\
"The advantages to be derived from the accom-
OF VERMONT. 11
plishment of such an undertaking, to the fertile
countr^^ adjacent to Lake Champlain, are almost
inconceivably great ; and the addition of 150 miles
inland navigation, through the most fertile and
thriving country in this part of America, to the
present comm.ercial advantages of New York, will
give them a decided superiority in trade to any
place in the Union. It is apprehended, should the
execution of the scheme be found possible, b}' ac-
tual surve3', the expensiveness of the undertaking
will be no obstacle to its accomplishment. It is
an object worthv the attention not onh- of indi-
viduals, but the legislatures both of New York
and Vermont."
Previous to this time however, about 1784,
WilHam GiUiland of Willsboro, N. Y., had written
that, "The region of both sides of Lake Cham-
plain, is now^ a wxll inhabited countr3% and the
lands amazingly advanced in value even at pres-
ent. How much more valuable w411 the3' become
when an inland navigation will be made from sea
to sea?"
In March, 1792, Gen. PhiHp Schuyler of New
York, aided by Elkanah Watson, procured from
New York the charter of the Western and North-
ern Inland Navigation Lock Companies, w^hich E.
P.Walton of Vermont declared were the precursors
of both the present Erie and the Champlain Canals.
At this time the people in eastern Vermont were
contemplating the improvement of Connecticut
River for navigable purposes, and at the October
session of the Legislature of 1791, an article of
business was assigned for the session, as follows :
12 EARLY HISTORY
*'10th, That the Legislature take into consideration
the expediency of opening a communication be-
tween the waters of Lake Champlain and Hudson
River — and also rendering the navigation of Con-
necticut River more easy and advantageous." This
article was referred to a committee of seven from
the House, joined by one from the Council, who
made report in respect to the Champlain Canal
that was supposed to be favorable to the project,
but it was tabled and nothing further was done
with it that session. At the same session the House
passed a bill entitled, "An Act granting to Will-
iam Page and Lewis Morris and their Associates,
their heirs and assigns forever, the exclusive privi-
lege of Locking Bellows Falls." This act fixed the
tolls for 32 years; provided at the end of that pe-
riod, and every ten years thereafter, the Supreme
Court might reduce the tolls, but not so as to pre-
vent the proprietors from receiving twelve per
cent per annum on their actual expenditure; and
made it the duty of the Governor to issue a char-
ter to the grantees and to incorporate them into a
bod3^ politic, by the name of the company for ren-
dering Connecticut River navigable by Bellows
Falls. The Governor did not issue the charter
and incorporate them, but an act of incorpora-
tion of the same compan^^ was passed at the Octo-
ber session of the Legislature in 1792. Under the
act of New York of March 1792, work was com-
menced on the Champlain Canal in 1793, at
Whitehall and elsewhere on the line, but was soon
discontinued on account of the defalcation of some
of the stock holders and it was bevond the means
OF VERMONT. 13
of others to pay the assessment that had to be
made upon the shares of stock that had been sub-
scribed. There had been but 672 shares sub-
scribed and the estimated expense was 225,000
dollars. Gen. Schuyler wrote to Governor Chitten-
den on October, 17 1793, that there was little
doubt but that relief would be obtained from the
Legislature ol New York b}- donation to the Com-
pany or by taking an extensive number of shares
in the stock ; and that the directors had been ad-
vised that it was probable the Legislature of Ver-
mont would contribute to the important under-
taking, and said: —
"Should aid be extended by your State your
Excellency will pardon the liberty I take in sug-
gesting the stipulations which appeir to me prop-
er to accompany any free gift — and which will se-
cure its application to such part of the improve-
ments in w^hich the citizens of Vermont are more
immediately interested, — and which are, that the
gift should [be] exclusiveh' appropriated to clear-
ing, straitning and deepning Wood Creek, from
the canals and locks now being constructed at
Skensboro [Whitehall] to that part of said creek
where it will be intersected by a canal to be drawn
from Hudson's River near Fort Edward, and that
the improvements should be made on such a scale
as to admit the passage of vessels of sixty feet in
length, ten in breadth, and to draw, at least, two
feet of water, and that if the whole gift is not ex-
pended in this improvement, the residue to be laid
out on the canal to Hudson's River aforesaid, —
but if the Legislature should prefer to direct the
14" EARLY HISTORY
subscription of a number of shares, then noth-
ing more will be necessar\^ than to make provision
for the pa3^ment of fifty dollars on each share, be-
ing the sum paid by the original subscribers, and
to direct the payment of such future requisitions
as the directors may call for on each share, in a
general requisition upon all the stockholders.
'"If aid is extended to the compan^^ in either
way, by the Legislature of your State and by this,
I am perfecth' confident that the improvements
may be made in five years to carry vessels of the
burden above m.entioned, and even larger, from
Lake Champlain to the town of Tro3\ It is cer-
tainh^ needless to detail the advantages which
will be derived to the communit3^ from the comple-
tion of the contemplated work. The\^ will readih^
occur to your Excellenc3^ and to the enlightened
Legislature of the State in which you preside."
This letter was communicated to the General
Assembly by Gov. Chittenden and was referred
to Samuel Hitchcock of Burlington, Daniel Far-
rand of Newbury, Enoch Woodbridge of Ver-
gennes, Matthew Lyon of Fairhaven, and Elijah
Robinson of Weathersfield, to whom Councillors
Samuel Safford and Ebenezer Marvin were joined ;
and on Nov. 4, 1793, the committee reported,
"that the Legislature take measures to direct the
purchase of twenty shares in the company for the
use of the State," but no legislative action was
taken until 1796. Governor Chittenden received
another letter from General Schuyler, bearing date
at Albany, October 10th, 1796, in which he stated
that the directors of the company' had determined
OF VERMONT . 15
to recommence their operations to complete the
canal and locks at Skenesborouo^h (Whitehall) and
complete communication between Lake Cham-
plain and the tide water of Hudson River, and the
expense had been estimated at 300,000 dollars;
and that the Legislature of New York had be-
stowed 12,000 dollars on the company and sub-
scribed 200 shares on the part of the people of the
State, and said, "As a very considerable portion
of the citizens of Vermont will participate in the
benefits which will result from the operations of
the company, the directors are persuaded, that
they ma3^ with propriety respectfully solicit the
aid of 3'our Legislature, and therefore entreat that
respectable bod3^ to subscribe fiftv shares to the
stock of the company." The letter, with accom-
panying documents, were presented to the assem-
bly on October 20, 179G, and referred to a com-
mittee, who reported, recommending to the Legis-
lature to comply with the requisitions contained
in the letter and recommended the la3'ing of a tax
on each acre of land in three tiers of towns h--
ing east of Lake Champlain, each tier ol towns
paying the tax in proportion to the supposed ben-
efit they would receive from the construction of
the canal ; the proportion being fixed b^^ the Leg-
islature. At this session the Legislature passed
an act, the preamble of which was as follows : —
"Whereas the Legislature of the State of New
York have established a company in said State,
called and known b}^ the name of the President,
Directors, and Company' of the Northern Inland
Lock Navigation from the now navigable part of
16 EARLY HISTORY
Hudson's River to Lake Champlain ; and have en-
abled said compan^^ to receive and enjoy certain
profits which ma3^ arise therefrom. And whereas
the President of said company has made applica-
tion to this Legislature to subscribe for fift^-
shares thereof^And although it appears to the
Legislature, that the purchase of said shares, for
the purpose of encouraging said undertaking,
would be highly- beneficial to the State at large,
3'et as it would be more particularly beneficial to
the western and north-western parts thereof, the
Legislature do not think fit to purchase said shares
with mone3^ taken from the public treasury, but
for the purpose of encouraging an undertakmg so
laudable and beneficial to mankind, the Legisla-
ture have thought fit to enable such towns as,
from a spirit of liberality and enterprize, shall
have a wish to become stockholders in said com-
pany, to tax themselves for the purpose." This
act authorizes towns to lev3' a tax for the purpose
of aiding the company in the construction of the
canal, but nothing resulted from it.
While Gen. Schuyler was striving to push on
the work of his company, men of enterprise in the
Valley of the Connecticut River were endeavoring
to improve its boating facilities. By companies
chartered b}- V'ermont, and in one instance, at
least, b3^ a lotter\% means were raised for clearing
the bed of the river and constructing the necessarv
canals and locks. Massachusetts and Connecticut
co-operated in the work, and finally the river was
made available for transportation by flat-boats
and rafts, much to the advantage of the people of
OF VERMONT. 17
the valley in Vermont and New Hampshire, and
specialh^ so to those engaged in the lumber trade.
In 1830, a small steam-boat ascended the Connec-
ticut River as far as AVells River village; in 1831,
five additional boats were built and put on the
river, and were run about a 3'ear, but in 1832 the
company failed, and the boats were withdrawn.
Governor Samuel C. Crafts in his message to
the Council and the House of Representatives in
1829, called their attention to the survey of a ca-
nal route from Onion River in Montpelier across
the heights to Connecticut River by the way of
Wells River. The Governor stated that in the
month of June, 1829, he received a communication
from Captain Graham, of the corps of Topograph-
ical Engineers, stating that he had arrived at
Montpelier, with three assistants, and with direc-
tions from the Engineer Department to continue
the survey's and examinations in this State, with
a view to the connection of the waters of Lake
Champlain and the River Connecticut, through
the valley of Onion River. As the engineers were
necessarih^ unacquainted with the topography of
the countr}^ to be explored, and the object entrust-
ed to them being of general interest, he thought it
his duty to designate some person, who had a gen-
eral knowledge of the countr3^to beexplored,toact
as agent in behalf of the State, and he appointed
Joshua Y. Vail, Esq., as such agent. This and oth-
er surveys demonstrated the impracticability of
canals across the Green Mountains, but the sur-
veys served the purpose of indicating the possibil-
ity of railroads across the State.
(2)
18 EARLY HISTORY
Governor Van Ness in his message to the Legis-
lature in 1825 advised that body, that he had in
AIa\^ previous received a communication from the
Secretar3^ of War Department of the United States
that orders had been given to cause an examina-
tion and survey to be made of the countr3^ be-
tween Lake Memphremagog and the Connecticut
River at Barnet with a view to ascertaining the
practicabiHt3^ of constructing a canal to unite
those waters, and that an engineer would be at
Barnet by the 10th of Ma\' to cooperate with an
engineer or commissioner that might be sent to
that place on the part of Vermont, but the Gov-
ernor thought he had no authority to incur the
expense. Arrangements, however, were made by
individuals, and he appointed Horace Evertt of
Windsor and Nichols Baylies of Alontpelier as
commissioners and the survey was made, but the
construction of the canal was not undertaken.
If it had been possible to construct the canals
contemplated in and through Vermont, it would
have resulted in important consequences; it would
have diverted to New York City a very considera-
ble portion of the commerce of the State which
previously had been divided between Portland,
Maine, Hartford, Conn., and Boston. Of the Ver-
mont towns Burlington was the most largely ben-
efited from the construction of the canal that was
completed in the year 1822 or 1823, connecting
Hudson River with Lake Champlain. B3" reason
of that w^ater- wa\^ Burlington won the trade from
northern and northwestern Vermont that had
long been enjo^-ed by the merchants of Montpelier.
OF VERMONT. 19
These results, as well as the greater cheapness of
transportation by water than by land carriage,
stimulated inquiries in Vermont as to the practica-
bilit3' of river navigation by artificial improve-
ments and the construction of a canal from Lake
Champlain to Connecticut River and from that
river to Boston, Mass., and Portsmouth, N. H.
Governor Van Xess in his speech to the Council
and the House of Representatives in 1823 said :
''Permit me to congratulate you on the prospect
which is opened to us by the completion of a canal
communication between Lake Champlain and the
Hudson river. This great work has been exclus-
ively accomplished by the noble and munificent
spirit which has animated a neighboring State,
and which shines with still greater splendor in an
undertaking far more grand and stupendous,
though not so immediately interesting to the peo-
ple of this State. A new era has indeed burst up-
on us, when we can hear of the arrival of vessels
at the city of New Vork, from the northern ex-
tremit3^ of Vermont. The immense value of such
a communication to this State will soon be exten-
sively seen and felt in the different branches of bus-
iness carried on within it."
On Ma3' 17, 1825, the citizens of Alontpelier
met and appointed a committee to examine the
practicabilit\^ of a canal from Lake Champlain to
Connecticut River. The committee made a re-
port, at an adjourned meeting held on the 7th of
June, 1825, to the effect that a canal from Alont-
pelier via. Wells River to Connecticut River was
feasible, and via. the Gulf at Williamstowm and
20 EARLY HISTORY
White River was less so. At this meeting the com-
mittee was enlarged so as to include Araunah
Waterman, Sylvanus Baldwin, E. P. Walton, Sen-
ior, Joshua Y. Vail, Joseph Howes, Samuel Pren-
tiss, Timothy Hubbard, Parley Davis, Nicholas
Baylies, Jeduthan Loomis, George Worthington,
Timoth\^ Merrill, Calvin Winslow, John Spalding,
and Edward Lamb.. This meeting called a con-
vention consisting of delegates from the Counties
of Chittenden, Washington, Orange, and Caledo-
nia, which met at Montpelier on June 30, 1825 ;
that convention resolved upon a surve3^ from Lake
Champlain to Connecticut River, and appointed
three commissioners to carr\' the resolves into ef-
fect, who employed an engineer for the work ; and
Gov. Van Ness communicated to the Legislature
of 1825 the report that was made by the commis-
sioners. The Convention also requested the Gov-
ernor to apph^ to the U. S. Secretary of War for
surveys under the directors of that department —
the survey's referred to were those that were made
of the Country between Lake Memphremagog and
Connecticut River and a surve3' of that River from
Lake Connecticut in New Hampshire to Long Is-
land Sound, which were ordered on the request of
Congressmen from Vermont, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
On Nov. 17, 1825, the Legislature requested
Gov. Van Ness to apply to the Secretary of War
to direct and employ some suitable engineer or en-
gineers to ascertain the different heights of land
and the waters on the several routes in this State
where it was contemplated to make canals. There
OF VERMONT. 21
was communicated to the twentieth Congress by
the U. S. engineers the report of a survey for a ca-
nal connecting the waters of Lake Champlain
near Burlington with those of Connecticut River
by the valleys of Onion and White Rivers. The
conclusion was, ''that the adequacy of the supply
of w^ater was too doubtful to warrant the con-
struction of so expensive a canal as this would
be." This report was a fair type of the conclu-
sions of the reports of the other surveys; and all
schemes of this sort were abandoned.
One of the first indications of the prosperity of
a community or nation and advancement in civil-
ization is the convenient means of interchange of
its merchandise and its unrestricted and easy com-
munication between the people of municipal divi-
sions. At an earh' day in Vermont the attention
of its people, through their representatives in the
Legislature, was directed to the survey, building
and repairing roads, constructing turnpikes and
building bridges throughout the State. In doing
this the purpose and effect was to impose a por-
tion of these burdens upon the owners, both resi-
dents and non-residents, of the land to be benefited
b3^ the expenditure; and each male person, with a
few exceptions, was required to work out on the
highw^ay a tax annually ; and the exclusive right
to run stages and maintain ferries, was granted
by the Legislature. The members of the Legisla-
ture were so impressed with the importance of
good roads throughout the State, they passed,
on Nov. 2, 1802, the following resolution :—
22 EARLY HISTORY
"Whereas the opening necessary and conven-
ient roads tends greath' to the wealth and popu-
lation of this State, b\' encouraging settlements,
and rendering public travel convenient; and as a
good road, from North to South, directly through
this State, beginning at Huntsburgh [Franklin]
or Berkshire, thro' Enosburgh, Bakersfield, part
of Fletcher to Cambridge, Underhill, Jericho, Rich-
mond, Huntington, Buel's Gore, Lincoln, Ripton,
Goshen, Brandon, and to fall into the public road at
Brandon or Pittsford, through which towns there
are roads laid, tho' not sufficienth^ occupied for
public travel, yet capable of being made feasible for
public travel, and would shorten the travel from
north to south about twent3' miles if straightened
and mended — Therefore, Resolved, that a Commit-
tee of three be appointed from this House, to join
such a Committee as the Governor and Council
may appoint, to take under consideration the util-
ity and necessity of opening, straitening and re-
pairing the road thro' said Towns."
One of the first expensive projected roads was
constructed from Newbury near Connecticut River
to Peacham, and thence to Cabot, Walden, Hard-
wick, Craftsbury, Albany and Lowell to Hazen's
Notch near the line between Lowell and Montgom-
ery. This originally was intended as a military
road and was to extend to St. Johns in Canada: it
was commenced in 1776, bj^ Gen. Bayley and com-
pleted about 1780 by Brigadier Moses Hazen.
Grants and aid were frequently asked by interested
parties for roads, turnpikes and bridges, some of
which were as follows : a petition in 1801, that a
OF VERMONT. 23
grant ma^^ be passed for a turnpike road from the
mouth of Wells River to Danville, throu^^h the towns
of Rj^egate, Barnet, Peacham, and Dcw\''s Burgh;
application in 1797, to lay out a CountA' road
from Chelsea to Danville; and in 1799, to la^' out
and surve}' a road from Montpelier and Calais to
Danville, and an act asking the right of making a
turnpike from Brookfield to Onion River; in 1791,
a petition from the inhabitants of Woodstock
praj^ing for a grant of a lotter\' of three hundred
pounds for the purpose of repairing the road
across the mountains through Killington (Sher-
burne); and a petition praying for a lottery to be
granted for the purpose of building a biidge over
White River, and one to complete a bridge over
Deerfield River in Readsboro; in 1803 a bill was
passed appointing a committee to lay out and
survey a public road from Berkshire to Brandon.
In 1795, a petition of Sherburne Hale was made,
praying for "the exclusive right of making a road
in Rockingham and receiving toll from passengers
in like manner as ferr\'men across Connecticut
River." This seems to have been the first sugges-
tion of turnpike toll companies in Vermont, man^-
of which were subsequently granted in place of the
former practice of building roads and bridges by
money derived from lotteries,
On Nov. 7, 1826 a bill became a law relating to
the arch-bridge across Onion River between Mont-
pelier and Berlin; this was one of the first arch-
bridges erected in Vermont. On October 13, 1795,
a petition was presented praying to have the ex-
clusive right of running a stage from Windsor to
24 EARLY HISTORY
Burlington for a term of j^ears, and one for the ex-
clusive privilege of running a stage from Windsor
to Benjamin Wright's on White River in Hartford.
These last two petitions originated the great mail
stage route that became so famous about the year
1835 and for many years later by Alahlon Cottrill
of Montpelier, and over which route the Vermont
Central Rail Road was at a later date constructed.
Many of the above mentioned applications for
the survey and laj-ing out of highways, and many
others, were granted and built; and man^^of them,
as well as turnpikes and bridges, were constructed
by the aid of lotteries granted by the Legislature.
The exclusive right of running ferries was granted
from time to time. On November 4, 1805, there
was an act before the Legislature to establish a
corporation b3^ the name of the Boston and Mon-
treal Turnpike Company, and the Council resolved
to concur with the House in passing the bill. The
writer is unable to state what was done under the
act, but it shows the State was encouraging large
undertakings and improvements.
On October 30, 1798, a grant was giv^en to Jos-
eph Hawkins to raise by lotter\^ the sum of two
thousand dollars. Hawkins resided in Alburgh
and went on a voyage to the coast of Africa in
1794 and 1795, on commercial pursuits, and after
enduring uncommon fatigues and dangers, his suf-
ferings received an aggravating consummation
of distress by a deprivation of his sight. At the
time of this grant he was of the age of twenty-six.
He desired to go to Europe to be treated by skilled
oculists, but he was unable from poverty to un-
OF VERMONT. 2o
dertake the voyage and the act was for the pur-
pose of furnishing him the means. It was stated
in the "Rutland Herald" of Dec. 31, 1798, that
Hawkins ''had written an instructive and enter-
taining account of his voyage and travels in Africa
and was engaged in literary pursuits and publica-
tions." There were man^^ licenses granted by the
Legislature to individuals presumabh^ to aid them
in carr34ng forward private enterprises of their
own, and no public object was specified in many of
the grants.
The granting of lotteries for the promotion of
any enterprise or scheme, and especialh^ those of a
private nature, was of questionable policy. In the
early days of Vermont the survey' and construct-
ing of roads, canals, and other means of communi-
cation through the State, and the encouragement
of manufacturing, were urgently demanded, but
money was hard to be got and the means to
bring about these needed improvements were not
easily to be obtained, and hence lottery schemes
were resorted to, to enable these improvements and
industries to be carried forward. Under these cir-
cumstances, in the early history of Vermont, the
people and their legislators did not seem to doubt
the propriety or question the polic3^ of resorting
to lottery schemes to aid in promoting these en-
terprises. The general polic^^ of the State from
the earliest times has been the prohibition of lot-
teries, except allowed bj^ special grant as shown
by the laws of the State as contained in the vari-
ous revisions. And when leave was given by the
Legislature for the raising of a lottery, the selling
26 EARLY HISTORY
of the tickets and the management of the lottery
were guarded b^- strict regulations provided by
the law-making power of the State. At length a
more enlightened policy obtained. On Nov. 5,
1804, in the Council, a committee, appointed on a
bill to grant to the Common Council of the Cit^-
of Yergennes liberty to raise the sum of two thou-
sand five hundred dollars for the purpose of build-
ing a bridge over Otter Creek in said city, reported
that the same ought to pass, which report was
not accepted, and on motion "resolved to non-
concur with the House in passing the said bill in-
to a law," and the Council gave as reason for the
non-concurrence: "1st, Because Institutions of
this kind tend to invite individuals to enter into
speculations in obtaining property different from
the modes dictated by honest industry; 2nd, be-
cause the experience of this government has taught
us that lotteries have created evils to communities
greater than the_v were designed to remove." In
this case the grant w^as finally given, but the op-
position that it met with, showed that the senti-
ment of the people had begun to exert itself against
the evils of lottery schemes, and none have been
granted for many years. It would not be out of
place here to refer to the active stand that was
taken by several of the Governors of the State, on
questions of internal improvements, but it is
thought best to defer an account of their public
utterances in favor of such improvements, and for
the public welfare, until we come to the chapters
devoted to their services.
The Legislature of the State enacted many laws
OF VERMONT. 27
from time to time, designed to encourage manufac-
tures of various kinds. It was stated in the sec-
ond volume of this History, in substance, that the
earh' settlers of the State, by their persevering in-
dustr\^, raised a little flax and wool, which were
spun, woven, colored and made into clothing by the
wives and daughters, and thus their wants were
supplied. At that day there were but few trades
that were deemed indispensable; the blacksmith,
the shoemaker and the wheel-wright were the
principal ones. As the condition of the people im-
proved, the^^ by degrees, extended their desires be-
3^ond the mere necessaries of life ; first to the neces-
sities and then to luxuries and elegancies. This
produced new wants, and manufacturing on a
large scale was demanded, and the Legislature to
some extent gave its aid for its promotion.
On October 17, 1801, an Act passed granting
to Araen Elliot, his heirs and assigns, the exclusive
right of manufacturing Crawley and Blistered Steel
for the term of ten years; on Nov. 9, 1807, the
House adopted the following Preamble and Reso-
lution : —
"Whereas, it becomes the interest of the good
people of this and the United States, as far as pos-
sible to encourage domestic manufactures, and
more especially when the peace of this country- is
threatened by the nation with whom we have the
greatest commercial intercourse; and whereas the
most ready method of introducing such manufac-
tures will be to take proper measures to make
them fashionable, — Therefore,
Resolved, the Governor and Council concur-
28 EARLY HISTORY
ring herein, that it be recommended to the Gov-
ernor, members of the Council, and House of Rep-
resentatives, to appear at the next session of the
Legislature, clothed in the manufactures of this or
some other of the United States."
This resolution was concurred in by the Council.
The Secretar\^ of the Treasury of the United
States on JUI3' 28, 1809, through a resolution of
Congress of June 7th of that year, issued a circular
to the several States for the purpose of obtaining
information for the means of protecting and fos-
tering the manufactures of the United States, to-
gether with a statement of the several manufac-
turing establishments which had been commenced,
and thereupon, in the Vermont Assembh^ on Octo-
ber 25, 1809, a committee of one from each county
was appointed to prepare a statement of the man-
factures of the State. The committee made their
report, which included the following table: viz.,—
Counties. Cotton & Linen.
, Woolen,
Clothiers Carding
Furn
Forges.
No. Yds.
No. Yds.
Works.
Machines aces.
Bennington
84,100
62,900
II
9
I
3
Windham
120,000
100,000
M
16
Rutland
170,200
143.040
26
.8
3
6
Windsor
269,090
134.045
34
-5
Addison
127,600
107,200
^5
13
2
1.5
Orange
177,000
177,000
19
19
Chittenden
128,000
110,000
8
8
Caledonia
135,000
110,000
12
10
Franklin
32,600
40,400
7
10
2
2
Orleans
33,000
30,000
4
4
Essex &G.K
le 28,960
27 860
3
163
3
135
8
Amount
1,042,945
26
Many of these manufactured goods became ex-
ports from the State, there being a surplus after
supplying the wants of Vermont. The resolution
OF VERMONT. 29
of Congress was limited to manufactures, there-
fore the above table did not embrace pot and
pearl ashes, timber and lumber which were ex-
ported in large quantities to Canada in the neigh-
borhood of Lake Champlain, nor did it include ag-
ricultural productions of wheat, pork, and other
articles which were sent in large amounts, in
those days to Albany from Western Vermont, and
to Boston and Portland from Eastern Vermont.
The House and Council on Nov. 3, 1823, passed
resolution instructing the Vermont delegation in
Congress to support all lawful measures for the
encouragement and protection of manufactures,
and these instructions were complied with. A res-
olution was also adopted on Nov. 2, 1824, that a
committee of manufactures be instructed to in-
quire into the expediency- of exempting the work-
men in cotton and woolen factories from military
duty, and that the judiciary committee be in-
structed to inquire into the expediency of enacting
a law- making it the duty of manufacturing com-
panies incorporated by this State to give all chil-
dren employed b^- said companies between the
ages of six and fifteen, three months' schooling in
each year. On Nov. 10, 1835, the Council received
from the House an engrossed bill entitled *'An Act
to encourage the growing of silk within this
State." The Governor and Council concurred in
the passage of the bill. This Act authorized a
bounty of ten cents for each pound of cocoons
thereafter raised or grown within the State.
Many persons in Vermont at that date had plant-
ed the mulberry in their gardens, procured silk
30 EARLY HISTORY
worms in the egg, and with a reel and small spin-
ning wheel manufactured sewing silk of the very
best quality from the cocoons of their silk w^orms.
In addition to the various articles and fabrics
for domestic sale, Vermont possesses facilities for
extensive manufactures, which are equal if not
superior to an3^ of the United States. The water
power of the State afforded bj- her rivers are un-
limited, and fuel abundant. A list of the manufac-
tures of the State, given by Thompson in his Civil
History of Vermont according to the returns of
1840, were as follows, viz.: —
26 Furnaces, making 6743 tons cast iron.
14 Forges, making 655 wrought iron.
Other metals, valued at $70,500.
Granite, marble, &c. 33,880.
17 Paper Mills, making 214,720 value.
96 woolen factories,! ei oo^ c^-o i
239 Fulling mills, f $l,331,9o3 value.
Silk, 39 pounds, $99 value.
7 Cotton factories, 7254 spindles, manufacturing
$113,000 value.
Mixed manufactures, $155,276 value.
Hats, valued $62,432.
261 Tanneries 1 122,763 sides sole leather.
(102,737 sides upper leather.
Maple Sugar, 4,647,934 pounds.
1 Brewerv, making 12,800 gallons.
2 Distilleries, '' 3,500 gallons.
2 Glass Houses, $55,000 value.
8 Potteries, 23,000 value
Potash, 718^2 tons.
Soap, 50,300 value.
Candles, 28,687 *'
Carriages, 162,097
7 Flouring Mills — barrels of flour 4,495.
OF VERMONT. 31
312 Grist mills,] $1,083,12-4 value
1081 Saw mills, I manufactured.
20 Oil mills J
29 Printing offices,— Binderies, 14-.
2 Rope Walks, $4,000 value man'd.
Music instruments, $2,290 ''
Home made goods, $674,548
Machiner\^ made, 101,354
Hardware, 16,650
Small arms, 1,156
Precious metals, 3,000
Granite and marble, 62,515
Bricks and lime, 402,218
Value of vessels built, 72,000
Furniture manufactured, 83,275
Houses. 72 brick, 468 wood, cost 344,896
Medicines, drugs and dyes, 38,475
Other manufactures, 488,796
For the purpose of comparison, we introduce
the following abstract of manufactures in Ver-
mont, copied from the returns in 1810 :—
8 Blast furnaces, 986 tons iron, @ $100, $97,600
2 Air furnaces, 260 '' pig 90, 23,400
26 Forges, \817 '* crude, 120, 98,040
(104 '' refined 150, 15,600
67 cutnail factories, 144tons nails, @ 240, 34,560
65 trip hammers— value of the work done, 78,574
11 paper mills— 23,350 r'ms, Oi $3 pr. r'm, 70,050
26 oil mills— 50,637 gallons. Or $1 pr gal. 50,637
125 distilleries, 173,285 do 75 cts. 129,964
205 tanneries— 773 tons leather, (a $500, 386,500
166 fulling-mills dressed 942,960 yds.a25, 235,740
139 carding machn's, 798,500 lbs. w^ool
@ .06, 47,910
Woolen cloth— 1,207,976 yds. @ 75 cts. 905,982
Cotton cloth— 131,326 yards, @ 30 cts. 39,397
Linen cloth— 1,859,931 yards, (^/: 35 cents, 650,976
32 EARLY HISTORY
Mixed cloth —191,426 yards, at 38 cents, 72,471
14,801 looms, weave 240 yards each, Oi 8,276,179
67,756 spin'g wheels, spin'70sk's ea. (§ 4, 189,716
23 jennies, equal 804 spindles, " 3, 1,688
96,760 hats at $2 193,520
65,580 pairs boots, at $3 $196,740
138,700 pair shoes, at 75 cents, 179,025
Saddles and Harnesses, amount of yalue, 127,840
Cabinet work, do do 118,450
Maple sugar, 1,200,000 lbs. at 10 cts. lb. 120,000
Potashes, 1500 tons at $100 pr. ton, 150,000
There are man\' other manufacturing enter-
prises, including the unlimited marble and gran-
ite industries, that haye been more recently deyel-
oped, a description of which will be giyen in a fu-
ture yolume.
The project for a canal from Lake Cham plain
by wa3' of Onion Riyer to the Atlantic b3^ way of
Portsmouth, N. H., and to Boston, Mass., that lie
near the hearts of the people of Vermont, haying
failed, the attention of persons interested in inter-
nal improyements was turned towards railroads.
At that time there were no railroads of anj^ con-
siderable length in operation in the United States,
but railroads had been in successful operation for
several years in Great Britain. John L. Sullivan,
one of the engineers connected with the United
States Board of Internal Improvements, insisted
that transportation would be cheaper from Bos-
ton to Lake Erie by railroad by the northern
route to Ogdensburgh than Irom New York City
to Lake Erie b\^ canal. The route indicated by
Sullivan was Irom Boston by way of Concord,
Lebanon, and down the valley of Onion River to
OF VERMONT. 33
Burlington, Vt., thence by a ferry to Port Kent,
N. Y., and from thence b^- railway to Ogdensburgh.
In 1830, great interest in railroads prevailed in
Vermont, and the several schemes discussed enlist-
ed the aid of capitalists of Boston and vicinity.
Meetings were held at Brattleboro, AYindsor and
Chelsea and a series of meetings at Alontpelier. A
report was made to the Legislature of Massachu-
setts in Januar\', 1830, in favor of granting a
charter for a Railroad from Boston to Lowell,
Mass. This seemed to stir the people of Vermont
to action. On the evening of Januar\^ 26, 1830,
citizens of Alontpelier met and appointed a com-
mittee on the subject, who reported on Feb. 2, ex-
pressing the opinion that a railroad "cannot be
constructed on an^^ location where it could afford
more advantages to the inhabitants of New Eng-
land, and the nation generally, than one from
Boston, Mass., to Ogdensburgh, N. Y.," and
adopted the following resolution : —
"Resolved, That the public good requires vig-
orous and persevering efforts on the part of all in-
telligen4: and public spirited individuals, all friends
of their country and of internal improvements, un-
til, by the enterprise of individuals, the co-opera-
tion of State Legislatures, or the aid of General
Government, the survey' and completion of a route
is accomplished, for a National Railroad, from the
seaboard at Boston, through Lowell, Mass., Con-
cord in New Hampshire, and thence by the most
convenient route through the valle^^ of Onion Riv-
er to Lake Champlain, and thence to the waters
of Lake Ontario, at Ogdensburgh, N. Y."
34 EARLY HISTORY
This resolution was sio^ned by Lyman Reed, Eze-
kiel P. Walton and Sylvanus Baldwin as Commit-
tee. At this meeting another committee was ap-
pointed to report to a County convention. The
County convention, consisting of citizens of the
Counties of Orange and Washington, met at Mont-
pelier February 17, 1830, when the committee,
through General Parley Davis, made report on the
different routes and came to the conclusion that a
railroad from Boston via. Concord, N. H., and On-
ion River, Yt., to Ogdensburgh was feasible, and
that the productions transported on the great
Western lakes would find a quicker and cheaper
conve3^ance to the seaboard at Boston than they
possibly could to the City of New York. Many
meetings in the interest of the project were called
along the line of the proposed routes during the
year 1830, at all of which, except the one held at
Burlington, thej^ took action looking to secure aid
from the National Government in the construction
and survey of the road. The convention at Burling-
ton resolved that the resources of the States inter-
ested were amply sufficient to accomplish the ob-
ject. Subsequentl3" a general convention was called
to meet at the State House at Montpelier Septem-
ber 6th, 1830. The convention consisted of 5 dele-
gates from the City of Boston, 10 from the State
of New Hampshire, 26 from the State of Yermont,
and 7 from the State of New York, and they held
a two days' session. Luther Bradish of Franklin
County, New York, was the President of the conven-
tion, who, at its close, made an impressive speech,
emphasizing the project which had been particu-
OF VERMONT. 35
lady considered as one of national importance,
and predicting that this and other similar projects
of internal improvement throughout the countrj^
would serve "as so many new and ever-brighten-
ing chains to bind more strongly together all of
the States of this great, highly favored and happy
Union." E. P. Walton says in the "Governor and
Council," that among the delegates of that conven-
tion w^ere, "Charles Paine of Northiield, and Tim-
othy Follett of Burlington, w^ho from 1845 during
their lives, were the most distinguished railroad
men of Vermont, and both were victims to their
zeal in this service."
The work of the convention was for the future;
at that time no corporation had been orgnized for
the building a road on either of the contemplated
routes : even the Boston and Low^ell Railroad was
not organized until 1831. At that date there w^ere
but few that dared predict that Vermont some
day would have enough lines of railroad so that a
true map of the State would look like a checker-
board by reason of the railroads running length-
wise and across its surface, but it has become a re-
ality. The idea of securing National, or even State
aid for the construction of this class of improve-
ments was abandoned, and those who were partic-
ularly interested in them were thrown upon their
own resources and the voluntarv contributions of
the people and the towns interested by their con-
struction. The State of Vermont, while it would
not aid in any of the railroad projects, it was nev-
ertheless liberal through its legislature in granting
charters for them. The progress made towards
36 EARLY HISTORY
the construction of railroads was slow. People
were slow to make the necessary- sacrifices.
In the spring of 1845, the commissioners re-
spectiveh^ of the Vermont Central Railroad Com-
pany and the Rutland and Burlington Railroad
Compan3' opened oifices in Boston to canvass for
subscriptions to the stock of the respective roads ;
the presses of Boston and Vermont were employed
in discussing the advantages of the two routes
and the indispensable importance of either, to Bos-
ton, if only one should succeed. It created two zeal-
ous parties in Vermont b^' reason of the competing
lines. Both secured capital for organization in
1845, and both roads were speedily constructed.
The organization and construction of the Northern
Cheshire and Sullivan in New Hampshire, the Ver-
mont and Massachusetts, and the Passumpsic
and Connecticut River and the Vermont and Can-
ada, in Vermont, soon followed. The Vermont
Central and the Rutland and Burlington Rail-
roads were completed in 1854.
With the above named roads all the railroads
more recently constructed in Vermont are con-
nected. The original stock of most of the rail-
roads chartered and constructed in Vermont, by
reason of the large expense of building, furnishing
and operating the roads, became worthless; the
earnings of the bankrupt roads had to go to pay
the running expenses of the road and the later pre-
ferred stock or indebtedness. The embarrassment
of the Central Vermont by reason of its overbur-
dened debt plunged it into an expensive and pro-
longed litigation and it was placed in the hands of
receivers for manv vears.
OF VERMONT. • 37
Since the charter and the buildino^ of the Cen-
tral Vermont and the Rutland and Burlington
Railroads, man3^ railroads in different parts of the
State have been chartered by the Legislature of
Vermont and built by the different companies, so
that the people of the State have great railroad
facilities, and making the Green Mountain State
one of the best summer resorts in the world.
Without stating the dates of the different char-
ters of the several railroads or the names of the
different companies or the exact time when they
were respectively constructed and commenced to
be operated, it will not be out of place to state
generally the several lines of railroads and their
connections. At the present writing one of the
north and south railroads enters the State at
Connecticut River near the south-east corner of
Bloomfield in the County of Essex and runs
through the north-east corner of the State via.
Island Pond in Brighton and enters Canada at
the north line of the town of Norton ; one line
enters the State at its south-east corner in the
towm of Vernon and runs north up Connecticut
River to the town of Barnet and to the mouth of
Passumpsic River and up the last named river
via. St. Johnsbury and Barton to Newport and
Lake Memphremagog, and from thence one line
runs through Derby into Canada, and the other
branch runs through Newport and Tro\^ and
thence into Canada and connects w4th a rail-
road at Richford. There is a short line running
from Brattleboro via. Jamaica to Londonderry
in Windham Countv. The Deerfield road en-
38 * EARLY HISTORY
ters Vermont from Massachusetts in Whiting-
ham and runs through the town to Wilming-
ton, and another Hne from North Petersburgh,
N. Y., via. Bennington to Glastenbur3' in Ben-
nington County ; and a line from Bennington to
North Bennington and from there westerh' to
New York State, and from North Bennington via.
Manchester to Rutland. One road running from
Eagle Bridge, N. Y., through Rupert, Pawlet,,
Poultne^^ and connecting at Castleton in Rut-
land County with the road leading from White-
hall, N. Y., to Rutland, Vermont. There is a short
railroad running from White River Junction in
Hartford to Woodstock and a long line running
from White River Junction via. Randolph, Mont,
pelier Junction, Essex Junction, St. Albans, and
entering Canada at the north line ot Highgate in
Franklin Count\', and another branch of the same
line running from Swanton Junction through the
town of Alburgh to Rouses Point, N. Y. The last
railroad constructed, completed and put in opera-
tion in 1901, in the State, runs from Canada line
through Alburgh, North Hero, Grand Isle and
South Hero and across the eastern part of Lake
Champlain to the main land near the mouth of
Onion River and along the lake shore to Burling-
ton and there connects with the Rutland and
Burlington road. The Missisquoi Valley Road
runs from St. Albans via. Enosburgh to Richford,
Vt., and connects w4th the road running west
from Newport. One of the railroads that crosses
the State enters the State at Connecticut River in
Lunenburg and runs via. St. Johnsbury, Danville,
OF VERMONT. 39
through Lamoille County, Fletcher and Sheldon
to Swanton, Yt.; this is a part of a through line
from Portland, Maine, to Ogdensburgh, New York.
One road runs from the mouth of Wells River via.
Groton and Marshfield to Montpelier Junction,
also a road running from Montpelier via. Barre
to Williamstown. The Burlington and Lamoille
Railroad runs from Essex Junction in Chittenden
County to Combridge Junction in Lamoille Coun-
ty and thence connects with the road running from
St. Johnsbur3^ to Swanton. The Addison road
runs from Leicester Junction westerly to Lake
Champlain and Ticonderoga, N. Y.
These lines of railroads, and the fast multi-
plying electric roads, together with the water-
way facilities afforded by the Lake Champlain,
supph' the people of Vermont with convenient
traveling facilities, and the farmers and business
men abundant means of transportation of freight.
GHflPTtR II.
DISTINGUISHED VISITORS TO THE STATE
IN ITS EARLY DAYS.
The pages of this history show that Vermont,
even at an early da3% had many able citizens, wise
in state-craft and w^ell fitted for building up the in-
terests of a new State; and the State had been
honored b\^ some distinguished guests. In the
first summer after the State was admitted into
the Federal Union, two of the most distinguished
men of the nation, Thomas Jefferson and James
Aladison, took a sail through Lake George and
on Lake Champlain and as far as twenty-five
miles north of Ticonderoga, when a farther ad-
vance was prevented by head wdnds causing the
visitors and their party to return— they proceeded
to Bennington on the 4th of June, and remained
there over the Sabbath, and then returned by the
way of the Connecticut River Valley and through
Hartford and New Haven, Conn., to New York
and Philadelphia.
The next distinguished guest to w^hom we will
refer is the man of ''two worlds," the Frenchman,
the disinterested patriot, the Marquis De Lafay-
ette. He w^as born on the 6th of September, 1757,
in the Province of Auvergne in the southern divi-
sion of France. In the summer of 1776, he w^as
(40)
OF VERMONT. 41
stationed on military duty as an officer of the
French army in the citadel of Metz. The first
news of the opening struggle for American inde-
pendence struck the key-note to Lafayette's fier3^
ardor. America fighting for its independence
against British oppression, enlisted every s^^m-
pathy of his heart. He threw up his office at
Metz, returned to Paris and secretly made prep-
arations to leave his native land and join the
American Army to aid the Colonies in establish-
ing their independence. It is not the purpose of
the writer to give a detailed account of his invalu-
able service in aid of the American cause, but suf-
fice it to sa\' here, he was commissioned b^^ Con-
gress, Major General, July 31, 1777, and had the
full confidence of General Washington. After peace
was declared at the close of the Revolutionary
War, Lafayette returned to France. Lafa3^ette
having been invited by Congress to visit the Unit-
ed States, he and his son landed at New A'ork City
on August 15th, 1824, and from that time until
his departure in September, 1825, there was a
continued ovation, extending to him the highest
honors in every State in the Union, and Congress
crowned it by a gift of $200,000 and a township
of land.
The Legislature of Vermont in 1824, requested
Governor C. P. Van Xess to invite Lafayette to
extend his tour to Vermont, and directed the nec-
essary- militar3^ and other preparations. Accord-
ingly, Governor Van Ness on Dec. 27, 1824, ad-
dressed General Lafa3-ette as follows : —
"Sir, — It has become m3- pleasing dut3% at the
42 EARLY HISTORY
request of the Legislature, and in behalf of the
people of Vermont, to invite 3'ou to visit this
State previous to your return to France. It can
scarceh^ be necessar3% Sir, to assure you that w^e
should feel both gratified and honored by such an
event." ^ * ^ To this Gen. Lafayette replied
from Washington Jan. 15th, 1825, in part, as fol-
lows : ''It has ever been my intention not to leave
this side of the Atlantic before I have visited the
State of Vermont, in the feelings of which, the
first times of our Revolution, I have heartily
S3^mpathized, while its services to the common
cause were by none better felt than by me, w^ho
may boast to have been early distinguished b^- the
kindness of the citizens of Vermont." The expres-
sion in the above letter that ''I have heartih' sym-
pathized," referred to the controversy with the
adjoining States. His visit to Vermont w^as de-
ferred till after he had made his contemplated visit
to the Southern States.
General Lafa^^ette and party, consisting of his
son, George Washington Lafa^^ette, and his secre-
tary, and the representatives of Governor Van
Ness, entered the State on the morning of June 28,
1825, and w^as met by the committee of arrange-
ment at Windsor and w^elcomed by Hon. Horace
Everett by a short address, after w^hich Lafa^^ette
was introduced to Governor Van Ness who ad-
dressed General Lafayette as follows: viz.,—
"Permit me to tender you the congratulations
and the hospitalities of the people of this State,
on your arrival within its borders. In the per-
formance of this welcome duty. Sir, the first and
OF VERMONT. 43
most pleasing points which present themselves,
are the character and occurrences which have dis-
tinguished and adorned your hfe: 3'our publick
and your private virtues — 3'our exalted and inflex-
ible patriotism — 3'our ardent and uniform devo-
tion to the great cause of liberty- — and above all,
as it regards us, your noble zeal, 3'our disinter-
ested sacrifices, and your eminent services, in
that memorable struggle, which resulted in the
establishment and independence of the United
States. But to dwell minuteh- on these, could
only be a repetition of what has been a thousand
times said and published; and the recital of which,
in new and glowing terms, has but recently greet-
ed your ear, and, I trust, cheered your heart, at
every step, throughout this happy and rejoicing
country— a countrj-, which at the same time ac-
knowledges 3'ou as a father, and proudh- claims
you as a son.
"But though our tongues have been forestalled,
our hearts are not the less full. They, have indeed,
been constantly and tenderly alive to all your
movements, and whatever concerned \'Ou, while
traversing the Union ; but it has been reserved to
an hour in which our soil is hallowed b3' your
tread, for them to pour out, without measure, the
libations of their gratitude, and their aifection.
That these are now rushing forth from their over-
flowing fountains, in torrents behind whose rapid-
ity any language of mine cannot but lag, is suffi-
ciently seen in the intense and adoring gaze of the
croud hj which 3'ou are surrounded.
"General, I have the honour to represent, on this
44? EARLY HISTORY
interesting occasion, a people plain and hardy, but
intelligent and virtuous; industrious cultivators
of the earth, but enjoying, on their lofty hills, and
in their lowly valleys, comfort and independence.
Sincerely attached to the constitution and govern-
ment of their country, they will never shrink from
any sacrifices necessary to support and defend
them. And if it may become me, I would add,
that their bravery and patriotism have been se-
verely tested, in the darkest hours of peril and
disma3% and found firm and immovable, as the
mountains which majestically stretch themselves
through the midst of them.
"It is, too, a source of no small gratification to
me, that they can number among them many of
the worthy veterans who served in the same
cause, in which you so gloriousW distinguished
yourself. But if I am so inadequate to express the
feelings of others, how far bej^ond me is it to de-
scribe the emotions which must agitate the bosoms
of those venerable fathers, on saluting, at this lapse
of time, one of their old and beloved Generals, and
whom in all probability' their eyes are to behold
for the last time, on this side of the grave. With
their bodies enfeebled by the ravages of many a
year, and their locks bleached by the sun of many
a summer, their hearts, 3'et warm as the warmest,
and tender as the tenderest, will be lighted up
and animated with a blaze, kindled by a spark
from the altar of '76, but whose blissful warmth
none but they and you can be permitted fully to
realize."
General Lafayette replied as follows: —
OF VERMONT. 45
"The testimonies of esteem and affection be-
stowed upon me by the people of Vermont and
their representative and chief magistrate, are the
more gratifying as I had eagerly anticipated the
pleasure, in my happ^^ visit through the United
States, once more to behold those celebrated
mountains, the very thought of which recalls to
my mind glorious, patriotic, and endearing asso-
ciations. From this State, Sir, by a gallant band
of patriots, and their worths- leader and proto-
t^'pe, was, for the first time, proclaimed on the
ramparts of a British fortress, the name of the
Continental Congress. Nor ever did the vicinit3^
of the enem^' on the northern frontier, and family
difficulties on every other side, one instant cool the
ardor of the sons of Vermont to defend the cause
of American independence and freedom. Now I
have the happiness to see the hardy cind the virtu-
ous inhabitants of this State peaceabh' cultivat-
ing their lofty hills and their handsome valleys,
with the intelligence and spirit which characterise
them ; I see them, in common with their sister
States, enjo^'ing the blessings of the new Ameri-
can social order, so far superior even to the least
exceptionable institutions of Europe. What hith-
erto was, at best, religious toleration, has been
here exchanged for religious liberty and equality —
privilege for right — royal charter mock representa-
tives, inefficient compromises between nations and
a few loyal and aristocratical families, for the sov-
ereigntv of the people, lor truh' representative and
self-government.
"Sir, I most cordially thank you, for the friendly
46 EARLY HISTORY
and flattering manner in which 3'ou are pleased to
express the feelings of the people of this State ; a
most gratif3'ing specimen of this goodness I now
have the gratification to witness. I thank you for
3^our s\'mpathy, for the delight I feel to see the
happy citizens of Vermont enjo3-ing all the bless-
ings of republican liberty, and among them to rec-
ognize many of m\^ beloved companions in arms.
Be pleased to accept in 3^our own name, and in be-
half of the people and representatives of Vermont,
the tribute of my respectful devotion and grati-
tude."
At Woodstock the General was welcomed on
behalf of the citizens of the town by Hon. Titus
Hutchinson, w^ho said in part that,—
"Although one generation and almost a second
have passed away, a few patriots of the revolu-
tion still survive. Some of these present have
marched in defence of their country in obedience
to your commands. These all 3^et live to tell us
and their posterit3' what our liberties cost and
how the3^ were attained : na3' more, the3^ are the
living heralds of 3'our disinterested and efficacious
exertions to redeem us from colonial bondage and
guarantee to us those free institutions w^hich are
at once the glor\^ and happiness of our country,
and are extending their benign influence through
the world.
"We should rejoice in 3^our longer continuance
here if other and higher claims would permit ; but
we know3^ou must speedil3^ progress on your tour,
and we express the sincere desire of our hearts
that your path ma3^ be strewed with flowers, fra-
OF VERMONT. 47
grant flowers, till you arrive at the blissfuljhor^es
of immortality." '
To which the General made an apt and im-
promptu reply, and then proceeded to Royalton,
w^here he was welcomed in behalf of its citizens, to
the green hills and happ\' villages of Vermont, by
Hon. Jacob Collamer, who said in part that, —
"In the full enjoyment, in common with our
splendid cities, of all those privileges and bless-
ings which flow from the liberalit}^ of our republi-
can institutions, and surrounded with the light
and intelligence which attend those institutions,
we cannot be insensible from whence these bless-
ings flow, or the debt of gratitude which they
imply. These are the happy results of your early
labors and those of your compatriots. Hence the
thrill of pleasure which, at your condescending
visit, vibrates with electric rapidity and s^^mpa-
thetic orison to the most obscure and remote
extremities of our nation."
To which the General made a happ3^ reply. He
was welcomed at East Randolph by Rev. Wilbur
Fisk. General Lafayette and his party arrived at
Montpelier about 10 o'clock in the evening of June
28th, and w^as addressed on behalf of the citizens
of Montpelier and vicinity by Hon. Elijah Paine,
Judge of the U. S. Court for the District of Ver-
mont, and said in part : —
"We congratulate 3'ou on having nearly com-
pleted the tour of the United States in health, and
hope 3^ou have received great pleasure and satis-
faction in witnessing the fruits of 3'our early toils
and sacrifices, in the improvement and prosperity
48 EARLY HISTORY
of a widely extended Republic. We believe 3'ou
have seen a ^reat Nation enjo3nng the blessings of
liberty without licentiousness.
"When you left this country after the war of
the Revolution, the State of Vermont had but just
begun to have a name. At that time almost the
whole State was a wilderness — 3'et we are proud
of some of the feats performed in that war by the
arms of Vermont. We count upon ourselves as
principals in the capture of a whole British army
under Burgo^-ne, the consequences of which are too
well known to 3'ou to need a rehearsal.
"The State of Vermont cannot show to vou
large towns and cities ; but it can show to \'ou
what is perhaps of as much consequence: it can
show to you a sober, substantial, intelligent, and
well informed ^-eomanrv." In reph' to which La-
faj^ette said : —
"The welcome I receive from the citizens of
Montpelier, the great number of friends who at
this late hour have been pleased to wait my ar-
rival, and the particular gratification to hear their
affectionate feelings expressed b^^ >'ou, m^^ dear Sir,
fill my heart with the most liveU^ sentiments of
pleasure and gratitude.
"Well maA' I, Sir, acknowledge the patriotic ti-
tles of this State, not onl^^ as having been the the-
ater of a most important event, the victory of
Bennington, and having largeh^ contributed to the
happ3^ turns in the north — but also, as having by
her devotion to the general cause, and b3^ the gal-
lantrv of her hard3' sons, constants taken a great
proportionate share in our revolutionary struggle;
OF VERMONT. 49
nor shall I omit this opportunity to express my
early interest in the local feelings and wishes of
the State of Vermont.
Sir, I have now accomplished* one of the great-
est objects of my life; I have visited the twenty-
four States of the Union; I have been the happy
witness of the immense, rapid, and ever increasing
results of Indepenpence, Republican institutions,
and self government, and you, Sir, and all of you
whom I have the pleasure to address, I most cor-
dially congratulate on the public and domestic
happiness which is enjoyed b^- the citizens of Ver-
mont, and I beg you to accept my affectionate and
respectful thanks."
On the morning of the 29th of June, the ladies
of Alontpelier assembled in the Congregational
Church, now called Bethany Church, where Mrs.
Erastus Watrous addressed General Lafayette as
follows :—
"Permit me. Sir, in behalf of the ladies present,
to express to you how highly we are gratified
with this visit to our metropolis. To us, born free
as the mountain air we breathe, the man whose
bosom warmed with the sacred glow of patriot-
ism when beholding an infant nation struggling
for liberty, who sacrificed the sweet endearments
of domestic society, the splendor of rank, and
staked for time and life, to secure to us and ours
the blessings we now enjoy ; to us, he is welcome.
We greet j^ou with a cordial welcome, to our coun-
try, our homes and our hearts.
'"Great must be your satisfaction, in your prog-
ress through the States, to behold in many places
4
50 EARLY HIST(3RY
the wilderness to have 'budded and blossomed as
the rose,' the arts of civilized life to have advanced
in the scale of perfection to a competition with
Europe, wdiile far and wide are diffused the bless-
ings of peace and plenty, and on every side the
children of those who were companions in arms,
vicing with each other in expressions of gratitude
to our country's benefactor.
''Accept, dear General, our united aspiration for
your health and long life. With you, may the eve-
ning of life be peculiarly pleasant — like the setting
sun after a glorious day, sinking gradually, and
throwing back increasing beauty and splendor
wnth ever3^ expiring beam. May kind hands and
affectionate hearts soothe and administer to every
want, and smoothe the pillow of declining age;
and w^hen at length the 'vital spark' shall quit its
earthly tenement, may the angel of Death open to
you the portals of eternal bliss in Heaven.
With us, and with every freeborn child of Amer-
ica, the name, the bravery, the virtues, the disin-
terested generosity of Lafayette w^ill ever be per-
petuated w4th our beloved Washington."
To which Lafayette made a happy response.
At Burlington, on June 25th, 1825, Hon. Will-
iam A. Griswold w^as deputed to tender General
Lafayette the hospitalities of the town and bid
him a cordial and affectionate welcome, and he
said in part : —
"The circumstances attending your visit to this
land of liberty, present a spectacle unparalleled in
the history of the world. While the sons of tho.se,
who w^ere formerly 3^our companions in arms, are
(3F VERMONT. 51
testifying their joy and gratitude, their wives and
daughters are not less grateful for the delightful
privilege they enjo}^ of telling their children of
your illustrious deeds, and of instructing them to
imitate your brilliant examples. It has also re-
kindled a spirit of increased devotion to the prin-
ciples of free government, and one which, we trust,
will not be extin;guished until 'history is dumb,
and memory- becomes extinct.'
Few, ver^^ few of the Revolutionary^ heroes, then
the hardy sons of our Green Mountains, w^ere eye
witnesses to 3^our valor and constancy displayed
throughout our Revolutionary contest; and fewer
still have survived the lapse of half a century- , to
unite with us in rendering honor to an early pat-
riot and our distinguished friend. Yet a small and
highly favored remnant have been kindly pre-
served, and tottering w^ith age and infirmity'-, are
now embodied before you wnth hearts bounding
with jo3^ and exultation at your presence. And it
is a proud consolation to them and us to know,
that they still hold a transcendent place in 3'our
affections.
"During the gloomy period of 1781, the citizens
of this State were violently assailed by two pow-
erful neighboring States, claiming jurisdiction over
her territory, and the w^hile contributing liberally
to the common cause, her bold and inflexible
patriots were nobly struggling for self exist-
ence and state independence. The waters of 3'on-
der beautiful Lake were covered with an hostile
fleet and powerful army, and all her strongholds
in the undisturbed possession of the enem}-. This
52 EARLY HISTORY
was a time for coward hearts to despond. But the
statesmen of that day were strangers to fear, and
Washington, the sainted Washington, your illus-
trious compeer, was our mediator and our friend.
An intrepid self-created board of war, consisting of
eight persons only, wielded the destinies of a scat-
tered population of about thirty thousand souls.
Although the ambiguity of their conduct for a
short time created some distrust abroad, yet their
stern integrity inspired confidence at home, while
their masterly and resolute policy rendered the en-
emy inactive, retarded their operations, and pro-
tected an extensive and defenceless frontier from
pillage and devastation. At this critical moment,
when the destinies of this State (then an almost
outlawed territory,) were approaching a crisis,
when despondency came creeping even upon the
stoutest hearts, the cheering news of the surrender
of Cornwallis was proclaimed. The independence
of our country w^as sealed, and with it, the people
of Vermont delivered from peculiar and tr\4ng em-
barrassments. Then the name of Lafayette re-
sounded through the air, hung with rapture upon
ever^^ tongue, and still remains enshrined in every
American heart."
The General made the following reph^ :—
"While the warm greetings of the citizens of
of Burlington, and the multitude of friends, who
came to join them on this happ^- spot, excite
the most grateful feeling of my heart, I particu-
larly thank you, sir, for your kind remarks, on
the enjoyment of my passage through every part
of the great Confederacy, and namely through
OF VERMONT. 53
the State of Vermont. Among the revolutionary
soldiers, w^hom it is my delight to meet, I have
the gratification, in the sons of the Green Moun-
tains, to find many who have been my intimate
companions, and while in the throngs of friends of
both sexes, and of every age, who so kindly wel-
come me, I often recognize the features, I can ever
recognize the feelings of my American co-tempora-
ries. There shall never be need, my dear sir, to re-
kindle in American hearts the sacred flame of re-
publican patriotism ; to keep it up forever, it suf-
fices to see and feel the blessings of liberty, equal-
ity, and self-government; the more so, when those
dignified and prosperous blessings are compared
with the situation of another hemisphere ; 3^et
nothing can be more gratifying than the observa-
tion that my visit through the United States, so
delightful to me, has been attended with some
public utilit3% and I am happ3^ to acknowledge it
has afforded an oppprtunity once more to assert
the devotion of the American people to the princi-
ples for which we have fought, for the institutions
which they enjoy, at the same time it once more
recalls to the attention of others the practical re-
sults of those principles, of those institutions.
"I am Happy to think, that while the success-
ful termination of our Virginia campaign has
helped to settle difficulties of a general concern, it
has peculiarly contributed to satisfy the anxious
feelings of this State, in which from an early peri-
od I have myself felt deeply interested.
*'To your kind references to very remote time,
permit me, sir, to add a mention of the later peri-
54 EARLY HISTORY
od of the late war, in which the citizens of Ver-
mont also took a spirited part. One of the thea-
ters of the honorable achievements of that w^ar,
both on water and on land, we ma\' almost greet
from this place, on the opposite shore."
Many of the surviving revolutionary soldiers
attended these receptions, and at Burlington they
assembled, and Sergeant Day of Lafayette's early
Revolutionarj^ regiment bearing the sword pre-
sented to him by Lafayette. David Russell ad-
dressed General Lafayette as follows : —
''A few of the surviving ofRceis and soldiers of
the American Revolution here present themselves
to bid you a cordial reception, among those who
have so long anxiously waited your coming; some
of whom were wdth you on the tented field, and on
the ramparts, that witnessed your undaunted
bravery in defence of a country almost in despair.
But we had a Washington, 'whose head w^as a
Senate, and whose arm was a Host,' to direct
and lead us, who, with his Cabinet Council of
brave officers, (foreign and American, most of
whom now sleep with their fathers,) inspired their
humble followers in arms w^ith that courage, with
that zeal in the cause of liberty-, and that love of
country, which could not fail of leading to the im-
portant result, Freedom and Independence.
"We rejoice to meet you here, sir, although it
be but for a moment, to pass in review, and then
be separated forever. Here we reciprocate the feel-
ings which can never be obliterated, in the breasts
of those who have been associated in arms, in a
just cause, although half a century has nearly
OF VERMONT. 55
elapsed since those associations were first formed.
"You here behold, sir, a frontier, then a savage
wilderness, now witnessing by its improvements
the blessed effects, the glorious result of those pat-
riotic exertions, in w^hich you performed so dis-
tinguished a part.
"We reluctant^ bid 3^ou adieu, sir, and pray
our Almighty' Father that you may return in
health and safet\^ to your country- and family;
that the remainder of 3^our days may be peaceful
and happv; and that thereafter you may join 3'our
great Prototype in Heaven, and, wnth him and
other departed Saints and Heroes, forever rejoice
together in the Paradise of God."
To these revolutionary soldiers Lafayette said :
"I am delighted, my dear comrades, w^henever I
find myself among my revolutionary brothers in
arms; for we were all brothers, fighting in the
same cause of independence and freedom ; we all
enjoy together the happy results of our toils ; yet
it is to me a particular gratification to recognize
among you many of the intimate companions w^ho
served with me in the arm3% and several of my
beloved Light Infantrv soldiers. If I have ob-
tained, in our military- events, some fortunate
days, it is to 3'our gallantrj^ in action, 3'our perse-
verance under ever^- hardship, to your personal
affection, that I am indebted for them. That
name, so dear to m^^ heart, of the soldier's friend,
which \'ou gave me in my 3'outh, I am happy
again to find on \'our lips in our old age. Receive,
dear comrades, m^- most affectionate thanks, love,
and good wishes."
v5b EARLY HISTORY
On this visit to Burlington Lafaj^ette was in-
vited to lay the corner stone of the South College
of the University of Vermont. Rev. Willard Pres-
ton, President-elect of the University, addressed
General Lafayette as follows :—
"In behalf of the University of Vermont, the
pleasing duty devolves on me of bidding j^ou wel-
come to this spot, consecrated to Science and Lit-
erature ; and bid 3^ou a most cordial welcome. We
are not in3ensible of our obligations to you and to
your compatriots in arms for the distinguished
privileges we enjo3% no less of a literary than a
civil and religious character. While freedom is the
nurser^^ of science, knowledge and virtue are the
grand supporting pillars of a free government.
Mutilate those and the fair fabric falls. Support
them, and they stand against the combined at-
tacks of a frowning world. These are supported
in all our institutions of learning. And it must
have afforded you the highest satisfaction, to see
ever3^ where planted, throughout this extensive
countr3\ seminaries of learning, from the Univer-
sity to the lowest elementar^^ schools.
"The Universit\^ of Vermont is comparatively
in her infancy-. She has sustained a series of dis-
asters. One 3^ear since, and her noble edifice was
reduced to ruins. But from those ruins, other edi-
fices are rising and her prospects are brightening.
One edifice is already erected, and we ask you to
confer on us the honor of la3nng the corner stone
of a second."
To which Lafa3^ette expressed the high sense
he had of the honor conferred upon him in permit-
OF VERMONT. 57
ting him to lay the corner stone of so interesting
a btiilding, and said: "I am sure that the sons
of Vermont will ever evince, in their studies, the
same ardor and perseverance which at all times
and on every occasion have characterized the spir-
ited inhabitants of the Green Mountains."
The proceedings at Burlington, 'and in Vermont,
closed by a reception and splendid entertainment
at the residence of Gov. Van Ness, w^hen General
Lafa3xtte and his suite embarked on the steamer
Phoenix, and left Vermont for Whitehall, N. Y.
It is probable that no Revolutionary officer then
living, and none but Washington in his lifetime,
could have aroused the enthusiasm with which
Lafa^-ette w^as greeted in Vermont. The writer
has not gone into the details of the arrangements
and display and of the militar^^ demonstrations
along the route taken by Lafa3'ette through the
State, nor of the processions, marches, public din-
ners but will give three of the toasts offered by
Lafaj^ette.
