Full text of "Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont"

974.3
V58g
v.l
1136371

GENEALOGY

c OiO.ECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 1833 01085 9178

RECORDS

OF THE

COUNCIL OF SAFET\

AND

GOVERNOR and COUNCIL

OF THE

STATE OF VERMONT,

TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED THE RECORDS OF THE

GENERAL CONVENTIONS

FROM JULY 1775 TO DECEMBER 1777.

VOLUME I.

EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE

By E. P. WALTON.

MONTPELIER:
STEAM PRESS OF J. & J. M. POLAND.

1873.

CONTENTS OP VOLUME I.

1136371

I. AN ACT providing for the printing of the Journals of the

Council of Safety and of the Governor and Council v

Commission to Hon. E. P. Walton v

II. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS.... vi

III. GENERAL CONVENTIONS in the New Hampshire

Grants, for the independence, organization, and defense

of the State of Vermont, July 1775 to December, 1777.. 1-103

Introduction 3

Convention at Dorset, July 26, 1775 6

" at Dorset, Jan. 16, 1776 1 1

" at Dorset, July 24, 1776 u

" at Dorset, Sept. 25, 1776 26

" at Westminster. Oct. 30, 1776 :;i;

" at Windsor, June 4, 1777 52

" at Windsor, July 2, 1777 62

at Windsor, Dec. 24, 1777 76

IV. THE FIRST CONSTITUTION of the State of Vermont. Sl-103

Introduction 83

Amendments of, 1786 84

" 1793 to 1870, notes on 85

The Preamble, notes on 85

Origin of the Constitution and comparison with the Frame
of Government of Pennsylvania granted by Chakles

the Second to William Penn S6-89

Copy of the first Constitution 90 1 1 '■">

V. COUNCIL OF SAFETY of the State of Vermont, July

8, 1777, to March 12, 1778 106-229

Introduction 107-129

Powers of the Council 10S

Members of the Council 109-129

Proceedings of the Council 130-229

iv CONTENTS.

VI. RECORD OF THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL,

March 12, 1778, to Aug. 23, 1779 231-309

Introduction 233-242

Record of Governor and Council 243-309

The Governor and Council as a Board of War 294-309

VII. APPENDIX • - 311-525

Appendix A, No. 1, Poceedings of the Congress and Com-
mittee of Safety for Cumberland County, June 1774 to
September 1777 313-370

Appendix A,No. 2, Gloucester County Committee of Safety, 371-375

Appendix B, Some Miscellaneous Remarks, and Short
Arguments, on a Small Pamphlet, dated in the Conven-
tion of the Representatives of the State of New York,
October 2, 1776, and sent from said Convention to the
County of Cumberland, and some Reasons given, why
the District of the New Hampshire Grants had best be
a State. By Ira Allen. Hartford, [Conn.,] printed by
Ebenezer Watson, near tlie Great Bridge, m.dcclxxvii. 376-389

Appendix C, Manifesto prepared and published by order

of the Westminster Convention, October 30, 1776 390-393

Appendix D, Dr. Thomas Young to the Inhabitants of

Vermont, 1777 394-399

Appendix E, Remarks on Article three of the Declaration

of Rights, by Hon. Daniel Chipbian 400-402

Appendix F, The Name " Vermont " 403^04

Appendix G, First Union of New Hampshire towns with

Vermont, in 1778-9 405-441

Appendix H, Proclamation of pardon issued by Gov.

Chittenden, June 3, 1779 442 1 13

Appendix I, A Vindication of I he Opposition of the In-
habitants of Vermont to the Government of New York,
and of their right to form an independent State. Hum-
bly submitted to the impartial World. By Ethan
Allen. Printed by Alden Spooner, 177!), printer to
the State of Vermont 444-517

Appendix J, Documents on the enforcement of the au-
thority of Vermont in Cumberland County in May 1779, 518-525

VIII. ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 526

AX ACT PROVIDING FOR THE PRINTING OF THE JOUR-
NALS OF THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY AND OF
THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL.

Sec. 1. The governor of the state is hereby authorized to appoint
sunie suitable person or persons, and to contract with him or them to
edit and publish the journals of the council of safety and the early jour-
nals of the governor and council to such extent as the governor shall
judge necessary to preserve the history of the state.

Sec. 2. Such person or persons so appointed are also authorized to
publish, in the form of an appendix to such records, any cotemporary
public documents that may be necessary to explain such records.

Sec. 3. Such records shall not be printed faster than one volume of
convenient size each year.

Sec. 4. There shall be printed one thousand copies of each volume
of said publication, and two hundred copies be given to the Vermont
Historical Society, two hundred copies to the state library, and six hun-
dred shall be deposited with the state librarian for sale on such terms
as the governor shall prescribe.

SEC. 5. The expenses and accounts for editing and printing said rec-
ords shall be approved by the governor before they shall be audited by
the state auditor.

Approved, November 15, A. D. 1872.

COMMISSION.

Under and by virtue of the authority of the Act of the General As-
sembly of the State of Vermont, approved November loth, A. D. 1872,
I hereby appoint and empower the Hon. E. P. AYalton of Montpelier,
in said State of Vermont, to prepare and publish two volumes of con-
venient size, (octavo.) and in good style, of the Journals of the Council
of Safety and of the Governor and Council of this State, with such addi-
tional matter as may be deemed necessary and proper by notes and
appendix ; and I do 'hereby commend him to the favor of all National
and State authorities, Historical Societies and Librarians, and gentle-
men having materials useful for the proposed work, assuring them that
the courtesy rendered to him as the agent of the State will be deemed a
courtesy to the State.

Given under my hand and the seal of the State, at Woodstock,
L - s * this thirteenth day of January, A. D. 1873.

JULIUS CONVERSE.
By the Governor:

J. D. Denischst,

Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS.

To His Excellency, Julius Converse :

In issuing the first volume of the records of the Council of Safety
and Governor and Council of Vermont, justice to others requires me
first to acknowledge your own zeal in aiding the work by giving me am-
ple powers and prompt responses to my requests for advice ; and next
to acknowledge the valuable materials gleaned from the labors of others
in the field of Vermont history ; to wit : to Hon. Hiland Hale, for
suggestions and criticisms, and for the aid derived from his Early His-
tory of Vermont; to B. H. Hale, author of the History of Eastern Ver-
mont ; to Miss Abby Maria Hemknway, for very numerous items of
personal history in the Vermont Historical Magazine ; to the Histories
of Vermont, &c, by Ira Allen, Dr. John A. Graham, Dr. Samuel
Williams, and Rev. Zadock Thompson ; to Dr. Jeremy Belknap's
History of New Hampshire ; to Hon. William Slade's State Papers ;
to the Documentary History of New York; to the two volumes of Collec-
tions of the Vermont Historical Society ; to Hon. Daniel Chip-
man's Memoir of Governor Thomas Chittenden, &c. ; to Hon. Wm. M.
Pingry, of Perkinsville. for the Pingry Papers ; to Hon. James H.
Phelps, of West Townshend, for new and valuable additions to the
record of the General Conventions, &c. ; to Henry S. Dana, Esq., of
"Woodstock, for papers contributed, and for criticisms ; to Hon. Samuel
Swift, for the History of Addison County ; and to the town histories of
Bennington by Rev. Isaac Jennings. Fair Haven by Andrew N.
Adams, Pittsford by Dr. A. M. Caverly, Salisbury by John M. Weeks,
and Shoreham, by Rev. Josiah F. Goodhue. Many other town histo-
ries, contained in Miss Hemenway's Historical Magazine, have been
used and are cited in the notes.

Special acknowledgments are due to Hon. David Read of Burling-
ton, and Hon. Lucius E. Chittenden of New York city, for their
labors in securing the portrait of Gov. Thomas Chittenden ; and to Hon.
Roswell Marsh of Steubenville, Ohio, for the portrait of Lieut. Gov.
Joseph Marsh.

And finally it is due to the people of Vermont that I should declare,
that no portraits of Chittenden and Marsh were ever painted in their
lifetime, and that the engraved portraits in this volume have been con-
structed from descriptions of the person, dress, and character of these

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS. vii

noble Vermonters by gentlemen wbo knew them, and from the por-
traits of such descendants as were known most closely to resemble
their distinguished progenitors. The portraits used for the engraving
of Gov. Thomas Chittenden were those of Thomas and Eli Chitten-
den, sons of Noah, and grandsons of Gov. Thomas Chittenden. These,
with personal descriptions by Gov. Mabten Chittenden and others,
were committed to the charge of Hon. Lucius E. Chittenden, and
the drawing and engraving have been done under his inspection by an
artist of the highest reputation, H. B. Hall, of Morrisania, N. Y. The
portraits used in constructing the engraved portrait of Lieut. Gov.
Joseph Harsh were those of the late Chaeles, of Woodstock, brother
of Hon. George P. Marsh, and of the Hon. Roswell Marsh of Steu-
benville, Ohio. The description used of Lt. Gov. Joseph Marsh's per-
son, dress, and character, were by Hon. Roswell Marsh. The
important question is as to the value of these engravings as portraits.
As to the Chittenden it is to be observed, first, that the Chittenden race
is so strongly and peculiarly marked that the form of person and head,
and some of the features of the face, are recognized even in very distant
connections — as, for one instance, in the late Senator Crittenden of
Kentuck}-, who was of the Chittenden race, and so strongly resembled
them that the Hon. Lucius E. Chittenden once mistook the Senator for
his father. I knew the Senator well, and also recognized his strong re-
semblance to the father of Lucius. But again, it is remarkable that the
peculiarit}* of a defect in one of Gov. Thomas Chittenden's eyes is dis-
tinctly marked by a cast in one eye of each of his descendants whose
portraits have been used. Finally, writing as to the value of the Chit-
tenden as a portrait, Hon. Lucius E. Chittenden declared that '■'■it is
perfectly satisfactory." The autograph was selected from several in the
state archives, as the best written in his last years. As to the value of
the engraved portrait of Lieut. Gov. Marsh, no person living, other than
Hon. Roswell Marsh, is competent to give an opinion. He was the
grandson of the Lieutenant Governor, lived with him until he was eigh-
teen years of age, and still remembers well his person and character. A
copy of the drawing by H. B. Hall was transmitted to Hon. Roswell
Marsh for criticism, and he replied as follows :

Steijbenville, [Ohio,] July 23, 1873.
Hon. E. P. Walton :

Dear Sir, — Your favor of the 18th covering a photograph from a
constructed portrait of my revered ancestor came to hand yesterdaj'.
I had formed erroneous anticipations in one respect : I expected to see
a face with the lines of age such as memory painted him. That would
have been out of place and time.* Had his portrait been painted by a

* The editor regarded the portrait of Charles, brother of George P.,
as being taken when he was too young, and of Roswell as being taken
when he was too old, to represent Lieut. Governor Joseph, and therefore
advised the artist to attempt to strike a medium as to the features of age.

Viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS.

skillful artist at fifty, I can well believe the difference between that and
this would be little more than the fading which time makes upon a fresh
painting. You invite me to criticise. I know of but one man living
except myself who knew him [Lieut. Gov. Marsh] familiarly — Levi
Demmon, a neighbor, now ninety-four years of age. He is, I am told, a
second child, does not know his house nor children. I am no critic, and
dare not touch it. My advice is, let well enough alone. I agree with you.
The light of intelligence and benevolence shines in every feature and is
truly appropriate. An earnest Christian without bigotry, he was just
the man to rebuke his brother deacon, a cold-blooded Puritan, for absurd
inconsistency because while declaiming violently against the wickedness
of young people going to dancing-school, he diligently kept time with
his foot to a three-stringed fiddle worked by an old negro in the kitchen
for the amusement of the children.

I am very respectfully,

Roswell Marsh.

The autograph of Lieut. Gov. Marsh, selected for the engraver, was
from a carefully written petition dated in 1778, the year in which he be-
came lieutenant governor.

I have hoped to give in this volume, prefixed to the "Vindication."'
an engraving from whal purports to be a portrait of Ethan Aleen, by
John Trumbull. It has been deemed best, however, to await the result
of an investigation, undertaken by Hon. Lucius E. Chittenden, as to the
verity of this portrait.

I now submit the first volume with a request that the work nnvy be
thoroughly criticised, and that I may be notified of any error, either in
my own work or in thai of others copied in the volume, to the end that
the early history of the State may lie made as accurate and complete as
it is possible to make it.

I am respectfully your p]xcellency's and the State's

Obedient Servant,

E. P. Walton.
Montpelier, Sept. 1, 1873.

GENERAL CONVENTIONS

IX THE

New Hampshire Grants,

FOR THE

INDEPENDENCE, ORGANIZATION, AND DEFENSE

OF THE

State of Vermont.

July 1775 — December 1777.

GENERAL CONVENTIONS

FROM

July 26, 1775, to Dec. 24, 1777.

From the first settlement and organization of the towns in the New
Hampshire Grants, each had by its charter the right of self-government
in March meeting, by the election of town officers and ordering town
affairs. This power was vested in " the inhabitants " by the New Hamp-
shire charters. 1 "When, in June 1770, the New York court repudiated
these charters, and the towns west of the Green Mountains had resolved
" to support their rights and property under the New Hampshire grants,
against the usurpation and unjust claims of the governor and council of
New York, by force, as law and justice were denied them," these towns
appointed Town Committees of Safer}-, " whose business it was to attend
to their defense and security against the New York claimants. These
Committees afterwards met, from time to time as occasion seemed to
demand, in general convention to consult upon and adopt measures for
their common protection. 1 ' 2 But to meet new exigencies of the people —
for bearing their part in the war of the revolution, defending their fron-
tiers, raising and officering troops, and also for prosecuting their claims
to independence in Congress by correspondence and agents — General
Conventions of a still higher grade were constituted, the first of which
met on the 16th of January, 1776. 3 This was called by a " warrant,"
issued Dec. 10, 1775, by a committee apparently appointed for the pur-

1 Zadock Thompson's Vermont, part I, p. 224.

2 Hiland Hall, in Vermont Historical Society Collections, vol. I, pp. 4, 5.
Town Committees of Safety were appointed in Cumberland and Glouces-
ter [Windham, "Windsor, and Orange] counties in 1774 and 1775, and
these, when met together in each county, constituted the County Com-
mittee of Safety . — SeeAppendix A.

3 The first convention, whose record is inserted in this volume, con-
sisted of " Town Committees" and not of delegates specially and formally
elected by the towns.

4 Greneral Conventions.

pose, (when and by what authority does not appear,) which warned the
inhabitants on the New Hampshire grants " to meet together by their
Delegates from each town,'''' at the time and place and for the several pur-
poses specifically named. In June, 1776, the inhabitants on the west
side of the Green Mountains were again " warned " in like manner, and
those on the east side, within the nominal jurisdiction of New York,
were " desired," to " meet by their several delegates in General Conven-
tion ;" and from that period the eastern towns began to appear by dele-
gates. In January 1777, a Convention assumed jurisdiction of the
whole territory, and declared it to be " a separate, free and independent
jurisdiction or state/' These Conventions were formally warned, either
by a committee appointed for the purpose, or b}' a resolution of a pre-
ceding Convention, or sat on their own adjournments ; the delegates
were appointed by the inhahitants of the several towns ; and the re-
solves made in Convention were executed by committees or agents
thereto appointed. This simple machinery stood instead of a formally
constituted state government, and performed all the offices of such an
one as far as was necessary and practicable. One body exercised what-
ever of supreme legislative and executive power the occasion demanded;
but that body was elected by the people, expressed their will, and was
responsible to them. These Conventions established the State, ruled it
for a brief period, and gave to it in due time a constitution. For these
things their records deserve to stand as the first chapter in the govern-
mental history of the state.

March 14— 10, 1775, the power of the royal Provincial Congress of New
York was thoroughly broken in eastern Vermont, by the arrest of its
judicial officers at "Westminster. April 11, 1775, a General Convention
of committees on the east side of the Green Mountains denounced the
Westminster massacre of March 13, and voted to renounce and resist
the administration of the government of New York, till the} r could ap-
peal " to the royal wisdom and clemency, and till such time as his Maj-
esty shall settle this controversy." 1 This was the last expression of
loyalty to the king by any representative body in the state. The news
of the collision at Lexington fired the hearts of a majority of the peo-
ple, and on the 10th of May the first heavy blows upon British military
power in America were struck by Allen and "Warner at Ticonderoga and
Crown Point. In consideration of these services, the Continental Con-
gress voted, June 23, 1775, to pay " the men who had been employed in
the taking and garrisoning of Crown Point and Ticonderoga ;" and
" recommended to the Convention of New York that they, consulting
with Gen. Schuyler, employ in the army to be raised for the defense of
America, those called Green Mountain Boys, under such officers as the
said Green Mountain Boys shall choose." A copy of these resolutions
was given to Allen and "Warner. "With these, and an official letter from

1 See Appendix, A., No. 1.

General Conventions. 5

the President of Congress, John Hancock, to the Convention of New
York, they repaired to that body. On the 4th of July, Allen and War-
ner were admitted to the Convention, and that body ordered, that in
consequence of a recommendation from the Continental Congress, " an
independent body " of troops not exceeding Ave hundred men, officers
included, be forthwith raised, of those called Green Mountain Boys ;
that they elect all their own officers ; that Maj. Gen. Schuyler 1 be re-
quested to forward this order," &c. 2 From this action sprang the Gen-
eral Convention which the editor regards as the first in the record of
the government of the State of Vermont. It was indeed a Convention
of Town Committees, with the approval of the only government which
New York then had, but it will be observed that it ignored the authority
of New York, and expressly declared that its action was " in compli-
ance with the orders of Congress," as well as the recommendation of an
officer commissioned by Congress. It assumed to be independent of all
other states, and its function was that of the other states, giving to the
continental army such a contribution as was then most needed from
every state — an efficient military force, which was at once employed in
an attack upon Canada.

1 Of the continental army, then recently appointed by Congress.
2 Hiland Hall's Early History of Vermont, pp. 208-212; E. Allen's Jfss.,
pp. 151-157.

CONTENTION AT DORSET,

JULY 26, 1775.

[From the Vermont Historical Society Collections, Vol. I.]

At a meeting of the committees of the several townships on the New
Hampshire Grants, west of the range of the Green Mountains, convened
at the House of Mr. Cephas Kent, innholder, in the township of Dorset,
July 20, 1775, voted as follows, viz. :

1st. Chose Mr. Nathan Clark Chairman.

2 d - Chose John Fassett Clerk.

3 d - The motion being made and seconded whether the convention
shall prosecute [ proceed] in choosing Field and other Officers, according
to the Provincial Congress and Gen. Schuyler's directions, passed in the
affirmative.

Then proceeded as follows :

4 1 ' 1 - Chose Mr. Seth Warner Lieutenant Colonel for the regimenl of
Green Mountain Boys by a majority of forty-one to live.

5tu. Chose Mr. Samuel Safford Major tor said regiment by a majority
of twenty-eight to seventeen.

Then proceeded and chose seven Captains and fourteen Lieutenants,
by a great majority, viz. :

Captains. First Lieutenants. Second Lieutenants.

[1.] Weight [AYaitJHopkins. John Fassett, [Jr.] John Noble.

[2.] Oliver Potter, Ebenezer Allen, James Claghorn,

[3.] John Grant, Barnabas Barnum, John Chipman,

[4.] William Fitch. David Galusha, Nathan Smith,

[5.] Gideon Brownson, Jellis Blakeley, Philo Hard,

[(>.] Micah Vail, Ira Allen. Jesse Sawyer,

[7.] Heman Allen, Gideon Warren, Joshua Stanton.

Nathan Clark, Chairman. 1

'Ethan Allen was a self-nominated candidate against Warner, and was
greatly mortified by his defeat. He charged it to ••the old farmers," wmo
did " not incline to go to war ;" claimed that he was a favorite with offi-
cers in the army and with the young Green Mountain Boys, and relied
upon the Continental Congress to give him a commission. Allen was
then in his fortieth year, Warner in his thirty-third ; the selection of the
younger of the two heroes was remarkable. — See Early History, pp. 212,
213. Lt. Col. Warner and Major Safford were citizens of Bennington,

Convention at Dorset, July 26, 1775. 7

A copy of the above was sent to Gen. Schuyler with a letter as fol-
lows :

and were each promoted one grade in the continental regiment of 1776.
The officers of the first company were also Bennington men. Wait
Hopkins afterward became Major, and John Fassett, jr., a prominent
man in the state government.

The second company was probably from Poultney and Tinmouth.
Ebenezer Allen resided in Poultney at the time of his appointment, but
removed soon after to Tinmouth, which he represented in several Con-
ventions, beginning in January, 1776. Ebenezer and Ethan Allen's
families were descendants of two brothers, Matthew and Samuel, who
came to New England in 1632. — See Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 607. Eben-
ezer was Major of the Rangers and a brave and successful officer. —
See Early History, p. 452. Feb. 17, 1777, Tinmouth "voted not to raise
money towards Seth "Warner's regiment." Having furnished a portion
of the men for continental service, it is presumed the town was of opinion
that Congress should pay them. Lieut. Claghorn will be found herein-
after as Lt. Col. of Vermont militia.

The third compairy was probably from xYddison, Monkton, Middlebury,
and the vicinitj-. Lieut. Barnum was the first settler of Monkton, and
was killed in defending the block-house at Shelburne, March 12, 1778. —
See Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, pp. 65, 860, 878. John Chipman cleared the
first land in Middlebury. He was in active military service for most of
the time from the spring of 1775 till he was taken prisoner at Port
George in Oct. 1780. He took part in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga,
was at the taking of St. Johns and Montreal, and in the battles of Hub-
bardton, Bennington, and Saratoga. Chipman was "discharged at
Montreal," and was in 1776 again commissioned in Capt. Smith's com-
pany, Warner's regiment. He died in Middlebury in Aug. 1829. — See
Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, pp. 50-51. and Deming's Catalogue, 1851, p. 110.
There are several references to " Capt. Grant," " Lt. Grant," and " Maj.
Grant," but these are not identified as John Grant. One Captain de-
clined service ; possibl}' it was Grant.

The fourth company was probably from Pawlet and Shaftsbury. Capt.
Fitch represented Pawlet in most of the Conventions. David Galusha
was of Shaftsbury. Nathan Smith was probably of Bridport until 1784,
when he settled in Shoreham. — See Swift's Addison County, p. 87; and
Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 04. He was Captain in 1777, and appointed
Major of the 5th regiment May 28, 1778. It is stated that " Major Na-
than Smith " and Benjamin Yaughan first scaled the enemy's breast-work
in Bennington battle; but this was some months before he received the
title of "Major." — See Goodhue's Shoreham, p. 23.

The fifth company was probably from Sunderland and vicinity. Capt.
Brownsou of Sunderland served through the war, having been promoted
to the rank of Major in the continental service, and afterward General in

8 General Conventions.

May it Please Your Honor : — In compliance with the orders of
Congress, as well as your recommendation, I enclose the proceedings of

the Vermont Militia. J. A. Graham said : Gen. Brownson "was a vio-
lent politician in the late war ; and that as a proof of his valiant con-
duct, he now [1797] carries in his hody eighteen pieces of lead, which he
received during that fatal contest." — Graham's Letters, p. 47. No notice
can be found of Lieut. Blakeley. Lieut. Philo Hard, [probably of Ar-
lington,] seems to have joined the enemy. — See order of the Governor
and Council, March, 1778. Gen. Ebenezer Walbridge, of Bennington,
was a Lieut, in Brownson's company in March, 1776, Adj't in the
battle of Bennington, afterwards Col. of militia in service, and Brigadier
General. — See Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, p. 172 ; and Early History, p. 473.

The sixth company seems, from the then residence of the officers, to
have been of Dauby, Arlington, and Colchester. Capt. Vail repre-
sented Danby in several of the Conventions. Of Lieut. Ira Allen's em-
inent services to the state notice is not needed. Feb. 10, 1778, Jesse
Sawyer was appointed Captain in Maj. Benj. Wait's regiment, intended
for an expedition to Canada under Gen. Lafayette. May 28 of the same
year he was ordered by the Gov. and Council to search for inimical per-
sons in towns north of Arlington.

The seventh company probably consisted in part of men from the
northern towns near Onion [Winooski] river, and part from Sunder-
land and vicinity. It is difficult to locate the residence of Capt. He-
man Allen. He was a brother of Ethan, horn in Cornwall, Conn., Oct.
15, 1740, died May 18, 177*, of disease contracted in Bennington battle.
He was a member of the Convention of Jan. 16, 1776, and was its agenl
to present its petition to Congress ; a delegate for Middleborough [Mid-
dlebury] in the Convention of July 24, 1776 ; a member at large with
Col. Seth Warner in the Convention of Sept. 25, 1776 ; a delegate for
Kutlaud in the Convention of Jan. 15. 1777, and for Colchester in the
Convention of June 4, 1777. He served with Warner in the Canada ex-
pedition of 1775, and in July 1777 was appointed a member of the Siale
Council of Safety. — Ira Allen's Vermont in Vermont Historical Society
Collections, vol! I, p. 369, 388 ; Ethan Allen 3Iss., close of the index.
Lieut. Gideon Warren resided in Sunderland, and was Captain in com-
mand of the men who guarded the frontier, Feb. 7, 1778. May 28, 1778,
he was appointed Colonel of the 5th regiment of Vermont militia. It
appears from a vote of the Gov. and Council of April 30, 1779, that Col.
Warren was wounded in the service, and received from Vermont one
hundred and twenty pounds, advanced on his claim upon the continen-
tal treasury for the allowance made by Congress to wounded officers.
Joshua Stanton resided in Colchester, and he is noticed as a prominent
and useful man. — See the history of Colchester, in the Vt. Historical
Magazine, vol. I, pp. 761-763.

Convention at Dorset, July 26, 1775. 9

our committee meeting on the lew Hampshire Grants, upon due notice

On the 5th of July previous to the Convention. Ethan Allen proposed
to the Provincial Congress of New York the following list of officers for
the regiment of Green Mountain Boys :

Ethan Allen, ) ™ 77 .,„
Seth Warner, | ^eld Officers.

< 'aptains. Lieutenants.

Remember Baker, Ira Allen,

Robert Cochran, John Grant,

Michael Veal, [Micah Vail,] Ebenezer Allen,

Peleg Sutherling, [Sunderland,] David Ives,

Gideon Warren, ,

Wait Hopkins, Jesse Sawyer.
Heman Allen.

Levi Allen, Adjutant; Elijah Babcock, Commissary ; Jonas Fay, Doctor
& Surgeon. — See Ethan Allen JLss.. p. 157 ; Collection of Historical 3fss.
relating to the war of the revolution, in the office of the Secretary of
State, New York, published at Albany in 1868, vol. I, p. 109. This
was a bitter dose for New York, as Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Re-
member Baker, Robert Cochran, and Peleg Sunderland were all de-
clared guilty of felony and sentenced to death by the act of New York
of March 9, 1771. — See Slade's Vermont State Papers, pp. 42-54. Most of
the persons in Allen's list were appointed. Of the others. Baker was killed
previous to the Convention, otherwise he would probably have been a
favorite. Ethan Allen received from Congress, 14th May, 1778, a brevet
commission as Lieutenant Colonel, " in reward of his fortitude, firmness
and zeal in the cause of his country;" Cochran joined Elmore's Connecti-
cut regiment in 1775, and the 3d battalion of X. Y. in the continental
army in 1776, rendered brave service as captain, major, and lieutenant
colonel, and died at Sandy Hill, New York. July 3, 1812, and was buried at
Fort Edward. X. Y.. near the grave of Jane McRea, who was murdered
by Burgoyne's Indians in 1777. Levi Allen served in the Canada cam-
paign of 1775. but in 177'J he was denounced by Ethan Allen to the Court
of Confiscation in Bennington County as being " of Torey principles.'' and
his property was confiscated. — See Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, pp. 571-574;
Slade's State Papers. 563. - Capt. Peleg Sunderland "' appears in the
legislative records. He was " a mighty hunter " of both wild beasts and
tories. and a man of considerable acquirements. Dr. Fay did serve for
a time in Warner's regiment. — See biographical notices in Early His-
tory of Vermont.

In this connection it should be stated that Ethan Allen's disappoint-
ment did not abate one whit of his zeal for his country. He joined
Gen. Schivyler in the capacity of an officer, but without a commission.
and succeeded in raising a body of two hundred and fifty Canadians,

10 General Conventions.

to the towns in general — all which is humbly submitted to your wisdom,
not doubting but the warrants will issue agreeable to our wishes.
We are your most obedient,

In behalf of the committee,

Nathan Clark, Chairman. 1

which he commanded. With only about one half of this unreliable
body he attacked Montreal, fought bravely, but was deserted by most of
his men and taken prisoner. Warner in the same campaign was more
cautious and successful. These events justified the wisdom of the
Convention in preferring Warner. — See Early History, pp. 214-218; Ira
Allen's History of Vermont in Vermont Historical Society Collections,
vol. i, p. 366, text and note.
1 Journal of New York Congress, July 1, 4, and August 15, 1775.

CONVENTION AT DOESET,

JANUARY 16, 1776.

[From a manuscript copy in the possession of Hon. James H. Phelps, of West Townshend,

made by him from an official copy certified by Jonas Fat, clerk. First printed

in Vermont Historical Society Collections, Vol. I.]

WARRANT.

Arlington, 10th Dec'r, 1775.
Whereas, there has been several warrants or notifications sent up the.
country for a general meeting on the X. Hampshire Grants to be held
at Mr. Cephas Kent's, in Dorset, on the first Wednesday of January
next, and as it was thought very necessary that Col. Seth Warner with
others should attend the said meeting, and their business being such
that they could not attend at that time :

This is therefore to warn the inhabitants on the said N. Hampshire
Grants west of the range of Green Mountains, to meet together by their
Delegates from each town at the House of Mr. Cephas Kent's in said
Dorset on the sixteenth day of January next, at nine o'clock in the
morning, then and there to act on the following articles, (viz :)
1st. To choose a Moderator or Chairman for said meeting.
2 U - To choose Clarks for said meeting.

3 d - To see if the Law of New York shall have free circulation where
it doth [not ?] infringe on our properties, or Title of Lands, or Riots (so
called) in defense of the same. 1

4 th - To see if the said Convention will come into some proper regu-
lations, or take some method to suppress all schismatic Mobbs that have,
or may arise on said Grants.

5th. To see if they will choose an Agent, or Agents, to send to the
Continental Congress.

6 th - To see whether the Convention will consent to associate with N.
York, or by themselves, in the cause of America.

Moses Robinson",
Samuel, Robinson,
Seth Warner,
By order of Jeremiah Clark, \- Committee.

Martin Powell,
Daniel Smith,
Jonathan Willard,

1 See Vt. Hist. 8oc. Coll., vol. n, p. x.

12 General Conventions.

K. Hampshire >

Grants. \ Dorset, January 16, 1776.

At a Meeting of the Representatives of the several towns in N. Hamp-
shire Grants, the West side of the Range of Green Mountains, held this
day at the house of Mr. Cephas Kent's, Innholder, in said Dorset : Pro-
ceeded as follows, viz :

1st. Made choice of Capt. Joseph Woodward, Chairman.

2 d - Made choice of Doct, Jonas Fay, Clerk.

3 d - Made choice of Col. Moses Robinson, Messrs. Samuel McCoon
and Oliver Everts, Assistant Clerks.

4 th - Made choice of Messrs. Thomas Ashley, William Marsh, Heman
Allen, Abel Moulton, Moses Robinson. John McLane, Gamaliel Painter,
James Hurd and Joseph Bowker, a Committee to examine and report
their opinion to the Convention, relative to the third article in the war-
rant.

Adjourned to 3 o'clock, P. M.

Met at time and place.

Voted, To make an addition of four persons to the above Committee.

Voted, To reconsider the two lasl votes, and to discourse the matter
for which they were appointed in publick meeting.

Voted, That the paper with a number of signers exhibited to this Con-
vention relative to Capt. Bowker's character, be ordered to lay on the
table, till further order.

Voted, That two persons from each Town in the Grants (who are
present) be allowed to vote in this Meeting, and no more.

Adjourned to 8 o'clock to-morrow morning.

January 17, 1776 — Met at time and place.

Made choice of Capt. Heman Allen, Capt. Joseph Bowker, Col. Moses
Robinson, John McLane. and Col. Timothy Brownson as a Committee
to report their opinion relative to the number of Committee men each
Town in the Grants shall be allowed.

REPORT OF THE FOREGOING SUB-COMMITTEE.

Your Committee beg leave to report as their opinion, that the several
Towns in the Grants hereafter named, lie allowed the number of Mem-
bers set against the name of each town, and that each other inhabited
town in the said Grants be allowed one, or more or less votes in propor-
tion to the number such deputed Member or Members shall represent.

Towns' Names.

No.

votes allowed.

Toicns" 1 Names.

No.

votes allowed

Pownall,

Clarendon,

Bennington,

Rutland,

Shaftsbury,

Pittsford,

Arlington,

Rupert,

Sunderland,

Pawlet,

Manchester,

Wells,

Dorset,

Poultney,

Danbee,

Castleton,

Tinmouth,

Neshobee, [or

Brandon.] 1

Joseph B<

)Wker, Chairman Sub- Committee.

A true Copy, Examin

3d,

By Jonas Fay

Clerk.

Convention at Dorset, Jan. 16, 1776. 13

The above report being read was voted and accepted JVem. Con.

Voted, To represent the particular case of the Inhabitants of the N.
Hampshire Grants to the honorable the Continental Congress by Re-
monstrance and Petition.

Voted, That Lt. James Breakenridge, Capt. Heman Allen and Doct.
Jonas Fay be, and they are hereby appointed to prefer said petition.

Voted, That Doct. Jonas Fay, Col. Wm. Marsh and Mr. Thomas Row-
ley be a Committee with the above delegates to prepare the said Remon-
strance and Petition. 1

Voted, iVem. Con., to pay the above agents their Reasonable costs for
their services on their return and exhibiting their accounts.

Voted, Messrs. Simeon Hathaway, Elijah Dewey, and James Break-
enridge, [of Bennington,] or either two of them, be and are hereby ap-
pointed a Committee with power to warn a General Meeting of the Com-
mittees on the Grants when they shall judge necessary from Southern
intelligence.

And that C<>1. John Strong, Zadock Everest and Asahel Ward, [of
Addison,] be a like Committee with like power of warning such Gen-
eral Meeting of Committees in the Grants when they shall judge nec-
essai'y from northern intelligence.

Voted, That the several Committees of Correspondence continue their
duty as usual. -

Lastly voted to Dissolve the Meeting.

pr Joseph Woodward, Chairman.
Errors excepted.

True Copy examined,
pr Jonas Fay, Clerk.

Cash received for the purpose of Defraying the charges of the Dele-
gates appointed to attend Congress.

D. M.

Poultney 0-6-4

Pittsford 0-6-0

Rupert 0-10-1

£1- 2-5
Received pr.

Jonas Fat, Clerk.

'The Remonstrance and Petition, thus ordered, was reported and
adopted by this Convention, and that part of the proceedings is quoted
in full in the record of the Convention of July 24, 1776, following.

2 This is the first allusion in the record of any General Convention,
that has been preserved, of Committees of Correspondence. The infer-
ence is that Conventions were held of which we have no record. Prob-
ably the committee that warned this meeting was appointed and author-
ized by a previous Convention.

CONVENTION AT DORSET,

JULY 24, 1776.

[From the manuscript copy of the Hon. James H. Phelps, as published In the Vermont Hls«
torlcal Society Collections, vol. I J

WARRANT.

24th June, 1776.

These are to warn the several Inhabitants of the N. Hampshire Grants
on the West side, and to desire those on the east side the Range of
Green Mountains, That they meet by their several delegates in General
Convention, to he held at the dwelling House of Mr. Cephas Kent, inn-
holder in Dorset, on Wednesday, the twenty-fourth day of July next at
8 o'elock in the forenoon, to act on the following articles, (viz :j —

1 st - To choose a Moderator, and secondly a Clerk for said Conven-
tion.

3 d - To receive the report of Capt. Heman Allen from the Continental
Congress, he having been previously appointed to transact business in
behalf of the inhabitants of said Grants.

4 th - To know the minds of the Convention, relative to their associat-
ing with the province of N. Hampshire.

5 th In case the last article be objected to : Whether said Convention
will agree to an association (not repugnant to that of the Continental
Congress) and subscribe thereto, to do duty in conjunction with the Con-
tinental Troops (only) as Members of the District of Land which they
inhabit.

6 th - To see if said Convention will earnestly recommend it to the sev-
eral Field Officers heretofore nominated on said Grants, to see that their
men be forthwith furnished with suitable arms, ammunition and accout-
rements, &c, agreeable to a resolve of the hon ble the Continental Con-
gress.

7th. To see if said Convention will make preparation, and settle
with Capt Heman Allen for his expenses and services for the publick.

And 8th - to transact any other business that shall be thought necessary

and in the power of S d Convention for the safety of the liberties of the

Colonies in General and the N. Hampshire Grants in particular.

James Breakenridge,

Simeon Hathaway, {* Committee Appointed.
Elijah Dewet,

Copy examined,
pr Jonas Fay, Clerk.

Convention at Dorset, July 24, 1776.

Dorset

Delegates' Names.

Isaac Lawrence.

John Mott.

Dorset, July 24th, 1776.
In consequence of the foregoing "Warrant, the following persons, being
Delegated, met at this place to transact the business of S d warning,
(viz :)

Toicns'' Names. Delegates' 1 Names.

Pownall, Capt. Sam'l Wright.

-r, . ( Simeon Hathaway,
Be ? mw flO Jonas Fay,

ton ' I Jno. Burnam, Jr.
Shafts- j Maj. Jeremiah Clark,
bury, i Mr. John Burnam.

^t'{ J ° SephBradley -

Man- (Col. Wm. Marsh, 1

i ai \ Lt. Martin Powell,
Chester, l Gide0Q 0rmsby<

\ John Manley,
f ' \ Abr'm Underhill.

t? , S Reuben Harmon,
Rupert, | Amos Curtis

Pawlet I ^P*" Wm - Fitch '
rawtei, j Maj . Eoger EoSGi

WpIU I Daniel Culver,
" eus > J Ogden Mallory.

Nehemiah Howe,
\ r illiam Ward.

Towns' Names.

Hines-
burgh &
Monkton,

Neshobee

[or
Brandon,']

( Aaron Parsons,
< Jona. Ilowley,
( Jonathan Fassett.

Pitts-
ford,

ButlandAi^ J ? h ™ ^

' ( Joseph Bowker.

Clarendon, Thomas Braten.

No. Wal- ( Matthew Lyon,

lingford, { Abr'm Jackson.

Tin- < Eben'r Allen,

mouth, \ Stephen Royce.

Dan&eeJCaptMicah Veal, [Vail,]

' ( William Gage.

Towns- ( Capt. Samuel Fletcher,

hend, (_ Josiah Fish. a

»{CapuHemanAllen,

Bridport, Samuel Benton.

Sudbury, John Gage.

Addison, Col. John Strong.

Cornwall, James Bentlcy.

Bm ^9- | Lemuel Bradley.

Stamford, Thomas Morgan.

Voted, Unanimously, that the above persons be admitted as legal mem-
bers of this Convention.

Copy examined.

pr Jonas Fay, Clerk.

j Ephraim Buel,
I Jesse Belknap.

Poult-
ney,
Castle-
ton,
Hubber- \
ton, \

Williston, Col. Thos. Chittenden.
Jerico, Brown Chamberlain.
Colchester, Ira Allen.

Benja. Hitchcock.

PROCEEDED— (VIZ.)

Chose Capt. Joseph Bowker, Chairman.

Chose Doct. Jonas Fay, Clerk.

After which on a motion being made and agreed to by the House the
Clerk pi-oceeded to read the following Address, Remonstrance and Peti-
tion of the Inhabitants of the N. Hampshire Grants to the honorable the

1 See note on p. 22, post.

2 Messrs. Fletcher and Fish were the first Delegates in General Con-
vention from eastern Vermont.

16 General Conventions.

Continental Congi'ess, which was exhibited to ihat board by Capt.
Heman Allen in the latter part of the month of April, or in the begin-
ning of the month of May, A. D. 177(5. (viz.)

" To the Honorable John Hancock, Esq'r., President of the honorable the
Continental Congress, &c, &c, now assembled at Philadelphia : —
" The Humble Address, Remonstrance and Petition of that part of
America being situated south of Canada line, West of Connecticut River,
North of the Massachusetts Bay, and East of a twenty mile line from
Hudson's River, commonly called and known by the name of the N.
Hampshire Grants, — Humbly Sheweth,

" That your honor's Petitioners being full} T sensible and duly affected
with the very alarming situation in which the united colonies are involv-
ed, by means of a designing Ministry, who have flagrantly used, and are
still using their utmost efforts to bring the inhabitants of this very ex-
tensive continent of America, into a base and servile subjection to
Arbitrary Power ; Contrary to all the mosl sacred ties of Obligation by
Covenant, and the well known Constitution by which the British Empire
ought to be governed : your Petitioners, not to be prolix or waste Time,
when the whole Continent are in so disagreeable situation, would how-
ever beg leave to Remonstrate in as short terms as possible the very
peculiar situation in which your petitioners have for a series of years
been exercised, and are still struggling under.

"Perhaps j-our honors, or at least some of you. are not unacquainted,
that at the conclusion of the lasl War, the above described premises,
which your petitioners now inhabit, was deemed and reputed to be in
the province of New-Hampshire, and consequently within the jurisdic-
tion of the same. Whereupon applications were freely made to Benning
Wentworth. Esq.. the then Governor of the province of N. Hampshire.
who, with the advice of his council, did grant under the Great Seal of
said province to your honors' Petitioners a large number of Townships
of the contents of six miles square each, in consequence of which a great
number of your petitioners, who were men of considerable substance,
disposed of their interests in their native places, and with their numer-
ous families proceeded many of them two hundred miles, encountering
many Dangers, Fatigues and great Hardships t«i inhabit a desolate
Wilderness, which has now become a well-settled frontier to three
Governments. This was not all our Trouble, for soon after the com-
mencement of those Settlements, the Monopolizing Land Traders of
New-York, being apprised that the province of New-Hampshire had
granted the said Lands, and that settlements were actually making, did
present a petition (as we have often heard and verily believe) in your
Petitioners' names, praying that his Majesty would annex the said lands
granted by the authority of N. Hampshire to X. York on account of its
local and other circumstances for the benefit of the inhabitants.

"•Your petitioners not being apprized of the intrigue (in this case)
were mute, therefore as no objection was made why the prayer of the
petition should not be granted, his Majesty was pleased with the advice
of his Council on the 20th day of July. A. D. 1704. to grlht the same,
immediately after which the Land Traders of N. York" Petitioned the
then Governor of that Province for grants of Land, some part of which
had been previously granted to your petitioners by the Governor and
Council of N. Hampshire. The dispute then became serious, and 3-our
Petitioners then petitioned his Majesty for Relief in the Premises. His
Majesty was pleased to appoint a Committee, who reported to his Majesty
in the premises, and his Majesty was pleased to pass an order in the fol-
lowing words (viz.): —

Convention at Dorset, July 24, 1776. 17

"'At a Court at Saint James's the 24th day of July, 1767.

"'Present :

'"The King's Most Excellent Majesty.

The Archbishop of Canterbury. Earl of Shelburn.

Lord Chancellor. Viscount Falmouth.

Duke of Queensborough. Viscount Barrington.

Duke of Ancarter. Viscount Clark.

Lord Chamberlain. Bishop of London.

Earl of Litchfield. Mr. Sec'y Conway.

Earl of Bristol. Thorn's Stanley, Esq.

"• His Majesty taking the said Report into consideration was pleased
with the advice of his Privy Council to approve thereof and doth hereby
strictlv charge, require and command, that the Governor or Commander-
in-Chief of his Majesty's Province of New York for the time being, do
not upon pain of his Majesty's highest displeasure presume to make any
grant whatsoever of any part of the Land described in said Report until
his Majesty's further pleasure shall be known concerning the same.

"'William Sharpe.
'"A true Copy, Attest, G'w. Banyar, DepVy tfecV" 1
" The many intervening and unhappy disputes which since have hap-
pened between those Land Traders of New York and your Petitioners
would take up too much time under the present situation of Public Af-
fairs to recite, as Capt. Heman Allen and Doct'r Jonas Fay who we have
appointed to present this to your honors will be furnished therewith
should they find your honors' admittance, and such particulars be thought
necessary." Let it suffice here only to mention that the oppressions
from those overgrown land Traders were so grievous that your Petition-
ers were again induced, at a great expense, to petition his Majesty ; in
consequence of which a Committee was appointed and made a report in
favor of your Petitioners, which is too prolix to be inserted here.