At Alontpelier he gave the following: "Ver-
mont, Alontpelier and the Green Mountains, from
w^hich was early echoed and valiently supported
the Republican cry for Independence and Freedom
— may its happy results be more and more enjoyed
by the sons of the Green Alountains. At Burling-
ton he gave the folio w^ing: "The town of Bur-
lington — may the Holy Alliance of Agriculture,
Manufacturing, Industry and Commerce under the
influence of her Republican institutions and her
fortunate situation, more and more ensure her
prosperity and happiness." And on being asked
58 EARLY HISTORY
gave the following: "The memory of Ethan Al-
len, and his earU' companions, the old Green
Mountain Boj's." Lafa3'ette, before he left Amer-
ica for France, learned that an officer of the Revo-
lution, General William Barton, one of his compan-
ions in arms, had been for a long period imprisoned
for debt in jail at Danville, Vermont; thereupon
Lafayette immediately furnished means for his re-
lease. Lafaj^ette while on board the Brandywine,
addressed to Gen. Isaac Fletcher of Lyndon a let-
ter, in which he enclosed a draft, with a request
that the sums for which Gen. Barton was confined
should be paid. The request was complied with
and Barton, the valiant capturer of Prescott, was
released and at liberty- to return to his family at
Providence, Rhode Island, after a confinement in
jail and a separation from them for more than
thirteen years.
In an account of his return to his familv, pub-
lished in the ''Boston Gazette" in 1826, it was
stated : —
"It seemed to astonish the old General to see
the great alterations on the road as we approach-
ed Providence; and when he spoke of the Alarquis,
(as he always calls Lafayette,) his eyes filled with
tears of gratitude. He has been a very powerful
man, and retains now, in the sevent3'-seventh year
of his age, much of the vigor of his younger days.
He would often sing a few lines of an old revolu-
tionary song, with a clear and strong voice : when
he had arrived near Providence, he sang,
" And since we're /2ere,
" With friends so dear,
*• We'll drive dull care away."
OF VERMONT. 59
But when the old General entered his ancient
home, and embraced the wife of his youth, his
children, and his children's children, and met his
old black servant, it w^as a scene which I cannot
attempt to describe — they were all overjoyed and
melted into tears. It w^as a long time before he
could believe it to be a realit\\"
Undoubtedly the tour of Lafayette was of great
value to the nation, in rekindling the patriotic
spirit in the old, and inspiring it in the 3'oung, and
will serve to perpetuate the sentiment of Liberty
and Union.
Governor Van Ness in his speech to the Council
and House of Representatives in October 1825,
said : —
"Having given General Lafayette an invita-
tion to visit this State, in pursuance of the resolu-
tion on that subject, he accordingh^ passed through
the State the latter end of June last, entering it at
Windsor, and leaving it at Burlington. His time
was so limited, that it was not in his power to
present himself in any parts of the State, not on
the route betw^een the two places mentioned. But
as it w^as, every practicable arrangement w^as
made, to favor the people of the State with an
opportunity of beholding this beloved friend and
patriot. A particular account of the expenses in-
curred on the part of the State, w^ill be laid before
you." The amount of the expenses was $564.77,
mainly for transportation and express messengers.
In closing what we have to say as to this great
man's last visit to Vermont and to America, it will
not be out of place to show how he was regarded
60 EARLY HISTORY
by one class which was opposed to him in the Revo-
lutionary War as w^ell as by those who were his
comrades in arms. Lafa^^ette had been frequently
called upon to treat w4th the Indians during the
war and possessed a strong hold over their rude
minds. At the time of his visit, negotiations w4th
the allied tribes of Indians were in progress, and
he was' invited to join the commissioners of peace
and assist them in their talk with the Indians.
The meeting was at Fort Schuyler. The Indians
arranged themselves to listen to the words of La-
fa3'ette ; he pointed out to them the advantages of
peace and the inevitable destruction which await-
ed them if the\^ persisted in ravaging the frontiers.
An Indian Chief replied : " Father w^e have heard
thy voice andw^e rejoice that thou hast visited thy
children, to give to them good and necessary ad-
vice. Thou hast said that we have done wrong
in opening our ears to wicked men, and closing
our hearts to th\' counsels. Father! it is all true;
— we have left the good path ; we have wandered
away from it, and been enveloped in a black
cloud. We have now returned that thou maj-est
find in us good and faithful children. Father! we
rejoice to hear thy voice among us ; — it seems that
the Great Spirit has directed thy footsteps to this
council of friendship to smoke the calumet of peace
and fellowship, w4th thy long lost children." Ever
after Lafa3^ette had done such valiant service in
the Revolutionary^ struggle he had taken great in-
terest in the prosperity of America and had been
entreated to return to America and revisit the
theatre of his former toils and glory. He deter-
OF VERMONT. 61
minfed to come and lono^ed to embrace his old com-
rades, and especially General Washington. Wash-
ington had retired to Mount Vernon, and in his
letter inviting the Marquis to visit America, he
said, "at length I have become a private citizen
on the banks of the Potomac; and under the
shadows of m\- own vine, and my own fig tree,
free from the bustle of the camp and the busy
scenes of public life * * * i have not only re-
tired from public employment, but am retiring
within myself, and shall be able to view the soli-
tar3^ walk and tread the path of private life with
heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of more, I am de-
termined to be pleased with all ; and this, my dear
friend, being the order of my march, I will move
gently down the stream of life until I sleep with
my fathers." When Lafayette came he spent
twelve blissful days with Washington at Mount
Vernon. At Annapolis the two parted, for the
last time; they both seemed to have a premonition
that they should see each other's face no more.
John Jay as chairman of a committee of Congress
expressed to Laf\'ette in befitting terms the esti-
mation in which he was held by Americans, and
extended to him their best and kindest wishes to
which Lafa^-ette replied: ''In unbounded wishes
to America, Sir, I am happ\^ to observe the pre-
vailing disposition of the people, to strengthen the
confederation, preserve public faith, regulate trade,
and in a proper manner guard, our continental
magazines and frontier posts, in a general system
of mlitia, in foreseeing attention to the navy, to
ensure every kind of safety. May this immense
62 EARLY HISTORY
temple of freedom ever stand a lesson to oppres-
sors, an example to the oppressed and a sanct-
uary for the rights of mankind! and ma3^ these
happy United States attain that complete splendor
and prosperity which will illustrate the blessings
of their government, and for a^^es to come rejoice
the departed souls of its founders." Such was the
man Vermont and all America delighted to honor.
James Monroe, tho: sixth President of the United
States, held the office of President for two terms,
from 1817 to 1825; the second war with Great
Britain had come to an end, the fierce party spirit
between the Democrats and Whigs, that had run
high during the administration of Andrew Jack-
son and into the administration of James Madi-
son, had subsided, and the friendl3^ feelings during
the administration of James Monroe were so evi-
dent it was called an era of good feeling. James
Monroe soon after the close of the Revolutionary
War before he became President of the United
States visited Vermont, but his visit at that time
did not attract the wdde attention as at the time
he made his second visit, when he officially stood
at the head of the nation. He entered Vermont at
Norwich, July 22, 1817, and passed through the
towm and viewed the copperas works in Strafford,
and then back to Norwich to Curtis's Hotel, where
he received a hearty welcome to the State and
where an address was delivered in part as follows :
"With the liveliest emotions of duty we meet,
lor the first time, a Chief Alagistrate of the Union
within our territor^^ An emulation to pay re-
spectful attention to the ruler of our nation, ap-
OF VERMONT. 63
pointed by our own choice, under a constitution so
eminently calculated for individual securit\^ for
individual interests, and national happiness ; a
spontaneous burst of joy among all classes of our
citizens, at the visit of the President of the United
States, are the best pledges a iree people can pre-
sent to a Chief Magistrate, of their contentment
with the laws, and the operation of them in the
government under the constitution, and their con-
fidence in the administration."
After a verbal reply by the President, he and his
suite, with a number of other gentlemen, partook
of a dinner that had been specially prepared, and
then was introduced to a large circle of ladies and
children of the neighborhood. On the same day he
left for Windsor, and on his arrival there, the bells
began a jo3^ous ring, and the heavy Artillery in-
termingled its loud peals, and the American flags
displaj'ed, and party spirit, that malignant pas-
sion which had so long been the bane of the United
States, was dispelled from the gathered thousands.
The President was also received b\' the young
ladies of the village. A superb dinner was prepar-
ed. At Pettes' Hotel, Captain Josiah Dunham, a
Federalist, addressed the President in part as fol-
lows : —
" The State of Vermont, Sir, after having alone,
and successfully, borne a signal share in the heat
and burden of our revolutionar\^ labors, was the
first to appreciate the importance of our federal
compact, and to solicit admission into the national
union. Under that compact, Sir, in the sanctuary
of that union, we are free — we are protected — we
64 EARLY HISTORY
are flourishing and happy. Our mountains echo
with the cheerful voice of industry and security ;
our valleys smile with abundance and peace. The
blessings are dear to our hearts. We habitually
cherish them as inseparable from our existence. In
their defence, Sir, we have bled; and we are still
ready, should our country call, to bleed again.
In this tour, undertaken through a remote sec-
tion of the Union, for the additional security of our
growing republic, 3'ou have an opportunity to be-
come intimateh' acquainted with our local feelings
— our local interests — our republican spirit— but
above all, our unshaken attachment to our nat-
ional government, and our national institutions.
We feel ourselves flattered b^'this first visit from
the chief magistrate of our nation, and in behold-
ing 3^ our face. Sir, we behold a new pledge for the
continuance of our invaluable blessings."
The President in his reply said : —
''Fellow Citizens— I have approached the
State of Vermont with peculiar sensibility. On a
former visit, immediately after the Revolutionary
War, I left it a wilderness, and I now find it bloom-
ing with luxuriant promise of wealth and happi-
ness, to a numerous population. A brave and free
people will never abandon the defence of their
country. The patriotism of Vermont has been re-
lied on in times of peril; and the just expectation
of their virtue was honorably sustained. I shall
ever rely on their wisdom in the councils of the
nation, as on their courage in the field."
In a reply to an address to him by the young-
ladies of the Windsor Female Academy he said : —
OF VERMONT. 65
"Young Ladies — I beg you to be assured, that
no attention which I have received in the course of
my route, has afforded me greater satisfaction, than
that b^' which I have been honored by the Young
Ladies of the Female Academy of Windsor. I take
a deep interest as a parent and citizen, in the suc-
cess of female education, and have been delighted,
wherever I have been, to witness the attention
paid to it. That you may be distinguished for
your graceful and useful acquirements, and for
every amiable virtue, is the object of my sincere de-
sire. Accept m^^ best wishes for your happiness."
On their waj' from Windsor to Woodstock the
President and his suite was met on the 23d of July
by a cavalcade of citizens and a detachment of
cavalry which escorted him to Woodstock village
where he was received by the citizens with such
demonstrations of regard as the spontaneous
offering of a free people could give to a respected
Chief ^Magistrate. Hon. Titus Hutchinson gave
an appropriate address of welcome. The Presi-
dent in his reph', said, he was happy to visit the
State of Vermont and to meet the citizens of Wood-
stock; that the demonstrations made in the pro-
gress of his journey, he was disposed to receive as
a mark of respect to the office of President than a
personal compliment.
The President and his suite proceeded northward
through Ro\'alton and other towns and entered
the village of Montpelier the 24th of July. He
was met in Berlin by two companies of cavalry
and large number of prominent citizens and escorted
by them to the village, and conducted to the State
66 EAKLY HISTORY
House under a national salute from the Washing-
ton Artillery. In front of the State House, between
three and four hundred pupils, both boys and girls,
of the Academy and the members of the village
schools, dressed in neat uniform, each tastefully
decorated with garlands from the field of nature,
were arranged in two lines facing each other in
perfect order. The President w^alked through the
assemblage with uncovered head bowing a3 he
passed, entered the State House under a fanciful
arch of evergreens, emblematic of the duration of
our liberties; on one side of the arch were these
words, "July 4, 1776," and on the other side,
''Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776.". James Fisk who had
been a member of Congress, w^ho afterwards was
United States Senator from Vermont and who was
a personal and political friend of the President, de-
livered the following address of welcome :
" Sir — The citizens of Montpelier and its vicinity,
have directed their Committee to present 3'ou their
respectful salutations and bid you a cordial wel-
come.
"The infancy of our settlement places our pro-
gress in the arts and sciences something behind
most of our sister States ; but we shall not be
denied some claim to a share of that ardent love
of liberty, and the Rights of Man, that attach-
ment to the honor and interests of our country,
which now so distinguish the American character;
while the fields of Hubbardton,the heights of Wal-
loomsack, and the plains of Plattsburgh, are ad-
mitted to witness in our favor.
"Many of those, we now^ represent, ventured
OF YERM(3NT. 67
their lives in the Revolutionary contest ; and per-
mit us, sir, to say, the value of this opportunity is
greatly enhanced, by the consideration, that we
now tender our respects to one who shared in all
the hardships and dangers of that eventful period,
which gave liberty and independence to our
countr\^ : nor are we unmindful that from that
period until now, every public act of your life
evinces an unalterable attachment to the principles
for which you then contended.
"With such pledges, we feel an unlimited conti-
dence, that should your measures fulfil 3'our in-
tentions, 3^our administration, under the guidance
of Divine Providence, will be as prosperous and
happy as its commencement is tranquil and prom-
ising; and that the honor, the rights and interests
of the nation will pass from \'our hands unim-
paired."
The President responded as follows : —
"Fellow Citizens— The kind reception which
your ardent attachment to the civil and religious
institutions of our country have prompted you to
give me, is the more grateful, because from citizens,
who, having bled in their defence, can never be un-
mindful of their value.
"Though 3'ou do not claim pre-eminent distinc-
tion in the arts and sciences, yet your highly re-
spectable colleges and schools plainly evince, that
in the march of enterprise and industry through
the place which recently was a wilderness, the
sciences and the arts do not linger far in the rear.
"Your confidence in my sincere determination, to
administer the government on national principles,
68 EARLY HISTORY
is greatfully acknowledged ; and so far as the pres-
ervation of the honor, the rights, and interests of
the nation unimpaired, may depend upon me, you
may reh^ upon my best efforts to accomplish this
great and desirable object."
The President then visited the schools in the
Representative Room'; the scholars received him
by rising, and by Mr. Hill the Preceptor of the
Academ3% saying, '^ I present to your Excellency^
the finest blossoms and fairest flowers that our
climate produces,^' to which the President replied,
''They are the finest that nature can produce.^'
The President was then escorted to the dwelling
of Wyllys I. Cadwell, Esq., where he partook of a
collation, and soon after took leave of the com-
mittee of arrangements, ascended his carriage and
resumed his journey. It was said b^^ a resident
citizen of Montpelier, that it was indeed an ani-
mating and affecting scene to behold the venerable
head of the Union, saluted b\' the pride of their
parents and the hope of their country, while beauty
sparkeled from ever3' countenance, and tears of
parented affection rolled down the cheek of manj^
an aged sire.
The President reached Burlington on the even-
ing of July 24th. He was met at Williston by a
large number of citizens from Burlington with a
large detachment of cavalry commanded by Major
Brinsmaid and escorted to town. The President's
arrival at Burlington was announced by a national
salute from the Battery, followed by another fired
from one of the United States galle^^s, lying in the
harbor; the bells of the churches were rung, and
OF VERMONT. 69
every one seemed deli,2^hted to honer the Chief
Magistrate of our countr3\ Two hundred and
twenty children from the Academy were paraded
on an eminence and saluted the President as he
passed. Nothing could exceed the interest that
this band of children excited.
On the President's arrival at his quarters, Hon.
Daniel Farrand, chairman of the Committee of
arrangement, congratulated him on his safe ar-
rival at Burlington and within that part of the
State of Vermont, and that the people were glad
of the opportunity afforded to assure him of a
cordial reception, and to testify to him the high
sense they entertained of his private worth, and to
discharge the pleasing task of tendering to the
Chief Magistrate of our country the respect due to
his exalted station. Mr. Farrand, in his address
referred to Vermont, as placed upon the frontier of
the United States in situations assailable b_v the
sudden irruptions of an invading foe, the dangers
to which we may be exposed, that would give ad-
ditional value to any precautionary measures of
defense. And in course of his address said : —
"We rejoice that the noise of war is lost in the
busy arts of peace, that the citizen is left to the
honest pursuits of industry and enterprise, under
a confidence that his interest is identified with that
of the public. But j^ou will not believe us alarmed
by idle fears, when we assure you that the recent
events on this frontier have shown us, that what-
ever we hold dear may be jeopardized by the chances
of war. The citizens of Vermont will not soon for-
get the memorable eleventh of September 1814,
70 EARLY HISTORY
nor fail to appreciate the worth of those who so
valiantly defended their countr^-'s flag, and secured
to themselves immortal glor3'. The anxious solici-
tude of that awful but glorious day, has forcibly
impressed upon our minds the truth of the position
that peace is the time to prepare lor war.
We are pleased to know that this subject has
already engaged your attention. From a personal
inspection of the various parts of our extended re-
public 3'ou will be enabled the better to ascertain
its vulnerable jjoints and advise to measures of
future security. Nor is this subject an uninterest-
ing one. The patriot, whose liberal soul is ani-
mated by the prospect of ameliorating the condi-
tion of his fellowmen, here finds an object com-
mensurate to his desires, and while he generously
devotes himself to the welfare of his country, he is
sustained by a consciousness that his exertions
have promoted its glory. Nature also seems to
have designated our beloved country as the scene
of no ordinary exertions. She has here scattered
her gifts with a munificent hand and points the
way to high and ennobling pursuits. The vast
extent of our territor^^, the grandeur of its scenerj^
its mountains, its rivers, its inland seas, together
w^ith the progress of iDopulation and improvement,
combine to render it an object of sublime contem-
plation.
"The alacrity and zeal with which you have en-
gaged in the military and naval defences of our
country, is an additional pledge of your honorable
motives and patriotic wishes.
"That your labor may be crowned with abund-
OF VERMONT. 71
ant success, and that you ma^- long live to reap
the rich reward of a life well spent in the service of
your country is our most earnest wish."
To which address, the President made a most
happy and dignified reply ; viz : —
"Fellow Citizens, — In entering the town of
Burhngton, I find myself in view of a scene, asso-
ciated in every bosom with the dearest interests
and highest honor of the countr\'. The eventful
action on your lake and its invaded shores, can
never be contemplated without the deepest emo-
tion. It bound the union b}- stronger ties, if pos-
sible, than ever. It filled every breast with confi-
dence in our arms, and aroused the spirit of the
country. The proximity of those scenes shall ani-
mate your children to emulate the honorable ex-
ample of their fathers. They too shall realize, that
in the hour of peril, their country shall never want
defenders, resolute and brave as their ancestors,
and firm as the mountains, that gave them birth.
"Truh',no nation has richer treasures of civil or
religious liberty to defend. No stronger ties to
united and to enlightened and extended patriotism.
That a just sense of these truths pervades the
community', is evinced in the respect, which you
tender to the office of the Chief Magistrate of the
country in my person.
"The important objects of my tour become the
more interesting, as I find the frontier more expos-
ed. You ma^' feel assured that the Government
will not withold an\' practicable measures for the
security of your town, nor have I ever doubted
that preparation for defence in time of peace,
would ever prove the best economy in war.
72 EARLY HISTORY
"If in pursuing these important objects and ad-
nainistering the government upon principles con-
sonant with the benign spirit of our constitution,
my sincere and honest efforts should be crowned,
as you wish, with abundant success, it will be a
real gratification to myself, that you and j^our
State w411 eminentlj^ participate in the beneficent
providential result."
The President then, accompanied by the Com-
mittee and a number of other gentlemen partook
of an excellent dinner provided by Air. Hayes. At
this dinner the President gave the following toast:
"The Citizens of Burlington, — May the scenes
which remind them of the glory of this country
continue to excite their patriotic emulation."
After the President had retired the toast, "The
President of the United States," w^as drank stand-
ing.
Mr. Mason gave the following :—
"The glorious 11th of September, 1814,— a day
ever to be remembered."
Col. Totten, gave the following : " Our nation's
rights defended b3' our national strength." The
last toast was given b\^ Hon. Daniel Farrand, viz:
"Our beloved country, — Union in her Councils
and respect to her constituted authorities."
The next morning the President breakfasted
with C. P. Van Ness, afterwards Governor of the
State ; then the government of the college and the
students, the clergyman of the town and a num-
ber of ladies and gentlemen w^aited on him and
were presented, and having received their saluta-
tions, the President took his leave and w^as escort-
OF VERMONT. 73
ed to the Lake and conducted on board the steam-
boat Phoenix. During his departure a salute was
fired from the town, and when going on board a
salute was fired fi-om the steamboat. The Presi-
dent took his departure from Burhngton accom-
panied by about fifty gentlemen and was w^afted
upon the waters of Lake Champlain to Vergennes
where he examined the extensive iron works there
established, and view^ed the place where the fleet
of Macdonough w^as built, and visited the fort
commenced at the line near Rouses Point under
the direction of the Engineer, Col. Totten, and ex-
pressed himself as much gratified at the able and
skillful arrangements made by Col. Totten for the
further defence of our countr^^
Henry Clay, a United States Senator from his
adopted State, Kentucky, and a distinguished
statesman, was born in the county of Hanover in
the State of Virginia, on the 12th day of April,
1777. For man\' years he w^as one of the most
prominent figures in the United States Senate and
a leading man of the Whig party. In 1839, w^hen
the party was having its best da^^s, and when
Henry Clay was one of its shining lights, Mr.
Clay visited Vermont. The writer has not been
able to find even a printed sketch of that visit but
have obtained an accurate account of it from
Edward C. Loomis, a life long resident of Burling-
ton, Vt. Mr. Loomis, whose recollections of the
visit are clear, was an admirer of Henry Clay, and
has voted for Presidential electors at the last
eighteen Presidential elections. Henry Clay came
to the State by way of The Thousand Islands and
74 EARLY HISTORY
Montreal. A committee appointed for the purpose
by the citizens of Burlington met their distinguish-
ed visitor at St. Johns, Canada, and came up
Lake Champlain to Burlington in the boat " Phoe-
nix," and as he landed at the wharf, crowds press-
ed towards him to get a fair view of him or to
shake hands. Before he left the wharf an amusing
incident took place. — Bd^^^fw^d Higb\' from the
town of St. George, an active town politician, and
an enthusiastic Whig, and a great admirer of Clay,
climbed a board pile to get near the iDcrson of
Clay, and as he reached out his hand toward him,
a board on which Higby stood gave away and
would Jiave sent Higby head long to the ground,
had not Clay, who saw the fix that Higb^- was in,
placed his foot on the board to keep it from sliding
and grasped Higby by the hand. As Cla^- placed
his foot on the board Higby was shouting at the
top of his voice. "Henry Clay saved his country
twice," as he got so far Cla^- grasped him by the
hand, and Higb3' closed his sentence by saying,
" and Lewis Higby once by ."
When the citizens of Burlington learned that
Clay was to give the town a visit a cavalry- com-
pany of 80 men were hurriedly gathered, uniformly
dressed in white pantaloons, vests and coats and
plug hats, that served as an escort while Clay was
in town. He was escorted to the Hotel of John
Howard on the north side of what was then called
" Court House Square," where Cla^- addressed the
throng. He was then escorted to the dwelling
house of Horace Loomis on the north side of Pearl
Street where he remained over night as the guest of
OF VERMONT. 75
Horace Loomis. The next day he attended the
commencement exercises of the Vermont University
at the old White Street Church. As the procession
came from the college down Pearl Street, they
stopped at Loomis's where Clay and his escort
joined the procession and walked to the church.
James Clay was with his father on this tour. In
the evening of the same day a reception was held
at the house of Samuel Hickock on the north side
of Main Street opposite of the present site of the
VanNess House. At ten o'clock that evening Clay
left Burlington, accompanied by the Committee in
the boat "Congress" amid the deafening shouts
and good wishes of the people, as the boat moved
up the lake towards Whitehall.
Henry Clay gave Horace Loomis, whose guest
he was, a cane that was cut by Clay from his Ash-
land, Kentucky homestead. The cane now is in
possession of Edward C. Loomis, the son of said
Horace Loomis, and is highly prized.
GHflPTtR III.
DISTURBANCES AND BRITISH AGGRESSION
ON THE NORTHERN FRONTIER FROM
1791 TO 1798 AND VERMONT'S
PART THEREIN.
It has been stated in Volume II of this histoiy,
there was, after the treat3^ of peace between the
United States and Great Britain considerable irri-
tation created on the northern frontier and especi-
ally in Alburg growing out of the British troops
continuing to occup\' some points within the juris-
diction of Vermont and there interfering with the
duties of Vermont's officers under the laws of the
State.
In considering the disturbances on the northern
frontier w4th the British and the Indians, it will
not be devoid of interest to relate more fulh^ the
nature and extent of the difficulty. Perhaps it
was natural that the haughty I British nation
should look with disdain upon young America
that had compelled her to grant to the Colonies
an independent power, and to be extremely w^atch-
ful that American citizens did not tread upon their
rights or interfere with their pride.
In 1784, British garrisons were maintained from
Ogdensburg easterly on the frontier in New York
and northwestern Vermont, even as far south on
(76)
OF VERMONT. 77
Vermont soil as North Hero at Dutchman's Point,
and that a Britished armed schooner, with a full
complement of sailors, gunners and marines, was
stationed at Windmill Ba,v between Alburgh, Vt.
and Point au Per in New York, and its commander
had supervision of all boats passing through the
Lake in anv direction, co-operating with the gari-
sons w^hich the British had materially strengthen-
ed in 1791. All this looked, at least, as though
they did not intend to live on terms of friendship
with the people who lived on territory- that had
been wrenched from their grasp. Alburgh had been
chartered to Ira Allen, February 23d, 1781, but
had no legally organized government until June 7,
1792, when the people met and organized as a
Vermont town. Congress had made Alburgh a
port of entry but no serious disturbance had been
created previous to 1792, as the act creating the
place as a port of entry and making a place ot
residence for the collector of the district had not
been put in force b^' Secretary- Hamilton, but
soon after interference b^- British officers com-
menced and continued with great annoyance till
late in 1794. The difficulty was on the question
of jurisdiction. When Canada belonged to France
the jurisdictional line was latitude 45° north. And
this line in 1776, had been agreed upon by Sir
Henry Moore, then Governor of the Province of
New York and Brig. Gen. Guy Carleton, then in
Canada, and this line was acknowledged by Great
Britain in the treaty of 1783 to be the northern
boundr\' of the United States so far as a part of
New York and Vermont were concerned. For
78 EARLY HISTORY
Great Britain to maintain posts south of
this hne after 1783, was, e]earl3^ an infrac-
tion of that treat}', and this was hnall}^
admitted by the representatives of Great Brit-
ain, but they excused themselves for their
course, and the exercise of authority south of that
hne on the ground, as they claimed, that the Unit-
ed States were at the same time violating some
other articles of the treaty. On this question, that
the facts may appear, it will be necessary to state
that, on the first day of November 1744, the King
of France had granted the township of Alburgh to
Francis Focault ; that after the conquest of Canada
by Great Britain this grant had been conlirmed b}^
the King ; that the title had passed from Focault
through Gen. Haldimand and Henry Caldwell to
John Caldwell — all British subjects ; and that at
the time of this controversy' many citizens of Cald-
well (now Alburgh) were in possession of their
lands under the Cald wells, either by deeds or leases,
and the British claim was that the title in Focault's
successors was good. It has been stated that Al-
burgh had been granted to Ira Allen by Vermont.
Henry Caldwell wrote Governor Chittenden from
Belmont near Quebec on March 20, 1785, and said
he had had frequent conversations with Col. Ira
Allen respecting his property- to the southward of
the Province of Canada and he had stated that
his claim was founded on a late grant from Ver-
mont in consideration of his services rendered and
expenses paid in the interest of the State, but that
he was willing to relinquish his claim provided he
got an equivalent from the State or elsewhere.
OF VERMONT. 79
Caldwell said it was in vain for him to contend
vsrith Allen in the courts of law in Vermont, for, he
said, land granted by her Legislature, in fact is,
and must be considered by the Courts of Vermont
a legal title which nothing but an act of the Legis-
lature could annul. Caldwell in his letter re-
quested the Governor to lay his letter with an at-
tested copy of the original grant before the Legis-
lature in June 1785, and insisted that the grant
was older than the State, and older than the mem-
bers who composed its Legislature, and that it
was confirmed by the capitulation in the British
Conquest of Canada and by the treaty of peace be-
tween France and England in 1763. He stated
that his situation was like that of Vermont in re-
spect to New York, even if the French government
had no right to grant lands southward of the line
of 45° ; and claimed he had paid dear for his land
southward of that line and been at considerable
expense in settling them, and desired the Legisla-
ture should bring the matter home to themselves
that they might feel the injustice they wxre about
to do ; that they might conceive what his feelings
would be if they should deprive him of so consid-
erable part of his property.
The fifth article of the treaty of 1783, stipu-
lated , "That the Congress shall earnestly recom-
mend to the Legislatures of the several States, to
provide for the restitution of all estates, rights
and properties w^hich have been confiscated belong-
ing to real British subjects, and also of the es-
tates, rights and properties of persons resident in
districts in the possession of His Majesty's arms,
80 EARLY HISTORY
and who have not borne arms against the United
States." Great Britain insisted that this article
had been violated b\' the United States, and John
Jay, Secretary of foreign affairs, took the same
view in a letter to Congress, but all British sub-
jects did not take that view. When Governor
Chittenden had Alburgh organized as a Vermont
town in 1792, Henry Caldwell regarded it as fatal
to his title ; Lord Dorchester and the British min-
ister who took part in the correspondence on this
disputed matter, regarded the action of Vermont
as dangerous to the Caldwell title. Governor
Chittenden thought he had strong reasons for as-
serting the jurisdiction of Vermont over that
town. B3' an act to w^hich Lord Dorchester him-
self was a party in 1766, the town was severed
from Canada and became and remained a part of
New York in law, until the controversy, between
Vermont and New York had been settled, and it
was assigned to Vermont b\' the resolution of the
Continental Congress of August 20, 1781, to
w^hich New York consented in 1790, and Great
Britain confirmed it to Vermont by the treaty of
1783, and Congress confirmed it b\' the act of
1791, which admitted the State into the Union.
By the agreement entered into between the Ver-
mont and New York Commissioners in settleing
the controversy between the two States the bound-
ary line between them extended to the 45° degree
of north latitude. Therefore, Governor Chittenden
in 1792, had a perfect right to maintain the juris-
diction of Vermont and to assert that the estab-
lishment of civil government there had no bearing
OF VERMONT. 81
Upon the legal rights of the citizens of the town or
British subjects claiming or possessing land there,
as the former had ample remed\' in the State
Courts, and the latter under the treaty- of 1783,
and the federal constitution, in the Courts of the
United States. These remedies were afterwards
resorted to b^^ Caldwell and Herman Allen who
purchased and become successor to Caldwell's
rights, in a part of the lands of the former.
They failed in their litigation as the land
holders w^on in the Courts of Vermont, on
the ground they had gained a good title
to their lands by long possession. This ques-
tion arose and was decided in the case of the Uni-
versity of Vermont against Re3'nolds reported in
the third Vermont Reports on page 542. Thus Gov-
ernor Chittenden was clearly justified in spiritedly
resenting the intrusion of British troops. Strong
as was the appeal of the Cald wells to the sympa-
thy and generosity of the State, the relief asked
could not be granted.
In view of w^hat has been said the reader will be
better able to judge as to whether the civil officers
of Vermont or the British troops and British au-
thority were in the w^rong in the disturbances
which followed, that we will now proceed to relate
and that came near to actual war.
In 1792, a writ had been issued in favor of a
Mrs. Grant against Patrick Conro\^ of Alburgh in
the Counts- of Chittenden, that was delivered to
Enos Wood, Deputy Sheriff, to serve; that on the
8th day of June 1792, the Deputy w^ent to the
house of Conroy in Alburgh and made an attach-
6
82 EARLY HISTORY
ment of his cattle. One Michael Youmands who
appeard to be there in the interest of Conroy, call-
ed for the people in the house to get his pistol, and
declared that the Deputy should not take Conroj^'s
cattle; that Enos Wood, the deputy, ordered Ben-
jamin Butler and Captain Hutchins of North Hero
and Nathaniel Wood of Georgia, who were pres-
ent, to take charge of said Youmands and assist in
driving the cattle to the Tongue or Alburgh. They
took charge of Y^oumands as directed, but released
him on his promising good behavior and to be
humble and not hinder the Deput3% and engage
some one to receipt the cattle attached. When
Enos Wood and his assistants arrived at the Ton-
gue w^ith the cattle thej^ were overtaken by Y^ou-
mands, and a party of armed British officers and
soldiers under the command of Captain DeCham-
beault of Point au Fair, who threatened violence to
Butler and commanded the Deput3^ and his assist-
ants to desist from driving away the cattle, and
w^ould fire Butler through if he moved one step;
that the Deputy Sheriff, Butler, and Nathaniel
Wood were taken to Point au Fair and from there
to St. Johns by a British escort and there impris-
oned in the guard-house for two da3- s ; the Deputy
in order to obtain his liberty was obliged to pro-
cure one John Furgerson to pay in his behalf three
pounds Halifax currenc3^ to pa\^ for two calves
taken by virtue of the attachment ; that w^hen the
Deput\' was at Alburgh his writ of attachment
was taken and detained from him. The above re-
lated facts were substantiated b}- the affidavits of
Enos Wood, Nathan Hutchins and Benjamin But-
OF VERMONT. 83
ler, taken before Justices of the Peace in June 14,
15 and 16, 1792.
On June 12, 1792, Benjamin Marvin of Alburgli,
while employed in his own jDrivate business, was be-
set by an armed British force from Point au Fair,
conducted to said Patrick Conro^^'s of Alburs^h,
and was questioned as to whether he was acting as
a Civil Magistrate, and on his stating he was act-
ing as Magistrate and under Governor Chittenden's
instructions, and that he considered himself as an
inhabitant of the State of Vermont, and in duty
bound to follow the duties of his office^ was order-
ed into custody of the British force and conducted
to the house of Samuel Mott, Esq. of Alburgh,
before the British comnicinding officer of Point au
Fair, who informed him he would send him to
Quebec. He was immediately taken to the said
house of Patrick Conroy, and on their waj^ there
took two horses belonging to the Constable Joseph
Mott and took them to Point au Fair. The pro-
ceedings, after Alarvin was taken to Conroy 's were
stated b\' Marvin in his affidavit to be as follows :
" Soon alter we arrived at Conroy 's where I was
detained some hours in the course of which time
we conversed much on my official conduct which I
informed him of very particularly and likewise my
instructions from his Excellencj^ Governor Chitten-
den; he then requested that I would show him those
instructions which I accordingly^ did; he took and
examined them, and then replied that he must for-
ward them to his Excellency Governor Clark at
Quebec. I desired him to return them to me as I
considered them my right, but he positively refused
84 EARLY HISTORY
and offered me a copy which was taken and attest-
ed as a true one by the commanding officer and de-
Hvered it to me. The officer then informed me that
instead of taking me to the Point as before ob-
served, he was wilHng to take my parole for the
term of twelve days with directions not to offici-
ate till then in my office, which was accordingly
done, and I was permitted to return to m\' own
house ; he then told me he had positive orders to
warn me and Samuel Mott, Esq., to leave that
place in the course of two months. The da3^ fol-
lowing, having occasion to go up the Lake, I called
on the commanding officer at Point auFair (which
I considered myself under obligation to do in conse-
quence of m^' parole) notified himof my wish which
he consented to, and then showed me his orders
directing him to oppose and take into custody- any
officer acting under an3' other power than that of
Great Britain within those limits which are now
knowm and distinguished b\' thenameof Alburgh."
Captain Timothy of South Hero, then a town
in the County of Chittenden, on the 12th day of
June, 1792, while on his wa^- down the Lake in a
boat in company with several others, was hailed
b3^ the Maria, a British armed vessel, and was
taken, examined and permitted to pass on.
The British authorities were conscious that they
were infringing upon the jurisdiction of Vermont,
for, when the Canadian authorities issued their
writs for the election of a member to their Legisla-
ture in the Count3^ of Bedford, the3' did not sum-
mons an3^ person south of the Province line of 45°;
and thev knew the laws of Vermont were then
OF A^ERMONT. 85
being enforced in Alburgh to said line. The affi-
davit of Benjamin Marvin taken before Ebenezer
Marvin, Councillor at Rutland on the 18th da^^ of
October, 1792, puts the matter in a clear light. It
is as follows :—
'In the month of June, 1787, I went to live at
Alburgh otherwise then called Caldwell's Manor,
about five miles from the garrison at Point au Fair
and south of the line commonly called the Prov-
ince line or latitude 45^ about three miles ; at which
place I have ever since lived, and at which time
there was no kind of civil or militar}^ government
exercised among the people of the place, except
what was derived from ourselves bj^ rules adopted
by us in meetings of our own vicinit^^ b\^ which we
banished thieves and other criminal offenders, and
enforced b\' other rules in compliance to aw^ards of
arbitrators in civil disputes andw^hen persons were
banished from the Province of Canada and were
brought to the line and suffered to come into our
vicinity, we drove them from us. Some years had
elapsed from the settlement of the place w^hen Mr.
Caldwell came amongst us and gave militia com-
missions to Captains Conro\^ and Savage, and
Subaltern's for two militia companies in that
place now called Alburgh, with a promise that the
British civil government should be put in force
among us, and we protected as British subjects ;
and Patrick Conro\^ who then lived north of the
line of latitude 45° and was in commission of a
Justice of the Peace in Canada, not long after,
moved south of the line amongst us and issued
some few precepts and took some affidavits, if a
86 EARLY HISTORY
trial was had before him he went north of the afore-
said line to hold his courts, but the inhabitants
still kept up their old mode of government as de-
rived from our own resolves as above-said without
regard to Air. Conro^^ tilHve voluntarily organized
and chose our officers by order of the Governor
under the laws of the State of Vermont: and
the militia officers above named never did act
under the authority of their commissions except
in one instance, viz : in February or March in the
year 1791, Captain Conro\^ ordered his company
to meet together south of the line, and in conse-
quence of his orders issued for that purpose, they
in part convened, and I think about one-third part
of them embodied by his order, when some matters
took place which occasioned Captain Conroy to
step into a sleigh and ride off north of the line
without dismissing his compan\' or giving them
any orders, at which time some of our people ad-
vertised him as a runaway from his company and
offered as a reward for his return, one peck of
potatoes; no other orders or after orders of the
British government has been heard of amongst
us except the taking of our persons and property
by the British forces at Point au Fair in June last
past — and I the deponent further sa\'in my opinion
the nearest part of land in Alburgh is about two
miles and one-half from the garrison at Point au
Fair, and the deponent saith that civil government
under Vermont is now executed without an\' resis-
tance, and also that the late writs for warning the
people in the County of Bedford north of the line
and adjoining Alburgh were not served in Alburgh;
OF VERMONT. 87
nor \verean3' of the people in Alburgh ever warned
to attend their elections that I ever heard of."
On June 10, 1792, Governor Chittenden by let-
ter bearino^ date at Williston, requested Joshua
Stanton to go to Alburgh and procure authentic
information as to troubles there, just narrated,
the affidavits referred to were taken b^^ his direc-
tion, and he charged Stanton to call on Benjamin
Alarvin and Samuel Mott of Alburgh and request
them to furnish information in wanting whether
the inhabitants of that town had organized agree-
able to the orders he had given, and what the ap-
pearance and dispositon of the people were with
respect to the government. The Governor, also, on
June 16, 1792, addressed a letter to Governor
Clarke of the Province of Quebec, stating to him
that a British Captain with an armed force left his
post and penetrated eight or nine miles within the
acknowledged jurisdiction of Vermont and inform-
ed him of their lawless, and injustifiable conduct,
and said to him, " these are transactions that have
taken place by the Command of DeChambault,
Captain at Point au Fair within a few days past.
— I feel m3'self therefore obliged immediately to re-
quest from your Excellency- an explanation of this
unprecedented conduct and unprovoked insult
upon the government of Vermont, or at least, to
know whether it has been done with your Ex-
cellency's knowledge, direction, order or appro-
bation." Governor Chittenden sent Levi Allen to
Quebec with the letter together with affidavits
substantiating his charges. And on the same day
he also wrote President Washington, giving him
88 EARLY HISTORY
full information of what had taken place within
the jurisdiction of the United States, and that he
had written to Governor Clarke concerning the
flagrant breach of the laws.
Alured Clarke, Governor of the Province of Can-
ada, on July 5, 1792, from Quebec, replied to Gov-
ernor Chittenden's letter delivered to him by Levi
Allen, stating that Chittenden's representation led
to questions beyond the sphere of his trust, and
that he could only give command for investigation
on subjects of such importance to the peace of the
border, and if information showed that it affected
points that belonged to national discussion the
matter would be for the consideration of the sov-
ereignty he served. And he presumed that Chit-
tenden would refer the matter to the power *^to
wdiich the State he governed w^as reputed to be
subordinate, and trusted in the wisdom of the
negotiations and counsels of the sovereignties
concerned for the maintenance of the faith of
treaties, and preservation of the common tran-
quility."
On July 9, 1792, Thomas Jefferson wrote Gov.
Chittenden from Philadelphia that, "I have the
honor to enclose you sundry papers communicat-
ed to me by the British Minister residing here,
which have been duly laid before the President of
the United States, and further to solicit from your
Excellency information as to the facts therein
stated, and while I am authorized to assure you
that the government is proceeding sincerely and
.steadily to obtain by the w^a^^ of negotiation a re-
linquishment of our territory held by the British,
OF VERMONT. 89
I am at the same time to press that no measure be
permitted in your State, which, by changing the
present state of things in districts where the British
have hitherto exercised jurisdiction, might disturb
the peaceable and friendly discussion now in hand,
and retarded, if not defeat, an ultimate arrange-
ment."
In which letters was inclosed a letter written
by Geo. Hammond a person representing the
British interests at Philadelphia, as follows :
"I have the honor of submitting to \'Our consid-
eration copies of certain papers, which I have re-
ceived from Canada. They contain information
that some persons, acting under the authoritj^
of the State of Vermont, have attempted to ex-
ercise legal jurisdiction within districts now occu-
pied by the King's troops, and have committed
acts of violence on the persons and property of
British subjects residing under the protection of
his Majesty's Garrison.
"At this period, when the grounds of the subsist-
ing differences between our respective countries are
becoming the subjects of serious and temperate dis-
cussion, I cannot but entertain the strongest con-
fidence that the general government of the United
States will entirely disapprove of the violent con-
duct observed b\' the State of Vermont upon this
occasion, and will in consequence thereof adopt
such measures as may be best calculated to pre-
vent a repetition of it in future."
Also there accompanied Hammond's letter a
copy of the warning issued by order of the Gover-
nor signed by Samuel Mott and Benjamin Marvin,
90 EARLY HISTORY
two Justices of the Peace of Alburgh, warning the
inhabitants to meet and "choose such civil officers
as the law directs in the State," with a copj^ of an
order issued by Elijah Paine, Judge of the Supreme
Court, as follows: viz.
"State of Vermont.
To the Sheriff of Chittenden County or either of
his Deputies— Greeting.
Whereas by the complaint of Samuel Hitchcock
Esquire Attorney General of the State, we are
given to understand that Patrick Conro^- of Al-
burgh in the County of Chittenden hath for some
time past used and exercised tHe office of Justice of
the Peace at Alburgh in the County- of aforesaid
without any legal warrant, lawful authority or
right whatsoever, and hath claimed and still doth
claim without any legal warrant, lawful authority
or right whatsoever to be a Justice of the Peace at
Alburgh aforesaid and to use and exercise the said
office of Justice without any legal warrant, lawful
authority or right whatsoever, but the same hath
usurped and still doth usurp to wit, at Alburgh
aforesaid, in contempt of the State and to
the prejudice of the Dignity of the same. There-
fore b^' the authority of the State of Vermont you
are hereby required to make knowm to the said
Patrick that he appear before the next Supreme
Court to be holden at Burlington in and for the
County of Chittenden on the fourth Tuesday of
August next, to show cause, if any he have, why
an information should not be filed against him the
said Patrick for thus as it is said illegalh' exercis-
ing the said office of Justice of the Peace within
OF VERMONT. 91
said County, to wit, at Alburgh aforesaid. Here-
of fail not and make due return. Dated at Bur-
lington this fifteenth da^' of May one thousand
seven hundred and ninety-two;" also a copy of
Minard Yeomans affidavit setting forth what he
claimed took place on the occasion of the attach-
ment of Patrick Conroy's property.
On July 12, 1792, Thomas Jefferson wrote again
to Governor Chittenden in which he stated. "I
must renew m^^ entreaties to 3'our Excellence- that
no innovation in the 3tate of things ma^' be at-
tempted for the present. It is but lately that an
opportunity- has been afforded of pressing on Great
Britain our rights in the quarter of the posts, and
it would be truh- unfortunate if any premature
measures on the part of 3-our State should furnish
a pretext for suspending the negotiations on this
subject. I reh-, therofore, that you will see the in-
terest even of 3-our own State in leaving to the
general government the measures for recovering it's
rights, and the rather as the events to which they
might lead are interesting to every State in the
highest degree."
There accompanied Jefferson's letter. Gov. Chit-
tenden's instructions for the organization of Al-
burgh which was as follows: viz.
"\Yilliston,16th May, 1792.
"The Constitution and laws of the State require
the executive officers of government to carry into
effect the laws and government of the same.
"It is therefore incumbent on you as Civil Mag-
istrates to execute your functions and cause town
officers to be appointed and sworn to a faithful
92 EARLY HISTORY
discharge of their duty ; it is incumbent also on
the people to assist you to form such regulations
in the town of Alburgh which is now unquestion-
ably established within the bounds of this and of
the United States of America, and under the gov-
ernment thereof.
^'In case there are any of the inhabitants of said
towm that have sworn allegiance to the King and
Government of Great Britain, such obligations
cease with the government and can be no objec-
tion to a submission to the laws of this and the
United States.
"Would those people choose to be under the
British government, they must move within its
limits, otherwise they ought to submit to the gov-
ernment of the State in w- hich the\^ live.
"Your humble servant, (signed)
Thos. Chittenden.
"N. B. If your people refuse to pay attention to
the above requisition I cannot think it will be
long before this government w^ill call on them in a
different way to submit to the laws thereof.
Should they be put to the necessit\' of taking so
disagreeable a measure, I should not think strange
should they be obliged to pay up all the back taxes,
since you were represented, as soine towns in this
State in like circumstances have done.
(signed) T. C.
'^ Alessrs. Marvin and Mott Esq. and People
of the Township of Alburgh.''^
Also was enclosed a cop\' of the w^rit on
which Patrick Conroy's property was attached.
The two governments took the controversy under
OF VERMONT. 93
consideration, but the discussion between the U.S.
Secretan^ of State and the British minister was
temperate until 1794, In Vermont, matters in
reference to the controversy, stood in statu quo on
both sides without any more serious difficulty till
1794, the British troops holding their posts, and
the people of Alburgh going on peaceably as an or-
ganized Vermont town. But the two nations were
drifting rapidh' towards war. On Februar3' 10,
1794, Lord Dorchester, then Governor-General of
Canada, declared that he would not be surprised
if there should be war with the United States in
the course of that year, and the movement of
both nations indicated that might be the result.
On April 16, 1794, John Ja^- was nominated as
an envoy extraordinary to Great Britain. At this
time President George Washington said the aspect
of affairs was serious and expressed himself in
favor of a friendh^ adjustment of our complaints
and reluctant to enter into hostilities. As the gov-
ernment had Great Britain to deal with, it w^as
thought prudent to prepare for war, and on May
9, 1794, Congress authorized the President to de-
tach eighty thousand troops from the militia for
service in any emergency ; and orders were at once
issued therefor b^^ the President. The British were
more than commonly insolent, but under great
provocation the Governor of Vermont and her
people did not retaliate, but waited patiently for
the action of the national authorities and respect-
ed the advice and policy of forbearance of Presi-
dent Washington.
In response to the requisition of President
94 EARLY HISTORY
Washington under the act of Congress of Alay 9,
1794, Gov. Chittenden, on the 21st ot June 1794,
ordered a detachment of three regiments of Yer.
mont miHtia numbering 2129, to be held in readi-
ness as minute men, one regiment of which were
to be furnished from Maj. Gen. Ira Allen's division.
On Ma\^ 30, 1794, he had ordered the militia of Al-
burg and the neighboring islands to be organized
as an entire regiment which surrounded the British
garrison on North Hero. Evidently war was ex-
pected. Of course a dash could have been made
and the British swept from the Vermont soil, but
it would have brought on a certain protracted
bloody conflict. Wiser counsels prevailed, though
the war spirit ran high. The following appeared
in the Vermont Gazette of May 2, 1794, "boats
trading from the United States to Canada are de-
tained and the men insolenth^ refused permission
to return," with the following comment, *' Pride
goeth before destruction and a haught3' spirit be-
fore a fall." In the Farmer's Library of Rutland
of May 27, 1794, there appeared the following:
"The British have just completed a brig at St.
John's mounting 12 guns ; the brig is in everyway
completed and well manned, and is now stationed
at Point au Fair on Lake Champlain, and a very
large row galle\^is now building at St. John's; and
that the garrison at Montreal was immediately to
be strengthened b^^ the addition of a regiment of
his Majesty's troops from Quebec." Information
was obtained from Lansingburgh by letter of June
10, 1794, "that great preparations were making
under the pretense of defending the Canadian's
OF VERMONT. 95
from being plundered by the Vermonter's. * * *
The forts are being put in a state of defence and
many boats are building, and one of seventy oars
was launched last week, alleged to be for carrying
provisions. ^ * - Xen thousand troops were
expected to arrive from Europe ^- * - and
Lord Dorchester was daih' looked for from Quebec,
to review the troops, militia, and forts."
Royal Corbin of Alburgh, in his letter to Gov-
ernor Chittenden of Aug. 18, 1794-, asking protec-
tion from British injuries and insults, said :
''The repeated injuries and insults this vicinity
has suffered from the British, while in a time of
peace, and within the jurisdiction of this State,
are so glaring, and so very frequent, as to arouse
the indignation of every one who has the smallest
tincture of RepuVjlican blood, circulating in their
veins. — The peculiar situation of m\^ business, be-
ing in the merchatile line, and consequently having
much necessary call to pass 3'our Lake Champlain
up and down, as well as across, subjects myself to
daily abuses from an armed vessel — and my prop-
erty to an unjustifiable seizure and detention.— I
am not suffered to pass southward to Isle laMotte
— because they alleged I am within their lines, and
must appl3" to the ship, lor libert3^ Neither am I
allowed to pass to or from, St. John's, although
within their lines — so I am deprived of every ad-
vantage a citizen of ever\' State ought to enjo}-,
as your Excellency will be pleased to observe."
Corbin's representations were supported by
several affidavits.
On March 10, 1794, the British Minister had
96 EARLY HISTORY
complained to the Secretar3^ of State that out-
rages had been committed hj Vermonters. Lord
Dorchester had been endeavoring to stir up the In-
dians to aid the British against the Americans in
case of war, and on Maj- 20th, Edmond Randolph,
Secretary- of State, in spirited and peremptory
terms called upon the British Minister to explain
the belligerent speech of Lord Dorchester to a
council of hostile Indians, and called his attention
to the hostile movements of Lieut. Gov. Simcoe of
Upper Canada with British troops to build a fort
at the lower rapids of the Miami. George Ham-
mond on May 22, 1794, after quoting from Lord
Dorchester's speech, said :
" It is manifest that Lord Dorchester was per-
suaded, that the aggression which might eventu-
ally lead to a state of hostiUt\', had proceeded from
the United States : and so far as the State of Ver-
mont, to which I presume his lordship principally
alluded, was implicated, I am convinced that that
persuasion was not ill-founded, * * * i assert
with confidence that not only those encroachments
have never been in an^- manner repressed hut that
recent infringements in that quarter, and on the
territory in its vicinity, have since been committed.
" * * In regard to your declaration that ^Gov-
ernor Simcoe has gone to the foot of the rapids of
the Miami, followed b\' three companies of a Brit-
ish regiment, in order to build a fort there' — I
have no intelligence that such an event has actually
occurred. * * * Before I conclude this, I must be
permitted to observe that I have contined [com-
plaints'] to the unrepressed and continued aggres-
OF VERMONT. 97
sions oi the State of Vermont alone, the persua-
sion of Lord Dorchester, that they were indicative
of an existing hostile disposition in the United
States against Great Britain, and might ultimate-
ly produce an actual state of war on their part."
Secretary Randolph called for the facts from
Gov. Chittenden, which he gave and are embraced
in the following extracts from a letter of Gov.
Chittenden of Juh% 1791, to Secretary Randolph,
viz:
"'The letters \'Ou refer me to, written by your
predecessor [Jefferson,] in consequence of com-
plaints exhibted to him b^- the British Minister,
urging the prevention of all movements which
might tend to disturbe the harmon3-, subsisting
between the United States and Great Britain,! can
w^ith truth sa3% have been strictly adhered toby the
government and the citizens of this State; in every
requisition.'
"His next is an observation of pointed regret at
these complaints : and he then goes on thus :
" ' Before the reception of the above mentioned
letters, written by 3'our predecessor, I had for-
warded a particular statement with affidavits,
relative to the complaints in said letters exhibited,
directed to the President of the United States, to
which I beg leave to refer you ; by which state-
ment and affidavits is most manifesth^ made to ap-
pear that British subjects had less cause of com-
plaint than those of the United States. No just
cause of complaint hath come to m3' knowledge,
of any abuses done or committed by anv citizens
of this or the United States, to British subjects as
98 EARLY HISTORY
such : or of any infringements being made on gar-
sisons, territories, or jurisdictions, which British
subjects have ever made any serious pretensions to
in this quarter.'
"After a remark, relating to those who "pre-
tend personal grievances," and a suspicion that
the situation of the British garrisons is not gener-
ally understood at a distance, the remaining pass-
ages of his letter are the following :
"Therefore in order to understand the force of
the complaints it is necessary to premise that the
only British garrison now established within the
limits of Vermont is a place called Dutchman's
Point, composed only of about twelve men, situ-
ated on the north end of the North Hero, twelve
miles south of the latitude line. This garrison
does not pretend to hold or keep jurisdiction over
any land within this State other than a few acres
on which their garrison is situated.— And indeed
citizens of this State are settled quite in the neigh-
borhood of said garrison, on ever3^ direction, and
the^^ are intimate with each other without any
difficult J' to m3^ knowledge.
" That part of the tract called Caldwell's manor,
which lies wdthin the bounds of this State, hath
long since been chartered as a town by the name
of Alburgh— And the inhabitants thereof are in-
corporated as citizens, with all the privileges of
other towns within this State and have long since
been in the peaceable possession of the same. With
regard to the recent instance of misdemeanor com-
mitted on the officer of the crown by the capture
of a small part^^ (said to be made) on British
OF VERMONT. 99
subjects, in pursuit of a deserter before Dutchman's
Point as complained by Mr. Hammond — The cir-
cumstances which probably gave rise to the asser-
tion are as follows, to wit : four armed men and
in the common dress of the citizens of this State,
appeared some time last winter in the town of
Sheldon, alias Hungerford, within this State (a
place about twenty miles distant from any place
ever known or pretended to be claimed by British
subjects) in disturbance of the peace — there made a
Anolent assault upon the body of one John M'All,
an inhabitant of that town, and then being in the
peace of God and the State, in consequence where-
of, in defence of the public peace, the said four men
were taken into custody by a constable, and agree-
able to the civil laws of this State convicted of
breaking the peace, and accordingly lined. — It is
said the\' were British subjects, which I am wilHng
to admit — But that they had any authorit^^ as
such from the British nation, to break the peace of
this State within the known and acknowledged
bounds of the same, did not appear from an3^ cre-
dentials which they produced, nor does it yet ap-
pear — But the contrary I believe to be true, there-
fore as persons under the common protection
of that government, they have been holden to re-
spond for their breach of that protection, accord-
ing to the civil law.
"From the above statement it is conceived
that Mr. Hammond's complaint of the capture be-
fore Dutchman's Point, is ill founded and unjust.
Of this you may be assured, that every attention
has been paid by me to prevent all the movements
^"* ,•■«' J^>. ^'^ /T > «
100 EARLY HISTORY
which may tend to thwart the friendly negotia-
tions now taking place between the two powers ;
and I have pleasure to say, that nothing hath
hitherto transpired, wherein I can think myself or
any of the citizens of this Sate culpable.
"And of this you may be further assured, that
every precaution and means within my power will
still be used to ensure the continuation of all good
harmon3^ between citizens of the two govern-
ments."
This communication from the governor of Ver-
mont led Secretary Randolph to say, "that it
leaves no room for comment on my part ; although
to contrast it, sentence by sentence, with the rep-
resentations which have occasioned it, w^ould
afford grounds more and more striking, to appre-
hend, that the Governor-General of Quebec has
been mistaken."
On the appointment of John Jay as minister to
England, the negotiations on the whole contro-
versy- were transfered to London, where an agree-
ment was reached. John Ja^-, Envoy of the United
States, wrote to the Secretary of State, Thomas
Jefferson, from London under the date of July 12,
1794. "We had an informal conversation relative
to Simcoe's hostile measure. We concurred in opin-
ion that during the present negotiation and until
the conclusion of it all things ought to remain and
be preserved in Statue quo — that therefore both
parties should continue to hold their possessions,
and that all encroachments on either side should
be done away — that all hostile measures (if any
such should have taken place) shall cease and that
OF VERMONT. 101
in case it should unfortunately^ have happened
that prisoners or property have been taken the
prisoners shall be released and the proper t^^ re-
stored. And we have agreed, that both govern-
ments shall immediately give orders and instruc-
tions accordine^ly."
Henry Knox, Secretary of War, wrote Governor
Chittenden, Oct. 7, 1794, "that the agreement
which it specifies should be duly observed as it re-
spects the frontiers of Vermont. The statu quo
as it existed immediately after the peace of 1783,
is to be inviolably observed. All encroachments
since that period are to be abandoned."
In view of all the foregoing facts and what sub-
sequently appeared, the said agreement of Jay at
London, "that both parties should continue to
hold their possessions," was a give away so far as
it applied to the frontier of Vermont south of the
line of 45^, as the Vermont government and her cit-
izens did not exercise any jurisdiction over any ter-
ritory or property north of that line. And it could
be justified only on the ground to avoid the im-
mediate clash of arms, and to give an opportunity^
for further negotiations on the subject. It is quite
evident that England had no jurisdiction or rights
south of that line. If the organization of Alburgh
in June, 1792, w^as in violation of the treaty of
1783, then the continuance of that organization,
by representation in the Vermont legislature, and
the appointment of Magistrates for the town by
that body, in 1794-5, w^as in violation both of
the treaty of 1783 and the agreement of fohn Jay
in 1794, but no complaints had been made against
102 EARLY HISTORY
the Vermont government or the National govern-
ment in this matter, and, therefore, it is fairly pre-
sumable any claim south of that line was not
insisted upon, and Governor Chittenden was sus-
tained in every particular. Even farther west the
British abandoned their assumed jurisdiction. As
late as Aug. 20, 1794, General Anthony Wayne
fought a fierce battle near Fort Miami that Simcoe
had built. In this battle Gen. Wayne had to con-
tend against Indians and Canadian militia and
Volunteers, the latter armed with British muskets
and bayonets, and three British officers were on
the battlefield at a respectable distance. In this
victory a Vermont company bore their share. On
Aug. 22, 1794, Gen. Wayne totally destroyed
houses and cornfields above and below the fort, in-
cluding the houses, stores and property of Col.
M'Kee, the principal British stimulator of the war
then existing between the United States and the
savages. Under Jay's treaty of amity, commerce
and navigation, concluded on Nov. 19, 1794, and
proclaimed Feb. 29, 1796, by the second article of
which the British posts in the United States were
evacuated on or before the first day of June, 1796.
After Vermont became a State of the Federal
Union in 1791, there were three regiments added
to the National army under the act of Congress of
March 5, 1791, and President Washington assign-
ed the first company of the third of these regi-
ments to Vermont, and appointed William Eaton
of Windsor Captain, James Underbill of Dorset as
Lieutenant and Charles Hyde of Poultney, Ensign.
A recruting office was opened at Bennington about
OF VERMONT. 103
the first of May, 1792, M' Ensign Hyde, and under
the spurs of glittering promi3es of glory and
fervid appeals, the ranks were soon filled and the
company departed for the seat of war by the 31st
of August following. The enlistments were for
three years with a bounty of eight dollars for each
recruit ; the privates to have the monthly pay of
three dollars. It was stated at the time by those
who saw a number of the other companies, that
Captain Eaton's company was b\^ far the best
who marched from any rendezvous whatever, and
they left Bennington in good spirits and with that
military ambition that becomes a soldier. Cap-
tain Eaton was a brave and capable officer but se-
vere in his discipline. He was President of a Court
Martial at Albany, on the 26th of May, 1792,
when a private in a New York company was lound
guilty of desertion and punished by one hundred
lashes. On Aug. 7th, a private in Eaton's company
attempted to force the guard and was shot dead.
The company reached Lancaster, Pa., on its way
to join the army under command of Gen. Anthony
Wayne that was at Pittsburgh on Sept. 20, 1792;
and at that date Captain Eaton wrote to a friend
at Bennington that, "not a single man has at-
tempted to escape me since I left Bennington, and
I have the reputation of marching the best com-
pany of recruits that have passed through the
country," and that Ensign Hyde has had a very
handsome compliment paid to his abilities, in re-
ceiving from the war office an appointment of
Judge Advocate General of the United States
Army.
104 EARLY HISTORY
The Vermont company joined Wayne at Pitts-
burgh on Oct. 22, 1792, and the succeeding sum-
mer was spent in organizing and drilling the army,
for fighting Indians, on a plan prescribed by Presi-
dent Washington, and in endeavors to negotiate a
peace with the Indians. Wayne, failing in these
negotiations, advanced eighty miles north of
Cincinnati ajid there erected a fort on the site of
Greenville, Ohio, where he remained till the spring
of 1794.
On Sept. 22, 1793, Captain Eaton wrote, that,
"the Indians are collected in large numbers at the
site of Fort Defiance and are determined to meet
us on our route—they are elated w^ith their former
success [in the defeat of St. Clair]— they are resent-
ful, determinate and laugh at the idea of our ap-
proaching their towns. These circumstances con-
cur to make them less contemptable as an enemy.
That the3^ will fight with desperation, we expect —
and God grant they may have enough of it. W^e
are well desciplined and well reconciled to the ex-
pedition, and w^hatever may be our success, I will
venture to assure you, that we shall not fly. Our
business will be serious and decisive provided we
are engaged of which I have not a doubt." He
stated, also, in his letter, that Thomas Avery and
Benjamin Coburn of his company had died, and
that "they were excellent soldiers, and I consider
their death a ver^^ great loss in m^^ company,— but
death is arbitrary." About the first of January
1794, a part of Captain Eaton's company, ad-
vanced into the Indian country about thirt3'-five
miles from Greenville and met a large party of In-
OF VERMONT. 105
dians, suprised and routed them, but the loss of
the company was three killed and one wounded.
About this time the company was out in skirmish-
ing and scouting parties, and in gathering and
burying the bones of those who were killed in St.
Clair's defeat, and in reconstructing Fort Recov-
ery on that disastrous battle ground.
The Verm outers were engaged in the decisive
battle near the British fort Miami on Aug. 20,
1794. In that battle, James Underbill had suc-
ceeded Eaton as Captain, and the Vermont com-
pany was in the fourth sub-legion that lost in
killed fourteen men, five of which were from Cap-
tain Underbill's company. The fact, that five of
the fourteen killed in that sub-legion, were from
the Vermont company-, is proof that the Green
Mountain Boys were in the thickest of the fight.
An act of Congress of May 9, 1794, directed a
detachment from the militia of eighty thousand
men to be organized, armed and equipped and held
in readiness to march on a moment's w^arning in
the service of the United States. 2,139 of those
men were assigned to Vermont. And on May 19,
1794, President Washington issued his requisition
to the Governors of the several states to use the
most effectual means for making the necessary de-
tachment. Governor Chittenden took immediate
measures to raise the men and the work was
promptly- done, but the men were not called into
actual service. In anticipation that these militia
would be called into active service b\' the general
government, the Vermont Legislature, Oct. 30,
1794, passed an act raising the monthly' pay to
106 EARLY HISTORY
forty shillings to each private and a larger sum to
the officers of the company. This was a precedent
for the giving the extra State pay to volunteers
from Vermont in the United States service in the
war of the rebellion.
During the administration of John Adams a
requisition for men was made under the act of
Congress of June 24, 1797 ; and under that requi-
sition Governor Tichenor issued orders for the de-
tachment of three regiments of Vermont militia,
numbering in all 2,ly50 men to be under the com-
mand of Big. Gen. Zebina Curtis of Windsor, but
these men were not ordered into actual service.
By an act of Congress of Jul^^ 16, 1798, twelve
regiments were added to the U. S. Army, making
the arm^' composed of sixteen regiments of which
George Washington was to have the command as
Lieutenant General. The 16th regiment was to be
filled by enlistments in New Hampshire, Vermont
and Rhode Island, and of these, Vermont was to
furnish three companies. Enlistment offices were
at once opened at Westminster, Newbury- and Bur-
lington, and the rendezvous for the State was at
Westminster under the command of Major Cor-
nelius L3mde of V«' illiamstowm ; Captains and
Lieutenants were appointed. None of these 12
regiments were filled and only 233 men were en-
listed for the 16th regiment; and in February,
1800, enlistments were suspended, and the array
reduced to four regiments. It has been seen that
when Vermont sought to establish her independ-
ence her brave sons stood forth against the un-
just claims of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and
OF VERMONT. 107
New York for her territory, and rather than sub-
mit to the grasping and intolerant power of New
York, they were determined to maintain their in-
dependence b3' force against the federal power.
But when she became one of the States of the Fed-
eral Union, she was ready and willing to furnish
her share of men and money against aggressive
foreign powers and to maintain the honor of the
nation.
GHflPTtR IV.
ACCEPTANCE AND RESIGNATION OF OFFI-
CIAL POSITIONS— EXTRADITION OF
FUGATIVES FROM JUSTICE-
COLONIZATION SOCIETY-
SLAVERY.
In the closing years of the eighteenth centur^^
there were several notable resignations of men
from public office — some on account of the infirmi-
ties of old age and some to take other and higher
positions. Samuel Knight, on Oct. 19, 1791, in
accepting the appointment as Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Vermont, said, '*I am convinced
from experience I have had for two years past,
that the office of Judge of the Supreme Court is at-
tended with manj^ and great difficulties, and that
the number of persons completely qualified to fill
that place are very few, among which number I
cannot claim to be reconed." And on retiring
from the office of Chief Justice he addressed the
General Assembly on Oct. 15, 1794, and said, "I
cannot but express a consciousness of the most
upright intentions and view in the discharge of
every part of the dut3^of that important office and
I am happy to find that the people of this State
have not complained that any part of m\^ official
conduct has appeared unto them to deviate from
(108)
OF VERMONT. 109
the strictest rules of justice, equity or propriety."
The House through their speaker, Daniel Buck, said
in answer, the House "take the liberty to express
to 3'ou the liveh' sense with which they are im-
pressed of the justice and propriety- of ^-our con-
duct, in the discharge of the various duties of the
important office of Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court — and of the dignity- with which 3'ou have so
long presided. * * * And in retiring, sir, from
the public business of the State, we wish 3'ou may
enjo3^ all the satisfaction appertaining to private
and social life, — long continue a blessing to your
family and society-, and when the curtain of life
shall drop, receive a crown of Glorv that shall
never fade away."
Knight, never having received a grant of land
from the State, or the government of New Hamp-
shire, or New York, the Legislature at the same
session, granted leave for Samuel Knight to bring
in a bill granting him two thousand acres of land,
if there was that quantity unlocated, and an act
was passed accordingh-.
Elijah Paine stated in his letter of acceptance
of his appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court
of the State, Oct. 19, 1791, that " I have a greater
ambitition to serve the State in which I live while
I can do it to their satisfaction, than I have to
serve any other government," but he complained
of the then inadequacy- of compensation. He served
the State in that capacity until 1793; he was
elected United States Senator from Vermont in
1795, which position he resigned in 1801, to ac-
cept the office of Judge for the U. S. District of
110 EARLY HISTORY
Vermont. On his election to the United States
Senate, he said, ''I dare make no promise but I
cannot but hope that the lively impressions I now
feel, will on all occasions produce an uniform zeal
for the welfare of this and the United States."
Roger Enos on tendering his resignation of the
office of Major General of Militia of the State on
Oct. 31, 1791, to Governor Chittenden, said, "It
has ever afforded me satisfaction to serve my
country in every sphere in which I have been called
to action. But it has been my highest ambition
to merit their approbation in a faithful discharge
of the duties of the different military offices with
which I have been honored."
Peter Olcott, on Aug. 1794, who had served
the State as Lieutenant Governor from 1790, de-
clined a re-election on account of infirmities of age
and bodily indisposition, and made the request in
the choice of his successor, "to elect some person
of known integrity and abilities and acceptable to
the community at large."
'' Israel Morey resigned his office of Brigadier
General, Oct. 18, 1794, after having .served in the
military department for nearh^ twenty yeears. He
represented Fairlee several years in the Vermont
Assembly and was Judge of Orange County Court
three 3'ears and member of the Constitutional
Convention of 1793. His son Samuel propelled a
boat b^^ steam in 1792 and 1793, ten years be-
fore Robert Fulton constructed his experimental
steamboat. Fulton in fact had the benefit of
Morey's invention and prospered by it.
Enoch WoodhridgQ on accepting the office of
OF VERMONT. Ill
Judge of the Supreme Court, Oct. 29, 1794, said,
''I feel, sir, as if the lives, liberties and property of
my fellow citizens are to be in some degree com-
mitted to my charge." He resided at Vergennes
and was its first Mayor. The last few 3^ears of
the eighteenth century found the people of Vermont
in great poverty except in land, and the taxes that
had to be imposed for the ordinary expenses of
government, and to pay the thirty thousand dol-
lars to New York due that State in settlement of
the long drawm out controversy, so fully set forth
in these volumes, were very burdensome.
In 1796, the crimes of highway robbery, horse
stealing and other high crimes had been committed
in the Province of Canada and the supposed crimi-
nals had fled to Vermont or other States of the
Union. And on March 31, 1796, Lord Dorchester
then of Quebec, addressed a circular to Governor
Chittenden and Governors of other States, stat-
ing therein that Ephraim Barnes and James C.
Freeman, against w^hom the Grand Jury of the
District of Montreal had found bills, either for
highwa^^ robbery and horse stealing or accessory to
those who did commit the crimes, had made their
escape and fled to one of the neighboring States,
and requesting the Governor, if they were found in
his government, to cause them to be delivered up to
the bearer of the circular. Governor Chittenden
did not comply with that demand on the ground
that he was not authorized so to do by the then
late treat\^ between Great Britain and the United
States. The words of the treaty were, "that his
Majesty and the United States on mutual requisi-
112 EARLY HISTORY
tions, by them respectively or b\' their respective
Ministers or officials, authorized to make the same,
will deliver up to justice all persons charged with
murder or forgery." The requisition of Lord Dor-
chester included neither of those crimes. The re-
fusal of Gov. Chittenden to issue the requsition led
the British Minister to address a note to Timothy
Pickering the Secretary of the United States, and
claimed that although the treaty included the
crime of murder and forger^-, as to the other crimes
it was left as it was before the treaty, to natural
discretion, whereupon on June 3, 1796, the Sec-
retary- of State wrote Gov. Chittenden that he
had consulted the Attorney General on the ques-
tions, and said, "the reciprocal delivery of murders
and forgers is positively stipulated by the 27th
article of the treaty- — the conduct of the two gov-
ernments with the respect to the other offenders is
left as before the treaty, to their natural discre-
tion — but this discretion will doubtless advise the
delivery of culprits for offences which affect the
great interests of society-." And admitted that
the view of Lord Dorchester of the questions was
right, but the surrender of the fugitives should be
done on such evidence of criminality as by the laws
of the peace where the fugitive shall be found,
would justify his arrest and commitment for trial,
if the offence had been there committed. The
Governor requested advice from the House, and
it was ordered by the House that a committee of
three join a committee that should be appointed
by council to draft and report to the House a bill
directing the mode of delivering up fugitives ;
OF VERMONT. 113
and the House passed a resolution as follows :
''That it is the opinion of this House that the
great interests of society- requires that offenders of
the above description should be brought to con-
dign punishment, and that his Excellency- be advis-
ed to deliver up the said culprits (if to be found
within the State) agreeablv to the request of
Lord Dorchester."
The matter of extradition came up again in
1799, upon an application from the Acting Gov-
ernor of Massachusetts to the Governor of Ver-
mont for the extradition of Peter Gilson who had
been charged with the crime of forgery, which was
referred to the Council that finally decided that in
order to extradite a fugitive for alleged crime, the
Governor should issue his warrant for that pur-
pose, and a form w-as adopted to be used in such
cases.
It has been stated in the first volume of this
histor^^ that the laws of Vermont never recog-
nized the existence of slavery within the State and
no person was ever held or ow-ned as a slave with-
in her borders. The general sentiment at an early
da3' w^as against the institution, and that it would
gradually die out in the States where it existed,
and the sentiment of the political parties was
against its extension, but no organization in the
State made any effort to interfere with its exis-
tence in the States where it was allowed under
State laws, until the formation of the abolition
party. There was a strong sentiment being devel-
oped in the United States against the importation
of slaves. As the s^'stem of slavery became firmly
114 EARLY HISTORY
rooted in the southern portion of the Union and
its advocates were striving to extend its era, the
northern States soon saw that the bearing of its
influence was against their interests, and unless it
w^as put in the way of ultimate extinction, it
would breed great trouble in the government.
There was a growing feeling that slavery was
w^rong and that the government could not well
exist half slave and half free, and as William H.
Seward expressed it, in 18.60, that there was an
"irrepressible conflict between freedom and slav-
ery." It was unfortunate that it was provided
in the Constitution of the United States, "that
Representatives shall be apportioned among the
several States according to their respective num-
bers, which shall be determined by adding to the
whole number of free persons, including those
bound to service for a term of 3^ears, and exclud-
ing Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other per-
sons," and that it was also provided by that in-
strument that in the choice of President and Vice-
President the number of electors were to be equal
to the whole number of Senators and Representa-
tives to which the State may be entitled in the
Congress. Evidently the unequal basis of repre-
sentation was the result of compromise. It was
unjust that while the slave had no voice in elec-
tions, the planter in a slave State possessing fifty
slaves, treated as his property, was considered as
having thirt\^ votes, while a farmer in a free State
having in value the same amount of property was
confined to a single vote. The Commonwealth of
Massachusetts and the State of North Carolina
OF VERMONT. 115
sent to Governor Isaac Tichenor resolutions on
proposals of amendment of the Constitution of
the United States, for the consideration of the
Vermont Legislature, to do away with said un-
just representation. The resolutions from Massa-
chusetts after stating the provision of the Con-
stitution on the subject proceeded as follows :
" And whereas the effect of these provisions has
been rendered more unequal and injurious by the
course of events since the Constitution was estab-
lished, by an augmentation of the number of
slaves in the Southern States, and also b^^ an in-
crease of personal property in the Eastern States,
arising from the commercial spirit of the inhabi-
tants :
"And whereas the said provisions have been
rendered more injurious, by important political
changes, introduced during the present adminis-
tration, in the purchase of Louisiana, an exten-
sive countr\', which will require great numbers of
slaves for its cultivation, and when admitted into
the Union, agreeably to the cession, will contribute,
by the number of its slaves, to destro^^ the real in-
fluence of the Eastern States in the National Gov-
ernment ; and also in the original mode of electing
the President of the United States, whereby, in the
appointment of that important Alagistrate, the
right of the small States, (among which are most
of the Eastern States,) where there are tew or no
slaves, is greatly diminished :
"And whereas in the apportionment of the di-
rect taxes, the only compensation proposed bj^ the
Constitution, to the States not holding slaves, for
116 EARLY HISTORY
the aforesaid unequal principle in the representa-
tion, is now merely nominal, as the National Reve-
nues are principalh^ derived from commercial im-
posts, the present administration having repealed
the excise laws, which operated in some measure,
by a tax on luxuries, to equalize among the several
States the contributions to the public burthens ;
and having also recently assessed additional mil-
lions on commerce, of which the Eastern States
must pa3^ much more than their due proportion,
so that instead of contributing less than their
proportionate share of public expense, as was
contemplated b^-- the Constitution, as a counter-
part to unequal representation, the3' contribute
more:
" And whereas a union of the States, a measure
so important in its consequences, cannot harmoni-
ously exist for a long period, unless it be founded
on principles which shall secure to all free citizens
equal political rights and privileges in the govern-
ment, so that a minority of free citizens ma^' not
govern a majority, an event which, on the princi-
ples of representation now established, has alreadj^
happened, and may alwa3's happen.
" Therefore, to preserve the Union of the States,
upon sound and just principles, and to establish a
foundation for general harmonv and confidence
among all the citizens of the United States, by
securing to them now, and at all future periods,
equal political rights and privileges :
''Resolved, That the Senators of this Common-
wealth in the Congress of the United States be,
and they are hereby instructed to take all proper
OF VERMONT. 117
and legal measures to obtain an amendment of
the Constitution of the United States, so that the
Representatives be apportioned among the several
States according to the numbers of their free in-
habitants respectively, and for this purpose, that
they endeavor to obtain a resolution of two-thirds
of both Houses of Congress, proposing such
amendment to the Legislatures of the several
States in the Union."
The resolutions from the Legislature of North
Carolina were to the effect that their Senators and
Representatives were requested to take steps to ob-
tain an amendment to the Federal Constitution
so as to authorize Congress to pass a law, to pre-
vent the further importation of slaves, or people
of color from any of the West India Islands, from
the coast of Africa or elsewhere, into the United
States, and requested their Governor to transmit
copies of their resolutions to the Executives of
the different States of the Union, that the same
might be laid before their respective Legislatures
for their concurrence and adoption. Governor
Titchenor in his speech to the Council and House
of Representatives, said as to these resolutions,
"it cannot, I flatter myself, be necessary that I
should impress upon your minds, that the genius
of universal emancipation ought to be cherished by
Americans, and that there is no complexion in-
compatible with freedom ; and that we owe to
the charter of our country, in the abstract, and the
laws of humanity, our best endeavors, to repress
the impious and immoral traffic." These resolu-
tions came before the Assemblv for consideration
118 EARLY HISTORY
when the committee of the whole, at first made re-
port adverse to the resolutions. At this time ex-
citement ran high between the Federal and Jefter-
sonian parties. This adverse report was favored,
generally by the Jeffersonians and opposed by the
Federalists ; and in the message drafted in reply to
Governor Tichenor, they said that the amend-
ment proposed to the Constitution of the United
States, "would have a tendency to destro^^, rather
than confirm, the Union among the Federal States
so essential to our prosperity." But later the Jef-
fersonians had another opportunity to put them-
selves on record in respect to slavery, and disarm
any criticism of their action in rejecting the
amendment of the Constitution proposed by
Massachusetts, so far as it touched slaver3^ And
the\^ united wnth the Federalists, in adopting the
following : viz.
" The amendment proposed by North Carolina,
and adopted by Massachusetts, for putting a stop
to the importation of slaves into the United
States, should be duly attended to. Universal free-
dom is one of those fundamental principles of our
political institutions w^hich are engraven on the
mind and live in the affections of every true Ameri-
can. And although our country is alread^^ infested
with slavery, the toleration of which might
seem to contravene the general s^^stem of our
polic3% w-e trust that the humanity and justice of
our country will prevent the increase of the depre-
cated evil, and arrest, as soon as possible, that
execrable traffic in human flesh."
On Oct. 30, 1806, the Council took into consid-
OF VERMONT. 119
eration the following resolutions received from the
House: viz, ''Whereas there have been a number
of instances of negro persons, who were minors,
having been transported b^- evil minded persons
from this to other States and Province of Canada,
where slaver3^ is established by law, and there dis-
posed of as slaves, which practice is contrary to
the genius and principles of the good people and
government of this State, and, therefore, the evil of
which pernicious practices to prevent: — Resolved,
there be a committee oi five members to join a com-
mittee from the Council to take under considera-
tion the propriety of passing a law for remedying
the evils above mentioned and report to this House
by bill or otherwise." This resolution w^as adopt-
ed, and resulted in passing, on Nov. 8, 1806, an act
to prevent kidnapping. By the act, the offender,
if found guilty "of carrying, removing or aiding
and assisting in transporting any person or per-
sons ^vho are or shall be residents in this State,
into any other State, Province or Government
and dispose of the same into servitude for any
longer term of time, or in a different manner
than he or the^' could have a right by law to do
within this State, should be publicW whipped on
the nacked back not exceeding thirty-nine stripes,
or, pay a fine of $1000 and be confined to hard
labor or imprisonment not exceeding seven years."
On Oct. 25, 1819, the Vermont Colonization
Societj^ was organized at a large meeting consist-
ing of members of the Legislature, and other per-
sons, without distinction of party, Governor Gal-
usha presiding. Its officers were selected from the
120 EARLY HISTORY
most able men of the State, and their avowed pur-
pose was to aid in the extinction of slavery. In
the proclamation for a fast, issued on the next day,
Governor Galusha enjoined prayer to Almighty
God, that He w^ould "put down the t\^ranny and
oppression, and open a way for emancipation of
all that degraded class of human beings who are
held in slaver3%especiall3^ those in this highly favor-
ed country." In response to a petition of the Col-
onization Society the General Assembly on Nov.
5, 1819, adopted the following: viz., ''Holding
as sacred the great principle, 'That all men are
born equally free and independent, and have cer-
tain natural, inherent, and inalienable rights,
among which are the enjoying and defending
life and libert\% acquiring, possessing, and pro-
tecting property-, and pursuing and obtaining hap-
piness and safety.'
''Resolved, That, w^hilst this General Assembly
deeply deplore the degraded and abject situation
of the colored population of the United States,
and most sensibly feel a s^^mpathy for the white
population of the South, on whom, without their
own procurement, is entailed a great calamitj', it
is with heartfelt satisfaction they witness the
laudable and humane exertions of many good men
from different sections of the countr\% especially
from the middle and southern States, in establish-
ing the American Colonization Society, for the
purpose of colonizing the free people of color of
the United States, on the west coast of Africa, a
measure wisely calculated, in the opinion of this
General Assembly, to alleviate human w^oe, and
OF VERMONT. 121
eventualh^ to secure this countr3^ from great and
impending evils.
'^ Resolved, also, that this Assembly do most
cordially' approbate the recent organization of the
Vermont Society, auxiliary to the society aforesaid,
and cheerfully recommend the same to the favorable
consideration and encouragement of the good
citizens of this State, confidently hoping that, un-
der the guidance of a beneficent, all wise, over-
ruling Providence, their benevolent exertions for
extension of human happiness may be crowned
with abundant success.
''i?eso7Fec/, also, That the Senators of this State
in the Congress of the United States be instructed,
and the Representatives requested, to exert their
influence lor the adoption of such measures as will
more effectually promote the great and benevolent
views and objects of the society' aforesaid, and
use their best endeavors in supporting all con-
stitutional measures to prevent the further exten-
sion of that great national evil."
In February 1819, a proposition came before
Congress to authorize the people of the territory of
Missouri to adopt a Constitution with a view to
admission into the Union as a State. The propo-
sition to exclude slavery was brought to the front.
The people of Vermont generally took a decided
stand in favor of the exclusion of slavery, and all
of her Representatives and Senators in Congress,
except Mr. Palmer, voted to exclude slaver3^ The
political opponents of Senator Palmer availed
themselves of the favorable opportunity^ to censure
him for his course on this question. The people of
122 EARLY HISTORY
Vermont viewed with deep concern the attempt to
introduce slavery into the territories of the United
States, and to legalize it in the States to be admit-
ted into the Union ; the3' regarded it as a measure
tending to increase and perpetuate an evil of
great magnitude and danger, as it w^ould deprive
a portion of mankind of those privileges which
Republican principles guarantee to all, and at no
distant period, subject the master to the vengeance
of the slave, andw^ould tend to perpetuate slavery
by adding the influence and power of States to
be found within our territories, which eventually
might constitute a majorit^^ of the Union. The
people of Vermont did not perceive that the prin-
ciple of compromise, that conceded to the slave-
holding States the legal right for the people there-
in to hold slaves, extended to States thereafter to
be admitted into the Union. They took the ground
that the powers of Congress were adequate to pro-
hibit the further introduction of slavery and not
bound to admit any State into the Federal Union
unless on such conditions as shall be consistent w4th
the general welfare. Resolutions embod^^ng these
principles, and instructing the Vermont Senators
and requesting her Representatives in Congiess to
use their influence to prohibit the introduction of
slavery into the territories of the United States
and to prevent its being legalized in any State
thereafter to be admitted into the Union w^ere pre-
sented to and received b^' the Vermont Assembly
in 1819, but were ultimately, after debate on them,
dismissed. The record that they w^ere adopted
and then tabled and then taken up and dismissed
OF VERMONT. 123
is erroneous. The avowed reason for the dismis-
sal of the resolutions were that the above quoted
resolutions in response to a petition of the Ver-
mont Colonization Society, sufficiently expressed
their anti-slaverj^ principles. Undoubtedh' the
Legislature considered the principles and powders
and restrictions contained in the Missouri
Constitution that was strongW fovored by the
South, as anti-republican and repugnant to the
Constitution of the United States. The subject
w^as agitated w^th great warmth in Congress, and
the parties in that body were marked by geographi-
cal division, and were actuated by feelings danger-
ous to the Union. The southern part^^ alleged
that the admission of Missouri without restriction
would not tend to perpetuate slaver3^nor increase
the number of slaves, but they would simph- re-
move from one State to another ; and it w^ould be
a dangerous and tyrannical act in the Federal
Government and infringe upon the sovereignties of
the States should the restriction of slavery- be per-
sisted in and adopted. These claims were unsound
and the policy of the advocates of slavery bad in
its conseqtiences as the sequel has proved. The
bill passed for the admission of Missouri without
any restrictions, but with the inhibition of slavery
throughout the territories of the United States
north of 36 degrees and 30 minutes north latitude.
At the session of the Legislature in November
1820, the Governor transmitted to the Assembly
resolutions on the same subject which w^ere referred
to the following committee: viz. Chancy^ Lan-
don of Castleton, Moses Robinson of Bennington,
124 EARLY HISTORY
Matthias S. Jones of Waitsfield, Benjamin Miner,
Jr. of Bridport, Isaac Fletcher of Lyndon, and
William Gill of Leicester, of the House, and Lieut.
Gov. Cahoon of the Council, who made a report
to the Assembly on the Virginia resolution^ and on
so much of the Governor's speech as related to the
admission of Missouri into the Union. The report
was made Nov. 15, 1820, and showed the deep
seated anti-slavery sentiment that was generally
entertained by the people of Vermont at the time
and was as follows :
"That the history of nations demonstrates,
that involuntary servitude not only plunges the
slave into the depth of miser\% but renders a great
proportion of communit\^ dependent and wretched,
and the remainder t^^rannic and indolent. Opu-
lence, acquired In- the slavery of others, degener-
ates its possessors, and destro3'S the phj-sical pow-
ers of government. Principles so degrading, are
inconsistent with the primitive dignity of man,
and his natural rights.
''Slavery is incompatible with the vital princi-
ples of all free governments, and tends to their
ruin. It parah^zes industry', the greatest source of
national wealth, stifles the love of freedom, and
endangers the safety of the nation. It is prohibit-
ed by the laws of nature, which are equally bind-
ing on governments and individuals. The right to
introduce and establish slavery, in a free govern-
ment, does not exist.
"The declaration of Independence declares, as
self-evident truths, "That all men are created
equal — that they are endowed by their Creator
OF VERMONT. 125
with certain unalienable rights, that among these
are life, liberty-, and the pursuit of happiness.
That to secure these rights, governments are insti-
tuted among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed : That when-
ever any iorm of government becomes destructive
of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter
or abolish it.'
"The Constitution of the United States, and of
the several States, have recognized these principles
as the basis of their governments : and have ex-
pressly inhibited the introduction or extension of
slaver^', or impliedU^ disavowed the right. The
power of Congress to require the prohibition of
slaver\^ in the Constitution of a State, to be ad-
mitted as one of the United States, is confirmed by
the admission of new States according to the or-
dinance of 1787, and b3^ a constitutional "guar-
rantee to ever^^ State in the Union of a republican
form of government.'^ This power in Congress is
also admitted in the act of March 6, 1820, which
declares that in all that territory ceded, under the
name of Louisana, which lies north of 36 deg. 30
min. north latitude, ''slaverv and involuntary
servitude shall be forever prohibited.'
"Where slavery existed in the States, at the
time of the adoption of the Constitution of the
United States, a spirit of comprom.ise, or painful
necessit3^ may have excused its continuance, but
can never justify its introduction into a State to
be admitted from the territories of the United
States.
" Though slavery is not expressh' prohibited by
126 EARLY HISTORY
the Constitution, 3'et that invaluable instrument
contains power, first principles, and self-evident
truths, which bring us to the same result, and lead
us to liberty and justice , and the equal rights of
man, from which we ought never to depart. "In
it is seen a deep and humilating sense of slavery "
— and a cheering hope that it would, at some
future period, be abolished — and even a determina-
tion to do it.
"It is apparent that servitude produces in the
slave-holding States peculiar feelings, local attach-
ments, and seperate interests : and should it be
extended into new States — it will have a tendency
to form a combination of power, which will con-
trol the measures of the general government;"
and which cannot be resisted, except by the physi-
cal force of the nation.
"The people of the United States adopted the
Constitution " to form a more perfect Union of the
several States, to establish justice, to securedomes-
tic tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general welfare, and secure the bless-
ings of liberty;'' and have thereb\^ blended and
inseperably connected the interests, the safety and
welfare of every State in the Union. We, therefore,
become deeph^ concerned in the fundamental prin-
ciples of the Constitution of an\^ new State to be
admitted into the Union. Whatever powers are
necessary to carr3^ into effect the objects of the
Union, are implied in the Constitution, and vested
in the several departments of the general govern-
ment.
"The act of the United States, authorizing a
OF VERMONT. 127
provisional admission of Missouri into the Union
as a State, does not pledge the faith of govern-
ment to admit, whatever may be its Constitution
or system of State government : for that Consti-
tution, by the act, must be Republican, and not
repugnant to'the Constitution of the United States.
"From information, it is to be seriously appre-
hended that Missouri will present to Congress, for
their approbation, a Constitution which declares
''the General Assembly shall have no power to
pass laws — First, for the emancipation of slaves,
without the consent of their owners, or without
pa\^ing them, before emancipation, a full equivalent
for such slaves so emancipated— and, secondh^,
to prevent emigrants from bringing slaves into
said State, so long as slavery is legalized therein.
It is also made the imperious duty of its Legisla-
ture to pass laws, as soon as may be, ' To prevent
free negroes and mulattoes from coming to, and
settling in that State, under any pretence what-
ever.'
"These powers, restrictions, and provisions, to
legalize and perpetuate slavery, and to prevent
citizens of the United States, on account of their
origin, color or features, from emigration to Mis-
souri, are repugnant to a Republican government,
and in direct violation of the Constitution of the
United States.
"If Missouri be permitted to introduce and legal-
ize slavery by her Constitution, and we consent to
her admission, we shall justh^ incur the charge of
insincerity^ in our civil institutions, and in all our
professions of attachment to liberty. It will bring
128 EARLY HISTORY
Upon theConstiution and Declaration of Independ-
ence, a deep stain, which cannot be forgotten, or
blotted out! It will deeph'- affect the Union in
its resources, political interests, and character.
*'The admission of another new State into the
Union, with a Constitution which guarantees
securit3' and protection to slavery- , and the cruel
and unnatural traffic in any portion of the hu-
man race, will be an error which the Union can-
not correct, and an evil which ma3' endanger the
freedom of the nation.
" Congress never ought, and we trust never will,
plant the standard of the Union in Missouri, to
wave over the heads of involuntary slaves, who
have nothing the3' can call their own, except their
sorrows and their sufferings, and a life be3'ond
the grave — and who can never taste the sweets of
libert3% unless the3' obtain it b3' force or b3' flight.
Nor can a communit3% made up of masters and
slaves ever enjo3' the blessings of libertv, and the
benefits of a free government : these enjo3^ments
are reserved for a communit3' of freemen, who are
subject to none, but to God, and the laws."
The committee submitted with said report, and
in harmon3' therewith, the following resolutions :
"Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Legis-
lature, slaver3% or involuntarv servitude, in an3^ of
the United States, is a moral and political evil,
and that its continuance can be justified b3' neces-
sity' alone. The Congress has a right to inhibit an v
further introduction, or extension of slaver3', as
one of the conditions upon which an3^ new State
shall be admitted into the Union.
OF VERMONT. 129
"Resolved, That this Legislature views with
regret and alarm, the attenapt of the inhabitants
of Missouri to obtain admission into the Union as
one of the United States, under a Constitution
which legalizes and secures the introduction and
continuance of slavery-— and also contains provis-
ions to prevent freemen of the United States from
emigrating to and settling in Missouri, on account
of their origin, color and features. And that, in
the opinion of this Legislature, these principles,
powders and restrictions, contained in the reported
Constitution of Alissouri, are anti-republican and
repugnant to the Constitution of the United
States, and subversive of the unalienable rights to
man.
"Resolved, That the Senators from this State
in the Congress of the United States be instructed,
and the Representatives requested, to exert their
influence and use all legal measures to prevent the
admission of Missouri, as a State, into the Union
of the United States, w^ith those anti-republican
features and powers in their Constitution."
" The report and the resolutions w^ere agreed to
by both Houses without division.
"The strong pro-slaverv policy- to extend the
area of the institution and the persistent and
sucessful effort to admit Missouri without re-
striction as to slaver\^was la3'ing an Qcrg that was
later hatched out in the shape of a decision from
the Supreme Court of the United States in the
Dred Scott case in the opinion of a majority of
the court announced by Chief Justice Tane^', in
w^hich he stated that at the time of the Declaration
9
Iv30 EARLY HISTORY
of Independence and at the time of the adoption of
the Constitution of the United State, the "unfor-
tunate race were regarded as beings of an inferior
order, and altogether unfit to associate with the
white race, either in social or political relations;
and so far inferior, that the^^ had no rights w^hich
the white man was bound to respect ; and that
the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to
slaver \^ for his benefit." This decision went so far
as to hold that slave-holders could take their
slaves into any territory of the United States and
hold them there as slaves and was expressed in the
following language: "It is the opinion of the
court that the act of Congress which prohibited a
citizen from holding and owning property of this
kind in the territory of the United States north of
the line therein mentioned, is not warranted by
the Constitution and is therefore void." These
antagonistic views and principles and the heated
party spirit culminated in the rebellion of 1861,
and resulted in the procfamation of emancipation
of President Lincoln, Jan. 1, 1863.
"When we look back upon the free and inde-
pendent spirit that had ever animated the people
of the State, and are reminded that no slave has
ever troden Vermont soil, and contemplate the
strong, firm stand they have taken against the
keeping in bondage a part of the human familj^
and in favor of the widest libert3^, consistent with
good government, w^e have reason to feel a just
pride that we can be reckoned as Yermonters.
GHflFTtR V.
INCIDENTS, LEGISLATION, AND INTERNAL
AFFAIRS OF VERMONT FROM
1791 TO 1808.
In the early history of Vermont it was not al-
ways that each town had a separate representa-
tive to the General Assembly. In 1795, the town
of Londonderry and a Gore, called Mack's Leg,
were erected into two separate towns by the names
of Londonderry and Windham with the right of
only one representative in the Assembly for both
towns, but in 1804, the two towns were given all
the privileges and immunities belonging to other
incorporated towns. Previous to 1808, the towns
of North Hero and Middle Hero (Grand Isle) were
entitled to but one representative to the General
Assembly, but subsequentl}^ on petition each of
those towns were granted a representative.
At an early day the law required that, a person
to be admitted as a member of the bar, should have
several years of residence in the State, but in 1791,
it was enacted that an3^ person, it of good moral
character and competent knowledge of the law,
might be admitted as a practicing attorney on tak-
ing an examination of the court and bar; this act
did not require a previous residence.
(131)
132 EARLY HISTORY
It was not the practice of the Governor for
many years, in the earh* histor\^ of the State, to
appoint a day of Fast or Thanksgiving independ-
ent of a request from the AssembU'. The custom
v\>'as for the General Assembly to pass a resolve
" that his Excellency the Governor be requested by
and with the advice of the Council, to appoint the
day," named in the resolution to be observed as a
day of Public Thanksgiving and Praise or Fast,
throughout the State.
In 1793, Samuel Knight, President of the Coun-
cil of Censors, addressed the Legislature and stated
it had, in some instances, too hastih' and inconsid-
eratelj", passed insolvent acts, and acts suspending
the operation of law against particular persons,
and acts granting exclusive rights and privileges
to individuals. He said that acts granting exclu-
sive privileges to individuals except the exclusive
right to their owm inventions, were wrong. He,
also adjudged it inconsistent with the spirit and
genius of a free people, that a man should be ad-
judged to pay costs in criminal cases after an im-
partial jur^^ has declared he is not guilt\', and rec-
ommended the repeal of an act that allowed that
to be done. He said on taking a retrospective
view of the business of the Legislature, on the
whole, "he was happy to find that wisdom and
stability mark the proceedings of our public bod-
ies, and that this government is gaining knowl-
edge and respectabilty."
In the earh' da3's of Vermont the property of
man^^ of her citizens who had joined the enenn^,
during the Revolutionary^ struggle was confiscated
OF VERMONT. 133
to the use of Vermont, and in some cases their gen-
eral creditors petitioned the General Assembly that
the\^ might receive from the State a just propor-
tion of the estate confiscated, but the petitions
v^ere denied. The Legislature deemed it not advis-
able to make provision for the pa^-ment of the
debts of persons whose propert^^ had been confis-
cated in consequence of their treasonable conduct.
In the year 1795, a petition was presented to
the Legislature by General Ira Allen then of Col-
chester praying that the name of the Universit^^ of
Vermont be changed to "Allen's University," and
at the same time proposing a donation of one
thousand pounds worth of books for a library and
a deed to the corporation of fifteen hundred acres
of land. The offer was not accepted by the Leg-
islature and Allen had leave to withdraw the pe-
tition ; the committee to which the petition was
referred, expressed it as their opinion that the
proposition of Allen was liberal.
The pay of town representatives to the Assem-
bly, Councillors, State officials and their incidental
expenses were much less for many years after the
State first became a member of the Federal Union
than they are at the present writing. In 1795, the
pay for Councillors, was one dollar and forty-six
cents, and for members of the House and Auditors
of Accounts one dollar and twenty-five cents per
diem. The appropriation for State expenses for
the Legislative year from October 1795, to Octo-
ber 1796, was but 1,723 pounds for debentures of
Lieut. Governor, Council, General Assembly, and
necessary officers including Auditors of Accounts ;
134 EARLY HISTORY
three pounds for wood and candles for the Council
room; eighteen shillings for wood and candles for
Clerks; fifu^ dollars for powder used on election
day. A pound was reckoned at $3.33%.
On Nov. 2, 1796, an act passed the House and
was read and concurred in b^- the Council that con-
ferred upon the Constitution of the State the dignity
to which it was entitled : to wit, the supreme law
of the State. The acts 1779, 1782 and 1787, re-
lating to this subject, simply adopted the Consti-
tution as a part of the laws of the State.
On Nov. 3, 1797, the Governor and Council un-
dertook to recommend to the House by resolution
how that bod3' should proceed in the consideration
of bills, as appears from the following statement
and resolution sent to the House by the Council :
viz., ''Whereas, by an existing law, directing the
mode of passing bills, and b^^ the Constitution of
this State, it becomes the dut\' of the House of Rep-
resentatives, on receiving a bill from the Council,
with the proposals of amendment thereto, to pro-
ceed to try the sense of the House, whether they
will concur with the Council in the amendments
proposed, and on non-concurrence to return the
bill to the Council, with the reasons of their dis-
sent, that the Council ma}' proceed further there-
on. And whereas it appears from the journals of
the House of Representatives, that the bill entitled
"An act relating to the office and dutj- of an At-
torney General, State's Attornej-s, Clerks of the
Supreme and County Court, the County Treasur-
ers," returned to the House of Representatives, by
the Council, on the 23d of October last, with pro-
OF VERMONT. 135
posals for amendment, has been dismissed b^- the
House without acting on the amendments so pro-
posed as aforesaid contrary to the opinion of the
Council, to the express letter of the law, and a
just construction of the Constitution : Therefore,
Resolved, that it be recommended to the House of
Representatives, to proceed and act upon the
amendments proposed b^' the Council, in the man-
ner prescribed hj law."
The election sermon of the 3'ear was preached
by Rev. Daniel C. Sanders, then of Yergennes, and
later, President of the University of Vermont.
On Oct. 17, 1798, the two Houses met in Gen-
eral Committee to consider the constitutionality of
private acts of insolvenc\', and resolved that the
Legislature have a constitutional right to pass
such acts.
On Oct. 21, 1800, Luke Knowlton, on tender-
ing to Governor Tichenor his resignation of his
office and seat at the Council board, said, in part,
that "the repeated and unsolicited suffrages of the
free and enlightened citizens of this State will ever
reflect the highest happiness to that mind whose
greatest glor\' rests on the good esteem of his fel-
low creatures. You will permit me, as I am now
retiring from public life in which I have been so
long placed, whether in the Legislative, Executive,
or Judicial departments, it has been my constant
aim and design to discharge the duties imposed on
me with firmness, wisdom and integrity — and if in
anj' instance have erred, it arose through defect
of the head and not of the heart."
There were manv bills in the earlv lesislation
136 EARLY HISTORY
of Vermont that were passed into law suspending
civil process against persons for a term of years ;
such laws have been regarded bj^ thoughtful minds
as unwise and bad polic3^, and unjust as discrimi-
nating between persons similarly situated, and
such legislation has become infrequent or entirely
discontinued. The Council of Censors sometime
before November, 1813, had recommended the re-
peal of the act of 1812, suspending civil process
against officers and soldiers while in the service, as
being in violation of several provisions of the Con-
stitution of the United States and also of Vermont,
undoubtedh^ having reference to that clause of the
Constitution of the United States, declaring that,
" no State shall pass a law impairing the obliga-
gation of contracts."
On Oct. 17, 1796, the Legislature of Vermont
presented an address to President George Wash-
ington in answ^er to his farewell address to his fel-
low citizens of the United States. The answ^er
embraced the foUow^ing expressions : viz.
''When w^e contrast the gloomy aspect, both of
our domestic and foreign affairs, a few years since,
with the flattering prospect now before us, we at
once appreciate the advantages w^hich resulted im-
mediately from one general government, and the
justice, magnanimitj^ and moderation which has
marked your administration.
" Convinced of our true interests, you have suc-
cessfully opposed faction, and maintained that
neutrality so necessar3^ to our national honor and
peace — accept, sir, the only acknowledgment in our
power to make, or yours to receive, the gratitude
of a free people.
OF VERMONT. 137
" Ardently as we wish your continuance in pub-
lic office, yet w^hen we reflect on the 3'ears of anx-
iety you have spent in your country's services, we
must reluctantly acquiesce in 3^our wishes, and
consent that you should pass the evening of 3^our
days, in reviewing a well spent life, and looking
forward to scenes beyond the grave, where our
prayers shall ascend for a complete reward for all
your services, in a happ^^ immortality : and we re-
ceive your address to your fellow citizens, as ex-
pressive of the highest zeal for their prosperity,
and containing the best advice to insure its con-
tinuance.
"We cannot, sir, close this address (probably
the last public communication we ma^^ have occa-
sion to make to you) without assuring you of our
affection and respect. Maj^the shade oi private life
be as grateful to you as the splendor of 3'our pub-
lic life has been useful to 3^our country.
''We shall recollect you with filial affection;
your advice as an inestimable legac\^ and shall
pride ourselves in teaching our children the impor-
tance of that advice, and a humble imitation of
your example."
President Washington on Dec. 12, 1796, said in
part, in a reply, addressed to Elijah Paine and
Isaac Tichenor, Vermont Senators then in Congress.
" Gentlemen, With particular pleasure I receive
the unanimous address of the Council and General
Assembly of the State of Vermont.— Although but
lately admitted into the Union, yet the importance
of your State, its love of libertj^ and its energy,
were manifested in the earliest periods of the revo-
138 EARLY HISTORY
lution which established our Independence. Uncon-
nected in name onh^ but in reality united with the
confederate States, these felt and acknow^ledged
the benefits of 3'our co-operation. Their mutual
safet\' and advantage duly appreciated, will never
permit this Union to be dissolved.
"I enjoy great happiness in the testimony you
have presented, and in other proofs exhibited from
various parts of our Country, that the operations
of the general government have justified the hopes
of our citizens at its formation, wdiich is recog-
nized as the era of our national prosperity-. The
voluntar3' acknowledgements of my fellow citizens
persuade me to believe that my agency has con-
tributed to produce this effect. This belief will be
to me a source of permanent satisfaction, and those
acknowledgements a rich rew^ard."
It is but stating a recognized truth that no citi-
zen of the United States ever won an equal respect
and confidence both in w^ar and peace as did
George Washington with the people of the Ameri-
can Union. He w^as cool and correct in judgment,
bold and fearless in danger ; methodical and clear
in all his business arrangements, and possessed the
basis of a strong and elevated character. H. T.
Headle\'in his life of Washington said of him, "this
soul, poised on its own center, reposed calmly there
amid all the tumult and turbulence that shook
the land. The ingratitude and folly of those who
should have been his friends, the insult of his foes,
and the frowms of fortune, could not provoke him
into rash acts or delude him into error." The lib-
ertv loving and brave Green Mountain Boys, while
OF VERMONT. 139
strugglino- for admission into the Federal Union
against the powerful opposition of New York, had
a friend in George Washington.
In 1798, the people of the Union had become
separated quite sharph' into two political parties,
the Federalist party, and the opposition was cris-
talizing into w^hat was then denominated the
Republican part^-. Daniel Buck who had been a
member ot Congress from 1795, to 1797, and a
strong Federalist was active in fostering a division
of sentiment and strengthening the Federal party,
while Matthew Lyon, also a member of Congress,
was over-zealous in his labors in behalf of the op-
position or Republican part\\ On Oct. 20, 1798,
an address to President John Adams was presented
to the General Assembh^, expressing the sentiment
of the Federalists, in which it was stated that,
" We have been represented as a divided people ;
but this report has been fabricated, and cherished,
by men whose destructive policy would lead them
first to excite disunion, and like the incendiary, to
profit b^^ the confusion the^- have created.
" That the great bulk of our citizens are firmly
attached to our excellent F'ederal Constitution of
government, and highh' approve its administra-
tion, A^ou may be assured is an incontrovertible
fact. That some men should not appreciate its
advantages, or that some should be bad enough
to strike at its very existence, is not strange.
When we consider government as the association
of the honest, the pious, and the peaceable, to pro-
tect themselves from the wickedness of the dis-
honest, the impious, and the unruly; it is not
140 EARLY HISTORY
strange that if the beneficial designs of the former
be effected, the latter will complain, and attempt
to break ever\^ barrier which protects societ3^ We
know of no government, ancient or modern, that
was ever celebrated for its excellency, w^hose
archives were not disgraced with impediments of
opposition, and the page of whose history is not
stained with frequent insurrection. Even under
the divine theocracy of the Jews, the people mur-
mured amidst plenty; and, while their first magis-
trate was in immediate conference with Heaven for
their good, a stupid faction of that people lost the
remembrance of their divine government, in the
adoration of a molten god.
*'But you, sir, can accurate^ distinguish be-
tween the voice of your country, and the clamor
of party : we here offer \^ou the genuine sentiments
of our constituents, the freemen of Vermont, as
delivered through their constitutional organ, the
Legislature.
''In the infancy' of French political reformation,
with our bretheren of the United States, we wished
w^ell to the cause of French patriotism, because
we supposed it the cause of virtue, religion and ra-
tional liberty. But when Gallic virtue was suc-
ceeded by licentiousness and inhumanity; when
religion gave place to atheism, and rational liberty
to grievous oppression ; when, no longer contented
w^ith abortive attempts to reform their own gov-
ernment, they boldly obtruded their political creed
upon the order and tranquility of other nations ;
and with rapacious ambition, unknown to their
proudest monarchs, dissolved ancient govern-
OF VERMONT. 141
ments, annexing plundered provinces to their own
blood-stained territories ; when the\' violated the
neutral rights of the United States, commissioned
their ambassadors to excite us to foreign war and
domestic insurrection, and made the most un-
provoked depredations on our commerce ; when
the\^ insulted our messengers of peace, and insid-
iously attempted to degrade them into the mean
instruments of subjecting their country- to a scan-
dalous tribute; w^hen the^^ refused to stop the
hand of plunder, for a little period, while our gov-
ernment might attempt, b^^ discussion or conces-
sion, to avert the calamities of w^ar ; when thej'
violently and insidioush^ struck at our national in-
dependence, ever\^ tie of affection for Frenchmen
was dissolved ; and we clearl3' perceived, that we
could no longer be attached to that nation, but at
the expense of our morals, our religion, and the
love of our country.
"This, sir, is a da\^ which calls loudly for deci-
sion : and we are proud to declare our attachment
to the Constitution of the United States ; we
believe its prosperity- deeply involves our own ; we
have the firmest reliance on the executive adminis-
tration of our general government. Your instruc-
tions to our national envoi's to France carr^- con-
viction with them of 3'our uprightness. Your
resolution to send no other envoi's to that haughty
nation, unless previoush' assured of their honor-
able reception, evidences beyond doubt, your firm
attachment to the interest and honor of 3'our
country. You have justified your country in the
face of the worid ; and if the consequences of
142 EARLY HISTORY
French duplicity and rapacity shall involve us in a
war, which we pray heaven to avert, we pledge
ourselves to our country, our firmest support of
her violated rights.
"Permit us to add assurances of our personal
respect ; while wc honor you as our Chief Magis-
trate, we respect you as a man ; and it is to 3'our
glory we can say, we regard John Adams because
we love our country."
This address was adopted by a vote of 129 yeas
to 23 nays. In reply the President said, " Among
all the addresses which have been presented to me,
from communities, corporations, towns, cities and
Legislatures, there has been none more acceptable
to me, or which has aifected my sensibility or com-
manded my gratitude more than this very senti-
mental compliment from the State of Vermont — a
State which, within my memory, has been convert-
ed from a wilderness to a fruitful field. Knowing
as I do, 3'our origin and progress, the brave, hard^',
industrious, and temperate character of the peo-
ple, their approbation of their Representatives,
their attachment to the Constitution, and deter-
mination to support the government, are the
more to be esteemed. * * " The French have
rendered it impossible for us to follow them in
their notions and projects of government, or to
submit to their arbitrary conduct and extravagant
exactions to us: we must therefore defend our-
selves against all their attempts."
In 1801, an address was adopted by the Assem-
bly and presented to Thomas Jefferson, in which it
was stated that the people of Vermont admired
OF VERMONT. 143
the Federal Constitution and that they contem-
plated that the general government to be the sheet
anchor of their peace at home and safety abroad,
and that they regard the Presidency with a cordial
attachment and profound respect; that they revered
the President's talents and were assured of his
patriotism and relied on his fidelity, and express-
ed the hope that the general government would
draw around the whole nation such lines of de-
fence as shall prove forever impossible to every
foreign foe. The President in repW expressed his
thanks for the friendly, favorable sentiments, and
joined them cordialh^ in admiring and revering the
Constitution of the United States, the result of
collected wisdom of our country ; he would draw
around the whole nation the strength of the gen-
eral government, as a barrier against foreign foes,
and that he would watch the borders of every
State, that no external hand may intrude, or dis-
turb the exercise of self-government, reserved to
itself. In 1803, after the Louisiana purchase had
been effected by Jefferson, the General Assembly
addressed the President again. The address in
part was as follows : —
"While we contemplate the acquisition of an
extensive and fertile territory, with the free navi-
gation of the river Mississippi, we cannot but ven-
erate that spirit of moderation and firmness,
which among divided councils finally enriched our
country without the effusion of blood : and it is
with much satisfaction we learn from the highest
authority, that no new^ taxes will be requisite for
the completion of the payment for this valuable
144 EARLY HISTORY
acquisition. Permit us then to tender you, sir, our
warmest thanks for the conspicuous part you
have taken in this important arrangement.
" We gratefulh' contemplate those humane and
benevolent measures which civilize our once savage
neighbors, and learn them to exchange their hos-
tile weapons for the implements of argriculture
and household manufacture.
''We recognize with sentiments of esteem, that
vigilance and parental care which has enlarged
our territory- by a negotiation with one of the
friendly tribes of Indians.
"From kno\ving that our maritime force is di-
minished, and that our trade is still protected, we
obtain imposing proof, that vigilance and econ-
om3' go hand in hand in the management of our
governmental affairs.
"The flourishing state of our treasury demon-
strates our growing greatness, and must convince
every good citizen that the incident and vilifying
expressions too frequently uttered through the
medium of the press against the administration of
our government, must finalh\ with equal certainty
as justice, revert on the authors.
"Your advice to the House of Representatives
respecting our conduct towards the contending
powers of Europe, merits our highest approba-
tion.
"From our own feehngs, as well as from the
general knowledge we possess of the sentiments of
our constituents, j'ou ma3' be assured that the
hardy sons of Vermont, though earnestly engaged
in their peaceable pursuits, will be read^^ to fl}", on
OF VERMONT. 145
the call of their country, at the risk of their lives,
their fortunes and domestic felicity, to maintain
their rights as an independent nation — preferring
every consequence to insult and habitual wrong.
"Permit us to assure you of our most earnest
wish that every possible happiness may attend
you through life, and that you may finallv receive
the plaudit of the great Judge of all."
On Nov. 10, 1798, the Legislature of Kentucky
adopted resolutions that embodied the doctrine of
nullification that found their logical and final out-
come in the gigantic rebellion of 1861. These
resolutions were condemned by several of the
States, whereupon on Nov. 14, 1799, Kentucky re-
afl^irmed its doctrine of State rights in the follow-
ing language. "That the several States that
formed the Constitution being sovereign and inde-
pendent, have the unquestionable right to judge of
the infraction ; and that a nullification by those
sovereignties of all imauthorized acts done under
the color of that instrument, is the rightful rem-
edy. The resolutions adopted b\' Kentuck^^ on
Nov. 10, 1798, were drawn b3' Thomas Jeffer-
s6n and sent to Vermont for the consideration
and adoption by the Legislature, one of which was
as follows :
"Resolved, That the several States composing
the United States of America, are not united on
the principle of unlimited submission to their gen-
eral government; but that, b3' compact under the
style and title of a Constitution for the United
States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted
a general government for special purposes, delegat-
146 EARLY HISTORY
ed to that government certain definite powers, re-
serving, each State to itself, the residuary
mass of right to their own self-government;
and, that w^hensoever the general government
assumes undelegated powders, its acts are
unauthorative, void, and of no force; that
to this compact each State acceded as
a State, and is an integral party ; that this gov-
ernment, created by this compact, was not made
the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the
powers delegated to itself, since that w^ould have
made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the
measure of its powers ; but, that as in all other
cases of compact among parties having no com-
mon judge, each party has an equal right to judge
for itself, as w^ell of infractions as of the mode and
measure of redress."
The answer of Vermont to the nullification res-
olutions were sound in principle and have been
adhered to by the national government ever since,
and are as follows: viz.,
" To the Legislature of the State of Kentucky.
''We have maturely considered your resolutions
of November 10th, 1798. As 3'ou invite our opin-
ion, you w^ll not blame us for giving it without
disguise, and with decision. In your first resolu-
tion, you observe, in substance, ' That the States
constituted the general government, and that each
State as party to the compact, has an equal right
to judge for itself as w^ell of infractions of the
Constitution, as of the mode and measure of re-
dress.' This cannot be true. The old confedera-
tion, it is true, was formed by the State Legisla-
OF VERMONT. 14-7
turc, but the present Constitution of the United
States was derived from a higher authority. The
people of the United States formed the federal Con-
stitution, and not the State, or their Legislatures.
And although each State is authorized to propose
amendments, yet there is a wide difference between
proposing amendments to the Constitution, and
assuming, or inviting, a power to dictate or con-
control the general government.
"In your second resolution, you certainly mis-
construe and misapply an amendment to the Fed-
eral Constitution, which, if your construction be
true, does not surely warrant the conclusion that
as a State j^ou have a right to declare an^^ act
of the General Government, which you shall deem
unconstitutional, null and void. Indeed, you act-
ually do declare two acts of the Congress of the
United States null and void. If, as a State, you
have a right to declare two acts of the Congress
of the United States unconstitutional and therefore
void, you have an equal right to declare all their
acts unconstitutional. Suppose each Legislature
possesses the power you contend for, each Legisla-
ture would have the right to cause all the acts of
Congress to pass in view before them, and reject or
approve at their discretion, and the consequences
would be, that the government of the Union, falsely
called General, might operate partially in some
States, and cease to operate in others. Would not
this defeat the grand design of our Union ? "
The State of Virginia also sent state-rights
resolutions drawn by James Madison, to be adopt-
ed b}' the Vermont Legislature, though not quite
148 EARLY HISTORY
SO rank with the sentiment of nullification as
those of Kentucky, but still embodied dangerous
principles and they were replied to as follows :
''Resolved, That the General Assembly of the
State of Vermont do highly disapprove of the
resolutions of the State of Virginia, as being un-
constitutional in their nature, and dangerous in
their tendency. It belongs not to State Legis-
latures to decide on the constitutionality of laws
made by the general government ; this power be-
ing exclusively vested in the Judiciary Courts of
the Union.''
Thus it may be seen that Vermont has ever
taken a consistent, safe and conservative course
ever since her admission into the Union, and has
always stood firm in upholding the true principles
of the Constitution as sustained b\'the courts and
now recognized as sound throughout the Nation.
In October 1805, the Legislature refused to con-
fer upon one Charles Aliller, a subject of his Bri-
tannic Alajesty the rights of a citizen of the State
to enable him to hold a certain parcel of real estate
in this State, when he did not intend to become a
resident citizen of the State or of any of the United
States, and had not brought himself within the
provisions of the law of Congress on the subject
of naturalization.
CHAPTER VI.
INCIDENTS, LEGISLATION, EMBARGO,
SMUGGLING AND INTERNAL AFFAIRS
OF VERMONT FROM 1808 TO 1836. .
In 1808, there was a matter of considerable
magnitude that arose growing out of an attempt
in the general government to enforce the "land
embargo " law, of March 12, 1808. It was openW
declared, especially by smugglers, that the inhabi-
tants on Lake Champlain would never submit to
enforce that law. On Aug. 3, 1808, a partj^ of
twelve of the Vermont militia had captured a
notorious smuggling vessel, called the Black
Snake, then moored in Winooski river, and as
they were taking it down the river to the lake,
the smugglers /requentlj^ fired upon them, killing
Elias Drake of Clarendon and Asa Alarsh of Rut-
land and wounding Lieutenant Daniel Farrington
of Brandon. A murderous wall-piece, charged
with fifteen bullets, slugs, and buck-shot was dis-
charged among them. Jonathan Ormsb^- of Bur-
lington who joined the government part\^ to aid
in arresting the murderers was killed as was Asa
Marsh. The smugglers were all seized but two
who then escaped, but afterwards were arrested.
(149)
150 EAKLY HISTORY
On Aug. 23, 1808, a special term of court was
held; and at that time the grand jury returned
true bills against Samuel I. Mott of Alburgh,
William Noaks, Slocum Clark and Truman Mud-
gett of Highgate, Cyrus B. Dean and Josiah Pease
of S wanton, David Sheffield of Colchester, and
Francis Ledyard of Milton. These men were tried
for the crime charged against them. Mott and
Dean w^ere convicted of murder ; Dean was sen-
tenced to be hung on Oct. 28, 1808, but his sen-
tence w^as respited till the 11th day of November
1808, when the sentence was carried into execution
at Burlington. Sheffield and Ledyard w^ere also
convicted of the crime charged against them.
Mott and Sheffield were granted new trials, both
of whom with Ledyard were convicted of man-
slaughter at the January term of the court 1809.
These three men were sentenced to stand one hour
in the pillory, be confined ten years in the State
prison, and pay cost of prosecution, and in addi-
tion to those penalties, Mott and Sheffield received
fift^' lashes. The three were pardoned by the Gov-
ernor: Ledyard, Nov. 12, 1811 ; Sheffield, Nov. 4,
1815 ; and Mott Oct. 15, 1817. Tlje sentiment of
a large majority of the people of the State of Ver-
mont w^ere against the national embargo law" as it
was oppressive and worked against the interests of
Vermont, and, therefore, the people of Vermont
were not enthusiastic for its enforcement and gave
lukewarm obedience to it. At the special term of
the Supreme Court, held in January 1809, at Bur-
lington, the grand jury published an address to
the freemen of Chittenden Countv, in which they
OF VERMONT. 151
which strangers were principally the actors, we
view with satisfaction and admiration, the
loyalty and patience of our fellow citizens, and
that the charge of Insurrection and Rebellion,
lateh' exhibited against them, are vile aspersions
against the honor and the dignitj^ of this county."
Evidently the jury did not favor the President's
policy of the national government respecting the
embargo act. It is not the purpose of the writer
at this time to go into a full consideration of the
embargo act and the polic\' of the national gov-
ernment respecting it, but it will be further consid-
ered when we come to consider the causes of the
war of 1812, in Chapter YII. Governor Tichenor
in his speech to the Council and House of Represen-
tatives in 1808, well voiced the sentiment of Ver-
mont when he said : —
" The business which our constituents have con-
stitutionally assigned to their General Assembly,
embracing the civil and political interests of
the State, is the great object which will
necessarily engage your attention. It cannot
be concealed but these have been conisder-
ably affected by a late law of the United
States and the measures pursued to enforce
it. Among a people accustomed to honest industry,
and under a government which had permitted
them freely to dispose of the fruit of their labor,
as a natural and unalienable right, it was to be
feared there might exist a strong disposition to
evade its restrictions. Nothing but an appeal to
their patriotism, and strong conviction of the
152 EARLY HISTORY '
utility of the measure, could enforce obedience to a
law which in its operation blighted the best hopes
of the laborer and destroyed every incentive to
useful and honorable enterprise. While therefore
we regret the stain upon the character of a re-
spectable portion of our citizens, in consequence
of the conduct of a few, who had violated a law
of the government, suspending our commerce by an
embargo without limitation, w^e sincere^ regret
that the law was not accompanied with that evi-
dence of national necessity or utility which at once
w^ould have commanded obedience and respect.
We also must as sincerely deplore that, instead of
an application in the first instance to the civil
authority, in common with my fellow^ citizens, the
evils which result from that law, I cannot but hope
that the wisdom of the national Legislature will
induce an early repeal oi the same. If how^ever
this should not be deemed wise or expedient, I
must strongW enjoin the necessity of a quiet submis-
sion to the privations and inconveniences that may
be experienced, until we are relieved in a constitu-
tional way."
On Nov. 3, 1808, the United States Circuit
Court commenced a special session at Burlington,
held by Brockholst Livingston and Elijah Paine,
Judges, when Frederick Job and John Hoxie were
tried for high treason, in levying war against the
United States, but they were speedily acquitted by
the jury.
The following statement or confession was
made by Benjamin Whitcomb in his last sickness,
to David Goodall, Esq. of St. Johnsbur^^, asserting
OF VERMONT. 153
that he, during the war between the Americans
and the British, on orders from Washington to
shoot a British General in retaliation for the wan-
ton massacre of Americans by British Indians and
their officers, w^ent from Ticonderoga into Canada
and shot Gen. Gordon, and received a Major's
commission therefor. Washington characterized
the shooting of Gordon as assassination. It was
stated in Thompson's Vermont Gazetteer, that
Whitcomb shot General Gordon in July 1776, and
took his sword and watch, but in a letter of June
12, 1777, found in Anbury's Travels, a British
account in detail was given of the affair, and in
that account no robbery was charged against
Whitcomb, and no responsibility' against ^ny
American officer. The General in command at
Ticonderoga, expressed his diapprobation of the
act in the highest terms, and Whitcomb to effect
a reconciliation, promised to capture a British offi-
cer; he captured a friend of Anbury at the very
spot where Gordon had been shot.
A ver\' important affair to the public and unfor-
tunate for the individual concerned, occurred at the
Legislature. Abel Spencer a member of the Legis-
lature from Rutland, and a former speaker of the
House, was charged with highly dishonorable con-
duct. A committee was appointed to investigate
the charges against him ; he was found guilty by
the committee of feloniously taking ninety-three
dollars in bank bills, the property of three other
members of the House. He was by a unanimous
vote of the House expelled from his seat in the
Legislature.
154r ' EARLY HISTORY
In 1804, a resolution was sent from the House
to the Council, stating that '' Whereas the Honor-
able Judges of the Supreme Court have been im-
plicated b^' a' member of the House for taking and
receiving fees and perquisites in certain cases which
are not allowed by law. Therefore, Resolved,
That, a committee of three from this House be
appointed to inquire and ascertain the fees and
perquisites" that the judges had taken and re-
ceived for the time mentioned in the resolution and
report, but the Council did not concur. The result
of the inquiry in the House was to relieve the
judges from an^- blame in the matter of fees in the
opinion of the committee. In 1805, the investiga-
tioh was renewed and it resulted in a resolution
declaring the fees complained of were taken by the
judges with upright views, and that the3^ are hy
law made judges of w^hat is a reasonable and fair
construction of the fee bill.
On Oct. 12,1805, Gov. Tichenor transmitted to
the speaker of the House resolutions of Kentucky
w^hich were the same in substance that had been
transmitted to the speaker b^- Pennsylvania, pro-
posing to amend the Constitution of the United
States so as to exclude the Federal Courts from
jurisdiction in cases between a State and citizens
of another State; between citizens of different
States ; between citizens 9f the same State claim-
ing lands under grant of different States ; and be-
tween a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign
States, citizens or subjects. The position of Ken-
tucky towards Virginia was vefy much the same
as that of Vermont had been with New York be-
OF VERMONT. 155
fore the settlement of the controversy in 1790, and
that the Legislators of Vermont, therefore, under-
stood the grievance of Kentucky' and s^-mpathized
with her people. The Legislature postponed the
matter till the session ot 1806, when a favor-
able report was made and resolutions adopted in-
structing the Vermont Representatives in Congress
to use their best endeavors to procure such an
amendment to the Constitution as will confine the
judiciary power of the courts of the United States
to cases in law and equity arising under the Con-
stitution and laws of the United States and treaties
made or that shall be made under their authority;
cases affecting ambassadors and other public min-
isters and consuls ; cases of admiralty and mari-
time jurisdiction ; controversies to which the
United States shall be a party, and controversies
between two or more States. The Legislature in
adopting the resolutions made the following dec-
laration.
"It is the opinion of this Legislature, that the
good people of this State experience nearl}' all the
inconveniences and evils expressed in the resolu-
tions from the State of Kentucky ; and that two
independent courts, having no corrective over each
other and holding jurisdiction over the same sub-
ject in controversy^, cannot continue to exist in the
same State without engendering seeds of jealousy
and ill will, naturally tending to establish differ-
ent and clashing rules of decision, and also form-
ing two rallying points and erecting two stand-
ards for the resort of political partizans, and lay-
ing a foundation for that discord which may
156 EARLY HISTORY
«
eventually terminate in the dissolution of our
happy Union ; which, together with the great ex-
pense of the service of w^rits returnable at so great
distance, and of witnesses attending courts, (no
depositions being taken within one hundred miles
of court,) and the fees of counsel above what is
required in our State courts, induce this Legisla-
ture fully to concur with the Legislature of the
State of Kentucky."
A sufficient number of the States did not ratify
all of the proposed amendments and no change
was ever made in the Constitution as proposed,
except as provided in Article XI of the amend-
ments to the Constitution : That article is as fol-
lows : viz., ''The judicial power of the United
States shall not be construed to extend to any suit
in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against
one of the United States b\^ citizens of another
State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign
vState."
On Jan. 13, 1808, the Legislature of Virginia
adopted a resolution proposing an amendment to
the Constitution of the United States, so, "that
the Senators in Congress of the United States ma3^
be removed from office by the vote of the majority
of the whole number of the members of the respec-
tive Legislatures by which the said Senators have
been or may be appointed." This proposal was
rejected in 1809; the Assembly declared as their
opinion that the Senators did not hold their office
during a period of sufficent duration to render
such amendment necessary-. At the October ses-
sion of 1809, a proposition came from Pennsylva-
OF VERMONT. 157
nia to amend the Constitution, so "that an impar-
tial tribunal ma\' be established to determine dis-
putes between the General and State Governments."