"We are called on this moment by the Committee of Safety for the
County of Albany to suppress a dangerous insurrection in Tryon
County. Upwards of ninety soldiers were on their march within twelve
hours after receiving the news, all inhabitants of one town inhabited by
your petitioners, and all furnished with arms, ammunition, accoutre-
ments, provisions, &c. Again we are alarmed by express from General
Wooster commanding at Montreal, with the disagreeable news of the
unfortunate attack on Quebec, (unfortunate indeed to lose so brave a
commander.) requiring our immediate assistance by Troops ; in conse-
quence of which a considerable number immediately marched for Que-

1 Dec. 24, 1786, John Munro [of Shaftsbury] wrote to James Duane that
he had been to England to get compensation for loss of his property ;
that in Sept. 1785 the commissioners awarded him a pitiful sum, having
made large deductions from his claim ; and he declared that " we discov-
ered that the deduction was owing to the Neio Hampshire claims covering
the most part of my property." Thus the important fact appears, that,
eighteen years after the above order of the king in council, and when the
controversy between Vermont and New York was fully understood, the
validity of the New Hampshire Grants was affirmed by the British board
which had jurisdiction of land titles in America. — E. Allen Mss., pp.
415-419 ; Early History of Vermont, p. 466.
3

18 General Convention*.

bee, and more are daily following their example. 1 Yet while we your
Petitioners are thus earnestly engaged, Ave beg leave to say that we are
entirely willing to do all in our Power in the General Cause, under the
Continental Congress, and have been ever since the taking Ticonderoga,
&c., in which your petitioners were principally active, under the com-
mand of Col. Ethan Allen, but are not willing to put ourselves under the
honorable provincial Congress of N"ew York in such manner as might
in future be detrimental to our private property ; as the oath to be ad-
ministered to those, who are, or shall be entrusted with commissions
from said Congress, and the Association, agreed upon by the same au-
thority, together with some particular restrictions and orders for regu-
lating the Militia of said province, if conformed to by the inhabitants of
the said N. Hampshire Grants, will (as we apprehend) be detrimental to
your petitioners, in the determination of the dispute now subsisting be-
tween your said Petitioners and certain claimants under said province
of New York. And that your Petitioners' ardent desires of exerting
themselves in the present struggle for freedom may not be restrained,

1 Hiland Hall has vividly stated the urgency of the demand upon
the Green Mountain Boys in this emergency, and the promptitude and
vigor of their response :

By the sudden death of Montgomery, the command in Canada de-
volved on Gen. Wooster. lie had been left at Montreal in charge of the
troops at that place and its vicinity, and he immediately made everj r
effort to obtain reinforcements from the colonies. On the 6th of Jan.
1776, he wrote to Col. Warner for aid in the most pressing terms. The
following are extracts from his letter. After giving a general account
of the misfortune at Quebec, he says : " I have not time to give you all
the particulars, but this much will show you that in consequence of this
defeat our present prospect in this country is rendered very dubious, and
unless we can be quickly re-enforced, perhaps they may be fatal, not
only to us who are stationed here, but also to the colonies in general ; as
in my opinion the safety of the colonies, especially the frontiers, very
greatly, depends upon keeping possession of this country. I have sent
an express to Gen. Schuyler, General Washington and the Congress, but
you know how far they have to go, and that it is very uncertain how long
it will be before we can have relief from them. You. sir, and the valiant
Green Mountain corps, are in our neighborhood. You all have arms,
and I am confident ever stand ready to lend a helping hand to your
brethren in distress, therefore let me beg you to raise as many men as
you can, and somehow get into the country and stay with us till we can
have relief from the colonies. You will see that proper officers are ap-
pointed under you, and both officers and privates will have the same pay
as the continental troops. It will be well for your men to set out as soon
as they can be collected. It is not so much matter whether together or
not, but let them be sent on by tens, twenties, thirties, forties or fifties,
as fast as they can be collected. It will have a good effect upon the Can-
adians to see succor coming on. You will be good enough to send copies
of this letter or such parts of it as you think proper to the people below
you. I can but hope the people will make a push to get into this coun-
try, and I am confident I shall see you here with your men in a very
short tinie." Gen. Wooster was not disappointed.' He did see War-
ner in Canada " in a very short time." Their promptness and alacrity
on this alarming occasion elicited the notice and approval of both Wash-
ington and Schuyler.— Early History, pp. 219, 220.

Convention at Dorset, July 24, 1776. 19

and that we might engage in the Glorious Cause, without fear of giving
our opponents any advantage in the said Land dispute, which we would
wish to have lie Dormant 1 , until a general restoration of Tranquility
shall allow us the opportunity for an equitable decision of the same.

" Another reason that much hinders us from joining New York hand
in hand in the General Cause, is, they will not own us in our property,
but on the contrary the Judges of their Supreme Court have expressly
declared the Charters, Conveyances, &c, of your Petitioners' Lands to
be null and void.

•• Therefore we your honors' humble Petitioners most earnestly pray
your Honors to take our cause into your wise consideration, and order
that for the future your petitioners shall do Duly in the Continental ser-
vice (if required) as inhabitants of said New Hampshire Grants, and not
as inhabitants of the province of New York, or subject to the Limita-
tions, restrictions or regulations of the Militia of said province, and that
commissions, as your honors shall judge meet, be granted accordingly,
and as in Duty bound, your honors' Petitioners shall ever pray.

" At a meeting of the representatives of the different Towns on the
X. Hampshire Grants legally warned and convened at the house of Mr.
Cephas Kent's, innholder in Dorset, on the Kith day of January, A. D.
1776 : Captain Joseph Woodward, Chairman.

" Doct'r Jonas Fay, Clerk.

"This meeting after due consideration agreed to prefer to the honor-
able the Continental Congress a humble Petition setting forth the pecul-
iar circumstances of this part of the Country. Accordingly a Commit-
tee was appointed to draw up the same, who drew up the foregoing and
reported it to the house in the evening, and the Clerk read the same in
his place, and afterwards delivered it in at the Table; the House then
adjourned till to-morrow 9 o'clock.

" January 17th. Met according to adjournment.

"The said Petition being a second time read was agreed to by the
whole house, then Lieutenant James Breakenridge and Captain Heman
Allen was nominated to prefer the said petition, a vote was called and
passed in the affirmative, JVem. Con. — then Doctor Jonas Fay was nom-
inated and a vote called passed in the affirmative, Nem. Con.

"Joseph Woodward, Chairman.

" Attest, Jonas Fay, Cleric.
" A true copy from the original.
" Errors excepted. pr Jona^Fay, j Committee Appointed."

Captain Heman Allen, appointed to prefer the foregoing to the honor-
able the Continental Congress, being present, and a motion being made
and seconded, Reported to the Convention as follows, (viz. :)

That in consequence of his appointment, for that purpose, he had de-
livered the said foregoing Remonstrance, Address and Petition to the
honorable John Hancock, Esqr., the President of Congress then sitting
at Philadelphia, and that by the directions of the honorable House it was
read in his place at the Board by the Secretary.

That the delegates from the province of New York endeavored to
oppose the said petition, but that it was entered on file and ordered to
lie on the table for further consideration.

That on the advice of several gentlemen, he made a motion to with-
draw the said petition, that the Delegates from New York should not

1 The sentence is imperfect. Instead of "which we would wish," &c,
read — we would wish to have it [the dispute] lie dormant, &c.

20 General Conventions.

have it in their power to bring the matter to a final decision at a time
when the Convention in the Grants had no proper Delegate in the
House; that in consequence thereof the Motion was entered on the Min-
utes, the Petition not being ready at hand at that time. 1

That he had many private conferences with sundry members of Con-
gress and other Gentlemen of distinction relating to the particular cir-
cumstances and situation of the New Hampshire Grants, who did seve-
rally earuestlv recommend that the inhabitants of said Grants exert
themselves to their utmost abilities to repel, by force, the Hostile inva-
sions of the British fleets and armies against the colonies of America,
and that said Inhabitants do not by any way or means whatsoever con-
nect or associate with the honorable Provincial Congress of New York,
or any authority derived from, by, or under them, directly or indirectly,
but that the said inhabitants do forthwith consult suitable measures to
associate and unite the whole of the Inhabitants of said Grants together. 2

PROCEEDED— VIZ.

This Convention being fully sensihle that the importance of the busi-
ness which occasions their meeting at this time requires the most seri-
ous deliberation, are therefore disposed to make the following votes —
(viz. :)

l 8 *- That not more than one person be allowed to speak at the same
time, and only by leave of the Chairman.

2 d - That the business of the meeting be closely attended to, and that
the several articles contained in the Warrant for this Meeting be seve-
rally followed in course, (except otherwise overruled.)

3 d - Voted to pa?s over the fourth, fifth and sixth articles of the War-
rant till to-morrow at ten o'clock at this place.

3 d - Voted, Col. William Marsh, Col. Thomas Chittenden, John Bur-
nam, Junr., Capt. Micah Veal [Vail,] and Lieut. Joseph Bradley, he a
Committee to examine the account of Capt. Heman Allen for his service
for the Publick, and report their opinion thereon to this Convention 9
o'clock to-morrow morning.

Adjourned to 7 o'clock to-morrow morning at this place.

Meeting opened at time and place.

Proceeded to the consideration of the fourth article of the Warrant,
and after due consideration it was dismissed.

Proceeded to the consideration of the fifth article of the Warrant, and

Resolved, That application be made to the inhabitants of said Grants
to form the same into a separate District [or State.]

Dissentients only one.

Proceeded to the consideration of the sixth article of the Warrant,
and

1 See Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. n, " Additions and Corrections,"
pp. xiv, xv.

2 The following are the resolutions of Congress :

The Committee, to whom the petition, address, and remonstrance of
persons inhabiting that part of America, which is commonly called and
known by the name of the New-Hampshire grants, was referred, have
examined the matter thereof, and come to the following resolution there-
upon :

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that it be recom-
mended to the petitioners, for the present, to submit to the government,

Convention at Dorset, July 24, 1776. 21

Voted, To recommend it accordingly.

Voted, To choose a Committee to treat with the Inhabitants of the
New Hampshire Grants on the East side of the range of Green Moun-
tains, relative to their associating with this Body.

Voted, That Capt. Heman Allen, Col. William Marsh, and Doct. Jo-
nas Fay, in conjunction with Capt. Samuel Fletcher and Mr. Joshua
Fish, be a Committee to exhibit the proceedings of this Convention, to
said inhabitants, and to do the Business as above.

Voted, Doct. Jonas Fay, Col. Thomas Chittenden, and Lieut. Ira
Allen a Committee to prepare instructions for the above sail Committee.

Voted, That Col. Seth Warner and Col. Thomas Chittenden be a Com-
mittee to present a Petition to the General and Commander-in-Chief of
the Northern Department, requesting his assistance in Guarding the
Frontiers to the Northward on the said New Hampshire Grants.

Voted, That Doct. Jonas Fay and Col. William Marsh be a Committee
to prepare the above petition. '

Adjourned one hour.

The meeting opened at time and place.

Proceeded to the consideration of the following Association, (viz. :)

This Convention being fully sensible that it is the Will and Pleasure
of the honorable the Continental Congress, that every honest Friend to
the Liberties of America, in the several United States thereof, should
subscribe an Association, binding themselves as Members of some Body
or Community to stand in the defence of those Liberties; and Whereas
it has been the usual custom for individuals to associate with the Colony
or State which they are reputed members of: Yet nevertheless the long
and spirited Conflict, which has for many years subsisted between the
Colony or State of New York, and the inhabitants of that District of
Land, Commonly Called and known by the name of the New Hamp-
shire Grants, relative to the title of the Land on said District, renders it
inconvenient in many respects to associate with that Province or State,
which has hitherto been the sole reason of our not subscribing an Asso-
ciation before this.

The better therefore to convince the Publick of our readiness to join
in the common Defence of the aforesaid Liberties, We do Publish and
Subscribe the, following Association, (viz. :)

We the subscribers inhabitants of that District of Land, commonly
called and known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, do volun-
tarily and Solemnly* Engage under all the ties held sacred amongst Man-
kind at the Risque of our Lives and fortunes to Defend, by arms, the

of New-York, and contribute their assistance, with their countrymen, in
the contest between Great-Britain and the United Colonies ; but that
such submission ought not to prejudice the right of them or others to the
lands in controversy, or any part of them ; nor be construed to affirm or
admit the jurisdiction of New- York in and over that country ; and when
the present troubles are at an end, the final determination of their right
may be mutually referred to proper judges.

In Congress, June 4th, 1776.
Resolved, That captain Herman [Heman] Allen have leave to with-
draw the petition by him delivered, in behalf of the inhabitants of the
New-Hampshire grants, he representing that he has left at home some pa-
pers and vouchers necessary to support the allegations therein contained.
Extracts from the minutes, Thos. Edsost, for

Chas. Thompson, Sec.
—See Slade's State Papers, pp. 64, 65; Journal of Congress, June 4, 1776,
vol. n, p. 190.

22 General Conventions.

United American States against the Hostile attempts of the British
Fleets and Armies, until the present unhappy Controversy between the
two Countries shall be settled.

SIGNERS' NAMES— VIZ.

Joseph Bowker, William Gage, Daniel Culver,

Thomas Chittenden, Reuben Harmon, John Burnam,

Simeon Hathaway, John Mauley, John Strong,

Jeremiah Clark, Seth Warner, Lemuel Bradley,

Joseph Bradley, William Marsh, 1 John Gage,

1 Went over to the enemy after signing the above. — E. Allen Mss., p.
240. And fled to Canada, leaving his family in Dorset. — Vt. Hist. Mag.,
vol. I, p. 184. His property was confiscated, and his return to the State
was forbidden by the following act, which was passed Feb. 26, 1779, and
continued in force until Nov. 8, 1780 :

An Act to prevent the return to this State, of certain persons therein

named, and others who have left this State or either of the United

States, and joined the enemies thereof.

Whereas [here follow one hundred and eight names] and many other
persons, have voluntarily left this State, or some of the United States of
America, and joined the enemies thereof, thereby not only depriving
these States of their personal services, at a time when they ought to
have afforded their utmost aid in defending the said States against the
invasions of a cruel enemy, but manifesting an inimical disposition to
said States, and a design to aid and abet the enemies thereof, in their
wicked purposes :

And whereas many mischiefs may accrue to this, and the United
States, if such persons should again lie admitted to reside in this State :

Be it enacted. &c., that if the said, [here the names are repeated,] or
any of the before mentioned persons, or either of them, or any other
person or persons, though not specially named in this act, who have vol-
untarily left this State, or either of the United States, and joined the
enemies thereof, as aforesaid, shall, after the passing of this act. volun-
tarily return to this State, it shall be the duty of the sheriff of the
county, his deputy, the constable, select-men or grand jurors of the town
where such person or persons may presume to come, and they are
hereby respectively impowered ami directed, to apprehend and carry
such person or persons before an assistant or justice of the peace ; who
is hereby required to call to his assistance one or more assistants or jus-
tices of the peace, who are hereby directed to give their attendance," ac-
cording to such requisition ; and if, upon examination into the matter,
the said justices shall find that the person brought before them is any
one of the before described persons, they shall order him to be whipped
on the naked back, not more than forty, nor less than twenty stripes ;
which punishment shall be inflicted, and the delinquent shall be ordered
to quit this State, immediately.

Be it further enacted, that if any persou shall continue in this State,
one month, or shall presume to come again into this State, after such
conviction, (without liberty first had and obtained therefor, from the
Governor, Council, and General Assembly,) and be convicted thereof,
before the superior court of this State, he shall be put to death.

Be it farther enacted, that if any person shall, willingly or wilfully,
harbor or conceal any of the persons above named or described, after
their return to this State, contrary to the design of this act ; such per-

Convention at Dorset, July 24, 1776.

Abraham Jackson,
Samuel Wright,
Samuel Benton,
Jesse Belknap,
Abraham Underhill,
William Ward,
James Bentle,
Thomas Morgan,
He man Allen.
John Burnam, Jr.,
Micah Veal, [Vail,]

Gideon Ormsby,
Stephen Royce,
Amos Curtis,
Ira Allen,
Nehemiah Howe,
Asa Johnson,
Brown Chamberlain,
Ephraim Buell.
Ebenezer Allen,
Benjamin Hicock,
Isaac Lawrence,

John Mott,
Jonathan Rowlee,
Jona. Fassett,
Aaron Parsons,
Matthew Lyon,
William Fitch,
Ogden Mallery,
Jonas Fay,
Martin Powell,
Roger Rose,
Samuel Fletcher,
Josiah Fish.

Thomas Braten, of Clar-

The above are the names of the Delegates,
endon, the only Dissentient.

Resolved, That it be, and it is hereby recommended to the several in-
habitants on the New Hampshire Grants (who are friends to the liber-
ties of the United States of America) that they subscribe the Associa-
tion agreed on, and signed by the several Members of this Convention,
and return the same to the Clerk thereof as soon as may be.

son, so offending, shall, on conviction thereof before the superior court,
forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred pounds ; two thirds thereof to
the use of this State, the other third to the use of him or them who
shall prosecute the same to effect. — 31s. record of Laws, vol. i, in Sec-
retary of State's office; Slade's State Papers, p. 355.

The second section of this stringent, but undoubtedly necessary act,
implies that in this bad company were some good men whose return to
the state ultimately would be desirable; of these Col. Marsh was one.
He was not a Tory, and he had been an efficient friend of the new state;
but when the splendidly equipped army of Burgoyne swept along the
western border, and a part of it was reported to be advancing on the
military road from Mount Independence to Castleton, and on through
the most thickly settled portion of the territory to the valley of Connec-
ticut river, Vermont was unorganized; it had no government but a coun-
cil of twelve men just appointed, and among them was a Judas; they
were without a regular corps of officers to execute their orders in the
raising of troops — without a treasury, or a dollar of money beyond what
they had in their pockets for current expenses. Col. Marsh was there-
fore panic-stricken. He himself hastened, with other disheartened
Whigs and a greater number of avowed Tories, to seek refuge in Can-
ada, and his wife, who feared no personal injury, remained to secure her
most valuable goods as well as she could, filling her brass kettle with her
pewter ware and silver spoons, and sinking them in a pond near her
dwelling — so perfectly safe that she never recovered them. — Vt. Hist.
Mag., vol. I, p. 184. Col. Marsh, however, returned, and was permitted
to remain. His son, Johnson Marsh, represented Dorset in the General
Assembly of 1825. The case of Daniel Marsh of Clarendon was similar.
He, too, was included in the act of Feb. 26, 1779, but he returned and
represented his town in the General Assembly from 1784 to 1788-9, five
years.

24 General Convention*.

Besolved, Unanimously, That any person or persons inhabitants of
the New Hampshire Grants that shall in future subscribe and return an
Association to any the Committee or Committees of Safety for either of
the Counties in the province of X. York, or to the provincial Congress
thereof, otherwise than the Association contained in these Records and
subscribed by the several Delegates of this Convention, shall be deemed
enemies to the Common Cause of the N. Hampshire Grants. 1

1 These were the first formal proceedings in Convention for the evident
purpose of severing the connection of eastern Vermont with New York,
and of uniting the eastern and western towns in a common league for
prosecuting the war for national independence. A common league
meant common action, and necessarily implied ultimately a supervisory
and executive body of some sort having jurisdiction over the whole ter-
ritory. Of course the real purpose was covered by article five of the
warning, which was interpreted by the vote thereon, " that application
be made to the inhabitants of said Grants [i. e., of the whole territory
covered by New Hampshire when it granted the charters,] to form the
same into a separate District."' The editor has suggested the addition
of the words or State, because that was the interpretation put upon this
vote by the same Convention at the adjourned session of Sept. 25 follow-
ing, and finally by another adjourned session, Jan. 17, 1777, when it de-
clared " the district or territory," &c, " is hereby declared forever here-
after to be considered as a separate, free and independent jurisdiction or
state.'''' By extending the proposition to the eastern towns in the form
of an appeal to their patriotism, the Convention adopted the form most
likely to be popular — at least most likely to attract the ardent eastern
Whigs to the projected new state. It is to be observed also that this
was the first Convention at which an eastern town was represented.
Townshend is entitled to that honor, as well as to the honor of sending
one of the ablest, bravest, and best citizens of the state in his day — Maj.
Gen. Samuel Fletcher. The delegates of that town were of the com-
mittee appointed to submit the proposition to the inhabitants of the east-
ern towns. The western members of this committee worked with effect,
for which doubtless the eastern members had in some degree prepared the
way, the result being that ten other eastern towns were represented in the
Convention at the adjourned sitting of Sept. 25. The Convention ad-
journed on the 25th of July, and on the 6th of August Heman Allen,
Jonas Fay, and AVilliam Marsh attended a joint meeting of the Commit-
tees of Safety of Cumberland and Gloucester counties, assembled at
Windsor. Of their work there and the results, B. H. Hall has given
the following succinct account :

Various papers were read by them bearing upon the subject of a sep-
arate jurisdiction; the boundaries of a new state were described; and
the approbation of the committees was sought to the projects of the
Dorset convention. In support of the proposed measures Mr. Allen
told Mr. Clay [James Clay, chairman of the Cumberland County Commit-
tee of Safety,] that he had consulted with several members of the Conti-

Convention at Dorset, July 24, 1776. 2o

Resolved, That nine persons be chosen as a Committee of Appeals,
who are to hear and determine such matters as may be properly exhibit-

nental Congress who had recommended to him and his coadjutors to
ascertain the feelings of the people concerning the formation of a new
state. He also reminded him, that if the inhabitants of the '■'Grants''
should accede to the form of government which would soon be adopted
for the state of New York, they would have no opportunity to withdraw
their support therefrom at a future day.

For the purpose of ascertaining the views of those residing east of the
Green mountains, upon the measures suggested by the committee from
the Dorset convention, the people in each town were invited to assemble
in town-meeting and express their opinion as to the course which they
sliould deem it best to pursue. In Rockingham, on the 20th of August,
the inhabitants voted " to associate with the inhabitants of that district
of land commonly called and known by the name of the New Hampshire
Grants." They also chose two delegates to attend the convention to be
held at Dorset in the fall, and instructed them "to use their best influ-
ence " to obtain the passage of such resolves as would tend to establish
the "Grants" as a separate and independent state. At "the fullest
meeting ever known in Chester," held on the 2d of September, similar
measures were adopted, and the association, which had been formed at
the Dorset convention, was signed by forty-two of the inhabitants.* A
like spirit pervaded many of the other towns in the two counties. In
some, however, there were two parties, and in a few, as in Halifax, where
the inhabitants voted not to send a delegate "to meet the Green Moun-
tain Boys," no disposition was shown to throw off the jurisdiction of
New York.

At the adjourned convention, which was held at Dorset on the 25th of
September, representatives were present from both sides of the moun-
tains. Loyalty to American principles, as embodied in the Revolution,
animated the discussions, which took place, and gave character to the
measures which were proposed. Yet, while declaring their determina-
tion to support the general government of the United States, the mem-
bers resolved that " no law or laws, direction or directions " from the
state of New York would be accepted by them, or be regarded by them,
as of the least weight or authority. The little leaven of dissatisfaction
had worked its effect in silence, and the whole lump was fast becoming
assimilated.

And again :

Before the resolutions of the [New York] Convention concerning Cum-
berland county had passed, [in October,] James Clay, by the advice of Col.
Williams, one of the former deputies, had issued circular letters contain-
ing a request that the people of each town would assemble and make
known their intentions relative to the course they should pursue on the
question of state jurisdiction, in order that their proceedings might be laid
before the county committee of safety at the next meeting. Written
returns were received from a few towns; verbal messages from others;
but the majority did not deem it practicable to offer a reply. The
greater part of the inhabitants of Hartford favored a separation from
New York, but desired that an application to that effect should be made
in the state Convention before the subject was brought before the Con-

* Chester was not represented in General Convention until October
30, 1776.

26 General Conventions.

ed to them (in writing) by any of the inhabitants of the New Hampshire
Grants relative to the cause of American Liberty, by way of proper ap-
peal from the judgment of either of the Committees of Safety on said
Grants, any five of which Committee to be a Quorum.

Besolved, That Doctor Jonas Fay, Col. Timothy Brownson, Col.
William Marsh, Capt. Joseph Bowker, Capt. Joseph Woodward, Capt.
Micah Veal, [Vail,] Col. Thomas Chittenden, Major Stephen Royce, and
Capt. Abraham Underbill, be and are hereby unanimously appointed a
Committee for the above purpose.

Lastly Besolved, To adjourn this Convention, and to meet at this
place on Wednesday, the 25th day of September next at 8 o'clock in the
Morning.

Joseph Bowker, Chairman.

Attest, Jonas Fay, Clerk.

ADJOURNED SESSION AT DORSET, SEPT. 25, 1776.

[From the manuscript copy of the Hon. .Tame* II- PHELPS, as published iu the Vermont His-
torical Society Collections, Vol. I.]

Cephas Kent's, Dorset, 25th Sept. 1776. j the Several Delegates from

the Towns on the West side the range of Green Mountains the 24th day
of duly last, consisting of fifty-one Members, representing thirty-five
towns, and held this day by adjournment by the representatives on the
West and East side the said range of Green Mountains ; the following
members being present at the opening of the Meeting, viz. :

Captain JOSEPH Bowker in the Chair.

Doct, Jonas Fay, Clerk.

[ West Side.]

i r (Lieut. Martin Powell,
Man- 1 t;..„* CLiA i, ....

„ , { Capt. Samd Wright,

rownal, | Doct 0badiah Dunham.

f Mr. Simeon Hathaway.
| Doct. Jonas Fay,
Benning- J Capt. John Burnham,
ton, 1 Nathan Clark, Esq.,
| Maj'r Sam 1 ] Safford,
^Col" Moses Robinson.

Shafts- j Major Jeremiah Clark,

bury, ( Mr. John Burnham.
Sunder- < Lieut. Joseph Bradley. I Bndport, Mr. Samuel Benton

land, \ Col. Timothy Brownson. | Addison, David Vallance.

Chester 1 Lieut Gideon Ormsby,

cnesm , { CoP Wm Marsh

Dorset I Mr - John Manle >'-

vorsei, - ( Mr< Ab , r rjnderhill.

tj . < Mr. Reuben Harmon,

Jtupert, | Mr Am()s Curtis

Pallet ! Ca P t - Wm - Fitch '

Jrouei, i Maj - or R g er R ose-

tinental Congress. The particular sentiment prevailing at this time was
favorable to a peaceable revolt, if a revolt should be declared necessary
to the well-being of the people. — Eastern Vermont, pp. 26S, 269, 276.

Adjourned Session at Dorset, Sept. 25, 1776.

Stamford, Thomas Morgan.

Williston, Col Thomas Chittenden.

Colchester, Lieut. Ira Allen.

Middle- > Ar „ tit,-.
^ .- Mr. Gamaliel Painter.

ton $ > Mr. Lemuel Bradley.

Kesho- ) ,, . pp . ., _ .
T) P/ , r m . ( Capt. limothv Barker.

r i i t Mr - Thomas Tuttle.
Brand n] )

Rutland, \ Capt. Joseph Bowker,
' ( Col James Mead.

, , 9~ - Mr. Abraham Ives.
jora, \

Tin- ( Capt. Ebenezer Allen.
mouth, ( Major Thomas Rice.

Danby, i ?apt MicahVeal,[Vail,]

* v ( Mr. Wdham Gage.
Panton, John Gale.
Bromley }

[or f. Capt. Win. Utley.
Peru.-] )

Col Seth Warner, Present.
Capt. Heman Allen, do.

Wells - °S den Mallery,
' ( Zacheus Mallery.

Poult- j Mr. Nehemiah How,
ni:>/. I Mr. Wm. Ward.
Castleton, Capt. Joseph Woodward.

Members from East side of Green Mountains.

Capt. Francis Whitmore.

Marl- )

borough. >

Guilr \ Col. Benjamin Carpenter,

ford. ( Major John Shepardson.

Windsor, Mr. Ebenezer Hoisington.
Kent. ~\
[or [Edward Aiken.
London- (Col James Rogers. 1
derryj] J

, " [ Doct. Reuben Jones.
ingham, \

Dum- ( Mr. Joseph Hildreth,
merston, \ Lieut. Leonard Spaulding
West- < Mr. Joshua Webb,
minster, \ Xath* 1 Robinson, Esq.
Halifax, Col. Benjamin Carpenter.
Wil- 1

mington, [ -o , . . ,. , , .

fo r r K y a letter trom s d town.

Draper,] J
Curnber-.l

land, £

By a Letter.

1 James Rogers came from Londonderry, X. H., to Vermont. About
1770, with S. Thompson and James Patterson, he commenced the settle-
ment of Londonderry, Vt., which had been granted by Nt j w York to
Rogers, Feb. 13, 1770, under the name of " Kent." He was commis-
sioned by New York as assistant justice of inferior court of common
pleas and as justice of the peace in 1766, and again in 1772. In 1775 he
was counted a Whig, and at a Convention of twelve towns in Cumber-
land county, held Feb. 7, of that year, was appointed one of a commit-
tee of correspondence for twenty-one towns. On the 31st of May, 1775,
New York tendered to him a commission as brigadier-general of the
militia of Cumberland, Gloucester, and Charlotte counties, which he
refused "upon political principles." The Committee of Safety of Cum-
mberland county nominated him for the same office in the same year,
doubtless without accurate information as to his politics. In Sept. 1776
he was a delegate in the Dorset Convention, and seems to have voted
in favor of separating from New York. Afterward, probably on Bur-
goyne's invasion, Rogers joined "the king's troops,'' and Oct. 3, 1777, the
Council of Safety assumed the control of his property, which was con-
fiscated in 1778. In 1795 and 1797 James Rogers, Jr., petitioned the

28 General Conventions.

The foregoing members being organized proceeded to business.

1 st - Voted, That the records and proceedings of this Convention held
at this place, from the 16 th of January, 1776 to this time, be read to give
light to those Gentlemen Delegates' from the East side of the Green
Mountains in particular and the whole in general.

2 d - Voted, That the words " That has been heretofore subscribed and
returned or that" included in a vote at the last sitting of this Conven-
tion be erased, which is accordingly done. 1

3 d - Voted, To adjourn till 8 o'clock to-morrow morning at this place.

Thursday, 8 o'clock in the Morning.

Meeting opened at time and place.

4 th - Voted, To make a general list of the names of those of the in-
habitants of the several Towns on the N. Hampshire Grants who have
signed the General Association, voted by the last Convention to be
signed.

5U1. Voted, That no member of this Convention be permitted to
speak more than three times to one case (at one sitting) without have
of the Board.

6 th - Voted, That the Association originally signed be returned to the
Clerk of this Convention at their nexl sitting.

7 th - Voted, To take the following vote passed in July 24th, 177(5, into
consideration (viz.) "Proceeded to the consideration of the fifth article
of the Warrant, and voted thai suitable application be made to form that
District of Land, commonly called and known by the name of the New-
Hampshire Grants, into a separate District;" passed in the affirmative —
not one dissenting vote.

8 th - Voted, That Col Wm. Marsh, Dr. Jonas Fay, Doct. Reuben
Jones. Capt. Ira Allen. Col Thomas Chittenden. Col° Benjamin Car-
penter and Col° James Rogers I"' a Committee t<> forma plan for fu-
ture proceedings and report to this Convention as soon as may be.

9 th - Voted, To adjourn this meeting till half past 1 o'clock in the
afternoon, at this place.

Meeting opened at time and place.

REPORT (as opinion) OF A SUB-COMMITTEE.

A Covenant or Compact ought to be entered into by the Members of
this Convention for themselves and their Constituents, to be governed
and regulated by such rules as may be agreed on by the majority, ( viz.):

To regulate the Militia; To furnish troops according to our ability,
for the defence of the Liberties of the United States of America.

To return the numbers of the inhabitants on this District to the Con-
tinental Congress, and at all times to be governed by their Councils.

General Assembly for a restoration of the property of his lather, and all
that had not then been sold was restored to him. — Thompson's Ver-
mont, part ill, p. 103; Eastern Vermont, pp. 206, 244, 250, 764, 765, 770.

x This probably refers to the resolution of Jan. 17, recommending the
inhabitants in the Xew Hampshire Grants to sign the " Association " or
pledge to defend the United American States, which had been signed by
members of the Convention. The amendment, made by the above vote,
seems to have been made in the record of the original resolution.

Adjourned Session at Dorset, Sept. 25, 1776. 29

A number of men to be elected to wait on the Hon ble Continental
Congress with such Petitions as shall be agreed on by this Convention.

To make suitable provisions that the whole of the inhabitants on S d
N. Hampshire Grants on each side of the Green Mountains be notified
and have proper opportunity to join and coincide with the measures
taken and to be hereafter taken for the benefit of forming S d district into
a separate State.

As the troublesome and aged conflict existing between the State of
New York and that District of Land commonly called and known by the
name of the New-Hampshire Grants relative to the title of lands on S d
district has not yet subsided,

We do therefore vote that any Law, or Laws, Direction or Directions
we may (for the time being) receive from S d State of N. York will not
in future be accepted neither shall we hold ourselves bound by them.

Some measures to be entered into for the better securing the Tories
in S d District.

That the Militia officers on each side the Mountains continue in their
stations and after executing the orders to them heretofore received from
the State of New York, to be under the direction of this Convention.

The foregoing propositions are humbly submitted to the Members of
the General Convention now assembled at Dorset.

pr. Benj'a Carpenter, Chairman Committee.

10th. Voted, To accept the above report of the Sub Committee. 1
Hth. Voted, To adjourn this meeting until half past one o'clock in
the afternoon at this place.

Thursday, Half after 1 o'clock in the afternoon.

Meeting opened.

12th. Voted, That a Covenant or Compact be made and subscribed by
the Members of this Convention for themselves and Constituents for the
security of their Common Liberties and Properties in conjunction with
the Free and Independent States of America.

13 ti'- Voted, That Doct. Jonas Fay, Col° Moses Robinson, Col Wra.
Marsh, Mr. Ebenezer Hoisington, Doct. Reuben Jones, Col" Thomas
Chittenden, and Doct. Obadiah Dunham be and area Committee to form
the said Covenant or Compact and report to the Convention as soon as
may be.

14th. Voted, To adjourn this meeting until 8 o'clock to morrow
morning.

Friday, 27th September, 1776.
Opened the meeting at time and place.

l 5 th._THE COVENANT OR COMPACT.

At a General Convention consisting of fifty-six Delegates on the New-
Hampshire Grants, on the east and west side of the range of Green
Mountains, representing thirty-six towns on said Grants, held at Dorset
the 25th day of September, 177G, by adjournment.

Whereas, this Convention have for a series of years had under their
particular considerations the disingenuous conduct of the former Colony
(now the State ot) New- York toward the inhabitants of that District of

1 This deserves the title of the first constitution of Vermont, and the
compliment of being the briefest ever adopted for so large a community.

30 General Conventions.

Land commonly called and known by the name of the New-Hampshire
Grants, and the several illegal, unjustifiable and unreasonable measures
they have taken to deprive, by fraud, violence and oppression, those in-
habitants of their property, and in particular their Landed interest;
and as this Convention has reason to expect a continuance of the same
kind of disingenuity, unless some measures effectually be taken to
form the S d District into a separate and distinct one from New York ;
and whereas it at present appears to this Convention that, for the fore-
going reasons, together with the distance of road which lies between
this District and New York, it will be very inconvenient for those
inhabitants to associate or connect with them, for the time being, direct-
ly or indirectly :

Therefore, this Convention being fully convinced that it is necessary
that every individual in the United States of America should exert them-
selves to their utmost abilities in the defence of the liberties thereof, and
that this Convention may the better satisfy the Public of their punctual
attachment to the S (i common cause, at present as well as heretofore,
we do make and subscribe the following Covenant, viz :

We the subscribers inhabitants of that district of Lands commonly
called and known by the name of the New-Hampshire Grants, being
legally delegated and authorized to transact the public and political af-
fairs of the aforesaid District of Lands, for ourselves and Constituents,
do solemnly covenant and engage that, for the time being, we will strict-
ly and religiously adhere to the several resolves of this or a future Conven-
tion Constituted on S d district by the free voice of the Friends to Ameri-
can Liberties, that shall not be repugnant to the resolves of the hon ble
Continental Congress relative to the General Cause of America.

16" 1 - Voted, That Col» Jacob Bailey, Capt. Abner Seeley, and Col°
Jacob Kent, 1 be a Joint Committee to exhibit the proceedings of this
meeting to the inhabitants of the County of Gloucester, and request them
to sigu the Association left with them, at their County Convention held

1 This is the first notice of these gentlemen in connection with the
new state. Gen. Bayley and Col. Kent were both of Newbury, and
among its first officers. Both were officers under New York: Col. Kent
as justice of the peace, assistant judge of inferior court of common
pleas, and commissioner to take charge of the property of persons who
had joined the enemy — the last appointment dated May 2, 1777. Col.
Kent was the first representative of Newbury in the Vermont legisla-
ture, March 12, 1778. Gen. Bayley was a commissioner to administer
oaths of office, judge of inferior court of common pleas, and justice of
the peace ; he was elected deputy for the session of the N. Y. Provincial
Congress which commenced May 23, 1775, but did not take his seat ; and
appointed brigadier general of the militia of Cumberland and Glouces-
ter counties, Aug. 1, 1776. He continued nominally under the jurisdic-
tion of New York until June 14, 1777, when he addressed a letter to the
New York Council of Safety, of which the following is an extract :

Gentlemen : I acknowledge the receipt of an ordinance from you
for the election of governor, lieutenant governor and senators and rep-
resentatives for the state of New York, by the hand of Mr. Wallace.
The sheriff and committee [ of safety ] gave the proper orders, but I am
apt to think our people will not choose any members to sit in the state

Adjourned Session at Dorset, Sept. 25, 1776. 31'

at Thetford the 13th day of August ultimo, and return the same by their
delegate or Delegates chosen or to be chosen hereafter, to meet and join
this Convention at their next sitting. 1

17 th - Voted, That it be and is hereby recommended to the several
Chairmen of the several Committees of the several Towns on the west
side of the Green Mountains on the X. Hampshire Grants, faithfully
to see to it that the Association made at the last sitting of this Convention
be forthwith signed by every individual male inhabitant of each Town,
from 16 years old and upwards, and that for the future each person sub-
scribe his own name or mark ; and that the Association thus signed be
returned to Doct r Jonas Fay, Clerk of this Convention, before the next
sitting of this Convention ; and if any refuse to sign the Association, to
take their names and reasons why they will not subscribe to it.

18 th - Voted, to adjourn this meeting one hour at this place.

Friday, 2 o'clock.

The Meeting opened at time and place.

19">- Voted, That Col" Wm. Marsh and Capt. Ira Allen be a Commit-
tee to go into Cumberland and Gloucester Counties, to carry the pro-
ceedings of this Convention, and to assist in getting the Association
(form' 1 by this Convention) signed and collected [returned] to the Clerk
of this Convention.

20 th - Voted, That Doct 1 ' Jonas Fay, Doct. Reuben Jones and Col° Wm.
Marsh be a Committee to draw a Remonstrance or Petition to send to
the Continental Congress, and Report to this Convention as soon as
may be.

of Xew York. The people before they saw the constitution, were not
willing to trouble themselves about a separation from the state of Xew
York, but now almost to a man they are violent for it. * * * * *
I am, gentlemen, etc., Jacob Bayley.

To the Council of Safety, Kingston.

July 8, 1777, Gen. Bayley was appointed a member of the Vermont
Council of Safety, and in March. 177S, he was elected Councillor. In
September, 1777, the General was at Castleton on military service, and
affixed to his name the initials of his title, " B. D. G.,'* which stands, it
is presumed, for Brigadier General. If so, he continued very wisely to
execute his duties as a Xew York officer, although he had been assigned
to till another important station for Vermont. — See Eastern Vermont,
pp. 768-770 : Early History, p. 249 ; Vt. Hist. Mag., Vol. n., p. 936.

Abner Seeley was commissioned by Xew York as Captain in Maj.
Hoisington's battalion of Rangers, Oct, 23, 1776, and he resigned Dec.
22 following. Feb. 10. 1778. the Vermont Council of Safety appointed
him Captain in Col. Samuel Herrick's regiment, which was intended for
an expedition to Canada under Gen. Lafayette. — See Eastern Vermont,
p. 772 ; Proceedings of Cumberland and Gloucester Committees of Safety,
Aug. 6. 1776 : and of Vermont Council of Safety, Feb. 10 and 17, 1778.

1 The purpose of the Convention at Thetford was to nominate the
Gloucester quota of officers for the battalion of two hundred and fifty
Rangers, authorized by Xew York, to be commanded by Maj. Joab Hois-
ington. Probably members of the Committee of the Dorset Convention
were present on their business.

32 General Conventions.

REPORT OF THE ABOVE SUB-COMMITTEE.

The grounds of this Petition and Remonstrance, to be exhibited tothe
Grand Council of America, by the Convention, to contain the following,
viz :

The several measures taken by the Colony or State of New York here-
tofore to monopolize the Landed interest of the inhabitants on the Grants
to themselves : Circumstances in particular of the conduct of N. York
on each side the Mountains to be particularly considered.

Distance from the Metropolis of any State, &c.

Persons to be appointed for making the Draught ; a Committee to be
appointed for examining the Draught, with authority from this Conven-
tion to pass the same in the name of the whole of this Convention.

Persons to be appointed to exhibit the same properly delegated to the
Hon'» le Board at the Continental Congress.

The above submitted to the consideration of the hon bIe Convention,
pr. William Marsh, Chairman Committee.

21st. Voted, That the above report of the Sub-Committee be accepted.

22 d - Voted, That Doct. Jonas Fay write an answer to Mr. John
Wheelock. 1

23 d - Voted, That the Committee of Safety for the several towns on
the. District of the N. Hampshire Grants, be and are invested with the
same authority as other Committees of Safety for other Towns in any of
the Free Slates of America.

24tu. Voted, That a sufficient Goal be built on the west side of the
range of Green Mountains, at some place, that shall be hereafter agreed
on, for securing Tories.

25 th - Voted, That Nathan Clark. Esqr., Capt. Micah Yeal, [Vail,]
Lieut. Samuel Benton, Major Jeremiah Clark and Col. James Mead be a
Committee to assign a place to erect a Goal as above, and provide some
way to effect the same as soon as may be, and report to this Conven-
tion.

, REPORT (as the opinion) OF THE ABOVE SUB-
COMMITTEE.

It is hereby recommended to this Convention that a Goal be erected
in the Township of Manchester ; twenty foot by thirty inside ; S d Goal
to be built with Logs and Earth ; S d Goal to be erected a few rods east
of the now dwelling-house of Lieut. Martin Powell in S (1 Town, for the
confinement of Tories, and other offenders thai may be adjudged to be
confined : S d Goal to be built of a double wall of Logs, not less than
twelve inches through, laid eighteen inches distance between S d walls,
the vacancy to be filled up with earth about 7 feet high, and then floored
with Logs double, a good roof, and a strong wooden door, &c, &c.

And that some suitable person or persons be appointed to see the per-
formance of the above strong hold ; and to be retaliated [compensated]
therefor by this Convention, or as they in their great wisdom shall order.
By order of Committee, Nathan Clark, Chairman.

1 A few months later, " Maj. John Wheelock" was in the service of
New York, distributing through eastern Vermont the resolutions of Con-
gress of June 30, 1777, that the claim of Vermont to independence
"could derive no countenance or justification from any act or resolu-
tion " of that body — for example, the resolution cited by Dr. Young. —
See Eastern Vermont, p. 209.

Adjourned Session at Dorset, Sept. 25, 1776. 33

26 th - Voted, To accept the above report.

•27 th - Voted That Lieut. Martin Powell, Mr. Gideon Ormsby, and
Mr. Thomas Bull be a Committee to build a Gaol as above proposed.

28 th - Voted, That Lieut. Martin Powell be Gaol Keeper.

29 t[1 - Voted, That Mr. Simeon Hathaway, Dr. Jonas Fay, Nathan
Clark, Esq., Lieut. Joseph Bradley, Lieut. Martin Powell, Mr. Cephas
Kent, Capt. Joseph Bowker, Capt. Joseph Woodward and Nehemiah
How be a committee of War. 1

30 th - Voted, That the several Colonels en the west side of the range
of Green Mountains issue their orders immediately to their several
Captains under them to muster their companies, and to take the number
of men gone in the service, and what service, and how many at home,
and their arms, accoutrements and ammunition, and the Colonels to
make their return to the Committee of War, and the Committee ot War
to this Convention.

31 st Voted, That the several Colonels give special orders to the Cap-
tains under them to raise their quotas of men to till up the six compa-
nies of Rangers.

32 d - Voted. That Nathan Clark. Esq . Doct. Obadiah Dunham and
Mr. John Bur nam he a Committee to affix Ones on all delinquents in the
Militia and make return to this Convention as soon as may be.

'This is the first record of a Board of War in Western Vermont.
The specific powers of this Board will be found in the report and thirty-
fourth vote of the same day. The thirtieth vote shows that " several
Colonels" and other officers had previously been appointed and the com-
panies raised, and also that some were then in the service. This work
had been done doubtless by the Committees of Safety. Warner had raised
one regiment in 1775. under the approval of New York ; in January,
1776, he raised another, which served through the Canada campaign;
and under the resolution of Congress of July 5, 1776, (by which Warner
was made Colonel and Samuel Safford Lieutenant Colonel,) he raised
what is known as "Warner's Continental regiment." — See Early His-
tory, p. 221.

In Oct., 1776. three regiments from western Vermont joined Gates at
Ticonderoga. — See Early History, pp. 217-223. Eastern Vermont fur-
nished about the same number of militia. Nov. 21, 1775, there were
two regiments of militia and one of minute men in Gloucester, Cumber-
land, and Charlotte counties, and in August, 1776. a battalion of two
hundred and fifty rangers was organized — all under New York, in which
state Charlotte county mainly was. Eastern Vermont also contributed to
Warner's regiment in 1775. and to Bedell's of New Hampshire. — See
Eastern Vermont, pp. 770-773. John Trumbull wrote that in October,
1776, when Gen. Gates was at Ticonderoga, " the whole number of our
troops under arms on that da} r , ( principalby, however, militia,) exceeded
thirteen thousand." Of these Vermont contributed probably ahout
three thousand. — See Col. J. Trumbull's Reminiscences of his own Times,
p. 36.

34 General Conventions.

REPORT (as the opinion) OF THE ABOVE COMMITTEE.

A Colouel refusing or neglecting to comply with any orders from this
Convention to pay a fine of 33 dollars.

A Lieutenant Colonel refusing or neglecting to obey his
commanding officer. 25 do.

Major, 20 do.

Captain, 10 do.

Lieutenant, Adjutant, Quarter Master & Ensign. 7 do each.

Sergeant and Clark, 2 do each.

Corporal, 1^ do.

Drum and Fife, 1| do.

Private. 1 do.

If a soldier drafted in any particular service and absconding, shall be
subject to pay a fine of twenty-five dollars, and an officer in proportion
as above.

That the Committee of War have full power to hear any complaint
against any Field officer for neglect of their duty and to proceed against
them or either of them, to collect by warrant or execution from under
their hands such fine or fines as is appointed by this Convention: in like
manner the Field officers to try all the commissioned officers in their
respective regiments for the time being, directed to some suitable per-
son to collect the same ; and in like manner two commissioned officers
of each company to try all non-commissioned officers and privates ; to
award in the manner aforesaid ; said fines to be used or applied to fur-
nish those men in said companies that are not able to furnish themselves
with arms and ammunition and accoutrements as required : and that
each non-commissioned officer and private provide himself with a suita-
ble gun and one pound of powder, four pounds of bullets fit for his gun,
six dints, powder horn, cartouch box or bullet pouch, a sword, bayonet
or tomahawk ; and for want of a gun H> pay a line of two dollars on each
time so required t<> appear under arms, and for want of each other accou-
trement, the sum of half a dollar when required as aforesaid.

FINES FOR EACH

day's neglect.