The Legislature rejected this proposal, giving as
reasons for its action, that such disputes are not
so frequent, nor of sufficient magnitude to render
such a tribunal necessary.
In 1811, the Congress of the United States pro-
posed the following amendment to the Constitu-
tion of the United States: viz., "If any citizen of
the United States shall accept, claim, receive or
retain anj^ title of nobilit}- or honor, or shall,
without consent of Congress, accept and retain
any present, pension, office or any emolument what-
ever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign
power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the
United States, and shall be incapable of holding any
office of trust or profit under them or either of
them." This proposal was presented to the General
Assembly bj' Governor Galusha on Oct. 17, 1811,
and acted upon by the Assembly on October 22d
of that 3'ear, and was agreed to, ratified and con-
firmed on the part of the State.
In 1807, the General Assembly', by their com-
mittee drafted an address to President Jefierson
urging him to stand as a candidate for the Presi-
dency of the United States for a third term. The
federalists made no opposition to this address, and
it was adopted. President Jefferson on Dec. 10,
1807, made the following reply :
" To the Legislature of Vermont. — I received in
due season the address of the Legislature of Ver-
mont, bearing date the 5th of November 1806, in
158 EARLY HISTORY
which, with their approbation of the general course
of my administration, they were so good as to
express their desire that I would consent to be
proposed again, to the public voice, on the expira-
tion of my present term of office. Entertaining, as
I do, for the Legislature of Vermont those senti-
ments of high respect which would have prompted
an immediate answer, I was certain, nevertheless,
they would approve a delay which had for its ob-
ject to avoid a premature agitation of the public
mind, on a subject so interesting as the election of
a Chief Magistrate.
"That I should lay down my charge at a proper
period, is as much a duty as to have borne it faith-
fully. If some termination to the services of a
Chief Magistrate be not fixed by the Constitution,
or supplied by practice, his office, nominally for
years, will, in fact, become for life; and history
shows how easih^ that degenerates into an inheri-
tance. Believing that a representative govern-
ment, responsible at short periods of election, is
that which produces the greatest sum of happiness
to mankind, I feel it a dutA^ to do no act which
shall essentially impair that principle; and I should
unwillingly be the person who, disregarding the
sound precedent set by an illustrious predecessor,
should furnish the first example of prolongation
beyond the second term of office.
"Truth, also, requires me to add, that I am
sensible of that decline which advancing years
brings on ; and feeling their physical, I ought not
to doubt their mental effect. Happ}^ if I am the
first to perceive and obey this admonition of
OF VERM(3NT. 159
nature, and to solicit a retreat from cares too
great for the wearied faculties of age.
" For the approbation which the Legislature of
Vermont has been pleased to express of the princi-
ples and measures pursued in the management of
their affairs, I am sincerely thankful ; and should I
be so fortunate as to carry into retirement the
equal approbation and good will of m3' fellow-
citizens generally, it will be the comfort of my
future da3^s, and will close a service of forty 3^ears
with the only reward it ever wished."
B3' an act of the Legislature of New York passed
June 8, 1812, and an act of the Legislature of Ver-
mont passed November 6th, 1812, three Commis-
sioners from each of the two States were appoint-
ed and authorized to designate and mark a perma-
nent boundar\' line between the two States. The
Commissioners on the part of New York were
Smith Thompson, Simeon DeWitt, and George
Tibbits, and on the part of Vermont, Joseph Bee-
man, Henry Olin and Joel Pratt, 2nd. In 1813
and 1814, the Commissioners accomplished the
work assigned them and made their report under
their hands and seals bearing date October 25,
1814, which is too lengthy to insert here.
On October 25, 1814, the Governor put before
the Council a letter from the Secretary of War of
the United States and one from the Assistant Ad-
jutant General of the Army of the United States,
and in the latter there appeared the following
clause, "It is the wish of the Government that two
thousand of the militia of your State should be
drafted and organized for immediate service, sub-
160 EARLY HISTORY
ject to the call, when necessary, of the command-
ing officer in this quarter." The Governor there-
upon proposed to the Council for their considera-
tion and advice, the following: "can the militia,
when called into actual service, be legalh' com-
manded by any officers, except such as are ap-
pointed by this State?" The Council appointed a
committee to take the question into consideration
and make report. The Committee in their report
to the Governor, after referring to Art. 1, Sec. 8,
and Art. 11. , Sec. 2, of the Constitution of the
United States, said, "The President ma\' undoubt-
edly command the arm\' and nav\' of the United
States b3' officers lawfulh' commissioned by him-
self; but he cannot so command the militia of the
States, when called into actual service of the Unit-
ed States, for the appointment of their officers is a
right reserved to the States respectiveh'. If, there-
fore, the President would command the militia
when in actual service of the United States, he
must do it in person, or exercise his command ov-
er them by officers appointed by the State, and
not by officers appointed b3^ the President. ^ ^j. ^
As well might the officers of the militia, appointed
by this State, when in the actual service of the
United States, claim the right to command the ar-
my of the United States, as the officers of the ar-
my of the United States to command the militia.
There is no constitutional provision for either to
claim such right or exercise such command."
The General Assembly at its October session
of 1814, passed an act appropriating a certain sum
of monev out of the Countv Treasurv of Addison
OF VERMONT. 161
Count\' for the relief of Laban Cousins, which the
Governor and Council, \visel_v did not concur in
passing and stated in their reasons for non-concur-
rence, ''that they doubted the existence of a power
in the Legislature to pass a law directing monev
to be paid out of any treasur3' in this State b^' wa^'
of gift of any individual, except it be out of the
State Treasur3\ * * * Corporations, as
well as individual citizens, have their rights,
which cannot be infringed b\^ the Legislature. * * *
It is true that the Legislature ma^- by its act em-
power a corporation to make a donation, but the
Legislature cannot direct a corporation to make a
donation an^- more than it can a private citizen."
This bill was dismissed on its being returned to
the House, but another w^as passed empowering
the judges of the court, if they deemed it expedi-
ent, to allow not exceeding eight \' dollars, for
Cousins' relief ^nd draw orders for the same on
the County- Treasurer.
In 1813 and 1814, there w^as an eftbrt made to
give the State Supreme Court Judges the right to
hold their office during good behavior, though re-
movable by a concurrent vote of two-thirds of
each of the Legislature. The Council of Censors
(composed of Federalists) made such a proposal of
amendment to the Constitution. This and all
other proposed amendments, the convention of
1814, rejected by a vast majority-. One article in
the proposed amendment was one providing for a
Senate in place of the Council, but it was rejected
b^- a vote yeas 20, nays ISS. Governor Galusha
in his speech of 1815, referring to the proposed
162 EARLY HISTORY
amendment to give the judges the right to hold
their office during good behavior, said, '* When the
citizens of this State saw an attempt at such an
alteration in their Constitution, as would remove
the election and accountability of many of their
officers, at a greater, and truly dangerous distance
from them— without distinction of party, they ral-
lied around the standard of their libert}^, and in the
exercise of their sovereignty, secured the happy
form and principles of a government, whose pecu-
liar blessings they had long enjoyed."
The year of 1815, opened with the brightest
prospects of peace. The war that had been waged
between Great Britain for three 3'ears had been
brought to a close; the time, money and men
that had been devoted to a defensive war, now
could be turned to the cultivation of the soil, the
improvement of manufactures and other manifold
industries, so as to supply the people with food,
raiment and all the blessings of peace.
Governor Galusha in his speech to the Legisla-
ture in October 1815, said, " We are assembled at
a highly interesting period ; a period succeeding
the most surprising events that ever burst upon
the view of an astonished world. * "^ " The
important contest in which we were deeply engaged
with one of the most potent nations of the earth,
has been happily terminated ; and instead of the
horrors of war we are surrounded with all the
rich blessings of peace."
But in the year of 1816, the people met with a
new experience. The spring and summer of this
year was uncomm.onlv cold. Snow fell in almost
OF VERMONT. 163
every part of the State, and in nian^^ places to the
depth of a foot and a half; a heavy fall of snow
came as late as the 8th of June ; the weather was
cold and all crops were small and sickly-, and great
apprehension was lelt that they would not
mature ; but little rain fell to moisten the earth ;
the earth was both dr^^ and cold, and provisions
were scarce. A general famine was apprehended
from the uncommon failure of crops. Governor
Galusha in his speech to the Legislature at the
October session of the year 1816, said, "The un-
common failure of some of the most important
articles of produce on which the sustenance of man
and beast depend is so alarming that I take the
liberty to recommend to you, and through you to
the people of this State, the most rigid economy in
the early expenditure of those articles of provis-
ion most deficient, that by peculiar precaution we
may avoid, as far as possible, the foreboding evil
of this unparalled season."
In the 3'ear 1815, the Legislature passed a most
extraordinary and unwise act, granting to a com-
pany the exclusive right of navigating Lake Cham-
plain by steam for twent^'-three years. This act
met with a determined opposition in the House,
but was passed by a vote of 91 to 70. It was
found to be afterwards unconstitutional and void.
From the year 1797 to the year 1816 it had
been the practice of the House to return an answer
to the Governor's speech, and at this session Rich-
ard Skinner of Alanchester and Heman Allen of
Colchester (both anti-Federalists,) and George
Robinson of Burlington (Federalist) were appoint-
164 EARLY HISTORY
ed a committee to draft an answer to the Govern-
or's speech; the anti-Federalists made a report
expressing sentiments favorable to the speech,
which was adopted by a vote 109 to 86; on these
occasions, usually, a majority- and a minority re-
port would be made, when the reports would be
discussed bringing out strong part^- feelings. With
the session of 1816, terminated the practice of re-
turning an answer to the Governor's speech, as
the discussions consumed much time and gave rise
to the most violent party contention.
In 1817, the internal affairs of the State as-
sumed a more harmonious and prosperous condi-
tion; a bountiful harvest supplied the wants of
the people; returning peace had brought tran-
quilit^' to its borders, and business became gener-
ally more fixed and certain. Private acts were
passed remunerating certain individuals for losses
sustained in attempting to carr^^ into effect the
Vermont non-intercourse act, and Col. Fifield was
granted $1,112 for his loss. Later, other claims
were presented of the same nature, but the non-
intercourse act having been declared unconstitu-
tional by the Supreme Court of the State and all
proceedings under it void, the Legislature refused
to remunerate the claimants. These losses having
been incurred in enforcing the Legislatvie acts, and
declared illegal by the judiciary, in justice ought to
have been paid b^'the power that occasioned them.
It was during the year 1817, that an arrange-
ment was concluded with the British Government
and the United States for the reduction of the na-
val force of both countries on the lakes, byprovid-
OF VERMONT. 165
ing that neither government should keep in ser-
vice on lakes Ontario or Champlain more than one
armed vessel, and that to have only one gun.
In the year 1818, a medical academy was insti-
tuted at Castleton by an act of the Legislature
for the purpose of instructing in the science of
physic, surgerA^, chemistry, and all the various
branches connected with the healing art. That
institution has been connected with Middlebury
College.
In 1821, the Vermont Legislature took strong
ground against Congress appropriating the public
land in unjust proportion to the States for educa-
tional purposes. Governor Skinner had received
propositions from both New Hampshire and
Mar3dand to be acted upon by the Vermont Legis-
lature, declaring that the public lands of the United
States are the common property of the Union, and
ought to be applied to the common use and benefit
of the States in just proportions, and not to the
use and benefit of any particular State or States,
to the exclusion of others ; and that any such
partial appropriation of them, for State purposes,
is a violation of our national compact, as well as
of the principles of just and sound policy. And
that, as large appropriations of the public lands
have been made by the United States, to certain
particular States for the purposes of education, the
rights of other States, will be violated unless a
like appropriation be made to them, of the public
lands, for the same purpose, in just proportion.
These views were embodied in resolutions and
adopted by the Legislature. Governor Skinner in
166 EARLY HISTORY
layin;^ before the Legislature the resolutions from
New Hampshire and Maryland accompanied by
reports of committees of their respective Legisla-
tures, said, that "no State, in proportion to their
ability contributed more to the acquisition of
those rights, which w^ere purchased by the toils,
distresses and sacrifices of the revolutionary war,
than Vermont. Situated upon the frontier, they
constituted a barrier between the enemj^ and the
Confederate States. Not having been acknowl-
edged as a member of the confederation, no part
of the expense thtj incurred in the w^ar, has been
assumed by the general government, w^hile they
have participated in the burden of the funded
debt."
In 1821, the Legislature became awakened to
the evils of treating in ardent spirits among the
militia. On Nov. 9, 1821, the House sent up for
the concurrence of the Council the following:
"Resolved, That the custom which prevails
with the commissioned officers of the militia of
this State of giving, by w^ay of treat, ardent
spirits to those under their command, is attended
with pernicious consequences to the militia, and
merits the disapprobation of this General Assem-
bly. The practice becomes burthensome to officers,
corrupts the morals of the soldiers, tends to intro-
duce disorder, confusion and disobedience and
ought to be discountenanced by all classes of the
communit^^" In a second resolution the officers
were requested to use their exertions, in orders or
otherw^ise to carry into effect the resolutions. The
resolutions w^ere concurred in.
OF VERMONT. 167
Previous to 1824, the three judges of each
County Court had consisted mainly of farmers,
mechanics, merchants, and clergymen, but rarel^^
of a lawyer or a man learned in the law. Courts
so composed, undoubtedh^ endeavored to do jus-
tice between litigants, but it is obvious that they
w^ere liable to frequent error through a lack of
know^ledge of the law^ Through an act drawn by
Hon. Samuel Prentiss of Montpelier in 1824, this
serious defect was remedied, as it was provided b\'
that act that ever^^ chief justice of a County Court
should be some one of the judges of the Supreme
Court, presumably a jurist of high repute — w^hile
the two assistant judges w^ere left to be appointed
as before. This change added dignit3^ to the
County Courts, and inspired litigants with confi-
dence in having their legal rights secured. That
system still continues.
On Oct. 14, 1825, the speaker of the House was
authorized to assign a seat upon the floor of the
House to some person to report the debate and
proceedings. The reports were printed in the Ver-
mont Watchman, then the only newspaper printed
in Montpelier. This was the origin of official leg-
islative reports. For a time slips of legislative
reports were printed daih^ for the use of both
Houses by order of the Legislature, and this
speedily grew^ into a small daily newspaper during
the session, with which members were supplied at
the expense of the State, which served as an aid in
the discharge of their official duties. Edward V.
Sparhawk was selected as the first oflicial reporter.
At the legislative session of 1825, the House
168 EARLY HISTORY
had passed a bill which the Council suspended
until the session of 1826. At the last named ses-
sion the House repassed the same bill and declared
it to be a law without the concurrence of the Gov-
ernor and Council. Thereupon the Council on Nov.
1, 1826, resented the action of the House by pass-
ing the following resolutions: viz. Resolved, in
the opinion of the Council, that no bill originally
introduced into the House of Representatives, can
become a law without the concurrence of the Gov-
ernor and Council. Resolved, That any attempt
of the House of Representatives to pass laws
without the concurrence of the Governor and
Council is an infringement upon the constitutional
powers and prerogatives of the Governor and
Council. Resolved, That the late act of the House
of Representatives to declare a bill entitled, '*An
act repealing part of an act therein mentioned,
to have become a law without the concurrence of
the Governor and Council, is an assumption of
power unprecedented and unwarranted by the
Constitution." E. P.Walton, on this action, says
in the Governor and Council, the custom had been
to send such bills to the Council for concurrence,
which had been granted as a matter of course — so
the Council was right in its resolution on this
question. But were the Council not to concur in
a suspended bill, nevertheless, on its re-enactment
by the House, it would become a law. So on that
point, the House was right. The House had
simply neglected a courtesy which had been custo-
mary.
On Nov. 6, 1827, Heman Allen of Milton was
OF VERMONT. 169
elected Judge of the Supreme Court in the place of
Stephen Ro^'ce, Jr. declined, but Allen also declined
and later, Royce was induced to accept the posi-
tion. It was this year that the Vermont Mutual
Fire Insurance Company was incorporated, which
ever since has been doing a successful business, the
managers of which have had the confidence of the
people. On Nov. 13, 1827, the House instructed
the Vermont delegation in Congress to favor the
purposes of the American Colonization Society by
government aid.
On Oct. 27, 1832, a resolution was presented in
the House by Charles Carron, Jr., the Representa-
tive of Isle La Aiotte, and concurred in by the
Council, to effectually protect the citizens of the
State engaged in the manufacture of marble from
competition. It was the first resolution inviting
the attention of the Legislature to one of the most
admirable and valuable x)roductions of the State.
At the October session of the Legislature of
1833, Solomon Foot of Rutland, afterwards a dis-
tinguished member of the United States Senate,
introduced a resolution in the House, "that the
Governor be requested to procure a sword, orna-
mented with devices emblematical of the capture
of the Cyane and Levant, by the American Frigate
Constitution, and present the same to Lieutenant
Horace B. Sawj^er, as a testimony' of the high
sense which the General Assembly entertain for his
services and gallantry in that memorable action."
This resolution was adopted without division, but
rejected by the Governor and Council. In 1834,
the House again adopted the resolution, and again
170 EARLY HISTORY
it was rejected by the Council ; in 1835, the same
resolution failed in the House, but in 1856 both
the House and Senate concurred in paying the well
deserved compliment. Captain Sawwer recipro-
cated b^^ presenting to the Governor for the Execu-
tive Chamber, an elegant chair, manufactured
from the w^ood of the old frigate Constitution.
Captain Horatio Bucklin Saw^^er was the grand-
son of Col. Ephraim Saw3'er w^ho commanded a
Massachusetts regiment at the Battle of Bunker
Hill and Saratoga, and son of Col. James Sawyer,
an officer in the War of the Revolution. Captain
Sawyer was born in Burlington, Yt., Feb. 22,
1797; he was appointed midshipman in the U. S.
Navy in 1812, and commenced service on Lake
Champlain ; he was captured on the sinking of the
sloop Eagle in 1813, and detained for a year at
Quebec as a prisoner; and on his release he was as-
signed to the frigate Constitution under Commo-
dore Stewart, and served with credit in the action
which resulted in the capture of the British ships
named in^said resolution. While engaged in pre-
serving neutrality, at Derby Line, during the
'' Patriot Rebellion" in Canada, he was appointed
lieutenant commandant in the Navy, and in 1854,
received a commission as post captain. He had a
long and honorable service in the Navy. He died
at the city of Washington, Feb. 14, 1860.
In 1835, there was no election of Governor by
the people, but Silas H. Jenison w^as elected Lieu-
tenant Governor. It had been the practice for the
Governor-elect to issue the commissions to the offi-
cers elected by the Legislature during the session.
OF VERMONT. 171
It was a matter of convenience that they should
be so issued ; and the question arose who should
sign the commissions. On Nov. 6, 1835, the fol-
lowing resolution was introduced before the Coun-
cil: ''Resolved, That His Honor the Lieutenant
Governor be requested to issue commissions, to
the officers elected bv the General Assembl3^ and
other officers entitled to commissions in all cases
when it hath been, heretofore usual to issue com-
missions during the session." A committee was
appointed who reported, bj^ George P. Marsh for
the committee, to the Lieutenant Governor and
the Council, that the Lieutenant-Governor, in
their opinion, had the undoubted right to issue the
commissions, "whether the late incumbent of the
gubernatorial chair be holden to be still in office
or not," but referred the question to the Supreme
Court. Section XI of the second part of the Con-
stitution then read as follows : —
" The Governor, and in his absence, the Lieuten-
ant Governor, with the Council {the major part of
whom including the Governor or Lieutenant Gov-
ernor, shall be a quorum to transact business,)
shall have power to commission all officers, and
also to appoint officers, except where provision is
or shall be otherwise made b3' law, or this frame
of government ; and shall supply ever3' vacanc\' in
any office, occasioned b^^ death or otherwise, until
the office can be filled in the manner directed by
law^ or this constitution."
Judges Titus Hutchinson and Samuel S. Phelps
furnished the Council their opinion of the question
involved, the full text of which is too long to be
172 EARLY HISTORY
stated, but the substance of which was that the
''Plan or Frame of Government " which declares
that the person having the major part of votes to
be Governor, for the 3^ear ensuing, does not limit
the exercise of the powers of Governor to the pre-
cise period of twelve calendar months, or one solar
year ; it is not to be understood that the powers
of Governor shall cease before a successor is elected.
While the election of Governor is pending in the
Legislature, it must be considered, that the powers
of the incumbent continue until a successor is
elected, and this from the necessity of the case.
The expression "the year ensuing" was undoubt-
edly intended to mean the political year. The
court did not decide that the Governor would
have any power to act as Governor after the dis-
solution of the legislative session without electing
a successor of the Governor. Undoubtedly if the
Legislature should take a final adjournment with-
out electing a governor, in case the people had
failed to elect one, the powers of the Governor
would cease and the Lieutenant Governor would
be the Acting Governor as it was in the year from
November 1835, to the next session of the Legisla-
ture in 1836, when Silas H.Jenison, elected as Lieu-
tenant, was ex-officio Governor on account of the
failure of William A. Palmer, the leading candi-
date for Governor or other persons, to be elected
as Governor.
mriiK VII.
BRITISH AGGRESSION AND CAUSE OF THE
WAR OF 1812 AND VERMONT'S
ATTITUDE RESPECTING IT.
England has been and is called our mother
country and in some respects that is true, and
Americans have been willing that that appella-
tion should be applied to them, but for man3^
years after the American Colonies gained their in-
dependence England showed anything but a moth-
er's care or respect for them. It was a bitter dis-
appointment for the haught^^ British nation to
surrender all authority over the American Colonies
that she had clung to w4th such unparalleled ten-
acit3^ and acknowledge their attempted coercion
a failure.
After the separation was accomplished, instead
ot fostering a just and friendh' spirit, a domineer-
ing, captious and an illiberal spirit pervaded her
dealings with America. Any small unintentional in-
fractions of national law were greath' magnified.
She acted as though the colonies that had been
wrenched from her grasp, by reason of England's
oppressive course, had no rights that Englishmen
were bound to respect. This state of feeling was
exhibited in their reluctance or refusal to with-
(173)
174 EARLY HISTORY
draw their troops from Dutchman's Point and
the entire town of Alburo^h h'in^ south of 45^, the
line agreed upon between Canada and the Ameri-
can territory- in the treaty granting the Colonies
their independence; it was seen in the British incit.
ing the Indians to barbarous acts of cruelty
against the settlers in the frontier States, and to
acts of war against the United States for many
years after the Revolutionary^ War; it w^as seen in
building and holding Fort Miami and committing
other depredations along our western frontier
and sending English troops with savage Indians
on to American territor3^ with hostile designs; it
was seen in the flagrant abuse of impressment of
seamen ; in the forcible seizure of American citizens
for service in the British Navy. England not con-
tent wih reclaiming deserters, or asserting the
eternity of British citizenship, through her naval
authorities, w^as compelling thousands of men of
unquestioned American birth to help fight her bat-
tles.
Robert Stewart Castereagh, a British states-
man, admitted that there had been sixteen hun-
dred bona fide cases of this sort by Jan. 1, 1811.
In her conduct with other nations, and in exercis-
ing, even her just claims, she ignored international
law, as well as the dignity and sovereignty of the
United States. The odious right of search she
shamefully abused. When pressed by America for
apology or redress, she showed no serious willing-
ness to treat upon the complaints, but seemed to
resolve to utilize our weak and too trustful policy
of peace. An instance of their insolent policy
OF VERMONT. 175
is shown in the Chesapeake affair. In June 1S07,
Commodore liarron, in command of the United
States war vessel Chesapeake was attacked by the
Leopard a British two-decker of fifty guns, out-
side of the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, to recover
three sailors, falsely alleged to be British born, on
board. Surrender being refused, the Leopard
opened fire. The Chesapeake received twenty-one
shots in her hull, three of her crew were killed and
eighteen W'Ounded. This attack upon the Chesa-
peake w^hile unsuspicious of danger concentrated
upon the British nation the whole weight of popu-
lar indignation. The American vessel being unpre-
pared struck her colors and was boarded by a
detachment from the Leopard. Humphrey, the
Leopard's commander, declined to take the Chesa-
peake as a prize, and said he had obe3^ed his direc-
tions in seizing the men and w^anted nothing more
of the vessel. On investigation it was ascertained
that three of the men taken from the Chesapeake
were citizens of the United States, w^ho had been
impressed into the British service and afterw^ards
made their escape. This wanton exercise of power
derogatory to national honor aroused the spirit
of our people. The rancor of American party
spirit which had so long embittered the inter-
course of social life subsided in the desire to
avenge the injury- , and to support the govern-
ment by treats' or war, to obtain satisfaction
for the insulting outrage. The President issued a
proclamation prohibiting all British ships of war
from continuiitg or entering within the harbors or
w^aters of the United States. Reparation for the
176 EARLY HISTORY
injury, and security against any future aggression
was demanded. The act of the commander of the
Leopard, after a long delay, was disavowed b3' the
British government; but the delay to adjust the
difficulties and refusing to adopt adequate meas-
ures to prevent the continuance of aggression, feel-
ings of hostility against England rose to a high
pitch.
The General Assembly- of Vermont, co-operat-
ing in their views with the general sentiment of the
American people adopted a resolution, with but
one dissenting vote, stating that the3' viewed with
indignation and abhorrence the unjustifiable con-
duct of the British cruisers, in the impressment
and murder of American citizens, and plundering
of their propert^^ upon the high seas and even in
the ver\^ entrance of our harbors, and more especi-
ally- in the late hostile attack made upon the
American frigate Chesapeake by the British ship
Leopard. And the Assembly ''Resolved, That at
this awful crisis, w-hen our national honor and in-
dependence are insulted by a nation with whom
we, forgetful of former injuries, have not onh- en-
deavorad to cultivate harmony, by preserving a
strict and perfect neutrality, but to conciliate their
friendship b,v ever3^ act of benevolence, humanity-
and assistance compatible with the justice due to
ourselves and others, it is the dutyof ever^- Ameri-
can to rally around the constituted authorities of
his country and to support them with his life and
fortune, in resisting an\- encroachments on our
national and individual rights b^- any foreign
power whatever; and in procuring redress for the
OF VERMONT. 177
many injuries we have sustained and which our
patience and friendly forbearance has suffered too
long, injuries committed in a manner unusually
barbarous and calculated to fix an indelible
stigma." The Assembly also passed a resolve
commending the course of the President in the
trying occasion and expressed confidence in his
wisdom, integrit3' and ability, and transmitted a
copy of them to the President, Thomas Jefferson.
A state of war existed between England and
France and they treated all neutral powers as
enemies if they continued commercial relations
with the nation with which they were at war;
consequently these two powers which were at war
with each other subjected the carr34ng vessels and
their cargoes of the neutral nations, continuing
their friendly and commercial relations with the
other nation with which they were at war, to seiz-
ure and confiscation contrary- to the enlightened
law of nations. This position placed the American
nation between the '' devil and the deep sea." Evi-
dently the time was hastening w^hen the United
States must either declare war against England or
France or both, or continue to submit to the
seizure of their vessels and cargoes and destruction
of their navy and the cruel and barbarous treat-
ment of two arrogant nations. The latter course
the United States could not do without losing its
honor and self respect.
On Dec. 17, 1807, Bonaparte, by his ''Milan
Decree" subjected American commercial vessels to
seizure, and on April 17, 1808, he ordered the
seizure and confiscation of all American vessels in
178 EARLY HISTORY
France, or that should afterwards arrive there.
The policy of England against America continued
to be enforced with rigor, and a great number of
American vessels, with valuable cargoes, fell into
the hands of English cruisers. Nine hundred and
seventeen American vessels had been, before 1810,
taken by the English since 1803.
On March 23, 1810 Bonaparte ordered the sale
and confiscation of one hundred and thirty-two
American vessels, (detained in France b3' previous
decree) and their cargoes of the value of $8,000,
000. The French nation had seized, confiscated
and destroyed five hundred and fifty-eight vessels.
Before the war of 1812 was declared upwards of
six thousand cases of impressment were recorded in
the American department of State, and in all these
the American flag had been violated by England.
The French nation laid the blame for these extra-
ordinar\' proceedings at the doors of the English
government; that the French justified their course,
to retaliate on England for her course and policy
against the French nation. The English course
and policy was to constrain all neutrals, compris-
ing almost every maritime nation of Europe, to
pay tribute, if they traded with France or her
allies. This was immediately succeeded by the
said Milan Decree, declaring that every neutral ves-
sel which submitted to the British restrictions,
should be confiscated if they were afterwards
found in their ports, or taken 133' the French cruis-
ers. This state of affairs existed at the time the
American embargo proclamation was issued.
This was designed to coerce the belligerent powers
OF VERMONT. 179
to return to the observance of the laws of nations,
by witholding from them the advantages of the
American trade. In March 1809, a non-inter-
course act, prohibiting all intercourse with France
or Great Britain during one year, was substituted
by Congress for the embargo. This non-inter-
course law expired in May 1810, and the national
government made proposals to both France and
England, that if either would revoke its hostile
edicts this law should only be revived and enforced
against other nations. It had ever been the Ameri-
can polic\^to observe a perfect impartialit}^ toward
eacb belligerent. The authorities of France in-
formed the American officer that the Berlin and
Milan decrees w^ere revoked, to take effect the first
day of November 1810. England was called upon
to revoke her orders of confiscation, but she refused
and established a kind of blockading system,
through the principal harbors of the United States,
so that vessels departing or returning, were boarded
and searched, and some of them sent to British
ports as legal prizes, and American commerce nearly
destro3'ed, and that of France badly crippled b\^
the powerful British Navy.
The people of the country became very restive
under the embargo act of Dec. 22, 1807, and Ver-
monters especially under the act of March 12,
1808, commonly called the "land embargo," which
was promulgated simultaneous^ with the opening
of navigation on Lake Champlain. Under the first
named act the attention of Vermont people turned
to Canada for a market for their timber, and pot
and pearl ashes which were then their chief articles
180 EARLY HISTORY
of export. This market was interfered with by the
''land embargo" and the distress of the people,
and the zeal of the Federal politicians who made
the most of their opportunities, excited great dis-
satisfaction with the national government. Smug-
gling became a regular business with many and
had the sympathy of many citizens. Jabez
Penniman the collector of the Vermont District,
received the embargo law on April 1, 1808, and he,
through the advice of Asa Aldis and C. P. Van-
Ness, addressed a letter to Mr. Gallatin, Secretary
of the Treasury, stating it was impossible to exe-
cute, the land embargo law, without a military
force. The enforcement of this law brought on the
serious affair of the "Black Snake" which has al-
ready been referred to in Chapter VI. President
Jefferson was fully determined to put an end to the
smuggling, and enforced the embargo Acts of Con-
gress, and to furnish Collector Penniman with suf-
ficient authority and force to enable him to enforce
the law in his district. This determination is
clearly shown by his letter to the Secretary of the
Treasury of April 19, 1808, which is as follows:
"We have concluded as follows: 1st. That a
letter from your department to the Collector on
Lake Champlain, shall instruct him to equip and
arm what vessels he can and ma^- think necessary,
and engage as many persons on board them as
ma^^ be necessary, and as can be engaged voluntar-
ially, b\' force of arms, or otherwise, to enforce the
law.
"2d. The Secretary of State writes to the Mar-
shall, if the opposition to the law is too powerful
OF VERMONT. 181
for the collector, to raise his posse, (which, as a
peace officer, he is fullv authorized to do on any
forcible breach of the peace,) and to aid in suppress-
ino^ the insurrection or combinations.
"3d. The Secretar3' of War desires the Gover-
nor, if the posse is inadequate, to publish a proc-
lamation with which he is furnished, and to call
on the militia. He is further, by a private letter,
requested to repair to the place, and lend the aid
of his counsel and authority according to exigen-
cies.
"We have further determined to build two gun-
boats at Skenesborough, [Whitehall, N. Y.] "
The proclamation referred to is as follows :
''By the President of the United States,
A Proclamation.
"Whereas information has been received that
sundry persons are combined or combining and
confederating together on Lake Champlain and
the country thereto adjacent, for the purposes of
forming insurrections against the authorit3^ of the
laws of the United States, for opposing the same
and obstructing their execution ; and that such
combinations are too powerful to be suppressed
by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or
by the powers vested in the Marshals, by the laws
of the United States :
"Now therefore, to the end that the authority
of the laws may be maintained, and that those
concerned, directh' or indirectl3^ in an\' insurrec-
tion against the same ma^^be duly warned — I have
issued this m\^ Proclamation, hereby command-
ing such insurgents, and all concerned in such com-
182 EARLY HISTORY
binations, instantly and without delaj^ to disperse
themselves and retire peaceably to their respective
abodes : And do hereby further require and com-
mand all officers having authority, civil or militar^^
and others, civil or militar\^ who shall be
found within the vicinage of such insurrec-
tions, to be aiding and assisting by all the
means in their power, by force of arms or other-
wise, to quell and subdue such insurrection or com-
binations, to seize upon all those^therein concerned,
who shall not, instantly and without dela}', dis-
perse and retire to their respective abodes ; and to
deliver them over to the civil authorit^^ of the
place, to be proceeded against according to law.
" In testimon}' whereof, I have caused the Seal
of the United States to be affixed to these presents,
and signed the same with my hand. Given at the
city of Washington, the 10th of April 1808, and in
the sovereignty and independence of the United
States the thirty-second." Th: Jefferson.
The military power was invoked. On May 5,
1808, by order of Governor Israel Smith, Gen.
Levi House ordered out a detachment from the
first regiment of his brigade in Franklin County
who were stationed at Windmill Point. The spe-
cial purpose was to prevent several rafts from
passing into Canada. People had been accustomed
to take advantage of darkness and a strong favor-
able wind and escape into Canada, and this too, af-
ter the Franklin County detachment had been
called into service to prevent ; this called in ques-
tion the efficiency of the Franklin County militia,
and therefore one hundred and fifty militia on May
OF VERMONT. 183
31, 1808, were marched from Rutland County for
that service, and were reinforced by a detachment
of U. S. Artillery, and all but seventy-five oi the
Franklin County men w^ere discharged to their
great indie^nation. Later in October ot that year
all of the Vermont militia w^ere withdrawn and
their places supplied by United States troops.
This resort to force by the government served
to increase the fervor of the Federal part^^ and
gave them the victory at the then ensuing election
of State officers.
Early in 1809, after the passage of the new
embargo act of Jan. 9, the following circular was
sent to Governor Tichenor, prepared by Thomas
Jefferson himself for the Governors, viz :
^^ Sir, — The pressure of the embargo, although
sensibly felt b^^ ever3^ description of our fellow citi-
zens, has \'et been cheerfull^^ borne by most of them,
under the conviction that it was a temporary evil,
and a necessar}^ one to save us from greater and
more permanent evils, — the loss of propert\' and
surrender of rights. But it w^ould have been more
cheerfully borne, but for the knowledge that, w^hile
honest men were religioush^ observing it, the un-
principled along our sea-coast and frontiers were
fraudulently evading it; and that in some
parts they had even dared to break through
it openl3^ by an armed force too powerful
to be opposed by the collector and his as-
sistants. To put an end to this scandalous insub-
ordination to the law^s, the Legislature has
authorized the President to empower proper per-
sons to employ militia, for preventing or suppress-
184 EARLY HISTORY
ing armed or riotous assemblages of persons resist-
ing the custom-house officers in the exercise of their
duties, or opposing or violating the embargo laws.
He sincerely hopes that, during the short time
these restrictions are expected to continue, no
other instances will take place of a crime of so
deep a die. But it is made his duty to take the
measure necessar\^ to meet it. He therefore re-
quests 3'ou, as commanding officer of the militia
of your State to appoint some officer of the militia,
of known respect for the laws, in or near to each
port of entry within your State, with orders,
when applied to by the collector of the district, to
assemble immediately a sufficientTorce of his mili-
tia, and to employ them efficaciousl3^ to maintain
the authority of the laws respecting the embargo,
and that j^ou notify each collector the officer to
whom, by j^our appointment, he is so to apply for
aid when necessar\\ He has referred this appoint-
ment to your Excellenc3^, because \^our knowledge
of characters, or means of obtaining it, will enable
3^ou to select one who can be most confided in to
exercise so serious a power, with all the discretion,
the forbearance, the kindness even, which the en-
forcement of the law will possibl3^ admit — ever to
bear in mind that the life of a citizen is never to be
endangered but as the last melanchol3^ effort for
the maintenance of order and obedience to the
laws."
In Februar3' 1809, meetings were held at St.
Albans adopting resolutions strongly condemning
the course of the national administration. At this
period Gov. Tichenor visited Northern Vermont
OF VERMONT'. 185
and it was understood, advised political opposi-
tion to the national administration, instead of
resistance to the laws by force.
Fresh causes of complaint against England b3'
America multiplied; their unjustifiable intrigue
and war-like conduct continued. Great Britain
was seeking to dismember the American Union ;
she sought the renewal of the policy adopted by
her as to Vermont from 1779 to 1783, as shown
in the Haldimand correspondence.
To bring before the reader the nature of the in-
trigue referred to, it will be necessary to present
two characters that took leading parts in the in-
trigue, James Henry Craig and John Henr\^ Craig
was born in Gibralter in 1749, commissioned as
Ensign in the British Army in 1763, and
served in America in various positions from
1774 until 1781. He was in the Battle of Lex-
ington, Bunker Hill, Hubbardton, and at Free-
man's Farm and was severely wounded in the
three last. He was made Lieut. -General in 1801,
and appointed Commander-in-chief of Canada in
August 1807. He proved unfit for a civil station.
John Henry was a native of Ireland and came
to Philadelphia about 1794; he possessed consid-
erable literary abilit3\ He became naturalized
and was appointed Captain in the United States
Army in 1798, and commanded at Fort Jay near
New York City and at Newport, R. I. He quit the
service and settled upon a farm in Vermont, stud-
ied law and wrote some violent articles against
the Jeffersonian administration. He went to Can-
ada in 1808. His strictures in the public print
186 EARLY HISTORY
against Republican government attracted the at-
tention of the British government and Craig became
desirous of his acquaintance and invited him to
Quebec. He went to Montreal where he said,
"everything I had to fear, and all I had to hope,
was disclosed to me." He was sent on a mission
to New England and his services there were com-
plimented but not rewarded b^^ the British govern-
ment; and indignant at this injustice, he revealed
the correspondence to President Aladison, and re-
ceived therefor fifty thousand dollars. The object
of England was to concert measures to detach
New England and effect a political connection with
Great Britain.
On Alarch 9, 1812, James Aladison laid before
Congress the following message, viz :
"I lay before Congress copies of certain docu-
ments which remain in the Department of State.
They prove that at a recent period, whilst the
United States, notwithstanding the wrongs sus-
tained by them, ceased not to observe the laws of
peace and neutrality toward Great Britain, and in
the midst of amicable profession and negotiations
on the part of the British government, through its
public minister here, a secret agent of that govern-
ment, was emplo3'ed in certain states, more especi-
ally at the seat of government in Massachusetts,
in fomenting disaffection to the constituted authori-
ties of the nation, an in intrigues with the disaf-
fected, for the purpose of bringing about resistance
to the laws, and, eventuall^^, in concert with a
British force, of destroj'ing the Union and forming
the eastern part thereof into a political connection
with Great Britain.
OF VERMONT. 187
"In addition to the effect which the discovery
of such a procedure ought to have on the public
councils, it will not fail to render more dear to the
hearts of all good citizens, that happy union of
these states, which, under Divine Providence, is
the guaranty of their liberties, their safety, their
tranquility, and their prosperity."
Herman W. Ryland, Secretary to Sir James
Craig, Governor General of Canada, on Jan. 26,
1809, addressed a letter to Henry, marked, " Most
secret and coufidential," in which he asked Henry
to acquaint him for his Excellency's information,
whether he could make it convenient to engage in
a mission, as indicated above. It seems that
Henr3' accepted the mission and service for Gov-
ernor General Craig speaks in his letter to Henry
of Feb. 6, 1809, of Henry having "readih' un-
dertaken the service" and requested him to re-
pair to Boston and endeavor to obtain informa-
tion of the true state affairs in that part of the
Union, and cautioned him as to the true mode of
proceeding with his mission; to assertain public
opinion, both in regerd to their internal politics
and the probability^ of a war with England ; the
comparative strength of the two great parties
and their views and designs. In which letter the
Governor General stated :
"It has been supposed that if the federalists of
the eastern states should be successful in obtaining
that decided influence, which may enable them to
direct public opinion, it is not improbable that
rather than submit to a continuance of the diffi-
culties and distress to which they are now subject,
188 EARLY HISTORY
they will exert that influence to brin^ about a
separation from the general union. The earliest
information on this subject may be of great con-
sequence to our government, as it may also be,
that it should be informed, /zow/ar in such an event
they would look up to England for assistance or
he disposed to enter into a connection with us.^^
* " ^ He further stated in the letter, ''In pass-
ing through the State of Vermont, you will of
course exert 3^our endeavors to procure all the in-
formation that the short stay you will probably
make there will admit of," and gave him directions
not to address all his letters for him to one per-
son but to different persons named. Craig gave
Henry the following credentials under his hand
and seal: "Sir, — The bearer Mr. John Henry is
employed b\^ me, and full confidence may be placed
in him for an3^ communication which an3^ person
may w^ishto make to me in the business committed
to him.'" Henry by his letter to the Gov. -General
bearing date at Montreal Feb. 10, 1809, acknowl-
edged the receipt of the letter of instruction, the let-
ter of credence, and the c^-pher for carrying on the
correspondence, and said he had "bestowed much
pains on the cypher," and said, "Should it, how-
ever, be necessary at an^^time, I take leave to sug-
gest that the index alone furnishes a very safe and
simple mode. In it there is a number for every let-
ter in the alphabet, and particular numbers for
particular phrases ; so that when I do find in the
index the particular word I want I can spell it
with the figures which stand opposite the letters."
Henry on his way to Boston stopped two days at
OF VERMONT. 189
Burlington, to make himself acquainted with the
opinion of the leading people. He wrote the Gov.-
General from Burlington Feb. 14, 1809, that ''on
the subject of the embargo law^s, there seems to be
but one opinion: namely, "that they are unneces-
sary, oppressive, and unconstitutional," and that
the execution of them is so invidious, as to attract
towards the officers of government, the enmity of
the people;" he said the Governor of the State
was then visiting the Northern part of the State,
and that he "makes no secret ot his determina-
tion, as Commander-in-chief of the militia, to re-
fuse obedience to any command from the general
government," and he said, "It is farther intimated
that in case of war, he w411 use his influence to pre-
serve this State neutral and resist, with all the
force he can command, any attempt to make it a
party. I need not add, that, if these resolutions
are carried into effect, the State of Vermont may
be considered as an ally of Great Britain." He
could not say w^hat the sentiment w^as in the east-
ern part of the State, but he claimed the leading
men of the federal party acted in concert, and
therefore inferred that a common sentiment per-
vaded the w^hole body throughout New^ England,
but he had learned there was a very formidable
majority in Congress on the side of the adminis-
tration. He said there was ever^- reason to hope
that the Northern States in their distinct capacity
will unite and resist by force, a war with Great
Britain. He closed his letter to the Gov. -General
by saying, " and everything tends to encourage the
belief, that the dissolution of the Confederacv will
190 EARLY HISTORY
be accelerated by the spirit which now actuates
both poHtical parties." There was another side
of the question that Henry did not care to, or, at
least, did not take into consideration. The feeling
against Jeifersons administration on account of
the enforcement of the embargo laws were much
stronger in Northern Vermont than in other parts
of the Union, and stronger even than in Eastern
and Southern Vermont as the embargo and non-
intercourse laws deprived the people in the northern
part of the State of their market; and the American
people still remembered the cruel and barbarous
treatment they received from the British during the
Revolution, and that the hardships now the\' were
called upon to endure by reason of the embargo
and non-intercourse laws were brought on by the
course pursuedby the English nation.
On Feb. 19, 1809, he wrote again from Windsor.
He did not find the sentiment so strong against
the government. He said, the Democrats assert
that in case of war with Great Britain "the people
will be nearly divided in equal numbers. This dif-
ference of opinion is not to be wholh^ ascribed to
the prejudices of part\\ The people in the eastern
section of Vermont, are not operated upon by the
same hopes and fears as those on the borders of
the British Colon^^ They are not dependent on
Montreal for the sale of their produce, nor supply
of foreign commodeties. They are not apprehen-
sive of an\^ serious danger or inconvenience from a
state of war." Still he thought that Vermont
would in all probabilit\' unite with other neighbor-
ing States in resistance to a war. Henry next
OF VERMONT. 191
wrote from Amherst, New Hampshire, Feb. 23,
1809, and said he had not had sufficient time
nor evidence to enable him to form an^^ opinion of
the lengths to which the Federal party will carry
their opposition to the National government, in
the event of war, but he w^as not apprehensive of
immediate war. He thought means would be
taken to excite England to commit some act of
hostility so as to place the responsibility on that
country. While at Boston, Henry wrote a series of
letters from March 5, 1809 to June 25, 1809. In
several of his letters he cast a slur upon American
political institutions; he said, "there is nothing
perminent in its political institutions, nor are the
populace under any circumstances to be relied on,
when measures come inconvenient and burden-
some." Under the date of March 7, he said Con-
gress in May would begin by '^ abrogating the
offensive laws." He closes his letter of March 13,
by saying, "Although the non-intercourse law
affords but a ver\' partial relief to the people of
this country, .from the evils of that entire suspen-
sion of commerce to which they have reluctantly
submitted for some time past, I lament the repeal
of the embargo, because it was calculated to accel-
erate the progress of these States towards a revo-
lution that would have put an end to the only re-
public that remains to prove, that a government
founded on political equality, can exist in a season
of trial and difficult\', or is calculated to ensure
either security or happiness to a people." He
closes his letter of March 29, by saying, " It should
be the peculiar care of Great Britain to foster
192 EARLY HISTORY
divisions between the North and South; and by
succeeding in this, she may cai:ry into effect her
own projects in Europe, with a total disregard of
the resentments of the Democrats of this country."
In his letter of May 5, he says, '^ Although the re-
cent changes that have occurred quiet all apprehen-
sion of war, and consequently lessen all hope of
separation of the States; and speaking of Presi-
dent Madison, he says ''Whatever his motives may
be, I am very certain his party will not support
him in any manh^ and generous policy.
"Weak men are sure to temporize when great
events call upon them for decision, and are slug-
gish and inert at the moment when the worst of
evils is inaction. This is the character of Demo-
crats in the Northern States." These expressions
show great ignorance on the part of the writer
of them or an evil and pusillanimous spirit, and
was in fact near the close of a discreditable under-
taking; his mission was an utter failure; it did
not appear that he succeeded in corrupting the
fidelity of any individual and much less in separat-
ing an}' State from the Union.
His last letter from Boston to the Gov.-General
Craig was dated June 25, 1809, in which he says,
"The unexpected change that has taken place in
the feelings of political men in this country, in con-
sequence of Madison's prompt acceptance of the
friendly proposals of Great Britain has caused a
temporary- suspension of the conflict of parties.
* * * I beg leave to suggest, that in the pres-
ent state of things in this country-, my presence
can contribute verv little to the interest of Great
OF VERMONT. 193
Britain." H.W. Rvland wrote Henry from Quebec,
May 1, 1809, in which after stating he expected
him to arrive at Montreal by the middle of June
and that he had the whole of his correspondence
transcribed for the purpose of being sent to the
home government where they could not fail of
doing him great credit and eventually contribute
to his permanent advantage, said "I am cruelly
out of spirits at the idea of old England truckling
to such a debased, and accursed government, as
that of the United States."
Henry returned to Canada and made applica-
tion to the British authorities for reward for his
services and expenses and to receive some lucrative
employment under the English government, but
he failed to get either from Great Britain. He then,
voluntarily' disclosed to President Madison not
only the nature of the plot and intrigue by the ac-
tual correspondence relating thereto, for which he
received fifty thousand dollars. Afterwards the
British officials undertook to deny that the gov-
ernment had an^' hand in the intrigue. Augustus
J. Foster, the British Minister at Washington,
March 11, 1812, wrote to James Monroe disclaim-
ing, on his own part of having had an^- knowledge
of an existence of such a mission, and expressed
his conviction that no countenance was given by
his associate British officers to any scheme hostile
to the internal tranquility of the United States,
and requested the American government and Con-
gress to suspend any further judgment on its
merits until the circumstances shall have been
known to his majesty's government. It is dificult
194 EARLY HISTORY
to believe that the English government were not
concerned in the scheme.
The letters of Mr. Erskine the British Alinister
written about the time that Henrv received his
commission, as related b\' James Fisk, one ot Ver-
mont's members ot Congress, showed he had en-
deavored to assertain the views and strength of
the Federal party, and to w^hat extent they would
be willing to resist the measures of the party in
power; and also stating in his letters that he had
heard that a dissolution of the Union "had been
seriously contemplated by many of the leading
people in the eastern district." This attempt to
dismember the Union by a secret mission adds to
the list of British wrongs and another well ground-
ed cause for a declaration of w^ar against Great
Britain.
The year of 1812, when the United States de-
clared war against England, w^as an eventful period
in the history of the American Union, Nathan
Hoskins in his histor3^ of Vermont, sa3's, it was a
time when " faction and its concomitant evils had
disordered the Union of society — war and its de-
vastating consequences destroyed the subjects and
resources of the government— commerce w^as driven
from the ocean, and peace from the hallowed sanc-
tuar\^ of freedom. Rulers were distrusted b_v the
people, and the people in return were charged with
infidelity to the government. Silence was con-
strued into disaffection and loyalty into oppres-
sion." Vermont stood in the very forefront of
danger la3^ing on the frontier, where in case of war
with Great Britain the heaviest blows would be
struck.
OF VERMONT. 195
Before the declaration of war Governor Jonas
Galusha in his speech to the Legislature in Octo-
ber 1811, stated the situation as follows: "At
no period since the commencement of the differ-
ences has appeared to me soportentious as at pres-
ent. Great Britain seems not inclined to relinquish
her offensive orders in council, surrender up our
impressed seamen, or permit us to enjoy the com-
mon and legal rights oi a neutral nation — but as-
sume the attitude of a threatening invader, al-
though France has mitigated the rigor of her hos-
tile measures, and so modified her Berlin and Milan
decrees that they have ceased to operate against
the United States. Let us as far as possible, be
prepared for any event which ma}- occur. To be
united is indispensably necessary to be prepared
either for a state of war or for the full enjoyment
of peace."
GHflPTER VIII.
VERMONT IN THE WAR OF 1812-1814.
It seems that the British government had failed
to observe the terms of its treaty with United
States. Its conduct had become so obnoxious and
overbearing towards the United States government
it hastened a conflict with the latter. The perni-
cious effect of the orders of the British government
against our commerce, the arrogance of the British
Navy on the sea, "the right of search," the utterly
unreasonable character of their claims of dominion,
their repeated seizure of men — American citizens at
that — from the decks of our ships on the plea that
they were British subjects, their entire disregard of
our flag, their contempt for America and Ameri-
cans, finally led to a declaration of war against
England by Act of Congress on June 18, 1812. In
preparation for the expected bloody- conflict. Con-
gress, on April 10, 1812, authorized the President
to detach one hundred thousand militia, to be or-
ganized and held in readiness to march at a minute's
notice, and to serve six months after arriving at
the place of rendezvous.
On May 28, 1812, the Secretary of War appor-
tioned three thousand of the number to Vermont,
and thereupon Governor Galusha as Commander-in
Chief of the militia of the State ordered that Ver-
(196)
OF VERMONT. 197
mont's detachment should form one brigade to
consist of four regiments of ten companies each —
eight of infantry, one of artillery and one of ca vaW,
and to be taken from the four divisions, command-
ed respectiveh^ b\^ Major General Lewis R. Morris,
William Cahoon, David Robinson and Hezekiah
Barnes, and directing them to take special care
that the men detached from their divisions be
prompth^ organized, and completely equipped,
with arms and accoutrements fit for actual service,
including blankets and knapsacks. The Governor
closed his general order in the following patriotic
and determined language :
"The Commander-in-Chiet views it of the great-
est importance, at this momentous crisis, that we
should be prepared to defend oiir sacred rights and
dear bought liberties, and protect the honor and
independence of the nation, against the invasion
of any foreign power: he, at the same time, pos-
sesses the highest confidence in the patriotism,
zeal and bravery of the officers and soldiers of the
militia of this State, and is full^^ persuaded, that
on the present occasion, they will b^^a speed}- and
cheerful compliance w-ith these orders, evince to the
\vorld, that the\' are ready to meet any exigency
that ma\' occur, and have but one mind when their
country calls."
The order was responded to promptly, and the
Vermont troops were at Plattsburgh as early as
Sept. 21, 1812, or at least a part of them. General
Jonathan Orms was in command of all the militia
in Vermont during the war and had his headquart-
ers at Burlinsrton.
198 EARLY HISTORY
The causes for a declaration of war against
Great Britain had existed so long before the dec-
laration was issued and the parties differing as to
the policy- of declaring war, a large portion of the
people had concluded there w^ould be no war and
w^ere unprepared for it. The official return of the
militia of Vermont in 1809, showed 15,543 rank
and file, with 11,523 muskets, 5,273 bayonets, 6,
302 cartridge boxes, 5,657 steel ramrods. No rifles
were returned and only 1,041 pairs of pistols and
no canons, but in 1812, the United States added
2,500 muskets. The declaration of war aroused
the people to action, especially along the northern
border of the State, through patriotism and to
secure their own safety from British and Indian
attacks. The nursery tales of Indian havoc and
w^arfare were rehearsed, the people seem to have
been seized with a sort of panic, and supposed
that hordes of Canadian Indians would be let loose
upon them. The northern counties of Vermont
w^ere sparsely settled in 1812, and were actually
exposed to attack from their neighbors in Canada,
and the consequence was that a great part of the
people abandoned their farms and houses, but
some only for a short time. The Selectmen of
Troy warned a town meeting to be held on May
12, 1812, in anticipation of war, to see what
method the town would take in the important
crisis to furnish the militia of the town with arms
and ammunition, the result of w^hich was an order
to the Selectmen to borrow twenty muskets and
ba^'onets on the credit of the town, and to pur-
chase twenty-five pounds of powder and one hun-
OF VERMONT. 199
dred weight of lead, if it could be purchased on vsix
months credit. This shows the people were not
prepared for war. Immediately after the declara-
tion of war had been promulgated the Selectmen
of many of the northern towns of the State fur-
nished and supported a small namber of men as
guards at the frontier towns of Tro3% Derby and
Canaan. The Selectmen of the following towns
especialh' took those precautionar\' measures : viz,
Irasburgh, Craftsbur^^ Greensboro, Hard wick,
Walden, Cabot, Peacham, Troy, Canaan, Morris-
town, Kelley vale [Lowell,] and Glover; and for the
services of the men and expenses of their support
the State allowed and paid $1,188.80. Palisades
were constructed at Tro3' and Westfield.
On Oct. 13, 1812, Charles Rich of Shoreham in-
troduced into the Vermont House the following:
''Resolved, That the constituted authorities of
our country have declared war between the United
States and Great Britain and her dependencies, it
is our duty as citizens to support the measure,
otherwise we should identify- ourselves with the
enemy with no other distinction than that of local-
ity. We therefore pledge ourselves to each other,
and to our government, that with our individual
exertions, our examples, and influence, we will sup-
port our government and country in the present
contest, and reh^ on the Great Arbiter of Events
for a favorable result."
This resolution was disliked by the P>deralists
and the\' offered another as a substitute which
w^as rejected by a vote of 129 to 80, but on
November 2nd the following were adopted by a
vote of 116 to 40 : viz..
200 EARLY HISTORY
''Resolved, That this assembly have the fullest
confidence that the constituted authorities will
at all times be anxious to bring the said war to a
close, when it can be done consistently with the
honor and interest of our country.
2. ''Resolved, That although this assembly
deem it their duty to give to the general govern-
ment ever\^aid in their power in the prosecution of
the present just and necessar3^ war, 3^et they will
with pleasure hail the happy da\^ when the war
shall be brought to an honorable conclusion."
Governor Galusha in his annual speech to the
Council and House of Representives in 1812, re-
commended the united support of the war meas-
ures of the government against England and to
enter the contest with patriotic zeal for the protec-
tion of its own citizens, and to save the nation
from dishonor. After stating that all honorable
negotiations were exhausted to preserve the State
of peace with England without success, the cup of
our sufferings was full. Congress had resorted to
the last remedy of an injured nation — an appeal to
arms, he said :
''Although some doubt the propriety' of the
measure adopted, yet war being declared by the
constituted authorities of our country, it ought no
longer to remain a question of policy, but it has
become the duty of the state governments, and of
every individual, with promptitude to espouse the
sacred cause of our injured country, second the
measures of our general government, provide for
the defence and safet^^of our citizens, and with zeal
pursue such measures as will tend to procure an
OF VERMONT. 201
acknowledgment of our national rights, a release
of our impressed seamen, remove the encroach-
ments on the great high\va3' of nations, put a final
period to the calamities of war, and establish a
permanent and honorable peace. At so important
and interesting a crisis as the present, it is expedi-
ent that \Ye lay aside all party prejudices and unite
in one common cause to maintain our independ-
ence, and transmit to posterit^^ those invaluable
rights which v^^ere sealed to us by the blood of our
heroes, and by our example invite ever3^ citizen and
friend of liberty to divest himself of all selfish and
local policy, and with patriotic zeal embrace the
cause of our common countr^^ a country abound-
ing wnth every necessar3' of life and in the full tide
of civil and religious libert\\
"It is expected that the general government
will direct all the important operations of the war,
and provide means of defence in the several parts
of the Union. I5ut situated as this state is, con-
tiguous to the populous settlements of the enemy
and exposed to the whole military force in Lower
Canada, I should be deficient in m3' duty if I did
not recommend to you in the most pressing man-
ner, b\^ every means in your power to put this state
in the best possible posture of defence ; to have
the militia properly equipped, ready to take the
field, and provide for their speedy and eftectual
movement to any place of danger whenever occa-
sion requires. The militia law will need a thorough
revision, and many additions to render it efficient
for the exigencies of war. A committee w^as ap-
pointed at our last session for that purpose, and I
202 EARLY HISTORY
trust a report will be seasonably made, that there
may be a full investigation of the s^'Stem. The
promptitude with which the detatched miHtia, in
most of the towns, have marched to the defence of
the frontier, has exceeded my highest expectations.
Such a patriotic and militar3' ardor pervades the
state, that many thousands of the inhabitants,
who were b\' law exempt from military dut\',have
enrolled themselves, elected their officers, and ten-
dered their services to support the laws and gov-
ernment of their coimtry, suppress insurrections
and repel invasions."
On Nov. 6, 1812, the Legislature passed an act
to provide for the raising of a volunteer corps, for
the service of the United States, consisting of sixtv-
four companies of infantry, two of artillery, and
two of cavalry, to be divided into two brigades,
for which the Governor and Council appointed the
necessar}^ officers. It was intended by this act
that this corps was to consist of persons who w^ere
exempt from military- duty and organized to sup-
press insurrection, to repel invasion, and in short
to prevent any of those w^anton acts of riot, per-
sonal abuse, and disturbance of the peace, that
were liable to arise in trying times. This force was
to take the field at a moments warning, and to
serve in the arm\' of the United States until the
first of May 1813. The writer is not certain that
this corps was ever fully raised. An Act of Con-
gress of Jan. 20, 1813, provided that any person
might enlist into the army w^hile *' performing a
tour of military duty," and it is probable that
many volunteers, and many of the detached raili-
OF VERMONT. 203
tia enlisted into the army of the United States. It
is certain, that several of the officers, appointed by
the Governor and Council for the proposed volun-
teer corps, were officers in the 30th and 31st Regi-
ments of the United States Army, organized Feb.
23, 1813; and all of the officers of those two regi-
ments were Vermonters.
The Legislature of 1812, passed several other
acts having special relation to the war. The first
w^as an act to prevent intercourse with the enemy
of Vermont and the United States on the Northern
Frontier; the act forbid under severe penalties,
any person passing from or through Vermont into
Canada or from Canada into Vermont, without a
permit from the Governor or some person author-
ized. And second an" act forbidding the moving,
any horses, cattle or other property- into Canada,
and authorized the inspection of trunks, or papers
b3^ an}^ justice of the peace without warrant, and
the detention of letters and papers at the discre-
tion of the justice. All officers of the State, civil
and military, were required to aid in the execution
of the act, and in some instances it was rigorously
enforced so as to provoke complaint and censure;
questions involving the right were taken to the
State and United States Courts for Vermont, when
the act was condemned, and the officers who had
enforced it, were mulcted in damages and costs,
that the State ultimately refunded. The sum of
$1,112.23 was refunded to Lieut. Colonel Edward
Fifield for losses sustained b^^ him in consequence
of his faithful enforcement of the non-intercourse
act on the Northern Frontiers . judgments were
204 EAELY HISTORY
rendered against him both in the Federal and State
Courts ; Col Isaac Clark who was very efficient in
executing the act and arresting smugglers was
joined with Fifield as defendant.
The Council of Censors of 1813, composed of
Federalists, recommended the speedy and unquali-
fied repeal of the act, as it was in violation of the
Constitutions both of the United States and of
Vermont, and it was repealed Nov. 16, 1813. Al-
though the House was nearly equally divided
politically, the repealing act passed b3' a vote of
118 to 27. There was another act passed Nov. 6,
1812, suspending civil process against the persons
and property of the officers and soldiers of this
State while in service, which was also condemned
by the Council of Censors, as being unconstitu-
tional ; this act was also repealed, Nov. 15, 1813,
except as to non-commissioned officers and sol-
diers.
There was an act passed Nov. 9, 1812, direct-
ing the mode of detaching the militia for service in
the war and b3' which the Selectmen of each town
were required to furnish the non-commissioned offi-
cers, musicians or privates of their respective towns
in the State with arms and equipments, knapsacks,
blankets, camp utensils, cartridges, ffints, rations,
and transportation for their necessar\^ baggage;
and also pay each non-commissioned officer, musi-
cian, and private $3.34 per month; and the same
amount be paid b\^the State to the militia detached
previous to the date of the act — this was in addi-
tion to their regular monthly pa\\ This left it
to the towns to raise the extra jd^J for all
OF VERMONT. 205
militia detached subsequent to Nov. 9, 1812.
But after this the large additional force
raised in 1814, mainl3' consisted ot enlist-
ments in the regular arm^^ and volunteers. A
report of the Paymaster of the United States
Army showed that between Jan. 27, and Sept.
24, 1814, out of $1,944,828.98 disbursed for
bounties and premiums to recruits $109,300 was
disbursed in Vermont.
The Yermonters, lor the most part, who served
in the regular armv, were in the 11th, 26th, 30th,
and 31st Infantrv. The 11th was organized in
1812, and served during the war. The 26th, 30th
and 31st were organized in the Spring of 1813, to
serve one 3'ear; a remnant of the 30th and 31st
was in the Battle of Plattsburgh in September,
1814. The year for which the 26th Infantry had
engaged to serve having expired, orders were issued
to convert it into a rifle regiment, and in May
1814, a recruiting office w^as opened in Burlington
by Col. Isaac Clark, originally of the 11th Infantry,
and by September 292 men had been enlisted, but
the writer is not aware that the regiment was filled
or that it ever commenced any actual service.
After the 26th Infantry was originally organized
in May 1813, it was in 1814, consolidated with
the 48th Infantry, and was armed with rifles, and
hence was sometimes called the 26th Rifle Regi-
ment.
It is not the purpose of the writer to go into
the history of the entire war, but to present
enough of it to give an intelligent view of the part
that Vermont tcok in it. The plan of the cam-
206 EARLY HISTORY
paign was to garrison the coast fortifications with
the local militia, assisted by some regulars, while
the remainder of the regulars, volunteers, and
militia, were to be employed in invading Canada,
particularly from Detroit, and the Niagara frontier
in New York. The army gathered at Plattsburgh
numbered about eight thousand men, one half of
whom were Vermonters ; these were designed to
protect northwestern New York, and the frontier
of Vermont, and threaten the Canadians in Lower
Canada to prevent the transfer of British troops
from Lower to Upper Canada. But little was
done in northeastern New York and in Vermont
during the summer of 1812, but to organize and
get read3' for the expected conflict.