A Colonel, £1-16-0 1

s d

Lieut. Colonel, 1-10-0

Quartermaster.

£0-10-0

Major, 0-18-0

Sergeant.

0-8-0

Captain, 0-16-0 1

Corporal,

0-6-0

Lieutenant, 0-14-0

Drum and Fife,

0-4-0

Adjutant & Ensign, each 0-12-0 1

Private,

0-3-6

By order of Committee,

Nathan Clark,

Chairman.

33 d - Voted, To accept of the above report.

34th. Voted, That the Committee of War be and are empowered to
i<sue their warrants in the name and by the authority of this Conven-
tion, to the several Field officers of the Militia on the district of N.
Hampshire Grants, 1 that on any sufficient notice received from the Gen-
eral or Commander in Chief of any of- the armies of the United States
of America, the Honorable Continental Congress, or on anj- sudden
emergency that shall be judged by s d Committee of War to be for the

'This seems to have given jurisdiction over the whole territoi-y. east
and west of the mountains.

Adjourned Session at Dorset, Sept. 25, 1776. 35

immediate safety of the Grants, requesting the assistance of the Militia,
and march immediately to the relief of such part of the Continent as
they may be required to. And in case an}' person legally notified justly
belonging to any or either the Companies of the Militia on s d Dis-
trict shall refuse on such notifications to attend and perform the duty
enjoined on him or them by the officers of the Regiment to which he or
they do or may belong, that they be lined unless sufficient excuse be
rendered to the Committee of War.

35 th - Voted, That Doct. Reuben Jones and Lieut. Leonard Spauld-
ing wait and take the proceedings of this Convention and deliver to
their Constituents.

36th. Voted, That Doct. Jonas Fay, Capt. Samuel Wright, Major Jer-
emiah Clark, Col Timothy Brownson, Col° William Marsh, Capt. Jo-
seph Bowker, Col° Thomas Chittenden, Capt. Heman Allen, Capt. Will-
iam Fitch, Capt. Micah Veal, [Vail,] Lieut. Samuel Benton, and Capt.
Ira Allen, be a Committee to attend this Convention at its next sitting. 1
And it is recommended for each Town to send one more Delegate.

37 th - Voted, That Doct. Jonas Fay, Col William Marsh and Doct.
Reuben Jones be a Committee to draw a Petition to send to the Hon 1,le
Continental Congress ; and report to a Committee to be appointed to
examine the same.

38 th - Voted, That Nathan Clark, Esq., Col. Seth Warner, Captain
Heman Allen be a Committee to examine the aforesaid Petition.

39th. Voted, To adjourn to 8 o'clock to-morrow morning at this place.

1136371

Saturday Morning 8 o'clock, Sept. 28th, 177G.

The Meeting opened at time and place.

40 th - Voted, To refer the examination of the Petition to the Conti-
nental Congress till our next meeting ; then to fill up the Committee for
that purpose.

41 st - Voted, That four men be appointed as delegates to go to the
Continental Congress with a Petition or such directions as this Conven-
tion shall give them.

42 J - Voted, That Doct. Jonas Fay, Col Thomas Chittenden, in con-
junction with two more to be appointed, be a Committee for that pur-
pose.

43 d - Voted, That Col° Seth Warner, Capt. Heman Allen, Capt. Gid-
eon Brownson, Mr. Ebenezer Hoisington, Capt, Abner Seeley, and
Doct. Jonas Fay be a Committee to prepare a Citation to send to the
State of New-York to know if they have any objection against our
being a Separate State from them : and make report as soon as may be. s

44th. Voted, That as it appears that the Town of Arlington are prin-
cipally Tories, yet the Friends of Liberty are ordered to warn a Meeting
and choose a Committee of Safety and conduct as other Towns ; if they
meet with opposition to make application to the Committees of Safety
of the neiijhborino; Towns for assistance.

1 The number is twelve, and its office was advisory, and to prepare bu-
siness. It was the initiation of the body styled in the Constitution the
"Council."' It will be observed that, in the report of the committee
at the next session, the body of delegates elected was styled "the
House."

a See similar vote of Oct. 30, 1776.

36 General Conventions.

45th, Voted, That no person be admitted to act in choosing Commit-
tees of Safety but those that sign the Association from this Convention
and acknowledge the authority" of the Committees of Safety.

4<3th. Voted, Col Benj a Carpenter of Guilford do notify Guilford,
Hinsdale and Halifax. Capt. Francis Whitmore of Marlborough notify
Draper, Cumberland, Marlborough and Brattleborough. Lieut. Leonard
Spaulding of Dummerston and" Capt. Samuel Fletcher notify Towns-
hend, Putney, New-Fane and Dummerston. Mr. Ebenezer Hoisington
of Windsor notify Windsor. Hertford, Woodstock, Hartford and Pomfret.
Nath 1 Robinson, Esq., of Westminster, notify Westminster and Weath-
ersfield. Doct. Reuben Jones of Rockingham notify Rockingham and
Springfield. Mr. Edward Aiken of Kent notify Kent and Chester. 1

47th. Voted to adjourn this Convention to Wednesday, the 30 th Oct r
next, to be held at the Court house in Westminster, at 10 o'clock in the
forenoon.

Joseph Bowker, Chairman.

Attest Jonas Fay, Clerk.

A true copy from the original.

ADJOURNED SESSION AT WESTMINSTER,
OCTOBER 30, 1776.

[From the manuscript copv of tin- Hon. JAMES II. I'uklps, published In Vt. Hist. Soc. Col-
lections, Vol. I.J

NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS. > Convention

Westminster Court House, October 30th, 1776. >" opened accord-
ing to adjournment.

PRESENT THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS.

B ZT 9 ' \ Nathan Clark ' Esq - I ^ham^ \ Doctr - Reuben Jones -

Man - I nolo Wm. Marsh Dum ' 5 Ljeut. Leonard Spalding,

- Colo. Win. Marsh
Chester, )

Pollet, Capt. Win. Fitch.

Rutland, Capt. Joseph Bowker.

Colchester. Capt. Ira Allen.

Marl- }. Capt. Francis Whitmore.

borough, > '

Windsor, Mr. Ebenezer Hoisington.

Kent, ~]

T t°r I Mr. Edward Aiken.
London- (

derry,~\ J

merston, { Mr. Joseph Hildreth.

West- ] Mr. Joshua Webb,
minster. I Nath'l Robinson, Esq.
Bromley )

[or V Capt. William Utley.

Peru.] )

hend' [ ^ a P fc ' Sam'l Fletcher.
Putney, Dennis Lockland.
Chester, Col" Thomas Chandler.

l On the preceding day provision had been made for notifying Glouces-
ter county. This provided for notice to the towns in Cumberland county.

Adjourned Session at Westminster, Oct. 30, 1776. 37

1 st - Voted, Capt. Ira Allen, Clerk.

2 J - Voted, That Nathaniel Robinson, Esq., Mr. Solomon Phelps and
Col William Marsh be a Committee to go to the Clerk of the County
Committee of Safety for this county and get the records of s d Commit-
tee concerning sending Delegates to the Convention of the State of
New York.

.')•' Voted, That Mr. Ebenezer Hoisington, Mr. Joshua Webb, Capt. Ira
Allen, Cant. William Fitch and Doct. Reuben Jones be a Committee to
draw a plan for further proceedings of this Convention ; and make a re-
port as sunn as may be.

4* h - Voted, To adjourn this Convention till 8 o'clock to morrow morn-
ing, to be held at this place.

Thursday Morning, 8 o'clock.
Meeting opened according to adjournment.
5 th - Voted, To adjourn this meeting one hour at this place.

Meeting opened according to adjournment.

6 th - Voted, That Doct r Reuben' Jones and Col° William Marsh be a
Committee to invite Capt. Clay and Docf Day to sit with this Conven-
tion as spectators. l

7 th - Voted, To adjourn this Convention till 8 o'clock to morrow morn-
ing, at this place.

Friday Morning, 8 o'clock.

Meeting opened according to adjournment.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF PROCEEDINGS.

It is the opinion of this Committee that, by the reasons of the incur-
sions of the Enemy,'- and that the Militia of this State have lately been
called, and are now going to the relief of their distressed Brethren at Ti-
conderoga, and the Northern frontiers of this State, and that several of
the Members of this Convention are more immediately called on to the
relief of their families, &c, which has so far taken up our attention, and
the attention of the People at large, that we have not collected the full
sentiments of the People.

It is not proper, therefore, to proceed to complete the Petition to the
Hon ,,le the Grand Council of the United States of America, or to fill up
the Committee for the purpose of delivering S d Petition.

That an answer be made to a Pamphlet dated the 2d October, 1776,
and sent from the Hon ble the Provincial Congress of the State of New-
York to the County of Cumberland, and with S d answer a Pamphlet set-
ting forth the advantages that would arise to the people at large on the
district of the New-Hampshire Grants, by forming into a separate State,
be wrote, printed and communicated to the inhabitants as soon as may
be. 3

x Capt. James Clay was chairman, and Doct. Elkanah Day a member of
the Cumberland County Committee of Safety.

2 Referring to the destruction by the British of the American naval
force on Lake Champlain, and the then expected attack on Ticondero^a
by Gen. Carleton. IIilaxd Hall suggests that the alarm prevailing
on account of that invasion prevented this Convention from declaring a
separation from New York. — Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, p. 34.

3 See Appendix B.

38 General Conventions.

That a Manifesto be put in the public newspapers setting forth the
reasons, in easy terms, why we choose not to connect with New-York. '
The aforesaid report is humbly presented to the House by
Order of the Committee.

W:\i. Fitch, Chairman.

8 th - Voted, To accept the above report.

9 th - Voted, That a petition be drawn to send to the Hon bl « Provincial
Congress of the State of New- York, requesting their approbation for the
district of the New-Hampshire Grants to form themselves into a State
separate from N. York.

10 th - Voted. That Col° William Marsh. Capt Ira Allen and Mr. Solo-
mon Phelps he a Committee to make the above writings. 2

11 th - Voted, That Major Abijah Lovejoy, Col Wm. Marsh, Capt. Ira
Allen, Col Jacob Bailey, Mr! Solomon Phelps. Major Joseph Tyler,
Col" Benjamin Carpenter. Mr. Benjamin Emmons, Mr. Elijah Olcott,
Doct. Reuben Jones, and Mr. Daniel Jewett be a Committee to go through
Cumberland and Gloucester Counties to carry the proceedings of this
Convention and to complete getting the associations formed by this
Convention signed and collected to the Clerk of this Convention at their
next sitting.

12th. Voted, That it be and it is hereby recommended to each Member
of this Convention to assist the above Committee as much as in them
lies.

13 tu - Voted, That Doct. Jonas Fay be added to the Committee to make
the above Petition.

14 th - Voted, That Solomon Phelps write a letter to Col Jacob Bailey,
desiring him to assist the above Committee.

15 th - Voted, To adjourn this Convention to the third Wednesday of
January next at 10 o'clock in the Morning, to be held at this place.

Joseph Bowker, Chairman.

Attest, Ira Allen, Clerk.

A true copy from the original.

ADJOURNED SESSION AT WESTMINSTER,
JANUARY 15, 1777.

[The following journal, which ends with the words "11th. Voted, X. ('. D.. to accept the above re-
port," is found in snide's State Papers, page OS to 70. The residue of the journal is from
the manuscript of the Hon. James U. Puelps, a*. published in Vermont Historical Society
Collections, Vol. I.]

N. HAMPSHIRE GRANTS. } Convention opened

Westminster Court House, January 15th ,1777. [according to adjourn-
ment. Present the following Members :

Capt. Joseph Bowker in the Chair.
1 st - Voted, Doct. Reuben- Jones, Clerk, P. Tempore.

1 See Appendix C.

"This petition to New York, if prepared, seems never to have been
sent. See similar vote of Sept. 25, 1776— the 43<* vote.

Adjourned Session at Westminster, Jan. 15, 1777. 39

D . ( Nathan Clark, Esq.,
B ^ nm s0 Capt. John Burnham,

l0 ' h ( Mr. Nathan Clark, Jun.

Jto^ j Lieut- Martin Powell.

Castleton, Capt John Hall.
Williston, Col. Thomas Chittenden.

T h7nd~ { Ca P t SamL Fletch er.
Chester, Col. Thomas Chandler.
Rocking- ( Dr. Reuben Jones,

/iam, ( Lieut. Moses Wright.
TFi'ncZso?', Mr. Eben. Hosington. 1
Hartford, Mr. Stephen Tilden.

Colchester, Capt. Ira Allen. ' Wood- (-»«- t> ■ • -r,

Bu(ta *j<*pt. Joseph BowW

1 \ Capt. Heraan Allen.

Dummerston, Lt. Leonard Spaulding.
Putney, Lt. Dennis Lockland.

IRPesfr- ( Natban'l Robinson, Esq.,
minster, 1 Mr. Joshua Webb.

stock, I

Norwich \ ^ a J T Th T^ ^oredock,
( Mr. Jacob Burton.

Pomfret, \ B >" fetter from said town
J I voting lor a new state.

Barnard, By ditto and ditto.
Royalton, By ditto and ditto.

2' 1 - Voted, To adjourn this convention to eight o'clock to morrow
morning at this place.

Thursday, eight o'clock.

Convention opened according to adjournment.

Major Joseph Williams and lieutenant Nathaniel Seeley from Pownal
took their seats.

3 d - Voted, Thai Dr. Reuben Jones be an assistant clerk to Capt Ii-a
Allen, he at this time being present.

4 Ul - Voted, That Lieut. Leonard Spaulding, Mr. Ebenezer Hosington 1
and Major Thomas Moredock be a committee to examine into the num-
bers that have voted for the district of the New Hampshire Grants to be
a separate state from New York, and how many are known to be against
it, and make report to this convention as soon as may be.

REPORT OF SAID COMMITTEE.

" We find by examination that more than three-fourths of the people
in Cumberland and Gloucester counties, that have acted, are for a new
state ; the rest we view as neuters.

By order of the convention,

Ebenezer Hosington, 1 Chairman.'"

5 th - Voted, To adjourn this convention one hour, at this place.

Convention opened at time and place.

6 th - Voted, M. C. D., That the district of land commonly called and
known by the name of New-Hampshire Grants, be a new and separate
state ; and for the future conduct themselves as such.

7 tl1 - Voted, That Nathan Clark, Esq., Mr. Ebenezer Hosington, Capt.
John Burnham, Mr. Jacob Burton, and Col. Thomas Chittenden, be a
committee to prepare a draught for a declaration, for a new and sepa-
rate state ; and report, to this convention as soon as may be.

8*. Voted, That Capt, Ira Allen, Col. Thomas Chandler, Doctor Reu-
ben Jones, Mr. Stephen Tilden, and Mr. Nathan Clark, jun., be a com-

1 This name is given as in the copy. The true name is Hoisington, of
which name there were two persons at this period, Ebenezer and Major
Joab.

40 General Conventions.

mittee to draw a plan for further proceedings ; and report to this conven-
tion as soon as may be

9 th - Voted, to adjourn this meeting to eight o'clock to-morrow morn-
ing at this place.

Friday morning, convention opened according to adjournment. The
committee appointed to bring in a draught of a declaration, setting forth
the right the inhabitants of that district of land, commonly called and
known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, have, to form them-
selves into a -late or independent government, do make the following re-
port to the honorable convention convened at Westminster, January
15 th - A. L>. 1777, viz.

To the hon hle convention of representatives from the several tovms on the

west and east side of the range of Green Mountains, within the New

Hampshire Grants, in convention assembled :

Your committee, to whom was referred the form of a declaration set-
ting forth the right the inhabitants of said New Hampshire Grants have,
to form themselves into a separate and independent state, or govern-
ment, beg leave to report viz.:

RIGHT 1. That whenever protection is withheld, no allegiance is due,
or can of right be demanded.

2 d - That whenever the lives and properties of a part of a community
have been manifestly aimed al by either the legislative or executive au-
thority of such community, necessity requires a separation. Your com-
mittee are of opinion thai the foregoing has, tor many years past, been
the. conduct of the monopolizing land traders of the colony of NewYork;
and that they have been not only countenanced; hut encouraged, by both
the legislative and executive authorities of the said state or colony.
Many overt acts, in evidence of this truth, are so fresh in the minds of
the members, that it would be needless to name them.

And whereas the Congress of die several states did. in said Congress,
on the fifteenth day of May. A. I). 177o, in a similar case, pass the follow-
ing resolution, viz. "Resolved, That it he recommended to the respec-
tive assemblies and conventions of the United Colonies, where no fjovern-
ment sufficienl to tin- exigencies of their affairs hath been hitherto
established, to adopt such government, as shall, in the opinion of the rep-
resentatives of the people, besl conduce to the happiness and safety of
their constituents in particular, ami America in general," 1 — Your com-

1 John" Adams originated this resolution for the purpose of suppress-
ing governments under the crown in the then United Colonies. It was
a practical assertion of independence, of which the act of July 4. 177o,
was the formal declaration. It was adopted by Congress on the 10th of
May, when Messrs. John Adams, Rutledge, and Richard Henry
Lee were appointed a committee to prepare a preamble. This commit-
tee reported the following, May 15, 1776 :

Whereas his Britannic majesty, in conjunction with the lords and com-
mons of Great-Britain, has, b} r a late act of parliament, excluded the in-
habitants of these United Colonies from the protection of the crown ;
and whereas, no answer, whatever, to the humble petitions of the colo-
nies for redress of grievances and reconciliation with Great-Britain, has
been or is likely to be given, but, the whole force of that kingdom,
aided by foreign mercenaries, is to be exerted for the destruction of the
good people of these colonies; aud whereas, it appears absolutely irrec-

Adjourned Session at Westminster, Jan. 15, 1777. 41

mittee, having duly deliberated on the continued conduct of the author-
ity of New York, before recited, and on the equitableness on which the
aforesaid resolution of Congress was founded, and considering that a
just right exists in this people to adopt measures for their own security,
noi only to enable them to secure their rights against the usurpations of
Great-Britain, but also againsl that of New York, and the several other
governments claiming jurisdiction of this territory, do utter the follow-
ing declaration, viz.:

This Convention, whose members are duly chosen by the free voice of
their constituents in the several towns, on the New-Hampshire Grants,
in public meeting assembled, in our own names, and in behalf of our
constituents, do hereby proclaim and publicly declare that the district of
territory comprehending and usually known by the name and descrip-
tion of the New Hampshire Grants, of right ought to be, and is hereby
declared forever hereafter to be considered as a separate, free and inde-
pendent jurisdiction or state; by the name, and forever hereafter to be
called, known and distinguished by the name of New Connecticut ;
[ ] and that the inhabitants that at present are, or that hereafter

oncilable to reason and good conscience, for the people of these colonies
now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any
government under the crown of Great-Britain, and it is necessary that
the exercise of every kind of authority under the said crown should be
totally suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted, under the
authority of the people of the colonies, for the preservation of internal
peace, virtue and good order, as well as for the defence of their lives.
liberties and properties, against the hostile invasions and cruel depreda-
tions of their enemies; therefore, resolved, &c.

This was adopted, and the resolution having thus been completed, the
preamble and resolution were ordered to be published — doubtless of the
date of May 15, 1776, as in the text. — Bancroft's History of the U. S.,
vol. vni, p. 367; Journals of Congress, [1776,] vol. it, pp. 158, 166.

1 Here, in the copy in Slade's State Papers, the words alias Vermont
are inserted ; but that they could not have been in the original declara-
tion appears from the subsequent use of the name New Connecticut
alone, and from the proceedings in the convention of the 4th of June
following, when the name was changed to Vermont. — I. Allen's Ver-
mont, in Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. i, p. 375; Early History, pp. 239, 497 ;
Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, pp. xix — xxii.

In the page of 1. Allen's history cited, Col. Allen professed to quote
substantially (he language of the above declaration, and did not include
the words '' alias Vermont." In p. 239 of the Early History, Gov. Hall
quoted the same declaration in the same way ; and in pages 497 and fol-
lowing he gave five reasons for rejecting the alias, among which are
these, to wit : the very great improbability, not to say absurdity, of sup-
posing that two names would be given to a state; the fact that in the
residue of the Journal of the January Convention of 1777, not found in
Blade's State Papers, the State of "New Connecticut " is twice named
without an alias; that in the supplementary declaration of June 4, 1777,
published in the Connecticut Courant of June 30, the language used ut-
terly precludes the idea of an alias, inasmuch as the first section of the

42 General Conventions.

may become resident, either by procreation or emigration, within said
territory, shall be entitled to the same privileges, immunities and en-
franchisements as are allowed ; and on such condition, and in the same
manner, as the present inhabitants in future shall or may enjoy ; which

preamble quotes the original declaration of the name as being "New
Connecticut " without an alias; the third section explains the reason of
the change of the name; and the resolution pendent declares "that the
said district shall now hereafter be called and kuown by the name of
Vermont."

In the second volume of the Historical Society Collections, pp. xix —
xxi.Gov. Hall reiterated his views and added other quotations in de-
tail, making three strong points: first, that after adopting the original
declaration, Jan. 15, 1777, the Convention " Voted, That the Declaration
of New Connecticut be inserted in the News Papers," and appointed
a committee to prepare an official declaration for the press, which was
done, and it was published in the Connecticut Conrant of March 17, 1777.
This declaration concluded in these words: "The said state hereafter to
be called by the name of New Connecticut." Second, that Ira
Allen, more than twenty years after the original declaration and the
change of the name of the State had been made, in his History of Ver-
mont (Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. i. p. :!7">.) quoted the original dec-
laration as giving the name of Xew CONNECTICUT without an alias;
and third, that in the same volume, (page 379) Mr Allen stated in a
note that Dr. Thomas Young of Philadelphia gave the name Veu-
mont, subsequent to January 1777, as an " emblematical one, from the
French of Verd-mont. green mountains. &c," and in the text stated that
" Fay, Chittenden, Allen, and Jones, returned from Congress, without
the decision of that body upon their petition [of Jan. 15, 1777,] in behalf
of the inhabitants, and brought with them Dr. Young's letter, printed
and published at Philadelphia, addressed to the inhabitants of VermonC

This letter, said ALLEN, (Vt. Hist. Coll., vol I, p. 382) was distributed
through the State, with a pamphlet of his own. soon after the return of
the Commissioners from Congress, and " measures were taken to convene
a convention at Windsor in June. 1777. " This Convention. June 4.
1777. changed the name of the State from -New Connecticut " to Ver-
mont, in accordance with Dr. Young's suggestion. "Vermont," then,
had never been thought of by the Convention in January. 1777.— See
Appendix. F.

While the proof sheets of these pages were in hand, the following
newly discovered evidence was communicated to the editor by Gov.
Hall. It will be observed that the first three documents were all dated
previous to the change of the name of the State, June 4, 1777, and of
course when it would be known, if so originally declared, as well by its
alias as by " New Connecticut."

The first is the record of a town meeting in Chester, Feb. 10-13, 1777.

Adjourned Session at Westminster, Jan. 15, 1777. 43

are, and forever shall be considered, to be such privileges and' immuni-
ties r<> the free citizens and denizens as are, or, at any time hereafter
may be allowed to any such inhabitants of any of the free and indepen-

Feb'- 1777.

At a Town Meeting Regularly warned and held in Chester (by the
Desire of one Nathan Clark Esq 1 ' Chairman of a Convention held at
Dorset 30th of January 1777 as pr 8 aid Desire on file may appear) on
the Tenth Day of February 1777 1 Mr William Atwood chosen Moderator
and a Funeral prevented a full Meeting, the Inhabitants present thought
proper to adjourn y meeting to ye Next Day being FebT 11th one
O Clock in y e Afternoon, the meeting was accordingly adjourned to meet
at y e Dwelling house of Mr Jonathan Tarbel Meet according to ad-
journment, but the inhabitants that went to y e Funeral not knowing
when y e meeting was to. it was Voted that y e meeting be adjourned to
the Thirteenth of said February and to meet at said place at One of ye
Clock afternoon and thai the Inhabitants present be Desired to Inform
the Inhabitants not present It was accordingly adjourned Meet ac-
cording To adjournment the Moderator not being'present Tho s Chand-
ler Esq 1- was chosen Moderator in his Room it being a full meeting and
after a long Debate. Voted to Send One Delegate as Desired, the Votes
being given in & Sorted Lieu 1 Jabez Sargeant was chosen by a great
majority Voted that said Sargeant act at said Convention Discretionerv
for the good of the slate of New CONNECTICUT and for the Town of
Chester according to the Best of his understanding

Voted that tins meeting be Dissolved and it was accordingly Desolved.
Test, Tho s Chandler Clerk.

The foregoing is a true copy of an old Record appearing in Chester
K First Book of Records," on pages 56 and 57, as near as I am able to
give it.

Attest, Norman A. Smith, Town Clerk.

Chester, Dec. 10, 72.

Gen. Jacob Bayley to the JYew York Council of Safety.

In a letter dated Newbury, Feby. 19, 1777, Gen. Bayley spoke of the
proposed state of " New Connecticut." — Calendar of JV. Y. Bevolu-
tionary Manuscripts, vol. 2, p. 150.

Extract from a Statement of Facts drawn up by Charles Phelps of

Marlboro'.

" That on or about the 15 da}' of January 1777, a number of people
from sundry parts of said New Hampshire Grants, calling themselves
New Staters, or people in favor of a new State, met at Westminster in
the aforesaid County of Cumberland and State of New York, and de-
clared said District and the people inhabiting thereon to be a new State
by the name, of New Connecticut.

That all those who so met at Westminster aforesaid, and all the people
whom they pretended to represent, as well as all those who, by the ad-
vice of Doct. Thomas Young, afterwards held a convention at Windsor
in June, or at any other time during that year, and formed and estab-
lished a Constitution or plan of government for what, by his advice also,
they called Vermont— i. e., the people of the Green ^Mountains— did
not amount to one-hundredth part of the inhabitants of New York

1 This " Convention " was probably a meeting of a committee.

44 General Conventions.

dent states of America ; And that such privileges and immunities shall
he regulated in a bill of rights, and by a form of government, to be es-
tablished at the next adjourned session of this convention.

10 th - Voted, JV. C. D., to accept the above declaration.

" To the honorable the chairman and gentlemen of the contention: your com-
mittee appointed to take into consideration what is further necessary to be
transacted at tin present contention, beg leave to report, viz.
That proper information lie given to the honorable Continental Con-
gress of the United States of America, of the reasons why the New-

State." — Manuscript in possession of Hon. James H. Phelps, grand-
son of Charles Phelps.

Both of the letters, from which the following extracts are taken,
were written after the name of "New Connecticut" had been changed
to Vermont, [June 4, 1777.] and more than rive months after the pre-
tended christening of " New Connecticut alias Vermont." The N. Y.
delegates had seen and combatted the petition and declaration and com-
missioners of the new State in Congress, all ordained and appointed in
January, 1777, and yet they had never heard of the alias. It is "passing
strange," if there was an alias.

Extract from a Letter from James Dtjane, and other N~. Y. Delegates
in Congress to the N. Y. Council of Safety, dated Philadelphia, 8 July,
1777.

[ Supposing the Council might not wisli the decision of Congress in re-
gard to "their revolted subjects published just at that time" — i. e. the
resolutions of June 3(1, 1777, — they write :

"From these considerations, we shall refrain from communicating a

single copy; hut it must he remembered that Mr. Roger Sherman,
who is gone to the Eastward, was furnished with one, and there is too
much reason to apprehend that he may forward it to his friends in NhW
Connecticut. "—Journals X. Y. Cong., vol. i, p. 999.

Extract of a Letter from James Dcaxe to N. Y. Council of Safety,
dated Philadelphia, 10 July, 1777.

[ Says he has seen the Connecticut Courant of 30th June. 1777, and
adds,]

" It contains a new and extraordinary declaration from a part of our
State which is attempted to be wrested out of our jurisdiction and which
is dubbed the State of Vermont, a name hatched for it in Philadel-
phia. It is evident the plan has been laid here under the direction of
Doctor Young, and too probably of some others of more consequence,"
&c— Journal Cong. JV. Y., vol. 1, p. 1000.

It is obvious that opponents of Vermont residing in the State, and the
New York delegates in Congress in 1777, understood this matter pre-
cisely as Gov. Hall has represented it in his history, and in the first
and second volumes of the Collections of the Vermont Historical So-
ciety.

The editor now pi-oposes to enlarge somewhat upon a suggestion made
by Gov. Hall in the second volume of the Historical Society Collections,

Adjourned Session at Westminster, Jan. 15, 1777. 45

Hampshire grants have been declared a free state, and pray the said Con-
gress to grant said state a representation in Congress ; and that agents
be appointed to transfer the same to the said Congress, or the committee

p. xx, that, after the change of the first name of the State, " the words
alias Vermont were added by way of explanation that New Connecticut
had become Vermont, and without the expectation that the added words
would be treated as part of the original record." It is a curious fact, —
and in this relation a very important one. as showing that the addition
of" alias Vermont" to the record, after the name had been changed, was
in accordance with the previous practice of the clerk — that on a former
occasion the original record of the convention had been altered to cor-
respond to an amendment subsequently made. July 24, 1776, the Dorset
Convention adopted a resolution in respect to the Association for na-
tional defense, (ante, p. 23,) which was amended at the next session,
Sept. 25, 1776, (ante, p. 28 ;) but instead of allowing the two votes to stand
on the record, the last modifying the first and the record correcting itself,
Dr. Fay, the Secretary, changed the record of the first vote so as to embrace
the amendment. Moved by a like motive, the editor believes that Doct.
Fay changed his copy of the record of the declaration of January 17,
1777, after the Convention of June 4, 1777, had changed the name of the
State. It is a singular fact, if the alias really existed for five months,
that there is no evidence that it was ever published as a part of the do-
ings of the Convention until the History of Vermont by Dr. Williams
appeared in 1794; while again and again, in the Connecticut Courant,
which was the official organ of Vermont until 1783, and in letters of our
own citizens and of citizens of New York, the State was uniformly
named as New Connecticut, without an alias. If, then, the change sug-
gested was made by Doct. Fay, and that became public, from that moment
of course the alias would begin to appear publicly, and thus would be
perpetuated to the annoyance of all men of good taste, and to the plague
of historians. This is precisel}' what has happened. Doct. Fay did not
keep the original minutes or record of the Convention of Jan. 1777, be-
cause, according to the certificate of Joseph Fay, (post,) the minutes,
both of the Conventions and of the early sessions of the Council of
Safety, were in the possession of Ira Allen. It is known, however,
that Doct. Fay did have what purported to be a copy of minutes of Con-
ventions, in part of an old account book in which he had made profes-
sional charges. This was once in the possession of Hon. James H.
Fhelps, and from it were copied some of the very valuable contribu-
tions he has made to the history of the Conventions. In Williams's
Vermont, vol. II, pp. 450-453, will be found the proceedings, in part, of
the Convention of Jan. 15, 1777, precisely as in Slade's State Papers, pp.
68-70, including the error as to the representation of Dummerston and
Putney; and at the end of it Doct. Williams added: u Original records
of the Convention, p. 62-68; in the hands of Jonas Fay of Bennington.' 1 ''

46 General Conventions.

be filled up that are already appointed, and that a committee be ap-
pointed to draw the draught : That a committee of war be appointed on
the east side of the mountains, to be in conjunction with the committee
of war on the west side of the mountains, to act on all proper occasions:
That some suitable measures be taken to govern our internal policy for
the time being, until more suitable measures can be taken; that some
suitable way be taken to raise a sum of money to defray the expences of
the agents that are to go to Congress ; and for printing the proceedings
of the convention, which, we are of opinion, ought to be printed. All
which is humbly submitted to the convention, by your committee.
By order of the Committee,

Thomas Chandler. Chairman.''''

11th. Voted, If. C. D., to accept the above report.

12 th - Voted, That the Declaration of New Connecticut be inserted
in the News Papers.

13 th - Voted, That Captain Heman Allen, Col° Thomas Chandler, and
Nathan Clark, Esq., be a Committee to prepare the Declaration for the
Press as soon as may be.

14 th - Voted, Thai Doct. Jonas Fay. Col" Thomas Chittenden, Doct.
Reuben Jones, Col Jacob Bailey, and Capt. Heman Allen be the Dele-
gates to carry the remonstrance and Petition to the Hon ,,le Continental
Congress and further to negociate Business in behalf of New Connecti-
cut.

[15 th - There is no fifteenth vote in the record. Mr. PnELPS suggests
that, probably through inattention. Dr. Fay did not designate any vote
of this convention by the number 15.]

16 th - Voted. That Major Thomas Chandler. Mr. Stephen Tilden, Mr.
Ebenezer Qoisington, Mr. Joshua Webb, Lieut. Dennis Lockland, Mr.
Jotham Biglow. Col" Thomas Johnson. Mr. Elijah Gates and Nicholas

That this book was not the " original record " appears not only from Jo-
seph Fay's certificate, but also from the error, and the fact that the
same book contained the list of delegates only, and not the proceedings, of
the Convention of June 4, 1777. — See list of delegates. That Convention
changed the name to VERMONT,, and as Doct- Fay seems not to have
recorded that change, it is reasonable to suppose that he memorized it by
adding the alias to the name previously adopted. Then in 1704 first ap-
peared the alias Vermont, so far as the editor has been aide to ascertain.
Apparently it was stated on official authority, and yet it must he counted
only as a memorandum made by Doct. Fay to commemorate the two
names — that of January and that of June, 1777. Ira Allex\s History
succeeded "Williams's, but Allen, who knew the facts, g ive no coun-
tenance to the alias, but explained both names by a simple, logical, and
accurate statement. Slade followed Williams, and perpetuated the
mistake; and B. H. Hall, Henry B. Dawson, and others, have fol-
lowed in the train. It remained for Hilaxd Hall to correct the error,
and he has done so effectually. To many- readers this note will seem to
be too prolix; but by those best informed it will be accepted and excused
as a just vindication from a malicious sarcasm on "Vermont history as
written by Vermonters." — See If. Y. Historical Magazine, for January,
1871, by Henry B. Dawson.

Adjourned Session at Westminster , Jan. 15, 1777. 47

White, be a Committee of "War to act in conjunction with the Commit-
tee of War already chosen. '

17 th - Voted, That it is recommended to each town in Cumberland and
Gloucester Counties to choose new Committees of Safety where the
Towns are disaffected with the [existing] Committees ; and in other
Towns to let the Committees stand for the time Being. 2

18 th - Voted, That Capt. Heman Allen, Doct. Jonas Fay, Mr. Joshua
Webb, and Major Thomas Moredock be a Committee to procure each
one hundred dollars for to defray the expenses of the delegates that are
appointed to go to the Continental Congress according to the report of
the Committee of Proceedings.

19th. Voted, That Mr. Ebenezer Hoisington, Mr. Benj" Emmonds,
Lieut. Leonard Spaulding, and Mr. Stephen Tilden be a Committee to
draw a letter forbidding the Delegates from Cumberland County sitting
in the Hon ble Provincial Congress ot the State of New York.

20th. Voted, That the Committee that are to make the above Draught
are empowered to annex the Chairman's name by order of the Conven-
tion.

21st. Voted, That it is the ardent wish of this Convention that each
Town in this State would send Delegates to the Convention at their
next sitting. Those Towns that have not chose any to choose and
send.

LETTER AS PER NINETEENTH VOTE.

Westminster, 17 th Jan* 1777.

Gentlemen : — The General Convention consisting of Delegates from
the several Counties and Towns through the tract of Land known by the
name of the New Hampshire Grants have met according to adjournment
at Westminster the 16 th - inst., and have resolved and declared' the above
District of Land shall hereafter be a distinct State or Government, and
the Inhabitants thereof have full authority to make such laws as they
shall from time to time think tit.

The said Convention therefore desire and request that you will on sight
hereof withdraw yourselves from the Convention of the State of New
York, and appear there no more in the character of Representatives for
the County of Cumberland ; as you were not chosen by a Majority of the
people at large.

Gentlemen I am your most obedient

Hum b,K Servant,
Ebenezer Hoisington, Chairman Sub-Committee.
Messrs. John Sessions and Simon Stephens. 3

By order of Convention,

Joseph Bowker, Chairman.

'Referring to the Board of War appointed Sept. 27, 1776.

2 Meaning doubtless Committees of Safety appointed under the advice
of the Committee of Safety of New York.

3 June 20, 1776, Col. Joseph Marsh, Deacon John Sessions, and Simon
Stevens, Esq., were appointed " Representatives to go to New York," by
the Cumberland County Committee of Safety, and not by the people.
Sessions was returned again for the session of Aug. 18, 1779, with Elka-
nah Day and Micah Townshend ; Joel Bigelow. Elijah Prouty, and
William Shattuck were returned for the session of Jan. 21, 1784, which

48 G-eneral Conventions.

22 d - Voted, To adjourn this Convention to the first "Wednesday of June
next to be held at the Meeting-House in Windsor at nine o'clock in the
forenoon.

By order of Convention,

Joseph Bowker, Chairman.
Attest, Ira Allen, Clerk.
A true copy from the original.

THE DECLARATION AND PETITION TO CONGRESS.

The following declaration and petition, in accordance with the resolu-
tions of the convention of the loth of January, announcing the territory
of the Kew Hampshire Grants to be a free and independent State, was
presented to the Continental Congress, by the Committee appointed for
that purpose, on the 8th of April, 1777 :

To the Honorable the Continental Congress : —

The declaration and petition of that part of North America, situate
south of Canada line, wesl of Connecticut river, north of the Massachu-
setts Bay, east of a twenty mile line from Hudson's river, containing
about one hundred and forty-four townships, of the contents of six miles
square, each, granted your petitioners by the authority of New Hamp-
shire, besides several grants made by the authority of New York, and a
quantity of vacant land, humbly sheweth,

That your petitioners, by virtue of several grants made them by the
authority aforesaid, have, many years since, with their families, Income
actual settlers and inhabitants of said described premises ; by which it
is now become a respectable frontier to three neighboring states, and is
of great importance to our common barrier Tyconderoga ; as it lias fur-
nished the army there with much provisions, and can muster more than
five thousand hardy soldiers capable of bearing arms in defence of Amer-
ican liberty :

is the last representation of Cumberland County in New York. Col.
Marsh seems to have retired in 177') or early in 1777. as he was a mem-
ber of the Windsor Convention in July, 1777. and in March 1778 was
elected Lieut. Governor of Vermont. In 17s;! Stevens was a represent-
ative in the Vermont Assembly: also a delegate in the Vermont Con-
vention of 1791, which adopted the Constitution of the United States.
To Mr. Stevens is probably due the preservation of what are now known
as "the Pingrey Papers. 1 ' — See Eastern Vermont.

•Dea. Sessions represented Westminster in the Vermont Assembly in
1787. An anecdote recorded in Graham's Letters and Eastern Vermont
illustrates the deacon's position. A member of parson Bullen's church
in Westminster had shot a bear in his cornfield on Sunday, and for
this, excommunication was voted. When the parson attempted to read
this document in church, the accused, fully armed and equipped, rose to his
feet and brought his musket to bear on the parson's person. This was
too shocking for the nerves of the parson, who therefore handed the
paper to deacon Sessions, asking him to read it. The deacon declined,
saying — " All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expe-
dient." It was not expedient for the deacon to adhere to New York.

Adjourned Session at Westminster, Jan. 15, 1777. 49

That shortly after your petitioners began their settlements, a party of
land-jobbers, in the city and state of Now York, began to claim the
lands, and took measures to have them declared to be within that juris-
diction :

That on the 20 th clay of July, 1704. the king of Great-Britain did pass
an order in council, extending the jurisdiction of New York government
to Connecticut river, in consequence of a representation made by the
late lieutenant governor Colden, that for the convenience of trade, and
administration of justice, the inhabitants were desirous of being an-
nexed to that state :

That on this alteration of jurisdiction, the said lieutenant governor
Colden did grant several tracts of land in the above described limits, to
certain persons living in the state of New York, which were, at that
time, in the actual possession of your petitioners ; and under color of
the lawful authority of that state, did proceed against your petitioners,
as lawless- intruders upon the crown lands in their province. This pro-
duced an application to the king of Great Britain from your petitioners,
setting forth their claims under the government of New-Hampshire, and
the disturbance and interruption they had suffered from said post claim-
ants, under New- York. And on the 24 th day of July, 1767, an order
was passed at St. James's, prohibiting the governors of New-York, for
the time being, from granting any part of the described premises, on
pain of incurring his Majesty's highest displeasure. Nevertheless the
same lieutenant governor Colden, governors Dunmore and Tryon, have,
each and every of them, m their respective turns of administration, pre-
sumed to violate the said royal order, by making several grants of the
prohibited premises, and countenancing an actual invasion of your peti-
tioners, by force and arms, to drive them off from their possessions.

The violent proceedings, ( with the solemn declaration of the supreme
court of New- York, that the charters, conveyances, &c. of your petition-
ers' lands, were utterly null and void,) on which they were founded, re-
duced your petitioners to the disagreeable necessity of taking up arms,
as the only means left for the security of their possessions. The conse-
quence of this step was the passing twelve acts of outlawry, by the leg-
islature of New- York, on the ninth day of March, 1774; which were not
intended for the state in general, but only for the part of the cjunties of
Albany and Charlotte, viz. such parts thereof as are covered by the New-
Hampshire charters.

Your petitioners having had no representative in that assembly, when
these acts were passed, they first came to the knowledge of theinby pub-
lic papers, in which they were inserted. By these, they were informed,
that if three or more of them assembled together to oppose what said as-
sembly called legal authority, that such as should be found assembled, to
the number of three or more, should be adjudged felons : And that, in
case they, or any of them, should not surrender himself or themselves to
certain officers appointed for the purpose of securing them, after a warn-
ing of seventy days, that then it should be lawful for the respective judges
of the supreme court of the province of New-York, to award execution
of Death, the same as though he or they had been attainted before a
proper court of judicatory. These laws were evidently calculated to in-
timidate your petitioners into a tame surrender of their rights, and such
a state of vassalage, as would entail misery on their latest posterity.

It appears to your petitioners, that an infringement on their rights is
still meditated by the state of New- York ; as we find that in their general
convention at Harlem, the second day of August last, it was unanimously
voted, " That all quit-rents, formerly due and owing to the crown of Great-

oO General Conventions.

Britain within this state, are now due and owing to this convention, or
such future government as may hereafter be established in this state.* 1

By a submission to the claims of New-York your petitioners would be
subjected to the payment of two shillings and sixpence sterling on every
hundred acres annually : which, compared with the quit-rents of Living-
ston's, Phillips's, and Ransalear's manors, and many other enormous tracts
in the best situations in the state, would lay the most disproportionate
share of the public expense on your petitioners, in all respects the least
able to bear it.

The convention of New- York have now nearly completed a code of
laws, for the future government of that state ; which, should they be at-
tempted to be put in execution, will subject your petitioners to the fatal
necessity of opposing them by every means in their power.

When the declaration of the honorable the Continental Congress, of
the fourth of July last past, reached your petitioners, they communicated
it throughout the whole of their district ; and being properly apprised of
the proposed meeting, delegates from the several counties and towns
in the district, described in the preamble to this petition, did meet at
"Westminster in said district, and after several adjournments, for the pur-
pose of forming themselves, into a distinct and separate state, did make
and publish a declaration. " that they woul 1. at all times thereafter, con-
sider themselves as ;i free and independent state, capable of regulating
their own internal police, in all and every respect whatsoever ; and that
the people, in the said described district, have the sole, exclusive right of
governing themselves in such a manner and form as they, in their wis-
dom, should choose ; doI repugnant to any resolves of the honorable the
Continental Congress." And for the mutual support of each other in the
maintenance of the freedom and independence of said district or separate
stale, the said delegates did jointly and severally pledge themselves to
each other, by all the ties that are held sacred among men. and resolve
and declare that they were at all times ready, in conjunction with their
brethren oi the United States, to contribute their full proportion towards
maintaining the present just war against the fleets and armies of Great-
Britain.

To convey this declaration and resolution to your honorable body, the
grand representatives of the United States, were we (your more imme-
diate petitioners) delegated by the united and unanimous voices of the
representative's of the whole body of the settlers on the described premi-
ses, in whose name and behalf, we humbly pray, that the said declaration
may be received, and the district described therein be ranked by your
honors, among the Wx'v and American states, and delegates therefrom
admitted to seats in the grand Continental Congress : and your petition-
ers as in duty hound shall ever pray.

New Hampshire Grants, Westminstei", Jan. loth, 1777.

f Joxas Fay,
Signed by order, and in be- ] Thomas Chittenden,
half of said inhabitants, j Heman Allen,
[ Bettben Jones.

THE REVISED DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

The following is the declaration of independence as "prepared for the
press," by the committee appointed for that purpose in obedience to the
12th and 13th votes of the January Convention. It was published in the
Connecticut Courant of March 17, 1777, and was not satisfactory to the

Adjourned Session at Westminster, Jan. 15, 1777. 51

subsequent convention of the 4th of June, for the reason that it omitted
to state the causes for the separation from New York, as will be seen bv
the proceedings of that bod}-.

Vermont's Declaration of Independence.

In Convention of the representatives from the several counties and
towns of the New Hampshire Grants, holden at Westminster. January 15,
1777. by adjournment.

Whereas the Honorable the Continental Congress did. on the l 11 ' day
of July last, declare the United Colonies in America to he tree and inde-
pendent of the crown of Great Britain : which declaration we most cor-
dially acquiesce in : And whereas by the said declaration the arbitrary
acts of the crown are null and void, in America, consequently the juris-
diction by said crown granted to New York government over the people
ofthe New-Hampshire Grants is totally dissolved:

We therefore, the inhabitants, on said tract of land, are at present with-
out law or government, and may be truly said to be in a state of nature ;
consequently a right remains to the people of said Grants to form a gov-
ernment best suited to secure their property, well being and happiness.
We the delegates from the several counties and towns on said tract of
land, bounded as follows : South on the North line of Massachusetts Bay ;
Easl on Connecticut river: North on Canada line: West as far as
the New Hampshire Grants extends :

After several adjournments for the purpose of forming ourselves into
a distinct separate state, being assembled at Westminster, do make and
publish the following Declaration, viz. :

"That we will, at all times hereafter, consider ourselves as a free and
independent state, capable of regulating our internal police, in all and
every respect whatsoever — and that the people on said Grants have the
sole and exclusive and inherent right of ruling and governing them-
selves in such manner and form as in their own wisdom they shall think
proper, not inconsistent or repugnant to any resolve of the Honorable
Continental Congress.