On Nov. 16, 1812 ; a large portion of the army
at and near Plattsburgh under the immediate com-
mand of Major General Henry Dearborn of Massa-
chusetts, then the senior officer of the arnn-, moved
north and about five thousand of them on the
18th encamped about a half mile south of the Cana-
dain line near the British force that did not exceed
three thousand. When Dearborn was prepared
to cross the line the British Major Salaberry was
prepared to meet him. On the morning of the 20th
a detachment of Dearborn's army forded the La-
coUe river and surrounded a British guard house
which was occupied by Canadian militia and a
few Indians who broke through the American lines
and escaped. In the meantime a second party of
Americans advanced and commenced a sharp fire
on those in possession of the ground, not know-
ing the}' were the first American detachment,
OF VERMONT. 207
mistaking them for the British pickets. This lire
continued for nearly half an hour before the mis-
take was discovered, after having killed five and
wounding several of their own number; they
then retreated to Plattsburgh, when the militia
were disbanded and the 11th Regiment sent to
Burlington, with the 9th, 21st and 25th Regiments
under the command of Brig. General John Chan-
dler of Maine, Col. Zebulon M. Pike, a good of-
ficer, commanded the advanced party, and would,
doubtless, have performed his dut\' creditably, had
Dearborne persisted in the invasion. Government
did not regard Colonel Pike deserving of censure
as in March following he was selected to command
the expedition for the capture of Toronto in which
he was killed.
On Feb. 10, 1813, the Secretary of War ordered
Gen. Dearborn to move the two brigades at Platts-
burgh, numbering 2,480 men to Sackett's Harbor,
leaving no troops at Plattsburgh, and only Col.
Clark's regiment of infantr^^ and a company of
artiller\' at Burlington and on May 13th five hun-
dred men from Clark's 11th regiment were also
ordered to Sackett's Harbor and left Burlington
for that point on May 31st under the command
of Lieut. Timothy Upham of New Hampshire.
In June of 1813, the United States suffered a
loss of two of the three sloops of war which com-
prised the nation's force on Lake Champlain under
the command of Thomas Macdonough, then a
Lieutenant in the Nav\\ The three vessels were
the President, commanded b\^ Lieutenant Mac-
donough; the Growler, b}^ Lieutenant Sidney Smith;
208 EARLY HISTORY
and the Eagle, under the sailing Master, Loomis.
Capt. H. A. Sawyer of Burlington was a midship-
man on the Eagle, in the engagement resulting in
the loss of the Eagle and the Grow^ler. The princi-
pal part of the crew were Capt. Herrick's company
of McCobb's Maine regiment and some volunteers
from Col. Isaac Clark's 11th United States regi-
ment of infantry. The following account of this
engagement taken from "Paluser's Lake Cham-
plain," viz:
"About the first of June Macdonough received
information of an attack, by several British gun-
boats, upon some small craft at the lower [north-
ern] end of the lake. In consequence of this intel-
ligence he ordered Lieutenant Smith to move
towards Rouses Point wath the Growler and Eagle,
in order to attack the gun-boats should they again
make their appearance. Lieutenant Smith left
Plattsburgh harbor with his vessels on the morn-
ing of the 2d of June, and about dark cast anchor
within a mile of the lines. The next morning
about daybreak, he got under way, and proceeded
down the Richelieu as far as Ash Island (Isle au
Tetes), where he discovered and gave chase to
three British gun-boats. The wind was blowing
fresh from the south at the time, and soon brought
the sloops, the Growler leading, within sight of
the w^orks at Isle aux Noix. The sloops now tacked
and began to beat back towards the open lake,
having the wind against them, with a slight ad-
verse current in the river.
"As soon as the British were aware of the ad-
vantages these circumstances gave them, three of
OF VERMONT. 209
their ro\v-galle_vs came out from under the works
at Isle aux Noix, and opened a brisk fire upon the
sloops. As the galleys carried twenty-fours, while
the largest guns on the sloops were eighteens, the
former were able to select their own distance, nor
could the latter come to close quarters without
running within range of the fire of the batteries
on the island. To render the situation of the
sloops still more critical, the British now lined the
woods on each side of the river, and opened upon
them with musketry-. This fire was returned with
constant discharges of grape and canister, and, in
this manner, the contest was continued for several
hours with great gallantry- on both sides. About
four hours after the commencement of the action,
a shot from one of the galleys struck the Eagle
under her starboard quarter and passed out on the
other side, ripping off a plank under water. The
sloop went down almost immediately, but fortun-
ateh' in shoal water, and her crew were taken off
by boats sent from the shore. Soon after this ac-
cident the Growler had her fore sta}^ and main
boom shot away, when she became unmanageable
and ran ashore.
"In this engagement the Growler had one killed
and eight wounded, and the Eagle eleven wounded,
including the pilot, Mr. Graves. The whole num-
ber of men on board both vessels, when they went
into action, was one hundred and twelve, includ-
ing Captain Herrick and thirt^'-three volunteers
from his company. The ofiicers and men were taken
prisoners and sent to Canada. The two sloops,
having been refitted, were transferred to the British
14
210 EARLY HISTORY
service, their names being changed to the Finch
and Chub, and were subsequently recaptured b\^
Macdonough in September 1814. The loss of the
British in this engagement was never correctly
ascertained. It must have been very severe, how-
ever, as their forces advanced to the banks of the
River, where, destitute of shelter, the3^ received
broadside after broadside of canister and grape.
A sergeant ot the 11th regiment, who had volun-
teered on one of the sloops, and who was paroled
on account of his wounds, reported that he counted
thirtv of the enem\^ dead upon one small spot. The
current belief, in the neighborhood of the action
was that the British loss exceeded two hundred,
but this was probably an exaggeration."
Artillery w^as placed, and three hundred troops
were scatterd along both shores of the Richelieu
River within musket range of the imprisoned ves-
sels, by the British ; that the fireing commenced at
seven oVlock in the morning; the Eagle was sunk
at half past twelve in the afternoon, and the
Growler disabled some fifteen minutes later — mak-
ing the length of the action five hours and three-
quarters; the Court of Inquire, subsequently held,
bore testimonv to the gallantry of our officers and
men, and to the resolute constancy of a defence
which was protracted till further resistance became
impossible.
The war was carried on during 1812, 1813 and
1814, both on land and water with varying suc-
cess and defeat. The land campaigns w^ere not
especially brilliant or successful, but neither of the
contending nations showed any signs of giving
OF VERMONT. 211
over the contest. The American Navy on the
lakes and ocean were eminently successful, and
the commanders of the vessels and crews won a
world wide fame for ability and courage.
It is not the purpose of the writer to give a
detailed account of the battles between the Ameri-
cans and the English, either upon land or sea
except it be on Vermont territory or where Ver-
mont men were engaged to some extent, at least,
but will simph' name some of the engagements on
lake and ocean outside of Vermont where Ameri-
can endurance and bravery were shown and bril-
liant success won.
On Aug. 19, 1812, the United vStates frigate
Constitution, Captain Hull, captured the English
frigate Guerriere; on September 7th the United
States frigate, Essex, captured the Alert in eight
minutes; on October 15th the United States sloop
of war. Wasp, captured the British sloop of war
Frolic, but both were recaptured the same da\^ by
the British ; on October 25th Captain Decatur, of
the frigate, United States, captured the British fri-
gate Macedonia; on December 29th the United
States frigate Constitution, Commodore Bain-
bridge, captured the British frigate Java.
On Feb. 24, 1813, the Hornet captured the Brit-
ish Brig, Peacock; in August the American frigate,
Essex, Captain Porter, captured twelve armed
British whalers; on August 13th the American
sloop of war, Argus, captured twenty-one British
merchant men, but the Argus, afterwards, was re-
captured In^ the British Pelican; on September
10th Commodore Perry on Lake Erie captured six
212 EARLY HISTORY
vessels, and sent the following concise despatch to
General Harrison, '* We have met the enem}-, and
they are ours." On October 5th Commodore
Chauncey captured five British vessels on Lake
Ontario.
On April 27, 1814, the United States sloop of
war, Peacock, captured the British brig-of-war,
Epervier, with $118,000 specie on board ; on June
28th the United States sloop of war, Wasp, captured
the British sloop Reindeer; on September 1st the
United States sloop of war. Wasp, captured the
British sloop Avon. The battle on Lake Cham-
plain under Commodore Macdonough on Sept. 11,
1814, w411 receive a separate consideration. On
March 28th the United States frigate. Constitution ,
captured tw^o British vessels of war, the frigate,
Cyane and the sloop Levant, off the island of Ma-
deria, and on the same day the United States fri-
gate, Hornet, captured the British brig Penguin on
the coast of Brazil. The two last mentioned cap-
tures w^ere made after the treat\' of peace was
signed at Ghent on the 24th da3^ of December, 1814,
but before the commanders of those vessels had in-
formation that the treaty had been made and rati-
fied by the American government.
After the capture of the Eagle and Growler on
the Richelieu, Colonel Clark of the 11th U. S. regi-
ment on June 10, 1813, called out two militia com-
panies of Burlington, and on June 11th Col. Wil-
liam Williams' regiment — all of whom responded
prompth'. This call was made because of an ex-
pected attack immediately on Burlington b^- the
British flotilla ; the militia were discharged on the
OF VERMONT. 213
13th, and their places suppHed by five full compa-
nies of the 30th U. S. Infantry under Lieut. Colonel
Martin Norton; and in September the third brigade
of the third division of militia was called out, for
three months service on the frontier ; this brigade
was reviewed at Burlington by Gov. Martin Chit-
tenden. This brigade served in both Vermont and
New York. On July 8, 1813, Maj. General Dear-
born w^as permitted to retire and w^as succeeded in
command by Alaj. General Wade Hampton. The
United States War Department contemplated that
Hampton who was at Burlington should push his
headquarters as far north as was held by the
army in the previous campaign on Lake Cham-
plain, and that a requisition should be superadded
for ten thousand militia of New York and Vermont
to carry out the plan of the campaign, but only
Fassett's brigade alone was called out. General
Hampton had been criticised for his inactivity in
not responding to repeated requests to aid in de-
fending Plattsburgh against the British force un-
der Colonel Murra\^ The British were tempted by
the defenceless condition of Plattsburgh and the
entire western side of Lake Champlain, and Colonel
Murray crossed the line on Jul3^ 30, 1813, with two
w^ar sloops, three gun-boats, and fortv-seven long
boats, with over 1400 men, and landed at Platts-
burgh on the afternoon of the 31st, without oppo-
sitionand oommenced the w^ork of devastation
and plunder and continued it until he re-embarked
at ten o'clock the next day after having destro3'ed
twenty-five thousand dollars of public property
and plundered more than eight thousand dollars
214 EARLY HISTORY
of propert3' of private citizens. General Hampton,
at Burlington with an army of between three and
four thousand, but twenty- miles distant, who had
had twenty-four hours notice of the intended at-
tack, did nothing to prevent it. About three hun-
dred New York militia that were hastely gathered,
captured, as the enemy left the town, a picket
guard of twenty-one men who had been left by
Murray. These were sent to Burlington as jDris-
oners of war. The long boats and two of the gun-
boats, proceeded to Sw^anton, where the men de-
stro3'ed and plundered several citizens, and like
depredations were committed on the New York
side of the lake at Cumberland Head, Point au
Riche, and Chazy Landing. Two sloops and the
other gun-boats sailed up the lake beyond Burling-
ton, destroyed eight or ten long boats engaged in
transportation, and captured one Durham boat
loaded with flour. On passing Burlington they
fired at the place, but bore awa\' as soon as the
batteries on shore began to play upon them.
A letter written at Burlington Aug. 3, 1813,
quite fully and accurately describes the affair as
follows, a4z :
"Y^esterday afternoon the Eagle and Growler,
lately taken by the enemv on the lake, with some
armed gallies, were seen advancing. At a quarter
before 3 o'clock the gallies commenced firing on
the town and battery, which was returned by the
vessels in the bay and from the batter\'. The fir-
ing continued brisk on both sides for about half an
hour, when the enem\^ drew^ off a little, seemingly
in expectation that our vessels would leave the
OF VERMONT. 215
bay and give them battle; which the}' attempted
to do, and after sailing, five in number, within a
league or four miles from the enemy, expecting in a
few minutes the action would commence, our ves-
sels came to anchor, and soon after returned into
the ba^', under the batter3% to the great mortifica-
tion of thousands who witnessed it. The Gnemy
seems neither to have slumbered or slept, for dur-
ing the night the3'cut out and captured four of the
best sloops on the lake, with provisions, and burnt
one laden with salt. It is also said they have
burnt two sets of barracks on the lake [at Platts-
burgh and Swanton ;] and this morning at four
o'clock the\' were seen with their prizes in triumph
sailing to their companions. Not the smallest in-
jury has been done to this city."
In another letter written from Burlington Aug-
ust 5th stated, "Last Mondav Burlington was
cannonaded, shot thrown into buildings, and the
people in Water Street had to leave their homes.
This took place in sight of the camp and of my
house. The British came with two sloops, (the
late) Growler and Eagle, and one small row-galley
with twent3'-four pounders. We had twice the
number of vessels, but in no state of preparation,
and no officers but a Captain. The British moved
south unmolested, took three merchant vessels
wath a rich booty, and returned in our sight back
towards Plattsburgh. We expect another visit
evervhonr. We have no means of defence. Is this
taking Canada ? "
On Aug. 2, 1813, the U. S. Inspector General
gave the number of men at Burlington belonging
216 EARLY HISTORY
to the dragoons, artillery, infantry, and volunteers,
fit for duty at 3,047 men. The U. S. Naval force
on Lake Champlain on Aug. 20, 1813, consisted of
the President, 12 guns; Commodore Preble, 11
guns; Montgomery, 11 guns ; Frances, 6 guns ; two
gun-boats of one 18 pounder each; and six scows
of one 12 {founder each; amounting in all to 48
guns.
In the month of September 1813, Captain Mac-
donough sailed out of the lakes to the northward.
In the Fall of 1813, an attempt was made to
invade Canada. On Oct. 4, 1813, Maj. General
Hampton wrote the Secretary of War:
"I have directed the commencement of a petty
war, or invasion of the lines, at and near Lake
Champlain, by Col. Clark, w4io has some volun-
teers, and Brigadier General Elias Fassett, (our
Colonel,) who has, at my instance, called out his
brigade of militia. The latter, I understand, turn
out but badly; but the\^ will make, together, I
suppose, from six hundred to a thousand men.
There has been inculcated by the artifices of the
British, a shameful and corrupt neutrality on the
lines, for the purpose of gain. I have directed
these officers to break the truce. And, should
other means fail,]to act the part of the mischievous
urchin, who, to get two peaceable tabbies at
" making- the fur )^y," held them up together b^^the
tail. To be serious, it is really time each individual
shall take his side, and that traitors to either
should meet their due reward. What I am aiming
at, however, is tranquility on the road [down the
Chateauguay river] b^^ kicking up a dust on
OF VERMONT. 217
the lines. It will also create a diversion at a
proper point. Of Hopkin's New York militia, but
about two hundred and fift\^have arrived, and not
more than fifty or sixt^^ ot them have consented to
pass the line. Such as refused, General Parker was
authorized to keep on the lines below, and to ex-
cite all the alarm he could, with them and the Ver-
monters."
He wrote again on the 12th, that " Colonel Clark
is carr3'ing on his [small war, on the lines with all
the effect contemplated. The enemy's motlj^ force
have everywhere nearly disappeared. He is con-
centrating, no doubt, in points in my way, or on
the river. It appears from the American State
Papers that a w^riter, referring to the expression
in the letter, "making the fur fly " said, " Possibly
if the same trick, w4th the addition of permanently
suspending them, had been put upon the three
Generals who commanded the Vermont troops in
1812-13, it would have made the British fur fly
at Montreal." And on Nov. 17, 1813, Alaj. General
Wilkinson w^rote that the "game [Montreal] was
in view," and had Hampton, "performed the
junction directed it would have been ours in eight
or ten days."
On the verv da\' that General Hampton wrote
his letter last quoted, Colonel Clark made a
successful dash at Alissisquoi Village in St. Ar-
mand, Canada, and the following is Clark's report
of the same to the Secretar\^ of War bearing date
Oct. 15, 1813:
" It is with great pleasure I can inform 3'ou of a
successful attack upon the enem\' at Missisquoi
218 EARLY HISTORY
Bay, on the morning of the 12th inst. At this time
I had only the riflemen with me, the artiller^^ mov-
ing slow and the militia protecting their rear.
We proceeded to the village (Missisquoi) and ar-
rived within 15 rods of the enem\' before we were
discovered. We found them drawn up under Maj.
Powell in a manner that would have anno^-ed us
much, had w^e attacked them by water, but wholly
unprepared to defend themselves on the land side.
The3^ commenced a fire on the left flank, but in ten
minutes after the first attack the^^ laid down their
arms and surrendered themselves prisoners of war.
" Understanding that a force of 200 men under
Col. Lock was marching to attack us, I despatched
Capt. Finch with his com pan v to reconnoitre
them and ascertain their course. He proceeded
with such promptness and ability as to surprise
and capture the advanced guard, consisting of
cavalry-, excepting one man who escaped and
gave information, when the enemy retreated.
"The prisoners were then put on board our
boats and sent to Burlin£:ton. Our whole force
engaged was 102 — the number of prisoners taken
is 101 : their killed 9, and wounded 14."
It appears that Clark visited the same place
again, as it was stated in a letter dated at Mon-
treal, Nov. 6, 1813, that, "The famous Colonel
Clark has again been over to Missisquoi Bay and
taken over ninety head of cattle, which he had fol-
lowed from the other side of the line. In this
excursion the Colonel is said to have behaved very
honorabh', and we are glad to give, the devil his
due."
OF VERMONT. 219
On July 3, 1813, the Secretary of War indicated
his plan of the campaign against Kingston. Gen.
Hampton was to co-operate b\' an advance in
force against Montreal, and orders were issued ac-
cordingly. On August 5th the scheme was submit-
ted to Maj. General Wilkinson who had been put
in command of the 9th military district — which
covered Vermont and New York north of the
Hilands. On the 26th August at his headquarters
at Sackett's Harbor held a council of officers to
whom four questions were proposed, one of which
was :
'* To rendezvous the whole of the troops on the
lake Ontario in this vicinity, and in co-operation
with our squadron, to make a bold feint upon
Kingston, slip down the St. Lawrence, lock up the
enem\' in our rear to starve or surrender, or oblige
him to follow us without artillery, baggage or
privisions, or eventualh' to la3' down his arms, to
sweep the St. Lawrence of armed craft, and in con-
junction with the division under Major-general
Hampton, to take to Montreal."
This proposition met the approved of the Coun-
cil and this plan covered the Vermont troops, to
wit, the batalion of the United States infantry
then at Sackett's Harbor, and all in Vermont
under Hampton. The Secretary of War warned
Hampton that the English Gen. Prevost's rear
[Montreal] "is manifesth' neglected, and we must
not loose the advantage he presents for attacking
it."
Before we sketch Gen. Hampton's inglorious
career in the 9th militarv district, and in attribut-
220 EARLY HISTORY
ing to him in a large degree the responsibility for
the failure of the campaign of the northern army,
it will be well to get the correct view of his dis-
position, and his s\^mpathy for the southern por-
tion of the Union, It has been asserted, with
strong probability of its truth, that government
never intended a real invasion of Canada for fear
that the reduction of Montreal and other impor-
tant points on the St. Lawrence might ultimately
result in the annexation of Canada to the United
States, and consequently a large increase of politi-
cal power in the North. Hampton was born in
South Carolina in 1754, and was grandfather of
Gen. Wade Hampton of the late rebel army in the
war of 1861. He distinguished himself in the Revo-
lutionary war, and rose to the position of Major
General March 2, 1813. In 1808, he was in com-
mand at New Orleans, but quarrelling w4th his
subordinates, he was superseded by Wilkinson in
1812. Both were assigned to the 9th military
district in 1813, but Hampton insisted upon hav-
ing an independent command. He was, however,
subjected to Wilkinson, and the result proved that
the two would not co-operate, and hence the fail-
ure of the campaign against Montreal when its
capture was apparent^ easy. On Sept. 15, 1813,
Hampton had concentrated most of his arm^^ at
Cumberland Head, and on the 19th the army
landed near Champlain Village. Two corps
marched over the line, had a skirmish w4th a few
pickets and Indians, killed or captured most of the
pickets, loosing one killed and two wounded. On
October 4-th Hampton reported his army at Chat-
OF VERMONT. 221
eauga3- where he ramined until October 21st when
he returned to Canada, and on the 25th made an
attack on a small bod}- of British troops, and failed
with a loss of fifteen men in killed and twenty-three
wounded. The British lost five killed and sixteen
w^ounded and three missing. Hampton returned
to Chateaugay. On November 6th Wilkinson ad-
vised Hampton to meet him at St. Regis; this
Hampton declined to do and proposed to meet at
Cognawaga; and on the 15th notified the Secre-
tar\' of War of the disagreement with Wilkinson
and should arrange to place his army in winter
quarters. He went to Washington and resigned
April 6, 1814. It seems from Hampton's corres-
pondence with the Secretary- that he had no con-
fidence in the newh' raised militia and regulars,
but it was proved that the troops honored them-
selves whenever the^- had a fair opportunity- as vat
Chippewa, Lundy's Lane, Fort Erie, Chrystler's
Farm, St. Armand and Plattsburgh. Gen. John E.
Wool has said, referring to Hampton's engagement
with the British, that "no officer who had an^- re-
gard for his reputation would voluntarih^ acknowl-
edge himself as having been engaged in it." General
Wilkinson left Sackett's Harbor and made his way
with the American Armv down the St. Lawrence,
but had several sharp engagements with the British
and a bloodj^ battle at Chryster's Farm — some-
times called the battle of WilHamsburgh. Wilkin-
son pursued his course to St. Regis, but was dis-
appointed in not finding Hampton there as re-
quested. He called a council of war and determined
to suspend the attack on Montreal, and to remove
222 EAKLY HISTORY
to French Mills, and there went int'^ winter (juart-
ers. The battalion of the 11th with Wilkinson's
arm}^ consisted of three companies from Vermont
and three from New Hampshire, though the sold-
iers from both States were somewhat mixed in all
the companies in the regiment.
About Dec. 1, 1813, Macdonough sailed to
King's Bay and anchored under Point au Fer;
on the 4th Captain Pring entered the lake with six
British galley's, and landed at Rouses Point and
burned a small shed which had been used as a pub-
lic store-house. Macdonough attempted to bring
the enemy into action, but they refused
to engage and returned into Canada. On
Dec. 27, a detachment of British troops, under
Capt. Barker of the frontier light infantry, crossed
the line into Vermont and destroyed some public
store-houses and extensive barracks, for the ac-
comodation of 1200 men, which had been erected
at Derby. In consequence of these depredations and
the threatening movements of the British on the
Richelieu, AVilkinson in February of 1814, broke
up the camp at French Alills, and the troops,
magazines, and provisions were removed to Lake
Champlain.
During the year 1818, the business ot smug-
gling, and the attempt to prevent it attended with
blood-shed and violence were kept up although the
perpetrators of the offence of smuggling, were in-
dicted in the courts of the State as well as the
United States. Resistance had proceeded to fear-
ful extremities in the northeastern part of the
State. The liberties taken by the deputies of the
OF VERMONT. 223
custom house department, and the authority- given
to justices of the 'peace to stop and search the
premises of any person they chose, without war-
rant from the civil authorit3', caused great personal
conflict and a constant disturbance of the peace
of societ}'. In charging the Grand Jury, the Su-
preme Court directed them to make inquiry and
present all cases where people were searched for
propert^^ without a warrant; and on trial, parties
were not justified in molesting people and taking
their property by virture of a commission only.
Hoskins, in his history i elates that about the com-
mencement of the year 1813, Samuel Beach of
Canaan received a permit from the Governor to go
into Canada for the purpose of repairing a saw
mill. Having sent forward his workman and
teams, he soon followed, when his team was taken
by John Dennet and others; Beach in attempting
to regain his team was fired upon by Dennet and
killed. Dennet and his associates were taken and
committed to jail from w^hich Dennet escaped in
Januar3^ 1814, into the adjoining wilderness where
he continued till the following August when he
was taken but not till he was mortally wounded
by his pursuers. Dennet resisted arrest, and while
he was attempting to kill one Alorgan, he was
shot by Sperrv, one of the pursuers.
On July 23d a part^' of smugglers proceeded
from Missisquoi Ba3' to St. Albans, and on their
w^a^' there their number increased to about eight\',
and all were armed with pistols and other weapons.
Air. Hathaway- of S wanton was riding by and
w^as rushed u]ion, forced from his horse into a
224 EARLY HISTORY
house, and there beaten in a shocking manner; a
Grand Juror of St. Albans was one of these riot-
ers. This mob declared their determination to
''give Georgia a scouring and root out the high-
wa}^ robbers," as the_y called the custom house
officers. ThcA' took a Air. Anthony a long with
them as a prisoner; the^- halted at a Mr. Blodget's
of Georgia, awoke him from sleep and informed
him that the smugglers had come and his assist-
ance was wanted in capturing them. Blodget and
his sons had no sooner arrived at the place where
the^^ were gathered than he was levelled to the
ground b^^ clubs. One of his arms was broken and
badly wounded in various places. The windows
of his house were broken in and a Mr. Conger also
taken prisoner. They proceeded to the south part
of Georgia and called on a Airs. Hubbell and gave
her notice to leave her house, for on their return
they should destroy it. An officer of the custom
house department, supposed the\' had smuggled
goods, requested them to stop, when suddenh- the
mob surrounded Alessers. Lee, Baker and Robin-
son, took them, and tied their arms behind with
cords, and took them, with their other prisoners
three miles to a Airs. H^^de's in Georgia. Here a
large number of armed citizens soon collected to
oppose them. The mob discovering their danger
immediately dispersed.
GHflPTtR IX.
WAR OF 1812— 1814— COXTKXUED.
The non-intercourse and embargo Acts of Con-
gress, and the State legislative regulations, which
were opposed bv the Federal party, proved un-
popular, especially- with the people in North-
ern Vermont, and man3' of the supporters ol
the war abandoned the then Republican ranks and
w^ent over to the opposition. As the State election
in 1813, approached, both parties put forth their
utmost efforts, the one to gain and the other to
preserve the ascendency — the one to re-elect Jonas
Galusha and the other to elect Martin Chittenden
Governor, but with all their exertion and industry
no election was made by the people. When the
Assembly came together in October the parties
were found to be exactU' equally divided, but after
much maneuvering and several trials, Martin
Chittenden, the Federal candidate, was elected by
a small majority ; William Chamberlain the Lieu-
tenant-governor, the Secretary- of State and Coun-
cil then elected, were of the same part}-.
The Governor's speech and the answer to it had
a strong Federal tone and consequenth' in direct
opposition to the war and the measures of the
general government, but the minority, seventv-five
in number, protested against these sentiments and
14 (225)
226 p:arly history
entered their reasons upon the journal of the
House. Nearly all th2 appointments were made
from the Federal party, and the Legislature pro-
ceeded to repeal the laws that had been enacted
that were obnoxious to the Federalists. The party
spirit was now wrought up to the highest pitch,
and the parties did not hesitate to brand each
other, with the names of tories, traitors, and
enemies to their country. This spirit ran so high,
that it, in many cases, destroj^ed the peace and in-
tercourse of families and neighbors.
Governor Martin Chittenden was subjected to a
great deal of sharp criticism by the administration
party because of his luke-warm support of the war
which he regarded as unnecessary and that should
have been avoided, but it must be remembered he
was but carrying out the sentiment of a large part
of the party that elected him during the progress
of the war. The criticism, to a large extent, grew
out of the purpose and action of the Governor to
keep the militia of the State within its borders and
for the protection of her jurisdiction and people.
The Governor said in his first speech to the
Legislature, that "the importance of the subject
of the militia will not fail to claim your deliberate
consideration. I have always considered this force
peculiarly adapted and exclusively assigned for the
service and protection of the respective States;
excepting in cases provided for by the National
Constitution: viz, to execute the laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions."
''It never could have been contemplated by the
framers of our excellent constitution, w^ho, it ap-
OF VERMONT. 227
pears, in the most cautious manner, guarded the
sovereignty of the States, or b^^ the States, who
adopted it, that the whole body of the militia
were, by any kind of magic, at once to be trans-
formed into a regular army for the purpose of
foreign conquest; and it is to be regretted, that a
construction should have been given to the consti-
tution, so peculiarly burdensome and oppressive
to that important class of our fellow^ citizens.
"The war, in which we are engaged, would re-
quire the united wisdom and energy of the nation
to sustain. It was delcared under circumstances
which forciblj^ induced a great proportion of the
people to consider it at least doubtful, as to its
necessity, expedience, or justice. And its contin-
uance has become still more so, since the removal
of the Orders in Council, the principal alleged
cause of it. The subject of impressment never hav-
ing been considered a sufficient cause of war by
either of the preceding administrations, and having
been once adjusted by two of the present cabinet,
Messrs. Monroe and Pinckney, ministers on our
part, is such a manner as was by them stated to
be both safe and honorable to our country, it
would seem that it ought not now to be considered
an insuperable obstacle to a fair and honorable
peace, or an adequate cause for a protracted, ex-
pensive and destructive war. The conquest of the
Canadas, of which so much has been said, if desir-
able under an\^ circumstances, must be considered
a poor compensation for the sacrifices, which are
and must necessarily be made."
The report of the majority of the committee
228 EARLY HISTORY
appointed to draft an answer to the speech, ap-
proved of the speech, and was adopted by the
House b3' a vote of 96 to 89. A minority- report
of 79 members condemned the political portion of
the speech and answer.
Pending the abortive movements of Wilkinson
and Hampton in Nov. 1813, in Northeastern New
York and on the Canadian border, a portion of the
militia of the third brigade and the third division
of Vermont militia, under Lieut. Colonel Luther
Dixon, crossed the lake into New York, and put
themselves under the command of Hampton. This
was contrary to the views of Governor Chittenden
as already referred to. The said third brigade had
been called out by Gen. Elias Fassett from the
district of his command in October, in view
of the removal of Hampton's army to the
Cognawaga to join Wilkinson, which left the
Champlain defenceless. When Hampton returned
from his advanced position as heretofore stated,
and brought his army to Chazy, the necessit3' of
retaining the Vermont militia at Plattsburgh had
passed ; Vermont was exposed and there was much
discontent at the absence of the militia from the
State. Under these circumstances Gov. Chittenden
on Nov. 10, 1813, issued the following proclama-
tion.
" A Proclamation.
" Whereas, it appears that the Third Brigade of
the Third Division of the Militia of this State has
been ordered from our frontiers to the defence of a
neighboring State: And whereas it further ap-
pears, to the extreme regret of the Captain General,
OF VERMONT. 229
that a part of the Militia of said Brigade have
been placed under the command and at the disposal
of an officer of the United States, out of the juris-
diction or control of the Executive of this State,
and have been actually marched to the defence of a
sister State, fully competent to all the purposes of
self defence, whereby an extensive section of our
own Frontier is left, in a measure, unprotected,
and the peaceable good citizens thereof are put in
great jeopard3% and exposed to the retaliatory in-
cursions and ravages of an exasperated enemy:
And whereas, disturbances of a ver3' serious nature
are believed to exist in consequence of a portion of
the Militia having thus been ordered out of the
State:
" Therefore, to the end that these great evils may
be provided against, and, as far as ma\' be, pre-
vented for the future :
^' Be it known — that such portion of the Militia
of said Third Division, as may be now doing dut3'
in the State of New York or elsewhere, beyond the
limits of this State, both officers and men, are here-
bj' ordered and directed, b\^ the Captain General
and Commander in Chief of the Militia of the State
of Vermont, forthwith to return to the respec-
tive places of their usual residence, within the ter-
ritorial limits of said Brigade, and there to hold
themselves in constant readiness to act in obedi-
ence to the orders of Brigadier General [acob Da-
vis, who is appointed by the Legislature of this
State, to command said Brigade.
"And the said Brigadier General Davis is hereby
ordered and directed, forthwith, to see that the
230 EARLY HISTORY
Militia of his said Brigade be completely armed
and equipped as the Law directs, and holden in
constant readiness to march on the shortest notice
to the dtfence of the Frontier ; and in case of
actual invasion, without further orders, to march
with his Brigade, to act, either in co-operation
with the troops of the United States, or separately,
as circumstances ma^'- require, in repelling the
enemy from our territor3% and in protecting the
good citizens of this State from their ravages or
hostile incursions.
" And in case of an event, so seriousl\' to be de-
precated, it is hoped and expected, that every
citizen, without distinction of party, will fly at
once to the nearest post of danger, and that the
only rallying words will be— OUR COUNTRY.
"Feeling, as the Captain General does, the
weight of responsibility which rests upon him
with regard to the constitutional duties of the
Militia, and the sacred rights of our citizens to
protection from this great class of communit^^ so
essentially necessary to all free countries — at a mo-
ment, too, when they are so imminently exposed
to the dangers of hostile incursions, and domestic
difficulties — he cannot conscientiously discharge the
trust reposed in him by the voice of his fellow
citizens, and by the Constitution of this and the
United States, without an unequivocal declaration,
that, in his opinion, the Military' strength and re-
sources of this State must be reserved for its own
defence and protection, exclusively — excepting in
cases provided for by the Constitution of the
United States ; and then, under orders derived
OF VERMONT. 31
only from the Coinmander in Chief [i. e. the Presi-
dent of the United States.]
This order was not well received by the Ver-
mont troops at Plattsburgh, but on the contrary
was treated with contempt, and on Nov. 15, 1813,
at Plattsburgh the officers met and signed a reply
to it which was drawn up by Captain Gadcomb,
and is as follows : viz,
" To His Excellency, Martin Chittenden, Esq.,
Governor, Captain General, Commander in Chief,
in and over the State of Vermont.
'' Sir : A most novel and extraordinary Procla-
mation from 3'our Excellency', "ordering and direct-
ing such portion of the MiHtia of the Third Brig-
ade of the Third Divisionof the Militia of Vermont,
now doing duty in the State of New Vork, both
officers and men, forthwith to return to their re-
spective places of their residence," has just been
communicated to the undersigned officers of said
Brigade. A measure so unexampled requires that
we should state to your Excellency the reasons
which induce us, absoluteh^ and positively, to re-
fuse obedience to the order contained in your Excel-
lency's Proclamation. With due deference to j^our
Excellenc\''s opinion, we humbly conceive, that
when w^e are ordered into the service of the United
States, it becomes our duty when required, to
march to the defence of any section of the Union.
We are not of that class who believe that our
duties as citizens or soldiers are circumscribed
within the narrow limits of the Town or State in
which w^e reside; but that we are under a para-
mount obligation to our common countrv, to the
232 EARLY HISTORY
confederation of States. We further conceive that
while we are in actual service, and during the
period for which we were ordered into service,
your Excellency's power over us, as Governor of
the State of Vermont, is suspended.
If it is true, as 3'our Excellency states, that we
" are out of the jurisdiction or control of the Exe-
cutive of Vermont," we would ask from whence
3'Our Excellency derives the right or presumes to
exercise the power of ordering us to return from
the service in w^hich w^e are now engaged ? If we
were legally ordered into the service of the United
States, 3^our Excellancy must be sensible that j^ou
have no authority to order us out of that service.
If we were illegally ordered into the service, our
continuance in it is either voluntary or compulsory.
If voluntary, it gives no one a right to remonstrate
or complain ; if compulsory we can appeal to the
laws of our country for redress against those who
illegally restrain us of our libert3^ In either case
W'C cannot conceive the right your Excellency has
to interfere in the business. Viewing the subject
in this light, w^e conceive it our duty to declare un-
equivocally to 3'our Excellenc3^, that we shall not
obe}' your Excellency's order for returning; but
shall continue in the service of our countr^^ until
we are legall^^ and honorably discharged. An in-
vitation or order to desert the standard of our
country will never be obe\^ed by us, although it
proceeds from the Governor and Captain General
of Vermont.
"Perhaps it is proper that we should content
ourselves w^ith merelv giving 3'our Excellencv the
OF VERMONT. 233
reasons which prevail upon us to disregard your
proclamation ; but we are impressed with the belief
that our duty to ourselves, to the soldiers under
our command, and to the public, require that we
should expose to the world the motives which pro-
duced and the objects which w^ere intended to be
accomplished by such extraordinar3^ proclamation.
We shall take the liberty to state to your Excel-
lency, plainh^, our sentiments on this subject. We
consider your proclamation as a gross insult to
the officers and soldiers in service, inasmuch as it
implies that they are so ignorant of their rights as
to believe that you have authority to command
them in their present situation, or so abandoned
as to follow \^our insidious advice. We cannot re-
gard 3^our proclamation in any other light than
as an unwarrantable stretch of executive author-
ity, issued from the worst motives, to effect the
basest purposes. It is, in our opinion, a renewed
instance of that spirit of disorganization and
anarchy w^hich is carried on by a fraction to over-
whelm our country with ruin and disgrace. We
cannot perceive what other object 3'our Excellency
could have in view than to embarrass the opera-
tions of the army, to excite mutin}^ and sedition
among the soldiers and induce them to desert, that
the3^ might forfeit the wages to which they are
entitled for their patriotic services.
" We have, however, the satisfaction to inform
j'our Excellency, that although j^our proclama-
tions have been distributed among the soldiers by
your agent delegated for that purpose, they have
failed to produce the intended effect— and although
234 EARLY HISTORY
it ma^' appear incredible to 3'our Excellency, even
so7(iiers have discernment sufficient to perceive that
the proclamation of a Governor when offered out
of the line of his duty, is a harmless, inoffensive
and nugatory document. The\^ regard it with
mingled emotions of pity and contempt for its
author, and as a striking monument of his folly.
" Before we conclude, we feel ourselves injustice
to 3^our Excellency bound to declare that a knowl-
edge of 3'our Excellency's character induces us to
believe that the folly and infamy of the proclama-
tion, to which 3'our Excellenc3^ has put your. sig-
nature, is not wholh' to be ascribed to 3^our Ex-
cellenc3% but chiefly to the evil advisers with whom
we believe 3'our Excellenc3^ is encompassed."
On Jan. 6, 1814, the National House of Repre-
sentatives took into consideration the Proclama-
tion of Governor Chittenden. Mr. Sharp a mem-
ber from Kentuck3^ said,
"This act was in direct violation of the stat-
ute, which makes it penal to entice the soldiers
in the service of the United States to desert. This
act was done, too, at a critical time, and by a
person standing in so conspicious a station as to
require particularh' the punishment due to his of-
fence. Mr. Sharp adverted to the peculiar station
of the miHtia thus ordered home, on a frontier
requiring their presence for its protection ; and
whereas, he said, from their character, the\^ might,
indeed, be expected, being the descendents of the
Green Mountain Boys who so much distinguished
themselves during our Revolution under the illus-
trious Allen, to have voluntarily^ aided in the in-
OF VERMONT. 235
vasion of the territor\' of the enem^-. Under these
circumstances, and when their services were most
needed, thej were invited by Governor Chittenden
to desert their position. His conduct in this respect
must meet the decided reprehension not onh' of
every member of this House, but of every good
citizen of the Union. It ought then to receive legal
scrutiny. His offence ought to be punished, lest
our laws should be subject to the remark which
was applied to Solon's : that they were like cob-
webs, which entangled the weak, but which the
strong could breakthrough. To bring this subject
directly before the House, he offered the following
resolutions :
^'Resolved, That the militia of any of these
United States, or the Territories thereof, when
lawfully employed in the service of the United
States, are subject to the same rules and articles
as the troops of the United States.
''Resolved, That every person not subject to
rules and articles of war, who shall procure or en-
tice a soldier in the service of the United States to
desert is guilty- of an infraction of the laws of the
the United States and subject to punishment.
''Resolved, That His Excellency Martin Chit-
tenden, Governor of the State of Vermont, by is-
suing his proclamation, dated at Montpelier, on
on the 10th day of November in the 3'ear of our
Lord 1813, did entice soldiers in the service of the
United States to desert. Therefore,
''Resolved, That the President of the United
States be, and he is hereb\% requested to instruct
the Attornev General of the United States to insti-
236 EARLY HISTORY
tute a prosecution against the said Martin Chit-
tenden."
These remarks and resolutions were followed
by additional remarks from Mr. Fisk of Vermont,
who said "he had hoped, and in so sajnng he be-
lieved he expressed the sense of the whole delega-
tion from the State of Vermont, that these resolu-
tions would not have made their appearance. He
believed that very few persons in Vermont ap-
proved of that proclamation. He was certain
there were none of the delegation from the State
who approved it. The act was unjustitiable, but
it was the act of the Governor of a State. The
resolutions were objectionable in several points of
view, of which he would briefly notice only one or
two. If Gov. Chittenden had committed an of-
fence against the laws, he was liable to the proper
tribunal. It was not proper that the House of
Representatives should turn informers. The courts
of justice should be as clear from any improper in-
fluence as possible. If the resolutions should be
adopted, and the weight of the opinion of the
House of Representatives were such as it ought to
be, it would be conclusive against the individual
concerned : if, however, they failed in convicting
him, and merely' excited public sympathy in his
favor b3^ their accusation, it would place this body
in an unpleasant, if not ridiculous point of view.
In such case the House had no constitutional
power; and all resolutions on the subject must be
improper. As well as for another reason : these
declare the law to be so and so, and resolutions
then declare the Governor to have violated the law.
OF VERMONT. 237
Now, said Mr. Fisk, our resolutions neither make
or strengthen laws, and therefore can be of no use.
Viewing the resolutions as objectionable in ever^v
point of view, he moved that the3'lie on the table."
Other members of the House, while not com-
mending the course of the Governor, favored a
laying the resolutions on the table. They argued
that if Governor Chittenden had committed an of-
fence against the laws let the judiciar^v, under the
Constitution and law, decide the question, whether
the Governor had acted constitutionalh^ and were
opposed to the House giving its opinion on the law
or directing the prosecution of anyone. The reso-
lutions were tabled and never considered again.
The Governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut,
and Rhode Island seemed to have acted in respect
to their militia not inconsistent with the views of
of Gov. Martin Chittenden. The Governor of
those three States "objected to the requisitions
made on their several states for parts of their re-
spective quotas of militia on the folio wing grounds :
1st, That the president has no power to make a
requisition for any portion of the militia, for either
of the purposes specified b3'the constitution, unless
the executive of the state on whose militia such
call is made, admits that the case alleged exists,
and approves the call. 2d, That when the militia
of a state should be called into the service of the
United States, no officer of the regular army had
a right to comniand them. or other persons, except
the president of the United States in person."
The Vermont militia returned from New Vork
State before their time of service expired and no
238 EARLY HISTORY
particular notice of the course that the Governor
had taken with the miUtia was afterwards taken.
It is evident as he as Governor, acted in the mat-
ter, not only in harmony with the majority of his
part\^ in Vermont, but in the manner that he re-
o^arded his plain dut\\ His character was shown
and principles were expressed in the following
statement in his speech to the Legislature of 1814,
when he said, " The true patriot can submit to no
sacrifice of truth or principle, to procure his own
advancement, or promote the interests or views of
a part\\ Men may change, and parties may
change — but truth, principle, and virtue are minu-
table. It ought therefore, to be our firm determi-
nation to persue the plain pathof duty with steadi-
ness and fidelity." It will be iDorn in mind that
though Governor Chittenden was scrupulous as
to his rright not to comply with the orders to
send the militia out of the State, to be commanded
by a United States oflicer, he did not undertake to
prevent volunteers going to the assistance of Gen.
Alexander Macomb and Gen. Samuel Strong of
Plattsburg, but he called for volunteers, and the
call was responded to, not onh' in the western
counties of the State near the scene of conflict but
from central and eastern Vermont.
As the campaign ot 1813, drew to a close. Com-
modore Macdonough went into winter quarters
at the Otter Creek River near Vergennes, with his
flotilla, on Dec. 19, 1813.
It was determined by the Cabinet that the cam-
paign of 1814, in the north should be the same as
that of 1813: viz, the invasion of Canada. Gen.
OF VERMONT. 239
Croo^an was to move against the British on the
upper lakes; Gen. Brown on the Niagara frontier;
and Gen. Izard in the Champlain region, who was
to cut the connection on the St. Lawrence between
Montreal and Kingston. The Vermont troops
w^ere employed in two of the three parts of this
arrangement. Part of the U. S. regiment [Clark's]
on the Niagara frontier, and the remainder of the
11th and the 30th [Fassett's] and the 31st [Dana's]
and the Vermont militia and volunteers in the
vicinity of Lake Champlain. At the same time
war was to be kept up on the smugglers as well as
the harrassing of the Canadians in the vicinit3' of
the Vermont and New York frontier lines in which
Colonel Clark continued to be very efficient.
On Jan. 14, 1813, a detachment of thirteen
mounted infantry was ordered to the frontier in
Highgate, to look after smugglers and smuggled
property, and they passed over the line into Can-
ada finding no smuggled propertv, returned to
Vermont side to take supper at a Mr. Dibble's ;
on preparing to depart after supper, they were
met by a party of thirty armed smugglers who
commenced firing upon them, and the fire was re-
turned with spirit for a time w^hen the smugglers
charged in upon them, but the door was strongly
defended till seven of their number escaped and
the remainder were taken prisoners by the smug-
glers, except Sergeant Butler commanding, who
was mortally wounded and was left.
On February 13th, pursuant to orders from the
War Department, Gen. Wilkinson broke up the
cantonment; seven regiment of infantry, including
240 EARLY HISTORY
a part of the 11th regiment, one company of artil-
lery marched for Sackett's Harbor under General
Brown ; sixth regiment of infantry- with two com-
panies of artillery marched to Plattsburgh ; and
one brigade, including the 30th and 31st regiments
marched to Burlington under Gen. Macomb.
As soon as the American troops had left their
winter quarters the British on Feb. 19, 1814,
made a raid for plunder at French Mills and vicinity,
and on the 21st Gen. Wilkinson marched with three
thousand men from Plattsburgh about ten miles
toward the enemy, and learned the\' had left for
Canada. The British secured a considerable plun-
der, but lost more than one hundred regulars by
desertion, fifty of whom came to Plattsburgh and
and the remainder to Sackett's Harbor.
On Feb. 24, 1814, at Burlington Col. Isaac
Clark of the 11th infantr3^ issued orders for all the
othcers and men of his regiment, who were absent
to return to their duty or the^- would be consid-
ered deserters unless they reported to the command-
ing officers on the expiration of their furlough.
Gen. Wilkinson was determined to destroy the
traitors' intercourse that had been kept up between
those calling themselves Americans with the enemy
in Canada ; therefor Col. Clark marched on March
8th with a detachment of eleven hundred mounted
riflemen, all Green Mountain Bo^'s, to take posses-
sion of the entire northern frontier of Vermont ;
and three hundred riflemen and sixty dragoons
marched under Major Forsyth to guard the lines
west of Lake Champlain. It was the intention of
the officers of these detachments to make prison-
OF VERMONT. 241
ers of every British subject found within the United
States, and to apprehend and deliver to the civil
authority-, for trial and punishment every American
citizen found in Canada.
On March 17th Colonel Clark advanced with
his detachment into the enem\''s country within six
miles of Isle aux Noix, captured the enem\''s ad-
vanced guard, took sixt3^ stand of arms, four oxen
and six horses and returned to Missisquoi Ba3'and
there raised the American standard and took up his
quarters, and there he was joined by General Ma-
comb with infantry and artillery from Plattsburgh.
General Clark in this proposed invasion of the
enemies' countr\' designed to carry on the war on
true war principles, and gave positive orders to
his troops to respect private property under the
pains and penalties of the rules and articles of war.
Major Fors^^th advanced and made his headquart-
ers at or near Chazy. By the 29th of March Col.
Clark had crossed the lake, with his troops that
had been stationed at Missisquoi Bslj, and formed
a junction with the forces of Maj. General Wilkin-
son on the western side of the lake and had ad-
vanced within six miles of the enem3^, who were
posted and fortified at the river LaCole. Colonel
Clark and Major Fors3'th were in the advance; on
the afternoon of that da3^ a battle was fought be-
tween the Americans and the British in which the
Americans failed to drive the enem^- from their for-
tified position. Lossing states the American loss
in this battle at 13 killed, 128 wounded and 13
missing; and the British loss at 11 killed, 2 oflicers
and 44 men wounded and 4 missing. A reliable
16
242 EARLY HISTORY
account was ^iven of the battle at the time as
follows :
"General Wilkinson so disposed the troops as
nearly to encircle the mill and brought up a how-
itzer and one 12 pounder to batter the walls, but
after considerable time it was found little effect
was produced. The enemy kept up a galling fire
during the whole time our troops lay before the
place from the loop holes cut in the Mill, and di-
rected a great portion of his fire on the two pieces
of artillery ; our troops returned the fire with
great coolness and with deliberate aim. The
enemy made two sallies and charged Brig. General
Smith's left in the first, but were repulsed wdth
considerable loss. Towards the evening, a British
regiment arrived and made a charge on part of
Brig. General Bissell's brigade, but was so warmly
received that they instantly fell back, leaving
twelve men dead on the field, and suffered severely
in wounded, (from their own accounts.) The
American troops behaved with the utmost coolness
and suffered less than the enemj^ notwithstanding
the advantage he had in point of position.
"The enemy's force was not ascertained, but
computed at 1500 ; our force was double that
number, but not more than one-half was brought
into the action. The whole of Brig. General Ma-
comb's command w^as in the reserve and not at all
engaged. Maj. Forsj^th's Riflemen and Clark's
detachment formed the line round the Mill. The
American army returned to their camp late in the
evening, without leaving a single man behind, or
even a single article for the enemy to claim as a
trophy."
OF VERMONT. 243
The mill in which the enem3^ sheltered them-
selves, was a heav\' stone structure, with walls
eighteen inches in thickness, and its windows bar-
ricaded with heav3^ timbers, through which were
loop holes for muskets. The British also occupied
a block-house and a strong barn, around which
were entrenchments. On the other hand the
Americans were in the open fields exposed to the
galling fire from the protected enemy, who re-
peatedly charged upon them, but in vain. General
Wilkinson was tried by court martial in 1815, in
which his connection with this affair was full^^ in-
vestigated, but he w^as honorabh^ acquitted; he
failed on account of the mill being imprevious to
such artillery as he had ; the eighteen pounder that
the Americans broke down on the march could not
be brought on to the field. There w^as no six
pounder, but the3^ had a five inch mortar, which
with the twelve pounder was placed in battery at
the distance of two hundred and fifty yards from
the mill, under the command of Capt. McPherson,
who was wounded and compelled to retire ; Lieut.
Larabee succeeded him in command of the battery,
who was also wounded and retired, when Lieut.
Sheldon commanded and continued to pl3^his artil-
lery^ vigoroush' until he was ordered to withdraw
with the arm3\
On General Wilkinson's trial Col. Isaac Clark
testified that "the mill he should judge is about
fifty or sixty feet long and forty feet broad. It is
a strong building, and the stones which form the
walls are principally^ large and hesLXj. The wall
must be from two and a half to three feet thick,
244 EARLY HISTORY
and resisted what were called twelve pound ball
for two hours, and no visible impression was
made on them. There were several log buildings
adjacent to the mill which appeared to be occupied
by the enemy and from which there was firing.
There was also a building called a block-house, but
he did not conceive it was built purposely for that
use. He thought the enemv had one piece of artil-
lery ; but w^hether the shot proceeded from the mill
or from a gun-boat adjacent he could not sa^'. It
was impossible to ascertain the number of the
enem3'' from appearance, as they were under cover.
But from information given by deserters and pris-
oners there must have been six or seven hundred
men in and about the mill, consisting of four com-
panies of the 18th regiment and forty or fift^- in-
corporated militia. In addition to these, two
companies of voltigeurs, came up, an hour and a
half after the commencement of the action, at-
tacked our line, and on being repulsed also retired
into the mill. The walls of the mill are three
stories high, and in every direction were loop holes
and apertures for musketry, and some through
the roof. The mill had one door on the east side,
but none was visible in the south, where we made
our approaches. Half an hour after the attack
commenced, two pieces of artillery, a twelve and
a six pounder [mortar,] were brought up and
opened a fire upon the mill, but the eighteen
pounder did not approach the scene of action
within a number of miles. Why it remained be-
hind he could not sav; but after finding that no
impression was made by the two pieces employed.
OF VERMONT. 245
he rode to General Wilkinson and asked if he had
not some heavy artiller3\ The adjutant-general,
or some other officer near him, replied that the
carriage of the eighteen pounder was broken. He
also deposed, that the roof of the mill was of
wood, but that no red hot shot was used to set
fire to it as they had no furnace. During the attack
two companies, who he understood from deserters
were part of the 13th regiment, sallied from the
mill upon the center of our Hne, apparently to take
the field pieces. They were defeated wdth great
loss, very much cut to pieces, and after their re-
pulse re-entered the mill. It would have been
rather difficult for our troops to have followed
them up and entered the place with the enemy, as
the mill was very w^ell guarded, and he heard no
proposition of that effect at the time. He does
not know whether the surrender of the place was
demanded, but was confident there w^as no flag
sent out.
''The mill was on the north side of a stream
frozen over; our attack was against the south
side. The advance was regularly posted, and the
fire of the artillery was kept up about two hours ;
there w^as perhaps a short cessation for want of
cartridges. The firing of musketry, on both sides,
continued until our artillery was moved out of
danger, and the whole ceased near sundown."
The army returned from the field and the next
day commenced their retrograde march to Platts-
burgh. It was evident that the failure to capture
the mill was the want of artillery sufficently pow-
erful for the w^ork and not to any lack of bravery
246 ' EARLY HISTORY
of the men. Nine or ten of the killed and one-
third of the wounded were from the corps, com-
posed of Vermont troops commanded b_v Colonel
Clark; this indicated that the Vermont troops
bore their share in the fight.
On March 31st General Wilkinson in a general
order, said, " The affair is honorable to the troops,
and gives them a title to the thanks of the General
and their country. The constancy and courage
exhibited under tedious galling fire of the enemy
was exemplary, and would have done credit to
the oldest troops in the w^orld." He closed his
order as follows: "Let the meritorious dead be
collected and buried with the honors of war in the
same grave. Let the w^ounded be cherished with
the utmost tenderness, and removed to the hos-
pitals in the rear. And let the troops be immedi-
ately completed to sixty rounds of ammunition,
and held perfectly ready to meet the enemy should
he venture to advance."
On April 1814, General Wilkinson, who was at
Champlain, informed Macdonough, who w^as at
Yergcnnes, that the vessels of the enemy on Lake
Champlain would soon be ready to sail, and prob-
ably would attempt to land a force for the purpose
of destroying his vessels that were in the Otter
Creek and on the stocks ; Wilkinson added that
he could not erect batteries at Rouses Point to
command the lake for want of canon. Governor
Chittenden ordered out the militia in Franklin,
Chittenden and Addison Counties, five hundred of
wdiich were to be stationed at Burlington, and one
thousand at Vergennes to guard the shipping and
OF VERMONT. 247
public property on the lake. Most of the Vermont
militia were soon discharged on condition that
they should rally on the firin;? of alarm signals,
and General Macomb was ordered to send a force
of five hundred men to Vergennes.
On Ma3^ 14th a little before sunrise, the British
fleet, consisting of a bomb sloop and eighteen gal-
lies, commenced a heav^^ and spirited fire on the
batter}', that had recently been erected at the
mouth of Otter Creek. The fire was returned b^'
the batter\^ by the men stationed there aided b\'
some militia from the town of Addison and other
neighboring towns. Macdonough promptly came
down the river with his new sloop of war
and several galWs and in one hour and a half the
enemv were forced to retreat. The Americans suf-
fered no loss ; the British lost two fine new row-
boats. After this repulse, their gallies entered the
river Bouquet to seize some government stores,
and on returning, were fired upon by a body of
New York militia, and nearlj^ all the men in the
last galle^^ w^ere killed or wounded. Within a few
days of this aftair, Macdonough entered the lake
with his fleet and anchored in Cumberland Ba^-
near the site of his subsequent memorable victor;/.
By the month of June both armies had been
largeh' increased. Maj. Genenal Jacob Brown suc-
ceeded Gen. Wilkinson to the command of the ninth
military district, and Maj. General George Izard, a
native of South Carolina, was in command of the
right wmg of the northern arm}'. The British
concentrated at Lacolle and other points near the
line, with their fleet near at hand. Between the
248 EARLY HISTORY
11th and the 31st of June the American army in-
cluding the 30th and 31st U. S. regiments, ad-
vanced from PlattsburghtoChamplainandChazy.
Macdonough co-operated by anchoring his fleet in
King's Bay, north of the mouth of the big Chazy
River.
On June 24th Lieut. Colonel Forsyth, advanced
to Odletown with seventh" riflemen, where he was
attacked b3^ a detachment of two hundred light
armed British troops. Forsyth repulsed them and
returned to Champlain with a loss of one killed
and five wounded, the British loosing three killed
and five wounded. On the 28th he was ordered to
enter Canada again for the purpose of driving the
British across the line into an ambuscade and suc-
ceeded in drawing out Captain Mayhew w^ith
about 150 Indians, and as the3^ approached the am-
buscade, Forsyth stepped upon a log to watch
their movements and was shot through the breast
by an Indian. The American rifles were immedi-
ateh^ uncovered and fired upon the enemy, w^ho
retreated in great haste, leaving seventeen of their
number dead upon the field. Forsyth w^as from
North Carolina and had distinguished himself on
various occasions and was regarded as one of the
best officers in the army; and his men declared they
would avenge his death, and this they did by kill-
ing Captain Mayhew, who, with Forsyth was
buried at Champlain. Forsyth and Col. Isaac
Clark of the 11th U. S. infantry had been as-
sociated in active service on the frontier, and
in April 1814, were transferred to the 26th in-
fantry, consisting of riflemen ; and on June 30th
OF VERMONT. 249
Colonel Clark, learning of the death of Forsyth
who bravely fell at Odletown on the 2Sth fighting
the defence of the rights and liberties of his countr\%
announced that the officers of the regiment "will
wear crape on the left arm thirty daj's in testimony
of their regret for the loss of that valuable and
distinguished officer." This order was issued at
Burlington.
Lieut. Colonel Fors3'th was suceeded by Maj.
Daniel Appling of Georgia, who also distinguished
himself, subsequently at the battle of Platts-
burgh. Captain Z. Ta3^1or was made Major of
the said 26th regiment, and became President of
the United States in 1849.
During the summer ot 1814, military opera-
tions on the frontier farther west werever3^ active.
Two fierce battles in which Vermont troops parti-
cipated should be specially mentioned : viz, Battle
of "Chippewa Plains" and "Lund3''s Lane."
The battle ground of the first was between the
streets and Chippewa Creek and bounded on the
east by Niagara River, and on the west b\^a forest.
The plain admitted of close work, face to face;
that battle was fought on JuW 5, 1814, the day
w^as clear and hot. After the contending forces
had got hotW engaged the description of the con-
flict is as follows :
"The battle raged with fur\' along the entire
line of both armies. Several times the British line
was broken, and then closed up again; and it
often exposed as man\^ flanks as it had regiments
in the field. This unskillful manoeuvring had been
observed b\^ Scott, who had advanced, halted, and
250 EARLY HISTORY
fired alternately, until he was within eighty paces
of the foe. Observing a gap in his lines which
made a new flank, he ordered a quick movement in
that direction by McNeil's Eleventh Regiment.
He shouted with a voice that was heard above the
din of battle, ' the enem\' sa\' we are good at long
shot, but cannot stand the cold iron ; I call upon
the Eleventh instantly to give the lie to that
slander. Charge!' This movement was immedi-
ateW made, with the most decisive effect. A similar
charge was made by Leavenworth, who held an
oblique position on the American right. At the
same time Towson's batter3^ poured in an oblique
fire of murderous canister-shot, after silence the
enemies' most effective battery- by blowing up an
ammunition wagon; and presently the whole left
and center of the British broke and fled in confu-
sion. The effective £ank movement hy McNeil was
the one, there can he no doubt, which gave the vic-
tory to the Americans. "
Maj. General Brown in his report of the battle
to the Secretary of War July 7, 1814, says, "Brig.
General Scott is entitled to the highest praises our
country can bestow — to him more than to any
other man am I indebted for the victory of the 5th
of ]\x\y. His brigade has covered itself with glory.
Every officer and ever\^ man of the 9th and 22d,
11th and 25th regiments, did his duty, with a zeal
and energy worthy of the American character.
When every officer stands so pre-eminenth' high in
the path of dut^^ and honor, it is impossible to dis-
criminate, but I cannot deprive m^^self of the
pleasure of saying that Major Leavenworth com-
OF VERMONT. 251
manded the 9th and 22d, and Alajor McNeil the
11th. Col. Campbell [of the 11th] was wounded
early in the action, orallanth' leading on his regi-
ment."
The American loss, killed, wounded and missing
was 308 ; the British loss was 49i. The loss in
the 11th U. S. regiment to which most of the Ver-
monters belonged were sevent^^-three ; this was
the heaviest loss of any American regiment en-
gaged in the battle.
On the morning of July 25, 1814, while the
army under Maj. General Brown was encamped
on the field of their victor\% last above described,
Maj. General Brown received a report that the
British were in force at Queenstown, but nine
miles distant, and that Brown's depot of supplies
was their object. In the afternoon Brown ordered
General Scott "to march down to Queenstown,
and find the enemy and beat him;" he found the
enemy in Lundv's Lane drawn up in line of battle;
the force of the enem3^ was more extensive than
those that the American's had met on the 5th at
Chippewa, some of which were fresh troops from
the victorious army of Wellington. Scott at once
sent word to Gen. Brown of his critical situation,
but he held the enem3', b3^ fierce fighting until
Brown arrived about 9 o'oclock in the evening.
The enemv were finalh^ repulsed, but no attempt to
secure the fruits of the victor3' in the darkness and
in the shattered condition of the American troops,
and under the order of Gen. Brown the Americans
returned to Chippewa for rest and reorganization,
and the British reoccupied their position and re-
o^o
EARLY HISTORY
gained their lost cannon except one that the
Americans carried away as a troph3\ Maj. Gen.
McXeil was severely wounded and removed from
the field. After General Brown arrived on the
field with Riple\^'s brigade Gen. Brown and Gen.
Scott were both w^ounded and retired and the
command devolved upon Gen. Riple\\ In this bat-
tle the British had about 4500 men and the Ameri-
cans a little less than 2600 men ; the grand and
brave work of the Americans is seen when it is re-
membered that from the beginning of the battle
until nine o'clock at night, less then 1200 Ameri-
cans held the entire British force and repeatedly
repulsed their advances and badly cut them up.
The American loss in the battle was 853 men and
that of the British 878 men. Maj. General Brown's
return for the 11th regiment was 28 killed, 102
wounded and 3 missing. An extract from a letter
written soon after the battle by Lieut. F. A. Saw-
3'er of Burlington, of the 11th regiment and who
participated in the battle, gives many particulars
of the contest, he sa3^s, ''the late engagement was
perhaps the most sanguinar\^ one ever fought on
this continent. We engaged the enem3^ the 2oth of
Juh^ at 6 P. M. near the falls of Niagara, and con-
tinued the fight until half past eleven at night,
when by verj^ inferior numbers the enemy was
compelled to retire, leaving us in quiet possession
of the field of battle.
" The first brigade, [Scott's,] as usual, bore the
brunt of the action. We maintained our ground
for one hour and a half against the whole forces
of the eneni}', which were four times our number,
OF VERMONT. 253
before we were supported by a solitary- individual
of Gens. Ripley's and Porter's brigades — the3- how-
ever joined in time to prevent us from being whollv
cut up, and contributed a little in giving the enemv
a heart\' drubbing.