•• Furthermore, we declare by all the ties which are held sacred among
men. that we will firmly stand by and support one another in this our
declaration of a state, and in endeavoring as much as in us lies, to sup-
press all unlawful routs and disturbances whatever. Also we will en-
deavor to secure to every individual his life, peace and property against
all unlawful invaders of the same.

"Lastly we hereby declare, that we are at all times ready, in conjunc-
tion with our brethren in the United States of America, to do our full
proportion in maintaining and supporting the just war against the tyran-
nical invasions of the ministerial fleets and armies, as well as any other
foreign enemies, sent with express purpose to murder our fellow breth-
ren, and with tire and sword to ravage our defenceless country.

•• The said state hereafter to be called by the name of New Connec-
ticut."' 1

Extract from the minutes. Ira Allen, Clerk. 2

1 See note and references, ante. p. 41-46.
- B. H. Hall, in Eastern Vermont, p. 283. note, says :
The Convention, after sitting from the loth to the 22d of January, ad-
journed to meet at Windsor on the first Wednesday in June following.
There appears, however, to have been a meeting intermediate. A call
was issued on the 30th of January by Nathan Clark, for a Convention at

52 General Conventions.

ADJOURNED SESSION AT WINDSOR,

JUNE 4, 1777.

fFrom Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, Vol. I.]

Of this Convention no full journal has been found, though the record
of a portion of its proceedings has been preserved. It was held by ad-
journment from the convention of the preceding 15th of January. Only
the following accounts of its proceedings (numbered one to five) have
been obtained.

I. Newspaper Notice for its Assembling.

In the Connecticut Courant of the 14th of April, 1777, the following no-
tice appears :

In convention of the representatives from the several counties and
towns in the New Eampshire Grants holden at Westminster, 15 th Janu-
ary. 1777. by adjournment, voted unanimously —

"Thai it is (be anient wish of this convention that each town in the.
district would send a delegate or delegates to the next sitting of this
convention, those towns that have not chosen any delegates to choose

Dorset, and by the records of the town of Chester, it seems that Lieut.
Jabez Sargeant was chosen on the 13th of February, to attend the spe-
cial Convention, and act - for the good of the state of New Connecticut,
and for the town of Chester, according to the best of his understanding."
Ms. Records of Chester. Slade's State Papers, pp. 68-73.

The pages of the State Papers cited contain the proceedings of the
Convention of Jan. 15, 1777. If any Convention met. as suggested, it is
certain that its record has neither been preserved until this time nor
referred to in preceding days. Mr. Hall does not state when the Conven-
tion called by Nathan Clark was to be held, but the place is Dorset, in-
stead of Windsor. Otherwise the editor would suggest that possibly
Mr. Clark's 1 ' call" was rather an urgent request for the appointment
of delegates to the then forthcoming Windsor Convention of June
4. Jabez Sargeant did represent Chester in that Convention. Perhaps a
meeting earlier than June had been contemplated for some special pur-
pose, but was abandoned. The Warrant for the Convention of Jan.
16, 1776, shows that this happened more than once in 1775,

Adjourned Session at Windsor, June -i, 1777.

and send. This convention is adjourned to the first Wednesday of June
next, to be held at the meeting-house Windsor, at nine o'clock in the
morning."

Extract from the minutes.

Ira Allen, Clerk.
*** Nonresidents, that have a desire to attend the above convention,
are hereby notified of the same. Said convention was formed to govern
the internal police of said district, and if thought proper to form said
district into a state.

II. Organization and List op Members.

[From the manuscript of the Hon. James H. Phelps, published in Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll. Vol. I.]

New Hampshire Grants (alias) 7
New Connecticut ; \ Windsor, June 4 th . 1777.

Convention opened according to adjournment.

PRESENT THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS.

Capt. Joseph Bovtker in the Chair.

1 st - Voted, Lieut. Martin Powell. Assistant Clerk.

f Nathan Clark, Esq.,

Benniwj- ) Mr. Simeon Hathaway.
ton, j Capt. John Burnham,
t Doct. Jonas Fay.
Shafts- j Major Jeremiah Clark,
hufij. < Mr. Gideon Olin.
Arling- ( Capt.EbenezerWillough

Tiu-
moulh,

( 'hirrn-

don,

Ebenezer Allen.

ton,
Sunder-
land,
Man-
chester,

Dorset,

\- Capt.

fBenja Spencer, 7 M ., jol .
I Whitefield Foot. >' Part-
j Joseph Smith, > Minor
l_ Stephen Place, \ Part.

Uougn- < Lt. John Southerland,

Mr. Abel Benedict, [by. Jutland, j Capt Joseph Bowker '

Pittsford, Capt. Jon th Fassett.
Xeshobee, )

\ Lieut. Joseph Bradley.
"( Mr. Eli Bronson.
J Mr. Thomas Bull,
\ Lieut. Martin Powell.

Mr. Cephas Kent.
( Doct. Gains Smith.
"( Mr. Muses Robinson,
j Capt. William Fitch.
\ Capt. Jonathan Willard.

Mr. Caleb Smith.
Poidtney, Capt. Zebediah Dewey.
( By a letter from s d Town
1 acquiescing in forming a
( New State.

Hub- 7 Mr Jesge Churchill.

bard ton. >

Dauby. Capt. William Gage.

Rupert.

Pawlet,
Wells,

Castle-
ton,

[or > Capt. Josiah Powers.
Brandon^ )
Whiting. Capt. Josiah [Jeremiah]

Powers. 1
Cornwall, Mr. Gamaliel Painter.
Colches- S Capt. Ira Allen,

ter, \ Capt. Heman Allen.
Williston, Col° Thomas Chittenden.

V il r I Mr. W'". Mellen.
mmgton, >

Halifax, Docf W m - Hill.

Col Benj a Carpenter,

Capt. John Barney.

S™«X} Lt - IsraelSmith -

Guilford

1 Doubtless " Josiah Powers " of Whiting should be Capt. Jeremiah
Powers. See page 55, where that name is given. Josiah Powers repre-
sented Brandon in this convention, and also in the Legislature of Oct.
1778.

General Conventions.

XT^-JohnDy,

Dum- )
merston, \

Lt. Leonard Spaulding.

Putney, Mr. Dennis Lockland.

^ es l~ iNathi Robinson, Esq.

minster, ) 1

B ° cMn 9-ll>oct. Reuben Jones.

/mm, }

Chester, Lt. Jabez Sargent.
IFmcZsor, Mr.Ebenezer Hoisington
JfeH/ord, ) Majr Joe] MatthewSj

Hartland,~] ) ^'

Wood- I m , Be ., Emmon(iSi

stoc/c, > ■'

f?ar£- < Col Joseph Marsh,
ford, j Mr. Stephen Tilden.

VnmfrPf JJohnThroop, [Esq.

fomp-et, | John Winchester Dana,

Sharon,

Joel Marsh, Esq.,
Mr. Daniel Gilbert.

Kent, "1

li£on-f Mr - Edwarf 1Aiken

derry,] j

Caven- j
c?is/i, J

Capt. John Coflrin, [Cof-
fein.]

Bromley )

[or ' - Capt. William Utley.
Peru,'] )

Thetford,

Stratford,

Fairlee,

Moor- "]
town,
[or
Brad-
ford,]

Barnard

\ Mr. Asa Whitcomb,

l Mr. Asa Chandler.

rColo Peter Olcott,
Norwich } Maj r Thomas Moredock,
( Mr. Jacob Burton.

Corinth,

\i 10-

bury.
Beading,

Lt. Aimer Chamberlain.
Mr. Frederick Smith.
Mr. Amos Woodworth.

Doct. Bildad Andross,

Mr. Benj a Baldwin. 1

By a letter acquiescing
in a State.

Mr. John G. D. Bailey,
Capt. Robert Johnson.

Mr. Andrew Spear.'

III. Further Proceedings — Name kk Vermont."

[From the Connecticut Courant of June 80, 1777.]

State of Vermont, }

In General Convention, Windsor, June 4, 1777. >
Whereas, This convention did al their session in Westminster, the 15 th
day of January last, among other things, declare the district of hind com-
monly called and known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, to
be "a free and independent state capable <>f regulating their own inter-
nal police in all and every respecl whatsoever, and that it should there-
after be known by the name of New Connecticut :"

1 Mooretown, now Bradford, in a regular town meeting May 29, 1777,
" Voted to send Bildad Andross and Benjamin Baldwin to the conven-
tion at Windsor, to take measures for the formation of a new state. 1 '
— Copy from the town records in Vt. Historical Magazine, vol. n, p. 816.

2 Here ends the manuscript of Mr. Phelps, to which he appends the
words :

"Copied from the original record November 18th, 19th and 20th, 1862,
by James H. Phelps."

The record from which Mr. Phelps' copy was taken was certified by
Jonas Fay, the standing clerk of the convention. It was only tempora-
rily in the possession of Mr. Phelps, and is not known to be now in ex-
istence.

Adjourned Session at Windsor, June 4, 1777.

And whereas. By mere accident, or through mistake, the said declara-
tion alone was published in the Connecticut < 'owrant, No. 634. dated March
17 th - 1777. without assigning the reasons which impelled the inhabitants
to such separation :

And whereas, This convention have been informed that a district of
land lying on the Susquehanna river, lias been heretofore and is now
known by the name of Xew Connecticut, which was unknown to them
until some time since the declaration at Westminster aforesaid ; and as
it would he inconvenient in many respects for two separate districts on
this continent to hear the same name :

.Resolved, Therefore, unanimously, that the said district described in
the preamble to the declaration at West minster, aforesaid, shall now
hereafter be called and known by the name of Vermont.

And whereas, The whole body of members which compose this conven-
tion, consisting of the following persons, viz.:

Capt. Joseph Bowker, Presided,

Mr. Simeon Hathaway,

Dr. Jonas Fay, Secretary,

Mi-. Gideon ( )lin.

Mr. Abel Benedict,

Mr. Eli Brownson,

Mr. Thomas Bull.

Mr. Moses Robinson, _''■

Captain William Fitch,

Mr. Caleb Smith.

Mr. Jesse Churchill,

Capt. Ebenezer Allen.

Mr. Whiteheld Foot.

Mr. Stephen Place,

Capt. Jonathan Fassett,

Mr. Gamaliel Painter.

Capt. Ira Allen.

Mr. William Melleu,

Col. Benjamin Carpenter,

Mr. Israel Smith,

Mr. Dennis Lockland,

Mr. Joshua Webb,

Mr. Jabez Sargeant,

Capt. William Utley,

Capt. William Curtis,

Capt. William Gallop,

Mr. Stephen Tilden,

Mr. John Throop,

Mr. Asa Whitcomb,

Col. Peter Olcott.

Mr. Jacob Burton,

Mr. Daniel Gilbert

Mr. Frederick Smith,

Dr. Bildad Andrus,

Mr. John G. D. Bailey,

Mr. Amaziah Woodworth, '

Nathan Clark, Esq.,

Mr. John Burnham, Jun.,

Major Jeremiah Clark,

Capt. Ebenezer Willoughby,

Mr. Joseph Bradley,

Mr. Martin Powell"

Mr. Cephas Kent,

Mr. trains Smith.

Capt. Jonathan Willard,

Captain Zebediah Dewey,

Captain William Gage,

Benjamin Spencer, Esq.,

Mr. Joseph Smith,

Mr. John Sutherland.

Capt. Josiah Powers,

Capt. Ileman Allen,

Col. Thomas Chittenden.

Dr. William Hill,

Capt. John Barney.

Mr. John Dyer,

Nathaniel Robinson, Esq.,

Dr. Reuben Jones,

Capt. John Coffin, [Coffein,]

Mr. Ebenezer Hosington,

Major Joel Matthews,

Mr. Benjamin Emmons,

Col. Joseph Marsh,

John W. Dana. Esq.,

Mr. Asa Chandler,

Major Thomas Moredock,

Joel Marsh. Esq.,

Mr. Abner Chamberlin,

Mr. Amos Woodworth, 1

Mr. Benjamin Baldwin,

Capt. Robert Johnson,

Capt. Jeremiah Powers,

amounting to seventy-two in number, being all convened at the town
house in Windsor, aforesaid, and the motion being made and seconded,

1 In the preceding list of delegates, the only Woodworth named is Amoe,
whose name is also in this list with that of Amaziah.

56 General Conventions.

whether the house would proceed to business on the former declaration
made at Westminster, in January aforesaid, with this alteration only,
"that instead of Nkw Connecticut, the said district should ever be
known by the name Vermont ;" That then the names of the representa-
tives being distinctly and severally called by the Secretary, seventy-one
of them did answer in the words following, viz. : "Proceed to form ;"
at which time and place the said seventy-one members did renew their
pledges to each other by all the ties held sacred among men, and resolve
and declare that they were at all times ready, in conjunction with their
brethren in the United (States, to contribute their full proportion towards
maintaining the present just war against the fleets and armies of Great
Britain.

That the public may be capable of forming a just idea of the reasons
which so necessarily oblige the inhabitants oi the district before describ-
ed to declare themselves to he separate and distinct from the state of
New York, the following complaints are hereto subjoined.

COMPLAINTS.

In the year 1764 the legislative authority of New York did obtain
jurisdiction over the before described territory of land, by virtue of a
false representation made by the late Lieut, governor Colden, that for
the convenience of trade and administration of justice the inhabitants
were desirous of being annexed to that government.

They have refused to make re-grants of the same lands to the original
proprietors and occupants, unless al the exorbitant rate of $2300 i'^-^ for
each township, and did enchance the quitrent three fold, and demanded
an immediate delivery of the title derived before from New Hampshire.

The judges of their supreme court have made a solemn declaration,
that the charters, conveyances, &c, ot the lands included in the before
described premises, were utterly null and void, on which said title was
founded.

Inconsequence of which declaration, writs of possession have by them
been issued, and the Sheriff of the County of Albany sent at the head of
six or seven hundred armed men to enforce the execution thereof.

They have passed an act annexing a penalty thereto, of thirty pounds,
and fine and six months imprisonment, on any person who should refuse
attending the sheriff alter being requested for the purpose of executing
writs of possession.

The governors, Dunmore, Tryon, and Colden, have made re-grants of
several tracts of land included in the premises, to certain favorite land-
iobbers in the government of New York, in direct violation of his Bri-
tannic Majest3''s special orders in the year 17<>7.

They have endeavored and many times threatened to excite the king's
troops to destroy us.

They have issued proclamations wherein they have offered large sums
of money for the purpose of apprehending those persons who dared bold-
ly and publicly to appear in defence of their just rights.

They did pass twelve acts of outlawry on the 9th of March, A. D. 1774,
empowering the respective judges of their supreme court to award exe-
cution of death against those inhabitants in said district, that they should
judge to be offenders, without trial.

They have and still continue an unjust claim to those lands, which
greatly retards emigration into, and the settlement of this state.

They have hired foreign troops, emigrants from Scotland, at different
times, and armed them to drive us out of possession.

They have sent the savages on our frontiers lo destroy us.

Adjourned Session at Windsor, June 4, 1777. 57

They have proceeded to erect the counties of Cumberland and Glou-
cester, and established courts of justice there, after they were discoun-
tenanced by the authority of Great Britain.

The free convention of the state of New York, at Harlem, in the year
177(3, unanimously voted " that all quitrents formerly due to the king of
Great Britain, are now due and owing to this convention, or such future
government as shall be established in this state."

In truth, they, the late government of New York, have spared neither
cost or pains, nor been wanting in using every artful insinuation in
their power, (however unwarrantable by the laws' of God or man,) to de-
fraud those inhabitants out of the whole of their landed property ; and
nothing but consciences void of offence towards God and man, to whose
impartial judgment we appeal, could have induced those inhabitants to
have run the risk, and to have undergone the hardships and fatigues they
have borne, for the salvation of their lives, liberties and properties.

In the several stages of the aforesaid oppression, we have petitioned
his Britannic Majesty in the most humble manner for redress, and have,
at very great expense, received several reports in our favor; and in other
instances wherein we have petitioned the late legislative authority of
New York, these petitions have been treated with neglect. We shall
therefore only remind the public that our local situation alone is a suffi-
cient reason for our declaration of an independency, and must therefore
announce a separation from the state < if New York, and refer the public
to our declaration made the 15 tb day of January last, and published in the
Connecticut Courant, and sincerely wish that in future a lasting peace
may continue between the state of New York and this, with the other
United States of America.

By order of Convention.

Jonas Fay, Secretary. l

IV. Concerning Election of Delegates.

A copy of the proceedings of this June convention, relating to the elec-
tion of delegates to a Constitutional Convention, appears to have been
forwarded to the several towns, which copy was as follows :

In convention of the representatives of the several counties and towns
in the state of Vermont, holden at Windsor on the 4th dav of June, A.
D. 1777-

Whereas, this convention did at its sitting at Westminster on the 15 th
day of January last make and publish a declaration that they would at
all times hereafter consider themselves as a free and independent state,
capable of regulating their own internal police in all and every respect
whatever :

And whereas no government sufficient to the exigencies of our
affairs has been hitherto established ; Therefore it becomes abso-
lutely necessary for the safety, well being and happiness of the inhabi-
tants of this state to form such a government as shall, in the opinion of
the representatives of the people of this state, best conduce to the hap-
piness and safety of their constituents in particular and America in gen-
eral ; and whereas the Honorable Continental Congress did, on the 15 th
day of May, A. D. 1776, make and publish the within recommendation
for the express purpose of taking up government,

1 The foregoing from the Connecticut Courant is found, though with
numerous typographical errors, in the Appendix to J. D. Butler's Ad-
dress of 1846, p. 31, 32, 33. See also H. HalVs Vt., pp. 244, 245, 246.
6

58 General Conventions.

Resolved, Therefore, that copies of the said recommendation he distri-
buted to the inhabitants of each town within this state ; and that it be
and is hereby recommended to the freeholders and inhabitants of each
town in this state to meet at some convenient place in each town on the
23 d day of this instant June and choose delegates to attend a general
convention at the meeting-house in Windsor, within the said state, on
the second day of July next, to choose delegates to attend the general
Congress, a Committee of Safety, and to form a Constitution for said
state. By order of Convention.

pr copy, Joseph Bow r KER, President. 1

COMMITTEE TO REPAIR TO TICONDEROGA.

This convention at Windsor of June 4, 1777, [appointed a committee
to make a draft of a constitution.-] also appointed a committee consisting

1 The resolution of the Continental Congress of May 15, 1776, referred
to above, is as follows :

"Resolved, That it be recommended to the respective assemblies and
conventions of the United Colonies, where no government sufficient for
the exigencies of their affairs hath been hitherto established, to adopt
such government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the
people, best conduce to the happiness and safely of their constituents in
particular and America in general." — See ante, p. 40.

2 These words are added to the statement in the Vermont Historical
Society Collections, vol. I, p. 54. on the authority of Ira Allen, who was a
member of the convention. — See Ira Allen's History of Vermont, p. 92,
or Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll.. vol. I, p. 382. Who constituted the committee to
draft the Constitution is nowhere stated. Ira Allen says : [Jonas] u Fay.
[Thomas] Chittenden, [Heman] Allen, and [Keuben] Jones, returned
from Congress, without the decision of that body upon their petition in
behalf of the inhabitants, and brought with them Dr. Young's letter,
printed and published at Philadelphia, addressed to the inhabitants of
Vermont. 1 ' — See Allen's History^ p. 86, or Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll. vol. i, p.
37!). Dr. Young wrote that he had -t recommended to your committee the
constitution of Pennsylvania for a model,"* suggesting an alteration
making the executive body [Governor and Council] advisory simply, re-
serving the supreme legislative power to the General Assembly. — See Dr.
Young's letter, Appendix D. It would not be unreasonable to assume that
the Convention would select, as committee, the gentlemen who had been
in*cousultation with Dr. Young, and by whom he sent printed copies of
his letter to be distributed among the people of the expected state. On
that assumption, the committee consisted of Jonas Fay, Thomas Chitten-
den, Heman Allen, and Reuben Jones — perhaps with the addition of Ja-
cob Bayley, who had been appointed an agent to Congress with these gen-
tlemen. The names of all these except Allen appear in Pliny H. White's
list of delegates to the Convention which adopted the Constitution, and
all of them except Jacob Ba}ley were members of the Convention that

Adjourned Session at Windsor, June 4, 1777. 59

of •• Col. William Marsh, James Mead, Ira Allen and Captain Salisbury,
to wait on the commander of Ticonderoga fort and consult with him
respecting the regulations and defense of the frontiers, and then ad-
journed to the 2d of July, 1777. at the same place. While the commit-
tee was at Ticonderoga, Gen. Burgoyne with his army appeared on the
lake, and resting at Crown Point, he sent a scout of about 300, mostly
Indians, to land at the mouth of Otter Creek, to annoy the frontiers of
the state. Gen. Poor refused to allow any troops to the committee for
the defense of the frontiers, but allowed Col. Warner to go with the
committee, who soon raised men sufficient to repel the assailants. All
who were members of the convention left the militia and repaired to
Windsor on the 4th [2d] of July, 1777." '

V. Proclamation for a Fast.

A PROCLAMATION.

Since God has been pleased in his wisdom to visit the inhabitants of
this land with his just judgments by suffering our unnatural enemies to
wage war against us. the pestilence to prevail and the many other calam-
ities with which we are now threatened as a just reward' for the many
pevailing sins committed against the Divine Law, we have sufficient
reason to believe calls aloud on his people for solemn Fasting and
Prayer. We have, therefore, thought fit to appoint and do hereby ap-
point Wednesday the 18 th day of June instant to be observed as a day
of public fasting and prayer throughout this state, and do earnestly rec-
ommend to the good people thereof to observe the same as such, that we
may humble our hearts before God and implore Him to avert the im-
pending judgments, remove the sword of our unnatural enemies from
us, sanctify the awful frowns of Divine Providence, grant His blessings

appointed the agents to Congress. Benjamin Franklin is " reported
to have been the author of the most remarkable feature of this Consti-
tution, that is, a single legislative assembby." Dr. Young was efficient in
securing the adoption of this feature in the first constitutions of Penn-
sylvania, Vermont, and Georgia, and it was adopted in the constitution
of the National Assembly in France. In Vermont, says Gov. Hall, Dr.
Young's "recommendation was followed." Possibly Dr. Y. himself
drafted the constitution, and the work of the committee was little if any-
thing more than nominal. The Convention at Windsor in July 1777 was
so excited and absorbed by the immediate danger from the enemy that
it could not be in the mood nor command the time necessary for mature
deliberation. There is no evidence of any amendment to the original
draft, except the addition of the preamble. The institution of a State
Committee of Safety, vested temporarily with the powers of the Gover-
nor and Council, was anticipated in the warning, and probably included
in the original draft of the Constitution. — See Sparks' 1 Life of Franklin,
p. 408-410, and H. Hall's Early History of Vermont, p. 498-500.
1 1. Allen's Vt., p. 92, in Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll, vol. I, p. 382.

60 General Conventions.

on our councils and arms and direct our generals, guard this state from
the invasions of the savages, direct in our election of members for estab-
lishing government, bless the labors of our hands, grant suitable seasons
tor the year for seed-time and harvest and crown the year with His good-
ness, revive religion and virtue, Bless the ministers of the gospel and
water his churches with heavenly grace. And it is hereby recommended
to all the good people of this state to abstain from secular labor and re-
creation on that day.

Given at Windsor in the state of Vermont in General Convention, the
7 th day of June Anno 1777.

By order.

Joseph Bowkek, President.

Joxas Fay, Secretary?

VI. Exclusive Jurisdiction assumed by Vermont. 2

[Furnished by Hon. James H. Phelps from a paper given to him l>y the late Henry Ste-
vens. Now printed for the first time.]

STATE OF VERMONT.
In General Convention, "Windsor. June 4, 1777.

Resolved, That the keeper of the common gaol for the County of Cum-
berland within this State be and is hereby directed to keep in safe cus-
tody all Prisoners already committed by any legal authority within this
State until regularly discharged by this Convention or their further or-
der had thereon, and that for the future the said keeper be and is hereby
directed to observe such orders as he shall receive from either of the
Committees of Safety for either of the towns in this State during the
recess of this Convention.

Resolved, That the Chairman of the Committees of Safety for the
Counties of Cumberland and Gloucester immediately on sight hereof and

1 A manuscript copy of the above proclamation, certified by Martin
Powell, assistant clerk, is found in the office of the Secretary of State at
Albany, in volume 32, Miscellaneous, p. 54.

From the date of the above proclamation it would appear that the Con-
vention was in session not less than tour days.

3 The truth of this most valuable addition to the proceedings of the
Convention is fully confirmed by the following:

On the 26th of June, 1777, the Cumberland County Committee of Safety
[under New York] appointed a committee to draft a "True Representation
of the Broken State of the Inhabitants of the County." which was done
on that day, and the document, signed by James Clay, Chairman, was
presented to the New York Council of Safety on the 15th of July. This
" True Representation " declared :

" That the Convention held at Windsor on the 4th day of June, in-
stant, for the purpose of establishing their new state of Vermont, have
taken into their possession the prison of this county, and have strictly
forbid all committees acting under the authority of the state of New
York, so that it is become impracticable for the county committee, or
any other committee, to proceed to any publick business in this county."
— See Eastern Vermont, pp. 294-296.

Adjourned Session at Windsor, June 4, 1777. 61

they are hereby directed and required to desist acting in such capacity
by virtue of any authority derived from the Honorable Convention of
the State of New York, and that their several associates are directed
strictly to observe the same.

Resolved, That the several Committees of Safety acting under the au-
thority of this State be and are hereby directed to take into their imme-
diate custody all such estates of enemical persons who have heretofore
or that may hereafter be by sufficient evidence proved to be such, which
estates are not already in custody by virtue of such authority, and them
safely keep for the use of this State during the recess of this "Convention
except what may be sufficient to defray the necessary charges arising
for trial of such offender or offenders.

Resolved, That all Commissioners appointed by the authority of the
State of New York for the purpose of seizing the estates of enemical
persons for the use of that State, to the prejudice of this, be and hereby
are required to desist and surcease such commission or commissions
immediately on sight hereof, and they are hereby severally strictly for-
bid disposing of any such estate so seized within this State except what
is sufficient to defray the charge of trial, seizing, &c, until further order
from this Convention or the orders of the President or Vice President
of this State with his Council during the recess of this said Convention.

Resolved, That the Committees of the several towns in this State be
and are hereby empowered to seize and secure all and every person and
their estates that appear to be enemical to their country and to proceed
to trial in manner and form following:

That the Committee of any town in this State shall seize the person
and estate of any such suspected enemies and if on examination they
shall find just cause to proceed against the same they are hereby empow-
ered to call thirteen committee men from the adjacent towns including
the committee of said town, which are hereby empowered to try such
offender or offenders and give sentence against him or them and order
the said judgment to be put in execution — Provided the offender or
offenders is not worthy of death or other corporal punishment, in which
case the committees are empowered to imprison the offender or offenders
in the common gaol or gaols within this State, there to remain without
bail until a proper court shall be established in this State to try him or
them.

Extract from the minutes,

By order. Jonas Fay, Se&y.

A true copy,

Attest, Leonard Spaulding. 1

'Mr. Spaulding was the delegate from Dummerston. At a preceding
session of the Convention, in Sept. 1776, he had been appointed, with
Samuel Fletcher, " to notify Townshend, Putney, New Fane and Dum-
merston," which seems to have been done by furnishing written copies
of the proceedings of the Conventions. There was then no printing
office in the State.

THE CONVENTION AT WINDSOR,

JULY 2-8, 1777.

Of this Convention — unsurpassed in importance by any other in the
State, in that it established a constitution and frame of government —
no official record, and no full and satisfactory unofficial account even, has
ever been published. Dr. Williams, the earliest historian of Vermont,
[1794.] wrote his history when many of the members of the Convention
were living, but the only allusion he makes to that body consists of the
facts that it was sitting at Windsor on the 4th of July, 1777, and "their
committee wrote in the most pressing terms, July 8, [3,] to the Commit-
tee of Safety at Exeter, in New Hampshire, for assistance 1 ' against the
invasion by a British force. 1

Ika Allen was a member of the Convention, and certainly was so fa-
miliar with all that occurred in it that he could have given a detailed
account, but in 1798 he wrote a few lines only as a record, as follows:

A draft of a constitution was laid before the Convention, and read.
The business being new. and of greal consequence, required serious de-
liberation. The Convention hail it under consideration when the news
of the evacuation of Ticonderoga arrived, which alarmed them very
much, as thereby the frontiers of the State were exposed to the inroads
of an enemy. The family of the President of the Convention, as well
as those of many other members, were exposed to the foe. In this aw-
ful crisis the Convention was for leaving Windsor, but a severe thunder-
storm came on, and gave them time to reflect, while other members, less
alarmed at the news, called the attention of the whole to finish the Con-
stitution, which was then reading paragraph by paragraph for the last
time. This was done, and the Convention then appointed a Council of
Safety to act during the recess, and the Convention adjourned. 2

William Slade [1823,] and Zadock Thompson, [1824, J 842, 1853,]
adopted the account of Ira Allen, and thus the early historians of the
State left to more recent investigators the task of discovering what-
ever more could be found.

1 Williams's History, vol. 2, 177.
9 Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll, vol. I, p. 383.

Convention at Windsor, July 2-8, 1777.

B. H. Hall [1858] added one fact, viz: "a right to the county jail at
Westminster was, however, reiterated, and the orders were issued to a
sergeant and six men to guard it both by night and day, aud to permit
no one to advance withing six feet of the gratings, or to approach the
jail door." l

The late Rev. Plixy H. WniTE, of Coventry, gave the results of much
its. arch in an interesting address delivered before the Vermont Histor-
ical Society, July 2, 1863. 2 Mr. White added several particulars, and first
a list of twenty-four of the members, sixteen having been ascertained by
the late LEONARD Deming of Middlebury, and eight by Mr. White.
The list is as follows:

Barnet,
Ben-
nington,

Brad-
ford.

Chester,
Dauby.

Guilford.
Hartford,
Marlboro,

Alexander Harvey.

New-

Jonas Fay.

bury.

Joseph Safford.

Pomfret,

Benja. Baldwin,

Puultney

Bildad Andrus.

Rock-

Thos. Chandler.

ingham,

Jabez Sargent.

Rutland.

Thos. Chittenden,

Sunder-

William Gage.

land,

Benjamin Carpenter.

Tin-

Joseph Marsh.

mouth,

Francis Whitmore.

Pownal.

< Jacob Ba}dey,

| Reuben Foster.

John Throop.
c W m - Ward.
f Xehemiah Howe.
$ Joshua Webb,
I Reuben Jones.

Joseph Bowker.

< Timothy Brownson.

I Eb r Allen,
} Charles Brewster.
Joseph Williams.

To these the editor of these papers adds the following — four on good
authority, and ten probable members:

Dariby, Thomas Rowley. 3
Benning- { John Burnham. 1

ton, I Nathan Clark, probably:
Clarendon, Benj. Spencer, probably:

Colchester,

Capt. Ira Allen.
Capt. Hernan Allen/'

Shaftsbury. Maj. Jeremiah Clark
probably'

Wilmington, AYilliam Williams, prob-
ably. 1

Dummerston, Lt. Leonard Spauld-
ing, probably. 6

Westminster. Xath'l Robinson, prob-
ably.

Windsor. Ebenezer Hoisiugton,
probably?'

rr , 7 7 o i T7.1 + u t, Pomfret, John W. Dana, -probably"

Townshend, Samuel Fletcher, prob- J ' ' * "

ably:

Cavendish, John Cuffein, probably. 11

1 Eastern Vermont, p. -298, apparently on the authority of a letter dated
July 7. 1777. from Col. William Williams of Wilmington to Capt. John
Sessions. As this letter was dated while, the Convention was in session,
it is probable Col. Williams was a member. He represented Wilmington
in the legislature of Vermont in 1779. Wilmington was represented in
the Convention of Sept. 25, 1776, by letter, and again Jan. 4. 1777, by
Wm. Melleu delegate. It was also represented in the first legislature,
March 1778, by Elijah Alvord. It is quite probable, therefore, that the
town was represented in the Convention of July 1777. It could not send

64 General Conventions.

Mr. White adds : —

The Convention was organized by choosing Joseph Bowker, Presi-
dent; Joseph Marsh, Vice-President. Before proceeding to busiuess
the convention listened to a sermon by Rev. Aaron Hutchinson of
Pomfret.

After sermon the Convention proceeded to the specific business for
which it was elected, digressing from that to consider any other matter
relating to the interests of the new State which seemed to require at-
tention.

Very early in the session their attention was called away from their
more immediate business by a dispatch from Col. Seth Warner, an-
nouncing the advance of Burgoyne upon Ticonderoga, and calling for
assistance. The dispatch was as follows ;

Rutland, July 1, 1777.
To the Hon. the Convention now sitting at Windsor in the State of

Vermont.
Gentlemen : — Last evening I received an express from the general
commanding at Ticonderoga, advising me that the enemy have come up
the lake, with 17 or 18 gunboats, two large ships, and other craft, and lie
at Three Mile Point. The general expects an attack every hour. He
orders n.e to call out the militia nf this state, of Massachusetts, and New
Hampshire, to join him as soon as possible. I have sent an express to
Col. Simonds. Col. Robinson and Col. Williams are at Hubbardton, wait-
Lng to be joined by Col. Bellows, who is with me. When the whole are
joined they will amount to 700 or 800 men. I know not to whom to apply
except to your honorable body, to call out the militia on the east side of

a better man than Col. Williams. Every intelligent reader will of course
understand that the seizure of the jail of Cumberland county was an en-
forcement of the assertion of the jurisdiction of Vermont as against New
York.

2 Vt. Historical Soc. Collections, vol. i, p. 56 — 66.

3 Vt. Historical Magazine, vol. I. p. 98. Danby was entitled to three
members, and the addition of Mr. Rowley's name to the preceding list
completes the delegation from that town.

4 Vt. Historical Magazine, vol. I. p. 165. He was a member of the Con-
vention of the 4th of June preceding.

5 He was appointed by the Convention one of the Council of Safety,
and was a member of the Convention of June 4.

6 H. Halfs Early History of Vt., 454.

7 He was a member of two previous conventions and of the first legis-
lature.

8 He was a member of four preceding Conventions and of the first leg-
islature.

9 He was a member of three preceding Conventions and of the first
legislature.

10 He was a member of three preceding Conventions.

11 Both were members of the preceding June Convention, and of the
first legislature.

Convention at Windsor, July 2-8, 1777. 65

the mountain. I shall expect that you will send on all the men that can
possibly be raised, and that you will do all in your power to supply the
troops at Ticonderoga with beet". Should the siege be long, they will be
absolutely destitute, unless the country exert themselves. If 40 or 50
head of beef cattle can be brought on by the militia, the}' will be paid for
by the commissary on their arrival. The safety of the post depends on
the exertions of the country. Their lines are extensive and but partially
manned, for want of men. I should be glad if a few hills of corn unhoed
should not be a motive sufficient to detain men at home, considering the
loss of such an important post might be irretrievable. I am, gentlemen,
with the greatest respect, your obedient and very humble servant.

Seth Warner.
P. S. I am this moment a going to mount my horse in company
with Col. Bellows for Ticonderoga. I left Col. [Moses] Robinson at Hub-
bardton this morning. That you may have wisdom to conduct in the
business for which you are called together is the prayer of

S. W.

A copy of this dispatch was immediately forwarded by express to the
General Assembly of New Hampshire, then in session at Exeter, with
a letter from the convention as follows :

State of Vermont, )

In General Convention, Windsor, 3 d July, 1777. \
Gentlemen: — This House enclose to you a Copy of a Letter just re-
ceived from Col° Warner by which your honors will learn the situation
of the army in the northern department at that time. You will observe
by that, that we have no knowledge that any Express has been sent you.
Therefore as the matter nearly concerns the Liberties of the United States
in General, this House Matter themselves that their forwarding this in-
telligence may not prove unacceptable.

The Militia from this State are principally with the officer Command-
ing the Continental Army at Ticonderoga, the remainder on their march
for the relief of that distressed Post. It appears to this House from the
various informations from thence, and the personal acquaintance of many
of the members thereof, of the particular circumstances which attend
our friends there at this present time, that every prudent Step ought to
be immediately taken for theii relief.

Your honors' Wisdom will doubtless be sufficient for your Conduct.
Wishing a lasting peace and friendship, We have honor to be Gentlemen
with sincere Sentiments of Respect your most

Obed* Hum We Servants.
By order of Convention.

Joseph Bowker, President.
Superscribed:
To the Honorable the General Assembly or Council of War at Exeter,
State of New Hamvshire.
From General Convention in the State of Vermont.

Having adopted such measures as seemed advisable to reinforce the
beleagured fortress with men and provisions, the convention proceeded
to consider the proposad constitution. It remained in session till the
8th ot July, when its deliberations were interrupted by the arrival of a
dispatch from General St. Clair, returning his earnest thanks for their
exertions in behalf of Ticonderoga, but announcing the evacuation of
that place on the morning of the 6th of July, the pursuit of the retreating
Americans by the British and the attack upon Warner at Hubbardton
on the morning of the 7th of July; the disastrous result of which was

66 General Conventions.

not known at the time of writing. 1 This occasioned great alarm and
anxiety. The families of many of the members, that of the President in-
cluded, were within the very line of march of the triumphant enemy,
and the first impulse was to leave the business unfinished, and fly to the
defense of their homes.

A furious thunder storm however compelled them to remain for a
while, and gave them time to conclude their business, though in a some-
what hurried way. The constitution was read for the last time and unan-

1 General St. Clair to the President of the Vermont Convention at Windsor.

Coe° Mead's, at Otter Creek,
July 7th, 1777.

Sir, — I was honored with your favor of the 2d Instant this Day. Tin
Exertions of the Convention to reinforce us at Ticouderoga merit my
warmest thanks tho' they have been too late to answer the good purpose
they intended. Finding that the Enemy were ready for the attack, and
that it was morally impossible we could maintain the Post with an hand-
ful of Troops, & at the same time considering how necessary to the
States it was to preserve our army, small as it is. it was determined in a
Council of the General Officers that the Posts on Ticonderoga and Mount
Independence should be evacuated, and a retreat attempted to Skeens-
borough by the way of Castleton, and that everything we could remove
with the sick, should lie sent by water to the same place, covered by the
armed Vessels. This was accordingly attempted the night of the sixth,
and in part executed, tho' not as perfectly as I could have wished with
respect to the stores, owing to the Confusion that naturally attends
operations in the night, and to the want of that regularity that nothing
but discipline and experience can give Troops, and just at break of day
the army got on their march unperceived by the Enemy, altho 1 they were
all rouud us. and should have effected it perfectly had it not been for the
burning of a House, whether from accident or want of thought I cannot
say. but it served to inform the Enemy of our Retreat, and a party of
them wereon the Mount before the whole of our people had got off of it.
They did not attempt however to pursue us. but only fired a few shots
from the Height which did us no damage. We pursued our Route to
Castleton. which we reached last uighl will) the main Body, having met
on our way a party of the Enemy who had been collecting Cattle in the
Country. These were immediately dispersed, and a few Prisoners taken.
Colonel Warner with about a thousand men stopped six miles short of
Castleton where he was attacked this morning. The event of the action
I cannot as yet ascertain — the accounts are so various from the persons
who have come in : but I believe it was pretty severe on both sides. I
am now on my march to Bennington, which place 1 am obliged to make,
on account of Provisions, the Enemy having last night possessed them-
selves of Skeensborough, of which I got intelligence this morning, which
determined me to take the road for that place, and there 1 beg that the
reinforcements coming on by No. 4 [Charlestown, X. H._] may be sent,
as I shall immediately march from thence for the North River, and en-
deavor to throw myself betwixt the Enemy and the Inhabitants, and pre-
vent Mr. Bunjoyne from penetrating into the Country.

I am, Sir, your very Humble Servant. A R St. Clair.

I must beg that all the Flour that can be got may be sent forward.

I have wrote to the first commanding Officer of the militia to take the
shortest road to Bennington with directions to send the same orders to
such others as may be already on this side No. 4. — Yt. Hist. Col. Vol. I.
p. 174.

Convention at Windsor, July 2-8, 1777. 67

imously adopted. < It was also ordered that an election, under the con-
stitution, should be held in December, 1777, when representatives should
be elected to a general assembly, to meet at Bennington in January,
1778. Joseph Marsh, Joseph Williams and Timothy Brownson
were appointed a committee to procure a supply of arms for the state, with
instructions to draw them, if possible, from govermental arsenals, but with
authority to pledge the credit of the state to the amount of four thousand
pounds, if it were found necessary to purchase. A Council of Safety was
appointed to administer the affairs of the state until some other provi-
sion in that regard should be made. No list of the members of this
Council is extant, but it is known that Thos. Chittenden, Ira Allen,
Moses Robinson, Jonas Fay, Joseph Fay, Paul Spooner, Nathan
Clark, and Jacob Bayley, were of the number. 1

The resolution of the Convention on the supply of arms, referred to
by Mr. White, was as follows:

State of Vermont, )
In Convention, Windsor, July 8th, 1777. S
Resolved, that Col. Joseph Marsh, Col. Wm. Williams and Col. Tim-
othy Brownson be appointed Contractors to procure a sufficient Quan-
tity of Arms for this State as the exigency of the same shall require, draw-
ing them if possible out of some Continental stores, giving such security
for the same in behalf of this State as their wisdom may direct, and that
they be impowered for the same purpose (if they cannot be so drawn) to
hire not exceeding four thousand pounds, for which they are to give their
obligation in behalf of this State, and that they make an exact return of
their doings herein to this Convention, or in their recess to the Council
of Safety for this State.

By order of the President,

Jonas Fay, Secretary.

The original number of the Council according to Gen. Stark, was
twelve. 2 This corresponds with the number of the committee, appointed
by the Dorset Convention of Sept, 25, 1776, to attend the next Conven-
tion — of course as advisers or councillors, — and also with the number of
the governor's council fixed in the constitution. Of this number the
Rev. Pliny H. White has given eight undoubted names. To that list
Hon. Hiland Hall has assented with the reservation that no evidence
exists of the membership of Joseph Fay other than the fact that he
was secretary of the Council. 3 The editor regards that fact, however, as
very strong evidence. The first secretary was Ira Allen, a member
of the Council, who served in the office until September 6, 1777, when
Joseph Fay was elected to succeed him. Fay was at hand to enter upon
the office; and he did so, as the record shows, on that day. To this it must
be added that when a deputy secretary was appointed, a member of the
Council was selected. The office was one of high dignity, correspond-

1 For Mr. White's address in full, and Mr. Hutchinson's sermon, see
Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, p. 56 — 101.

2 Gen. John Stark to the Connecticut Courant, Aug. 18, 1777, in Vt.
Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, p. 228.

8 Early History, pp. 258 and 259, note.

68 General Conventions.

ing to the office of Secretary of State, which title Ira Allen assumed,
and it was accorded to him by some officers of other states. The
signature of the Secretary was recognized as of equal authority with that
of the President. The duties of the Council were, many of them, so very
delicate and confidential in their character that it is hardly possible to
conceive that any person would be permitted to hold that office who was
not amply qualified by talents, judgment and character, to be a member
of the board. Mr. Pay was thus fitted, and eminently so: he was
counted worthy of being the agent of the State to Congress, and accom-
plished and discreet enough to be entrusted (in company with Ira
Allen) with the Haldimand correspondence. While, then, Vermont
had no men to spare for offices which are merely clerical, why should not
the Council economize by appointing one of its own number for the
second Secretary, as it did for the first ? Assuming, then, that Joseph
Fay was a member of the Council, the number thus far ascertained is
eight. To this number is to be added Benjamin Spencer of Claren-
don, on the authority of a letter from the Council, by Paul Spooner,
deputy secretary, to Brig. Gen. BAYLEY, dated August 11, 1777. This let-
ter announced that "Esq. Spencer" had joined the enemy. 1 To fill this

^ee letter of that date, post ; also Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, p.
196.

Benjamin* SPENCER of Durham [Clarendon] was justice of peace and
assistant judge of the court of common pleas under t lie jurisdiction of
New York in 177:1 He was. >ay^ Ika ALLEN, "an artful, intriguing
and designing man." lie certainly was zealous in furthering the inter-
ests of New York to such a degree as to require severe measures from
the Vermont leaders. Accordingly they visited Clarendon with a large
body of men, in the autumn of 1773, and warned Spencer to desist on
penalty of suffering violence. He and other New York officers in the
neighborhood persisted in issuing writs, &c., against the New Hamp-
shire grantees, and a second visitation was made, and Spencer was ar-
rested. The people assembled to witness the scene to be enacted, when
Ethan Allen addressed the crowd, announcing that "the proprietors of
the New Hampshire Grants had appointed himself, Seth Warner, Re-
member Baker and Robert Cochran to inspect and set things in order
and to see that there should be no intruders on the Grants ;"' adding
that "Durham had become a hornets 1 nest," which must be broken up.
" A judgment seat" 1 was then erected, on which Allen, Warner, Baker
and Cochran seated themselves as judges. At Spencer's request, how-
ever, the trial was transferred to his own door, where he was required to
stand up with uncovered head. He was then charged with "cudling
with the land-jobbers of New York to prevent the claimants of the New
Hampshire rights from holding lands'' — with issuing warrants as a jus-
tice of the peace contrary to the orders of Allen and company, and other
acts as a New York magistrate — with reporting their proceedings to the

Convention at Windsor ," July 2-8, 1777. 69

Vacancy Benjamin Carpenter of Guilford was appointed by the Con-
vention at Windsor, Dec. 24, 1777, of which appointment Col. Carpen-
ter was notified by a letter from the Council, by Jonas Fay, dated 10
January, 1778. 1

New York authorities, conveying land under a New York title, and with
endeavoring to seduce and inveigle the people to be subject to the laws
and government of the colony of New York. Spencer was found guilty
on all these charges, his house was declared to be a nuisance which must
be burnt, and he was required to promise that he would no longer act as
a New York magistrate. Spencer objected that the destruction of his
house and property would be cruelty to his wife and children, whereupon
the court, upon Warner's suggestion, decided that the house should be
spared, but the roof taken oil", to be replaced again when Spencer would
accept it under a New Hampshire title. To this he agreed, when the
roof was taken off" "with great shouting and much noise and tumult,"
and Spencer was discharged, promising not to act under New York.
Other Yorkers in Clarendon were visited in like manner, with salutary
effect, and then Ethan Allen adroitly and justly pledged the Green
Mountain Boys to protect those Yorkers, who would quiet their titles by
covering the New York grants with New Hampshire grants, from any
exactions which might be attempted upon them on these forced purchases,
— offering them the land "at a reasonable rate, as new lands were valued
at the time you [they] purchased them" originally. By this process
Spencer was reconciled to the new state, so that he accepted the posi-
tion of delegate in the Convention at Windsor, June 4, 1777, pledging
himselt to stand by the new state and "to resist by arms the fleets and
armies of Great Britain." It is probable that he was a delegate in the
July Convention also, as he was appointed a member of the Council of
Safety. However, when Burgoyue's army advanced into the country,
heralded by vaunting proclamations, Spencer sought personal safety with
the enemy at Ticonderoga, and, it is said, died at that post a few weeks
afterward.— Early History, pp. 169, 170, 172-177, 258.

In his address to the Legislature, printed in 1808, (and quoted in the
appendix to D. P. Thompson's Address, 1850,) Ira Aleen said :

Abel [Benjamin] Spencer of Clarendon, who had been a stickler for
New York, had been suddenly converted to an advocate for a new State,
and so ingratiated himself as a good whig, that he was elected a member
of the Council of Safety. Mr. Allen declared he would not take a seat in
the Council if Spencer did; and that he should not be surprised if Spencer
should go to Burgoyne 1 s camp, which he did, and died with the British
soon after.

There were two Spencers known to Allen, and both went to the enemy
— Abel for a short time. He was tried, convicted, and fined. Afterward
he became a very prominent man, much in public service. Allen's mem-
ory was in fault.

1 See letter of that date. post.

70 General Conventions.

There is still to be added, on the authority of Ira Allen, member
and first secretary of the Council, the name of Capt. Heman Allen,
who, about that period, resided at Bennington, Arlington, or Sunder-
land, at his convenience, though his intended home probably was Col-
chester. He died May 18, 1778. 1

Still another name is to be added on the authority of Hon. Myron
Clark of Manchester, to wit : that of Mnj. Jeremiah Clark of Shafts-
bury. Myron Clark was a grandson, and lived in the Major's family
from the age of ten years till he was sixteen. He has recorded the tra-
dition of the family 2 in full faith of its accuracy, as none will doubt who
know the character of the man. '

The number of members of the Council thus ascertained, — on author-
ity which can hardly be contradicted, even if in some points it is not en-
tirely satisfactory, — is eleven. The twelfth member is most probably to
be ascertained from the list suggested by the Rev. Mr. White, as fol-
lows :

There is good reason to believe that Samuel Robinson, Matthew
Lyon, Thomas Rowley, Gideon Olin and Benjamin Carpenter were also
inciiibers. 8

Col. Carpenter is of course to be omitted from this list, as his name
has already been included vice Spencer. If the remaining names in
this list are added to the eleven already ascertained, then the total num-
ber of the Council would be fifteen, which is three too many, The result
is that only one name is wanted, either that of Samuel Robinson, or Mat-
thew Lyon, or Thomas Rowley, or Gideon Olin. To make this selection
a consideration of the position of each of these gentlemen at the time is
indispensable.

Samuel Robinson, of Bennington, was in full vigor of manhood in
August, 1777, 39 years of age ; but he was full of work also which de-
manded all his strength — his duties then being those of a captain of
militia engaged in active fieli service, and overseer of tories and prison-
ers, of which he had many on his hands as the fruits of the victory of
Bennington. A large portion of the orders of the Council are addressed
to him, touching these last offices. It is not very probable, certainly,
that the duties of a member of the Council were superadded.

Thomas Rowley, then resident of Danby, died in 1796, at seventy-
five years of age, which would make him fifty-six in 1777. He was then
chairman of the Committe of Safety of Danby. He was the poet of Ver-
mont in his day, and zealously and effectively used his powers of wit and
satire against New York ; but it is noticeable that he was clearly identi-
fied with only one of the many great revolutionary movements in Ver-
mont previous to 1777. By the Dorset Convention of Jan. 10, 1776, he

1 1. Allen's History of Vermont in Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. I, p. 388.

2 Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, p. 236.

3 Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, p. 63.

Convention at Windsor, July 2-8, 1777. 71

was appointed, with Jonas Fay and Col. Wm. Marsh, to draw a peti-
tion to Congress, and he was probably a delegate in that Convention,
but from the record of that petition, as it is incorporated in the journal
of the Convention of July 24 following, it appears that the petition was
'•per Jonas Fay, Ira Allen, Committee appointed." 1 A biographer
of Mr. Rowley, in Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 98, claims that he "partici-
pated largely in the deliberations of those who declared Vermont a free
and independent State, and aided in framing its first Constitution." This
implies that he was a member of the Windsor Convention of July, 1777,
and yet all the record evidence in his case up to 1777 has just been cited.
Conceding that he may have had all the qualifications needed as a
member of the Council, which sat at Bennington almost constantly from
July 28, 1777, to March 6, 1778, Mr. Rowley's residence and duties at
Danby, as chairman of its Committee of Safety, militate seriously against
the theory that he was a member of the Council.

Maj. Gideon Olin was thirty-four years of age in 1777, and he had
fine qualities for the office of Councillor, which were afterwards mani-
fested by honorable service for thirty years in various and important offi-
ce- ; and yet the record shows that he had not fairly entered upon his
public life until after the Council of Safety had ended its work. He was
appointed Major June 6, 1778 — three months after the Council had closed:
and in 1778 also he entered the General Assembly. 2

The last name on the Rev. Mr. White's list, and most probably the
right one to be selected, is that of Matthew Lyon, then of Arlington.
In a memoir of Thomas Chittenden, by Hon. David Read, in Vt.
Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 911, it is said that Lyon was a member of the
Council. The editor is inclined to put little stress upon this, however,
from a surmise that Mr. Read has taken the partly ascertained and
partly suggested list of Mr. White as the roll of the Council. The only
difference is, that Stephen Fay is given instead of "Joseph Fay," which
was. possibly, a slip of the pen or an error of the press. In any event,
the list embraces fourteen, which is too large a number. 3 In the absence

l Ante p. 19. This may mean that they were appointed simply to verify
the copy. The editor is of opinion that Jonas Fay and Ira Allen were
the authors, chiefly, of the petition, and that it was drawn in anticipation
of the Convention. Fay was chairman of the committee appointed to draw
it, and also one of the agents selected to present it to Congress. Ira
Allen was not in the habit of waiting for an appointment to act on
such occasions. He was "the ready writer " of his day, and a willing
one.

2 Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 234.

3 Since the above was in type, the editor has received a letter from
Mr. Read, dated March 5, 1873, in which he says he does not recollect
his authority, though he presumed it to be undoubted. He wrote with
the Stevens' papers in his possession, but he suggests that he may have

72 General Conventions.

of all undoubted authority, the probability of Lyon having been a mem-
ber must be deduced from known facts concerning him at the time. He-
went into Arlington to reside in 1777, with Thomas Chittenden and
John Fassett, jr., not to become permanent residents, but for the
express purpose of overthrowing the power of tbe Tories in that town.
Lyon had before lived with Chittenden, and now they took opposite
houses and constructed a vault between the two as a prison for Tories.
John Fassett, Jr., was also in the immediate neighborhood, and Ira
Allen was only three miles off. Capt. Heman Allen is not named,
hut he certainly could not be very far from Ira. Here, then, were cer-
tainly three members of the Council of Safety : why should not Lyon
— a recognized associate with all the rest, not many years after becoming
the son-in-law of Chittenden, — why should not Lyon be the fourth
member of the Council located in this most important strategetical
point? His character as a bold and energetic man, his intense patriot-
ism, and his talents, were equal to the position. His age was thirty-one,
being live years the senior of Ira Allen. A fact of some moment is,
that shortly after, in 1778, Lyon was elected deputy Secretary of the
Governor and Council, when seven members of the Council of Safety
were in thai body. He was deputy Secretary of the Council often, and
Secretary of the Board of War. This shows not only that his aptitude for
public affairs was recognized, but also thai he was entrusted with the se-
crets of the Council, which was then acting as a Council of Safety and Board
of War. Assuming, as it is certainly safe to do, that Lyon was qualified
for the place, his close relations with Chittenden and the Aliens, and the
convenience oftentimes of having him a member to make up a quorum,
in the frequent absences of Ira and the illness of Heman Allen, are
the strong points in favor of the probability that he, rather than any
other man suggest ed by Mr. White, or any other man who can be sug-

taken his list from D. P. Thompsons address before the Vt. Historical
Society, Oct. 24, 1850. Mr. R. admits that Stephen was an error for
Joseph ~Fay. Thompson's list agrees with Mr. White's. D. P. Thomp-
son's historical statements are to be taken with great allowances for er-
ror. His habit for years was to build superstructures of fiction upon a
very narrow basis of fact, having the air but not the accuracy of history.
His address was eminently of that character. Messrs. White. Thomp-
son and Read all include Lyon in the Council, and yet their lists prove
too much, by giving too many members. In Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections,
vol. II, pp. 135-7, are the reports of British agents, who speak of Lyon as
expressing to them the views of the Governor and bis Council ; and
one of them says' he [Lyon] was ''one of the Council. r Lyon was never
a member of any " Council,'' unless it was the Council of Safety, which
closed more than two years previous to these reports. He did act at
times as Secretary of the Governor and Council. Probably this evi-
dence is valuable only as it shows that Lyon was in the confidence of the

Convention at Windsor, July 2-8, 1777. 73

gested, was the twelfth member of the Council of Safety. There was, per-
haps, one man in Eastern Vermont who might be as reasonably
suggested but for one consideration, — and that was Joseph Marsh.
The fatal objection is, that he could not attend without abandoning his
family and business tor months. The great point of danger was in and
near Bennington county ; there the Council must constantly sit to be
effective, and there it actually did sit for nearly eight months, and until
wit bin a week of the state organization which superseded it. Another
name might have been suggested in western Vermont, that of John
Fassett, Jr. ; but with his military duties, and the exactions upon his
time and energies as Commissioner of Sequestration, he had full enough
to do.

It is remarkable, the editor must confess, if Lyok was a member, that
the fact should not somewhere appear from his own declarations, or from
unquestioned contemporary sources. The truth, however, is, that records
and traditions, thus far preserved, both of the Windsor Convention and
the Council of Safety, are fragmentary : the records prove nothing as to
three of the members. If Lyon is to be rejected for want of official evi-
dence, so are Heman Allen and Jeremiah Clark, at least. The
claims of each of these rest either upon assertion simply, or upon known
facts which raise a reasonable presumption of membership. The official
record of the Council of Safety proves the following eight members only,
and that by the offices they held — the office of Secretary not furnishing,
in itself alone, absolute proof:

Thomas Chittenden, President.
Jonas Fay, Vice President.
Moses Robinson, President pro tern.
Ira Allen, Secretary.
Joseph Fay, Secretary.
Paul Spooner, Deputy Secretary.
Nathan Clark, Secretary pro tern.
Benjamin Carpenter, [by letter of Council.]
To be supplied by other evidence, there remain four members, to wit :
Heman Allen, Jacob Bayley, 1 Jeremiah Clark, and Matthew
Lyon. The assertion of Ira Allen, that Heman Allen was a mem-
Governor and Council, and thoroughly apprised of its most secret trans-
actions. Gov. Hall concurs fully with the editor of this volume in
omitting the names of Samuel Robinson, Thomas Rowley, and Gideon
Olin from the roll of the Council of Safety.

1 The official letter of the Council, in which Gen. Jacob Bayley and
" Squire [Benjamin] Spencer" are named as members, is a part of the
missing record which has been recovered from other sources. It is un-
doubtedly genuine, but of course is not strictly record evidence. The
record does show, however, that Mr. Bayley was appointed on a com-
mittee by the Council in September, 1778.
7

74 General. Conventions.

ber, is equivalent to record evidence, and so is the letter by the Council
to Gen. Bayley, leaving only two who should be added and recorded
as members probably, to wit : Jeremiah Clark and Matthew Lyon.
It is reasonable to suppose that the gentlemen who had performed
successfully the delicate and arduous duties of the Council of Safety from
July '77 to March '78, would be retained in public service on the organi-
zation of the government under the constitution, and specially in the
first Governor's Council, which also acted as Council of Safety and Board
of War. We do accordingly find the following :

MARCH, 1778.

1. Thomas Chittenden, Governor,

2. Ira Allen, State Treasurer and Councillor.

3. Nathan Clark, Speaker of the General Assembly.

4. Joseph Fay, Secretary of the Gov. and Council.

5. Jonas Fay, "]

6. Jeremiah Clark.

7. Benjamin Carpenter, }■ Councillors.

8. Paul Spooner,

9. Jacob Bayley, J

10. Moses Robinson. 1

APRIL— OCTOBER, 1778.

11. M.VTTnr.w Lyon. Dep. Sec' y of Governor and Council,

[April. May, July, and Oct, 8 to Nov. 24, 1778.]
4. Joseph Fay. Secretary of State.
It will thus he seen that every person then living, who is supposed to
have been a member of the Council of Safety, was assigned to an honor-
able position within the first seven months of the existence of the State
government. IIeman Allen", the only exception, died May 18, 1778.

IIiland Hall [1868] added a few facts in addition to those already
noted. President Bowkkr. after having written by order of the conven-
tion to New Hampshire for aid, "also wrote to Gen. St. Clair, informing
him of what they had done." " The efforts of the Vermont Convention
for the relief of Ticonderoga were duly appreciated by Gen. St. Clair."
In a letter dated at Col. Mead's, (Rutland), July 7, addressed to the Presi-
dent of that body, he gives a brief explanation of the necessity he was un-
der to evacuate that post, and says: " The exertions of the Convention to
reinforce us at Ticonderoga merit my warmest thanks, though they have
been too late to answer the good purpose they intended." 2 in still another
letter of the 9th he added: " Your Convention have given such proofs of
their readiness to concur in any measure for the public safet}-, that it
would be impertinent to press them now.'" 3 Mr. Hall further added:

1 See Roll of the first Council, and note, 2^ost.
3 See ante, p. 66.

3 Gen. St. Clair to Jonas Fay, Secretary to State Vermont.

Colonel Marshe's, July 9th, 1777.
Sir, — I have fust now received a Letter from General Schuyler direct-
ing that Col - Warner's Regiment, with the Militia of your State, should

Convention at Windsor, -July 2-8, 1777. 75

The Convention also voted to establish a loan office, and appointed
Ira Allen its trustee, as we learn from an advertisement in the Connec-
ticut Courant, of August 18th, 1777, in which Mr. Allen over his signa-
ture as trustee informed the public " that agreeably to a resolution of the
Convention," he had opened a loan office at Bennington, where those
disposed to lend any sum amounting to ten pounds might receive secu-
rity in behalf of the state, payable in one or more years with interest at
six per cent, per annum.

After due deliberation, the Convention adopted a constitution for the
government of the new state, directed the first election for state officers
to be holden the ensuing December, and the legislature to meet at Ben-
nington the succeeding January. The Convention appointed a Council
of Safety to manage the affairs of the state until the government should go
into operation under the Constitution, and then, on the 8th day of July,
after a session of six days, adjourned. 1

be left for the Protection of the People, and I have, by this Conveyance,
wrote to the Colonel to acquaint him thereof. The General also desires
that all the Cattle may be drove further down than where it may be
thought proper that Col« Warner take Post, and that all the Carriages
that may be of use to the Enemy be brought oft' or destroyed. He also
desires that all the Cattle in the Condition for Killing may be sent on by
a safe route to Fort Edward, where he now is with some Continental
Troops and Militia. A large reinforcement from Peekshill is on their
March from Albany to join him, and if 1 can be supplied with provisions
at Manchester, I shall also join him with the utmost expedition, where
we shall have force sufficient to check the progress of the Enemy. Your
Convention have given such proofs of their readiness to concur in any
measure for the public safety, that it would be impertinent to press them
now ; I will only repeat the request that I made before that the Militia
from the Eastward Marching [to] No. 4 may be directed to take the
shortest route to Join the Army.

1 am, Sir, Your humble Servant, A. St. Clair.

To Jonas Fay, Sec'y to State Vermont.

P. S. Previous to the receipt of your Letter of the Gth inst. I had
directed the Militia of your State that were with me to remain at Rut-
land for the protection of the People until your Convention should direct
otherwise and am pleased to find myself in Sentiment with them, and
with General Schuyler. The Militia that can be raised in your Country
will I think keep the people in security, for in my opinion they have lit-
tle to fear except the Depredation of a few Indians. Fort Ann was at-
tacked the day before yesterday and the Enemy repulsed with consider-
able loss.

True Copy, Examined by Israel Allen, Sec'y.

See Vt. Hist. Soc. Col, Vol. I, p. 17S.

1 Early History of Vt., 254-257.

76 General Conventions.

SECOND SESSION OF THE CONVENTION AT WINDSOR,
DECEMBER 24. 1777.

a The journals of the several sittings of the Convention are not to be
found." So wrote William Slade in 1823. He recited the order of the
July Convention, for the first election under the Constitution in De-
cember, 1777, noted its failure, and added: " The Convention was there-
fore summoned by the Council of Safety to meet at Windsor on the 24th
of December, 1777. They met. revised the Constitution, and postponed
the day of election until the first Tuesday of March, 1778, and the sitting
of the Assembly until the second Thursday of the same month.'"

Ira Allen was of course a member, as he was appointed to procure the
printing of the Constitution. His statements, as to the difficulties en-
countered and motives that ruled this Convention at both sessions, indi-
cate thai he must have been present and active at both. His account is
as follows:

Now 2 many of the citizens of Vermont returned to their habita-
tions. The Council of Safety again paid attention to the constitution,
and made a preamble, stating the reasons why the citizens had rejected
all connections with New York; but as there was no! time, before the
day assigned fortlie election, to print and publish the constitution, there-
lore the Convention was summoned to meet at Windsor, in December,
1777: they met, revised the constitution, and appointed the first election
to be on the 12th day of March, 177*. One difficulty was discovered by
some members of the Convention, who concluded the best way to evade
it was. to keep it in as small a circle as possible ; the difficulty was, to
establish the constitution without the voice of the people, further than
was vested in the Convention by their credentials, that authorized them
to form a constitution, but were silent as to its ratification, and they had
no ancient government to predicate their claims upon; besides intestine
divisions and different opinions prevailed among the people, and even in
the Convention. To avoid discord, a large majority, in one iustance,
conformed to a minority, when deliberating on the articles of the consti-
tution. As the people seemed inclined for a popular government, the
constitution was so made, and for the better satisfying those who might
choose any difference in the form of government, and as circumstances
or increasing knowledge might make it necessary, a principle was estab-
lished in the constitution, by which legal means might be taken to alter
or amend the constitution once in seven years, agreeable to the will of

1 Shade's State Papers, p. 80. The order of the Council of Safety
will be found post, under date of Nov. 25, 1777.

2 After the surrender of Burgoyne and the withdrawal by Carleton of
British forces south of Canada line.

Second Session at Windsor, Dec. 24, 1777. 77

the majority of the freemen of the State, which, if perpetuated, would
transmit to posterity the same privileges of choosing how they would be
governed, as the people of that day exercised from the inherent right of
nature, without revolution or bloodshed. Had the constitution been then
submitted to the consideration of the people for their revision, amend-
ment, and ratification, it is very doubtful whether a majority would have
confirmed it, considering the resolutions of Congress, and their influence
at that time, as well as the intrigues and expence of the provincial
Congress of New York, who endeavoured to divide and subdivide
the people. Under these circumstances the Convention appointed
Ira Allen to see the constitution printed and distributed before
the election. Mr. Allen returned from Hartford, in Connecticut, a few
days before the time of the general election, with the constitution print-
ed, and dispersed it. There was one (or more) in each town who covet-
ed the honour of being a member in the first general Assembly of the
new State of Vermont. It was, therefore, their interest to induce their
friends to attend the meeting, and take the freeman's oath. This was
done, and l'epresentatives were elected, and attended the Assembly at
Windsor, on the 12th of March, 1778, when and where the votes of the
freemen for a Governor, a Lieutenant Governor, 12 Counsellors, and a
Treasurer, were sorted and counted, and the persons who had the major-
it}' of votes for the respective offices, were declared duly elected.

Thus the constitution of the State of Vermont was put in force, and
Bennington was the only town that objected against the constitution,
for the want of a popular ratification of it. Only twenty-one freemen
qualified in that town, who elected representatives for the first general
Assembly, but as the people and the assembly approved of the constitu-
tion, which was subject to a revision and amendment every seven years,
the Bennington objection died away, and universal content has prevailed
in the State. l

This revelation suggests the probable reasons for the neglect of the
Convention to publish a detailed account of its proceedings. Its work
in July was incomplete ; the people of the state from the beginning of
July until autumn were constantly alarmed; many had sought safety by
joining the enemy, of which they subsequently repented; many more
had taken their families to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connec-
ticut, and probably not a single town on the west side of the mountain
north of Pittsford could hold an election until the inhabitants had re-
turned. Aside from the objection, (likely to be popular,) that the Con-
stitution had not been subjected to a vote of the people, it certainly was
prudent to defer both an election and all discussion of the action of the
Convention, until the Constitution could be printed and distributed.
For these reasons probably the record of the Convention was not pub-
lished. Thus the Constitution itself was left to herald whatever it
had of merits or defects, and unfriendly discussion seems to have been
generally avoided. While we have not an official record of the proceed-
ings of the Convention, we have its chief work in the Constitution which
it adopted. The editor cannot better close the account of the Conven-

1 Ira Allen's History of Vt, pp. 107-110 ; or Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections,
vol. I, pp. 391-393.

78 General Conventions.

tions, 1 than by giving the following extract from Hiland Hall's Early
History of Vermont, pp. 268-270.

The constitution which had been framed by the convention of July,
1777, provided for the holding of an election under it in the following
December, and for the meeting of the assembly in January ; but owing
to " the troubles of the war and the encroachments of the enemy," it was
found impracticable to have it printed and circulated in season for such
an election. The council of safety, in consequence, requested the presi-
dent of the convention to call the members together again on the 24th of
December. This was accordingly done, when the time for the first elec-
tion was postponed until the first Wednesday in March, and the assem-
bly was required to meet at Windsor, on the second Thursday of the
same month.

The constitution, which was now finally completed, was preceded by a
preamble in which the reasons for separating from New York and form-
ing a new government, were staled in some detail, but which, as they
have already been substantially given, will not now be repeated.

The constitution was in the main a copy of that of Pennsylvania, which
had been earnestly recommended as a model by Dr. Thomas Young, the
early friend of Vermont, and winch was also understood to have the ap-
proval of Dr. Franklin and other eminent statesmen. In some import-
ant particulars, the Vermonl constitution was an improvement upon that
of Pennsylvania. This was < ■- j lh< case in tile first section of the

declaration of rights, which announced, in formal terms, the; natural rights
of man. to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The convention
added to this " glittering generality" a clause as follows* "Therefore, no
male person horn in this country, or broughl from over sea, ought to be
ho! den by law. to serve any person as a sei vant. slave or apprentice, after
he arrives to the age of twenty-one years, nor female in like manner,
after she arrives to the age of eighteen years, unless they are hound by
their own consent, after they arrive to Mich age, or bound* by Law for the
payment of debts, damages, tines, costs, or the like." Vermonl was thus
the first of the states to prohibil slavery by constitutional provision, a
fact of which Vermonters may well be proud.

The form of government was strongly democratic in its character.
The elective franchise wasgiven to " every man of the full age <>1 twenty-
one years " who had resided in the state lor one year. Every such per-
son was also eligible to any office in the state. The legislative power
was vested in a single assembly of members chosen annually by ballot
by the several towns in the state. Each town was to have one rep-
resentative, and those towns having more than eighty taxable, inhab-
itants, were entitled to two. The executive authority was in a governor,
lieiiienani governor and twelve councillors elected annually by ballot of
the whole freemen of the state. The governor and council had no neg-
ative power, but it was provided that " all bills of a public nature " before
they were finally debated in the general assembly should be laid before
the governor and council "for their perusal and proposals of amendment,'"
and also "printed for the information of the people," and that they should
not be enacted into laws until the succeeding session of the assembly.
From this provision was excepted " temporary acts" which in cases of
"sudden emergency" might be passed without being delayed till the next
session. The difficulties of a literal compliance with this article were so
great that it was found necessary, in the first instance, to treat nearly all

1 The record of the Charlestown [X. H.] Convention of Jan. 16, 1781,
is reserved for the Appendix.

Second Session at Windsor, Dee. 24, 1777. 7$

laws as temporary, and at the succeeding session to declare them perma-
nent. In practice under this clause of the constitution, bills were allowed
to originate in the council as well as in the house of assembly, and in
cases of disagreement between the two bodies upon anjr measure the
matter was usually discussed in grand committee composed of both, the
governor presiding. And although the final disposition of any measure
was according to the pleasure of the house, the advisory power of the
council had a strong tendency to prevent hasty and inconsiderate legis-
lation. This article continued a part of the constitution until it was re-
vised in 1786, when the provision for printing and postponing the pas-
sage of laws was expunged, and in addition to the advisory power of the
governor and council, they wen- authorized to suspend the operation of a
bill passed by the house until the next session of the legislature, when in
order to become a law it must be again passed by the assembly.

This article in the original constitution in regard to the mode of en-
acting laws had been copied literally from the constitution of Pennsyl-
vania, as was also a section which provided for the election by the free-
men of the respective counties of u judges of inferior courts of common
ideas, sheriffs, justices of the peace and judges of probate," who were to
hold their offices " during good behaviour, removable by the general as-
sembly upon proof of maladministration." The mode of choosing judges
of superior courts was left to the discretion of the legislature, and they
were always elected annually by joint ballot of the council and assembly;
and on the revision of the constitution in 178(i, it was provided that coun-
ty officers should also be annually chosen in the same manner. This
frame of government, thus modified, continued in operation long after
the state became a a member of the federal union, furnishing the people
with as much security for their persons and property as was enjoyed by
those of other states, and allowing to each individual citizen all the lib-
erty which was consistent with the welfare of others. l

1 For the constitution of 1777, see Shade's State Papers, p. 241, and
post. For that of 1786, see statutes of 1787. For a history of the forma-
tion of the first constitution, see Chipman's Memoir of Chittenden. See
also Slade's State Papers, pp. 81, 221, and 511.

THE FIRST

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

State of Vermont,

ADOPTED

IN CONVENTION AT WINDSOR,

AT THE SESSIONS OF

July 2-8 and Dec. 24, 1777.

INTRODUCTION

Tms Constitution, with the exception of the Preamble and of less
than fifty lines of the " Declaration of Rights' 1 and -Plan or Frame of
Government," is a copy of the first Constitution of Pennsylvania, which
was framed in 177('» by a Convention of which Benjamin Franklin
was the President. Of one material feature, in which it differed from all
the other state constitutions of that period except of Pennsylvania and
Georgia. FRANKLIN was the author, and during his life a defender: this
was fhe investment of a single body (the representatives of the towns and
people, called the •• General Assembly,") with exclusive and supreme leg-
islative power, giving to the Governor. Lieutenant Governor and Council
advisory power only in the preparation and amendment of bills, and ex-
ecutive [iinr cr over laws and orders enacted by the General Assembly.

The variations in the Constitution of Vermont, from that of Pennsyl-
vania, are all additions ; and, to enable the reader to recognize themj
these additions are all printed in Italic, leaving the remainder to stand
as in the text of the Constitution of Pennsylvania. The most impor-
tant additions, — which may be counted as the work mainly of Dr.
Thomas Young, Ika Allen, Capt. Heman Allen, and Thomas
Chittenden — are as follows : '

1 See Dr. Young's letters. Appendix D. The following items are from
an account of Ira Allen against the State :

1777, Nov. 2. To 15 days going from Salisbury ( Conn.) to Williams-
town, (Mass.) and there with President Chittenden writing the Preamble
to the Constitution, &c, from there to Bennington to confer with the
Council [of Safety] respecting s'd Preamble — assisting to complete com-
piling from manuscript the Constitution of the State, £7 10
Expense money, 3 2 8

1777, Nov. 20. To cash paid John Knickerbacor for
copying the Constitution for the press, 18

1777, Nov. 26. To 3 days going from Salisbury to
Hartford to get the Constitution printed, 1 10

See Thompson's Vermont, Part n, p. 107.

The editor has already suggested that the agents sent by Vermont to
Congress, who had interviews with Dr. Young, would most probably be

84 First Constitution — Introduction.

I. Slavery prohibited. — Art. I of the Declaration of Eights.

II. Compensation secured for private property taken for public uses. —
Art. II of the Declaration of Rights.

III. Security of Protestants against civil disabilities on account of re-
ligion. — Articles III of the Declaration of Eights, and Section ix of the
Plan or Frame of Government.

IV. The right to govern the internal police inherent in the people of tlie
State solely. — Art. IV of the Declaration of Eights.

V. No writ against the person or property of a debtor to issue unless
the creditor shall make oath that he is in danger of losing his debt. — Art.
XII of Declaration of Eights.

VI. JVb person to be transported for trial out of the State for an of-
fense committed within it. — Art. XIX of Declaration of Eights.

VII. Form of Freeman's Oath. — Sec. vi of Plan or Frame of Gov-
ernment.

VIII. Provisions against the hasty enactment of laws of a public na-
ture, and restriction of powers of the Governor and Council. — Sec. xiv of
the Plan or Frame of Government.

IX. General Assembly to regulate fishing, &c. — See. xxxix of Plan
or Frame of Government.

X. Vermont substituted for Pennsylvania wherever it occurs.

Amendments of 1786.

This Constitution was amended in several particulars by the Conven-
tion holden at Manchester in June, 17t6, the most important being the
following :

Additional Section. — The legislative, executive and judiciary depart-
ments shall be kept separate and distinct, so that neither exercise
the powers properly belonging to the other.

Fourth Section of the Declaration of Rights. — The words "by their le-
gal representatives 1 ' were added to the original section, so as to read as
follows :

That the people, by their legal representatives, have the sole, exclu-
sive, and inherent right of governing and regulating the internal po-
lice of the same.

Fourteenth Section of the Plan or Frame of Government. — A substi-
tute was adopted [being Sec. 16 in the Constitution of 1793] in these
words :

the committee to draft the Constitution. These were Jonas Fay, Thomas
Chittenden, Heman Allen and Eeuben Jones, all of whom, except Dr.
Jones, were members of the Council of Safety, and would be likely to
be present at the meeting in November when the Constitution was "com-
piled" according to Mr. Allen's account above.

First Constitution — Introduction. 85

To the end that laws, before they are enacted, may be more maturely
considered, and the inconvenience of hasty determinations as much as
possible prevented, all bills which originate in the Assembly shall be
laid before the Governor and Council, for their revision and concurrence
or proposals of amendment ; who shall return the same to the Assembly
with their proposals of amendment (if any) in writing ; and if the same
are not agreed to by the Assembly, it shall be in the power of the Gov-
ernor and Council to suspend the passage of such bills until the next
session of the Legislature. Provided, that if the Governor and Council
shall neglect or refuse to return any such bill to the Assembly, with writ-
ten proposals of amendment, within five days, or before the rising of the
Legislature, the same shall become a law.

Amendments, 1793 to 1870.

The principal amendments in 1793 were four new sections, numbered
17, 18, 19, and 30, in the Constitution of 1793, severally providing that
no money shall be drawn from the treasury unless first appropriated by
act of legislature; that no person shall be eligible as representative
until he has resided two years in the Slate, and one year in the town for
which he is elected; that no member of the council or house of repre-
sentatives shall, directly or indirectly, receive an)' fee or reward to bring
forward or advocate any bill, &c, or advocate any cause as counsel in
either house except when employed in behalf of the state; and no per-
son shall be eligible as governor or lieutenant governor until he shall
have resided in the state four years.

The text of the Constitution, as it was left by the amendments of 1793,
has been preserved entire until this time, and unchanged except by such
marks and references as have been recpiired to indicate the effect of sub-
sequent amendments, which have been appended to the Constitution of
1793, with necessary references. In order, therefore, to master in detail
the various changes in the Constitution from the first, all that is neces-
sary is a comparison of the original Constitution, in this volume follow-
ing, with. the existing Constitution and amendments above indicated,
and those found in the General Statutes of Vermont, and in the Vt. Legis-
lative Directory since 1870.

The Preamble.

The preamble was drafted in November, 1777, by Ira Allen, com-
pleted on consultation with the Council of Safety, aud adopted by the
Windsor Convention at its session in December, 1777. It first disap-
peared from the Vermont statute books in HaswelFs compilation of 1791,
and did not reappear until a very recent date in the Legislative Directory.
The editor is of opinion that it was omitted from the statute book in
1791 without legal authority: that is, that it had never been rescinded by
any formal vote in Convention. That the Convention of 1786 did not re-
scind or annul the Preamble is evident first from a lack of any record of
such an event, and second from the fact that the Preamble was published

86 First Constitution — Introduction.

with the Constitution in the Revised Statutes of the succeeding year, 1787.
The next Convention was in 1793, and no record appears of any action
on the Preamble by that Convention, or by the Council of Censors
which called it to pass upon the amendments that were proposed. It is
known, however, that the Convention of 1793 transcended the ordinance
that called it, and in fact in a considerable degree revamped the Con-
stitution, without restoring the Preamble which had been omitted in
1791. As in the year 1790 the controversy with New York had been
amicably settled, a generous courtesy doubtless dictated the suppression
of a state document so distasteful to a reconciled foe, but still it seems
to the editor that tidelity to history demands that the Preamble shall be
preserved, and the facts as to its courteous suppression for much more
than half a century should be recorded.

The Origin of the Constitution.

As the Constitution of Vermont was almost a copy, verbatim et litera-
tim, of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, it will be at least a mat-
ter of interest to all, and perhaps of surprise to many, to know that the
origin of the essential and marked features of the instrument lies Dearly
a century further hack, in '"The Frame of the Government of the Prov-
ince of Pennsylvania, in America," granted by William Penn, with the
authority of King Charles the Second, on the -live and twentieth
day of the second month, vulgarly ended April, 1 in the year of our Lord
one thousand six hundred and eighty-two." DANIEL CHIPMAN recog-
nized this fact, and gave copious extracts from Penn's "Frame.'' 2 A
selection from some of these extracts, and an abstract of others, will
serve to show the close relation which Penn's ''Frame of Government"
bears to the ••Plan or Frame of Government " of Vermont.

Imprimis, That the government of this province shall, according to
the powers of the patent, consist of the Governor and freemen of the said

province in form of a provincial Council, and general assembly, [Ver-
mont's Governor, Council, and General Assembly,] by whom all laws
shall be made, officers chosen, and public affairs transacted, as-is here-
after respectively declared, that is to say —

II. That the freemen of the said province shall, on the twentieth day
of the twelfth month which shall he in this present year, one thousand
six hundred eight}' and two, meet and assemble in some lit place, of
which timely notice shall be beforehand given by the governor and his
deputy ; and then and there shall choose out of themselves seventy-two
persons of most note for their wisdom, virtue and ability, [the Vermont
phrase for representative is, "most noted for wisdom and virtue."] who
shall meet on the tenth day of the lirst month next ensuing, and always
be called, and act as, the provincial council of the said province.

1 March was the first month of the year among the Romans : and
even in England, until 1752, the legal year began on the 26 th of March.
a Memoir of Thomas Chittenden, Chapter in.

First Constitution — Introduction. 87

The Councillors were^divided into three classes of twenty-four each,
one class being elected each year. The seventy-two Councillors were
divided into four committees of eighteen, of which each class of Coun-
cillors had three: to one committee being assigned plantations, cities,
roads, posts and market-towns ; to another, justice and safety; to an-
other, trade and treasury ; and to the fourth, manners, education and
arts.

VI. That in this provincial Council, the governor or his deput}', shall
or may always preside, and have a treble voice, and the said provincial
Council shall always continue and sit upon its own adjournments and
Committees.

In Vermont, the governor or lieutenant governor presided in the
Council, and the Council sat upon its own adjournments, without regard
to the General Assembly, and by its own committees, or jointly with the
committees of the Assembly — most commonly the latter.

VII. That the governor and provincial council shall prepare and
propose to the general assembly, hereafter mentioned, all bills, which
they shall, at any time, think fit to be passed into laws, within the said
province, which bills shall be published and affixed to the most noted
places, in the inhabited parts thereof, thirty days before the meeting of
the general assembly, in order to the passing them into laws, or reject-
ing of them as the general assembly shall seem meet.

This was the practice of the Vermont Council at the outset, and the
preparation of bills formed a large part of its business. By section xiv
of the Plan or Frame of Government, no public bill could be passed by
the General Assembly until it had been printed for the consideration of
the people and laid over until the next session of the General Assembly,
which ordinarily would be after another election of representatives.
Theoretically, therefore, no public bill could be passed until the people
had first had an opportunity of examining it and instructing their repre-
sentatives.

VIII. That the governor and provincial council shall take care that
all laws, statutes and ordinances, which shall at any time be made within
the said province, be duly and diligently executed."

In Vermont, the Governor and Council was " to take care that the
laws be faithfully executed." — See Sees, in and xvin of the Plan or
Frame.

IX. That the governor and provincial council shall, at all times, have
the care of the peace and safety of the province, and that nothing be by
any person attempted to the subversion of this frame of government.

Here was the germ of the Vt. Council of Safety of 1777-8, and of the
action of the Governor and Council, afterward, as a Council of Safety.

XII. That the governor and provincial council shall erect and order
all public schools, and encourage and reward the authors of useful
sciences and laudable inventions in the said province.

In Vermont the duty of providing schools was put upon the "legisla-
ture" instead of the governor and council alone, and the grades of schools

88 First Constitution — Introduction.

were specified, viz : common schools, grammar schools, and a university.
—See Sec. XL of Plan or Frame.

XIV And, to the end that all laws prepared by the governor and
provincial council aforesaid, may yet have the more full concurrence of
the freemen of the province, it is declared, granted and confirmed, that
at the time and place or places for the choice of a provincial council, as
aforesaid, the said freemen shall yearly choose members to serve in a
o-eneral assembly, as their representatives, not exceeding two hundred
persons who shall yearly meet, &c, [with the governor and council,]
and on the ninth day from their so meeting, the said general assembly,
after reading over the proposed bills by the clerk of the couneil, and the
occasions and motives for them being opened by the governor or his dep-
uty, shall give their affirmative or negative, which to them seemeth best,
in such manner as hereinafter is expressed. But not less than two-
thirds shall make a quorum in the passing of laws, and choice of such
officers as are by them to be chosen.

Here is the germ of the annual election and session of the Vermont
General Assembly. It is a fact that Penns mode of procedure was fre-
quently imitated in Vermont, the Governor and Council meeting and
advising with the House or General Assembly on important occasions.
In one instance, Gov. Chittenden himself introduced a bill to the House
—a bill to establish Chittenden County.

XV. That the laws so prepared and proposed, as aforesaid, that are
assented to by the general assembly, shall be enrolled as laws of the
province, with this style : " By the governor, with the assent and appro-
bation of the freemen in provincial council and general assembly.'"

In Vermont, "by the Representatives of the Freemen of the State of
Vermont, in general assembly met, and by authority of the same." See
Sec. xv of the Plan or Frame.

XIX. That the general assembly shall continue as long as may be
useful to impeach criminals, fit to be there impeaehed, to pass bills into
laws and till such time as the governor and provincial council shall de-
clare that they have nothing further to propose unto them, for their as-
sent and approbation ; and that declaration shall be a dismiss to the
general assembly for that time, which general assembly shall be, not-
withstanding, capable of assembling together upon the summons of the
provincial council, at any time during the year, if the said provincial
Council shall see occasion for their so assembling.

In Vermont, the Council and Assembly adjourned without day by
agreement ; but the custom was and is for each house to inquire whether
the governor has any further business to communicate. Special ses-
sions of the assembly were called by the Governor and Council under
the first Constitution — and are by the governor now. — See Sec. xvm of
the Plan or Frame of the first Constitution ; but S of the amendments
to the present Constitution, which covers Sec. 11 of the Constitution
of 1793.

XX. That all the elections of members, or representatives of the
people, to serve in provincial council and general assembh\ and all ques-
tions to be determined b}' both, or either of them, that relate to passing
ot bills into laws, to the choice of officers, to impeachments by the pro-
vincial council, and to all the cases by them respectively judged of im-

First Constitution — Introduction. 89

portance, shall be resolved and determined by the ballot ; and unless on
sudden and indispensable occasions, no business in provincial council oi-
ks respective committees, shall be finally determined the same day that
it is moved.

See Constitution of Vermont, "Plan or Frame of Government," Sec-
tions xiii and xxix, and the rules of the present Senate and House
as to the third reading of bills.

XXIII. That no act, law, or ordinance, whatsoever, shall at any time,
hereafter, be made or done by the governor of this province, his heirs or
assigns, to alter, change, or diminish the form or effect of this charter,
or any part or clause thereof, or contrary to the true intent and mean-
ing thereof without the consent of the governor, his heirs or assigns,
and six parts of seven of the said freemen in provincial council or general
assembly.

Widely different in form as is the forty-fourth section of the Vermont
Plan or Frame, yet in it are distinct traces of the foregoing. Vermont
required the assent first of a council specially elected, (the Council of
Censors,) instead of the Governor and Council, and finally of the free-
men through a general assembly specially elected, (the Convention,) in-
stead of the legislative assembly. A majority of the Convention could
adopt changes, instead of six sevenths being required as in Pennsyl-
vania ; but the six sevenths feature is recognized nevertheless, for in
Vermont no amendment could even be proposed in six years out of
seven. — See Sec. xliv of the Plan or Frame.

Of course there were some and wide differences in the details of the
two plans of government — a chief one being in the tenure of the office
of governor, being in Vermont elective annually, and in Pennsylvania
for life, not elective but hereditary ; but many strong family resem-
blances between the two are obvious. Whatever our judgment now
may be — doubtless for the most part it ;s, like that of John Adams,
Nathaniel and Daniel Chipman, unfavorable, when comparing the
old system of one supreme legislative body with two different branches
of co-ordinate powers now in vogue, — it is nevertheless certainly true
that Vermont was governed well and commanded the respect of other
states, under the gentle wings of the good Quaker and great philosopher
of Pennsylvania, William Penn and Benjamin Franklin, who were
the real authors of remarkable features in the first Constitution of Ver
mont.

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

STATE OF VERMONT,

AS ESTABLISHED BY CONVENTION,
July 2, [and December 24,] 1777.

[ Preamble.]

Whereas, all government ought to be instituted and supported, for

the security and protection of the community, as such, and to enable the
individuals who compose it. to enjoy their natural rights, and the other
blessings which the Author of existence has bestowed upon man ; and
whenever those great ends of government are no1 obtained, the people
have a right, by common consent, to change it. and take such measures
as to them may appear necessary t<> promote their safety and happiness.

And whereas, the inhabitants of this State have, (in consideration of
protection only) heretofore acknowledged allegiance to the King of Great
Britain, and the said King has not only withdrawn that protection, but
commenced, and still continues to carry on, with unabated vengeance, a
most cruel and unjust war againsl them; employing therein, not only
the troops of Great Britain, but foreign mercenaries, savages and slaves,
for the avowed purpose of reducing them to a total and abject submission
to the despotic dominion of the British parliament, with many other acts
of tyranny, (more fully set forth in the declaration of Congress,) where-
by all allegiance and fealty to the said King and his successors, are dis-
solved and at an end ; and all power and authority derived from him.
ceased in the American Colonies.

And whereas, the territory which now comprehends the State of Ver-
mont, did antecedently, of right, belong to the government of New-
Hampshire; and the former Governor thereof, viz. his Excellency Ben-
ning Wentworth, Esq., granted many charters of lands and corporations,
within this State, to the present inhabitants and others. Anil whereas,
the late Lieutenant Governor Golden, of New York, with others, did. in
violation of the tenth command, covet those very lands ; and by a false
representation made to the court of Great Britain, (in the year 17G4. that
for the convenience of trade and administration of justice, the inhabi-
tants were desirous of being annexed to that government.) obtained ju-
risdiction of those very identical lands, ex-parte ; which ever was, and
is, disagreeable to the inhabitants. And whereas, the legislature of New-
York, ever have, and still continue to disown the good people of this

First Constitution. 91

State, in their landed property, which will appear in the complaints here-
after inserted, and in the 36th section of their present constitution, in
which is established the grants of land made by that government

They have refused to make re-grants of our iands to the original pro-
prietors and occupants, unless at the exorbitant rate of 2300 dollars fees
for each township ; and did enhance the quitrent, three fold, and de-
manded an immediate delivery of the title derived before, from New-
Hampshire.

The judges of their supreme court have made a solemn declaration,
that the charters, conveyances, &c., of the lands included in the before
described premises, were utterly null and void, on which said title was
founded ; in consequence of which declaration, writs of possession have
been by them issued, and the sheriff of the county of Albany sent, at
the head of six or seven hundred men, to enforce the execution thereof.

They have passed an act. annexing a penalty thereto, of thirty pounds
fine and six months imprisonment, on any person who should refuse as-
sisting the sheriff, after being requested, for the purpose of executing
writs of possession.

The Governors, Dunmore, Tryon and Colden, have made re-grants of
several tracts of land, included in the premises, to certain favorite land
iobbers in the government of Neva-York, in direct violation of his Bri-
tannic majesty's express prohibition, in the year 17G7.

They have issued proclamations, wherein the)' have offered large sums
of money, for the purpose of apprehending those very persons who have
dared boldly, and publicly, to appear in defence of their just rights.

They did pass twelve acts of outlawry, on the 9th day of March, A. D.
1774, impowering the respective judges of their supreme court, to award
execution of death against those inhabitants in said district that they
should judge to be offenders, without trial.

They have, and still continue, an unjust claim to those lands, which
greatly retards emigration into, and the settlement of, this State.

They have hired foreign troops, emigrants from Scotland, at two dif-
ferent times, and armed them, to drive us out of possession.

They have sent the savages on our frontiers, to distress us.

They have proceeded to erect the counties of Cumberland and Gloces-
ter, and establish courts of justice there, after they were discountenan-
ced by the authority of Great Britain.