"On leaving camp, no one anticipated a general
engagement. It was the impression that the brig-
ade was ordered out to disperse four or five hun-
dred, as it was supposed, of the enemy's militia
and Indians, who were hanging on our rear for
the purpose of annoying our piquets and kidnap-
ping those who might be led by curiosity to visit
the falls. As we advanced, a few of the enem^-
would form, and then retire; this manoeuvre was
continued until we had advanced within half mus-
ket shot of the enemy's lines, when the battle com-
menced. The enemy's position was a most excel-
lent one — their line of infantry was posted behind a
fence, which formed a semicircle and encompassed
a field which our troops were compelled to accept
of, if they made the attack ; their flanks were pro-
tected by woods filled with militia and Indians,
and in their rear, at a desirable distance, was a
height on which their artillery w^as planted ; na-
ture could not have formed a more advantageous
position. Under these disadvantages our troops
attacked them. The 9th and 25th were ordered
to attack their flanks, while the 11th and 22d met
their front. We endeavored to form a line in face
and e3'es of all their infantry and artillery, but
they opened such a deadly and destructive fire up-
upon us that we were compelled to retire a few
paces and form in the skirts of a wood, and before
254 EARLY HISTORY
we opened upon them more than two-thirds of the
two regiments were cut down. However, we then
maintained our ground until a reinforcement
joined us, when we advanced and drove the ene-
my in every direction. Col. Miller with his regi-
ment charged and took their artiller\^ consisting
of nine pieces, but they repossessed themselves [on
the next morning, when our army had left the
held,] of all but two brass six pounders. For an
hour the two lines were within four rods of each
other, firing with as much deliberation as if it had
been a sham fight, and now and then for a change
the point of the bayonet w^as used. Here for the
first time I witnessed a charge. It did not prove
as destructive as I had expected, but God knows
it was destructive enough. Towards the close of
the action, as there was hardly a company
remaining of our regiment, and but one man
in my platoon, I volunteered in the 9th, and was
assigned to Capt. Hull's company. He was killed
in the last charge we made upon the enemy. Capt.
Pentland and two or three subalterns were also
wounded. The latter part of the action w^as the
most severe. " Generals Brown and Scott remained
untouched, as well as the greater part of the field
officers, until the action was near at an end. That
part of the fight proved much more destructive to
the enem^^ than to us, as our men did much better
execution w^hen in close contact with them. Our
fire at length proved so destructive, that the
enem3^'s bugle sounded the retreat for the last
time, and our troops were left in undisturbed pos-
session of the heights."
OF VERMONT. 255
On the night of Aug. 15, 1814, the Battle of
Fort Erie was fought, when, after a severe and
bloody contest in which the 11th regiment and
many Vermont troops were engaged, the Ameri-
cans were completely successful. The American
forces were under the command of General Gaines.
The enemy undertook to take the fort by storm ;
at one time they gained possession of a bastion,
but were driven from it and the entire force put to
flight. The enem\^ admitted their loss to be 805
men. The American loss w^as 17 killed, 56 w^ounded
and 14 missing.
On Sept. 17, 1814, the Americans under Gen.
Brown made a sortie from the fort against the
British army encamped about tw^o miles from the
fort, when another battle w^as fought and in which
a large part of the British force on the Niagara
frontier was put hots du combat — the remnant of
their force abandoned their encampment and re-
treated to Chippew^a. The total loss of the I British
in this battle was about 1000 men, w^hile the
American loss killed, wounded and missing w^ere
but 511. The battle closed the severe, brave and
honorable service of the 11th infantr\^ on the
Niagara frontier.
It would not be out of place to give individual
instances of meritorious service and the conspicu-
ous, brave and heroic conduct of the rank and file
of Vermont troops, but it does not seem best to go
too much into details.
During the summer months of 1814, it was evi-
dent that the time was hastening when a trial of
strensfth must come between the American and
256 EARLY HISTORY
British arms on or near Lake Champlain, in which
Vermonters would be especialh' concerned. Prep-
eration for the contest was being made by both of
the contending parties.
Late in the summer of 1814, not less than fif-
teen thousand troops, most of them Wellington's
Veterans fresh from victories over the French, ar-
rived in Canada and were encamped between the
St. Lawrence and Sorel rivers. The British Naval
force on Lake Champlain had also been strongly
reinforced. The British forces were under the com-
mand of Sir George Prevost. Prevost was born
in New York Citj-, Ma^- 19, 1767, and son of Maj.
General Augustine Prevost of the British Arm\',
and entered the arm\' 3'oung and served with dis-
tinction. In 1805 he was made Alajor General and
created a baronet; and in 1811, was made Lieu-
tenant General and military- commander of British
North America. His plan of the campaign was a
repetition of Gen. Burgo^^ne's in 1777, supplemented
b^^ a naval force that he supposed to be sufficient
to command the lake; and like Burgo\'ne, he began
his undertaking w4th a proclamation bearing date
Champlain town, Sept. 2, 1814, that read as fol-
lows :
''The Commander of His Britannic Majest3^'s
FORCES, which have entered the State of New
York, makes known to its peaceable and unoffend-
ing inhabitants, that the\' have no cause for alarm
from this invasion of the country, for the safet3^ of
themselves and families, or for the securet3'of their
property. He explicith' assures them, that as long
as the^' continue to demean themselves peaceably.
OF VERMONT. 257
they shall be protected in the quiet possession of
their homes, and permitted freeh' to pursue their
usual occupations.
"It is against the Goyerxmext of the United
States, by whom this unjust and unprovoked war
has been declared, and against those who support
it, either openly or secretly, that the arms ot his
Majesty are directed. The quiet and unoffending
inhabitants, not found in arms, or otherwise not
aiding in hostility, shall meet with kind usaofe and
generous treatment; and all just complaints
against any of his Majesty's subjects, offering vio
lence to them, to their families, or to their posses.
sions, shall be immediately redressed.
"Those, therefore, who ma3^ have been induced
to retire at the approach of his Majesty's troops^
from any mistaken apprehension respecting their
object and their views, are hereby invited to return
to their farms and habitations as the best means
of securing them.
"The magistrate and other civil authorities,
who in the faithful discharge of their respective
stations shall continue to exercise their ordinary
jurisdiction, for the punishment and apprehension
of crimes, and the support of good order, shall
not fail to receive countenance and protection."
Prevost was assisted by an experienced General,
De Rottenburg, with his splendid arm^^ of veterans
of fourteen thousand men preparing to advance
as soon as his flotilla could co-operate.
Early in August of 1814, General Alacomb and
Bissell, under the command of Gen. Izard were, at
Champlain with eleven regiments, watching the
17
258 EARLY HISTORY
British, a considerable l^ociy of whom, under the
personal observation of Prevost, had concentrated
at Isle aux Noix. Gen. Izard was ordered to march
four thousand of his men to the Niagara frontier.
This left Gen. Macomb with only 3,400 men, 1,400
of which were invalids. Gen. Izard protested
against this detachment being sent to Niagara
and wrote to the Secretary of War on August 11th
that, "I will make the movement [westward] 3'ou
direct, if possible; but I shall do it with the appre-
hension of risking the force under my command,
and w4th certainty that everything in this vicinity
but the lately erected works at Plattsburgh and
Cumberland Head will, in less than three da^^s
after my departure, be in the possession of the
enemy. He is in force superior to mine in front ;
he daily threatens an attack on m3^ position at
Champlain ; we are all in hourly expectation of a
serious conflict."
On the 29th of August Gen. Izard left Cham-
plain and Chazy with his army for the West. On
August 30th the British under Gen. Brisbane oc-
cupied Champlain, and Prevost with his splendidly
equipped army cc;:upied the same place and made
preparation for an advance as soon as his flotilla
could co-operate. Gen. Alexander Macomb w^as
an excellent army ofiicer; he entered the army in
1799, and had risen b\^ promotion through the
several grades to Brig. General in 1814, and after-
wards in 1828, to Alaj. General and commander of
the U. S. Arm\\ He w^as in the battle at Sackett's
Harbor, Fort Niagara, Fort George, and at Platts-
burgh, and took the field for a time in the Florida
OF VERMONT. 259
War. His first work, under the circumstances in
which he was placed, with a formidable British
army to contend with, was to call upon New York
and Vermont for reinforcements and to strengthen
the three forts and block-house lying on the right
bank of Saranac River at Plattsburgh and com-
manding the territor^^ to the shore of the lake.
Of these, Fort Brown was garrisoned by detach-
ments of Vermonters from the 30th and 31st in-
fantry-. Macomb sent out partis to retard the ad-
vance of the enem3^ and to anno^- them as much
as possible, but the small force could not stay
their progress. And the American skirmishers
were driven across the Saranac, but the\^ took up
the bridge behind them. These detachments that
had been sent out to annoy the enemy did good
service during the dav before they recrossed the
river. The report of the affair given from the
headquarters at Plattsburgh Sept. 7, 1814, stated,
''In the afternoon, the militia met the British
regulars in the woods near the Saranac river, and
after disputing the passage of that stream for
some time, the enemy retired with considerable
loss. Here the mihtia did their duty, and it is by
meeting the enemy in the woods, and flanking and
anno3'ing him on all occasions, that the most essen-
tial service can be rendered by them. The killed
and wounded on our part is trifling. That of the
enemy is reported to be from two to three hundred.
" Capt. Sheldon has been directed by Gen. Ala.
comb to call on all volunteers, and request that
they report immediately to the scene of action."
In this brave work a detachment of Vermonters
260 EARLY HISTORY
of the 30th and 31st U. S. regulars served under
Gen. Wool.
On Aug. 31, 1814, Gen. Macomb, then at Platts-
burgh, addressed a letter to Governor Chittenden
in which he stated, that the enemy were advancing
in full force and had crossed the Chazy at Cham-
plain Village, and suggesting that he throw a
detachment over the lake so as to advance to his
assistance on the road leading from Essex, and on
September 4th he wrote the Governor again that
he had learned that the enemj^'' will marchfor this
place with his whole force this morning and that
the enemy must beseige us, as our works are now
in a tolerable state of defence." He also said much
is at stake and aid is actually w^anted, and am
sure you will not hesitate to afford us all the
assistance in your power. The Governor replied
from Jericho September 4th that I ''shall take the
most effectual measures to furnish such number of
volunteers as may be induced to turn out to your
assistance;" and on the same date the Governor
wrote Gen. John Newell, and recommended that
he take the most effectual method to procure such
number of volunteers as ma^^ be had for his imme-
diate assistance from his brigade, and advised
that the troops cross the lake at McNeil's Ferry.
General Newell answered the letter September 5th
from Charlotte, and wrote, "If I righth^ under-
stand 3'our letter, I can perceive no request, or
order, from your excellency, directing me to have
the militia under my command, or any portion of
them, march to Plattsburgh, or any other place,
for the assistance of Gen. Alacomb, or for any
OF VERMONT. 261
Other purposes. From your letter, therefore, I
consider mj'self unauthorized to order out any
portion of the militia under my command, or to
do more than your excellency has recommended,
namely, to offer my advice, which may be followed
or not. As I consider myself, with the brigade I
command, fully under your direction and control,
and as our assistance is requested, and seems very
much needed at Plattsburgh, I regret that 3^our
excellency has not ordered either the whole or a
portion of this brigade to their assistance, as I
shall cheerfully obey any request, direction or order
3^ou may give, to repair to Plattsburgh, or any
other place, to assist in opposing the enemy, pro-
tecting our territory and citizens, and in defending
our country from invasion ; " and on the same day
the Governor wrote Gen. Newell '*I do not consider
mj'self authorized, either by the Constitution or
laws under which we act and from which all our
powers are derived, to order the militia out of the
State, but considering the peculiar situation of the
army at Plattsburgh, it was my desire that every
aid, constitutionally in our power, should be
afforded." On September 7th Col. Elias Fassett
made a request to the Governor for a quantit^^ of
ammunition that was at Yergennes, and the Gov-
ernor gave him an order for the same, also strongly
recommended to him to use every exertion to pro-
cure such number of volunteers, from his brigade,
as could immediately be induced to cross the lake
to the assistance of the army at Plattsburgh.
Gen. Samuel Strong, who w^as with the troops
at Plattsburgh, wrote Governor Chittenden on
262 EARLY HISTORY
September lOth, the day before the battle, that
"from the best information I can obtain, the
enemy are 8,000 or 9,000 strong, all regular
troops, except a few. * * * I have been up the
river (Saranac) this morning, five or six miles,
v^rhich Y^^as lined with the enemy on the north side.
Thej^ have made several attempts to cross, but
without success. This is the line to be defended.
I have ascertained to a certainty, the number of
militia from Vermont now on the ground, well
armed, is 1812 men ; from New York 700 ; regular
troops under Gen. Macomb are 2000. We have
strong expectations ot 2000 detached militia, or-
dered out by Gen. Moore, arriving soon. * ^ *
I hope 3^ou and your friends will send four or five
thousand to our assistance as soon as possible,
if you should think best. If not, we shall, if our
courage holds out, keep close to them. Do not,
sir, let my wish turn you, from correct principles,
you have heretofore persued, as Governor of Ver-
mont."
On Sept. 11, 1814, at 7 o'clock P. M. Gen.
Strong wrote the Governor as follows:
" Dear Sir,— We are now encamped, with 2500
Vermont volunteers, on the south bank of the Sar-
anac River, opposite the enemy's right wing, which
is commanded by General Brisbane. We have had
the satisfaction to see the British fleet strike to our
brave Commodore Macdonough. The fort was
attacked at the same time, the enemy attempting
to cross the river at every place fordable for four
miles up the river. But they were foiled at every
attempt, except at Pike's encampment, where we
OF VERMONT. 263
now are. The New Ycrk militia are posted at this
place, under Gens. Moore and Wright. The\' were
forced to give back a few miles, until the3^ were
reinforced by their artillery. The General informed
me of his situation, and wished our assistance,
which was readily afforded. We n:et the enemy,
and drove him across the river, under cover of his
artillerj'. Our loss is trifling. We took twenty or
thirty prisoners. Their number of killed is not
knoAvn. We ha^-e been skirmishing all da^^ on the
river. This is the onh' place he crossed, and he
has paid dear for that. I presume the enemy's
force exceeds the number I wrote 3'ou. What will
be our fate to-morrow, I know not, but am will-
ing to risk the consequences attending it, being
convinced of the bravery and skill of my officers
and men. We are abundantly supplied with am-
munition and provisions, from Gen. Macomb. I
am, dear Sir, yours, with esteem, Samuel Strong.
"His Excellency, Martin Chittenden.
"If God permits, you shall hear from me again,
soon."
As cautious and careful as Governor Chittenden
was, respecting what he regarded his right and
duty not to order the militia out of the State to be
commanded b^^ United States officers, he called for
volunteers, and his call was responded to, not only
in the western counties, nearest the scene of con-
flict, b\^ men who arrived in time to take part, but
from central and eastern Vermont as well. Irre-
spective of party, opinion or age, the people turned
out — father and son, veterans of the Revolution
and lads too 3'ouiig for military service — all pressed
264 EARLY HISTORY
towards the lake. Had Prevost carried Platts-
burgh and undertaken to winter at Ticonderoga,
the Vermonters alone would have forced his army
to surrender. Doubtless it was this apprehension
of danger from the Green Mountain Boys, which
filled the mind of Burgoyne in 1777, and the same
apprehension induced Prevost to invade New
York rather than Vermont.
General Prevost on the 11th arranged his land
forces in tw^o columns preparatory to the com-
mencement of the action. One of the columns was
stationed over the Saranac and the other in the vil-
lage, ready to move whenever circumstances should
demand. Such was the situation when the British
fleet sailed into Plattsburgh Bay under Captain
Downie where the^- found the United States squad-
ron ready to meet them. The British opened their
batteries b3^ land as soon as the engagement be-
tween the fleets commenced. The main body of the
British for ceattempted to cross the river in the
rear of the fort near Pike's cantonment, which at-
tempt, after a brave resistance from three hundred
and fifty of the New York and Vermont volunteers,
was effected, but on the arrival of Lieut. Sump-
ter's artillerj^, the enemy made a precipitate re-
treat. The rear of the retreating party were at-
tacked by the Vermont volunteers who succeeded
in capturing three officers and several privates.
Five of the Americans were killed and and eight
wounded. When the shouts of victory at half past
eleven resounded through the American lines an-
nouncing the result of the battle on the lake, the
efforts of the enem}- were perceptably weaker. In
OF VERMONT. 265
the afternoon their entrenchments were deserted,
and in the night succeeding, the enemy's whole
force commenced a retreat to Canada.
Commodore Alacdonough commanding the
American Squadron made to the Secretary of the
Xavy the following report Sept. 13, 1814, of his
battle with the British fleet, viz :
''I have the honor to give you the particulars
of the action which took place on the 11th instant
on this lake. For several days the enemy were on
their wa^^ to Plattsburgh by land and water, and
it being understood that an attack would be made
at the same time b3' their land and naval forces, I
determined to wait at anchor the approach of the
latter.
"At 8 A. M. the lookout boat announced the
approach of the enemy. At 9 he anchored in a line
ahead, at about three hundred yards distance
from my line; his ship opposed to the Saratoga,
his brig to the Eagle, Capt. Robert Henlej^ his
galleys, thirteen in number, to the schooner, sloop,
and a division of our galle3^s ; one of his sloops
assisting their ship and brig, the other assisting
their galleys ; our remaining galle^^s with the Sara-
toga and Eagle. In this situation, the whole
force on both sides, became engaged, the Saratoga
suffering much from the heavy fire of the Confiance.
I could perceive, at the same time, however, that
our fire was ver\^ destructive to her. The Ticon-
deroga, Lieutenant Commandant Cassin, gallantly
sustained her full share of the action. At half past
ten o'clock, the Eagle, not being able to bring her
guns to bear, cut her cable, and anchored in a
266 EARLY HISTORY
more eligible position, between mv ship and the
Ticonderoga, where she very much anno^^ed the
enem3^ but unfortunately leaving me exposed to a
galling fire from the enemy's brig. Our guns on
the starboard side being nearh' all dismounted or
not manageable, a stern anchor was let go, the
bower cable cut, and the ship winded, with a fresh
broadside on the enemy's ship, which soon after
surrendered. Our broadside was then sprung to
bear on the brig, which surrendered in about fifteen
minutes after.
" The sloop that was opposed to the Eagle had
struck sometime before, and drifted down the line ;
the sloop w^hich was with their galleys having
struck also ; three of their galleys are said to be
sunk, the others pulled off. Our galleys were
about obeying, with alacrit}', the signal to follow
them, when all the vessels were reported to me to
be in a sinking state ; it then became necessary to
annul the signal to the galleys, and order their
men to the pumps. I could only look at the
enem^^'s galleys going off in a shattered condition,
for there was not a mast in either squadron that
would stand to make sail on ; the lower rigging,
being nearly all shot away, hung down as though
it had been just placed over the mast-heads.
" The Saratoga had fiftA'-five round shot in her
hull ; the Confiance one hundred and five. The
enemy's shot passed principally- just over our
heads, as there were not twenty whole hammocks
in the nettings at the close of the action, which
lasted, without intermission, two hcurs and
twentv minutes.
OF VERMONT. 267
" The absence and sickness of Lieutenant Ray-
mond Perr^' left me without the services of that
excellent officer. Much fairly ought to be at-
tributed to him for his great care and attention in
disciplining the ship's crew, as her first lieutenant.
His place was filled by a gallant young officer,
Litutenant Peter Gamble, who, I regret to inform
you, was killed early in the action. Acting Lieu-
tenant Vallette worked the first and second divi-
sions of guns, with able effect. Sailing Master
Brum's attention to the springs, and in the execu-
tion of the order to wind the ship, and occasionally
at the guns, meets with m\^ entire approbation ;
also Captain Young's, commanding the acting
marines, who took his men to the guns. Mr.
Beale, purser, was of great service at the guns,
and in carrying m\' orders throughout the ship,
with Midshipman Montgomery. Master's Mate
Joshua Justin had command of the third division;
his conduct during the action was that of a brave
and correct officer. Midshipmen Monteath, Gra-
ham, Williamson, Piatt, Thwing, and Acting Mid-
shipman Baldwin, all behaved well, and gave evi-
dence of their making valuable officers.
*'The Saratoga was twice set on fire by hot
shot from the enemy's ship.
"I close, sir, this communication with feelings of
gratitude for the able support I received from ever^-
officer and man attached to the squadron which
I have the honor to command."
The Purser on board of the United States ship
Saratoga September 13th, w^rote to Thomas Mac-
donough commanding the United States Squadron
268 EARLY HISTORY
that, "From the best information received from
the British officers, from my own observations,
and from various lists found on board the Confi-
ance, I calculate the number of men on board of
that ship, at the commencement of the action at
270, of whom 180 at least were killed and w^ounded,
and on board the other captured vessels, at least
eighty more, making in the whole, killed and
wounded, 260. This doubtless is short of the
real number, as man3^ were thrown overboard
from the Confiance during the engagement." The
prisoners captured from the British were 27 officers,
340 seamen and 47 wounded men paroled. The
forces engaged was 86 guns and 820 men in the
United States Squadron, and 95 guns and 1050
men in the British Squadron. Measuring b^^ the
size of the guns in pound balls the U. S. Squadron
carried 2140 and the British 1880. This shows
the British were superior in the number of guns
and men, and the United States superior in the cal-
ibre of the guns.
Robert Henley commanding the United States
Brig Eagle reported on September 14th, ''I am
happ\' to inform 3'ou that all my officers and men
acted bravely and did their dut3' in the battle of
3'esterda3^ with the enem\\ We have thirty-nine
round shot in our hull, (mosth^ twenty-four
pounders,) four in our lower mastes, and were all
peppered with grape."
Stephen Cassin, Lieutenant Commandent of the
U. S. Schooner Ticonderoga, reported to Macdon-
ough Sept. 12th, ''It is with pleasure I state that
everv officer and man under mv command
OF VERMONT. 269
did their duty yesterday'." The Americans in
this naval engagement lost in killed 52 and
wounded 58 men. The prize monev, distributed
to the officers and men of the U. S. Squadron for
the capture of the British vessels on Lake Cham-
plain Sept. 11, 1814, amounted to $290,438.19;
Macdonough received $22,807, and in addition
to that Vermont and New York gave him farms ;
so he said he became a wealthy man from a poor
officer.
The Vermont volunteers poured in rapidlv to
Plattsburgh down to and including the 11 Sept.
and reported to Gen. Strong and not to Gen.
Maconmb.
Gen. Prevost after the battle did not remain
to conduct the retreat of his army. As soon as
the battle was over and before noon Prevost
«
started for Canada with a small escort; he dated
his report at Plattsburgh on the 11th but it was
not written until he was safe in Montreal.
Gen. Alexander Macomb's general order and
report of the battle dated at Plattsburgh Sept. 14,
1814, is as follows :
"■ The Governor General of the Canadas, and
Commander in Chief of the British forces in North
America, having invaded the territories of the
United States, with the avowed purpose of con-
quering the country as far as Crown Point and
Ticonderoga, there to winter his forces with a
view to further conquest, brought with him a
powerful army and flotilla. An army amounting
to fourteen thousand men completely equipped and
accompanied by a numerous train of artillery, and
270 EARLY HISTORY
all the engines of war — men who had conquered in
France, Spain, Portuo:al, the Indies, and in various
other parts of the globe — and led by the most dis-
tinguished General of the British army ; a flotilla
also, superior to ours in vessels, men, and guns,
had determined at once to crush us both by land
and water.
" The Governor General, after boasting of what
he would do, and endeavoring to dissuade the
loyal inhabitants of the United States from their
allegiance by threats and promises, as set forth in
his proclamation and orders, fixed his headquarters
at the village of Champlain, to organize his army
and to settle the gOA^ernment of his intended con-
quests. On the second day of the month he
marched from Champlain, and on the 6th ap-
peared before the village of Plattsburgh with his
whole arm}^ and the 11th, the day fixed for the
general attack, the flotilla arrived.
"The enemy's flotilla at 8 a. m. passed Cum-
berland Head, and at 9 a. m. engaged our flotilla,
at anchor in the bay of the town, fully confident
of crushing in an instant the whole of our naval
force; but the gallant Commodore Macdonough,
in the short space of two hours, obliged the large
vessels to strike their colors, whilst the galWs
saved themselves by flight. This glorious achieve-
ment was in full view of the several forts, and the
American forces had the satisfaction of witnessing
the victory. The British army was also posted on
the surrounding heights, so that it could not but
behold the interesting struggle for dominion on the
lake.
OF VERMONT. 271
" At the same time the fleets engaged, the enemy
opened his batteries on our forts, throwing hun-
dreds of shells, balls, and rockets, and attempted
at the same time to cross the Saranac, at three
different points, to assault the works. At the
upper ford he w- as met b^^ the militia and volun-
teers, and after repeated attempts, was driven
back with considerable loss in killed, wounded,
and prisoners. At the bridge, near the village, he
was repulsed by the pickets and the brave riflemen
under Captain Grosvenor and Lieutenants Hamil-
ton and Riley, and at the bridge in the town he
was foiled by the guards, block-houses, and the
artillerv of the forts, served by Capt. Alexander
S. Brooks, Captains Richards and Smith, and
Lieuts. Mountford, Smyth and Cromwell. The
enemy's fire w^as returned with effect from our bat-
teries, and by sunset we had the satisfsction to
silence seven batteries which he had erected, and
see his column returning to their camp, beyond the
reach of our guns..
" Thus beaten, by land and by w^ater, the Gov-
ernor General withdrew his artillery and raised
the siege at 10 o'clock at night, sent off his heavy
baggage, and under cover of the darkness, returned
with his whole army towards Canada ; leaving his
wounded on the field, and a great quantity of
bread, flonr, and beef, which he had not time to
destroy, besides a quantit3^ of bomb-shells, flints,
and ammunition of all kinds, which remain at the
batteries, and concealed in ponds and rivers. As
soon as his retreat w'as discovered, the light troops,
volunteers, and militia were in pursuit and followed
272 EARLY HISTORY
as far Chazj, capturing several dragoons and
soldiers, besides covering the escapes of hundreds
of deserters, who continue still to be coming in.
A violent storm and continual fall of rain prevented
the brave volunteers and militia from further pur-
suit.
''Thus have the attempts of the invader been
frustrated b\^ a regular force of only 1500 men, a
brave and active body of militia of the State of
New York under Gen. Moore, and volunteers of
the respectable and patriotic citizens of Vermont,
led by General Strong and other gentlemen of dis-
tinction. The whole not exceeding 2500 men.
" The British force being either expelled or cap-
tured, the services of the volunteers and militia
ma3' be dispensed with. General Macomb cannot,
however, permit the miHtia of New York and the
volunteers of Vermont to depart without car-
r3ang with them the highest sense he entertains
for their merit. The zeal with which they came
forward in defence of the country when the signal
of danger was given by their Generals, reflects the
highest lustre on their patriotism and spirit. Their
conduct in the field has corresponded with the
laudable motives which led them into it. They
have deserved the esteem of their fellow citizens
and the warm commendation of their commander.
They have exemplified how speedly American citi-
zens can be prepared to meet the enemies of their
country. In testifying his sense of the merits of
the troops, the General cannot but express his sor-
row and regret for the loss of some brave and vir-
tuous citizens, and for those who have been
OF VERMONT. 273
wounded ; the loss will no doubt be keen!}- felt by
their friends and countrymen, but, at the same
time, will be borne with that fortitude and resig-
nation which become good citizens and good
Christians.
"The afiection of the General will accompany
his brave associates in arms wheresoever they niav
go, nor will anything give him more pleasure than
opportunities of testifying to them individually,
by actions as well as words, the high regard he
cherishes for them.
" The General, in the name of the United States,
thanks the volunteers and militia for their distin-
guished services, and wishes them a happy return
to their families and friends."
The American loss upon land from September,
6th, to and including the 11th was 37 killed, 62
wounded, and 20 missing: the British loss includ-
ing deserters was not less than twenty-five hun-
dred. The British vessels bore as ballast, cannon
and other munitions of war, and winter clothing
for the arm^^, and if their squadron had been vic-
torious, they doubtless would have attempted to
winter at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, but if
the attempt had been made, there are reasonable
grounds to believe, a greater disaster would have
befallen them.
" Among the many acts of valour performed by
the Vermont volunteers, we notice the following
brave exploit : The inhabitants of Orwell, to the
amount of two hundred and forty, had marched,
on the first report of approaching danger, to
Plattsburgh, and tendered their services to the
274 EARLY HISTORY
Commanding General. Among this number was
a small but a brave corps of cavalry of about
twenty men, raised principally through the exer-
tions of Captain A. Scovell of Orwell, and Cap-
tain [probabl3' Barnard] Ketchum of Sudbury, in
which many distinguished citizens were enrolled.
The corps selected for their commander Captain
Scovell; and on their arrival at Plattsburgh, find-
ing the enemy had decamped, they did not wait
for general orders, or to be joined by other forces,
but pursued the enem3^ surprised his rear guard at
Chaz3', captured seven dragoons with their horses
and equipments, took the contents of two bag-
gage wagons, and returned with the loss of only
one horse killed."
Although the plan of the British campaign of
1814, at least, so far as the invasion of Northeast-
ern New York and Vermont was concerned, had
utterly failed, still there was a large British army
hovering on the frontier of those States which
might be used for an invasion by land, consequently
the militia and people of Vermont were warned
b3' the situation and b3' the proclamation of Gov-
ernor Chittenden to be in constant readiness for
defence if an invasion was determined upon. The
attitude of the Federal party in Vermont that was
at the commencement of the war against its pros-
ecution, had to a considerable extent changed, and
there was a united feeling for its prosecution. And
Governor Chittenden in his proclamation of Sept.
19, 1814, stated,—
"Whereas it appears that the war, in which our
countr3^ is unfortunately engaged, has assumed an
OF VERMONT. 2/0
entire!}' different character since its first commence-
ment, and has become almost exclusively defensive,
and is prosecuted by the enemy with a spirit un-
exampled during pending negotiations for peace,
which leaves no prospect of safety but in a manly
and united determination to meet invasion at
every point, and to expel the invader :
" And whereas, notwithstanding the signal and
glorious naval victory lately achieved b}^ our gal-
lant Commodore Macdonough and his brave sea-
men, over a superior British naval force on Lake
Champlain, and a like discomfiture of the enemy's
whole land force, concentrated at Plattsburgh, by
General Macomb's small butvaliant band of regu-
lar troops, aided and powerfulh^ supported by
our patriotic, virtuous, and brave volunteers, who
flew to meet the invader with an alertness and
spirit unexampled in this or any other countr}^ —
it is made known to me, that the British army is
still on the frontier of our sister State, collecting
and concentrating a powerful lorce indicating fur-
ther operations of aggression :
'^And whereas the conflict has become a com-
mon, and not a party concern, the time has now
arrived when all degrading party distinctions and
animosities, however we may have differed re-
specting the policy of declaring, or mode of prose-
cuting the war, ought to be laid aside ; that every
heart may be stimulated, and every arm nerved,
for the protection of our common country, our
liberty, our altars, and our firesides— in the defence
of which we may, with a humble confidence, look
to Heaven for assistance and protection : "
276 EARLY HISTORY
He therefore as Governor and Commander-in-
Chief in and over the State of Vermont, exhorted
all the good people of the State to unite in defence
of our common interest and everything dear to
freemen; and enjoined upon all the officers of the
militia to exert themselves in placing those under
their command in a complete state of readiness to
march at a moment's warning to meet any inva-
sion which might be attempted, and to chastise
and expel the invader; and even called upon those
who w^ere exempt from militar_v duty to organize,
equip and stand in readiness to meet the then ap-
proaching crisis; and recommended to the select-
men and civil authorities of towns to be vigilant
is providing ammunition and in affording such as-
sistance to the militia as their situation might
require.
Early in the winter of 1814-15, great prepara-
tions were made in Canada for a winter campaign,
in sleighs with a view of destroying the American
squadron, at Whitehall. All subjects of the United
States, by order, were required to leave Canada
forthwith, and communication b3^ way of L'Acadie
woods and Missisquoi Bay was cut off. The Brit-
ish army at that time, on the border was repre-
sented to be sixteen thousand men with an immense
train of heavy artillery- mounted on sleighs. In
view of this situation Gen. Strong from Vergennes
on Jan. 9, 1815, issued a general order, setting
forth in substance that an invasion was probable,
which rendered it highlv important that the mili-
tia be prepared for a short winter's campaign;
and everv one must be aware, that to ourselves
OF VERMONT. 277
alone we are to look for security and defence.
After detailing the duties of the commanders of
companies and of the selectmen of towns in get-
ting read^^ for active service, said in his order, " It
is not to be expected that, if the enemy invades us
again, they will by proclamation and slow marches
forewarn us of their approach. Sad experience
must have taught them wisdom. Let it not be
said that they caught us slumbering. ' ' The several
brigades in the State held themselves in readiness
to march at the shortest possible notice ; and
numerous companies of volunteers through the
State were formed. And on March 10, 1815, the
Governor in commending them for their prompt-
ness, said "You will,my Fellow Citizens, be pleased
to accept m\' grateful thanks for the respect you
have paid me in organizing, equipping, and offer-
ing 3^our services under ray command. The evi-
dence 3^ou have given of j^our readiness to place
yourselves between our enemies and the s.afety of
our countr^^ affords me perfect assurance that, had
our services been demanded, I should have found
j'our foremost in the field of danger. Nor have
3^our expectations been in vain — 3^our patriotic
example is of public utility, and an honor to the
several towns to which 3^ou belong." The ex-
pected invasion was not made.
On Feb. 17, 1815, while the victory at New Or-
leans was animating the feelings of the Americans,
the welcome tidings of a treaty of peace, executed
at Ghent on the 24th of December, 1814, was
brought to America and ratified. Actual war con-
tinued for some time after the treat}- was signed
278 EARLY HISTORY
at Ghent before that event was kno wn in America
as no rapid way of communication across the
ocean was then knowm. The battle at New^ Or-
leans under Gen. Jackson w^as fought after that
treaty was signed at Ghent.
In 1817, the Legislature of New York voted
that a sw^ord be presented to Maj. General Samuel
Strong in consideration of his services rendered by
him at Plattsburgh in 1814. The sw^ord was pre-
sented to him at Vergennes on June 26, 1817, by
a committee appointed by the Lieutenant Gover-
nor of that State. The committee in presenting
the sword said in part: " We are not unmindful
that, uninfluenced by local considerations, with no
motives but the love of country— no prospect of
fame except at the sacrifice of your life— no interest
but a sense of duty— and, notwithstanding every
discouragement, you. Sir volunteered in defense of
a sister State. The act wall be remembered by
that people with gratitude. Accept, Sir, this
sword. It is the gift of a free people to a free man.
It bears on its hilt the service of a Herculean
Mountaineer, crushing in his arms the British
Lion. It will be as a memento for your sons to
imitate your example, and excite them to deeds of
glory. It is given not as a rew^ard but as a pledge,
which the State of New York will redeem when
occasion shall present itself." To this presentation
and address Strong made a happy and appropri-
ate response.
Governor Martin Chittenden in his speech to
the Legislature in 1814, speaking of the war said,
•'By it the enemv have been taught a useful,
OF VERMONT. 279
although mortifying lesson, that the soil of Free-
men will not bear the tread of hostile feet with
impunity.
"At the same time it reflects the highest honor
on the patriotism, spirit and valor, of our fellow
citizens, who, without distinction of age, charac-
ter or partv, were ready to brave danger, in its
most formidable appearance, for the defence of our
countr3^ And it w^ould seem, that it ought to
palsy the tongue of slander — every desirable object
having been secured, and in a manner the least
burthensome and offensive to the feelings of a free
and enlightened people.
"Much is due to Gen. Stkoxg, and our brave
volunteers ; and I am requested by the Secretary
of War to present them the thanks of the general
government 'for their prompt succor and gallant
conduct in the late critical state of this frontier.'
"I should do injustice to my own feelings, as well
as violence to ever\^ correct principle, were I to
refrain from testif34ng the high sense which I en-
tertain of the brilliant achievement of Commodore
Macdonough, and his intrepid associates, on Lake
Champlain, over a far superior naval force— an
achievement which renders all encomium feeble
and inadequate.
"I should likewise do injustice, if I should neg-
lect to notice the cool, perserving, and brave con-
duct of Brig. Gen. Macomb, and his alike brave
associates in arms, in the discomfiture of a greatly
superior force of veteran troops, commanded by
experienced officers.
" These glorious achievements are not surpassed
280 EARLY HISTORY
in the records of naval and military warfare. New
lustre is added to the national character. But the
effects are more immediately^ experienced by the
northern sections of the States of Vermont and
New York."
The Legislature expressed their thanks by vote,
to Generals Macomb and Strong and to Commo-
dore Macdonough and to other officers, seamen,
and soldiers, and the high sense that body enter-
tained of their valor and public spirit, and their
meritorious services rendered in repelling the inva-
sion by the British troops and the British squad-
ron in September 1814.
Macdonough was a religious as well as a brave
man. He made a most appropriate prayer over
those who fell in battle on September 11th, con-
nected with the squadron under his command. At
the moment the British were bearing down on him
just before the firing commenced, an officer asked
permission of the Commodore to issue an extra
ration of grog to the men. He repHed, "No, my
men shall go cool into action, excited by no stim-
ulus except their native valor."
The thanks of the general government were
given to the brave and patriotic citizens of Ver-
mont, for their prompt succor and gallant conduct
in the war in the critical period on the frontier.
At the October session of the Legislature of 1814,
an act was passed granting to Commodore Mac-
donough a farm belonging to Vermont and Wing
upon Cumberland Head and in full view of the
OF VERMONT. 281
place of his uaval victorious contest with the Brit-
ish Squadron.
At the ratification of the treaty signed at Ghent
the tumults of war ceased, the gloom that over-
hung our land disappeared and our soldiers were
converted into citizens, and the implements of war
into instruments of husbandry; and the people
were glad to hear the peaceful hum of business
instead of the tramp of soldiers, the roar of can-
non and the trumpet of war.
While Henry Clay one of the American Com-
missioners, was on a tour through the Netherlands,
a British Commissioner forwarded to him at Brus-
sels a London newspaper, containing the official
account of the destruction of the public buildings
at Washington City by the British, with an apol-
ogy suitable to the occasion. Mr. Clay had just
received a Paris Journal bearing the news of the
victories at Plattsburgh, and he hastened to send
it to his British friend with a like apolog\^
We cannot better bring this chapter to a close
than to give to the reader the lines that were sug-
gested by the successful manoeuvre of the Saratoga
at the turning point of the battle on the lake the
11th of September 1814. Just as the American
Squadron was going into action, the Commodore
displayed this signal : " Impress'd seaman call on
every man to do his duty," w^hich excited in every
bosom an enthusiastic ardor that would not be
defeated. The lines were from one who served on
the vessel, to his father who had been in the victori-
ous battle of 1777, on the field of Saratoga, and
written Sept. 13, 1814, and were as follows: viz.
282 EARLY HISTORY
" Dear Dad— I oft have heard you tell
How many fought, how manv'fell,
And how the foe you drubbed well,
On the plains of Saratoga.
I'ts now my turn with pride to boast,
We conquered Britain's warlike host ;
On Champlain's lake we rule the roast,
On board the Saratoga.
At 9 A. M. on Sunday- morn
The mighty foe approached in form,
And viewed us with contempt and scorn
On board the Saratoga.
How frequently I've heard you say.
That those who fight ought oft to pray :
Our Commodore did both that day
On board the Saratoga.
Then with the Christian's hope we fought,
Nor ought of fear or danger thought,
But death or victorv we sought
On board the Saratoga.
The battle rag'd for near three hours,
When aided by the Almight\' powers
We claim'd the enemy as ours
On board the Saratoga.
O had 3'ou seen the sore dismay
Of poor Sir George, who ran away,
And bitterh' he curs'd the da^-
He saw the Saratoga.
Then brave Macomb hung on his rear.
For our firesides we've naught to fear
Whilst heroes to their country dear
Command our forts, our vessels steer;
Success will still crown their career,
And Sailor's Rights, and Free Trade's cheer,
Shall be extended far and near.
Whilst Patriots yet unborn shall hear
The fame of the Saratoga.
OF VERMONT. 283
And now let Saratoga's name
Be niched in th}^ temple's fame ;
By land or water be it bless'd,
By all admired, b^- all confess'd,
And while for Gates the harp's unstrung,
Macdonough's glor^^ shall be sung,
For he the British Lion stung
On board the Sarato2:a."
GHflFTER X.
CLAIM OF INDIANS TO LANDS IN
VERMONT.
The Cognawaga Indians have pressed a claim
against Vermont since 1798, from time to time till
1874, of about ninety thousand dollars for more
than two million of acres of land. It will not be
the purpose of the writer especially to investigate
the title of the Indians to these lands or to report
on the validity of their claim, but rather to give a
history of their claim and the presentation of the
same to the State for allowance and the result of
the action of the State respecting those claims.
The Cognawaga tribe was a branch of the Iro-
quois. The Iroquois, were originally a single tribe
residing in Montreal and vicinity, in subjection to
theAdirondacks and subsequently entered upon the
lands of New York, and became five tribes, to wit,
the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and
Senecas. To these were added the Tuscaroras in
the 3^ear 1712. From that time the Iroquois were
called and recognized as the Six Nations. Accord-
ing to their own tradition they resided on the St.
Lawrence as far down as Gaspee, but were driven
back South of Lake Ontario by the Algonquin
tribes. From this it may be inferred that those
(284)
OF VERMONT. 285
found b^' Cartier at Montreal in 1534, were really
Iroquois. When the French recovered Canada in
1632, the\' found the Iroquois dominant. Hostil-
ities were kept up much of the time between the
Iroquois and the French till 1691. In the wars
between England and France which deprived the
latter of Canada, the Iroquois were generally neu-
tral, but thev were not peaceful. The western
Iroquois took the part of England in her war with
the United States, while the French Iroquois in
Canada were inclined to the cause of the United
States.
The claims of the Indians for compensation for
their hunting grounds was not made by the Iro-
quois of New York but b^- an off-shoot of that
tribe, the Cognawagas who had abandoned all
their rights with the Iroquois of New York about
the year of 1789, and man3^ of them had joined
their enemies the French before that time. The
claimants admitted at some of the hearings on
their claim that some of their ancestors became
allies of the French as early as 1660, and there
was evidence that others of the Cognawagas be-
came so in the ^-ears 1671, 1720, and 1749. It is
certain that the Cognawagas as a tribe could not
have acquired any distinct rights in Vermont lands
after 1789, as Vermont had been almost wholly
covered with grants to and actuallv occupied b\'
the people of Vermont before that date. If any
bod^' of Indians were entitled to compensation for
lands in Western Vermont, it would have been the
original tribe of the Iroquois and not those who
separated from the tribe; besides, those that sepa-
286 EARLY HISTORY
rated from the main body were not deserving.
For many years after the Cognawaga and other
Indians who are the claimants against Vermont,
abandoned the Iroquois League in New York and
became allies of the French, the Iroquois League
waged incessant war upon the French and all their
allies. Western Vermont, and Lake Champlain es-
pecially, was then the w^ar path of the Iroquois in
their raids upon Canada, and it was not possible
that any Indians, in alliance with the French,
could have used Western Vermont as a hunting
ground, except to a very limited degree and on
rare occasions; certainh^ not to such a degree as to
give them an exclusive title.
The Iroquois proper did not live entirely by
hunting; they were not without civilization. They
had an original system of government, somewhat
like that of the American Confederation of States;
they dwelt in permanent villages; they had castles
for defense ; and they were an agricultural people
to the extent of raising corn, squashes, and beans,
but relying upon fish and the proceeds of the chase
for meat. Honorable E. P. V/alton stated in a note
in the "Governor and Council" that, "The Iroquois
in New York were allies of the King of England un-
til the treaty of 1783 ; while the Cognawaga Iro-
quois admit that they were allies of the King of
France until 1763, and have been allies of the
Crown of England ever since that date. And that
seventeen of the Vermont towns, covered by the
Cognawaga claim, were granted by the King of
England, previous to the surrender of the French
possession to England, Feb. 10, 1763, and while
OF VERMONT. 287
the Cognawagas were allies of France and en-
gaged in fighting the English."
In 1798 five of the Indian Chiefs made applica-
tion to Governor Isaac Tichenor to be heard on
their claim to Vermont lands; the\' were intro-
duced to the Governor by the High Sherift' at the
city of Vergennes. On that introduction Unowee
Goodstream, the Chief of the Cognawaga tribe,
delivered the following talk : viz.,
"Great Friends, — we had the luck to come so
far from the great Council fire of our own nation,
to tell you of the J03' we have to talk with Hon-
orable Governor of the Great Father of Vermont.
Great Friends, — We wish the great Chiefs of the
Council happiness.
Great Friend, and Friends, — Since we have
come so far to speak to the great Council of Ver-
mont, in their big Wigwam in the city of Ver-
gennes, we hope we shall be heard with attention.
Big Fathers, — I who now speak to you am
Chief of the Cognawaga Indians. I hope you will
hear me on behalf of my whole nation. May the
Great Spirit brighten the chain of friendship be-
tween our tribes; may the pathway between us be
kept so plain as that a little child may find it when
the Sun is asleep in his blanket under the western
w^aters." They then presented a letter from Meld
Woolse3^ bearing date at Cumberland Head, Oct. 6,
1798, in which he stated that he was called on by
a deputation of seven Chiefs of the Seven Nations
of lower Canada to give them a letter of introduc-
tion to the Governor, and he stated that these
Chiefs are of the first respectability^ among their
288 EARLY HISTORY
own people, and are now proceeding to attend the
Legislature of the State. They have some claims
similar to those made on the State of New York
that were extinguished at a treaty- between them
and New York.
The Governor sent a message to the House call-
ing the attention of the Assembly to claims of
those Indians. The Claim of the Seven Nations for
hunting lands were quite extensive and were de-
scribed as follows, "Begining on the East side of
Ticonderoga, from thence to the great Falls on the
Otter Creek, and continues the same course to the
height ot land, that divides the streams between
Lake Champlain and the river Connecticut; from
thence along the height of lands to opposite Mis-
sisquoi and then down to the Ba3\" They claimed
this land belonged to them and they asked Ver-
mont to settle for the same. Certain questions were
submitted by the Governor to them to answer.
Thereupon on October 18, 1798, they appeared
before the Governor with their Agent, Mr. Fraser,
and read the following document, —
"Great Brother: You require how the lands
w^hich we claim became ours, to which we answer
that it was given to our forefathers by the su-
preme spirit for our inheritance, together with the
w^ild beasts for their food, and the skins thereof
for their clothing; from* our forefathers it descend-
ed to their children, and as the^^ have not sold nor
given it to an^- one it remains our proper inheri-
tance.
''Brother: Our claim is equitable, we hope 3'ou
will therefore consider it and do us justice. You
OF VERMONT. 289
inquire who were our neio^hbors, to which we
answer, that on the south west were the Stock-
bridges, and on the northeast by the Abenakees of
St. Francois, of whom you may enquire as to th^
justice of our claims, and also of our brothers, the
white people of Canada.
^^ Brother, Our desire is to make an amicable
settlement, so that if any of 3'our people should
come amongst us we ma\' feel tow^ard them as
brothers, who have used us well; and if an3^ of us
should happen amoungst your people we wish to
be considered as brothers in friendship.
^'Brother: As our demand is unexpected to you,
should 3^ou w4sh to delay, ior the purpose of in-
forming jyourself, it will be very agreeable to us,
for all we want is justice; but at all events we
have to request that you will return us an answer
in writing to this and the papers w^e have handed
as soon as convenient, for the purj)ose of showing
to the Grand Chiefs of the Seven Nations of Lower
Canada, and we wish you to take copies of the pa-
pers w^hich W'C have heretofore handed, and return
to us the originals. Should you wish for any fur-
ther information of us, w^e will endeavar to give it
to you. Mean time I remain with sincere wishes
of welfare to yourself and family, great brother,
Your most obedient humble servant. Honasio'
Orator for the Seven Nations/'
"The Governor inquired of the chiefs, whether
their ancestors, the Cognowagahs, w^ere not an-
ciently of the Seven Nations of Indians?"
Ans. That was an old affair, the\' however be-
lieved it w^as so.
19
290 EARLY HISTORY
Ones. Did they not separate iVoni the Confeder-
acy in the wars between the Kings of England and
France? And did they not remove into Canada
and join the King of France in all his wars against
the King of England?
Ans. They acknowledged it was so, but were
ignorant of its consequences, and were enticed
from their lands by the French.
Cues. The Governor asked them if they had any
evidence of a settlement with the state of New
York, as stated in Mr. Woolsey's letter.
Ans. The chief replied they had papers which
would show a settlement with New York, but
supposed it unnecessary to bring them to a differ-
ent state and had left them at home.
The Governor informed the Chiefs that he would
lay their matters before his brethren, the Legisla-
ture. The subject matter w^as refered by the Legis-
lative to an able committee, who reported that
while the committee were of the opinion that the
Indians have had aclaim to the land, by a title
arising from an agreement entered into with other
nations, the aborigines of this country, they could
not ascertain whether that title had been extin-
guished, and that the committee were of the opin-
ion that no settlement could be made with those
Indians respecting those land claims by the Legis-
lature without the permission of the United States,
as the Act of Congress passed July 22, 1790, de-
clared "that no sale of land made by Indians, or
any nation or tribe of Indians within the United-
States, shall be valid to any person or persons, or
to an\^ State, whether having the right of preemp-
OF VERMONT. 291
tion to such lands or not, unless the same shall be
made and duh^ executed at some public treaty, held
under the authont\^ of the United States." But
the Legislature by an act passed Nov. 5, 1798, au-
thorized the Governor to make the Indians a pres-
ent of one hundred dollars and also procure infor-
mation of the nature of their settlement with New-
York for their claim against that State, and inves-
tigate their claim to lands in the State of Vermont.
The Governor paid the Indians the one hundred
dollars.
Governor Tichenor at the October Session made
a report to the Legislature as follows: —
"I cannot learn that the state of New York
was governed so much b3^ a principle of justice,
as policy, in the compensation made b}^ them, in
their late treat}" with these people. The claims of
the Indians to lands in the state of New^ York,
and for which they received a compensation from
that goverment, I conceive to be somewhat vari-
ant from their claims to lands in this state. The
greater part of our lands was granted b\" the
King of England, without any express reservation
of an Indian claim; while the lands in New York
were principally vacant, and the hunting ground
of the claimants.
"It has not been in ni}" power to obtain any
documents that would give an\" accurate inform-
ation of the ancient claim of these Indians to the
lands in question, but from the long and settled
usage and principles which have governed na-
tions in similar cases, I conceive their right, what-
ever it mav have been, extinguished.
292 EARLY HISTORY
•'These Indians, the Cognawagahs, are ancient-
ly of the confederacy- called the five [subsequently-
six Iroquois] nations; which confederacy, or some
nation of that confederacy, might have once had a
good right to the territory now claimed.
"In the former wars, between the English and
French, while the English King held the gover-
mentsofthis country, it is believed the Cogna-
w-aghas separated from the confederacy, removed
into Canada, put themselves under the French,
and joined their fortunes with the French King in
his wars with the English; the latter being victor-
ious conquered the French, and all their allies in
this countr_v and in Canada; upon which the
whole country was yielded to the English, in
right of conquest.
"The treaty which terminated that w^ar, and
which was made for all those who were united
with the French, or were inhabitants or held
rights in the province of Canada, reserved certain
rights and privileges, to all the conquered people
of that province. Their rights, so reserved, were
considered to extend beyond the limits of that
province; in this the Indians acquiesced, for and
during all the time the English were in the pos-
session and goverment of this countrv. It is also
believed that the Indians never caused the voice of
their claims to be heard, respecting these lands,
during the existence of this goverment, or at any
period since the conquest, or since the grant of
these lands by his Britannic majesty.
'T may also add, that in the year 1775, when
the King of England who had granted these
OF VERMONT. 293
lands, made war upon this country, these Indians
were his allies in that war, and thereby subjected
themselves and interest to its consequences. The
people of the United States were victorious, and
the King of England by treaty, yielded to the
United States all the lands to the south of Can-
ada. Thus, in my view, the claims of the Indians
have been extinguished."
This report was referred to a committee, who
reported to the House that the claims of the Chiefs
of the seven nations of Indians of Lower Canada
were not founded in justice or equity and the
House accepted the report, and resolved that they
were fully of the opinion that the claim of the In-
dians "if it ever did exist, has long since been done
away and become extinct, in consequence of the
treaty of peace in 1763, between the King of
Great Britain and the French King; and the treaty
of peace between the King of Great Britain and
the United States, of which this is a part, in the
3'ear 1783, and that the said Indians have now no
real claim, either in justice or equity." At the Oc-
tober Session of the Legislature of 1800, the Gov-
ernor reported that he had informed the Indians
of the action of the Legislature and endeavored to
explain to them the reason why the Legislature
decided against the justice of their claim, and said
he was well persuaded that they w^ill not trouble
the Legislature in future. But in this prediction
the Governor was mistaken, for at the October
Session of the Legislature in 1812, the following
Memorial was communicated to the Legislature by
Lieut. Gov. Brigham in the absence of Gov.
Galusha: viz,
294 EARLY HISTORY
"'Most Honorable Brother: We, the Chiefs of
the Iroquois or Cognahwaghah nation, in mutual
council, agreed to send the following speech to
our great brother, the Governor of the State of
Vermont.
''Most Honorable Brother: We, the Chiefs of
the Iroquois nation, do now, in behalf of the
whole nation, speak to 3'ou and others who are
now sitting with you in the Great Council House.
"'Most Excellent Brother, now attend! — We,
the red people, have inhabited ^ind owned this is-
land [America] from the time of immemorial. Our
land extended from rising to the setting sun, and
from the cold region of the North to the hot
climes of the South. The Great Spirit above m.ade
it, and gave it to the Indians for their use. He
created various kinds of animals for our food and
their skins served us for clothing. He scattered
them over this extensive countr}^ and taught us
how^ to kill them. He made the earth to produce
Indian corn for bread. He made also the innumer-
able inhabitants in the great waters to run up
and dowm in our rivers, and taught us how to
catch them. The Great Spirit created all these for
the use of his red children because he lOved them.
Great Brother, continue to listen! When 3'our an-
cestors crossed the great lake [the Atlantic Ocean]
and landed on this Western island, they were poor
and few^ in number. Our fathers had compassion on
them, and protected them. T\iQy told our fathers
the^^ had fled from their own countr\^ for fear of
wicked men, and had come here to enjoA' their
religion. They asked for a small tract of land. We,
OF VERMONT. 295
the red people, gave them a seat, and the\' sat
down among us. We instructed the manner of
painting and dressing the Indian corn. We carried
them upon our backs through rivers and waters,
and when an\' of them or their children were lost
in the woods, and in danger of perishing with
hunger or cold, we carried them to our wigwams,
fed them, and restored them to their parents and
friends. We gave them corn and meat when pinch-
ed with famine. We relieved their distresses, and
prevented their perishing in a strange land.
*'Thus 3^ou see, Brother, when your ancestors
came into our country-, you did not find us ene-
mies — but friends. Great Brother, you have now
become a great people, but we are decreased and
now smaller in comparison to what we once were.
Your territory has become to be very large now,
and we poor Indians have scarcely a place left to
spread our blankets. You have got our country-,
and now what shall we say? We say, brother, in
truth we are distressed on account of it. You have
settled where we formerly caught moose deer and
bears — and now we hardly know where to go to
find them.
*'Most excellent Brother, we would now once
more request you to continue to listen. We would
now remind you that in the year 1798 we met
you at 3'our council fire, and we then requested
you that 3'ou would give us something in compen-
sation annuall\% for our land, which 3^ou have
taken possession of. But our Brother, who was
then Governor in Yermout, said that in justice
and equitv the lands we claimed did not belong to
296 EARLY HISTORY
US. He required us to exhibit documents as proofs
that the land which was then claimed did belong
to us — and this he well knew we could not do — as
you well know, Brother, w^e are destitute of writ-
ings, records, and history. With us, to preserve
the memory of our public affairs and transactions,
we depend upon our most aged men to keep them
in their head and mind. He also required us to fur-
nish the necessar\^ documents authorizing the
State of Vermont to trade w4th us. This he also
w^ell knew' , we were totally ignorant where to go
to find the necessary documents for the State of
Vermont to treat with us.
*'We would now speak a few words to the
honorable Representatives of the] people of Ver-
mont.
"Brethren and friends: The land we now claim
never was purchased of us either by the French or
English, and w^e never sold it nor was it ever con-
quered by our Indian brethern, but it has always
been in our hands, and when you made settle-
ments upon it, w^e considered then it belonged to
us. And now "Injustice and equit\^ it does not be-
long to us!" Yes, brethern, we believe it belongs
to us, and we shall claim it as long as the sun
rolls from the East to the West. In the j^ear 1683
our ancestors had a considerable dispute as to the
boundary line of the land, which we now claim,
with the eastern Indians. A French Jesuit, w^ho
was well acquainted of our claim, wrote the fol-
lowing paragraph to Governor Dongan, of New-
York: "The Iroquois, of the Sault St. Louis or
Cognawagahah, have alwa3'S claimed the country
OF VERMONT. 297
lying in the East side of Lac de Champlain." The
boundary line is as follows, viz: beginning at the
head of Lac de [Champlain [Lake George] running
thence east up to the heights of the great moun-
tain, thence north to the Fort Chamblee." Thus
3'ou see, brethren, the Jesuit makes it appear that
our ancestors have always claimed the land where
you now live, and much larger than we do now.
We claim as follows : " Beginning on the east side
of Ticonderoga, from thence to the great falls on
Otter Creek [Sutherland's Falls,] and continues
the same course to the height of land that divides
the streams between Lake Champlain and Con-
necticut river, from thence along the heights of
land opposite Missisquoi, and down to the Bay: "
that is the land which we claim.
" Now brethren and friends, we do not ask
you, that you must give us so much. No, far from
that, for we know that 3^ou and the brethren in
Vermont are generous and kind. We also know,
that you will do justice to a nation who has been,
and is now, much abused and despised — a nation,
who have been cheated and driven from their an-
cient settlements. We do hope and pray to the
Great Spirit, that the great governor, the honor-
able representatives and the good people in Ver-
mont will have compassion on their red brethren
and give them something annually in compen-
sation for their land.
*' Most Excellent Governor and respected Gen-
tlemen, Representatives of Vermont: We, the
Chiefs of Cognawagah, have now spoken to 3'our
ears of our mind — we hope 3^ou will take into con-
298 EARLY HISTORY
sideraiion what we have said. We wish to live in
peace with you, and we hope 3'ou will ever con-
sider us 3'our brothers — we hope we shall always
live on friendly term?. This is all your red breth-
ren have to sa3\"
The Committee to whom the memorial was re-
ferred reported against the claim, but the Legis-
lature appropriated $100 as a present to the Ind-
ian Chiefs and $100 to pa\^ their expenses w^hile in
the State on their embass\'. The Committee rec-
ommended that the Governor have a talk with
the Chiefs and inform them that the State could
not accede to their claim for lands nor stipulate
an annual payment of monev. The Lieutenant
Governor met the Chiefs of the Cognahwaga na-
tion accompanied by their interpreter and had the
following talk with them: viz,
"Brothers, Chiefs AND Councillors of the
Iroquois or Cognawaghah Nation :— I have
heard your talk and have told it to the great
council of this State. We have all considered it;
we now answer. Brothers, w^e are very glad of
your friendship— we love peace. The Great Spirit
did not make us^to kill one annother, but to live
in peace, to enjoy his rich bounties, and prepare
for happiness. You live among a people at war
wath us — thev have injured us, and our great na-
tion has waged war w^ith them for it. It is for
3'Our interest and ours, it is for j^our happiness
and ours, that we should be at peace.
"Brothers: It has been the policy of our great
father and his council to help our red brethren of
the west to such things as they could not provide
OF VERMONT. 299
for themselves, and to cultivate peace and friend-
ship with them; and our enemy has told them
wicked and strong stories — so that our chain of
friendship has become dull and broken, and w^ar
with all its horrors has taken the place of peace.
Brothers, we love justice, — it is an attribute of the
Great Spirit. You love it as well as we. We don't
think we have injured you. We don't complain
that 3'ou have injured us. We have bought our
lands a great while ago. We have paid a great
deal of money for them. You love justice, — You
don't want we should pay for our lands again.
We can't get back the money we have paid for
them.
"Brothers: let us forget the past,— let us en-
joy the future, — let us live in peace.
'• We have much confidence in 3'our wishes for
our good, and w^e are anxious for your good; we
shall not fail to recommend you to our councils in
future. Brothers, you say ' we have become a
great people.' True. The Great Spirit has blessed
and increased us. He loves us and makes us love
peace. He makes us willing to fight w^here we
can't have peace. We are a great nation. We, the
Vermonters, are onU^ a little part of that great
nation. We are cemented to the whole by our
great charter. If we break that charter we forfeit
its protection. In that charter are these words:
" No State shall, without the consent of Congress,
enter into any agreement or compact with a for-
eign power. " So you see, brothers, we can't agree
to pay you mone3' annually without an act of
Congress. You see we are just— not to break our
300 EARLY HISTORY
great charter which binds us to our nation, our
great charter which binds our nation to protect
us. You love justice. You approve it in us. We
hail you as friends. We hail you as brothers. We
tender j^ou our friendship; we solicit yours. We
pray the Great Spirit to make them both perpet-
ual. Thus you have the end of our talk. Receive,
brothers, this small testimonial of our friendship
and sincerity."
On Oct. 21st, 1826, Gov. Butler communicated
to the General Assembly another memorial of the
Iroquois tribe residing in Sault St. Louis in the
district of Montreal, much of the same tenor of
the one quoted above, but we quote from it the
following statement: —
" That under the French and British Govern-
ments, and during their respective possessions of
the above tract of land, they (your memorialists)
never were troubled or molested in an3^ manner
whatsoever; on the contrary it was known and
acknowledged by those governments to be .your
memorialists' property. They were protected and
supported in the full and peaceable enjoyment and
possession of it — where they used to fish and hunt
exclusively to any other persons— for the use and
maintenance of themselves and famillies. But now
they see with sorrow, that since many years they
have been dispossessed of their father's inherit-
ance, by force, and deprived of enjoying it as they
did from immemorial time — being at present in
the possession and occupied by persons, who pre-
tend to be the real proprietors of it in virtue of
legal titles from the State of Vermont.
OF VERMONT. . ^^>()1
It is notorious that this tribe never have reHn-
quished or given any titles, or ever received any
compensation or recompense for their rights to
the said land, or for any part thereof: So that
your memorialists are dispossessed of their prop-
erty without their consent, without any indem-
nification whatsoever, and deprived of the only
means the\' had to support and maintain their
famillies, and find themselves confined to such a
narrow state of limits that the3^ are most reduced
to want.
This memorial was also referred to a committee
who in their report set forth the action the State
had taken on the several occasions when the Ind-
ian claims had been urged for allowance, and
reached the same result; and the report was ac-
cepted.
On June 14, 1853, Gov. Stephen Royce appoint-
Hon. Timothy P. Redfield to ascertain the claims
of the Iroquois Indians to compensation for lands
in Vermont, and cause the result of his examina-
tion to be laid before the General Assembh' of the
State at its then next session. The result of his in-
vestigation reported to the Assembly was in sub-
stance, that the Iroquois who represent the ancient
confederacy of the Six Nations assert a claim to
compensation for land in the State, the bounds of
which have been given; that the Iroquois had pos-
session of these lands, and exercised dominion of
the same until dispossessed by the encroachments
of civilization; that they had never parted with
their title bv any treaty or compact to which they
as a trible had been a party; that it has been con-
302 , EARLY HISTORY
ceded that the claimants, prior to the treaty be-
tween Great Britain and France in 1763. had pos-
session of the lands as their "hunting ground" and
thatsuch title, Great Britain and theUnited States
have uniformly treated with respect in their inter-
course with the Indians; that the claim of the Ver-
mont authorities that they could not treat with
the Iroquois without the consent of Congress, by
reason of the prohibition of the tenth section of
the first article of the United States constitution
and by reason ofanactof Congress relating to
trade and intercourse with Indian tribes passed
July 22, 1790, "that no sale of lands made by
any Indians, or any nation or tribe of Indians,
within the United States, shall be valid to an3^
person or persons; or to any State, whether hav-
ing the right of preemption to such lands or not,
unless the same shall be made and duly executed
at some public treaty held under the authority of
the United States, " was not well founded; that
the proposition to treat with the Indians respect-
ing these lands could not be called strictly a pur-
chase, as the jurisdiction of the State over these
lands was not disputed, and the lands had been in
the peaceable possession of the citizens of the State
for more than half a century, with undoubted ti-
tle to the same ; that if the Legislature should
deem that the Iroquois were entitled, '^in the forum
of conscience,'' to some remuneration for lands
long since granted and appropriated by the State,
and should make appropriation for such remuner-
ation, that such proceedings would neither con-
flict with the provisions of the act of Congress
nor the Constitution.