The free Convention of the State of New-York, at Harlem, in the
year 1776, unanimously voted, " That all quit-rents formerly due to the
King of Great Britain, are now due and owing to this Convention, or
such future government as shall be hereafter established in this State."

In the several stages of the aforesaid oppressions, we have petitioned
his Britannic majesty, in the most humble manner, for redress, and have,
at very great expense, received several reports in our favor: and in
other instances, wherein we have petitioned the late legislative authority
of New- York, those petitions have been treated with neglect.

And whereas, the local situation of this State, from New-York, at the
extream part, is upwards of four hundred and fifty miles from the seat of
that government, which renders it extream difficult to continue under
the jurisdiction of said State,

Therefore, it is absolutely necessary, for the welfare and safety of the
inhabitants of this State, that it should be, henceforth, a free and inde-
pendent State ; and that a just, permanent and proper form of govern-
ment, should exist in it, derived from, and founded on, the authority ot
the people only, agreeable, to the direction of the honorable American
Congress.

92 First Constitution.

We the representatives of the freemen of Vermont, in General Con-
vention met, for the express purpose of forming such a governments-
confessing the goodness of the Great Governor of the Universe, (who
alone, knows to what degree of earthly happiness, mankind may attain,
hy perfecting the arts of government.) in permitting the people of this
State, by common consent, and without violence, deliberately to form for
themselves, such just rules as they shall think best for governing their
future society; and being fully convinced that it is our indispensable
duty, to establish such original pi-inciples of government, as will best
promote the general happiness of the people of this State, and their pos-
terity, and provide for future improvements, without partiality for, or
prejudice against, any particular class, sect, or denomination of men
whatever, — do, by virtue of authority vested in us, by our constituents,
ordain, declare, and establish, the following declaration of rights, and
frame of government, to be the Constitution of this COMMONWEALTH,
and toj-einain in force therein, forever, unaltered, except in such articles,
as shall, hereafter, on experience, be found to require improvement, and
which shall, by the same authority of the people, fairly delegated, as this
frame of government directs, be amended or improved, for the more ef-
fectual obtaining and securing the great end and design of all govern-
ment, herein before mentioned.

CHAPTER I.

A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF TIIE INHABITANTS OF THE
STATE OF VERMONT.

1. TnAT all men are born equally free and independent, and have
certain natural, inherent and unalienable rights, amongsl which are the
enjoying ami defending lite and liberty : acquiring, possessing and pro-
tecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
Therefore, no male person, born in this country, or brought from over sea,
ought to be holden by law, to serve any person, as a servant, slave or ap-
prentice, after he arrives to the age of twenty-one years, nor female, in luce
manner, after she arrives to the aye of eighteen years, unless they are bound
by their own consent, after they arrive at such age, "/• bound by law, for the
payment of debts, damages, fines, costs, or the like. 1

ir This was the first Emancipation Act in America. That it was not
" a glittering generality " — as was the assertion of the equality of human
rights in the declaration of national independence, and also in other
state constitutions — appears from the following act of the General As-
sembly of Vermont, passed October session 1786:

AX ACT to prevent the sale and transportation of Negroes and Mu-
lattoes out of this State.

Whereas, by the Constitution of this State, all the subjects of this com-
monwealth, of whatever colour, are equally entitled to the inestimable
blessings of freedom, unless they have forfeited the same by the com-
mission of some crime; and the idea of slavery is expressly and totally
exploded from our free government :

And whereas, instances have happened of the former owners of Ne-
gro slaves in this commonwealth, making sale of such persons as slaves,
notwithstanding their being liberated by the Constitution; and attempts
been made to transport such persons to foreign parts, in open violation
of the laws of the land :

First Constitution. 93

II. That private property ought to be subservient to public uses, when
necessity requires it ; nevertheless, whenever any particular man's property
is taken for the use of the public, the owner out pit to receive an equivalent in
money}

III. That all men have a natural and unalienable right, to worship
Almighty God. according to the dictates of their own consciences and
understanding, regulated by the word of God ; and that no man ought,
or, of right, can be compelled to attend any religious worship, or erect,
or support any place of worship, or maintain any minister, contrary to
the dictates of his conscience ; nor can any man who professes the protec-
tant religion be justly deprived or abridged of any civil right as a citizen,
on account of his religious sentiment, or peculiar mode of religious wor-
ship, and that no authority can, or ought to be vested in, or assumed by,

Be it therefore enacted, (fee, that if any person shall, hereafter, make
sale of any subject of this State, or shall convey, or attempt to convey
any subject out of this State, with intent to hold or sell such person as a
slave; every person so offending, and convicted thereof, shall forfeit and
pay to the persons injured, for such offence, the sum of one hundred
pounds, and cost of suit; to be recovered by action of debt, complaint or
information. — See D. Chipman's Memoir of Chittenden, pp. 82,83; Slade's
State Papers, p. 505.

The first deed of emancipation recoi'ded in Vermont, (none being nec-
essary under the Constitution,) was based on the right of a captor, under
a resolve of Congress, to dispose of prizes taken in war, as well as on
the good conscience of Capt. Allen, and of the men under his command.
It is as follows:

Head Quarters, Pollet, 28 th November, 1777.
To whom it may concern know ye

Whereas Dinah Mattis, a negro woman with Nancy her child of two
months old was taken prisoner on Lake Champlain with the British
troops somewhere near Col. Gilliuer's patten [patent] the twelfth day of
instant November by a scout under my command, and according to a
resolve passed by the' honorable the Continental Congress that all prizes
belong to the captivators thereof— therefore she and her child became
the just property of the captivators thereof— I being conscientious that
it is not right in the sight of God to keep slaves— 1 therefore obtaining
leave of the detachment under my command to give her and her child
their freedom— I do therefore give the said Dinah Mattis and Nancy her
child their freedom to pass and repass any where through the United
States of America, with her behaving as b'ecometh, and to trade and to
frame for herself and child as though she was born free, without being
molested by auv person or persons. — In witness whereunto I have set my
hand or subscribed my name. Ebenezer Allen, Capt.

Bennington Town Clerk's Office, July 26, 1870.
I certify that the foregoing is truly copied from Book No. 3 of said
town records, recorded by Moses Robinson when town clerk.

D. F. Squires, Town Clerk.

See Vt. Historical iSoc. Collections, vol. I, p. 249.

1 The parts in Italic are the additions to or changes (often of name
simply,) in the Constitution of Pennsylvania of 1776, to adapt it to Ver-
mont.

94 First Constitution.

any power whatsoever, that shall in any case, interfere with, or in any
manner controul, the rights of conscience, in the free exercise of reli-
gions worship : nevertheless, every sect or denomination of people ought to
observe the Sabbath, or the Lord's day, and keep up, and support same sort
of relit/ions worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed
will of God. 2

IV. That the people of this State have the sole, exclusive and inherent
right of governing and regulating the internal police of the same.

V. That all power being originally inherent in, and consequently, de-
rived from, the people ; therefore, all officers of government, whether

legislative or executive, ax*e their trustees and servants, and at all times
accountable to them.

VI. That government is, or ought to he, instituted for the common
benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation or community ;
and not for the particular emolument or advantage of any single man,
family or set of men, who are a pari only of that community : and that
the community hath an indubitable, unalienable and indefeasible right
to reform, alter, or abolish government, in such manner as shall be. by
that community, judged most conducive to the public weal.

VII. That those who are employed in the legislative and executive
business of the State, may be restrained from oppression, the people have

a right, at such periods as they may think proper, to reduce their public
officers to a private station, ami supply the vacancies by certain and regu-
lar elections.

VIII. That all elections ought to be free : and thai all freemen, hav-
ing a sufficient, evident common interest with, and attachment to, the
community, have a right to elect officers, or be elected into office.

IX. That every member of society hath a right to be protected in
the enjoyment of life, liberty and property, and therefore, is bound to
contribute his proportion towards the expense of that protection, and
yield his personal service, when necessary, or an equivalent thereto ; but
no part of a man's property can be justly taken from him. or applied to
public uses, without his own consent, or that of his legal representatives;
nor can any man who is conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms, be
justly compelled thereto, if he will pay such equivalent; nor are the
people bound by any law, but such as they have in like manner, absented
to, for their common good.

X. That, in all prosecutions for criminal offences, a man hath a right
to he heard, by himself and his counsel— to demand the cause and nature
of his accusation— to be confronted with the witnesses— to call tor evi-
dence in his favor, and a speedy public trial, by an impartial jury of the
country; without the unanimous consent of which jury he cannot be found
guilty; nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself: nor
can any man be justly deprived of his liberty, except by the laws of the
land or the judgment of his peers.

XI. That the people have a right to hold themselves, their houses
papers and possessions free from search or seizure ; and therefore war-
rants without oaths or affirmations iirsi made, affording a sufficient
foundation lor them, and whereby any officer or messenger may be com-

! See Appendix E.

First Constitution. 95

manded or required To search suspected places, or to seize any person or
persons, his. her or their property, not particularly described, are con-
trary to that right, and ought not to be granted.

XII. That no warrantor writ to attach the person or estate of any free-
holder within this state, shall be issued in civil action, without the person or
persons, who may request such warrant or attachment, first make oath, oraf-
firm, before the authority who may be requested to issue the same, that he,
or they, are in danger of losing his, her or their debts.

XIII. That, in controversies respecting property, and in suits between
man and man. the parties have a right to a trial by jury ; which ought
to be held sacred.

XIV. That the people have a right to freedom of speech, and of
writing and publishing their sentiments ; therefore, the freedom of the
press ought not to be restrained.

XV. That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of
themselves and the State : and, as standing armies, in the time of peace,
are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up ; and that the
military should be kept" under strict subordination to, and governed by,
the civil power.

XVI. That frequent recurrence to fundamental principles, and a firm
adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, industry and frugality, are
absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty, and keep gov-
ernment free. The people ought, therefore, to pay particular attention
to these points, in the choice of officers and representatives, and have a
right to exact a due and constant regard to them, from their legislators
and magistrates, in the making and executing such laws as are necessary
for the good government of the State.

XVII. That all people have a natural and inherent right to emigrate
from one Stale to another, that will receive them ; or to form a new
State in vacant countries, or in such countries as they can purchase,
whenever they think that thereby they can promote ther own happiness.

XVIII. That the people have a right to assemble together, to con-
sult for their common good — to instruct their representatives, and to ap-
ply to the legislature "for redress of grievances, by address, petition or
remonstrance.

XIX. That no person shall be liable to be transported out of this State,
for trial, for any offence committed within this State.

CHAPTER II.

PLAN OR FRAME OF GOVERNMENT.

SECTION I.

Tfie Commonwealth or State of YEBMONT, shall be governed
hereafter, by a Governor, Deputy Governor, Council, and an Assembly
of the Representatives of the Freemen of the same, in manner and form
following.

SECTION II.

The supreme legislative power shall be vested in a House of Repre-
sentatives of the Freemen or Commonwealth or State of Vermont.

SECTION III.

The supreme executive power shall be vested in a Governor and
Council.

96 First Constitution.

SECTION IV.

Courts of justice shall be established in every county in this State.

SECTION V.

The freemen of this Commonwealth, and their sons, shall be trained
and armed for its defence, under such regulations, restrictions and excep-
tions, as the General Assembly shall, by law, direct ; reserving al-
ways to the people, the right of choosing their colonels of militia, and
all 'commissioned officers under that rank, in such manner, and as often.
as by the said laws shall be directed.

SECTION VI.

Every man of the full age of twenty-one years, having resided in this
State for the space of one whole year, next' before the election of repre-
sentatives, and who is of a quiet and peaceable behaviour, and will take the
following oath for affirmation. J shall be entitled to all the privileges of a
freeman of this State.

1 solemnly swear, by the ever living God, (or affirm in the

presence of Almighty God. J that whenever lam called to give my vote or
suffrage,. touching any matter that concerns the State of Vermont. I trill cfo
it'so. as in my conscience, Ishalljudgt will most conduce to the best good of
the same, as established by the 'constitution, without fear or favor of any
man.

SECTION VII.

The House of Representatives of the Freemen of this State, shall con-
sist of persons most noted for wisdom and virtue, to be chosen by the
freemen of every town in this Slate, respectively. And no foreigner
shall be chosen, unless he has resided in the town for which lie shall be
elected, one year immediately before said election.

SI CTION VIII.

The members of the House of Representatives, shall be chosen annu-
ally, by ballot, by the freemen oi this State, on the tirst Tuesday of Sep-
tember, forever, (except this presenl year) and shall meet on the second
Thursday of the succeeding October, and shall be stiled the General As-
sembly of the Representatives ofthc Freemen of Vermont; and shall
have power to choose their Speaker. Secretary of the State, their Clerk,
and other necessary officers of the house — sit on their own adjournments
— prepare bills and enact them into laws — , judge ofl be elections and quali-
cations ot their own members — they may < xpel a member, but not a
second time for the same cause — They may administer oaths (or affirma-
tions) on examination of witnesses — redress grievances — impeach State
criminals — grant charters of incorporation — constitute towns, boroughs,
cities and counties, and shall have all other powers necessary for the leg-
islature of a free State : but they shall have no power to add to, alter,
abolish, or infringe, any part of this constitution. And for this present
year the members of the General Assembly shall be chosen on the firsl
Tuesday of March next, and shall meet at the meeting-house, in Windsor,
on the second Thursday of March next. 1

'The constitution, as established on the 2d of July, 1777. provided thai
the first election should be hold en in December, and that the Assembly
should meet in January following. December 24, 1777, the Convention
met by order of the Council of Safety, and the times of the first
election and session of the General Assembly were fixed as in the text.

First Constitution. 97

SECTION IX.

A quorum of the house of representatives shall consist of two thirds of
the whole number of members elected ; and having met and chosen their
speaker, shall, each of them, before they proceed to business, take and
subscribe, as well the oath of fidelity and allegiance hereinafter directed,
as the following oath or affirmation, viz.

1 do solemnly swear, by the ever living God, (or, 1 do

solemnly affirm in the presence of Almighty God) that as a member of
this assembly, I will not propose or assent to any bill, vote or resolution
which shall appear to me injurious to the. people ; nor do or consent to
any act or thing whatever, that shall have a tendency to lessen orabridge
their rights and privileges, as declared in the Constitution of this State ;
but will in all things, conduct myself as a faithful, honest representative
and guardian of the people, according to the best of my judgment and
abilities.

And each member, before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe
the following declaration, viz.

I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor of the universe,
the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked. And I do ac-
knowledge the scriptures of the old and new testament to be given by
divine inspiration, and own caul profess the protestant religion.

And no further or other religious test shall ever, hereafter, be required
of any civil officer or magistrate in this State.

SECTION X.

Delegates to represent this State in Congress shall be chosen, by ballot,
by the future General Assembly, at their first meeting, and annually,
forever afterward, as long as such representation shall be necessary.
Any Delegate may be superceded, at any time, by the General Assembly
appointing another in his stead. No man shall sit in Congress longer
than two years successively, nor be capable of le-election for three years
afterwards ; and no person who holds any office in the gift of the Con-
gress, shall, thereafter, be elected to represent this State in Congress.

SECTION XI.

If any town or towns shall neglect or refuse to elect and send repre-
sentatives to the General Assembly, two thirds of the members of the
towns that do elect and send representatives, (provided they be a ma-
jority of the inhabited towns of the whole State) when met, shall have
all the powers of the General Assembly, as fully and amply as if the
whole were present.

>ECTION XII.

The doors of the house in which the representatives of the freemen
of this State, shall sit, in General Assembly, shall be and remain open
for the admission of all persons, who behave decently, except only, when
the welfare of this State may require the doors to be shut.

SECTION XIII.

The votes and proceedings of the General Assembly shall be printed,
weekly, during their sitting, with the yeas and nays, on any question,
vote or resolution, where one third of the members require it ; (except
when the votes are taken' by ballot) and when the yeas and nays are so
taken, every member shall have a right to insert the reasons of his
votes upon the minutes, if he desire it.

SECTION XIV.

To the end that laws, before they are enacted, may be more maturely
considered, and the inconveniency of hasty determination as much as

98 First Constitution.

possible prevented, all bills of public nature, shall be first laid before the
Governor and. Council, for their perusal and proposals of amendment, and
shall be printed for the consideration of the people, before they are read in
General Assembly for the last time of debate and amendment ; except tem-
porary acts, which, after being laid before the Governor and Council, may
fin case of sudden necessity J be passed into laws ; and no other shall be
passed into laws, until the next session of assembly. And for the more
perfect satisfaction of the public, the reasons and motives tor making
such laws, shall be hilly and clearly expressed and set forth in their pre-
ambles. 1

SECTION XV.

The style of the laws of this State shall be, — '" Be it enacted, ami if is
hereby enacted, by the Representatives of the Freemen of the Stale of
Vermont, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same."

RECTION XVI.

In order that the Freemen of tins State might enjoy the benefit of
election, as equally as may be, each town within this Stale, that consists,
or may consist, of eighty taxable inhabitants, within one septenary or

1 It is obvious that, in accordance with this section, the first session of
the General Assembly, March 177.S. could have passed such public acts
only as "the sudden necessity*'' of the time required. Of these some
were temporary, to stand until better considered measures could In-
adopted. By a vote of the Council of Safety of Jan. 17, 177S, it seems
that body performed the functions assigned to it of preparing business
for the General Assembly; and by minutes on the journal of the Assem-
bly it appears that the first governor and council also prepared a few
bills. The journals of the Assembly indicate the following acts of that
sessiou:

Act establishing counties each side of the mountain. Bennington and
Unity; the latter changed by amendment to Cumberland.

Act providing attorneys for county courts, and fixing fees.

Act fixing places for holding county elections.

Act of affirmation for Quakers.

Act relating to highways.

Act establishing the common law [of England] in Vermont.

Act regulating town meetings.

Act to regulate the catching of fish in White river.

Act specifying probate districts.

Act authorizing the governor and council to dispose of the estates of
tories, and to draw the lines of defense.

Act relating to the militia.

Acts from the Connecticut statutes to punish treason and other atro-
cious crimes; and against treacherous conspiracies.

There may have been a few others, probably one on the grand list, of
which, however, the minutes in the journal are not definite. These acts
were never printed, and most of them were soon superseded by others.
A committee was appointed to make copies for each town in Cumber-
land county. Western Vermonters could find the acts at Bennington.

First Constitution. 99

seven years, next after the establishing this constitution, may hold elec-
tions therein, and choose each, two representatives ; and each other in-
habited town in this State may. in like manner, choose each, one repre-
sentative, to represent them in General Assembly, during the said sep-
tenary or seven years ; and alter that, eaeli inhabited town may, in like
manner, hold such election, and choose each, one representative, forever
thereafter.

The Supreme Executive Council of this State, shall consist of a Gov-
ernor. Lieutenant-Governor, and twelve persons, chosen in the following
manner, viz. The Freemen of each town, shall, on the day of election
for choosing representatives to attend the General Assembly, bring in
their votes for Governor, with his name fairly written, to the constable,
who shall seal them up, and write on them, votes for the Governor, and
deliver them to the representative chosen to attend the General Assem-
bly ; and. at the opening of the General Assembly, there shall be a com-
mittee appointed out of the Council, and Assembly, who, after being
duly sworn to the faithful discharge of their trust, shall proceed to re-
ceive, sort, and count, the votes for the Governor, and declare the person
who has the major part of the votes, to be Governor, for the year en-
suing. And if there be no choice made, then the Council and General
Assembly, by their joint ballot, shall make choice of a Governor.

The Lieutenant Governor and Treasurer, shall be chosen in the man-
ner above directed ; and each freeman shall give in twelve votes for
twelve councillors, in the same manner : and the twelve highest in nom-
ination shall serve for the ensuing year as Councillors.

The Council 1 that shall act in the recess of this Convention, shall sup-
ply the place of a Council for the next General Assembly, until the new
Council be declared chosen. The Council'- shall meet annually, at the
same time and place with the General Assembly : and every member of
the Council shall be a Justice of the Peace for the whole State, by virtue
of his office.

SECTION XVIII.

The Governor, and in his absence, the Lieutenant or Deputy Gover-
nor, with the Council — seven of whom shall be a quorum — shall have
power to appoint and commissionate all officers, (except those who are
appointed by the General Assembly.) agreeable to this frame of govern-
ment, and the laws that may be made hereafter ; and shall supply every
vacancy in any office, occasioned by death, resignation, removal or dis-
qualification, until the office can be rilled, in the time and manner di-
rected by law or this constitution. They are to correspond with other
States, and transact business with officers of government, civil and mil-
itary ; and to prepare such business as may appear to them necessary to
lay before the General Assembly. They shall sit as judges to hear and
determine on impeachments, taking to their assistance, for advice only,
the justices of the supreme court ; and shall have power to grant par-
dons, and remit fines, in all cases whatsoever, except cases of impeach-
ment, and in cases of treason and murder — shall have power to grant re-
prieves, but not to pardon, until the end of the next session of the As-
sembly : but there shall be no remission or mitigation of punishment,
on impeachment, except by act of legislation. They are also, to take

1 Meaning the Council of Safety.

- Meaning the Supreme Executive Council created by the first clause of
this section.

100 First Constitution.

care that the laws be faithfully executed. They are to expedite the exe-
cution of such measures as may be resolved upon by General Assembly :
and they may draw upon the Treasurer tor such sums as may be appro-
priated by the House : they may also lay embargoes, or prohibit the ex-
portation of any commodity for any time, not exceeding thirty day-, in
the recess of the House only : they may grant such licences as shall lie
directed by law, and shall have power to call together the General As-
sembly, when necessary, before the day to which they shall stand ad-
journed. The Governor shall be commander in chief of the forces of
the State ; but shall not command in person, excepl advised thereto by
the Council, and then, only, as long as they shall approve thereof. The
Governor and Council shall have a Secretary, and keep Pair hooks of
their proceedings, wherein any Councillor may enter his dissent, with his
reasons to support it.

SECTION XIX.

All commissions shall be in the name of the freemen of the State of
Vermont, sealed with the State seal, signed by the Governor, and in his
absence the Lieutenant Governor, and attested by the Secretary; which
seal shall be kept by the Council.

SECTION XX.

Every officer of State, whether judicial or executive, shall he liable to
be impeached by the General Assembly, either when in office, or after
his resignation, or removal formal-administration. All impeachments

shall be before the Governor or Lieutenant Governor and Council, who
shall hear and determine the same.

- I i NO N XXI .

The supreme court, and the several court- of common pleas of this
State shall, besides the powers usually exercised by such courts, have
the powers of a court of chancery, so jar as relates U> perpetuating testi-
mony, obtaining evidence from places not within tins Mate, and the care
of persons and estates of those who are non compotes mentis, and such
other powers as may be found necessary by future General Assemblies,
not inconsistent with this constitution.'

SECTION XXII.

Trials shall be by jury; and it is recommended to the legislature of
this state to provide by law. againsl every corruption or partiality in the
choice, aud return, or appointment, of juries.

6EC1 l(>\ XXIII.

All courts shall be open, and justice shall lie impartially administered
without corruption or unnecessary delay ; all then officers shall he paid
an adequate, but moderate, compensation lor their service- ; and if any
officer shall take greater or other fees than the laws allow him. either di-
rectly or indirectly, it shall ever after disqualify him from holding any
office in this State. ° J

SECTION XXIV.

All prosecutions shall commence in the name and by the authority of
the freemen of the State of Vermont, and all indictments shall conclude
with these words, "against the peace and dignity of the same." The

style of all process hereafter, in this State, shall he,— The State of Ver-
mont.

SECTION XXV.

The person of a debtor, where there is not a strong presumption of
fraud, shall not be continued in prison, after delivering up, bona fide, all

First Constitution. 101

his estate, real and personal, for the use of his creditors, in such man-
ner as shall be hereafter regulated by law. All prisoners shall be bail-
able by sufficient securities, unless for capital offences, when the proof is
evident or presumption great.

SECTION XXVI.

Excessive bail shall not be exacted for bailable offences ; and all fines
shall be moderate.

SECTION XXVII.

Tbat the General Assembly, when legally formed, shall appoint times
and places for county elections, and at such times and places, the free-
men in each county respectively, shall have the liberty of choosing the
judges of inferior court of common pleas, sheriff, justices of the peace,
and judges of probate, commissioned by the Governor and Council,
during good behavior, removable by the General Assembly upon proof
of mal-aclniinistration.

SECTION XXVIII.

That no person, shall be capable of holding any civil office, in this
State, except he has acquired, and maintains a good moral character.

SECTION XXIX.

All elections, whether by the people or in General Assembly, shall be
by ballot, free and voluntary; and any elector who shall receive any gift
or reward for his vote, in meat, drink, monies or otherwise, shall forfeit
his right to elect, at that time, and suffer such other penalty as future
laws shall direct. And any person who shall, directly or indirectly,
give, promise, or bestow, any such rewards to be elected, shall, thereby,
be rendered incapable to serve for the ensuing year.

SECTION XXX.

All fines, licence money, fees and forfeitures, shall be paid, according
to the direction hereafter to be made by the General Assembly.

SECTION XXXI.

All deeds and conveyances of land shall be recorded in the town
clerk's office, in their respective towns.

SECTION XXXII.

The printing presses shall be free to every person who undertakes to
examine the proceedings of the legislature, or any part of government.

SECTION XXXIII.

As every freeman, to preserve his independence (if without a suffi-
cient estate) ought to have some profession, calling, trade or farm,
whereby he may honestly subsist, there can be no necessity fOr, nor use
in, establishing offices of profit, the usual effects of which are depend-
ence and servility, unbecoming freemen, in the possessors or expectants;
faction, contention, corruption and disorder among the people. But if
any man is called into public service, to the prejudice of his private af-
fairs, he has a right to a reasonable compensation; and whenever an
office, through increase of fees, or otherwise, becomes so profitable as to
occasion many to apply for it, the profits ought to be lessened by the
legislature.

SECTION XXXIV.

The future legislature of this State, shall regulate entails, in such man-
ner as to pi-event perpetuities.

SECTION XXXV.

To deter more effectually from the commission of crimes, by continued
visible punishment of long duration, and to make sanguinary punish-

102 First Constitution.

ments less necessary; houses ought to be provided for punishing, by
hard labor, those who shall be convicted of crimes not capital; wherein
the criminal shall be employed for the benefit of the public, or for rep-
aration of injuries done to private persons; and all persons, at proper
times, should be admitted to see the prisoners at their labor.

SECTION XXXVI.

Every officer, whether judicial, executive or military, in authority un-
der this State, shall take the following oath or affirmation of allegiance,
and general oath of office, before he enter on the execution of his office.
The oath or Affirmation of Allegiance.

" I do solemnly swear by the ever living God, (or

affirm in presence of Almighty God,) that I will be true and faithful to
the State of Vermont; and that I will not, directly or indirectly, do any
act or thing, prejudicial or injurious, to the constitution or government
thereof, as established by Convention. 1 '

The Oath or Affirmation of Office.

" I do solemnly swear by the ever living God, (or

affirm in presence of Almighty God) that I will faithfully execute the
office of for the of ; and will do equal right and jus-
tice to all men, to the best of my judgment and abilities, according to
law."

SECTION XXXVII.

No public tax, custom or contribution shall he imposed upon, or paid
by, the people of this State, except by a law tor that purpose; and before
any law be made for raising it, the purpose for which any tax is to be
raised ought to appear clear to the legislature to be of more service to
the community than the money would be, if not collected; which being
well observed, taxes can never'be burthens.

SECTION WWIII.

Every foreigner of good character, who comes to settle in this State,
having first taken an oath or affirmation of allegiance to the same, may
purchase, or by other just means acquire, hold, and transfer, land or
other real estate; and after one years residence, shall be deemed a free
denizen thereof and be entitled to all the rights of a natural born subject
of this State ; except that he shall not be capable of being elected a rep-
resentative, until after two years residence.

section: xxxix.

That the inhabitants of this State, shall have liberty to hunt and fowl,
in seasonable times, on the lands they hold, and on other lands (not en-
closed ;) and, in like manner, to fish in all boatable and other waters, not
private property, under proper regulations, (<> l»: hereafter made and pro-
vided by the General Assembly.

SECTION XL.

A school or schools shall be established in each town, by the legisla-
ture, for the convenient instruction of youth, with such salaries to the

masters, paid by each town, making proper use of school lands in each
town, thereby to enable them to instruct youth at low prices. < )ne gram-
mar school in each county, and one universitv in this State, ought" to be
established by direction of the General Assembly.

SECTION XXI.

Laws for the encouragement of virtue and prevention of vice and im-
morality, shall be made and constantly kept in force ; and provision shall
be made for their due execution ; and all religious societies and bodies of

First Constitution. 103

men, that have or may be hereafter united and incorporated, for the ad-
vancement of religion and learning, or for other pious and charitable
purposes, shall be encouraged and protected in the enjoyment of the
privileges, immunities and estates which they, in justice, ought to enjoy,
under such regulations, as the General Assembly'of this State shali di-
rect.

SECTION XLII.

All field and staff officers, and commissioned officers of the army, and
all general officers of the militia, shall be chosen by the General As-
sembly.

SECTION XLTII.

The declaration of rights is hereby declared to be a part of the Con-
stitution of this State, and ought never to be violated on any pretence
whatsoever.

SECTION XLIV.

In order that the freedom of this Commonwealth may be preserved
inviolate, forever, there shall be chosen, by ballot, by the freemen of this
State, on the last Wednesday in March, in the year one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-five, and on the last Wednesday in March, in every
seven years thereafter, thirteen persons, who shall be chosen in the same
manner the council is chosen — except they shall not be out of the Coun-
cil or General Assembly — to be called the Council of Censors ; who
shall meet together, on the first Wednesday of June next ensuing their
election; the majority of whom shall be a quorum in every case, except
as to calling a Convention, in which two thirds of the whole number
elected shall agree ; and whose duty it shall be to enquire whether the
constitution has been preserved inviolate, in every part ; and whether
the legislative and executive branches ofgoverument have performed
their duty as guardians of the people ; or assumed to themselves, or ex-
ercised, other or greater powers, than they are entitled to by the consti-
tution. They are are also to enquire whether the public taxes have been
justly laid and collected, in all parts of this Commonwealth — in what
manner the public monies have been disposed of, and whether the laws
have been duly executed. For these purposes they shall have power to
public censures — to order impeachments, and to recommend to the legis-
send for persons, papers and records : they shall have authority to pass
lature the repealing such laws as appear to them to have been enacted
contrary to the principles of the constitution. These powers they shall
continue to have, for and during the space of one year from the day of
their election, and no longer. The said Council of Censors shall also
have power to call a Convention, to meet within two years after their sit-
ting, if there appears to them an absolute necessity of amending any ar-
ticle of this constitution which may be defective — explaining such as
may be thought not clearly expressed, and of adding such as are neces-
sary for the preservation of the rights and happiness of the people ; but
the articles to be amended, and the amendments proposed, and such ar-
ticles as are proposed to be added or abolished, shall be promulgated at
least six months before the day appointed for the election of such con-
vention, for the previous consideration of the people, that they may have
an opportunity of instructing their delegates on the subject.

COUNCIL OF SAFETY

OF THE

STATE OF VERMONT,

JULY 8, 1777— MARCH 12, 1778.

INTRODUCTION.

The first volume in manuscript of the records of the Council of Safety,
and of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont, has the fol-
lowing statement prefixed :

The first '20 pages in this Book is left blank for the purpose of Enter-
ing the Minutes of the Council of Safety of the State of Vermont from
January 1770 [to] the 15 th August 1777, during which time Col° Ira
Allen was Secretary and has the Minutes of s a Council in his posses-
sion.

Certified by Joseph Fay, Sec'y.

March IS*", 1788.

It is evident, therefore, that the official record is imperfect, in that it
contains no entry for the period indicated in the above certificate. Fol-
lowing the record for Dec. 20, 1777, is the following :

The end of the Proceedings of Council as recorded in Book No. 1, en-
tered in this book this 22 (i day of March 1788.,
By order of the Governor and Council,

Joseph Fay, Sec'y.

From the number of pages in the copy, "Book No. 1" must have con-
t lined about one quire of paper, and it is most probable that it was un-
bound except by stitching. Books of that sort were probably used for
several years. Other evidence is foun.l that the early recDrds of the
Council of Safety, of the Conventions, of the Governor and Council,
and of the General Assembly, had been loosely kept and were not in a
fit state for preservation ; and chief is the following record of a vote of
the Governor and Council, June 18, 1778 :

Voted that Doct 1 '- Jonas Fay, Col°- Moses Robinson and Captain Ira
Allen, Esqr s - be and they are hereby appointed a committee to Inspect
into the votes or doings of the several Conventions from [blank for the
insertion of dates] Together with the doings of the Council of Safety,
the present Council and house of Representatives, and put them in Reg-
ular order, and Record them in Books for that purpose.

It will be seen that the official record of the Council of Safety is not a
regular journal of daily proceedings, but simply a record of "votes or
doings,''' in resolves, orders, letters, &c, the preservation of which was
deemed desirable. It would be impossible to recast the record in the

108 Council of Safety— Introduction.

form of a journal; but the various proceedings recorded may be pre-
sented in chronological order, [they are not so in the official record,]
and such acts or letters of the Council as are not recorded, and can he
gathered from other sources, may be inserted in the proper places. This
has been done, care being taken to note the various papers thus recovered,
either by inserting them as notes, or in the appendix, and indicating the
source from which they were obtained if inserted in the body of recorded
proceedings. The doings of the Council previous to Aug. 15, 1777. of
course precede the official record.

POWERS OF THE COUNCIL.

The Council of Safety was appointed July 8, 1777. as a temporary sub-
stitute for a state government in time of war. For that purpose its power
was, like that of every other State Council, limited only by the exigen-
cies' of the times. It was also specifically vested, by the Convention
which created it, with all the powers of that constitutional body which
consisted of the "Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Council," though
of course without the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. 1 Its acts and
orders for the time being had the force of laws; it was itself the execu-
tor of them, or it appointed executors; it exercised judicial powers; it
served as a board of war ; it punished public enemies, or reprieved
them ; it transacted business civil and military with other States and
with Congress ; it prepared business for the first General Assembly ; it
was The State.

The special powers conferred upon the Council of Safety by the Con-
stitution of July 8, 1777, are as follows :

The Council [of Safety] that shall act in the recess of this Convention,
shall supply the place of a Council for the next General A.SS( mblv. until
the new Council be declared chosen. Tbe Council- shall meel annually,
at the same time and place with the General Assembly : and every mem-
ber of the Council shall be a Justice of the Peace for the whole State.
by virtue of his office.

SECTION' XVIII.

*The President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Council were its
executive officers, and, so far as necessary, they performed the same
functions as did the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of
State, after the organization of the State government under the consti-
tution.

2 Meaning the Supreme Executive Council created by the first clause of
section seventeen of the Plan or Frame of Government.

Council of Safety — Introduction. 109

vacancy in any office, occasioned by death, resignation, removal, or dis-
qualification, until the office can be filled, in the time and manner direct-
ed by law or this constitution. They are tocorrespond with other States,
and transact business with officers of government, civil and military;
and to prepare such business as may appear to them necessary to lay be-
fore the Geneaal Assembly. They shall sit as judges to hear and deter-
mine on impeachments, taking to their assistance, for advice only, the
justices of the supreme court ; and shall have power to grant pardons,
and remit fines, in all cases whatsoever, except cases of impeachment,
and in cases of treason and murder — shall have power to grant reprieves,
but not to pardon, until the end of the next session of the Assembly:
but there shall he no remission or mitigation of punishment, on impeach-
ments, except by act of legislation. They are also to take care that the
laws be faithfully executed. They are to expedite the execution of such
measures as may be resolved upon by General Assembly ; and they may
draw upon the Treasurer for such sums as may he appropriated by the
House : they may also lay embargoes, or prohibit the exportation of any
commodity for any time, not exceeding thirty days, in the recess of the
House only : they may grant such licences as shall he directed by law,
and shall have power to call together the General Assembly, when neces-
sary, before the day to which they shall stand adjourned. The Governor
shall he commander in chief of the forces of the State ; but shall not
command in person, except advised thereto by the Council, and then,
only as long as they shall approve thereof. The Governor ami Council
shall have a Secretary, and keep fair books of their proceedings, wherein
any Councillor may enter his dissent, with his reasons to support it.

MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.

Heman Allen, of Colchester. 1

Ira Allen, of Colchester. 1

Jacob Bayley, of Newbury.

Benjamin Carpenter, of Guilford, [from Dec. 24, 1777, in

place of Benj. Spencer, of Clarendon, Tory.]
Thomas Chittenden, of Williston. 1
Jeremiah Clark, of Shaftsbury— [ probably.]
Nathan Clark, of Bennington.
Jonas Fay, of Bennington.
Joseph Fay, of Bennington.
Matthew Lyon, of Arlington — [probably.]
Moses Robinson, of Bennington.
Paul Spooner, of Hartland.

officers.

Thomas Chittenden, President.

Jonas Fay, Vice President.

Ira Allen, to Sept. 6, 1777, )

> Sfcvptcivii

Joseph Fay, Sept. 6, 1777, to March 12, 1778, f J '

1 Their homes were in these towns, though at this time they were tem-
porarily residents of Bennington county.

110 Council of Safety — Introduction.

THE ALLEN FAMILY.

The presentation of the above names in alphabetical order puts firsl on
this Roll of Honor two brothers out of Qve who were then residents of
the State; and yet there was a third to whom by common consent at
this day the same honor would be assigned— Ethan Allen. lie was,
however, at that date, in duress as a prisoner of war. The most remark-
able family in Vermont at that period, or indeed that has over been in it,
was the Allen family. A few others have been equally or more
numerous, but the members of no one family have ever been both so
eminent and so generally identitied with the history of the Stale. From
Samuel Allen, of Chelmsford, Mass., (in 1632,) and Windsor, Conn., (in
1636,) descended the six sons of Joseph Allen of Litchfield and
Coventry, Conn., to wit: Gen. Ethan, ('apt. IIeman, Maj. Ih.nii;.
Lieut. Levi, Zimki, and Col. Ira. ; and also Hon. IIeman Allen, of
Colchester, son of Maj. Heber Allen. This Heman was called '-Chili
Allen," to distinguish him from other two Ilemans. From Matthew Al-
len, a brother of the ancestor of Joseph the father of Ethan, &c, de-
scended Major Ebenezer Allen of Tinmouth and lion. IIeman Al-
len of Milton, (afterwards of Burlington,) and their issue. To this i> to
be added the fact that Mary Bakek. wife of JOSEPH Allen and mother
of Ethan, &c, was sister of the father of REMEMBER Baker, the brave
associate of Ethan Allen. Baker and the six sons of JOSEPH Allen
were therefore cousins. Finally, the mother of REMEMBER I.akei; was
aunt to Seth Warner: and thus the most distinguished of the early
heroes and statesmen of Vermont were allied far more intimately than
by their common descent from Adam. In the Ethan Allen J/.s.s.. close
of the index, is the following record :

Joseph Allen was married at Woodbury, Connecticut, to Mary
daughter of John Baker, March 11, 17.J7. She' was sister of Remember
Baker the father of Capt. Remember Baker who was born dune 17.i7 at
Woodbury, [Conn.] and killed near Canada line Aug 22 d 177.">. Joseph
and Mary Allen's children were —

[Gen.] Ethan— born at Litchfield. Conn.. Jan? 10, 1738, married Ma-
ry Browuson of Roxbury June 23, 1702, [who died at Sunderland early
in the year 1783, 1 and was buried in the north cemetery, which hail

1 The following monumental inscription for Mary Brownson Allen
was written by her husband, and published in the Vermont Gazette, Ben-
nington, July 10, 1783. It is Gen. Allen's only attempt at poetry so
far as the editor knows:

Farewell, my friends, this fleeting world adieu,
My residence no longer is with you,
My children I commend to Heaven's care,
And humbly raise my hopes above despair:
And conscious of a virtuous transient strife.
Anticipate the joys of the next life;
Yet such celestial and ecstatic bliss
Is but in part conferred on us in this.

Council of Safety — Introduction. Ill

been dec. led to the town by Era Allen.— Vt. Hist. Mag. vol. i, pp. 135, 239.
Married, Feb. 9. 17^4, Mrs. Frances [Lydia, Fanny,] Buchanan, 1 widow
of a British officer and daughter of Margarel Montuzan, who was second
wile of the notorious torv. ( Yean Brush. — Eastern Vermont, pp. 604,
629 : Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, p. 704.] He died Feb? 13 [or 12] 1789, at
Burlington.

[Capt.] HEMAN — horn at Cornwall, Conn., October 15, 1740; died May
18, 177S.— 1. Allen's History, p. 101, in Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. i, p.
388.]

Lydia — born at Cornwall, Conn., April 6, 1742. [Married a Mr. Finch,
and lived and died in Goshen, Conn. — Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 501.]

[Major] HEBER— bornal Cornwall, Conn., Oct. 4, 174)!. [Fatherof He-
man Allen of Colchester, known as "Chili Allen," who, on the death of
his father Heber at Poultnev, was adopted by Ira. Allen. Hkman Allen
of Colchester was born in Poultnev, Feb. 2.'!, 1779, was member of Con-
gress in 1817-18, and resigned in the latter year to accept the office of U.
S. Marshal for the District of Vermont lie was appointed Minister to
Chili by President Monroe in 1823, resigned that office in 1828, and died
at Highgate, April 9, 1852. — See Dictionary of Congress, and 17. Hist.
Mag., vol. I, p. 704. Heman Allen of Milton and Burlington was of
another line of the same Allen Family, sou of Enoch Allen, born at
Ashfield, Mass., June 14, 1777. He was a member of Congress eight
years. lS-_'7-2!> and 1833-39, and died at Burlington Dec 11, 1844.— Dic-
tionary of Congress, and Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, pp. 606-8, 840.]

[Lieut.] Levi — born at Cornwall, Conn, July 10, 1745. [Died in Bur-
lington in 1801. — Vt. Hist. Mag., vol I, p. 502.]

Lucy — born at Cornwall, Conn., April 2, 1747. [ Married a Dr. Bebee,
and lived and died in Sheffield, Mass. — Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, p. 501.]

ZlMRI — born at Cornwall, Conn., Dec. 14, 1748. [Died at Sheffield,
Mass.— 17. Hist. Mag., vol. I, p. 502.]

[Col.] Ira, (the youngest) — born [at Cornwall, Conn, April 21, 1751.
Married Jerusha, daughter of (leu. Robert Enos, and had three chil-
dred : Zimri, who died at Colchester, Aug. 22, 1813, aged 21 ; Ira H.,
who died at Irasburgh, April 21), 1866, in the 76th year of his age ; and
Maria Juliet, who died at St. Albans, August 18, 1811, aged 17 years.

Confiding in the power of God most high,
His wisdom, goodness, and infinity,
Displayed, securely I resign my breath
To the cold, unrelenting stroke of death;
Trusting that God, who gave me life before,
Will still preserve me in a state much more
Exalted mentally beyond decay,
In the blest regions of eternal day.

However irreligious many suppose Ethan Allen to have been, it is
clear that he here recognized the sublime power of Christian faith in his
wife. He represents her, not as being annihilated, but as having en-
tered into " the blest regions of eternal day." — See Zadock Thompson's
Lecture on the Allen Family, in Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, p. 567.

1 Frances Buchanan in Eastern Vermont; Lydia Buchanan in Vt. Hist.
Mag., vol. I, p. 507; and called Fanny, by Ira Allen in 1809, when she
was the wife of Jabez Penniman.

112 Council of Safety — Introduction.

Col. Ira Allen died at Philadelphia, Jan. 7, 1814, in the 62d year of his
age.— Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, pp. 770-77G.] 1

Of the six sons of Joseph Allex, Zimri seems to have resided in
the state no very long time— in any event, he is not named in history ;
and Levi was never a permanent resident. He was in the state in 1775,
and served as lieutenant on the Whig side, but he soon left it and he-
came and continued to be a Tory until the close of the revolutionary
war. For this, Ethan Allen complained of him to the court of confisca-
tion, Jan. 9, 1779, and his property was confiscated. 2 In 1786 he returned
and was employed by the state as commissioner to negotiate a commer-
cial treaty with the Provinces of Canada and Great Britain. It was a
service for which his Tory proclivities fitted him, but he failed in it. 3
The four other sons rank among the fathers of Vermont, and two of
them with the most eminent Vermonters of their day. Ethan, Heman,
Zimri, and Ira Allen, with Remember Baker, constituted " The Onion
River Land Company," and as such became the most extensive proprietors
of land in the state — of course under the New Hampshire Grants origin-
ally, and subsequent to the state organization by grants from Vermont. 4
Thus the controversy with New York involved their title to landed prop-
erty to an immense amount, and this stimulated them to their zealous,
courageous, persistent, and finally successful efforts for the independence
of the state. Levi Allen was the equal of his brothers in talents, en-

1 It will be observed that the dates of the death of Heber and Zimri
Allen are not given. Heber died at Poultney; and from a letter of Ira
Allen to all the branches of the Allen family (in Letters of Ira Allen, in
the State Library,) Feb. 9,1809, it appears that Ethan, Heman, Heber and
Zimri died previous to 1795. Heber was first town clerk of Poultney,
and he was a member of the court of confiscation for the shire of Rut-
land in 1778 — his last office apparently. He doubtless died soon after his
service in this capacity, otherwise it is most probable his name would
have appeared as representative of Poultney, or as an officer of Rutland
county, which was organized in 1781. The birth of his son Heman is
given above as Feb. 1779, and it is recorded that this son was adopted by
Ira Allen; the inference being that he was young when his father died.

2 Slade's State Papers, p. 5G3.

3 Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. ii, pp. 441, 445.

4 In 1809 and 1810, Ira Allen estimated his real estate in Vermont to
be worth, on a proper appraisal, from one million to one million and a
half of dollars; which, he charged, "a conspiracy of men" was attempt-
ing to secure by fraudulent titles. As he had been, and was then, the
administrator of the estates of Ethan, Capt. Heman, Levi, and Zimri
Allen, and also of Remember Baker, and as such had taken all their land
into his possession, this seems to be Allen's estimate of the value of the
then remnants of the real estate of the Onion River Land Company.
—See Letters of Ira Allen, in the State Library, pp. 18, 31.