OF VERMONT. 303
Redfield also reported that the main objection
to the allowance of the Indians claim was that
the lands were granted by the King of Great
Britain without reservation of Indian titles and
that the Iroquois were subjects then of that King,
and that by the treaty of 1783, by which this
territor\^ was ceeded to the United States the Ind-
ian title became extinguished; and also it had been
objected that in the war between Great Britain
and France, the Iroquois were allies of France, and
that war resulted in the conquest of Canada by
Great Britain and that by the treaty between
those powers in 1763, the Iroquois' claim was ex-
tinguished, but in his report he contended that the
Six Nations, during the "French War" and also of
the Revolution, in the main, were attached to the
crown of England, although the French made
great efforts to obtain their alliance during the
former war and sometimes were successful, but
he contended even if it was conceded that the
Iroquois were allies of France, the cession of
Canada to the crown of England would not ex-
tinguish the title to lands within the British Col-
onies, and England did not so regard it, and that
from 1763, to 1783, the British Sovereign, by his
agent, negotiated with the Chiefs of the Six
Nations respecting their land, and they were treat-
ed as having the undisputed title; and that the
Indians did not loose their title by the treaty be-
tween the United States and Great Britain in
1783; that the Crown treated with them, as an
independent power, before the treaty of 1783, and
the United States have since that time; that the
304 EARLY HISTORY
authorities of New York through Abraham Ogden,
a commissioner of the United States, concluded a
treaty with the ''Seven Nations" by w^hich they
ceeded to the people of the state of New York all
title to their adjacent lands in that state for the
consideration paid by New York, of 1447 pounds,
one shilling, four pence, and New York also stip-
ulated to pay them annually, thereafter, 212
pounds, six shilling and eight pence.
The Supreme Court of the United States stated
in the case of Clark vs. Smith, 13 Peters Reports,
195 page, that, "the ultimate fee, encumbered with
the right of Indian occupancy-, was in the Crown
previous to the Revolution, and in the States
of the Union afterwards, and subject to grant.
The right of occupancy was protected by the polit-
ical powers, and respected by the Courts, until ex-
tinguished." In the case of United States vs. Clark,
9 Peters' Reports, the same Court said, that
"friendly Indians w^ere protected in the possession
of lands they occupied, and were considered as
ow^ning them, by a perpetual right of possession
in the tribe or nation inhabiting them as their
common propertj^ from generation to generation,
not as a right of individuals located on particular
spots. Indian possession was considered in refer-
ence to their habits and modes of life ; their hunt-
ing grounds were as much in their actual posses-
session as the cultivated fields of the whites.."
Redfield finally said in his report that "If the
Iroquois have been divested of their title, it would
seem more legitimate to say that they had been
divested, and the title obtained by conquest."
OF VE"RMOXT. 305
The report was referred to a committee who
reported resolutions to the House directing the
Governor to appoint a Commissioner to ascertain
the amount and extent of the claim; and also em-
powering the Treasurer to pay the Indians in at-
tendance fifty dollars for their expenses.
Gov. Royce on the 22nd day of January, 1S55,
appointed the Hon. James AI. Hotchkiss as such
commissioner, who commenced the hearing of the
claim of the Indians on the 14th day of June, 1855,
at Massena, New York. There were two branches
of the Iroquois that presented themselves, through
their agents, before the Commissioner as claim-
ants, the Coughnawagas and the Lake of Two
Mountains. The former objected to the latter par-
ticipating in the claim, upon the ground that they
were not descendents of the Coughnawagas. The
Lake of Two Mountains claimed they sepa-
rated from the Caughnawagas about the year
1789, and soon emigrated to the Lake of Two
Mountains and claimed to belong to the Iroquois.
The Coughnawagas claimed the\' had no record
of a separation. The Commissioners over-ruled
the objection and allowed both parties to partic-
ipate in the hearing and investigation. The Ind-
ians claimed before the Commissioners more than
two million acres of land east of New York line
exclusive of the waters of Lake Champlain as
their former hunting grounds, and as compensation
asked to be paid the average price of land per acre
ceded to the United States by twenty of the most
favorable treaties made between the United States
and the different tribes of Indians for the then last
•20
306 KARLY HISTORY
thirty- years — the treaties to be selected by the
Indians. This proposition the Commission treated
as inadmissible, as being too indetinite, and tlie
mode of ascertaining: the price exceedingly difficult
and expensive, and informed them that their title
to lands in Vermont was not only doubtful, but
utterly denied, and that they had only asked
compensation for the lands their ancestors once
occupied as their hunting ground. And he remind-
ed them that their ancestors emigrated to Canada
about the year 1676, and placed themselves under
the Crown of France, and soon after swore alleg-
iance to his Majesty's government, became allies
of the French and the enemies of the English and
American colonies. The Vermont Territory was
found to be vacant at an early day and grants of
land were made to the people of Vermont by the
Governor of Xew Hampshire and by New Vork
without requiring a previous purchase from the In-
dians, and that Vermont subsequently paid New
York $30,000 to relinquish her claim to the terri-
tory of Vermont.
The Commissioner asked them to fix upon a defi-
nite sum as their claim. The Indians thereupon
fixed their demand at four cents per acre for their
hunting grounds or pay them $89,600. The Com-
missioner in reph' to this proposition stated to
them that the Documentary Histor3' of New York
showed that lands on both sides of the Lake Cham-
plain to a ver\^ great extent, by an agreement'
with the Iroquois Indians, were granted by the
government of New York to British subjects pre-
vious to the year 1731, and that their last prop-
OF VERMONT. 307
osition to pay them $89,600 was entireh' out of
the question, and that unless the\^ made a very
different proposition he should feel under the ne-
cessit\' of declining their proposition altogether.
On October 18, 1855, the Indians proposed to
submit their claim direct to the Legislature of Ver-
mont, without further debate as to the sum that
ought to be paid, "and rely upon the justice and
humanity of the Government of Vermont," and re-
linquish all claim upon Vermont, in consideration
of such sum as the Legislature shall appropriate
for that purpose. The Commissioner in his report
to the General Assembly of 1855, stated as facts
that in the 3'ear 1609, a Frenchman by the nameof
Champlain in company with several other French-
men and about one-hundred of the Canadian
Indians, started from Quebec upon an expedition
against their enemies, the Iroquois Indians; that
the object of Champlain was to explore the coun-
tr3' and assist the Canadian Indians in their war
against the Iroquois; he soon reached the lake
to which he gave his own name. As they proceed-
ed up the lake they came in sight of the Green
Mountains on the east side of the lake; Cham-
plain was told bv Indians that that was the coun-
try of the Iroquois who lived farther south upon
the west side of the lake. It was subsequenth^ as-
certained that the Iroquois were a very powerful
confederacy: that the Mohawk branch of them re-
sided in the valley of the Mohawk river, and it
was admitted In^ the people of New Vork, and by
historians that their territory extended into the
present limits of Vermont at a very early day;
308 EARLY HISTORY
that immediately after the settlement of the pro-,
vince of lower Canada was commenced bv the
French, their Jesuit missionaries went amono^ the
natives of the forest with the purpose of bringing
them over to tlie interest of the French and induce
them to embrace the Roman Catholic faith— in
this they were successful, and as earlv as 1G70,
the\^ induced a large portion of the Mohawk tribe
to emigrate to the province of lower Canada near
Montreal, where the}' swore allegiance to the
French Government. That portion of the tribe
that did not emigrate, were firm friends of the En-
glish during the French and English war and re-
mained so till after the American Revolution, when
they emigrated to the province of upper Canada.
The Commissioner reached the conclusion that that
portion of the tribe, that emigrated to lower Can-
ada known as the Coughnawagas are the right-
ful claimants upon Vermont for compensation for
their lands, and said there was but ver\' little ev-
idence that the Iroquois had ever parted with the
title to their lands in Vermont. The habits and cus-
toms of the Indian tribes were such that the occu-
pation of any territory- for the purpose of hunting
and fishing rendered the possession of that terri-
tor^' as really theirs as though they had cultivat-
ed fields, and built houses. If thev parted with
the title to their lands it had been usually for a
mere pittance.
At the October Session of the Legislature of
1855, the Senate passed a bill appropriating
S5000 to discharge the Indian claim but the
House did not concur. The bill was again pre-
OF VERMONT. ' 309
sen ted in 1856, but it was rejected. A deputation
of Indians again appeared at the session of the
Legislature in 1857, but the claim was not pressed
for allowance. On October 13, 1874, delegates of
the Iroquois of Caughnawaga, St. Regis, and of
the lake of Two Mountains again urged their
claim before the Legislature for the quantit^^ of
land heretofore described of about 2,240,000 acres
and for w^hich they demanded the sum of $89,600.
The committee to whom the claim was referred, re-
ported a resolution in which it was stated that if
such claim ever existed it was extinguished by the
treaty between France and Great Britain in 1763,
and b3^ the treat\^ between Great Britain and the
United States in 1783; " and that the Indians
have no legal or equitable claim or interest in the
lands. The resolution was adopted b\' the House
and concurred in by the Senate.
The more one investigates the claim of the
Caughnawagas to land in Vermont the clearer it
will become to him that the claim stands upon a
slim foundation; it is evident that if they ever had
a substantial right it had been lost or extinguish-
ed. The Iroquois from whom the Caughnawagas
sprang had a government and laws though not ex-
pressed in writing, but were nevertheless under-
stood by ever\^ tribe and individual of their na-
tion. According to those laws, the fee of their land
was in the nation, and ever\^ tribe had onlv the
use of the land within its boundary and every
Indian had only the use of that which he actually
occupied and improved. When the Caughnawagas
left the Mohawk nation, thev could sell their im-
310 EARLY HISTORY
provements, Ijut when the}' emigrated they neces-
sarily abrmdoned the land to the nation. The
same law covered the territory conquered by the
Iroquois. The abandonment of the Mohawks, of
the land formerly occupied by the Caughnawagas,
was conclusive against the latter and their de-
scendants. In 1775 the Alohawks voluntarily
abandoned all their territory in New York and re-
moved to Canada, selling to New York in 1795,
whatever interest they had in the lands. The
Vermont lands were abandoned by the Indians at
the same time they abandoned the New Y'ork
lands, if not before with like effect. The Mohawks
since their removal to upper Canada have never
asserted an}^ claim to Vermont land, and it would
seem absurd that the Caughnawagas, descendants
from the Mohawks, should assert a claim that the
Aloha wks themselves never made. The claims of
the Caughnawagas, either in their own right, or
in the right of the Iroquois of New York, can not
be sufficienth' supported by anything the}- have ad-
vanced, or that has been found in the history of
the Iroquois of New York, or Vermont. It should
be stated that the ancestors of Indians who claim-
ed compensation for lands in Vermont left their
ancient hunting ground and emigrated to Canada
about the year 1676, and placed themselves under
the Crown of France and soon after swore alle-
giance to his Alajesty's government, became allies
of the French and the enemies of the English Col-
onies. The lands for which compensation was
claimed was found vacant at an earh^ da\', and
grants of land were made to the people of Vermont,
OF VERMONT. 311
first b^' the Governor of New Hampshire; then
New York claimed the territor3' of Vermont upon
the ground that it was a part of the Dutch pro-
vince from which the British succeeded by conquest,
and that the Dutch before the conquest purchased
the territory from the Indians; and subsequently
New York made grants of land extending upon
Vermont territory without requiring a previous
purchase from the Indians, which is strong proof
against the existence of any title of the claimants
for compensation through their ancestors. And
then again, man\' of the early settlers of Vermont,
after purchasing their lands from New Hampshire
repurchased them of New York; and finally Ver-
mont extinguished the New Yoik title if they had
any, by paying that State the $30,000 in the
settlement of the controversy- with that State.
The board of trade at London declared that
the government of New York by an agreement
with the Iroquois Indians granted lands on both
sides of Lake Champlain, to a ver^^ great extent
to British subjects, previous to 1731. The claim
of the Indians on Vermont was not made till
1798, twenty years subsequent to the organiza-
tion of the State. If they had had a beneficial
claim against Vermont, it is fair to assume, it
would have been made before. The claim advanc-
ed against New York ''by the St. Regis and
Caughnawaga Indians, in 1792, to a vast tract
embracing most of the territory between the Mo-
hawk and the St. Lawrence, was urged for sev-
eral years with £;reat pertinacity-. This claim not
onlv embarrassed the title to the lands of the set-
312 EARLY HISTORY
tiers, but it agitated the public mind from the ex-
treme terror which prevailed in the exposed settle-
ments of savage hostility. Just and vigilant in-
vestigation amply established the conclusion that
these tribes never possessed a title to the tract,
but that the Iroquois were the original proprie-
tors who had long before alienated it to the
whites b3^ treaty or sale. " It is obvious from
this and other New York records, that that State
rejected all claims of the Cognawagas as descend-
ants, and descendants from the Iroquois; no record
had been found showing any concessions were
ever made to the Cognawagas in respect to the
lands in question, or that any rights were ever
attempted to be transferred to them by the Iro-
quois or Alohawks. It is very evident that
Vermont territory during the seventeenth century
and for long before was not permanently^ occupied
by any Indian tribes, but was used b}^ the Iroquois
as a hunting ground to some extent. The reason
why it was not permanently occupied, w^as in
view of the facts that North-western Vermont
was then, and had long been, the war-path
of the Iroquois of New York; they were a power-
ful tribe and it was impossible that the Cogna-
wagas or an\^ Indians hostile to the Iroquois,
could have had any continuous occupation of that
portion of Vermont even for a hunting ground.
From 1735 to 174-4, was a period when the King
of France assumed jurisdiction of Western Ver-
mont and recognized no right to the land of the
Cognawagas or anv other tribe, for even hunting
and fishing, except in subjection to his grantees,
OF YERMOXT. 313
subsequent to 174-4. Vermont was again the the-
atre of war and the alHes of the French could not
have gained peaceable possession of Vermont
lands adjacent to Lake Champlain. Even Cham-
plain sa^'S in his account of his first visit to this
lake in 1609, '* that here the country was former-
ly inhabited, but it was at that time to a great
extent abandoned on account of the continued
wars. " There is strong evidence it was never in-
cluded within the Iroquois countr\' and that
proves that Lake Champlain was the eastern
boundarv of the Iroquois territor3\ E. P. Wal-
ton says, there are many maps covering the Iro-
quois country and but one has been found which
includes Xorth-western Vermont, and that the
proof is overwhelming that the Iroquois never oc-
cupied or resided in Vermont, and, therefore, any
claim of the Cognawagas on that ground is dis-
proved, and the\^ never had in their own right
such possession or use of the land as would entitle
them to compensation.
There was a branch of the VIohegans called the
Stockbridge branch, deriving their name from
the tribes of that name in Massachusetts and New
York where the3^ formerly resided, who claimed
twelve or more townships of land, situated on
the west line of the province of New Hampshire,
as chartered by Benning Went worth. These
lands were in the south-western part of Vermont.
On Nov. 30, 1767, a subscription was made at
Bennington to discharge the claim whenever it
should be proven.
In 1779, an Indian claim was mide bv Asa
314 EARLY HISTORY
Douglass to GoY. Chittenden. This proYed to be a
claim of the Moheakunnuk, the vStockbridge In-
dians whose territory was described as "west ol
the Connecticut riYcr, extending a short distance
west of the Hudson, and into the State of Ver-
mont/' This made them next neighbors to the
Mohawks, and in fact the tribe was ultimately' to
liaYc a home in the Iroquois nation. This claim
was finall3' discharged b\' a grant to these Indians
b}^ Vermont, of the township of Marshfield. This
was the only Indian claim to land in Western
Vermont until the Cognawagas made their claim
in 17#S.
/
mmiK XI.
THE PLACE OF HOLDING THE LEGISLA-
TIVE SESSIONS, THE CAPITOL AND
LIBRARY BUILDINGS, AND SU-
PREME COURT ROOAL
While Vermont stood as an independent State
or Nation from 1777, to the time it was admitted
into the Federal Union in 1791, there was no
place fixed by statute for meeting and holding the
sessions of the Legislature; as it was expressed
in the legislative act of 1791, there were no places
of "residence of the Legislature; it had no
seat of government— no State House. Previous
to the passage of that act the Legislature met in
different places about the State as was most con-
venient and as would meet the wishes of the mem-
bers of the Legislature. The Legislature met and
its sessions were held as follows; at Windsor in
March and October 1778, February and AJDril
1781, June 1782, February 1783, October 1785,
and October 1791; at Bennington in February
1779, October 1780, June 1781, January 1782,
February 1784 and 1787, and January 1791; at
Manchester October 1779, 1782 and 1788; at
Westminster March 1780, October 1783, and
1789; at Charlestown, N. H., October 1781; at
Rutland in October 1784 and 1786; at Norwich
316 EARLY HISTORY
in June 1785; at Newbury in October 1787, and at
Castleton in October 1790. The Governor and
Council also met in special sessions at Bennington
in June 1778, November 1779, July and August
1780, and June 1790; at Arlington in April and
December 1779, February, June and Jul^^ 1780,
March and April 1781, Alay 1782, and April,
May and June 1783; at Windsor in Juh' 1779,
March 1786, and May 1801; at Manchester in
[anuar^^ 1780; at Shattsbur3' in March 1782, and
April 1784-; at Rutland in August 1788, and
March 1799; and at Fairhaven in March 1789."
On November 1, 1791, an act was passed de-
claring in the preamble, that a "great inconven-
ience and expense have arisen to this State by rea-
son of having no fixed place for holding the sess-
ions of the Legislature, and that no place near the
center is sufficienth' settled to accommodate the
same," and therefore designated Rutland for the
session of 1792, and after that at Windsor and
Rutland alternately for the space of eight years,
and also provided that the then next adjourned
session should be holden at Windsor, and after
that alternately at Rutland and Windsor for the
spate of eight years. The regular October sess-
ions of 1792, 179-1 and 1796 were held at Rut-
land, an*d in 1793, and 1795 were held at Wind-
sor. This covered but five years of the eight, and
the only adjourned session was held at Rutland in
Februar\^ 1797, instead of at Windsor as the act
of 1791, provided it should be. This was caused
by the repeal of the act of 1791, in 1796. In fact
Rutland and Windsor were subsequently selected
OF VERMONT. 61 i
as the places of the meeting of the Legislature but
not exclusive of other towns. Before the Legis-
lature was permanently located at Montpelier.
the sessions were held at Rutland in February-
1797, and October 1804; at Windsor in October
1797, and in 1799, and January 1804; at Ver-
gennes in 1798; and at Middlebury in 1800 and
in 1806; at Newbury in 1801, Budington in 1802,
Westminster in 1803, Danville in 1805, and at
Woodstock in 1807.
The act of 1791, located the sessions at Wind-
sor and Rutland and on condition that those
towns should at their own expense furnish wood
and sufficent houses for the reception of the Legis-
lature. At Windsor a "meeting house" was fur-
nished and at Rutland a "State House" was fur-
nished for the use of the Legislature.
In the General Assembly on October 1803, Sol-
omon Wright of Pownal, Samuel Porter of Dum-
merston, Samuel Shaw of Castleton, William
Perry of Hartland, Amos Marsh of Vergennes,
Thomas Porter of Vershire, Udne\' Hay of Under-
hill, Reuben Blanchard of Peacham, Benjamin
Holmes of Georgia, Samuel C. Crafts of Crafts-
bury and Daniel Dana of Guildhall on the part of
the House, and Xoah Chittenden ot Jericho, James
Witherell of Fairhaven,Eliakim Spooner of Weath-
ersfield and Lieut. Gov. Paul Brigham of Norwich
on the part of the Council, were ap])ointed a com-
mittee to take into consideration the expediency
of the measure ot" establishing a permanent seat
for the Legislature and report bv l')ill or otherwise.
Paul Brigham ior the committee reported, "that
318 EARLY HISTORY
in their opinion there ought to be appointed a
committee consistin"^ of a member from each
County, to be nominated by the several County
Conventions, as County officers are, for the pur-
pose of examining and fixing upon the most prop-
er place for a permanent seat of government and
to report at the next session of the Legislature."
And accordingly such a committee was appointed.
On November 12, 1803, a bill entitled an act
appointing the committee named to fix a place
for a permanent seat for the Legislature was be-
fore the Legislature, but it went over to the ad-
journed session when it was again under con-
sideration and went over to the next regular
session. On November 6, 1804", a new bill on the
subject of place for a permanent seat ot govern-
ment was presented but it went over to the next
session.
On October 15, 1805, the new bill was referred
to a committee of one member from each County,
joined by a committee from the Council, who re-
ported "that they were unanimously agreed on
the expedienc\^ of the measure of fixing a perma-
nent seat, and that the3' have also agreed on the
towm of Montpelier, as being the most conven-
ient place for the accommodation of the State at
large;" and recommended that a bill be drafted
accordingh'. A bill was introduced on the 6th,
and after some amendments the bill was passed
Nov. 8, 1805, and it became a law and is as fol-
lows: —
''An act establishing the permanent Seat of the
Legislature at Montpelier.
OF VERMONT. 819
"Section 1. It is hereby enacted b\' the General
Assembly of the State of Vermont, That Elijah
Paine [of Williamston,] Ezra Butler [of Water-
bury,] and James Whitelaw [of Ryegate,] be, and
they are hereby appointed a committee to fix up-
on a place in the town of Montpelier, for the
erection of buildings for the accommodation of
the Legislature of this State, and to prepare a
plan for such buildings.
"Sec. 2. And it is hereby further enacted. That
if the town of Alontpelier, or other individual per-
sons, shall, before the lirst day of September,
which will be in the year of our Lord one thous-
and eight hundred and eight, erect such buildings
on the place designated b\^ the aforesaid com-
mittee, to their acceptance, and shall compensate
said committee for their services, and also convey
to the State of Vermont, the property of said
buildings and the land whereon they shall stand,
and lodge the deed of conversance, duly^ executed,
in the Secretary of State's office, then, and in that
case, said buildings shall become the permanent
seat of the Legislature, for holding all their
sessions.
"Sec. 8. Provided nevertheless, and it is hereby
further enacted, That if any future Legislature
shall cease to hold their sessions in said town of
Montpelier, those persons, w^ho shall erect said
buildings, and convey the property of the same,
and of the land as aforesaid, shall be entitled to
receive from the treasury of this State, the full
value of the same, as it shall be, then, fairly ap-
praised."
320 EARLY HISTORY
It will be noticed that no provision was made
in said Act for raising money to erect the Capitol
building. The Legislature made Montpelier the
permanent seat of the Legislature for holding all
their sessions with tw^o conditions: first, that
Montpelier should give the land for a Capitol, and
build the house b\^ the first of September, 1808:
and second, that if a future Legislature shall cease
to hold their session in Montpelier, the State shall
pa\' to Montpelier the value of the property.
At a legally warned meeting of the freemen of
Montpelier a committee was chosen to receive
subscriptions and donations for a State House
and to superintend the building of the same at the
expense of the subscribers; 133^ the action of this
meeting the town was not to be made liable either
to pav for the House or to compensate the com-
mittee for their services. The individual subscrip-
tions received and expended b}- the committee
amounted to $6,138.88, the most of which was
paid in produce, neat stock, materials, and labor;
but in the spring of 1808, it became absoluteh'
necessary to have money for the purchase of glass
and nails, and to finish the house, and on May 12,
1808, a meeting was warned and held at which
the town voted to raise a tax of four cents on the
dollar of the inhabitants of the town on the list of
1807, "two thirds part pa3'able in grain, butter,
and cheese, at cash price to the State House com-
mittee on or before the third da^' of October next,
and one third in specie or current bank bills, or
orders from said committee, or receipts or orders
from Svlvanus Baldwin," which sums were to be
OF VERMONT. 321
applied towards the completion of the State
House under the direction of the committee. This
tax raised $942.79. In proceeding to collect the
tax, the constable met Samuel Rich, a sharp and
substantial inn-keeper residing in the town, who
refused to pa3^ his tax on the ground that the
town had no authority to tax to build a
State House. This legal point was regarded as well
taken, and for a time w^as alarming; the Hon.
Daniel Baldwin, then a minor, was appointed to
collect the tax, and the opposition was with-
drawn, and the tax cheerfully paid by the people.
The land for the State House grounds was
conveyed to the State by Thomas Davis of Mont-
pelier on August 23, 1808, and was described as
follows: being part of a tract of land knowm by
the description of Colonel Jacob Davis' lower
pitch, containing two acres, bounded as follows,
to wit: beginning on the northerly side of the
Turnpike road leading from said Montpelier to
Burlington, so far westerW of a large brick house
lately built by said Thomas Davis that a line
turning northerly at right angle with said road
will pass by said house one half rod westerly
therefrom, thence northerly on right angle with
said Turnpike road sixteen rods, thence westerh^
a parallel line with said road twenty rods, thence
southerlv on a right angle sixteen rods to said
Turnpike road, thence eastwardly on the north-
erly side of said road twenty rods to the place of
beginning, together with the buildings thereon,
latel}^ erected for the accommodation of the Leg-
islature of the State of \ ermont. The "lars^e
322 EARLY HISTORY
brick house lately built by said Thomas Davis,"
referred to in said deed to the State was the orig-
inal Pavilion hotel, which was then the largest,
most thoroughly constructed, and most elegantly
finished hotel in the State. The grantor of said
deed died December 17, 1864:', in his 93th \^ear of
age.
The first State House was erected and finished
on the grounds selected at Montpelier, to the sat-
isfaction of the committee appointed by the Legis-
lature, the first day of September 1808, and occu-
pied by the Legislature on October 13, 1808, and
it continued to be the Capitol until it was super-
ceeded in October 1836. It was a* three stor\^
building, well constructed of wood and covered a
space of 50 by 80 feet on the ground and 36 feet
high above the basement, surmounted by a belfry.
The Representatives hall occupied all of the second
story except the vestibule. The hall w^as warmed
by a large stove in front of the speaker's desk. The
Council Chamber was in the southeastern part of
the third story, and was furnished with a table
and chairs for fifteen members of the board includ-
ing the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and Sec-
retary. In rear of the Council Chamber, over the
hall of the House, was a large room called "Jef-
ferson Hall," which was used b}^ canvassing com-
mittees and for caucuses; and from this hall there
was access to several smaller committee rooms.
E. P. Walton, in his Governor and Council, says of
the House, "were not the dry pine benches too
strong temptations for the gratification of the
Yankee propensity for whittling, the first State
OF VERMONT. 323
House would have been good for half a ceiitur\^
at least. The truth is, this old house was literally
whittled out of use. The holes were too big for
putty and paint, and too ugly to be agreeable,
So a new house was indispensable, while, in all
but the seats, the old was not half worn out."
The first meeting of the Legislature at Mont-
pelier in the new State House was honored by all
the ceremonies and courtesies, civil and military,
that were possible. The election sermon was by
Rev. Tilton Eastman. Escort duty was perform-
ed "by United States troops, under the command
ot Colonel Earned Lamb of Montpelier, who at
that time had received a commission in the U. S.
Army and raised a company. A large number of
people attended to witness the opening of the Leg-
islature and the proclamation of the State officers,
and but a very small part of them could gain ad-
mission to the House. Colonel Lamb's company
had filed in after the representatives and occupied
the back seats of the hall of the house, when Mr.
William Templeton objected strongly to the pres-
ence of United States troops to the exclusion of
the freemen of the State, and especially of those
who had contributed for the building of the State
House. He was clamorously seconded, and the
troops were ordered to withdraw from the hall."
Several attempts were made to remove the
State House from ^lontpelier. At the session of
1810, when the bill constituting a new Count3^ by
the name of Jefferson (now Washington) was be-
fore the House, the following amendment to the
bill was offered:
324 EARLY HISTORY
"Provided nevertheless, And it is hereby further
enacted, That this act shall not take effect, nor
said count3' of Jefferson be organized, nor an\^ Su-
preme court hold any session therein, until the in-
habitants of said county hereb}' created, shall pay
to the inhabitants of said Montpelier, and other
individuals, who assisted in building the state-
house in said Montpelier, the full value of said
State-house and the land on which it stands, so as
to discharge the state from all liabilit\^ to pa\'
said value upon the legislature's ceasing to hold
its session at said Montpelier; and be free from all
obligations to hold any future sessions at said
Montpelier, and be at liber\^ to hold their sessions
in any part of this state which they shall think
proper, without incurring an3^ expense to the State
in an\' wajv', on account of said state-house, and
the said inhabitants of said county, so soon as
thej^ shall have paid for said state-house as afore-
said, and shall have rendered the said Legislature
free to hold their sessions out from said Mont-
pelier, without expense to this state, shall be en-
titled to receive from this state all the right and
title this state has to said state-house and the
land on which it stands," but the amendment pro-
posed was rejected. On November 3, 1812, on mo-
tion of Titus Hutchinson of Woodstock, a com-
mittee was ordered to inquire into the expediency-
of repealing the act of 1805, which made Mont-
pelier the Capitol, and fixing upon some other
place or places for holding the sessions; the com-
mittee reported that the subject ought to be re-
ferred to the then next session, and this was
OF VERMONT. 325
agreed to, but on November 6, 1S12, a committee
consisting of one member from each of the Coun-
ties of Rutland, Addison, Chittenden, Windsor,
Orange, and Caledonia, were apx^ointed by the
House to receive such proposals as might be made
relating to the removal of the seat of govern-
ment. This committee reported to the Legislature
October 26, 1813,—
"That in case the present Legislature should
think it for the interest and convenience of the
state, to remove the seat of government from
the town of Montpelier, the inhabitants of
the city of Vergennes, in the county of Addison,
propose to lurnish the state with a commo-
ious house in said city of Vergennes, for hold-
ing their future sessions — furnished with as many
good stoves as may be necessary for their
convenience and accommodation : and also to
pay the treasurer of the state, within sixty
da3^s, or at such other time as may be required,
a sum equal to one half the present value of the
state house, now erected in said Montpelier, and
take a conve\^ance of the same with the appurte-
nances thereto belonging. The said inhabitants
of Vergennes secondly propose, that in lieu of said
proposition and conveyance, to pay the treasurer
of the state the sum of two thousand dollars as
aforesaid, and leave the disposal and benefit of
said buildings and premises to the state.
'*The inhabitants of Windsor, in the count3' of
W^indsor, propose to furnish a suitable building
for the accommodation of the Legislature, and al-
so to pay to the treasurer of the state a sum equal
62b EARLY HISTORY
to one half the present value of the state-house, at
such time as ma}- be required; and take a convey-
ance of the same as aforesaid.
"The inhabitants of Burlington, in Chittenden
count}', propose to furnish the state with a suit-
able building for the accommodation of the Legis-
lature — and also to pay the treasurer of the state
a sum equal to one half of the present value of the
State-house in Montpelier, at such time as may be
required; and take a conveyance of the same as
aforesaid.
"The foregoing propositions were made b_v the
inhabitants of the cit\' of Vergennes, and the towns
of Windsor and Burlington, on conditions that
the Legislature shall, at their present session, pass
a law establishing two of said towns as the per-
manent place for holding their future sessions, al-
ternateh^ and those places only which are desig-
nated for the purpose aforesaid shall be hoi den to
comply with the aforesaid proposals— and, should
the said Legislature hereafter think proper to re-
move their sessions from the aforesaid places, then
and in that case it is expected and required, that
the said state shall refund the aforesaid sums of
money paid by the said inhabitants from the
towns aforesaid."
The committee on Nov. 6, 1813, reported that in
their "opinion the removal of the seat of govern-
ment from Montpelier is inexpedient and im-
proper;" the House accepted the report.
At the October session, 1815, another committee
was appointed to inquire into the propriet^^ of re-
moving the permanent seat of the Legislature from
OF VERMONT. 6Ji
Alontpelier to Burlington and Windsor alternate-
\y, and the Council concurred in adopting a resolu-
tion with that end in view; and it was provided in
one of the resolutions that, "in case of a removal
to make provision for the appraisal of, and the
pa3'ment for the public buildings in Montpelier
agreeably- to 3rd section of an act passed the 8th.
day of Nov. 1805, entitled"an Act Establishing the
Permanent Seat of the Legislature at Montpelier,"
but nothing came of it. In 1824 another attempt
was made b\' bill to establish the permanent seat
of the Legislature at Burlington and Windsor. The
bill was thoroughly debated but was dismissed by
a vote of 118 to 49.
B^^ 1831, the population of the state had so in-
creased and the inadequate accommodations at
the State House for the needs of the Legislature
was so manifest, various propositions were made
to enlarge the State House or to build a new one
so as to meet the increasing wants of the Legisla-
ture, and to satisf>' the commendable pride of the
people. On October 21, 1831, a resolution was
moved authorizing the committee of Wa^'S and
Means to inquire into the expediency of appoint-
ing commissioners to receive proposals from the
citizens of Montpelier, Burlington, W^oodstock,
Windsor, Rutland, Middlebury and Randolph fo^
the erection of a new State House; this was amend-
ed so that proposals might be received from every
town in the State. The resolution was agreed to.
A committee was appointed who reported at the
next session in 1832, that the citizens of Burlington
through their committee offered $30,000; the citi-
328 EARLY HISTORY
zens of Montpelier through a committee offered
$10,000 as one-third of the expense of building the
proposed house. Two separate bills were intro-
duced, one for erecting the new State House at
Montpelier and the other to establish the perma-
nent seat of the Legislature at Burlington; other
bills were introduced with the same object in view.
The House went into a committee of the whole on
the subject.
On Nov. 8, 1832, a bill was passed b^^ the House
authorizing the building of a State House at Mont-
pelier b3^ a vote of 115 to 83, and it was concurred
in bv the Council b}^ a vote of 10 to 2. By the act
$15,000 was appropriated by the Statefor thepur-
pose of erecting a new State House at Montpelier,
provided, the inhabitants of Montpelier, or any in-
dividual, shall before the first day of January 1833,
give good and sufficient securet\^ for the payment
of that sum. The requirements of the act was
complied with. The citizens of Montpelier raised
$3,000 in excess of the $15,000 to pay for five acres
of land deeded to the State for the sole purpose of
erecting State buildings thereon and a common
for the use of the same and the public. Gov. Jeni-
son appointed Samuel C. Crafts, Allen Wardner
and George T. Hodges commissioners for the pur-
pose of fixing the place in Montpelier for the erec-
tion of the House, and to prepare a plan of the
same; Lebbeus Edgerton w^as appointed superin-
tendent of construction. The commissioners and su-
perintendent accompanied by the architect, Ammi
B. Young, examined the State House at Concord,
N. H., at Boston, Mass., and at Hartford, Conn.
OF VERMONT. 329
They adopted the plan of Air. Young, selected Barre
granite for the exterior walls, prescribed copper for
covering the dome and roof, and recommended an
improved finish that would make the entire cost
$84,000, but the entire expense to the State in the
end, including the grounds, was $132,077.23, mak-
ing the entire cost of the buildings and grounds, in-
cluding what was paid by the town of Montpelier
and its citizens, the sum ot $137,677.23. The
work was commenced in the winter of 1833, and
completed in the autumn of 1838. The building
stood on an elevated site, about 325 feet north of
State street, on which it fronted, and was about
35 feet above the level of it. The entrance to the
grounds, and principal approach to the house from
that street, was noble and commanding; the gate-
ways, the fence, the grounds, and all their details
w^ere in keeping with the building and assisted in
giving to it that consideration due to it as the
Capitol of a flourishing, independent State.
There occurred two fatal accidents while the
State House was being built. A Mr. Hutchinson,
a citizen of Worcester, though not an employee of
the State, was killed by the blasting of rocks for
the State House, while attending to his proper bus-
iness some thirty rods from the scene of blasting;
his widow Eunice Hutchinson was granted some
pecuniary relief by the State, as was Mrs. Joseph-
ine Culver by the reason of the accidental killing
of her husband. Mr. Culver, w^hile in the service of
the State in blasting rocks preparatory for the
foundation for the then new State House, had been
accidently killed. Vermont's second State House
330 EARLY HISTORY
was first occupied by the Legislature in October
1836. This beautiful house after twenty-one 3'ears
of use for the Legislative sessions, on the 6th day
of January, 1857, took fire from one of the fur-
naces under the floor of the Representative Hall,
and from thence the flames ran quickh^ within the
ceiling to the roof and dome. The weather was
very cold, with a strong gale from the north west,
and these unfavorable conditions, together with
the location of the fire, defied all efforts to save the
interior of the building, and all the contents, ex-
cept the Librar3' which was got out, and the books
and papers in the safe of the Secretary of State's
Ofhce and in the office of the Treasurer, a few art-
icles of furniture and the portrait of Washington,
and the marble bust of Judge Elijah Paine, was re-
duced to ruins. The granite walls which were lin-
ed with brick withstood the heat so well, that the
portico and outline of the walls of the entire build-
ing remained standing and well preserved. E. P.
Walton said, "the portico of the State House was
a perfect copy to the smallest detail of the best
specimen of Grecian architecture."
The destruction of the second State House ne-
cessitated the building of the third one, and with
the purpose of providing a new State House, Gov-
ernor Ryland Fletcher issued a proclamation sum-
moning the Legislature to meet at Montpelier on
Februar^^ 18, 1857, and it met accordingly. The
question changing the location of the capitol from
Montpelier to some other town in the State, as
w^ell as the subject of rebuilding the State House
and furnishing therefor came under discussion and
OF VERMONT. 331
consideration. After a patient consideration and
full discussion, the House in committee of the whole
on February- 26, 1857, by ballot selected Mont-
pelier as the capitol. The ballots were as follows:
for Montpelier 116, for Burlington 67, for Rutland
35, for Bellows Falls 8, for Middleburj^ 1 — maj-
ority- for Montpelier 4. On February 27, 1857, an
act was passed for rebuilding the State House,
which was concurred in by the Senate on the same
da^'. The act was as follows:
"An Act to provide for rebuilding the
State House.
"7t is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of
the State of Vermont, as follows: Sec. 1. The sum
offort\' thousand dollars is hereby appropriated
for the purpose of rebuilding the State House, and
making such repairs and improvements in and
around the same, and furnishing said House, as
may be necessary; and the Treasurer is hereby di-
rected to pa3' said sum to the Committee to be
appointed, as hereinafter provided, to superintend
such work of rebuilding and repairing as aforesaid,
out of any mone\'S in the treasury not otherwise
appropriated. Provided, the inhabitants of Mont-
pelier, or an^' individuals, shall, before the rising
of this Legislature, give good and sufficient security-
to the Treasurer of this State, to pa^- into the
treasury- of the State a sum equal to the whole cost
of the work mentioned in the first section of this
act, one half of said sum to be paid in one year and
the remainder in two years from the passage of
this act, or on the completion of the work.
"Sec. 2. It is herebv made the dutv of the Gov-
332 EARLY HISTORY
ernor to appoint three suitable persons as a com-
mittee to prepare a plan according to which such
rebuilding and repairs are to be made. And it shall
be the duty of said Committee to deliver one copy
of the plan so prepared by them to the Secretary
of State, and one to the superintending Committee,
on or before the first day of April, A. D. 1857.
"5ec. 3. It is hereby made the dut^^ of the Gov-
ernor to appoint some suitable person as a Com-
mittee to superintend the work mentioned in the
first section of this act, agreeably to the plan
adopted b\^ the Committee aforesaid. And such
superintending Committee shall, before he enters
upon the discharge of his duties, give good and
sufficient bonds to the Treasurer of the State, in
the sum of twent^^ thousand dollars, for the faith-
ful discharge of his duties."
Gov. Fletcher appointed George P. Alarsh ot
Burlington, Norman Williams of Woodstock, and
John Porter of Hartford, a Committee to prepare
apian for rebuilding and repairs; Thomas E. Pow-
ers of Woodstock a Committee to superintend the
work. Thomas W. Silloway of Boston was em-
plo3^ed as architect until the autumn ot 1857, when
Joseph R. Richards of Boston succeeded him and
was employed until the buildings were ready for
use October 13, 1859. The cost of rebuilding and
furnishing to October 22, 1860, was $140,996.6,3.
Subsequenth^ there was paid, under special acts,
$5,400 to Superintendent Powers; and $2,000 to
Larkin G. Mead for the statue of Ethan Allen-
making the total cost $148,396.63. Of this sum,
the State received $42,220.72 from citizens of
OF VERMONT. 333
Montpelier, and the balance of the total cost was
paid by the State.
This State-House is in the same yard and occu-
pies the site of the second house, and is of the same
order of architecture — the portico, which is the
most beautiful part of the exterior, being precisely
the same. The length of the central building is,
however, thirteen feet eight inches greater than
that of the second house, and each of the wings
w^ere lengthened twelve feet six inches, thus ad-
ding about one-fourth to the commodiousness of
the building without detracting from its beauty.
There w^ere other changes in the roof to each w4ng
and in the dome, and still greater changes w^ere
made in the interior. The comparative sizes of the
second and third State-House buildings will be
seen b3" noting the fact that the exterior walls of
the former house measured 600 ieet in length,
w^hile the new one measured 677 feet, and the
wings have an addition to their height with some
other changes, making the new State-House more
than one-fourth larger than the old. The library
room had more than double the capacit\' of the
old shelf room; the executive. Senatorial and Leg-
islative Halls were enlarged ; the offices and com-
mittee rooms, w^ith a cabinet for specimens in ge-
ology' and natural history were far superior. The
building consists of a central building and two
wings. The central building has in front a Doric
portico, seventy-two feet eight inches in length bv
eighteen feet projection, connected with the wall
in the rear of the same which forms the main front
wall of the central buildinar and is of the same
834 EARLY HISTORY
width of the portico; the side walls are ninety-live
feet eight inches long. The height of the portico
to the apex is sixt}^ feet. The wings are each fifty-
two feet long in front, by fifty feet eight inches on
ends, and are each forty-seven feet eight inches
high from the base course to the apex of the pedi-
ment, and their cornices are eight feet four inches
below that of the central building. Thus giving
the form of the Greek Cross to the structure.
The central building has three stories. The li-
brary room was in the second story as are the
Executive Chamber, the Senate and the Represent-
ative Hall ; the latter is in the form of the letter D,
with the speaker's desk in the center of the perpen-
dicular line opposite to the entrance to the hall.
Vermont has a Capitol, commodious and grand
in all its appointments.
As the State library increased it became evi-
dent that larger accommodations for it would
become necessary, that it might be consulted and
used advantageously by the people of the State,
especially, that portion consisting of the law li.
brary. From the early days of Vermont after
a Supreme Court was established until a recent
date the Supreme Court under the laws of the
State held a session once a year in every County
in the State. While this was convenient for local
litigants, it did not give the judges a suitable op-
portunity to consider the cases brought before
them tor consideration and decision; and when
the Court was composed of six judges or more
only three or four of their members attended the
sessions, so that the litigants did not have the
OF VERMONT. 335
beneiit of the judi^ementof the full beneh. To obvi-
ate this difficulty, a general term of the Supreme
Court was established by Statute to be held at
Montpelier once a year to which important cases,
in the discretion of the judges might be sent where
the cases might be heard and have the considera-
tion of the full bench. One reason why Montpelier
was selected for holding the General Term was
that the attorneys and judges might have the use
of the law books in the State libra r}^ and a conven-
ient opportunity to consult them. The General
Term of the Court was held in the County Court
house of Washington County located at Montpelier.
This manner of holding the Supreme Court, was not
quite fair to those litigants whose cases were not
sent to the General Term and did not have the
benefit of the judgement of the full bench, when
their cases might be just as important as those that
were sent to the General Term for hearing; beside
it required an extra session of the Court. It became
evident to many that there should be some fixed
place in the State where all cases to be heard be-
fore that tribunal, should be tried. Montpelier un-
doubtedly, would accommodate the Court and the
people of the State, better than any other, on ac-
count of its central position and because both the
bench and the bar could have the benefit of con-
sulting the law books in the State libra r\\
The Legislature of Vermont, by an act ap-
proved November 22, 1884, appropriated thirt}--
six thousand dollars for the purpose of erecting
within the village of Montpelier, and upon lands
ot which the State had control, a building for the
336 EARLY HISTORY
use of the State library, the Supreme Court, and
the collections and librar3' of Vermont Historical
Societ3% and other State public uses. The act pro-
vided that the building shauld be erected of stone
or brick, substantially fire-proof. The governor,
lieutenant-governor, State librarian, Frederick
Billings, Redfield Proctor, H. Henr\^ Powers and
John L. Edwards were appointed commissioners,
and empowered to select a site, determine upon a
plan, and erect the building and appoint a person
to superintend its construction.
Under that act the committee appointed to con-
struct the Library and Supreme Court building
proceeded to erect the same and carried the work
forward to its completion. The building is 48 feet
in width and 74- ieet in lenght, connected at its
south-east corner with the north-west corner of the
State Capitol by a structure 8 feet by 23 feet. It
is two stories in height : the first being 13V^ feet
in the clear, and the second 14 feet, except the part
occupied b_v the librar\^ which opens into the roof,
showing the iron trusses, b^^ which it is supported.
The first and second stor3^ floors are made level
with the corresponding floors of the Capitol and
connected therewith. The basement is divided in-
to several rooms. The basement is reached b\' a
flight of iron stairs leading from the front corridor
and divided into a large toilet room, 12 feet by 48
feet, and fitted with the best modern im-
provements, and lighted by five windows, giving
ample light and ventilation. It has also a store
room 12 b\' 48 feet, a coal and fuel room 16 b}- 48
feet, and a boiler room 19 bv 39 feet. The first
OF VERMONT. 337
Story is entered from the west corridor of the Cap-
itol, also from the outside by a pair of large doors
opening into a vestibule in the structure connect-
ing the library building with the west wing of the
Capitol. The Court room is 26 by 49 feet; the
Judges' room, connected with the Court room, is
15 by 17 feet, and a lawyers' room 13 by 28 feet,
also two toilet rooms and two committee rooms.
The second story corridor is entered from the
first by an iron stair-case and from the old library-
through double fire-proof doors. From the upper
corridor a door opens into the librarian's room
which is 8 by 14 feet. From these rooms are en-
trances into the library room which is 44V2 by 50
feet. The book stacks and shelves are capable of
holding about 35,000 volumes. The construction
of the building is thorough and durable in e verx- par-
ticular. Great care was taken to make the build-
ing as nearh^ fire-proof as possible. The finish and
the furnishings of the building and rooms are fine
and comports with the style of the building, and
the furnishings adapted to the use for which the
rooms were designed. It is a building, like the
capitol, of which every Vermonter might well feel
proud.
"THE COAT OF ARMS
of the State is a landscape of green occupying
one half of the shield : on the right and left, in the
background, are high mountains of blue (Mt.
Mansfield and Camel's Hump as seen from Lake
Champlain), with a sky of yellow. From near the
base and reaching nearlv to the top of the shield
arises a pine-tree of the natural color, and between
338 EARLY HISTORY
erect sheaYCs of yellow, placed bend wise on the
dexter side, and a red cow standing on the sinister
side of the field.
"The Crest is a buck's head, of the natural
color, cut off and placed on a scroll of blue and
yellow.
"The Motto and Badge. — On a scroll beneath
the shield is the motto, 'Vermont; Freedom and
Unity.'
"The Vermonter's Badge is of two pine
branches of the natural color, crossed between the
shield and scroll.
"The State Seal consists of the Coat of Arms
of the State, excluding the crest, scroll, and badge,
with the motto in a circular border around the
same.
"The Flag of the State consists of thirteen
stripes, alternate red and white, the union being a
field of blue, with a single star of white, with the
Coat of Arms therein.
"The Statue of Ethan Allen, standing in
(3F VERMONT. 339
the portico on the left of the front entrance to the
State House, by Larktn G. Mead, Jr., was erected
in 1861, at an expense of $3,000.
"The Field Pieces, standing in the portico on
the right of the front entrance to the State House,
were captured from the Hessians at the Battle of
Bennington, Aug. 16, 1777."
By an act of the legislature, approved Novem-
ber 22, 1892, it was provided that three general
terms of the Supreme Courtfor all counties should
be held on the second Tuesda^^ of January, ^Ia\^
and October of each year, at Montpelier, and that
special terms might be there held at such other
times as the Judges of the Supreme Court may ap-
point ; and the act provided that all causes on the
docket of the court in the several counties shall be
heard at said terms. And ever since the passage
of said act all cases tried in the Supreme Court
have been heard in said Supreme Court room in
said library building.
GHflPTtR XII.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PIONEERS
OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS
AND VERMONT.
Benjamin Hough resided in the western part of
the New Hampshire Grants, had previous to 1774
accepted, and officiated in the office of justice under
the authority of New York, to the disgust and an-
no3^ance of the Green Mountain Bo^-s. He was
arrested by them and brought before the Commit-
tee of Safety at Sunderland ; he plead he was under
jurisdiction of New York and was not guiltA' ; his
pleas were answered by the decree, of the conven-
tion that was held by the Green Mountain Boys,
which forbid all persons holding an^^ office, civil or
military, under the colony of New York. The
judgment of the Committee was, that he ''be taken
from the bar of Committee of Safet3^ and tied to a
tree, and there on his naked back, to receive two
hundred stripes ; his back being dressed, he should
depart out of the district, and on return, to suffer
death, unless by special leave of convention." He
petitioned the New York Assembly for protection
which resulted in that body asking their Governor
to issue a proclamation offering a reward of fiftv
pounds for the appreh-ension and securing eight
of the principal Green Mountain Boys that they
called the "Bennington Mob," and to the action
(340)
OF VERMONT. 341
of the New York authorities a defiant repl3^ was
made.
Deacon Azariah Rood came from Lanesboro,
Mass., and was one of the three first settlers of
Jericho in 1774. He was the first Selectman cho-
sen in that town and chairman of the committee
to hire the first candidate as clergyman. His loy-
alty to the Grants was doubted and charges were
brought against him. His accusers w^ere zealous
Whigs who would naturally judge him harshly.
The record shows that the judgment that was
pronounced against him was rejected and he took
the oath of fidelity and kept it faithfully. He died
in 1795, leaving a son, Thomas Darkely Rood, who
also was a deacon.
Lieut. Martin Powell of Manchester was
one of the committee of seven who issued the war-
rant for the convention of Januar\^, 1776, and del-
egate in that convention and the one held in 1777;
Member of the first General Assembly of March,
1778, and for eight 3^ears following; Judge of Pro-
bate twelve years ; member of the convention of
1791, which adopted the Constitution of the Unit-
ed States.
John Taplin was one of the first settlers of
Newbury. He was appointed Commissioner to
administer oaths of oflfice and Judge of Inferi9r
Court of common pleas, March 17, 1770 ; and
Judge again April 10, 1772. His son, John Tap-
lin, Jr., was Sheriff of Gloucester county from
March, 1770, until May, 1777.
CoL. Samuel Wells, of Brattleboro, was an
342 EARLY HISTORY
avowed Ro3'alist and a member of the Colonial
Assembly of New York from Januar\% 1773, to the
end of that bod\' April 3, 1775. His family was
rewarded by the British goyernment for his ser-
vices. It was stated in the New^ York Gazette of
June 23, 1777, that "Wells of Brattleboro had
been lateh- confined to his farm and otherwise ill-
treated, and it is known that, for a long time, per-
mission was granted to anyone to shoot him
should he be found beyond thebounds of his acres."
Ebexezer Wood was among the first settlers
of Bennington, and third Sergeant in the fi.rst mili-
tary company there in 1764. In February, 1778,
he was appointed one of the captains in the in-
tended secret expeditions under Stark. To him, as
Colonel, and his associates, the township of Wood-
bury was granted, and it was named for him.
Capt. Parmalee Allen was connected bv^
blood with Ethan and Ira Allen and their rela-
tives. Timoth}' Allen, of Woodbury, Conn., w^as
his father and cousin of Gen. Ethan Allen. Par-
malee Allen came to Pawdet with his father in
1768, and was Town Clerk in 1770, and served
with credit in Herrick's regiment of Rangers, and
was afterwards, about the year 1780, appointed
Captain of one of the companies of Rangers.
. Samuel Benton was among the first settlers
of Cornwall, and represented that towm in 1787
to 1790 and in 1791.
John Chandler was the oldest son of Thomas
Chandler, senior, of Chester, and came to Vermont
with his father in 1763, and held several offices
OF VERMONT. 343
under New York until February, 1772, when he
was removed from the office of Clerk of Cumber-
land county for misconduct. His bad habits in
business were strongly fixed.
Major Helkiah Grout, of Wethersfield, was
born in Lunenburgh, Mass., Julv 23, 1728, and
came to Vermont previous to June 27,1755; on
that date, he, with several others, was captured
by the Indians at Bridgman's Fort in Vernon. In
1758 or in 1759, on being released, returned to
Cumberland county. He adhered to New York,
and was employed in various offices under the au-
thorities of that State, and was appointed Cap-
tain of the Weathersfield company in 1775 and
was the first Major of the regiment in 1776 ; he
was a delegate for Weathersfield in the Committee
of Safet3', in 1777; assistant Judge in inferior
court of common pleas, in 1778 ; a Justice of the
Peace, Commissioner to administer oaths of office,
and Justice of the court of oyer and terminer, in
1782. On the 17th of February, 1779, he went to
Shrewsbury as a New York magistrate, and took
sundr\' affidavits, for which he was seized and
tried by a court-martial consisting of several of-
ficers of Warner's regiment on the 18th of Febru-
ar^^ The charge made against him was not sus-
tained, but he was afterwards tried by jury, con-
victed, and fined bj^ a Vermont civil court. The
charge was for acting as a magistrate in taking
the affidavits referred to under New York. In
1785 he represented Weathersfield in the Vermont
Legislature.
Col. Udney Hay was a descendant from an
344 EARLY HISTORY
eminent family of that name in Scotland and was
highly educated and distinguished for his talents.
He was a politician and opposed to the Constitu-
tion and to the administrations of Washington
and John Adams. Soon after the Revolution he
settled in Underbill, and there lived and died. He
represented that town in the General Assembly
from October, 1798, to October, 1804.
Noah Sabin, Jr., represented Putney in the
Legislature from 1782 to 1787; was Register of
Probate for the district of Westminster from 1791
to 1801, and succeeded his father as Judge from
1801 to 1809. He died Dec. 5, 1827.
Maj. John Shepardsox, was born in 1718
and died in 1798, and was in the second company
of settlers in Guilford, which in 1772 was styled
the ''district of Guilford" in the county of Cum-
berland and province of New York. He was the
first Clerk of the town, and among the earliest ad-
herents to Vermont in that town ; he was Judge of
Probate under Vermont government in 1778, and
Judge of the Superior Court in 1778-9. A party
of Yorkers in 1782, attempted to arrest him and
Lieut. -Gov. Carpenter, but failed.
Dr. Beldad Andross was one of the delegates
from Bradford to the conventions at Windsor,
June and Jul_v, 1777, to organize the Vermont gov-
ernment, and a member of the Vermont Assembly
in 1787. He was a justice of the peace under New
York from 1766 until, at least, Alarch 14, 1775,
as on that da^^ he signed in his official character
as a New York magistrate, the "State of Facts"
of the Westminster Massacre.
OF VERMONT. 345
Increase Moseley was born at Norwich,
Conn., May 18, 1712, and removed to Ancient
Woodbury, Conn., about 1740, and to Clarendon,
Vt., in 1779. He was a leader of the Revolution-
ary patriots of Ancient Woodbury, and w^as mod-
erator of the first meeting, for the relief of Boston,
Sept. 20, 1774; that meeting appointed him chair-
man of the committee of correspondence to secure
peace and union in that and the neighboring Col-
onies ; on Nov. 17, 1774, w^as appointed one of the
committee to secure compliance with the "Articles
of Association" adopted by Congress October 20,
1774; and appointed Sept. 19, 1775, one of the
''Committee of Inspection and Observation" over
Tories and other dangerous persons ; he served
for thirty-six sessions in the Legislature of Con-
necticut. He represented Clarendon, Vermont, in
the Legislature of 1782, and was speaker of that
session ; he was Judge of the Supreme Court of the
State in 1780, and President of the Council of Cen-
sors in 1785, Chief Judge of Rutland County Court
six 3^ears, commencing in 1781. He died Ma3^ 2,
1795. He had eight children and, at least, five
sons.
John Chipman was Second Lieutenant in the 3d
Co. of the regiment of Green Mountain Bo\'s or-
ganized at the house of Cephas Kent, innholder, in
Dorset, July 26, 1775. He cleared the first land in
Middlebury. He was active in military service
most of the time from the spring of 1775 till he was
taken prisoner at Fort George in October, 1780.
He took part in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga
on the morning of May 10, 1775, and was at the
346 EARLY HISTORY
taking of St. Johns and Montreal, and in the bat-
tles at Hubbard ton, Bennington and Saratoga.
Thomas Tolman of Arlington was Secretary of
the Council from October, 1784 to 1785. His fa-
ther romoved from Attleborough, Mass., to
GreensboroughjVt., Oct. 1, 1817, and died July 4th,
1821 in his 94th. year. His son, the subject of
this sketch, was born at Cornwall Sept. 5, 1756,
and married Lois Clark at said Attleborough,
Aug. 17th, 1780, and removed from this town to
Arlington, Vt. in June 1781, and from Arlington
to Cornwall in Feb. 1788, and from Cornwall to
Greensborough in Sept. 1795, where he died Sept.
8, 1842, aged 86 3'ears. He had lived in Vermont,
a short time before he removed his family to Ar-
lington as he was Secretary to Governor Thomas
Chittenden in December 1780. He was Secretary
protem of the Board of War in 1781, and repre-
sentative of Arlington in 1784, and for Cornwall
in 1790. He served on the committee of Pa\'-
Table, and as Pay-Master, and engrossing Clerk,
and at the session of 1784, w^as appointed as one
of the committees to draft a repl\^ to the Gover-
nor's speech; he was appointed wnth Ira Allen, by
the Governor and Council in Jan. 1783, to draft
the remonstrance to Congress against the belliger-
ent resolutions of Dec. 5, 1782. He w^as held in
high estimation as a writer and preacher; he w^as
pastor of the Congregational church in Cornwall
from Sept. 26, 1787, until Nov. 11, 1790.
Elisha Allis graduated at Harvard in 1767.
In Feb. 1791, he removed wnth his family from
AYilliamsburgh, Alass., to Brookfield, Yt. In 1789
OF VERMONT. 64:1
and 1790, before he removed his family from
Mass., he spent the summers in clearing a small
farm and erecting buildings in Brookfield, making
a homestead for the remainder of his life. He rep-
resented that town in the General Assembly in
1793, and from 1795 to 1799 inclusive, and also
in 1813; was Councillor from 1799 to 1803; dele-
gate in the Constitutional Convention of 1793;
Assistant Judge of Orange Count}- Court from
1797 to 1802; deacon in the Congregational
church for more than 35 years, revered by a nu-
merous posterity, honored and respected by his
neighbors and fellow-citizens. He died April 3, 1835.
John Bridgeman was appointed Justice of the
Peace for Cumberland Count_v,by New York gov-
ernment April 14, 1772, and from June till Nov.
1776, a member of the Cumberland County Com-
mittee of Safety. He was the magistrate who tried
Col. Timothy Church in July 1782, and issued the
execution that Church resisted. In Jan. 1781, the
Convention held at Charleston, N. H., appointed
him one of the committees to wait upon the Gener-
al Assembl V of Vermont, to promote the scheme of
uniting all of the New- Hampshire Grants, west of
the Mason line, under one government; in March
1782, he was elected an Assistant Judge and Justice
of the Peace for Windham County, and he was a
member of the Vermont Assembly of that year, and
inl784,1786, 1794 and 1796. He held the office of
Assistant Judge of Windham Count\' Court from
1781 until 1796, except the year of 1783, and he
was Chief Judge from 1796 until 1801. He was
Judge of Probate in 1789 until 1803; Councillor in
348 EARLY HISTORY
1799; and Elector of President and Vice-President
in 1796. This surely was a good record.
Solomon Miller was born in West Springfield,
Mass., in 1761. He entered the Revolutionary
army, and was in the battle of Bennington and at
the taking of Burgoyne. After the conclusion of
the Revolutionary War he removed to Wallingford,
and from thence in 1786 to Williston, of which
towm he was Clerk for man\^ years. He was for
15 years Clerk of Chittenden County, and for 14
years Judge of Probate. He represented Williston
in the General Assembly in 1797, and was Councill-
or from 1799 until 1803, and -in 1808, 1813, and
1814. He died in 1847.
Paul Brigham was one of the most trusted and
remarkable men of early Vermont. He took his
seat as Councillor at the October session of 1792
for the first time, although elected to the office in
joint Assembly on October 25, 1791. He received
twenty-seven elections from the people of the State
at large,— one in 1792 as Elector of President
and Vice-President; five elections as Councillor
from 1792 to 1796 inclusive; and twenty-one as
Lieutenant Governor from 1797 until 1813, and
from 1815 until his declination in 1820. During
the adjourned session of the Legislature from Feb.
14, to March 1797, he presided in the absence of
Governor Chittenden, and on the death of the Gov-
ernor, August 24, 1797, he became acting Gover-
nor. He was born in Coventry, Connecticut, Jan-
uary 17, 1746, and died atNorwich June 15, 1824;
in his death the people mourned the loss of one
whom, with the blessings of heaven, our national
OF VERMONT. 349
Independence was achieved. He had been Captain
in the Continental army; previous to his accept-
ance of his Commission, he had arisen to that rank
through every intermediate step from a Corporal
in the militia. When the Commission was tendered
to him he had held the office of Captain long enough
to be exempted by law from military- dut\-, but he
shrank not inthe hours of his Country's danger and
need; he entered the field to redeem the pledge of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence of "their
lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor." On
June 16, 1777, he joined his regiment under com-
mand of Col. Chandler, in Gen. AIcDougall's bri-
gade. Hefought under Gen. Washinsjto.i, in the bat-
tles of Germantowm and Monmouth and was in the
detachment of Mud Island b3' whom Fort Miflin
w^as a long time braveh' defended against the land
and naval forces of the enemy. He served in the
National army three years. In the year 1781, re-
moved with his family to Norwich, Vt. In the
military he was promoted through every grade to
aMaj. General. He was successively high Sheriff,
Judge of Probate, and Judge of the Windsor Coun-
ty Court; he represented Norwich in the General
Assembly in 1783, 1786 and 1791, and a delegate
in the Constitutional Convention of 1793, 1814
and 1822. He was respected for his republican
simplicty of manners and ardent patriotism, and
for many useful labors in the different stations to
which he was elevated by his fellow-citizens. He
retired to the shades of private life, to witness in
the evening of his days the happy effects of the
laws which he had assisted in framing, and to
350 EARLY HISTORY
reap the rewards of his faithful services in the es-
teem of a free an 1 enli.2^htened people.
Noah Smith was born at Suffield, Conn., and
was a graduate of Yale College in 1778. On leav-
ing college he moved to Bennington, Vt. On the
16th of August, 1778, he delivered an address on
the first anniversary of the Battle of Bennington.
He was admitted to the bar of Vermont at West-
minster, May 26, 1779, with Stephen R. Bradley —
these being the first admissions to the bar of Ver-
mont. He held the office of State's attorney for the
County of Bennington for the years of 1780, from
1786 to 1789, and in 1791. He was Clerk of Ben-
nington County Courts from 1781 until 1784;
Judge of the Supreme Court in 1789 and 1790 and
again from 1798 until 1801. He served as Coun-
cillor but one year, he removed from Bennington
to Milton soon after 1800, and died at Milton Dec.
25, 1812, at the age of 57 years.
DocT. Timothy Todd represented Arlington in
1790, 1793, 1794 and 1795; was Councillor from
1798 until 1801; delegate in the Constitutional
Convention of 1791;he was an influential member
of the first incorporated Medical Society in the
State, and a poet ranking well among his con-
temporaries.
Abel Spencer was among the inhabitants of
Clarendon who left their homes on the approach of
Burgo\'ne's armv, in 1777, and joined the enemy.
For this he was fined one thousand pounds. In
1779, he petitioned for a remission of a part of this
fine, and one-half of it was remitted. He represent-
ed Clarendon in 1791 until 1797, except in 1794; he
OF VERMONT. 351
represented Rutland in 1S02, 1803, 1806 and
1807, and was Speaker of the House in 1797and
in 1802; was Councillor from Oct. 13, 1798 until
1801, and State's Attorne3^ in Rutland Count\^
from 1796 until 1803. He was the Federal Candi-
date for United States Senator in October 1802,
and was defeated b_Y Israel Smith by a vote ol
111 to 85. He was expelled from the House, Nov.
10, 1807, by a unanimous vote, for theft.
Benjamix Burt was a member of the House in
1798 and resigned his seat and entered the Coun-
cil on Nov. 1, 1798. He was arrested as one of the
Court party at the Westminster massacre in 1775,
but he soon after joined the Vermont party, and
w^as appointed Judge of theCounty!Court in 1781.
In 1784 he was Quarter-Master in Col. Stephen R.
Bradley's Vermont regiment; he was a member of
the House from Westminster in 1781, 1786, 1796,
1797,1798 and till Nov. 1st, 1799; w^as Councillor
from Nov. 1798 until October 17, 1799, when he
resigned and chose to serve in the House. He was
Judge of Windham County Court in 1781, and
from 1786 until 1803; and a member of the Coun-
cil of Censors in 1792.
Richard Whitney w^asan Attorne\^of Windham
County Court in 1795, residing at Guilford. Clerk
of the House from 1792 to 1 798, when he declined
a re-election. On Oct. 15, 1798, he was appointed
Secretary of the Governor and Council, and he
held that office until 1804. He died in May 1805
at Hinsdale, now Vernon, at the age of 39 years.
Gen. William Chamberlain, born at Hopkin-
ton, Mass., April 27, 1753 and removed with his
352 EARLY HISTORY
father to London, X. H., in 1773. His career was
a notable one. He volunteered and entered the
army in 1775, and served as orderh- sergeant in
the invasion of Canada, enduring great sufferings,
and being one of the nine officers and privates,
out of a company of seventy-, who survived to take
part in the battle of Trenton, X. J. At the expira-
tion of the term of his enlistment, he returned to
Xew Hampshire, but on Burgoyne's invasion in
1777, he again volunteered, and was in the battle
of Bennington and brought away some trophies of
personal combat w4th his enemies. In 1780 he re-
moved to Peacham and was Clerk of the proprie-
tors of the town; he was Town Clerk 12 years; Jus-
tice of the Peace for 24 years; Town Representative
in 1785, 1787, until 179G, in 1805 and in 1808;
Chief Judge of Caledonia County Court from 1787
until 1803, and again in 1814; Councillor from
1796 until 1803; Lieut. Governor in 1813 to 1815;
delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1791
and 1814; a Presidental Elector in 1800; and a
member of Congress two terms 1803-5, and 1809-
11. He died Sept. 27, 1828. He was upright in
private life, a friend of order, learning and relig-
ion; he lived to see the wilderness of Vermont be-
come a cultivated and a populous region.
Stephen Jacob was an attorne^v. He was
born in Sheffield, Mass., and w^as a graduate of
Yale College in the class of 1778, and appeared
first in the records of Vermont as poet at the first
celebration of the battle of Bennington, 1778. He
w^as representative for the town of Windsor in the
General Assembly in 1781, 1788, and 1794. and
OF VERMONT. 353
served as Clerk in the House in 1788 and 1789; a
member of the first Council of Censors in 1785,
and a delegate in the Constitutional Convention
in 1793; Chief Judge of Windsor Counts' Court
from 1797 until 1801, and Councillor from 1796
until 1802. He distinguished himself for courage
and energy in quelling the attempted insurrection
in Windsor County in 1786, and in 1789, he was
appointed one of the Commissioners to settle the
controversy' with New York, and served in that
delicate and important business. He died in Feb-
ruary, 1817, aged sixt^^-one 3'ears.
Elias Keyes was born in Ashford, Conn., and
was one of the first settlers of Stockbridge in 1784
or 1785, and he represented the town in the Gen-
eral Assembly in 1793 until 1803, and 1818,1820,
and from 1823 until 1826; and was a member of
the Constitutional Convention of 1814 and Coun-
cillor from 1803 until 1818 with the exception of
1814; and a member of Congress from 1821 until
1823; assistant Judge of Windsor County Court
from 1806 until 1814, and Chief Judge from 1815
until 1817. He once presented a petition to the
Assembh' for his own relief, in which petition was
the expression, "for the relief of Elias Keyes, which
Elias I am.''
DocT. Asaph Fletcher was born in Westfield,
Mass., June 28, 1746, and removed to Cavendish,
Yt., in Februar\^ 1787, and was elected represent-
ative of that town in 1790, 1792 and in 1820; he
was delegate in the Constitutional Convention of
1791 and 1793; and elector of President and Yice-
President in 1816; Assistant Judge of Windsor
23
354 EARLY HISTORY
County Court from 1801 until 1805; and Coun-
cillor from 1803 until 1808. He had several sons
who have filled important and honorable posi-
tions: viz, Gen. Asaph Fletcher, Jr., was Sheriff of
Windsor County from 1820 until 1830; Hon. Rich-
ard Fletcher of Boston, who was member of Con-
gress from 1837 to 1839, and Judge of the Su-
preme Court of Mass. from 1848 to 1853; Doct.
Alpheus Fletcher of Cavendish; Rev. Horace Flet-
cher of To wnshend; and Ryland Fletcher of Caven-
dish, who was Lieut. Governor of Vermont in
1854 to 1856, and Governor from 1856 to 1858.
Samuel Shepardson served as a guide to the
Vermont troops, who in 1784, under the command
of Stephen R. Bradley, suppressed the disorder in
Guilford and ^vicinity; he was Councillor from
1803 until 1808, and Register of Probate in 1806,
and Elector of President and Vice-President in
1808.
Ebenezer Wheelock w^as one of the early
settlers of Whiting, and he represented that town
from 1790 until 1796, and in 1802, and from 1817
until 1821. He was Councillor in 1803 until
1808, and delegate in the Constitutional Conven-
tion of 1793.
Beriah Loomis represented Thetfordfrom 1782
until 1790, and in 1817: he was Councillor from
1801 until 1814; Assistant Judge of Orange Coun-
ty Court from 1797 until 1818; a member of the
Constitutional Convention of 1791.
Cornelius Lynde w-as born in Leicester, Mass.,
August 16, 1751, and served an apprenticeship in
the clothier's trade until he was 21 years of age.
OF VERMONT. 355
He entered and continued in Harvard College till
the opening of the Revolutionary war, when he
joined the army and served through the war and
was a Lieutenant when discharged. He was one
of the original grantees of Willianistown, Vt., and
came to that town about 1785, and was employ-
ed b^^ the proprietors to survey and allot the land.
He was the first Town Clerk, elected in 1787, and
held the office until 1797; was Town Representa-
tive from 1791 until 1794, and was elected for
1794, but was transferred to the Council, and held
that office until 1799; was Judge of Orange Coun-
ty Court from 1793 until 1798; and a delegate in
the Constitutional Convention of 1791. He and
Elijah Paine labored for the establishment ot the
State University at Williamstown instead of at
Burlington.
John White was born in Esopus, N. Y., and
settled in the town of Arlington, Vt., prior to
1783, as in that year he was appointed Assistant
Judge of Bennington County Court, he held that
office till 1787, when he removed to Burlington
with the intention of ultimatel)^ settling in the
town of Georgia, but on October 22, 1787, he was
appointed Assistant Judge of Chittenden County
Court, and he held that office until 1796, except
the year 1793. In 1796 he was appointed to the
same office in Franklin County, and reappointed
in 1797. He was elected Representative for Geor-
gia to the Assembly in 1790, 1794 and 1800,
but in 1794, he was elected a member ot the Coun-
cil and served in that bod3^ until 1798, and from
1801 until 1808, in all 11 A'ears. He was a member
356 EARLY HISTORY
of the Council of Censors in 1792 and 1799, and
of the Constitutional Convention in 1791 and
1793, and as Presidential Elector in 1808. He was
a man of character and abilit\% making up for his
want of education by habits of close observation
and the practice of sound common sense.
CoL. Elijah Robinson represented Weathers-
field in the Assembly for 1782, 1783, and from
1792 until October 29, 1794, when he was ap-
pointed Councillor, which office he held until 1802;
in 1783 he was a member of the Board of War,
and in 1786, he served as Lieut. Colonel in sup-
pressing the attempted insurrection in Windsor
County; he was Judge of Windsor County Court
from 1782 until 1787, and from 1788 to 1801,
and Chief Judge in 1802, making 19 years of Ju-
dicial service; he w^as also member of the Council
of Censors in 1785. In 1793, he w^as elected Briga-
dier General, but refused to accept the office. He
died January 1809, at the age of 73 years univer-
sally lamented. He was one of the number, who
in 1759, traversed the then wilderness from
Charlestown, N. H., to Crown Point. At the
commencement of the Revolution he repaired again
to the tented field and contributed several years of
personal services to the freedom and independence
of the American States.
Truman Souier of Manchester was an Attor-
ney. He was appointed on October 25, 1798,
Judge of Probate for the District of Manchester to
fill a vacanc3' occasioned by the declination of Lu-
ther Stone. He was also State's Attorney for Ben-
nington County for the years of 1798 and 1799.
OF VERMONT. 357
Ebenezer Marvin was uncle of Stephen Royce,
the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of , Vt.,
and was born in Connecticut in April 1741; in his
younger daj-s he was a farmer, but later qualified
himself for the medical profession, which he follow-
ed until 1794. He was a resident of Sharon,
Conn., in 1766, but removed to Stillwater, N. Y.,
from thence to Lansingburgh, and from thence to
Tinmouth, Vt. in 1781, and from Tinmouth to
Franklin in 1794, where he died of paralysis in No-
vember 1820, in his 80th year. At the commence-
ment of the Revolutionary war, he took an active
part and contributed liberally of his means to the
cause; he served as Captain of a company of vol-
unteers who marched to the support of Ethan Al-
len and Benedict Arnold at Ticonderoga, but sub-
sequently served as surgeon in the Continental
service, and in that capacity was present at the
battle w4th and the surrender of Burgoyne, in Oc-
tober 1777. He was Judge of Rutland County
Court in 1786, and from 1788 to 1794, w^hen he
removed to Franklin; he was Judge of Chittenden
County Court from 1794, until Franklin County
was fully organized in 1796; and Judge of tTie
Franklin County Court from 1796 until 1802, and
again from 1808 until 1809. He represented Tin-
mouth in 1783, and from 1786 until October 1791,
when he took his seat in the Council, which ofhce
he held until 1802. Though he was not educated
for the bar, Chief Justice Ro^^ce said, that through
his long experience as a Judge, and his powers of
discrimination and judgment, he became what
may be justly styled a great common sense law-
358 EARLY HISTORY
yer. Chief Justice Royce said of him, "In person he
was august and impressive, being, at least, six
feet in height, with broad shoulders, full chest and
stout limbs, every wa^^ strong and muscular, and
quite corpulent, and had a larger human head
than is rareh', if ever, seen. In politics he was a
Federalist of the Washington school, and in relig-
ious preference and profession an Episcopalian.
GHflPTtR XIII.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PIONEERS
OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS
AND VERMONT.— CONTINUED.
Col. Timothy Church of Brattleboro was
quite a prominent adherent to New York in Cum-
berland County. He was among the 44 arrested
by Ethan Allen and his posse in 1779, and was
then tried, convicted and fined in the sum of twen-
ty-five pounds. He was commissioned Lieut. Col-
onel by Gov. Clinton, for his service and resistance
to Vermont authority; he was arrested, indicted,
tried and convicted of treason against the State,
banished and his property confiscated. On peti-
tion, he was pardoned by an Act of the General
Assembly in Feb. 1783, the preamble of which Act,
set ''forth his sincere and hearty penitence and de-
termination to behave orderly and submissive in
case of pardon.
Maj. Jonathan Hunt in Nov. 1775, was rec-
ommended to New York as second Colonel of the
lower regiment in Cumberland Count3\ but he de-
clined it. In 1777, he was Town Clerk of Hinsdale
(now Vernon) and was a New York sympathizer.
In 1780, he was one of the leading Yorkers who
instituted measures for forming a new State com-
prising territory h'ing between the Mason line in
(359)
360 EARLY HISTORY
New Hampshire and the rido^e of Green Mountains,
and seemed to favor the interest of Vermont, for
he accepted the office of sheriff of Windham County
June 15, 1781, and represented Vernon in the Gen-
eral Assembly in 1783, and was elected Councillor
from 1786 to 1794 inclusive; he w^as elected Lieut.
Gov. October 10. 1794, in joint Assembl3% and re-
elected b3^ the people in 1795; he was a member of
the Vermont Convention of 1791, which adopted
the United States Constitution, and died June 1,
1823, at the age of 85 3'ears. Hon. Jonathan
Hunt, M. C, from Vermont in 1827, was his son.
Ebenezer Walbridge was born in Norwich,
Conn., Jan. 1, 1738, and came to Bennington about
1765. Previous to 1780, he had served in Canada
as Lieut, in Warner's Green Mountain regiment,
and Adjutant in the Battle of Bennington and in
1778, w^as made Lieut. Colonel of Vermont militia
in 1780. He was one of those w- ho was intrusted
with the secret of Haldimand negotiations. In
Dec. 1781, he commanded the forces of Vermont
before whom the New York militia retreated, and
later was elected Brigadier General ; he represented
Bennington in 1778 and 1780, and Councillor ten
\'ears from October 1786, to October 1796. He
died October 3, 1819. His genealogy has been
traced back to the Walbridges of Suffolk County,
England. He was an enterprising business man
and one of those who erected the first paper mill
in Vermont in 1784.
Samuel Mattocks came from Hartford, Conn.,
to Tinmouth, Vt., in 1778, and represented that
town from 1781 to 1785. In 1785, he was a mem-
OF VERMONT. 361
ber of the Council, and in 1783 to 1788, and again
in 1794-, he was Assistant Judge of Rutland Coun-
ty Court, and elected Chief Judge in 1788; he was
State Treasurer from 1786, until 1800, and a
member of the Council of Censors in 1792. He
was constantly in public office for twenty years.
Nathaniel Niles was a clergyman of consider-
able note. He was born in South Kingston, R. I.,
April 3, 17il, and was a collegiate. He studied
law, medicine, and theology, and settled in Fair-
lee (now West Fairlee) in 1779; he was also an in-
ventor and succeeded in discovering a process of
making wire from bar-iron by water power; he
also invented and manufactured wool-cards. He
was a poet and published the Ode entitled the
American Hero, which was regarded as " one of
the finest and most popular productions of the
war" of the Revolution. It was set to music and
sung in the churches and religious assemblies of
New England and became the war song of the sol-
diers. From 1784, until 1815, he was constantly
in the service of the public as Town Representa-
tive, State Councillor, member of the Council of
Censors, delegate in Constitutional Conventions,
member of Congress, and Judge of the Supreme
Court.
Thomas Porter came to Tinmouth from Con-
necticut in 1779, and held several important
offices; Representative of Tinmouth in the General
Assembly, a member of the Council, Speaker of the
House, Judge of Rutland County Court. His pub-
lic service in Vermont embraced 17 3'ears ; he was
a man of estimable character and good talents,
362 EAKLY HISTORY
and died at Granville, N.Y., August 1833, at the
age of 99 years.
Samuel Safford was born at Norwich Conn.
April 14, 1737, and was one of the early settlers
of Bennington, and actively engaged in the defence
of the State through the long and bitter contest
with New York. From 1775, to 1807, he was
constant^ employed in public service both civil
and military. He held at different times the posi-
tion of Major and Lieut. Colonel in Warner's reg-
iment, and was in the battle of Hubbardton and
Bennington; he was a delegate in most of the Con-
ventions, and represented Bennington in General
Assembly in 1781 and 1782; he was Councillor
from 1782, to 1805, and 26 years Chief Judge of
Bennington County Court. He was one of those
who was cognizant of the Haldimand negotiation,
but his patriotism was never questioned. He was
a member of the Congregational church after
1804, till his death March 3, 1813.
Ebenezer Allen w-as born at Northampton,
Mass., October 17, 1743, and was a descendant of
Matthew Allen who came to New England in 1632,
with Rev. Thomas Hooker of Chelmsford. He was
appointed Lieutenant in Warner's regiment 1775,
and Captain, Aug. 25, 1777. He was a member of
the Board of War in 1779; and Maj. of Rangers
and Colonel of Militia in 1780. He distinguished
himself in the Battle of Bennington, and particular-
ly so by a night attack with a party of men on
Mount Defiance, and in its capture in September
1777, and in the capture of fifty of the rear guard
of the enemv on their retreat from Ticonderoga at
OF VERMONT. 363
that time. He was a brave and successful partis-
an leader. He settled in Poultne^- in 1777, and re-
moved to Tinmouth and represented that town in
the several Conventions in 1776 and 1777. He re-
moved to South Hero in 1783, which town he rep-
resented four years in the General Assembly, and
moved to Burlington in 1800, where he died
March 26, 1806.
Asa Baldwin was the first Town Clerk of Dor-
set. He came from New York and was a strict
Churchman and a Ro^^alist. He with his brother
Thomas and others were under arrest and dealt
with by the Council of Safet3% for their dislo^-al
conduct but on the application of Captain Abra-
ham Underhill, on their taking the oath of Fidelity-
to the United States of America and dispensing
with the loss the^^ had sustained to atone for
their past folly, were accepted as friends and citi-
zens.
Col. Timothy Bedel was Colonel of New
Hampshire Rangers in the Canada Campaign of
1775, and had seen considerable militar3' service.
When the first union of New Hampshire towns
with Vermont had been effected Bedel's regiment
fell within the jurisdiction of Vermont, and a part
of his regiment b\' vote of the General Assemble
and the advice of the Council, were ordered sent to
guard the frontiers on the West side of the moun-
tain. He was one of the persons with whom Gen.
Haldimand attempted to communicate in the
spring 1782. The interview failed because Bedel
said ''he was watched." He was one of the Ver-
mont Board of War in 1781.
364 EARLY HISTORY
Barnabas Barnum was one of the first settlers
in Monkton. He was killed in the fight at the
block-house in Shelburne March 12, 1778.
Gen. Gideon Brownson of Sunderland was
Captain and served through the Revolutionary
war, and promoted to the rank of Alajor in the
Continental service, and afterwards General in the
Vermont militia. He was a violent politician in
the then late war; and as proof of his valiant con-
duct, T. A. Graham said that he, in 1797, carried
in his body eighteen pieces of lead which he receiv-
ed during that contest.
Zadock Everest. His special buisnessinl778,
was to look after inimical persons. He came from
Connecticut into Addison in 1765, and opened the
first public house in Addison Count\^ but was
forced to leave it at the time of Burgoyne's inva-
sion in 1777, going to Pawlet and remaining there
until 1784, when he returned to Addison. He rep-
resented Pawlet in the first General Assembly,
March 1778; Panton in 1785; and Addison in
1788, 1789, and 1795.
John Hazeltine came to Townshend from Up-
ton, Mass., in 1761, and was a prominent man in
the town and count_v, and often called to preside
in public meetings. His patriotism was of an ar-
dent and energetic sort, and won for him the title
of King Hazeltine. The Whigs esteemed him high-
ly, and especialh^ in selecting him as the person to
whom bonds with security were given by sundry
persons who had been arrested for participation
in the Westminster Massacre. He w^as appoint-
ed a delegate from Cumberland County to the
OF VERMONT. 365
Provincial Congress and the Convention of New
York May 23, 1775.
Phineas Hurd was a wealthy citizen of Ar-
lington and was proscribed in the Act of Feb. 26,
1779; It is claimed he was abducted and never
heard of afterwards, and burnt in a prison-ship
near New York. This family was frequently
abused b\' the Whigs, and his property confiscated
by the State and offered for sale, but no one would
buy it, and the General Assembly gave the use of
the farm confiscated to his widow.
Francis Pfister was an officer in the Royal
American Regiment in 1760. He commanded the
Tories, as Colonel in the battle of Bennington,
and w- as mortalh' wounded.
Abraham Underhill represented Dorset in the
Conventions of July and September 1776, and was
one of the nine persons appointed July 25, 1776,
as a committee of Appeals in matters relative to
the cause of American Liberty. He commanded a
military compan3^ raised for the defence of the State.
He was a member of the General Assembl_v in
October 1778, 1780, 1781 and 1782, and died in
1796.
Samuel Avery of Westminster was Deputy
Sheriff in Windham County in October 1782, and
in that capacit}^ executed the sentence of banish-
ment upon sundry violent Yorkers.
Col. Nathaniel Brush came to Bennington
about 1775; he commanded the militia of that
town in the battle of Bennington, and served as
Judge of Probate in 1781, and from 1787 to 1794,
and as Clerk of the Courts from 1787 to 1803.
366 EARLY HISTORY
James Rogers came from Londonderry, New
Hampshire, to Londonderry, Vermont, in the year
1770. He commenced the settlement of the latter
town which had been granted to him bj' New York
Feb. 13, 1770, under the name of Kent. He was
commissioned by New York as Assistant Justice of
the Inferior Court of common pleas and as Justice
of the Peace in 1772, and once before that time. In
1775 he was counted a Whig, and at a Convention
of twelve towns in Cumberland County, held Feb.
7th of that year, was appointed one of the Com-
mittees of correspondence for tw"ent3^-one towns.
On May 31, 1775, New Y'ork tendered to him a
commission as Brigadier General of the militia
of Cumberland, Gloucester and Charlotte counties,
which he refused on political principles. In Septem-
ber 1776, he was a delegate in the Dorset Conven-
tion, voted in favor of separating from New Y^ork,
but afterwards he joined the King's troops. On
October 3, 1777, the Council of Safety assumed
the control of his property which was confiscated
in 1778. In 1795 and 1797, James Rogers, Jr., pe-
titioned the General Assembl3' for a restoration of
his father's property, and all that had not been
sold w^as restored to him.
The Peters Family. The history of the Rev.
Hugh Peters was written and published by Sam-
uel A. Peters, D. D., of Hebron, Connecticut, Decem-
ber 12, 1735. There was also a Rev. Samuel Pe-
ters, LL. D., who was born in said Hebron in
1717. Rev. Hugh Peters, the ancestor of Samuel
Peters, and Samuel Andrew Peters, was convicted
of treason in England, and executed October 16,
OF vp:km()nt. 867
1660. Samuel Peters was once selected for the
office ol Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church
in Vermont, but was never consecrated. Samuel
Andrew Peters, in his life of Hugh Peters, showed
the relation between Rev. Doctors Samuel and
Samuel Andrew Peters, thus: Samuel, L. L. D.,
son of John and Mary Peters, born in Hebron in
1717, was a Tor}^ and went to England in 1774.
Samuel Andrew Peters, A. M., barrister, son of
Jonathan, and grandson of John and Mary, had
Samuel Andrew Peters who was also a Tor}', and
also went to England in 1774; and that Rev. Dr.
Samuel Peters: was uncle to Rev. Dr. Samuel An-
drew Peters; the latter had strong attachment for
Vermont, and notwithstanding he was both
churchman and Tory, he highly esteemed many of
its leading Whigs, whose lineage, like his own, he
was proud to trace back to the stanch Whigs and
Puritans of England. In the life of Hugh Peters he
named several as follows: Gen. Absolom Peters
married Mary Rogers, a descendant of Rev. John
Rogers, the martyr, and she was mother of Rev.
Absolom Peters of Bennington; Samuel Harrison of
Pittsford, who served at the capture of Burgoyne
and Cornwallis, was a descendant from General
Thomas Harrison of Cromwell's time. Of Gov.
Thomas Chittenden's lineage, he wrote, that Mo-
ses Chittenden, an officer in Cromwell's own reg-
iment, a solid Puritan, was a brave soldier and
left his spirit to a large number of his children;"
Of Moses Robinson he wrote, "Aloses Robinson,
A. M., of Vermont, has been a Governor of that
State, and a Senator in Congress; he is head of
368 EARLY HISTORY
the family of Robinsons, descendants of Rev.
John Robinson, the father of the Puritans in Eng-
land in 1629, in whom the Methodists and Puri-
tans place confidence." He wrote to Andrew Pe-
ters of Bradford, Vermont, who had then recenth^
left the service in the British navy, that "the rea-
sons of 3^our residing in Vermont, I doubt not, are
the same which will induce all people in the Old
World to go there." Samuel A. Peters, also wrote
a histor\^ of Connecticut in w^hich he made an ar-
dent defence of Vermont against New Vork. The
publication of theJAmerican edition of said history
was in 1829. Some of the representations, in his
Life of Hugh Peters and in his History of Connec-
ticut have been strongh' condemned as being ex-
aggerations and work of the imagination, one of
which was as to the waters of Connecticut River
at Bellows Falls, Vt. He said, "Here water is
consolidated without frost, b\' pressure, b3^ swift-
ness between the pinching, sturdy rocks, to such
a degree of induration that an iron crow floats
smoothly down its current:— here iron, lead, and
cork, have a common weight:— here stead3^ as
time, and harder than marble, the stream presses
irresistable, if not swift as lightning:— the electric
fire rends trees in pieces with no greater ease, than
does this might^^ water."
Abel Curtis of Norwich was three times elect-
ed a Representative in the General Assemblv, served
one term as Judge of V/indsor County Court, and
one term as Agent of Vermont at Congress. He
was a kind husband and, an agreeable friend, a
charitable, benevolent and honest, man, and in
OF VERMONT. 369
every respect a ver\' valuable member of the com-
munity. He died October 1, 1783, at the age of
thirty ^^ears.
Col. Thomas Johnson. He was Lieut. Colonel
of militia under New York, a resident of Newbury
and a zealous patriot. On March 8, 1781, he was
captured by a partj^ of British and Indians and
taken to Canada, w^here he was held as prisoner
until October 5, 1781, when he was permitted to
return to his home on parole. On Ala^- 30, 1782,
writing from Newbur3^ he informed General Wash-
ington, there was an infernal plan of treachery
with some leading men in Vermont to make Ver-
mont a British Province. He professed to British
officers in Canada, while there as a prisoner, to be
on their side, and it was the exposure of his true
character as a Whig that he feared.
Nathaniel Chipman, LL. D., was born at Sal-
isbury, Conn., Nov. 15, 1752, and was graduated
at Yale College, and during his senior year he was
commissioned Lieutenant in the American army,
and w^as on duty at Valley Forge in the winter
1777-8, and was present at the battle of Mon-
mouth. He resigned his commission Oct. 10, 1778,
and repaired to Litchfield, Conn., and was admit-
ted to the bar in 1779. He removed to Tinmouth;
Vermont, and there commenced the practice of the
legal profession, and served as State's Attorney
four years, and in 1786 was elected Judge of the
Supreme Court, and w^as said to be the first law-
yer who had been placed upon the Supreme bench
in Vermont; in 1789, he was elected Chief Justice,
which position he held for two years, and was
370 hARLY HISTORY
again elected Chief Justice in 1796. He was ap-
pointed one of the commissioners to adjust the
differences between Vermont and New York. In
1791, he was a member of the Convention called
to decide w^hether Vermont should join the Union,
and appointed as a joint commissioner with Lewis
R. Morris to attend Congress and negotiate for
the admission of the State into the Union in 1791,
and the same year he was appointed by George
Washington, President, Judge of the United States
Court for the district of Vermont. In 1793, he
published a work entitled ''Sketches of the Princi-
ples of Government," and a small volume of decis-
ions of cases while he was Chief Justice, and em-
bracing dissertations on the statute, adopting the
common law of England, the statute of offsets on
negotiable notes, and the statute of conveyances.
He resigned his office of Judge of the said district
Court in 1793. In 1796, he was appointed one of
the committee to revise the code of statute law^s
for Vermont, and the revised laws of Vermont of
1797 were w^ritten by him. He was elected U. S.
Senator to Congress in 1797; and in 1813 was
chosen one of the Council of Censors, and was
elected again Chief Justice of the State, and held
the office for two 3'ears. He was professor of law
inAlid dlebury college from 1816 to 1843. In 1833
he published a valuable treatise on "Free Institu-
tions and the Principles of Government." He was
a brother of Daniel Chipman, a prominent jurist.
Daniel Chipman said that his brother, Nathaniel,
wrote the expurgated copies of the letters that
were presented to the Legislature at the session
OF VERMONT. 371
held at Charleston in the East Union in October
1781, in place of the orio^inal letters written to
Governor Chittenden by General[Enos and Colonels
PMetcher and Walbridge, containing some private
matters, as well as public, in reference to the nego-
tiations between certain leading Vermonters and
General Haldimand, the contents of which, Gover-
nor Chittenden and others who were in the secret
of that correspondence, desired to keep from the
public. Chipman was influential in securing the
passage of the betterment Act of 1785, that the
people of the State have regarded just and equit-
able. He was a man of large intellectual capacity.
He died at Middlebury, Vermont, Feb. 15, 1843.
Daniel Chipman, LL. D., who was born in
Salisbury, Conn., October 22,1765, w^as a brother
of Nathaniel Chipman, and graduated at Dart-
mouth College in 1788, and died at Ripton, Ver-
mont, April 23, 1850. He came to Tinmouth, Vt.,
with his father in 1775, and labored on a farm till
1783. He studied law with Nathaniel Chipman
and was admitted to the bar and commenced the
practice of his profession at Rutland. In 1794, he
moved to Middlebury, w^here he spent the greater
part of his professional life and became distin-
guished in his profession and in literature. He was
admitted to the American Academy in 1812, and
law professor in Middlebury College from 1806 to
1816. He was State's Attorney for Addison
County in 1797, and until 1817, and a delegate in
the Constitutional Convention for Rutland in
1793, Middlebury in 1814, and Ripton in 1836,
1843, and 1850. He was prompt, vigorous,
372 EARLY HISTORY
and eloquent in debate, and genial and communi-
cative in conversation. He was the youngest of
seven brothers. Governor Cornelius P. Van Ness,
with the advice of the Council, appointed him to be
Reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court, No-
vember^lT, 1824, for the then ensuing year; he was
the first official reporter of the decisions and pub-
lished a volume of the reports called the "Daniel
Chipman Report." In 1822, he published a val-
uable "Essay on the Law of Contracts for the
Payment of Specific Articles," and in 1846, a biog-
raph3^ of Nathaniel Chipman, and in 1849, the
Memoirs of Col. Seth Warner and Gov. Thomas
Chittenden. His legislative service commenced in
1798, as Representative of Middleburv in the Gen-
eral Assembh', which office he held for eleven years
ending in 1822, and was Speaker of the House in
1813 and 1814. He was elected Councillor in
1808, but served but one ^-ear. He served the
State as Representative in Congress in 1815 to
March 1817.
Gideon Olin was born in Rhode Island in 1743,
and removed toShaftsbur^Mn 1776, and soon took
a prominent part in public affairs. He w^as a del-
egate to the Convention at Windsor June 4, 1777;
Commissioner of sequestration February 21,
1778; Major of the second regiment May 28,
1778, in which office he engaged in active service
on several occasions during the Revolutionary
war. He represented the town in the Assembly
in 1778, and from 1780 until 1793, when he took
his seat in the Council. He was Speaker of the
House from 1778 until 1793; he was a member
OF VERMONT. 373
again in 1799; Councillor from 1793 until 1798;
Judge of Bennington County Court from 1781 to
1798, and again from 1800 to 1802, and Chief
Judge from 1807 to 1811— in all 23 years as
Judge. He was delegate in the Constitutional
Conventions, 1791 and 1793, and member of Con-
gress from 1803 to 1807. He was a firm support-
er of the State in its hours of political darkness
and peril; he possessed great natural talents and
intuitive knowledge of mankind, and was nobly
free in his opinions and decided in his conduct.
The stand he took in Shays' rebellion showed his
firmness and noble bearing. About 100 rebels
from Massachusetts who fled from justice met at
Captain Galusha's in Shaftsbury April 30, 1787,
in Convention, to agree on measures in opposing
the government of that State. The authorities of
Shaftsbur^^ became alarmed at the illegal collect-
ion and demanded of the insurgents the occasion
of their meeting. The insurgents made answer
through their leader. Col. Smith, "that they were
driven from their Country, and had convened with
a view of concerting measures whereby they
might return and enjoy their properties." They
showed two letters, one from Shays and one from
another of their principles, encouraging them to
hold out, and be spirited in their opposition, and
they might be assured of relief. Judge Olin, who
acted as principal on the part of the authorities,
informed them, that if they were met for the pur-
pose of petitioning the legal authorities of Mass-
achusetts for pardon and leave to return, that
their proceedings would be highly commendable
374 EARLY HISTORY
but if their views were hostile, and their business
was to concert plans for committing depredations,
and continuino^ their opposition to that govern-
ment, they must disperse immediately, for no such
unlawful assembling would be allowed in Ver-
mont. The rebels plead for leave to be by them-
selves for a few minutes, which was granted, after
which they dispersed and proceeded to White
Creek, N. Y. Olin died at Shaftsbury in Jannar}'
1823. His record is a noble one.
Eliakim Spooner represented Westminster
from 1793 until 1795; and Councillor from Octo-
ber 17, 1801, until 1808.
Benjamin Swan of Woodstock was elected
State Treasurer, October 11, 1800; he was reelect-
ed annuall3^ by the people until 1833, having re-
ceived a greater number of elections to a high of-
fice than any other citizen of the State. He was
a pure, gentle, and genial man, trusted and belov-
ed by all who knew him. And it was said of him,
that as the stars have been said to go, "singing as
they shine," so went he about his daih' duties
humming through them all, as one at perfect peace
with God and man. On the settlement of his ac-
counts with the State in October 1833, it was
found that during the entire 33 years of his service,
he had received $732.25 in counterfeit and uncur-
rent money, being an average of a little over $22
per annum, and by a joint resolution he was al-
lowed that sum to balance the books of his office.
His loss was not reckoned a large sum, in view of
the fact, that for many years a very large propor-
OF VERMONT, 3 i O
tion of the bills and coin in circulation were coun-
terfeit.
Enoch Woodbridge was in the Continental serv-
ice in 1779, as Commissarv of Issues. Soon after the
close of the war he became a citizen of Vermont,
residing at Vergennes, of which cit^^ he was the
first Ma3^or. He was a member of the Assembly
from 1791 until 1795, and again in 1802; a dele-
gate in the Constitutional Convention of 1793;
Judge of the Supreme Court from 1794 until 1801,
and Chief Justice for three years of his service. He
died May, 1805.
David Wing, Jr., was born in Rochester, Mass.,
June 24, 1766, came to Montpelier about 1790,
and for twelve years served as Town Clerk, Town
Representative, and Judge of the Count3' Court,
and then was elected to the Secretary-ship and was
reelected to that office annually until Sept. 13,
1806. By his capacity, integrit3^ and gentlemanly
manners he became one of the most popular of the
public men of the State ; he was a Federalist in
politics, but the Republican Legislature of that
da3^ retained him constantlv in office — this was
proof of his popularitv.
Stephen Williams of Rutland entered upon
the duties of a Councillor without an^- previous
legislative experience, and held that office onh^ one
year, but he was a valuable officer of his town.
The hospitality^ of his disposition towards strang-
ers would alone be sufficient to endear him to all
who knew him; but the same generous turn of
mind led him to noble exertions of benevolence, — to
cheer the broken-heart, to wipe the tears from the
376 EARLY HISTORY
pale cheek of povert3%and to bid the friendless wid-
ow and orphan look up and smile. These are the
actions that crowned his days, and gave to his
temper that sweet serenit^^ w^hich only goodness
can bestow.
Doctor James Witherell was born in Mans-
field, Mass., June 16, 1759; he descended from an
English family who came to Massachusetts soon
after the voyage of the Ma3^flower. When 16 years
of age he volunteered to serve in the Revolution-
ary service, and continued in that service through
the Revolutionary^ war, was engaged in many bat-
tles, once wounded, and received a commission in
the 11th continental regiment of Massachusetts.
When he was discharged he had sevent3' dollars in
Continental money as the avails of eight years of
military service. With this he treated a brother
officer to a bowl of punch, and set out penniless to
fight the battle of life. He prepared himself for the
medical profession with Doct. Billings of Mans-
field, Mass., and in 1789, commenced practice at
Fairhaven. In 1790, he married Amy Haw^kins, a
lineal descendant of Roger Williams; he represented
Fairhaven from 1798 until 1802, and was elected
again in 1802, but left the House and served in
the Council. He was Councillor in 1802, until
1807, when he was elected to Congress, but in
1808, before his Congressional term expired, he
w^as appointed by President Jefferson, as one of
the Judges 'of the Territory of Michigan, an office
embracing a variety of legislative and executive
duties as well as judicial, and to which Witherell
added important military services in the war of
OF VERMONT. 377
1812. On the fall of Detroit, he refused to surren-
der a corps which he commanded, but permitted his
men to disperse, while he and his son-in-law, be-
came prisoners. On being paroled, the three re-
joined the family at Fairhaven, and there remained
till they were exchanged. Judge Witherell then re-
sumed his office in Michigan, and held it until he
was permitted, by President John Ouinc^^ Adams, to
exchange the judgeship for the office of Secretary
of the Territor3\ He was Assistant Judge of Rut-
land County Court from 1801 to 1803, and Chief
Justice from 1803 until 1806. He died at Detroit,
Jan. 9, 1838, in his 79th year.
Judge Elijah Paine was born in Brooklyn,
Conn., January 21, 1757. While fitting for Col-
lege, he abandoned his studies to serve for several
months in the army of the Revolution. He grad-
uated at Harvard University in 1781, and af-
ter studying law for three j^ears, he came to Ver-
mont in 1784, and purchased a cultivated farm in
Windsor, and afterwards, the same year he com-
menced the opening of a large farm in W^illiams.
town, which soon became, and through his life re-
mained, his homestead. Much ot his time, talents
and money from 1786, nntil his death in 1842, was
given to his farm, manufactures, various public
improvements, educational and benevolent insti-
tutions in which he was foremost in central Ver-
mont. He was honored with the degree of Doctor
of Laws by two universities. Harvard and the Ver-
mont Universit\% and he was a member of a num-
ber of several societies for the advancement of arts
and sciences. On the sabbath he was a constant
378 EARLY HISTORY
attendant at public worship at the Church at
East WilHamstown four miles from his dwelling.
He represented Williamstown in the General As-
sembly from 1787 until 1791; he was one of the
Commissioners to settle the controversy with
New York in 1789 and 1790; Delegate and Secre-
tary in the Constitutional Convention of 1786;
member of the Council of Censors in 1792; Judge
of the Supreme Court from 1791 to 1793; United
States Senator from 1795 until 1801, to which of-
fice he w^as reelected but declined it for the purpose
of accepting from President Washington the office
of Judge for the U. S. District of Vermont. This of-
fice he held from 1801, until a few weeks before his
death, which occurred on April 28, 1842. He was
a tall, well-proportioned gentleman, dressed in
the style of President Washington, of a grave
countenance and dignified bearing, scornful to
none and affable to all. He married Sarah Por-
ter, daughter of John Porter of Plymouth, N. H.;
and had four sons and four daughters. All of
the sons who reached middle age, were distuin-
guished for ability and usefulness. Martyn
Paine, A. IM., M. D., LL. D., and member of va-
rious societies in Europe and America, was born
July 8, 1794, and made his residence in New York
City. His reputation as the author of various
medical books was high. In 1841 Martyn united
w^th five other medical gentlemen in establishing
the Medical Department of the University of New
Y^ork, in w^hich he was professor for a long time.
Elijah, another son, was born April 10, 1796,
w^ho also made his residence in New York Citv,
OF VERMONT. 379
and was author of law books, and from 1850, un-
til his death, October 6, 1853, was a Judge of the
Superior Court. Charles, was born April 15,
1799, was Governor of Vermont from 1841 to
1843, and greatly distinguished for his services in
manufactures, railroads, and other public im-
provements, until his death, Juh^ 6, 1853. These
three sons were all graduates of Harvard. George,
the other son, was a graduate of Dartmouth, and
a lawyer; he died October 3, 1836, in the 29th
3'ear of his age.
Boast not these titles of your ancestors
Brave youths : they'r their possession, not your own :
When your own virtues equall'd have their names,
'Twill be but fair to lean upon their fames»
For they are strong supporters; but, till then.
The greatest are but growing gentlemen.
— B. Johnson.
GHflPTtR XIV.
LIST OF TREASURERS, SECRETARIES OF
STATE, AUDITORS OF ACCOUNTS,
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, CLERKS
OF THE HOUSE AND LEG-
ISLATIVE SESSIONS IN
VERMONT, SINCE
1777.
TREASURERS.
Ira Allen 1778-86!George Howes.. .1847-53
Samuel Mattocks. .1786-Jolin A. Page 1853-54
1800 Henry M. Bates.. 18 54-60
Benjamin S\van..l800-33jolin B. Page 1860-66
Augustine Clarkel833-37 John A. Page 1866-82
WillianH.DuBois...l882-
90
Henrv F. Field. ..1890-98
Allen Wardner... 1837-38
Henrv F. James. .1838-41
John Spaulding... 1841-46
Elisha P. Jewett.l846-47john L. Bacon 1898
OF VERMONT.
381
SECRETARIES OF STATE.
Thomas Chandler, resign-
ed 1778.
Joseph Fay 1778-81
Micah To\vnshend.l781-
88.
Roswell Hopkins. ..1788-
1802.
David Wing, Jr.. .1802-06
Thomas Leverett...l806-
13.
Josiah Dunham. .1813-15
William Slade, Jr.1815-23
Norman Williams. .1823-
31.
Timothy Merrill.1831-36
Chauncev L. Knapp
1836^41.
AlvahSabin 1841-42
James AIcM.Shaiter
1842-49.
Ferrand F. Merrill. 1819-
53.
Daniel P.Thompson
1853-55.
Charles W. WiUard
1855-57.
Benjamin W. Dean. 1857-
01.
*George W. Bailey, Jr
1861-65.
George Nichols... 1865-84
Charles W^ Porter.. 1884-
90.
Chauncev W.Brownell....
1890''-98.
Fred A. Rowland. .1898-
Died in office.
AUDITORS OF ACCOUNTS.
Office established in 1797.
SethStorrs 1797-1801
Benjamin Emmons, Jr
1801-06.
Alexander Hutchinson....
1806-13.
Job Lyman 1813-15
Alexander Hutchinson....
1815-17.
Wyllis Hall, Jr.. ..1817-19
Norman Williams...! 819-
23.
David Pierce 1823 44
Silas H. Hodijes.. 1844-50
Fred E.Woodbridge
1850-53.
WilHamM. Pingrv.1853-
60.
*JepthaBradlev.. 1860-64
*Dugald Stewart.. .. 1864-
70.
Whitman G. Ferrin.1870-
76.
Jedd P. Ladd 1876-78
E.Henrv Powell. 1878-92
Franklin D. Hale. 1892-98
Orion M. Barber.. ..1898-
Died in office.
382
EARLY HISrrORY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
SPEAKEKS.
^Joseph Bowker 1778
*Nathan Clark 1778
tNathan Clark 1778
IThomas Chandler, Jr
1778.
IThomas Chandler, Jr
1779.
^Thomas Chandler, Jr
1780.
*Samuel Robinson... 1780
^Thomas Chandler, Jr
1780.
:::Thomas Porter 1 780
Thomas Porter 1781
llThomas Porter 1782
tThomas Porter 1782
:i:Thomas Porter 1782
^Increase Moseley...l782
>$Increase Moseley...l783
Isaac Tichenor.. .1783-84
Nathaniel Niles.. .1784-85
Stephen R. Bradlev.1785-
86.
lijohn Strong 1786
liiGideon Olin ..1786
^Gideon Olin 1787
Gideon Olin 1787-93
Daniel Buck 1793-95
Lewis R. Morris. 1795-97
Abel Spencer 1797-98
Daniel Farrand.. 1798-99
Amos Marsh. .1799-1802
Abel Spencer 1802-03
Theophilus Harrington...
1803-04.
Aaron Leland 1804-08
Dudley Chase 1808-13
Daniel Chipman. 1813-15
William A. Griswold
1815-18.
Richard Skinner.1818-19
William A. Griswold
1819-20.
D.Azro A. Buck. .1820-23
George E. Wales. 1823-25
D.Azro A. Buck.. 1825-27
Robert B.Bates.. 1827-29
D.Azro A. Buck. .1829-30
Robert B.Bates.. 1830-31
John Smith 1831-34
Ebenezer N. Briggs.1834-
36.
Carlos Coolidge.1836-37
Solomon Foot.. ..1837-39
Carlos Coolidge.1839-42
Andrew Tracy.... 1842-45
Ebenezer N. Briggs.1845-
47.
Solomon Foot... .1847-48
William C. Kittredge
1848-50.
Thomas E. Powers. 1850-
53.
Horatio Need ham.. 1853-
54.
George W. Grandey.1854-
57.
George F. Edmunds
1857-60.
Augustus P. Hunton
1860-62.
J. Gregory Smith.. ..1862-
63.
Abraham B.Gardner
1863-65.
John W.Stewart 1865-68
OF VERMONT.
383
George W. Grande v James K. Batchelder
1868-70. * ! 1884.-86.
Charles H.Jovce 1870- Josiah Grout 1886-90
72. ' tHenry R. Start 1890-
Franklin Fairbanks Hosea A. Mann, Jr. .1890-
1872-74.. 92. '
aH. Henrv Powers. 18 74- William W. Sticknev
Tosiah Grout 1874-76 1892-96.
John W. Stewart. ...1876- William A. Lord 1896-98
78. ttKittredge Haskins
James L. Martin 7878-84^ 1898-
*March Session. t June Session. ^October Session
; Januarv Session. §February Session.
a Resigned Xov. 24, 1S74.
CLERKS.
^Thomas Chandler.. 1778 James Elliot 1801-03
ilBenjamin Bald win. 1778'Anthonv Haswell..l803-
Bezaleel Woodward | 04.
1778. Martin Post 1804-09
^^Matthew Lyon 1779!William D. Smith. ..1809-
IIMatthew Lyon 1779| 22.
^Stephen R. Bradlev.l779;Timothv Merrill. 1822-31
llRoswell Hopkins^.l779;Charles Davis.. ..1831-32
JRoswell Hopkins.. .1780|Robert Pierpoint....l832
Roswell Hopkins.. ..1780- 34.
88. lEdward D. Barber.. 1834-
Stephen Jacobs.. 1788-90l 35.
Lewis R.Morris. 1790-91 Oramel H. Smith, pro
William Eaton. ..1791-92: tern, 1835-36.
Richard Whitnev....l792-|Ahiman L. Miner.. ..1836-
98. "^ I 38.
Samuel C. Crafts....l 798-1 Ferrand F. Merrill. 1838-
1800. I 49.
Nathan Osgood. 1800-011
384
EARI^Y HISTORY
Chalon F. DaYev....l849-
53.
James M. Slade 1853-
56.
George R. Thompson
1856-58.
Charles Cummings.1858-
62.
Edward A. Stewart
1862-64.
John H. Flagg.... 1864-69
David M.Camp.. 1869-76
George R. Chapman
1876-78.
Henry N. Newell. 1878-82
William W. Sticknev
1882-92.
John H.Merrifiekl..l892-
96.
Fred A. Rowland. ..1896-
98.
Thomas C. Cheney..! 898-
tResigned November, 1890.
ttSpecial Sessions. +March Sessions. 11 June Sessions.
§Februarv Sessions. ^October Sessions.
SECRETARIES OF THE SENATE.
Norman Williams 1836
40.
De Witt C. Clarke.. 1840
51.
Samuel M. Conant 1851-
53.
Joseph H. Barrett. .1853-
55.
Clark H. Chapman 1855-
59.
Carlisle J. Gleason 1859-
61.
Henry Clark 1861-72
Mason B. Carpenter
1872-74.
Frederick W. Baldwin
1874—80.
ChaunceY W. Brownell,
Jr.,...'. 1880-90
George M. Powers 1890-
96.
Max L. Powell. ..1896-
OF VERMONT,
LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS.
385
Table skoTving the Place of Meeting and the Length of the
Sessions of the Legislature in each year since the organi-
zation of the State.
Year and place of
meeting
Time of
Meeting
Adjournment
Days in ses-
sion
1778 Windsor
March 12
March 24
13
1778 Bennington
June 4
June 18
13
1778 Windsor
October 8
October 24
17
1779 Bennington
February 1 1
February 26
16
1779 Windsor
June 2
June 4
3
1779 Manchester
October 14
October 27
14
1780 Westminster
March 8
March 16
9
1780 Bennington
October 12
November 8
28
1781 Windsor
February 7
February 23
17
1781 Windsor
April 4 '
April 16
13
1781 Bennington
June 13
June 28
16
1781 Charlestown,
now N. H.
October 1 1
October 27
17
1782 Bennington
January 31
February 28
-9
1782 Windsor
June 13
June 2 I
9
1782 Manchester
October 10
October 24
15
1783 Windsor
February 13
F>bruary 27
IS
1783 Westminster
October 9
October 24
16
1784 Bennington
February 19
March 9
20
1784 Rutland
October 14
October 29
16
1785 Norwich
June 2
June 18
17
1785 ^v indsor
October 13
October 27
15
1786 Rutland
October 12
October 31
20
1787 t>ennington
February 15
March 10
24
1787 Newbury
October 11
October 27
17
1788 Manchester
October 9
October 25
;7
1789 Westminster
October 8
October 29
1790 Castleton
October 14
October 28
15
1791 Bennington
January 10
January 27
18
1791 Wind.NOr
October 13
"November 3
22
1792 Rutland
October 11
November 7
28
1793 Windsor
October 10
November 4
26
1794 Rutland
October 9
October 30
22
1795 Windsor
October 8
October 27
20
1796 Rutland
October 13
November 8
^-1
1797 Rutland
February 4
March 10
35
'797 Windsor
October 12
November 10
30
1798 Vergennes
October 11
No\embrr 8
29
1799 Windsor
October 10
November 5
-7
aae
EARDY HISTORY
Year and place of
meeting
Time of
Meeting
Adjournment
Days in ses-
sion
1800 Middlebury
October 9
November 7
30
1 80 1 Newbury
October 8
November 6
30
1802 Burlington
October 14
November 12
30
1803 Westminster
October 13
November 14
33
1804 Windsor
January 26
February' 6
12
icSo4 Rutland
October 1 1
November 9
30
1805 Danville
October 10
November 8
30
1806 Middlebury
October 7
November 1 1
34
1807 Woodstock
October 8
November 11
35
1808 Montpelier
October 13
November 11
30
1809
October 12
November 8
28
1810
October 11
November 5
26
1811
October 10
October 31
22
1812
October 8
November 9
33
1813
October 14
November 17
35
1814
October 13
November i [
30
1S15
October 12
November 13
33
[816
October 10
November 6
28
1817
October 9
November 7
30
1818
October 8
November 12
36
1819
October 14
November 17
35
1820
October 12
November 16
76
1821
October 11
November 16
37
1822
October 10
November 13
35
1823
October 9
November 7
30
1824
October 14
November 19
37
1825
October 13
Novetnber 18
37
1826
October 12
November 16
36
1827
October 1 1
November 15
36
1828
October 9
October 31
23
1829
October 8
October 30
23
1830
October 14
November 1 1
29
1831
October 13
November 10
29
1832
October 11
November9
30
^833
October 10
Novembers
30
1834
October 9
November 7
30
1835
October 8
Nov mber 11
35
1836
October 13
November 17
36
1837
October 12
November 2
22
1838
October 11
November 6
27
1839
October i
November 19
41
1840
October 8
October 29
22
1841
October 14
November 11
29
1842
October 13
Novem ben 4
33
1843
October 12
November 2
22
1844 ••
October 10
October 31
22
OF VERMONT.
387
Year and place of
meeting
Time of
Meeting
Adjournment
Days in ses-
sion
1845 Montpelier
October 9
November 6
29
1846
October 8
November 2
26
1847
October 14
November 15
33
1848
October 12
November 13
33
1849
October II
November 13
3^^
1850
October 10
November 14
36
1851
October 9
November 20
43
1852
October 14
November 24
+^
1853
October 13
December 7
56
1854
October 12
November 16
?6
1855
October 1 1
November 16
37
iSs6
October 9
November 19
42
1857*
October 8
November 11
3S
1858
October 14
November 26
44
i8s9
October 13
November 22
41
i860
October ii
November27
48
1861*
October 10
November 21
43
1862
October 9
December 3
56
1863
October 8
November 11
35
1864
October 13
November 23
4^
1865*
October 12
November 10
30
1866
October 11
November 20
41
1867*
October 10
November 22
44
1868
October 8
November 20
44
1869
October 14
Novembtr 17
35
1870
October 5
N'ovembfr 23
50
1872
October 2
November 27
57
1874*
October 7
November 25
50
1876
October 4
November 29
57
1878
October 2
November 27
57
1880*
October 6
December 24
69
1882
October 4
November 29
57
1884
October i
November 26
57
1886
October 6
November 24
50
1888
October 3
November 27
56
1890*
October i
November 25
56
1892
October 5
November 23
50
1894
October 3
November 28
57
1896*
October 7
November 25
50
*There was an extra session convened Feb. 18, 1857. and continued
ten days, for the purpose of taking measures to rebuild the Slate
House, "destroyed by fire: another April 23, 1861, and continued five days.
to consider the duty of the State in relation to public affairs, consequent
upon the rebellion; another March 9. 1865. continuing two days for the
purpose of ratifying the proposed article of amendment to the Constitu-
388 EARLY HISTORY
HoQ of the Uaited States, prohibiting slavery; another March 27, 1867,
continuing three days, for the purpose of considering the wants of a por-
tion of th'^ State, in relitiOQ to neaessary railroad communication : and
another Jan. 13. isr.i. co.itinuing four days, for the purpose of considering
the wj,n;s of the State incident to the burning of the Vermont Reform
School budding. In 1880 the Legislature adjourned from Nov 19, to
De'j. 1. Another extra session was convened Aug. 25. 1891, continuing
three days, for the purpose of accepting direct tax refunded, to convey
site for the public building in St. Albans, and to vote further appropriation
for Columbian Exposition; another session was convened May 5,1898,
continuing three days, to provide funds for the equipment, subsistence,
and transportation of Vermont troops: to provide State pay in addition to
that of the United States; and to consider matters touching the organiz-
ation of the Vermont National Guards.
INDEX.
Allen, Ira
1, 2, 3, 7, 78, 133.
Allen, Levi
1,87.
Albur^
77, 78, 85, 91, 92, 98.
Allen, Heman
81, 168.
Adams, John
139, 142,
Aldis, Asa
180.
Allen, Capt. Pannalee
342.
Andross, Dr. Beldad
344.
Allis. Elisba
346.
Allen, Ebenezer
362.
Avery, Samuel
365.
B
Barton, William
58.
Butler. Benjamin
82.
Buck, Daniel
139.
Black Snake affair
149
Bonaparte
177, 178.
Burlington, attack on
214, 215.
Beach, Samuel
223.
Brown, Gen.
239, 240, 250 to 254.
Brown, Jacob
247.
Brisbane, Gen.
258.
Battle of Plattsburgh
264 to 272.
Bissell, Gen.
257.
Brigham, Paul
298, 317,348.
Butler, Gov. Ezra
300, 319.
Billings, Frederick
336.
Badges. Mottoes and Coat of Arms 338, 339.
Benton, Samuel
342.
Bridgeman, John
347.
26
.389)
390 EARLY HISTORY
Burt, Benjamin 351.
Baldwin, Asa 363.
Bedel, Col. Timothy 363.
Barnum, Barnabus " 364.
Bronson, Gen. Gideon 364.
Brush, Col. Nathaniel 365.
C
Chittenden, Thomas 1, 8, 14, 80, 81, 83, 87, 88,
91, 97, 105, 112.
Crafts, Gov. Samuel C. 17, 328.
Canals, survey of 17 to 21.
Collamer, Jacob 47.
Clay, Henry 73, 281.
Clay, James 75.
Carleton, Gen. Guy 77.
Caldwell, Henry 78, 79, 80, 81, 85.
Conrov, Patrick 81, 83, 85. 86. 90.
Clarke', Gov. 87, 88.
Corbin, Royal 95.
Curtis, Gen. Zebina 106.
Constitution of Vt. 134.
Committee to mark line between N. Y. and Vt. 159.
Cold vear ofl816 162.
Countv Court, Chief Judge of 167.
Craig,'james H. 185, 186, 190 to 193.
Craig, Sir Jas. Gov. Gen. of Canada 187, 188.
Clark, Col. Isaac 204, 205, 207, 212, 216, 218,
239, 240, 241, 243, 249.
Chandler Brig. Gen. John 207, 342.
Captures on the Sea and Lakes 211, 212.
Chittenden, Martin 213. 225 to 231, 238. 260,
263, 274, 278.
Congressional action on Gov. Martin Chittenden's
Proclamation 234 to 237.
Crogan, Gen. 239.
Chipman,John 345.
Chamberlain, Gen. William 351.
Chipman, Nathaniel 369.
Chipman, Daniel 371.
OF VERMONT. 391
Church, Col. Timothy 359
Curtis, Abel 368.
DeChambeault 82, 87.
Dorchester, Lord 93, 95, 96, 111.
Dred Scott decision 129
Dearborn, Gen. Henrv 206, 207
Dennet, John " 223.
Dixon, Col. Luther 228.
DeRattenburg, Gen. 257.
Eaton, Wm. 102, 103, 104.
Enos, Roger 110
Erskine, Mr. 194
Eastman, Rev. Tilton 323
Edgerton, Lebbeus 328
Edwards, John L. 336
Everest, Zadock 364
Follett, Timothy 35
Fisk, James 66
Farrand, Daniel 69, 72
Focault, Francis 78
Fifield, Col. Edward 164, 203
Foot, Solomon 169
Foster, Augustus J. 193
Fassett, Gen. EHas 216, 26L
Forsvth, Major 240, 241, 248, 249
Fletcher, Gov. Ryland 330, 332
Fletcher, Doct. Asaph 353
G
Gilliland, William 11
Graham, Capt. 17
Griswold, William A. 50
Galusha, Jonas 120, 157, 162, 195, 196, 20C
392 EARLY HISTORY
Gordon, Gen. 153.
Gallatin, Secretary of Treasury 180.
Gadcomb's reply to Proclamation of Gov. Martin
Chittenden"' 231 to 234.
Grout, Helkiah 343,
H
Haldimand, Gov. 3, 78.
Hawkins, Joseph, lottery to raise money for 24, 25.
Hutchinson, Titus
46
., 65, 171, 324.
Hio^by, Lewis
74.
Hamilton, Alexander
77.
Hutchins, Capt.
82.
Hammond, Georo^e
89, 96, 99.
Hyde, Charles
102, 103.
Hero, North and Middle
131,
House, Gen. Levi
182,
Henry, John
185, 187.
Herrick, Capt.
209.
Hampton, Gen. Wade
213,
214, 216, 220.
Hotchkiss, James M.
305.
Hodges, George T.
328.
Hough. Benjamin
340.
Hay, Col. Udney
343
Hunt, Maj. Jonathan
359.
Hazeltine. John
364.
Hurd, Phineas
365.
\
Izard, Gen.
239,
247, 257, 258.
Indians, Six Nations
284 to 314.
Indians, Cognawagas
285 to 314.
Indians, Mohawk
307, 308, 310.
Indians, Mohes^ans
313.
Jefferson, Thomas 40, 88, 91^ 142, 145, 157, 180,
181,183.
Jay, lohn 80, 100.
OF VERMONT. 393
Jenison, Silas H. 170, 172, 321.
Jacob, Stephen 352.
Johnson, Col. Thomas 369.
K
Knox, Henrv 101.
Knight, Saniuel 108, 132.
Knowlton, Luke 135.
Ke3'es, Elias 353.
L
Lafavette, Marquis De 40, 41, 42. 44, 47, 52, 55,
57. 60.
Loomis, Edward C. 73.
Loomis, Horace 75.
L^^nde, Cornelius 354, 106.
Londonderry, 131.
Lyon, Matthew 139.
Livingston, Brockholst 152.
Laban. Cousins 161.
Lake Champlain, right of navigating 163.
LaraVjee. Lieut. 243.
Lines on Plattsburgh Battle 282.
Lamb, Col. Larned 323.
List of State Treasurers 380.
List of Secretaries of State 381 .
List of Auditors of Account 381.
List of Speakers of the House 382.
List of Clerks of the House 383.
List of Secretaries of the Senate 384.
Legislative Sessions 385, 386, 387.
Loomis, Beriah 354.
M
Morris, Lewis 12.
Manufactures 28 to 32.
Madison, James 40, 147, 186.
Monroe. James 62, 64. 67, 71.
Moore, Henrv 77.
Marvin, Benjamin 83, 85 87, 89.
Mott, Samuel 83, 84, 87, 89.
394 EARLY HISTORY
Mott, Joseph
83.
Marvin, Ebenezer
85, 357.
Morey, Israel
110.
Missouri, admission of
123 to 130.
Miller, Charles
148.
Medical Academ^^
165.
Marble interest
169.
Marsh, George P.
171, 332.
Macdonough, Thomas
207,
208,
210, 222, 238,
247, 248, 265, 280.
Murra^^ Col.
213.
Macomb, Gen. Alexander
240,
247, 258, 259,
260, 272, 279.
McPherson, Capt.
243.
Mayhew, Capt.
248.
Mead, Larkin G.
332, 339.
Moseley, Increase
345.
Miller, Solomon
348.
Mattocks, Samuel
360.
N'ecessities of a New State
1.
Non Intercourse Act
•
164, 225.
Norton, Martin
213, 214.
Newell, Gen. John
260.
Niles, Nathaniel
361.
Olcott, Peter
O
110.
Olin, Gideon
372.
Page, William
P
12.
Pame, Charles
35.
Paine, Elijah
47,
, 109,
152, 319, 377.
Preston, Rev. Willard
56.
Public Lands
165.
Prentiss, Samuel
167.
Phelps, Samuel
171.
Penniman, Jabez
180.
Pike, Col. Zebulon M.
207.
OF VERMONT. 395
Prevost, Sir George 256. 264, 269.
Porter, John 332.
Powers, Thomas E. 332.
Proctor, Redfield 336.
Powers, H. Henry -336.
Powell, Lieut. Martin 341.
Porter, Thomas 361.
Pfister, Francis 365.
Peters Familv 366.
Roads, establishing of 22 to 26.
Railroads 32 to 39.
Russell, David 54.
Randolph Sec. 97, 100.
Rvland, Herman W. 187, 193.
Rich, Charles 199.
Rovce, Gov. Stephen 301,
Redfield, Timothv 301, 304.
Richards, Joseph'R. 332.
Rood, Dea. Azariah 341.
Robinson, Col. EHjah 356.
Rogers, James 366.
S
Schuvler, Gen. Phillip 11, 13.
Sanders, Rev. Daniel C. 135.
Spencer, Abel 153 350.
Supreme Court, Conplaint against 153.
Skinner, Richard 165.
Sparhawk, Edward V. 167.
Sawver, Horace B. 169, 170, 208.
Smith, Israel 182.
Smith, Lieut. Sidney 207.
Sheldon, Lieut. ^ 243.
Scott, Gen. 249, 250, 252.
Strong, Gen. Samuel 261, 262, 278, 279.
Scovell, Capt. A. 274.
Sillowav. Thomas W. 332.
Sabin, Noah 344.
396 EARLY HISTORY
Shepardson, Maj. John 344.
Smith, Noah 350.
Spooncr, Eliakim 374,
Swan, Benjamin 374.
Sons of Elijah Paine 37^-9.
Shepardson, Samuel 354.
Squier, Truman 356„
Safford, Samuel 362.
Twist, Captain 3.
Totten, Col. « 72.
Timothy, Capt. 84.
Tichenor, Isaac 106, 117, 151, 154, 184, 288.
289, 291.
Temperance Legislation 166.
Thanksgiving dav 132.
Taplin,John ' 341.
Tolman, Thomas 346.
Todd, Doct. Timothy 350.
U
Underhill, James 103, 105.
University of Vermont 133.
Upham, Lieut. Timothy 207.
Underhill, Abraham 363, 365.
V
Vail, Joshua Y. 17.
Van Ness C. P. 18, 19, 20, 41, 42, 59, 180.
Vermont Mutual Fire Ins. Co. 169.
Vermont troops at the West 249.
W
Watrous, Mrs. Erastus 49.
Wood, Enos 81, 82.
Wood, Nathaniel 82.
Washington, Geor^re 8, 93, 94, 102, 106, 137.
Wayne, Gen. Anthonv 102, 104.
Watson, Elkenah ' 11.
OF VERMONT. 397
Woodbridge, Enoch 110, 375.
Whitcomb, Benjamin ' 152,
Wilkinson, Maj. Gen. 217, 219, 221, 222, 239.
240, 242, 246.
Wool, Gen. John E. 221-
Whitelaw, James 319.
Wardner, Allen 328.
Williams, Norman 332.
Wells, Col. Samuel 341.
Wood, Ebenezer 342.
Whitney, Richard 351.
Walbridge, Ebenezer 360.
Wing, David Jr 375.
Williams, Stephen 375.
Witherell, Doctor James 376.
Wheelock, Ebenezer 354.
White, John 355.
Y
Youmands, Michael 82.
Young, Ammi B. 328.
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