Council of Safety — Introduction. 113

ergy, enterprise and bravery, but nor in patriotism and judgment. He
was eccentric and unstable — as "the rolling stone that gathers no moss"

— and he therefore garnered no such wealth of honor and renown as did
they. From the first'they seem to have doubted the character of Levi,
since he was not a member of the great land company, and was after-
ward repudiated as a Tory. Of this an amusing piece of evidence is
found in doggerel verses which were attributed, not without reason, to
Levi Allen, as having been written when he was smarting under the
loss 'if his property, which he charged to Ira. although Ethan entered
the complaint. It shows that both Ethan and Ira regarded Levi as a
great rogue, for which Levi took his revenge by counting Ira as the
greatest rogue of the three. It is as follows :

THE THREE BROTHERS.

Ethan. — Old Ethan once said over a full bowl of grog.

Though I believe not in Jesus, I hold to a God ;
There is also a Devil — you will see him one day
In a whirlwind of fire take Levi away.

Ira. — Says Ira to Ethan it plain doth appear

That you are inclined to banter and jeer ;
I think for myself and I freely declare
Our Levi's too stout for the prince of the air;
If ever you see them engaged in affray,
'Tis our Levi who'll take the Devil away.

Levi. — Says Levi, your speeches make it perfectly clear
That you both seem inclined to banter and jeer;
Though through all the world my name stands enrolled
For tricks sly and crafty, ingenious and bold.
There is one consolation which none can deny
That there's one greater rogue in this world than I.

Ethan and Ira. — "Who's that ?" the}' both cry with equal surprise.
Levi. — "Tis Ira ! 'tis Ira ! I yield him the prize. 1

The fate of the sons of Joseph Allex was as remarkable as were
the qualities of the men. Heber and Zimri did not become very promi-
nent, and nothing remarkable is recorded of their end; but the other four
were all marked men. Gen. Ethan's most vigorous days, and at the
period when his services would have been most useful to his country,
were wasted in a British prison, and he died suddenly at the age of fifty-
one. Capt. Heman, whose public life opened with a fair promise of rich
fruitage, died in his twenty-ninth year. Lieut. Levi was as brilliant
in capacity and as daring in enterprise as either Ethan or Ira, but he
was " unstable as water,'' and his life was a failure; while Ira the last

1 Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 573.

114 Council of Safety— Introduction.

born attained the longest age, rendered the most numerous and valuable
services, and had the largest opportunities, but the immense wealth lie
acquired was wasted through protracted controversies at home and abroad ;
he was forced to quit the state he so successfully served, to preserve his
personal liberty from exacting creditors; he died in poverty, and was
buried in a stranger's grave with no stone to mark the spot. 1

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.

Capt. Heman Allen's birth and death have been already recorded.
Beyond these events in his short life we get only a few glimpses ; but
these impress us with a strong conviction thai in character and capacities
he was fully the equal of the two brothers whose fame is now national.
His name appears in the record of every Convention, save two, from
July 1775 to July 1777; and of the last he was undoubtedly a member, as
he was appointed by it on the Council of Safety. In two he was a dele-
gate at large, or adviser and counsellor: once with Sktii Waiinki;, and
again with Thomas Chittenden, Jonas Fay, Jeremiah Clakk,
Timothy Brownson, and Ira Allen, who were all in the firsl Gover-
nor's Council under the constitution. He was employed on the most
important committees, sometimes as chairman, as ot the committee "I

1 In a letter to Eleazek Keyes, July 3, 1810, Ira Allen wrote as
follows :

It is very strange that my friends [heirs of Ethan Allen, &c.,] and
Enemies act on one Principle to cut off my Resources, of many which
has been considered the most sure means [ by cutting them off] of Pre-
venting me from obtaining Justice iu Greal Britain and Veri it. By

this strange Coalition I was obliged to consert such measures as I could
to Leave Burlington Prison, for it was the Price of my Life to be Lib-
erated, for my Health was so much Injured by English and French and
Vermont Prisons it was Certain Death to Remain there, nor have I yet
Gained my Health although for much time constantly in use of Medical
aid. On these Principles I left Burlington in 1803. " Skin for skin, yea
all that a Man hath will he Give for his Life," are the words of Satan in
answer to the Lord in the Book of Job. Are these the rewards for un-
common Exertions in Exploring a new Country before I was Twenty-
one years of age, Concerting Plans for Extensive Purchases of hand's,
the attention Paid to my Deceast friends [and] their Heirs, and Exer-
tions for the Independence of Vermont and the United States?

In another letter, Oct. 9, 180U, to Mrs. Fanny Penniman, widow
of Ethan Allen, he wrote :

I publicly, even in the newspapers, declared my determination to sup-
port the rights of the Heirs of my deceased friends, and commenced a Suit
against Major Ormsby for the recovering of the old Homestead of my
deceased brother; but was soon after obliged to fly from every thing dear
to me in Vermont, to preserve my own existence; and nol havin^ fully
regained my health lost in English, French, and Vermont Prisons 'l
shall not hastily expose my person to a Vermont Bastile.— Letters of Ira
Allen, pp. 13, 34. J

Council of Safety — Introduction. 115

Jan. 177<i t<> fix the basis of representation of the towns in Convention,
ofthe committee of July 1776 to treat with the inhabitants of eastern
Vermont, and of Jan. 15, 1777, In prepare the "Declaration" for 1 lie press.
He was also in the list of the firsl agents or commissioners appointed

January 177(i to present the ease of Vermont to Congress, and was ap-
pointed to the same office in January 1777. He attended upon Congress
in 177(3, and by his tact saved the state from an adverse deeision by
that body which at that time would have been greatly injurious if not fatal
to the interests of Vermont. He thus stands out prominently as a leading
man in the conventions, and the important and delicate duties assigned to
him by his colleagues indicate even a higher degree of confidence in his
judgment than they would probably accord to the more impulsive but
older brother Ethan, or the much younger and perhaps more brilliant
Ira. It is worth remarking that Ira was quite willing to stand subordinate
to Heman, which is high testimony to the excellence of the elder
brother. Heman Allen doubtless took an active part in the Council up
to the battle of Bennington, in which he contracted the disease that
proved fatal in the month of May succeeding. He died in Connecticut.

Ira Allen came to Vermont "in 1771, when 21 years of age," says
Hon. David Read, but in fact he was a little younger. His first work was
for "The Onion River Land Company," hut speedily his landed interest
drove him into public affairs, and chiefly in the controversy with New
York. In July, 1775, he was appointed Lieutenant in Warner's regi-
ment ; soon he became Captain, then Colonel, and finally Major-Genera]
of militia. He was most distinguished, however, for his civil services.
As delegate in Conventions he was very active, serving as Secretaiy and
on important committees. He was ever busy with Ins pen, defending
the interests of the State in newspaper articles and pamphlets, assisting
Gov. Chittenden in his correspondence, preparing documents for the
Conventions, and finally conducting the diplomatic correspondence with
Gen. Haldimand. 3 If any other opportunity for diplomacy occurred — as

3 Since the publication of the second volume of the Vermont Histori-
cal Society Collections, containing the Haldimand correspondence, the
editor of that volume (and of this) has discovered a very interesting esti-
mate ofthe valuable fruits ofthe services and policy of Vermont in 1775
-'83, by a principal actor in the drama — Ika Allen. It is in a letter
of Allen to Hon. Samuel Hitchcock of Burlington, dated Oct. 11,
1809, of which the following is an extract :

I have no doubt, but the British Government have been deceived by
designing men, and that some prejudices remained from the events of
the revolution, [Haldimand Correspondence.] by which means designing
men could the easier impose on Government ; but these frauds have
vanished before truth, as white frost before the beams of the rising sun.

It is recorded in sacred writ, " That a Prophet has no honour in his
own country and amongst his kindred/' I have much reason to believe

116 Council of Safety — Introduction.

for example, with New Hampshire on the projected Unions, or in enlist-
ing officers of the army and leading men of the New England and Mid-
dle States in the interest of Vermont, or in negotiating for free trade
with Canada and Great Britain, 1 — Ira Allen was the man selected. He
was a member of the Council of Safety, and of the Board of War ; of the
General Assembly two years, and of the Governor's Council nine years ;
State Treasurer nine years ; Surveyor General nine years also ; and
finally, in 1790, he was one of the commissioners on the part of Ver-
mont who amicably settled the long protracted and violent controversy
with New York and ensured the admission of Vermont to the Union.
Early in his career he designed the connection of the St. Lawrence river
with Lake Champlainby a canal, some years in advance of the similar
scheme of Elkanah Watsox and Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler for

this scripture, which is the more confirmed, when I know that the cap-
ture of Ticonderoga, &c, and the fame of the Green Mountain boys are
more thought of in Europe than in the United Stales. Thai in the
Southern States, the battle of Bennington is considered to have caused
the change of the Commander in Chief of the Northern army, and a
stepping-stone to the capture of Gen. Burgoyne and army. Thai the
truce between the British in Canada and Vermont, in causing the inac-
tivity of 10,000 British troops, enabled Gen. Washington t<i capture Lord
Cornwallis and army. As the people in the Southern States severely
felt the movements and effects of Lord Cornwallis and army, and as
Virginia has been famous for Presidents, it was not improper to give a
sketch of these matters in a pamphlet addressed to the freemen of Ver-
mont.

In the books of the Olive Branch you will see that I have been severe
on the British and French Governments, and that I have not in some
instances spared individuals. A justice due to myself, family, and coun-
try, made such measures a duty incumbent upon me : yet you will find
that I have uniformty been opposed to this country's being involved
in war, ever since I commenced negociator for peace and friendship in
1780. That the negociators of Vermont in 1781 fulfilled all the engage-
ments they made, that the event at Yorktown by the combined power
of France and the United States, was as much out of the controle of
the cabinet of Vermont, as the events of Europe are now out [of] the
controle of the cabinet of the United States ; yet. you will see by the
20th page of a pamphlet addressed to the freemen of Vermont that
by uniting the people in Vermont, by union. &c.,* (before which they
were exposed to enemies on every side.) they gained the securest
situation of any of the people in the United States ; for if the events
of war had terminated in favour of Great Britian. Vermont would hare
been a favourite Colony under the Crown ; if in favour of the United
States, they were prepared for a sister State in the Federal Union, which
they obtained, after extinguishing all the grants of land made bv the late
Colony of New York in Vermont, for a trifling consideration.— "Letters of
Ira Allen, pp. 9,10.

* The" union, &c.,» refers to the East and West Unions, with parts of New Hampshire and New

York, winch, :is Allen subsequently said in this letter, "were dissolved when 1 [lie] was at
Congress supporting them." This was the fact, and he disapproved of their dissolution as soon as
lie was apprized ot it.

1 Ira was at the head of the project, and Levi was employed to go per-.
sonally to Quebec on Ira's suggestion.

Council of Safety — Introduction. 117

the present "Champlain Canal ;" and he was the founder of the Univer-
sity of Vermont. In Dec. 1795 he sailed for England to press his canal
project, for which he could get nothing but fair words from the British
Cabinet ; and to purchase arms for the State, which he succeeded in do-
ing in France and shipped them under the French Hag. The vessel
was seized by a British cruiser and the cargo was condemned as a law-
ful prize. For eight years Allen contested this case in the British courts,
and finally won his property, but at a cost, in expenses, far exceeding its
value. On his return he found bis business in Vermont broken up, and
himself so involved pecuniarily that he must leave the State, never to
return. The State of Vermont has just provided munificently for a
statue of Ethan Allen, to stand in the old Representatives' Hall of
Congress till it shall crumble by the breath of time, a mute but eloquent
witness of the bravery and patriotism of her sons : but the records of the
services of Ira Allen, in her struggles and history, — of his skill as
statesman and diplomatist — of his grand designs for the promotion of
learning and the development of the material resources of the State, —
will forever stand, a monument more brilliant than brass and more last-
ing than marble.

Gen. Jacob Bayley was born in Newbury, Mass., July 2, 1728, and
married Prudence Noyes, Oct. 16, 1745. He settled in Hampstead in
1745 ; was a captain in the French war, 1756, and escaped from the mas-
sacre of Fort Wm. Henry in Aug. 1757; was colonel at the taking of
Ticonderoga and Crown Point by Amherst in 1759; and arrived in New-
bury, Vt., in Oct, 1764. In 1776 he commenced the celebrated Hazen
road, which was designed as a military road from Connecticut river to
St. Johns, (Canada,) and was completed by Gen. Hazen as far as Hazen
notch, near Montgomery line. Gen. Bayle}' was commissary-general
during a portion of the Revolutionary war, a brigadier-general of militia
under New York, and served as such in western Vermont, August to
November 1777. He was a leading man in his town and county, serving
as town representative, member of the state council, and judge of Glou-
cester [under N. Y.] and Orange county courts. He died March 1, 1816.
—History of Newbury in Vt. Historical Magazine ; Deming's Catalogue,
1778 to 1851; Drake's Dictionary of American Biography.

Benjamin Carpenter, of Guilford. — The following inscription on
his tombstone gives a more complete history of the services, character,
and person of this public man than can often be found of any man in
so few words. It is copied from Thompson's Vermont, Part in, p. 83.

SACRED TO THE MEMORY

OF TIIE

Hon. BENJ. CARPENTER, Esq.

Born in Rehoboth, Mass., A. D. 1726.
A magistrate in Rhode Island in A. D. 1764.

118 Council of Safety— Introduction.

A public teacher of righteousness,
An able advocate to his last for Democracy,

And the equal rights of man.

Removed to this town, (Guilford,) A. D. 1770.

Was a field officer in the Revolutionary war.

A founder of the first constitution and government of Vermont,

A Council of Censors, in A. D. 1783,

A member of the Council, and Lieut, Governor of the State in

A. D. 1779,
A firm professor of Christianity in the Baptist church

50 years. Left this world

And 146 persons of lineal posterity, March 29th, 1804,

Aged 78 years 10 months and 12 days,

with a strong

Mind and full of faith of a more

Glorious state hereafter.

Stature about six feet — weight 200.

Death had no terror.

The above omits several facts. Mr. Carpenter was the firsl delegate
of Guilford in a Vermont Convention. " In 1770." says Thompson, "the
town voted to pay the expenses of Benjamin Carpenter, their delegate
to the Westminster Convention of 177;").'" If there is no error in the
dates, this must mean the Convention of April 11, 177o. which con-
demned the government of New York, the massacre at Westminster,
&c. He was a delegate in the Dorset ami Westminster Conventions oi
1776. In 1777 the town "voted, John Barney and Benjamin Carpenter
be a committee to go to Windsor, in June nexl. to hear the report of the
agent sent to Congress concerning a new state."' Accordingly Mi-. Car-
penter attended the Windsor Convention of June 4. 1777; and the above
inscription indicates thai he was also a member of the Windsor Conven-
tion which adopted the Constitution. In 177S there was a change in the
politics of the town, the opponents of Vermont having obtained posses-
sion of the records of tli e town and ruled it until about 1791, when the
town was duly organized under Vermont. Mr. Carpenter disregarded
the dominant party and adhered steadily to Vermont, on occasions not
without personal danger, since it is recorded that in December, 1783, lie
was taken prisoner by the Yorkers and carried away, "to his great dam-
age." Feb. 1, 1776, he was chairman of the Cumberland County Com-
mittee of Safety, and by that body was nominated lieutenant colonel of
militia, which was confirmed by New York. March 1.1776.— See Thomp-
son's Vermont and B. H. Hall's Eastern Vermont.

Thomas Chittenden was horn at East Guilford, Conn., dan. 6, 1730.
He remained with his father until Oct. 4, 174'J. aboul which time he mar-
ried Elizabeth Meigs and removed to Salisbury, Conn., which town be
represented in the legislature of Connecticut from 1766 to 1769 and
again in 1772. He was colonel of militia and a justice of the peace. In
1774 he silled in tlu- valley of the Winooski at WiUiston, from whence
he was driven by the invasion of the British in 1776. He dwelt in Dan-

Council of Safety — Introduction. 119

by, Pownal, and Arlington mainly, until his return to the homestead in
1787. He was a leading member in the Vermont Conventions, Presi-
dent of the Council of Safety, and Governor from March 1778, one year
excepted, until he resigned, a short time before his death, which occur-
red August 25, 1797. His defeat in the General Assembly in 1780, al-
though be was nearly elected by the people, was a political accident,
which is chargeable more to jealousy of Ira Allen felt by the politicians
of the day, than to any lack of affection for or confidence in the Governor.
Indeed, in an address to the Governor, on that occasion, the Assembly
declared the satisfaction they felt in his administration ; a grateful sense
of the many and good services he had rendered, "as the supporter, guar-
dian and protector of their civil liberties ;" and "all that a noble and
generous mind can give or wish to receive, their gratitude and warmest
thanks." — See Memoir of Chittenden by Daniel Chipman; Early History;
and Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I passim; also vol. n, pp. 479, 484,
485, and passim.

The predominant traits in Gov. Chittenden's character were of the
most substantial excellence. He did not tower high like an ornate and
graceful Corinthian column, but was rather like the solid Roman arch, that
no convulsion could overturn and no weight could crush. u He was ed-
ucated to habits of industry and economy, and had but little to do with
the artificial forms of society. A common school education completed
his early advantages ; and, indeed, the little time he had to spare from
labor was not devoted to books and study so much as to his favorite ath-
letic sports." 1 .He seemed to have an intuitive insight into all men with
whom he came in contact, and into all questions which be had to decide. 2
Ethan Allen said "That he was the only man he ever knew who was
sure to be right in all, even the most difficult and complex cases, and yet
could not tell or seem to know why it was so." 3 Hence, his letters and
official documents were usually written by others — Jonas or Joseph
Fay, Ethan or Ira Allen, Moses Robinson, and later by Nathaniel Chip-
man; but it cannot be doubted that Chittenden dictated them, for no
man in Vermont was superior to him in judgment. From his first en-
trance into the state he was the master in every community in which he
dwelt, either by the force of his character or the power of his official po-
sitions ; and yet "his government was rather patriarchal than constitu-
tional."* Like a father, he did not spare the rod, as with the tories.
and yet all men were his children, and he tempered justice with mercy.
"His sagacity, humanity and souud discretion are conspicuous especially
in the disposition of the tories, their estates, and their families." 5 The
tact has already been stated that Gov. Chittenden became a resident of
Arlington to cmell the tory power there, as he rigorously did, until nearly
every royalist was driven out or persuaded to remain in submission.

1 Hon. David Read, in Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I., p. 906. Ubid, p. 911.
3 Ibid, p. 929. 4 D. Chipman's Memoir, p. 9. '-Ibid, p. 19.

120 Council of Safety — Introduction.

The historian of Arlington added, " Soon circumstances arose which
really gave Governor Chittenden a place in the affections of the people.
So great had been the disorders of the times, and so many men had left
the country that fields were unharvested and there was imminent danger
of famine. The Governor took upon himself the task of visiting, from
time to time, every family and taking an account of the provisions on
hand. Under his oversight, and by his impartial and disinterested coun-
sel, distribution was so made that, although all were pinched, none per-
ished." 1 The remarkable proclamation of pardon to the tories and
Yorkers, June, 1779, was "a gracious design of mercy, 1 '' "to alleviate
the miseries of those unhappy subjects who act through mistaken no-
tions, and resist the penalties thereof.'' 2 Not only was he ready to grant
all possible relief in everj r present emergency, but like a watchful and
provident father he anticipated future necessities. Hence, again and
again were embargoes imposed on the exportation of breadstuff's, and on
one occasion it transpired that the Governor had stored up the abun-
dance of his own fields, refusing to sell for cash, but reserving it for the
benefit of the people in a time of need. 3 He was, eminently, a good
governor — a wise ruler — a father to his people. His son, Martin CniT-
tenden, described him as a man over six feet, of fair proportions
though not portly, and fine teeth, but for a portion of his life he lost the
use of one eye.

Jeremiah Clark was born in Preston, Conn., in 1733, came to Ben-
nington in 1767, and quickly made his pitch in the west part of Shafts-
bury, where he dwelt for half a centuiy. He served as Major, and took
part in the battle of Bennington with a son sixteen years of age. He
was one of the committee which "warned" the Dorset Convention of
Jan. 10, 1770, and was a delegate in several other Conventions ; served
as member of the Council of Safety in 1777-8 ; as Councillor in 1778,
1779, and 1780 ; and chief judge of Bennington county in 177*. In the
last capacity he passed sentence of death on David Redding, who was the
first man executed in Vermont. Maj. Clark died in 1817, aged 84
years.— See history of Shaftsbury, and letter of Hon. Myron Clark,
grandson of Major Clark, in Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, pp. 234, 230. On
the authority of the last named alone, Major Clark's name is inserted
in the roll of the Council of Safety. The grandson gave him the char-
acter of a conscientious and religious man.

Nathan Clark came to Bennington from Connecticut in 1702, and
was prominent in the controversy with New York, being frequently
chairman of conventions and committees and the author of many of the

1 Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 130.

2 Slade's State Papers, pp. 556, 557, and post.
8 Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. n, p. 482.

Council of Safety — Introduction. 121

published papers of the time. He was chairman of the Bennington
Committee of Safety, and was complimented by Gen. Gates for efficient
services. He was member of the State Council of Safety, and speaker
of the first General Assembly. He lost one son, Nathan Clark, jr., in
the battle of Bennington : and another son, Isaac Clark, familiarly
known as '-Old Rifle," was in that battle, was a Colonel in the war of 1812,
and distinguished as a partizau leader. 1 — See Early History, p. 459 ; and
Memorials of a Century, Bennington.

'Col. Isaac Clark, afterward General, married Hannah, the third
daughter of Gov. Thomas Chittenden. He was not only a good fighter,
but a very zealous Republican of the school of Jefferson. He repre-
sented Castleton in the General Assembly of Vermont four years,
1796-99, and was one of the victims of the so-called '" Vergennes slaugh-
ter-house" in 1798, having been expelled from the House for an alleged
misdemeanor as a member of the committee to canvass votes for state
officers. A new election was ordered, Clark was again elected by a ma-
jdrity of all the voters in his town, but the Federalists refused to admit
him at that session. One of the very last and rarest acquisitions of the
late State Librarian, Hon. Chakles Reed, was a volume thus entitled:

A Republican Magazine: or Repository of Political Truths. By James
Lyon, of Fairhaven. Vermont.

Nature has left this Tincture in the Blood,
That all Men would be Tyrants if they coii'd —
If they forbear their Neighbors to devour,
' Tis not for want of Will, but want of Power.

De Foe's Jure Divino.
Published at Fairhaven, Vt.

M,DCC,XCVIII.

It is a sixteen mo. volume, consisting of four semi-monthly numbers
with this title :

The Scourge of Aristocracy, and repository of Important Political
Truths.

In this volume is a notice, by Matthew Lyon, of Gen. Clark's expul-
sion, which is so characteristic both of Lyon and the spirit of that day
as to be worth perpetuating. It is as follows:

Vergennes, Oct. 28, 1798.
It is not in my power to make you any communications of importance,
except what you have no doubt already received. The last political
death reported, is that of General Clark — he departed this life the 25th
instant, aged 14 days; — He died in the defence of that country, which,
thro' his aid, had given birth to his assassins — his last moments were
marked with as much serenity as the celebrated John Rogers's were, and
in some degree similar; only the one died for religious, the other for
political sentiments, both under the reign of Party Terror. His depart-
ing soul breathed forth a strong and manly hope of a speedy and glori-
ous resurrection of Republicanism.

"When party zeal in public good shall end,

And show the world who is his country's friend;

122 Council of Safety — Introduction.

Dr. Jonas Fay, son of Stephen Fay, was born at Hardwick, Mass.,
Jan. 17, 1737, and removed to Bennington with his father in 1766. He-
was from the first prominent in the contest with New York and with
the mother country, and influential in the organization of the state, his
pen being often used in its service. He was clerk of the convention of
settlers in March, 1774, and uniformly, when present, of subsequent con-
ventions. On the declaration of Vermont independence in 1777 he was of
the committee, with Chittenden, Reuben Jones. Bayley. and Capt. Heman
Allen, to prepare and present to Congress the declaration and petition
of the state, and on four occasions, from 1777 to 1782, he was agent of
the state to Congress. At the age of nineteen he had served in the
French war during the campaign of 1750. He was with Ethan Allen as sur-
geon in the capture of Ticonderoga in May. 1775: served in the same ca-
pacity with Elmore's Connecticut regiment, and also for a time in War-
ner's regiment. In July, 1775, he was appointed by the Massachusetts
committee at Ticonderoga to muster the troops as they arrived. He u as
a member of the Council of Safety in 1777-8, and then of I lie State
Council for the first seven years ; a judge of the supreme court
in 1782, and judge of probate for five years, 1782-*80. He resided
for awhile after 1800 in Charlotte and Pawlet, and died in Bennington,
March 6, 1818. — See Early History, pp. 403, 404.

Col. Joseph Fay, brother of Jonas, was born in Hardwick. Mass.,
about 1752, and came to Bennington in 1700. He was Secretary of the
Council of Safety from Sept. 1777 to March 178S ; of the State Council
from March 1778 to 1704 ; and Secretary of State also from the resigna-

When Democrats shall rise and reign,
And Freedom bless the earth again ;
When Tories shall sink down to hell,
Where Pandemonium Harpies dwell;
Millennial Love shall then prevail;
Aristocrats lament and wail:
Republicans rejoice to see
The blest return of Liberty;
Vergennes fever will harmless prove,
Or rage a stimulous to Love.

Of course the above was written when Lyox was in jail at Ver-
gennes, suffering the penalty of the alien and sedition act. He was
committed in October, 1798 and was not released until February 1799.

Drake's Dictionary of American Biography records this:

Clark, Gen. Isaac, d. Castleton, Vt., Jan. 31, 1822, a. 73. Member
of the Constitutional Convention, and many years [1806-1 0] chief judge
of the Vermont [Rutlaud] County Court, "a soldier of the Revolution
and Colonel 11th U. S. Infantry, March 12. 1812. Commanded a suc-
cessful expedition against Massequoi, [St. Armand.] Lower Canada. Oct.
12, 1813.

Council of Safety — Introduction. 123

tion of Thos. Chandler, jr., (supposed to be in November 1778,) to 1781.
He was associated with Ira Allen in the famous negotiation with Gen. Hal-
rtimand, Gov. Gen. of Canada, from 1780 to 1783, for which by his talents
and address he was fitted. He removed to New York city in 1794. and
died there, of yellow fever, in October 1803. — Early History, p. 464 ;
Memorials of a Century, Bennington, p. 202 ; see also Vt. Hist. Soc. Col-
lections, vol. II.

Matthew Lyon deserves to be ranked among the remarkable men
of Vermont. Born in Wicklow county, Ireland, in 1740, he was appren-
ticed at an early age to a printer and bookbinder ; but he came to
America at thirteen and Was so poor that he had to indenture his person
in Litchfield, Conn., to pay for his passage. This indenture was finally
sold to Jesse Leavenworth (one of the founders of Danville, Vt.,) for a
pair of steers, and Lyon's favorite oath used to be, "by the bulls that re-
deemed me." He was first known in the annals of Vermont as a dele-
gate for North Wallingford in the Dorset Convention of July 24, 1776,
he being then thirty years of age. During the same year he was lieu-
tenant in Capt. John Fassett jr's. company and was stationed at the
block-house in Jericho, which was abandoned by the men of the company
on the retreat of the continental army from Canada. Lyon reported this
fact to Gen. Gates and charged the responsibility mainly on Capt. John
Fassett jr., when the officers were arrested, (Lyon included,) tried by
court martial for cowardice, convicted, and cashiered. 1 It was in all u-

1 Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, p. 457. It was charged that Lyon and the sub-
ordinate officers persuaded the men to desert, which Lyon always de-
nied. The "cowardice" charged could have been constructive only,
meaning simply that they had abandoned the post without orders. For
forty men to stay at Jericho when our army was retreating before the
British up the lake, and every man, woman and child had quit that part of
the State, would be something more than courage — sheer fool-hardiness.
In the Memoir of my own Times, by Gen. James Wilkinson, vol. I, p.
189, is the following passage, giving unquestionably a truthful account
of this affair:

The night of the 7th [July, 1777, the night after the battle of Hub-
bar Iton,] being extremely dark and rainy, one of the guards took up and
reported to head quarters a young man suspected of being a spy. I vis-
ited the guard, and found the prisoner to be a Lieutenant Lyon (since
Mr. Matthew Lyon of Congress) of the militia, who had joined us to
offer his services as a guide, of whom we stood in great need, being
strangers to the country, which was in general a wilderness, a town hav-
ing sometimes barely a cabin or two to distinguish it; even Bennington,
the seat of the government of the Hampshire grantees, could not number
more than a dozen log cabins, which were however surrounded by a con-
siderable tract of improved ground. Lieutenant Lyon, an active, ardent
young man, was extremely zealous, and accompanied us as long as his

124 Council of Safety — Introduction.

siott to this event in Lyon's history that afterward, in Congress, Roger
Griswold taunted Lyon for " wearing a wooden sword," and Lyon re-
sented the insult by spitting in Griswold's face. Tor this it was proposed
to expel Lyon from the House, and the vote stood yeas 52, nays 44—
failing for want of two thirds. Goodrich afterwards caned Lyon, when
it was proposed to expel both members, but that was rejected, 73 to 21, and
a resolution to reprimand them failed by one majority. The cashiering of
Lyon was not injurious to him in Vermont, however annoying for a
time it might have been, as he was subsequently made commissary-gen-
eral, and colonel, and elected twice to Congress.— Benton's Abridgement
of the Debates of Congress, vol. n, pp. 205-206.

Arlington was a stronghold of the tories, and the Convention of Sept.
25 1776, ordered the Friends of Liberty to choose a Committee of Safety
nevertheless, conduct as other towns, and call upon the committee* of
neighboring towns for aid if necessary. Further to thwart the tories
of that town, Thomas Chittenden, Matthew Lyon and John Fassett, jr.
temporarily became citizens of Arlington, taking possession of the
confiscated property of tories. Ira Allen was only three miles distant.
and these four leading men of the State erected a judgment seat and sat
as a council to pronounce woe upon every rebellious tory. — Vt. Hist.
Mag., vol. i, p. 130. Here Lyon married, for his second wife, Beulah,
widow of Elijah Galusha and fourth daughter of Thomas Chittenden.
From 1777 for several years he was clerk of the court of confiscation,
and in 1785, for refusing to furnish its records to the Council of Cen-
sors, he was impeached by the General Assembly, tried and convicted in
his absence by the Governor and Council, ordered to deliver the doc-
uments, and sentenced to a reprimand and to a tine of live hundred
pounds. He subsequently appeared, the sentence was read, and he re-
quested a rehearing, which was ordered, but nothing seems to have been
done.— Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. n, p. 428. July 15, 1777, Gen. Schuyler
restored Lyon to his military rank by appointing him a temporary pay-
master in Warner's regiment. In April 1778 he was appointed deputy
Secretary of the Governor and Council, and he served until Nov. 24. He
was also clerk of the Assembly and Secretary of the Board of War in 1779.
He represented Arlington in the General Assembly four years, 1779-17S2 :
and Fairhaven ten years, 1783-4, and 1787 to 1796. He was elected to
Congress in 1796 and re-elected in 1798, first taking his seal at the called
session, May 15, 1797, and closing his service for Vermont on the 3d of

services were useful: he had been stationed the preceding campaign,
with a party of militia, at Otter creek, [Onion river,] in a "subordinate
capacity; the post was evacuated without orders, and Lieutenant Lyon
has been censured for that transaction, although lie opposed the meas-
ure, and on an investigation was acquitted of blame.

The last assertion probably refers to an investigation made by Maj.
Gen. Schuylee, who restored Lyon to service as pay-master in War-
ner's continental regiment.

Council of Safety — Introduction. 125

March, 1801. Lyon was a terse and vigorous writer and an able debater,
and tbese qualities were manifest in his speeches, of which abstracts have
been preserved. He was neither inactive nor insignificant in Congress.
On the 4tb of July 1798 the sedition act went into effect, and on the 31st
of the same month the Vermont Journal [Windsor] published a letter
written by Lyon June '20. fourteen days before the act went into effect,
but mailed at Philadelphia, as appeared by the postmark, on the 7th of
July, three days after the act had been approved. A portion of this let-
ter was deemed seditious, and for it Lyon was indicted, tried and con-
victed in October following, the penalties being a fine of #1000 and im-
prisonment for four months. While he was in prison he was re-elected
to Congress, and when the prison doors were opened in Feb. 1799, at the
end of the four months, he announced that he was on his way to attend
Congress at Philadelphia, and thus escaped a re-arrest which his oppo-
nents had prepared for him. He took his seat on the 20th of February,
and on the same day Mr. Bayard of Delaware introduced the following
resolution, which is very extraordinary when compared with the lan-
guage for which Lyon was indicted:

Resolved, That Matthew Lyon, a member of this House, having been
convicted of being a notorious and seditious person, and of a depraved
mind, and wicked and diabolical disposition; and of wickedly, deceitfully,
and maliciously, contriving to defame the Government of the United
States, and John Adams, the President of the United States, and
to bring the said Government and President into contempt and disre-
pute, and with intent and design to excite against the said Government
and President the hatred of the good people of the United States, and
stir up sedition in the United States — wickedly, knowingly and mali-
ciously, written and published certain scandalous and seditious writings,
or libels, be therefore expelled this House. — Benton's Abridgement of
the Debates of Congress, vol. ii, p. 364.

The editor now gives Lyon's words, both as a comment on the animus
of Mr. Bayard's resolution, and as a specimen of Lyon's style. It cer-
tainly was not seditious under the present measure of the liberty of the
press:

As to the Executive, when I shall see the efforts of that power bent
on the promotion of the comfort, the happiness, and the accommodation
of the people, that executive shall have my zealous and uniform support.
But whenever I shall, on the part of the Executive, see every considera-
tion of publick welfare swallowed up in a continual grasp for power, in
an unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, or selfish
avarice ; when I shall behold men of real merit daily turned out of office
for no other cause but independency of spirit ; when I shall see men of
firmness, merit, years, abilities, and experience, discarded, in their appli-
cations for office, for fear they possess that independence, and men of
meanness preferred, for the ease with which they can take up and advo-
cate opinions, the consequences of which they know but little of; when
1 shall see the sacred name of religion employed as a state engine to
make mankind hate and persecute each other, I shall not be their humble
advocate.

Another charge against Lyon was, that he had procured the publica-
tion of a "Letter from an American diplomatic character [Joel Barlow,] to

126 Council of Safety — Introduction.

a member of Congress in Philadelphia" [Abraham Baldwin,] containing
alleged seditious matter ; which Lyon denied, and in any event it is not
necessary to quote it.— For this and the preceding extract, see Rev.
Pliny H. White's address before the Vt. Historical Society Oct. 29,
1858, on the Life and Services of Matthew Lyon. 1

Another fact pertinent to the animus of Bayard's resolution was. that on
its passage might depend the fact whether the federalists should or should
not have°the vote of the state if the election of President should be thrown
into the House in the next Congress, it being then known that the
two members elect for Vermont for the sixth Cougress were Matthew
Lyon Republican, and Lewis R. Morris Federalist— Lyon bavins-
been elected on the second trial by five hundred majority. II' Lyon
could be expelled, the Federalists would at least have a chance to secure
the seat on a special election.

Mr. Bayard's resolution was debated through the 22.1 of February,
when the vote was taken— yeas 49, nays 45 ; not two thirds, and there-
fore the resolution failed.

At the second session of the Sixth Cougress occurred an election of
President of the United States by the House of Representatives. The
electoral votes were declared on the 11th of February. L801, by which it
appeared that Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr had each received
c. majority, but that, as the number of voles for each was equal, no choice
had been made by the people. The House <>f Representatives therefore
on that day proceeded to ballot for President, and it balloted from day to
day until February 17. Through thirty-five ballotings there was no elec-
tion, and on each of the thirty-five the vote of Vermont was divided,
Mr. Lyon voting for Jefferson, and Mr. Morris for Burr. On the thirty-
sixth ballot Mr. Morris withheld his vote and Mr. Lyon voted tor Jeffer-
son, thus giving the vote of Vermont to Jefferson, which was sufficient
to elect him. In Maryland, however, four opponents of Mr. Jefferson
cast blanks, so that the other four members casl the vole of that state for
Mr. Jefferson. Lyon on one occasion said, on a disagreement with Jef-
ferson — "I made him, and I can unmake him !" This was assuming
overmuch, as Lyon's vote would have been counted as nothing if Morris
had not withheld his. The vote of either Vermont or Maryland would
have elected Jefferson, but both were permitted by the Federalists to be
cast for him on the advice of Alexander Hamilton, as a choice of evils, he
much preferring Jefferson to Burr. This event made the hostility be-
tween Hamilton and Burr from thenceforth deadly, in fact ending in the
death of Hamilton at the hand of Burr.

On returning from Congress in March, 1801, Mr. Lyon found his exten-
sive business in Vermont much embarrassed, and moreover his political
foes were lying in wait for him with fresh annovauces : be therefore re-

1 A third count was for aiding and abetting in the publication of the
matter cited in the first and second counts.

Council of Safety — Introduction. 127

moved to Kentucky, the twin brother of Vermont by birth into the
Union. He served two years, 1802-3, in the legislature of that State,
and as a member of Congress eight years, 1803 to 1811. Nov. 13, 1811,
he petitioned Congress to refund the fine of $1000 and costs ($1060.90)
imposed on him under the sedition act, and after a delay of nearly thirty
years, July 4, 1810, an act was passed refunding to his heirs the amount,
with interest from February 1799. The House passed the bill by nearly
a unanimous vote — yeas 124, nays 15.

In 1812 he contracted with the United States to construct gun-boats
at his ship-yard on Cumberland river, to be delivered at New Orleans.
Some were wrecked on the way, others were not completed in time, and
on the whole the undertaking was disastrous. In 1820 he was appointed,
under Monroe's administration, a factor with the Cherokee Indians in
Arkansas, and on the organization of that territory he was elected first
delegate to Congress, but he did not live to take his seat. He died, near
Little Rock, Aug. 1, 1822, in the 76th year of his age.

Chittenden Lyon, son of Matthew, and grand-son of Gov. Thomas
Chittenden, served in both branches of the legislature of Kentucky, and
then eight years in Congress, ending March, 1836, when he voluntarily
retired. He died in November, 1842. It is hardly possible that another
instance can be found where a father has been elected to Congress from
three different states and been succeeded in the same office by a son.
Rev. Asa Lyon, member of Congress from Vermont, and Lucius Lyon,
member and Senator in Congress from Michigan and a native of Ver-
mont, were in no degree related, it is believed, to the family of Matthew
Lyon.

However valuable to the state the services of Matthew Lyon may
have been in the many public offices he filled, it may be doubted whether
his influence as an enterprising and energetic business man was not even
more valuable. He was daring in his enterprises, and had he either
neglected politics and given his intellect and skill to business, or given
less attention to business and more to culture in law and statemanship, he
might have been an eminently successful man. In the History of Fair-
haven, by Andrew N. Adams, it appears that Lyon's first store was built
in 1791 ; Lyon's tavern house prior to 1787, and a private residence after-
ward; Lyon's Iron Works [smelting, &c] were built in 1785 — twice burnt
but are still in operation ; Lyon's Paper Mill was started in 1790 or '91,
(in which, almost a century ahead of the rest of the world, he manu-
factured paper from basswood) — burnt twice, but still in operation ; the
first grist-mill was built by Col. Lyon and Ager Hawley, and still another
previous to 1795 — a tannery annexed, which was converted into a slate
mill, and with the grist-mill seems to be now in operation : Lyon's saw-
mill was also the first, in 1783, and the power is still used ; in 1797 Lyon
had another saw-mill, which he sold in 1800— burnt in 1833, and not re-
built. To this must be added that Col. Lyon established a printing-office,
and started the third newspaper in Vermont, The Farmers' Library, in

128 Council of Safety — Introduction.

1793, which was continued under different names and proprietors (in the
Colonel's interest) until 1798. He left his marks elsewhere in Vermont,
and when he removed to Kentucky he carried with him a printing-office,
and established a newspaper in that state, adding the tanning busi-
ness, iron-works, and gunboats as has been seen. He was on the whole,
probably, more useful to the public than to himself or his family,
which, Chittenden Lyon excepted, seems to have been generally un-
successful.

Moses Robinson was son of Samuel Robinson, senior, the pioneer
settler of Bennington, who went in Dec. 1765 as agent of the New
Hampshire Grantees to petition the king for relief against the govern-
ment of New York, and died in London, Oct. 27, 1767. Samuel was born
in Cambridge, Mass., in 1705, son of Samuel Robinson, who was born in
Bristol, England, in 1668, and claimed descent from Rev. John Robin-
son, "the father of the Independents," who was pastor of "The Pil-
grims 1 ' before they sailed from Holland in the "Mayflower," in August,
1620. * Moses Robinson was born in Hardwick, Mass., March 26, 1744,
and came to Bennington with his father in 1761. He was the first town
clerk, chosen in March 1762, which office he held nineteen years. As
colonel of militia, he was with his regiment at the evacuation of Ticonde-
roga and Mount Independence in July 1777. He was a member of the
Council of Safety, 1777-8, and Councillor eight years, to Oct. 1785. In
1778 he was appointed as chief justice, to the bench of the Supreme Court,
and he served on the bench from 1778 to 1783-4, and again from L785
to 1788-9, in all ten years, when he was elected governor by the General
Assembly. 2

On the admission of the state to the Union in 1791, Mr. Robinson was
one of the first two U. S. Senators, serving till June 1, 1796. Gov. Robinsou
was a man of piety of a marked type. On one occasion when absent from
home settling an estate with others and being delayed in the business, he
proposed to spend the time in a prayer-meeting, which was agreed to; and
in another prayer-meeting, having invited two deacons successively, but
in vain, to lead in prayer, the governor undertook that duty himself, he-
ginning by this frank confession: "O, Lord! thou knowest we have
come up here this afternoon to worship Thee, and we are cold and luke-
warm as it were,— I fear at least some of us are!" It is recorded that he
was very wealthy, and "liberal to the cause of religion corresponding to
his ability." He united with the church, of which Rev. Jedediah Dewey
was pastor, June 20, 1765, and was elected deacon Mav 22, 1789, which

1 Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. i, pp. 244, 269.

2 The votes of the freemen in 1789 were for Thomas Chittenden 1263,
Moses Robinson 746, Samuel Safford 478, all others 378— no election.
Robinson was elected in Joint Assembly Oct. 9, and Gov. Chittenden, as
presiding officer, was requested to inform him of his election.— Vt. Hist.
Soc. Collections, vol. u, p. 484.

Council of Safety — Introduction. 129

office he held until his death, May 26, 1813. In death he was triumphant.
A witness of the scene (wife of Gen. David Robinson) said of it : "if she
could feel as he did, it would lie worth ten thousand worlds." — See Early
History, p. 467 ; Memorials of a Century, Bennington, pp. 233-236.

Doctor Paul Spoonek appears first in Vermont history as a dele-
gate from Hertford [Hartland] in a convention at Westminster, Oct. 19,

1774, called to condemn the tea act, the Boston port bill, and other kind-
red measures of the king and parliament, of Great Britain. Doct. Spooner
was one of a committee which made a written report expressing surprise
that the king and parliament should dare to assert "a right to bind the
colonies in all cases whatsoever," and to take, "at their pleasure, the
properties of the king's American subjects without their consent." "He
who has nothing." 1 said this committee, "but what another has power at
pleasure lawfully to take away from him, has nothing that he can call his
own, and is. in the fullest sense of the word, a slave — a slave to him who
has such power; and as no part of British America stipulated to settle as
slaves, the privileges of British subjects are their privileges, and who-
ever endeavors to deprive them of their privileges is guilt}- of treason
against the Americans, as well as the British constitution." He again
appeared as a delegate at a convention of whigs at Westminster, Feb. 7,

1775, and was secretary. Still again, June 6, 1775,' he was delegate at a
Cumberland county Congress, [so called,] and was chosen one of three
delegates to represent the county in the New York Provincial Congress.
He served as such for the remainder of the session which commenced
May 23, 1775, was re-elected Nov. 7 and served in the session which
commenced Nov. 14. May 5, 1777, he was chosen sheriff of Cumberland
county under Xew York, but declined accepting the office in a letter
dated July 15. Just one week before writing that letter he had been ap-
pointed one of the Vermont Council of Safety, which office he accepted,
and he was appointed deputy secretary thereof in the absence of the sec-
retary. Ira Allen. Tie was member of the first Council under the consti-
tution, and was re-elected five times, serving from 1778 till October 1782,
when he was elected lieutenant governor, and annually re-elected until
1787. Twice he was agent from Vermont to Congress, in 1780 and again
in 1782. For nine years he was a judge of the supreme court, in 1779 and
1780, and again from 1782 to 1788. During the same period, in 1781 and
1782, he was judge of probate for Windsor county. He removed from
Hartland to Hard wick, and was the first town clerk of the last named
town, elected March 31, 1795. He was also its first representative in the
General Assembly, and served as such three years, in 1797, 1798 and
171)'.). "He is believed," said Hiland Hall, "to have been well edu-
cated, and to have had a good professional reputation." — See Eastern
Vermont; Early History of Vermont; and history of Hardwick in Vt.
Hist. Mag., vol. I.

PROCEEDINGS

OK THE

COUNCIL OF SAFETY.

JULY 8 TO AUGUST 15, 1777.

As late as March 18, 1788, according to JOSEPH Fay. the firsl secre-
tary (Ira Allen) had the minutes of the proceedings of the above
period in his possession. Nevertheless, these minutes have never come
into the possession of the Slate, nor ran they be found elsewhere : tbey
are therefore now to be supplied, imperfectly no doubt, from the state-
ments in Ira Allen's History, with such copies of letters, circulars, and
orders of the Council as can be obtained from other sources.

On the adjournment of the Convention at Windsor, July 8, 1777, Ticon-
derogahad fallen into the hands oi the enemy, Warner had been debated
at Hubbardton, and Burgoyne's splendid array was advancing into New

York on the western border of Vermont with all possible speed. The
most energentic labors of the Council were demanded instantly, and the
board proceeded direct to Manchester, where Warner had fixed his head-
quarters with a remnant of his regiment. '

1 I. Allen's History in Vt. Hist. Soc. Col, vol. I, p. 383. One source of
alarm was in the probable effect of the following document :
TFroni Vt. Historical Society Collections, Vol.1.]

By Lieutenant General John Burgoyne, commanding an army
and fleet of Great Britain, against the revolted Provinces of America.

To the inhabitants of Castleton, of Hubbardton, Rutland. Tinmouth,
Pawlet, Wells, Granville [N. Y.] with the neighbouring districts : also
the districts bordering on White creek, Cambden, Cambridge, [X. Y..]
&c. &c, &c,

You are hereby directed to send from your several townships deputa-
tions, consisting often persons or more*' from each township, to meet
Colonel Steene at Castleton, on Wednesday, July 15th, at ten in the morn-

Council of Safety — July 8 to Aug. 15, 1777. 131

A quorum of the members at leasl was present, and the Council was
organized as follows :

Thomas Chittenden, President.
Jonas Fay, Vice President.
Ira Allen, Secretary.

[From Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. i.J

In Council of Safety, State of Vermont, )
Manchester, 11th July, 1777. \
Gentlemen, — The inclosed is a Copy of General St. Clair's Letter to the
Convention of this Stale, by which you will learn his request to the
Militia of your state. No further accounts have arrived since the date
of the enclosed except that there are Small Scouting Parties foraging in
the Woods. You will Learn the Provision General Schuyler has made
for the protection of this State, and you will naturally understand that
when we cease to be a frontier your State must take it. Would beg your
advice and assistance for the good of the whole, and have the honor
to be,

Gentlemen, with respect,

Your most Obdt and Very Humble Servant.
By order of the Council,

Ira Allen. Secry.
N. B. — News has this moment come to hand that General How, with
his army, have got up North River as far as Tappan near the Highlands,
and that the inhabitants an; moving out of Albany. We hear General
Washington is with his army in high spirits watching the motion of the
Enemy. I. Allen.

The Hon ble the Council of Safety N~. Hampshire State.

[From Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, Vol. I]

In Council of Safety, State of Vermont, )
Manchester, 15th July. 1777. \
Gentlemen, — This State in particular seems to be at Present the object
of Distruction. By the surrender of the fortress Ticonderoga a Com-
munication is opened to the Defenceless inhabitants on the frontier, wdio
having little more in present store than sufficient for the maintenance of
their Respective Families, and not ability to immediately remove their
effects, are therefore induced to accept such Protections as are offered
them by the Enemy : by this means Those Towns who are most Conti-
guous to them are under necessity of Taking such Protection, by which
the next Town or Towns become equally a frontier as the former Towns
before such Protection, and unless we can obtain the assistance of our
friends so as to put it immediately in our Power to make a sufficient
stand against such strength as they may send, it appears that it will

ing, who will have instructions not only to give further encouragement
to those who complied with the terms of my late manifesto, but also to
communicate conditions upon which the persons and properties of the
disobedient may yet be spared.

This fail not to obey, under pain of military execution.

Head Quarters, at Skeensborough House, July 10th, 1777.

J. BURGOYNE.

By order of His Excellency the Lieutenant-General,

Robt. Kingston, Secretary.

132 Council of Safety— July 8 to Aug. 15, 1777.

soon be out of the Power of this state to maintain a frontier. This coun-
try, notwithstanding its infancy, seems as well supplied with provisions
for' Victualling an army as any Country on the Continent, so that on
that account we cannot see why a stand may not as well be made in this
State as in the State of New Hampshire, and more especially as the in-
habitants are Heartily Disposed to Defend their Liberties. You, Gentle-
men, will be at once sensible that Every such Town as accepts protection
are rendered at that instant forever incapable of affording us any further
assistance, and what is infinitely worse, as some Disaffected Persons
eternally Lurk in almost every Town, such become Doubly fortified to in-
jure their Country. Our Good Dispositions to Defend ourselves and make
a frontier for your State with our own. cannot be Carried into execution
without your assistance. Should you send immediate assistance we can
help you*, and should you neglect till we are put to the necessity of taking
protection, you Readily Know it is in a moment out of our power to as-
sist you. Laying these Circumstanees together will 1 hope induce Your
Honors to take the same into consideration and immediately send us
your Determination in the Premises.

I have the satisfaction to be your Honors 1

Most Obedt and very Hum hl Serv*-
By order of Council, Ira Allen, Secr'ij.

The Honorable the Council of Safety, \
State of New Hampshire. \

P. S. — By express this moment received we learn that between 3 & 4
thousand of the Enemy are Fortifying at the town of Castleton. Our
case calls for immediate assistance. I. Allen. 1

'This was sent to the Massachusetts Council also. The reported for-
tification at Castleton was one of a multitude of rumors growing out of
the panic, when everybody was inclined to believe the worst.

The reply of the President of New Hampshire, and the orders to
Stark referred to, were as follows :

Letter from Meshech Weare, President, of the State of New Hampshire,
to Ira Allen, Secretary of the State of Vermont.

[From Slade's Slate Papers, page 80.]

Exeter, July 19, 1777.

Sir,— I was lavored with yours of the 15th inst. yesterday by express,
and laid the same before our general court, who are sitting.

We had, previous thereto, determined to send assistance to your state.
They have now determined, that a quarter pari of the militia' of twelve
regiments shall be immediately draughted, formed into three battalions,
under the command of Brig. Gen. Jonx Stark, and forthwith sent into
your State, to oppose the ravages and coming forward of the enemy
and orders are now issuing, and will all go out in a few hours to the sev-
eral colonels for that purpose. Dependence is made that they will be
supplied with provisions in your State: and I am to desire your conven-
tion wdl send some proper person or persons to Number Four [Charles-
town N. H.,] by Thursday next, to meet Gen. Stark there, and advize
with him relative to the route and disposition of our troops and to o-ive
him such information as you may then have, relative to the manoeuvres
of the enemy.

In behalf of the council and assembly, I am. Sir, your most obedient
humble servant,

T „ . -, Meshech Weare, President.

IRA Allen, Esq., Secretary of the State of Vermont.

Council of Safety — July 8 to Aug. 15, 1777. 133

[From Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I.]

In Council of Safety, State of Vermont, >
Manchester, 15th July, 1777. J

To all Militia Officers whom it may Concern :

This is the second and perhaps the last express we may he able to send
you from this Post. Your immediate assistance is absolutely necessary.
A few hundred Military Troops to be joined to our present strength
would greatly add to our present encouragement, as by late information
we Learn that a large Scout of the Enemy are disposed to take a Tour
to this post ; the inhabitants, with their families, cannot be quieted with-
out an assurance of the arrival of Troops directly for their assistance.
You will Please to let us know your determination without delay.

The Continental Stores at Bennington seem to be their present aim.
You will be supplied with provision here on your arrival. Pray send all
the Troops you can Possibly Raise ; we can Repulse them if we have
assistance.

I have the honor to be your Most Ohd* Hum bl Serv*-

By order of Council. Ira Allen, Secy.

On the same day, Allen communicated the alarming rumor as to Cas-
tleton to G-en. Philip Schuyler. This letter is not in any of the Ver-
mont collections. Its tenor can be gathered from Schuyler's reply :

Fort Edward, July 16, 1777.

Sir -It gives me great pain that I am not in a capacity directly to
answer your letter of the loth inst. As an officer of the Honorable the
Congress, who represents the thirteen United States of America, I can-
not with propriety take notice of a fourteenth state, unknown in their
confederacy. In order that the public service may not suffer, I shall
however answer your letter, which, for the reasons already assigned, I
am under the necessity of doing in your private capacity.

That the enemy should fortify at Castleton is to me "exceedingly un-
accountable. It is certain that a considerable body of their troops with
General Burgoyne are at Skeensborough ; that from corroborated infor-
mation a body of them have gone to Ticonderoga, to come by the way
of Lake George.

It is doubtless extremely difficult to move the inhabitants that lie
nearest the enemy, but I should hope that Colonel Warner, supported

State of Xew Hampshire. )
Saturday, July 19«\ 1777. \

To Brig d Gen' Jn° Star-k, — You are hereby required to repair to Charles-
town, N° 4, so as to be there by 21 th — Thursday next, to meet and confer
with persons appointed by the convention of the State of Verment rela-
tive to the route of the Troops under your Command, their being sup-
plied with Provisions, and future operations — and when the Troops are
collected at X°- 4. you are to take the Command of them and march into
the State of Vermont, and there act in conjunction with the Troops of
that State, or any other of the States, or of the United States, or sepa-
rately, as it shall appear Expedient to you for the proteetion of the Peo-
ple or the annoyance of the Enemy, and from time to time as occasion
shall require, send Intelligence to the Gen 1 Assembly or Committee of
Safety, of your operations, and the manoeuvers of the Enemy.

M. We are.

Stark refused to act under the continental officers.

134 Council of Safety — July 8 to Aug. 15, 1777.

by the militia under Colonel Simmonds which I have ordered to join him,
and with that of the State of New Hampshire, and such as can be col-
lected from the more Southern parts of what are commonly called
Grants, would be able to effect this business in a very great measure.

The enemy, by the last accounts, are not above six thousand ; and if it
be true that they are disposed of as I have mentioned, the body at Castle-
ton cannot be considerable. I have ordered such persons as are going
to the enemy for protection, to be seized and sent prisoners to me. Three
have been delivered to me and I have sent them to jaol in Albany. I
think it would be right to adopt a similar conduct, especially to those
who are not yet so much in their power as to be obliged to accept pro-
tection from them.

I have delivered Captain Fitch a Proclamation of which I wish you to
make copies and distribute them in the Country nearest the enemy. 1

P. SCIIUYLER.

Of this period Ira Allen wrote as follows :

The Council of Safety then attended to the affairs of the government,
but their situation was very unpleasant, as the Constitution had only de-
clared the district to be a free state ; but the Government was not or-
ganized, as the Constitution was not fully completed, and near three
quarters of the people on the west side of the Green Mountains were
compelled to remove, and the rest were in great danger. It was they
who principally supported the title of the New Hampshire Grants,
against the unjust claims of New York, and their removal would expose
the settlers on the east side of the Green Mountains to an invasive war,
both from the Savages and the British ; besides, the late proceedings of
Congress had been partial towards New York, and againsl Vermonl ;
the people of the new State had reason to expect no favour from the
Committee of Safety of New York, as its members were iu fact com-
posed of the old sycophants of the late Government, which they pru-
dently deserted. Gain and dominion were objects of the firsl conse-
quence to some of the Committee of New York, and the citizens of the
New State were conscious that they would take every sinister and possi-
ble step to divide the people, and would not be dissatisfied with any mis-
fortune which befel them, even by the common enemy.

The Council of Safety had no money or revenue al command, their
powers and credit were not extensive, and all expresses were supported
at their private expence : yet, in this situation. 'it became necessary to
raise men for the defence of the frontiers, with bounties and wages;
ways and means were to be found out, and the day was spent in debat-
ing on the subject; Nathan Clark, not convinced of the practicability
of raising a regiment, moved in Council, that Mr. Ira Allen, the young-
est member of Council, and who insisted on raising a regiment, while a
majority of the Council were for only two companies, of sixty men each,
might be requested to discover ways and means to raise and support a
regiment, and to make his report at sun-rising on the morrow. The
Council acquiesced, and Mr. Allen took the matter into consideration.
Next morning, at sun-rising, the Council met, and he reported the ways
and means to raise and support a regiment, viz. that the Council should
appoint Commissioners of Sequestration, with authority to seize the
goods and chattels of all persons who had or should join the common
enemy ; and that all property so seized should be sold at public vendue,

1 For this counter proclamation to Burgoyne\ see Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll.,
vol. I, p. 182.

Council of Safety — July 8 to Aug. 15, 1777. 135

and the proceeds paid to the Treasurer of the Council of Safety, for the
purpose of paying the bounties and wages of a regiment forthwith to be
raised for the defence of the State. The Council adopted the measure,
and appointed officers for the regiment. Samuel Herrick, Esq., was ap-
pointed the Colonel, and the men enlisted, and the bounties paid in fif-
teen days, out of the confiscated property of the enemies of the new
state. This was the first instance in America of seizing and selling the
property of the enemies of American independence. 1

The Council adjourned to Bennington, and about the time this regi-
ment was raising, a party of militia from Massachusetts arrived in the
new State. Gen. Schuyler, a citizen of the State of New York, and
Commander in Chief of the northern army, no sooner heard of it than
he sent orders to the militia of Massachusetts, and to Colonel Herrick's
regiment, to repair forthwith to Saratoga ; the militia from Massachu-
setts were obliged to obey, according to the regulations of the Continen-
tal Congress ; but the Council of Safety superceded General Schuyler's
orders, and gave special directions to Colonel Herrick to remain within
the State of Vermont. This occasioned some irrascible letters between
General Schuyler and the Council of Safety, which were terminated by
a peremptory order of Council to Colonel Herrick not to put himself un-
der the command of General Schuyler. 2

[From page 44 of the Official Ms. Record of the Council of Safely.]

State of Vermont, in Council of Safety, }
Manchester, July 15th, 1777. \

To Samuel Merrick, Esq. :

We Reposing special trust and confidence in your Patriotism Vali-
ours Conduct and Fidelity do by these presents Constitute you to be
Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of a Regiment of Rangers Raised
within this State for the Immediate defence thereof, and to be under the
Special direction of this Council or the Commander in Chief of the

1 In 1808 Allen repeated his claim to this honor, which he could hardly
have done had it been controverted by any body. Gov. Hall says in
reference to Allen's claim : " Such is believed to be the fact, though the
measure w r as afterward pursued in all the states." Not until Nov. 27,
1777, four months after the Vermont Council of Safety had adopted Al-
len's project, did Congress recommend the same course to all the states.
— H. Hall's Early History, p. 260 ; and Journals of Congress, 1777-78,
vol. in, p. 423.

2 Ira Allen's History, in Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, pp. 384-5.
D. P. Thompson, in his address before the Vt. Historical Society in 1850,
gave a very spirited sketch of a debate in the Council on the defection
of Benjamin Spencer and the vital question of military supplies, pur-
porting that it occurred on the day Paul Spooner wrote to Gen. Bay-
ley of Spencer's conduct; but, alas! it was all fiction. Ira Allen fixed
the decision of the supply question (confiscation) before the adjournment
of the Council of Safety to Bennington — of course between the 11th and
15th of July, on which day Herrick was commissioned Colonel as the first
result of Allen's policy, — while Spooner's letter to Bayley was dated on the
11th of August following. The truth of history forces this unwelcome
marring of Mr. Thompson's pretty picture.

136 Council of Safety— July 8 to Aug. 15, 1777.

Army Commanding the department the East side of Hudson's River;
You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the duty ot
a Lieutenant Colonel Commandant, hy doing & performing all man-
ner of things thereunto belonging— And we do Strictly Charge and lie-
quire all officers & soldiers under your Command to lie obedient to your
orders as Lieutenant Colonel Commandant. And you are to observe
and follow such orders and directions from time to time as you shall re-
ceive from this Council or the Commander in Chief of the Army alon-
said or any other your Superior officer according to the Rules and dis-
cipline of War. In pursuance of the Trust reposed in you, this Com-
mission to Continue in force until the first day of January next.
By order of Council,

Thomas Chittenden, Prest.

Attest, Ira Allen, Secy.

Benjamin Wait was appointed Major of Herrick*s regiment Sept. 3.
1777; Elisha Clark Adjutant, and Janus Walworth Quarter-Master,
Aug. 24.

In Council of Safety, State of Vermont, >
Bennington, 28 July, 1777. \
To : You are hereby required (agreeable to a previous

resolve of this Council) to seize all lands, tenements, goods and chattels,
of any person or persons in this State; whom you know or may here-
after learn, to have repaired to the enemy, and a true inventory thereof
to take, and return to this Council, excepl articles as arc wanted for the
use of the army; which are wanted at Manchester or elsewhere, where
there is a contractor to receive and pay for them. You will appoint
three persons noted for good judgmeut, who are. after being duly sworn,
to apprize the same; and all other movable effects you are to sell nt pub-
lic vendue, except such necessaries as humanity requires for the support
of such families. And after paying necessary charges you are to remit
the remainder of the money to this Council. You will take the natural
and artificial marks of eveiy creature you shall receive, or take, and their
age, from whom they came, for what sold, and to whom sold. You arc-
to lease out all such lands and tenements at a reasonable price, not ex-
ceeding two years, giving the preference to such persons as have been
drove from their farms by this war. You are furthi r authorized to arrest
any person, or persons, you shall have sufficient grounds to believe are ene-
mies to the liberties of this and the United States of America, and all
such persons as you shall arrest you will seize all their movable effects
(where there is clanger of their being embezzled) and keep in safe cus-
tody until after trial. If they are acquitted, to give unto such person or
persons such seizour; but if found guilty, to make return to this council.
You are to call to your assistance such person or persons as you shall
find necessary, keeping regular accounts of all your procedures.
By order of Council,

Ira Allen, Secy. 1

l Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. I, p. 191. Of course quite a number of com-
missioners must have been immediately appointed, whose names were
in the lost minutes. Lieuts. Peter Roberts, Martin Powell, Silas Wat-
son, and Ebenezer Hyde; Capt. John Simonds; and Capt. Jonathan,
David, and Benjamin Fassett, were probably among the first commis-
sioners appointed.

Council of Safety — July 8 to Aug. 15, 1777. 137

" A proper fund for state use being thus secured, a regiment of ran-
gers was soon organized under Col. Samuel Herrick, which did efficient
and valuable service to the state and country." l

[From the Hartford Couran of August 17, 1777.]

In Council of Safety, State of Vermont, >
Bennington, July 28, 1777. )
Whereas the inhabitants of the northwesterly part of this State have
been necessitated to remove their families by the encroachments of the
enemy, and some are removed to the states of Massachusetts Bay and
Connecticut: —

These are therefore to earnestly request such men to return and assist
in defending this and the United States of America from the ravages of
the enemy, as it will be to their honor, and much to their profit, as we
have authentic accounts, this moment arrived, that the enemy have
evacuated Castleton for fear of devastation by our troops that were gath-
ering to pay them a visit; for which reason it is likely that most or all
the crops may be saved, if the inhabitants return soon.
By order of the Council,

Ira Allen, Secretary.

Having learned that Capt. James Clay, chairman of the Cumberland
County Committee of Safety, had been distributing resolutions of Con-
gress adverse to Vermont, which had been printed by New York and
sent to Mr. Clay for that purpose, August 10, 1777, the Council issued a
warrant for his arrest.

" He was accordingly taken before them as a prisoner, [on an order
dated Aug. 29th,] and was informed by Col. Thomas Chittenden that he
had done wrong in obeying the directions of New r York; in notifying a
meeting of the County Committee [to hear those resolutions read pub-
licly;] in distributing the resolves of the Continental Congress; and in
inciting people against the new state. On these charges Clay was de-
tained in custody six days. At the end of that period he w T as allowed to
return to his home in Putney.'' '-'

[From Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, Vol. l.]

In Council of Safety, State of Vermont, >
Bennington, 11th August, 1777. }
Dear Sir, — As the Council is much crowded with business, as one of
our Members is with our Enemies, (viz. Esq. Spencer, 3 ) as an attendance

1 Early History, p. 260.

2 Eastern Vermont, pp. 298, 299. That Ira Allen visited Cumberland
County at this time and was zealous in counteracting the efforts of New
York, appears from the following item in his account against the State,
which will be found in Thompson's Vermont, Part n, p. 107:

1777. August 10. To 14 days going into the county of Cumberland —
to explain a resolution of Congress — to counteract the policy of X. Y. —
to appoint some officers for Col. Samuel Herrick's Regt. of Rangers, pay
bounty money, &c, £7 0.

8 Benjamin Spencer of Clarendon; see note ante, p. 68.
11

138 Council of Safety— July 8 to Aug. 15, 1777.

of all the Members is required (that are on this side the mountain) to
make a quorum, and as some of us want to visit our families, we wish
for your speedy attendance on the council, together with the other Mem-
bers on the east side of the mountain. We have herewith sent an ex-
press to Col. Marsh and Olcott, for one half of their militia. The enemy
have pointed their whole force toward Albany and evacuated this State
entirely, they have left Ticonderoga with but about 100 men, as we find
by our friends, who they have taken prisoners, and have made their es-
cape.

Our Army lies at Still Water and recruits are daily passing through
this town on their way to join them. Their army is in part as low down
as Saratoga, the rest at Fort Edward. Their Indians do some mischief
by firing on scattering parties, &c. A subaltern Officer of our Rangers
returned last evening with a small scouting party of six men only from
Saratoga with two Tory Prisoners, eight head of cattle, a span of horses
and a waggon.

Pr Order,

Paul Spooner, D. Sec'y.

Brig. Gen. Bayley.

Circulars to the Colonels of the State Militia.

[From Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, Vol. I.]

State or Vermont, in Council of Safety, )
Bennington, 13 th Aug*- 1777. £

Dear Col -' — By Express this day received from the Commanding offi-
cer of the Northern Department, we Learn thai a door has now opened
for the troops of this State to do Duty on this Side the North River,
which will be clear from Gen. Schuyler's Command, and as an Expedi-
tion is on foot of the greatest importance which is to remain a secret till
the Troops are Collected, these are therefore the most Positive terms to
Require you without a moment's Loss of Time to march one half of the
Regiment under your Command to this Place. No small excuse at this
Juncture can be received.

Whilst I am writing this we are informed by Express that a Large
Body of the Enemy's Troops Were Discovered two hours ago in St.
Koik, 12 Miles from this Place, and another Body at Cambridge, About
18 Miles from this, that they marched Boldly in the Road, and there will
Doubtless be an attack at or near this Place within 21 bowers. We have
the assistance of Maj r general Stark with his Brigade, You will hurry
what Rangers forward are Recruted with all speed. Now is the time, S r -
I am S r your Humble Servant.

Sr, I Desire you would By order of Council Send this Express to Gen-
eral Baley, Peter Olcott, Col., Colo Marsh.

Jonas Fay, Vice President.

To Maj. Israel Smith of Strafford.

[From Slade's State Papers, p. 197.]

State of Vermont,

State of Vermont, )

Bennington, in Council of Safety, August 15, 1777. j

Sir,— You are hereby desired to forward to this place, by express, all

the lead you can possibly collect in your vicinity; as it is expected, every

minute, an action will commence between our troops and the enemies',

Council of Safety — July to Aug. 15, 1777. 139

within four or rive miles of this place, and the lead will be positively
wanted.

By order of the Council, Paul Spooner, D. Sec'y.

The Chairman of the Committee of Safety. Williamstown, \_3fass.']

The same request sent to the Chairman of the Committee, Lanesboro,
the same date — sent by Jedediah Reed, Paulett.

Madam — Please to send by the bearer, Jedediah Reed, 6 or 7 lbs. of
lead, by Col. Simonds 1 order.

By order of Council. Paul Spooner, D. Sec'y.

Mrs. Simonds.

OFFICIAL RECORD

OF THE

Council of Safety

OF THE

STATE OF VERMONT.

AUGUST 15, 1777, to MARCH 12, 1778.

CERTIFICATE PREFIXED TO THE OFFICIAL RECORD.

The first 20 pages in this Book is left blank for the purpose of Enter-
ing the Minutes of the Council of Safety of the Stale of Vermont from
Janv. 1776 [to] the loth August 1777. 1 during which time Col°- Ira Al-
len was Secretary and has the Minutes of s d Council in his possession.
Certified by Jos. Fay, Sec'y.

1 Secretary Fay counted the records of the General Conventions, be-
ginning in January 177B, as part of the " Minuses of the Council of
Safety of the State of Vermont.' 1 It is true that the Conventions were
in fact Councils of Safety, but that title belongs technically to the Council
of twelve established by the Convention at Windsor, July 8, 1777.

OFFICIAL RECORD

OF THE

COUNCIL OF SAFETY.

AUGUST 15, 1777, to MARCH 12, 1778.

Bennington, 15 August 1777.
A warrant was given to Dr. J. Rhuback to impress a horse to Ride to
Gen. Stark's Head Quarters in this Town, drawn in the usual form. 1

To Lieutenant Peter Roberts one of the Commissioners of Sequestration:

Sir, — You are hereby directed to forward the Cattle under your care
(being 111 head) to New Providence, then and there to Advertise said
Cattle and expose them to Sale at Public Vandue, and [keep] fair accounts
of said Catties Natural & Artificial Marks and age with their particular
prices and make Returns of the Money with all your proceedings to tins
Council as soon as may be.

Paul Spooner, D. Sec'v-

State of "Vermont. In Council of Safety, August 16 th - 1777.

To Colonel John Williams:' 1
Sir, — You will proceed with your party Towards the lines, and if
the Enemy should retreat, you will Repair to the Road leading from St.
Coik [ San Coick] to Hoosach [ Hoosick,] and if you make any discovery,
Report to this Council ; At the same time you are to pay proper Atten-
tion to the Road Leading from Hoosach to Pownall.

By order of Council, Paul Spooner, D. Sec'y-

1 Jacob Roback was appointed by the General Assembby, March 20,
1776, surgeon for Captains Ebenezer Allen and Isaac Clark's Com-
panies. He acted in that capacity in 1777, and again in 1779.

2 Perhaps Col. John Williams of Salem, N. Y— See Vt. Hist. Soc. Col-
lections, vol. ii, pp. 71, 133. There was a Captain John in the revolu-
tionary war from Massachusetts, who may have been Colonel of militia.

144 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

[ From Vt. Hist. Society Collections, Vol. I, p. 203.]

Bead in the New York Council of Safety at Poughkeepsie, August 19th,
1777_forwarded from the Albany Committee. 1

State or Vermont. In Council or Safety, \
Bennington, 16» h August, 1777, 6 o'clock [P. M.] \
Gentlemen. — Brig r - Gen.^ Stark from the State of New Hampshire
with his Brigade, together with the militia and company of Bangers

'Journal of N. Y. Council Vol. i, p. 1044. This circular is not in the
official record. The meagre official account preserved of the services of
the Council at this critical period is in a great measure compensa-
ted for by the following tribute from Brig. Gen. John Stark :

[From the Hartford Courant of Oct. 7, 1777. Reprinted in Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. I, p. ?28.]

Bennington, August 18, 1777.

To the printer of the Connecticut Courant,— The following exertions of
the Council for the State of Vermont since the evacuation of Ticonde-
roga, Mount Independence, &c, may be depended on as facts which I
think justly deserve a space in your useful paper ; you are therefore de-
sired to publish the same.

Those Gentlemen were with others attending a General Convention
of that State at Windsor, when the above mentioned fortresses were be-
sieged by the enemy, who constantly received intelligence of the move-
ments of the several bodies. Every method in their power was taken
to lorward the militia in this and the Eastern States to the assistance of
General St. Clair, as well as provisions of every kind. On receiving au-
thentic intelligence of the evacuation of those fortresses, and that a
stand was to be made at Bennington, the same day, the honorable con-
vention, then sitting as aforesaid, appointed twelve members as a coun-
cil to transact public business of the state during the recess of the con-
vention ; who without delay repaired to Manchester, where Col. Warner's
regiment of Continental troops was at that time posted ; which they
finding were not a sufficient force to withstand the enemy in case of an
attack, exerted themselves in a most spirited manner, and collected the
militia of said state, which enabled Col. Warner to maintain that post.
At the same time they wrote to the Hon 1 - the Council of the State of
New Hampshire, setting forth in the most pressing terms the necessity
of the assistance of the militia of that State to guard so valuable a part
of the country from the immediate ravage of the Indians, as was threat-
ened by Gen. Burguoyne's manifesto.

The Hon 1 - the Council of New Hampshire, taking the same under
their immediate consideration, ordered a fourth part of twelve regiments
to be forthwith drafted and put them under my command, at which time
I received orders to march to Manchester and act in conjunction with
Col. Warner. After my arrival at that place I received orders from
Major General Lincoln, pursuant to orders from General Schuyler, to
march my whole brigade to Stillwater, and join the main army then
under his command. At the same time requested the whole of the mi-
litia (by Gen. Schuyler's order) of the State of Vermont to join him and
march to Stillwater as aforesaid. In obedience thereto I marched with
my brigade to Bennington on my way to join him, leaving that part of
the country almost naked to the ravage of the enemy. The Honorable
the Council then sitting at Bennington were much against my marching
with my Brigade, as it was raised on their request, they apprehending
great danger of the enemy's approaching to that place, which afterwards

Council of Safety — Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 145

raised by this State, with parts of Col. Symond's regiment of Militia,
[from Berkshire County, Mass.,] are now in action with a number of
the enemy's Troops assembled near this place, which has been for some
time very severe. "We have now in possession (taken from them this
day) four brass held pieces, ordnance stores, &c, and this minute four
or five hundred prisoners have arrived. We have taken the ground,
although fortified by entrenchments &c, but after being drove about one
mile the enemy, being reinforced, made a second stand, and still con-
tinue the action. The loss on each side is doubtless considerable. You
are therefore in the most pressing terms requested by Gen. Stark and
this Council to forward the whole of the militia under your several com-
mands to this place without one minute's loss of time : — they will pro-
ceed on horseback with all the ammunition that can be provided con-
veniently. On our present exertions depends the fate of thousands.
I am, gentlemen, your Most Obt. Servant,

Jonas Fay, Vice President.
To the Gentlemen officers nearest this place commanding Begiments of Mi-
litia in the several United States.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, >
Bennington. 20th Aug., 1777. }

Sir, — You are hereby required to raise seventy-five abled-bodied effec-
tive men of your Regiment of Militia, exclusive of the common quota
of Commissioned officers for such numbers, which number you will
Cause to be continued in the Field under the Commanding officer of the
Eastern Militia until the first day of December next, unless sooner dis-
charged by such Commanding officer ; Should you find it more conven-
ient for part or all such Troops to be relieved before that time, you will
do it, Observing always to keep the full number in the Field. Those who
ingage are to do it only on the principle of being under the Regulation
of the Continental Army during the time they serve, altho' under the
command of the above officer.

By order of Council,

Thomas Chittenden, Prs Hl

Bennington, August 23, 1777.
David Breakenridge 2 is permitted to remain at his Father's house un-
der the care of the Guard at that place until further orders.

we found truly to be the case. They happily agreed to postpone giving
orders to the militia to march, by which, together with their repeated
applications for the militia of the state of Massachusetts Bay, and sup-
plying with arms and ammunition, afforded the greatest assistance in
obtaining the glorious and memorable victory over the enemy near this
place on the 16 tb instant, who were determined to have penetrated the
country.

I cannot therefore in justice resist giving the Hon 1 - Council the honor
of exerting themselves in the most spirited manner in that most critical
time.

John Stark, B. D. G.

1 Probably a circlar addressed to different officers. The name of the of-
ficer addressed, it will be observed, is not given.

2 Son'of Lieut. James Breakenridge, of whom see note, post, p. 151.

146 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, \
Bennington, 23d Aug. 1777. \
To Asa Baldwin, 1 Samuel McCoon, William Underhil, Thomas Baldwin, 1
and Moses Veal, [Vail:]
Notwithstanding your ungratefulness to your Country, & notwith-
standing you have by your Conduct forfeited the confidence oi your
Countrymen, yet nevertheless on the application of Captain Abraham
Underbill 2 in your behalf, this Council are Induced out of humanity, to
accept you again into friendship on your Voluntary Surrender, and Tak-
ing the Oath of Fidelity to the United States of America forthwith and
dispensing with the loss you have already Sustained to Attone for past
folly. 3

By order of Council,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 24th Aug. 1777.
To Elisha Clark, Gentleman:

Reposing special Trust and Confidence in your Patriotism Valor and
Good Conduct & experience in Military discipline, we have appointed you
Adjutant in Lieut. Colonel Samuel Herrick's Regiment of Rangers,
Commanding all officers and soldiers to Obey you as Adjutant. And
when said Regiment is full you will be duly Commissioned, until which
Time this shall be your Sufficient Warrant.

By order of Council,

Tno s - Chittenden, Pres" 1 -
Attest, Ira Allen, Sec'«-

Resolved, That James Walsworth 4 be & he is hereby appointed Quar-
ter-master to Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Herrick's Regimenl of Ran-
gers.

Attest, Ika Allen, Sec'v-

1 Asa Baldwin was the first town clerk of Dorset; Thomas was his
brother. The Baldwins and Underbills of Dorset came from New York.
Asa was a strict Churchman and a Royalist. — Vermont Historical Mag-
azine, vol I, pp. 182, 186.

2 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 company raised for the
defense of the State. He was a member of the General Assembly in
Oct. 1778, '80, '81 and '84, and died in 1796.— Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections,
vol. I, p. 15, 23, 24, 25, 294, 295; Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I. p. 184.

3 Dec. 12, 1777, the Council discharged the abovenamed persons "for
whatever they may have said or acted relative to the dispute between
Great Britain and America to the 23d day of September last."

4 James Walworth was attempting to hold land under Goldsbrow Ban-
yar (clerk of the New York Council) in 1772. and had been informed by
James Breakenridge of Bennington and others, that Banyar disavow: 1
any connection with him. Possibly this man became the Vermont
quarter-master.— See E. Allen's Ms. Papers, p. 79.

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 147

stt. In Council of Safe
Bennington, 25 Augt-1777.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, )

To Captain John Fassett:

Sir, — You are hereby required to Take a pottash Kittle for the Hessian
Troops to Cook in, give your Rec 1 for the same & bring the same to
the Meeting-House in this place.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec'y-

Resolved, that Captain Ebenezer Allen 1 be the first Captain in Lt.
Colonel Samuel Herrick's Regiment of Rangers.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, }
Bennington, 26 th Aug*- 1777. ]"

To Adjutant Elisha Clark:
You are hereby required to make Return of the names and Num-
bers of the officers non-commissioned officers and Soldiers belonging to
Colonel Samuel Herrick's Regiment of Rangers already raised within
this State for the Defence thereof to Ebenezer Walbridge at Arling-
ton, at 10 oclock of the Morning of the 28th instant, as he is appointed
and authorized to muster and Return the several Musters of the whole
in order to their being severally entered and intitled to their pay agree-
able to their Several Ranks. And you are further ordered to Take par-
ticular accounts of the several Companies and names of the several sol-
diers of that Core who may hereafter join at every opportunity. Of this
you are not to fail.

By order of Council, Thomas Chittenden, Pres'<-

Attest, Ira Allen, Sec'v-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, )
Bennington, 27 th Aug*- 1777. )
Whereas this Council have rec d a Letter from Captain Burroughs at
Arlington acquainting us that our Scouts had Taken all the Stock of

1 Ebenezer Allen was born at Northampton, Mass., Oct. 17, 1743, and
was a descendant of Matthew Allen, who came to New England in 1632
with Rev. Thomas Hooker of Chelmsford. Of Matthew the Samuel Allen
was a brother, from whom descended Joseph the father of Ethan, Capt.
Heman, Maj. Heber, Lieut. Levi, Zimri, and Col. Ira, nearly all of whom
were famous in the early history of Vermont. Ebenezer Allen was ap-
pointed lieutenant in Warner's regiment, 1775; captain, as above, Aug. 25,
1777; member of the Board of War in 1779; and major of Rangers and col-
onel of militia in 1780. He distinguished himself in the battle of Benning-
ton, and particularly so by a night attack with forty men on Mount De-
fiance, and its capture, in September, 1777, and also the capture of fifty
of the rear guard of the enemy on their retreat from Ticonleroga at
that time. He was a brave and successful partisan leader. He settled
in Poultney in 1771 ; removed to Tiumouth and represented it in several
conventions in 1776 and 1777; removed to South Hero in 1783, which
town he represented four years in the General Assembly; and to Bur-
lington in 1800, where he died March 26, 1806. — See Early History, p.
451 ; Vt. Historical Magazine, vol. I, p. 607; and Deming's Catalogue,
1778 to 1851.

148 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

every kind from Anger Hawley's wife of Reuport & she had made ap-
plication to him for a Cow as her Children were in a Suffering Condi-
tion, These are therefore to Require you to Let her have one Cow for the
time being out of the first Cows you Take from any disaffected person.
By order of Council,

Ira Allen, Sec'v-
Lieu 1 - Martin Powel, 1 Commissioner Sequestration.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, }
Bennington, 27th August, 1777. \

These are to require all persons in this State, that have Taken any
effects from or belonging to any person in the State of New York in these
late disturbances to deliver up such effects to Mr. John Abbott and Cap-
tain Nathan Smith, as they are appointed by Major Younglove one of
the Commissioners of Sequestration for said State, to take care of such
effects in behalf of said State, their proving their property to such effects,
Provided such effects are not Taken in the Field of Battle.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec'v-

To whom it may concern.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, }
Bennington, 27th August, 1777. \

To ;

Sir,— You are hereby required to Take four Horses Belonging to John
Munro Esq., 2 supposed to be at Mr. Breakenridge's, and them safely keep
and convey them to this Council as soon as may be.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec'v-

The gentleman in whose Custody the horses are is requested to de-
liver them to the bearer.

1 Lieut. Martin Powell of Manchester was cne of the committee of
seven who issued the warrant for the Convention of Jan. 16, 1776, and
delegate in the Conventions of 1776 and 1777; member of the first Gen-
eral Assembly, March, 1778, and for eight years subsequently; judge of
the first Bennington county court; judge of probate twelve years; and
member of the Convention of 1791 which adopted the Constitution of
the United States. Rev. Martin Powell of Westford was another man
of the same name.

2 John Munro, Esqr., of Shaftsbury, the title being accorded to him in
the text in virtue of a magistrate's commission granted to him by New
York. After the New York authorities had granted lands in Vermont
in violation of the order of the king in council, of July 24, 1767, and taken
measures to enforce these grants, an organization of the Green Mountain
Boys was formed for resistance, in which Ethan Allen, Seth Warner,
Remember Baker, Robert Cochran, and Gideon "Warren, were captains.
They and their followers were in the habit of chastising all Yorkers, who
interfered offensively, "with twigs of the wilderness," and one of their
victims was Hugh Munro, an old offender, who was lashed three times,
each time until he fainted, when his wounds were dressed and he was
banished from the State. This scene, and others resembling it, was fol-

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 149

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, August 27, 1777.
To Lieutenant ISilas Watson:

You will please to send all the evidence you have against Jonathan Card
& Peleg Card, [of Pownal.] As we propose to bring them on tryal on
the 29 th Instant we shall depend on hearing from you by said day.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, tfec'v-

lowed by a proclamation of Gov. Try on of New. York, dated Dec. 9,
1771, offering a reward for the arrest of each of the captains above
named. Esquire Munro's house had been visited by them, and they had
tired into it, so alarming him that he tied for safety into New York.
Gathering there a posse of ten or a dozen men, Munro repaired to the
house of Remember Baker of Arlington, to arrest him under Tryon's
proclamation, and at about day-light on the morning of March 22, 1772,
broke into the house, wounded Baker and his wife, maltreated his chil-
dren, and retired into New York with the wounded Baker as a prisoner.
Ethan Allen published in the Connecticut Courant an account of this
savage affair, which will be found in Du Puy's Ethan Allen and the
Green Mountain Heroes of '76, pp. 161-104, and in Vt. Hist. Hag., vol. I,
pp. 124-125. An alarm was at once spread, Munro was pursued, and
Baker rescued and restored to his family. JFrorn this time Munro was
so much in fear ot the Green Mountain Boys that he remained quiet
until 1777, when he tied to Burgoyne's camp, and the Vermonters con-
fiscated his property. His name is in the list of those who were forever
proscribed by the Vermont act of Feb. 26, 1779. The fact that he failed
of recovering in England damages for the loss of his Vermont land,
because it was covered by a New Hampshire grant, has already been
noticed. — See Du Puy's Ethan Allen; H. Hall's Early History; and Vt.
Hist. Magazine.

It is a very singular fact that two entirely different lists have been pre-
served of the persons who rescued Baker from the clutches of Munro.
The first in the columns below is from a detailed account printed in the
Rural Magazine, 1795, furnished by "T.," which may stand for either
Samuel Tubbs or Isaac Tichenor — most probably the last named. This
was published when many of the actors were living, and every good rea-
son for either concealment or misrepresentation had passed. Gov.
Hall regards it as the true list, lor these reasons, and also because the
men were residents of Bennington, and Munro asserted that the rescu-
ers were Bennington men. The other list is from the Documentary His-
tory of New York, vol. 4, p. 777. The names given are of Arlington and
Sunderland men, who, says Gov. Hall, " could not have been the actual
rescuers." Tins list, however, is represented as having been furnished
by Munro himself. This palpable contradiction is explained by Gov-
ernor Hall by the supposition that Munro gave the names of another
party bent on the same business. Such a party did go in pursuit of
Munro and his prisoner, were met by the Bennington party, and both
returned to Vermont together — so says the Magazine. Another theory

150 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 27 August, 1777.
To Captain Joseph Farnsworth, Commissary, Bennington:

Sir,— If you please to give Lieut. Benjamin Chamberlm and three
men with him three days provisions, as they are Bold Volunteers, this
Council will Settle with you for the Same.

By order of Council, Ira Allen Sec^-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 27 August, 1777.
Permit Mrs. Munro to keep her cattle, sheep, swine, and other effects,
until orders is given from this Council for her to Diliver them up.
By order of Council,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres' L
To whom it may Concern.

N". B. To Mrs. Munro, by sending to Bennington Tomorrow you
can have one of your Biding horses to use until we send for him.

p r order, Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 27 August, 1777.

To Mr. Harris: — You are hereby directed to employ some men to

Harvest Mr. Breakenridges wheat and put the same in his Barn, you

also pay the expense out of the wheat, and what is not wanted for the

use of the family you will keep until further orders from this Council.

By order of Council.

Ira Allen, Sec'v-

worth thought is, that the Bennington party assumed and called them-
selves by the names of the Arlington men. It is not without the seri-
ous objection that only twelve men can be accounted for in that way, to
wit: ten of the Bennington party, and Caleb Henderson and John Wins-
ton, who, according to the Magazine, tried to resist Munro when he
attacked Baker's house. An equally serious objection exists to the other
theory, viz., that Munro should have the names of twelve men who did not
rescue Baker from his grasp, and did not have the name of even one of
the ten Bennington men who did rescue him. The two lists are as fol-
lows:

Munro'S List.
Joseph Bradley,
Lemuel Bradley,
Jesse Sawyer,
Isaac Vernernum,
Abel Castle, jr.,
Curtis Hawley,
Elisho Sherman,
Philo Hurlbut,
Abijah Hurd,
Ebenezer Wallis,
John Winston,
Austin Seela,
Justice Sherwood,
Caleb Henderson.
See Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I, p. 125; H. Hall's Early History, pp. 134-137;
Rural Magazine, vol. I, pp. 415-420.

Magazine List.

Gen. Isaac Clark,

Col. Joseph Safford,

Maj. Wait Hopkins,

Col. David Safford,

Messrs.

Timothy Abbott,

Stephen Hopkins,

Elnathan Hubble, [Hubbell,]

Samuel Tubbs,

Ezekiel Brewster,

10.

Nath. [Nathaniel] Holmes.

11.
12.
13.
14.

Council of Safety— Aug. 15. 1777, to March 12, 1778. 151

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 28 th August 1777.

To Mr. David Fassett:

Sir, — You will proceed to Mr. James Breakeuridges 1 and make strict
examination of his Improvements or Lands adjoining and if you find any
Stock or other effects which you have reason to Suspect belongs to any
Enemical persons within this State you will seize the Same and Cause
it to be Brought to this Council as soon as may be.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec'v-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 29th August, 1777.

To Mr. David Fassett:

Sir, — You are to proceed to the House of Mr. John Munro of Shaftsbury,
and seize ail his Lands and effects of whatsoever name or nature, and
bring all his writings, Together with all his Movable effects, to this
Council, excepting Two cows & such other effects as are wanted for the
Support of said Munro's Tamil}', which you are to Leave with the
Woman, Taking a proper account of them.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec^-

1 Lieut. James Breakenridge of Bennington has a conspicuous place
in the history of the controversy with New York. On his farm the first
attempt was made to enforce the authority of New York, Oct. 19, 1769,
but it was overawed by the hostile appearance of too many of Mr. B's.
neighbors, who, with Mr. B., were indicted therefor as rioters in the
court at Albany. In July 1771 a final unsuccessful attempt was made;
and then, says Gov Hall, " in fact, on the farm of James Breakenridge
was born the future State of Vermont." Oct. 21, 1772, Mr. Breaken-
ridge, with Jehiel Hawley of Arlington, was appointed an agent to rep-
resent to the king the grievances of the claimants under the New Hamp-
shire Grants; Jan. 17, 1776, he, with Heman Allen and Jonas Fay, was
appointed 1o represent the case of the N. II. Grants to the Continental
Congress; and June 24, 1776, he acted as one of the committee which
issued the warrant for the Dorset Convention of the 24th of July follow-
ing. Although Mr. Breakenridge was never personally engaged in any
disorderly proceedings, he was often denounced by the Yorkers as a
rioter, and was one of the persons proscribed in the New York riot act
of 1774. He acquired his military title by appointment as first lieuten-
ant in the first militia company organized in Bennington, Oct. 24, 1764.
He was of Scotch-Irish descent, probably scrupulous about bearing arms
against the king, and for that reason, or apprehending that resistance
would be vain, he seems to have sought the protection of Burgoyne, as
many residents of Vermont and New York did in 1777. Entries on the
Council journal show that he had been sentenced to banishment within
the enemy's lines, that he applied for relief, and was from time to time
reprieved. He finally re-acquired citizenship in Vermont, and adorned
it by an honorable life. — See H. Hall's Early History; Vt. Hist. Soc.
Coll. vol. i; and Memorials of a Century, Bennington.

152 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 29th August, 1777.
To Mr. Jesse Burk, Westminster:

Sir, — You will bring Captain James Clay of Putney l (now in your
care) before this Council as soon as may be.
By order of Council,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 29th August, 1777.

To the Committee of Safety in Windsor, and the adjacent Towns in this

State:
Gentlemen, — All such persons as you shall have sufficient Evidence ex-
hibited against on Tryal as to prove them so far Enemies to the Liberties
of America as to be dangerous persons to go at Large you will send to
Westminster Gaol, and put them in Close Confinement; If you send any
prisoners to said Gaol, you will send a proper Guard, provided it should
happen before any prisoners or Guards should be sent from this.
By order of Council,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres n -

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 29th Aug 1 - 1777.

To Mr. Benjamin Fassett:

Sir — You are hereby directed to Repair to Pownal & bring from
some of the Tories that are gone to the Enemy, or otherwise proved
themselves to be Enemies to their Country, a Load of Saus [sauce] for
the use of the Hundred prisoners Here, and make returns to this Coun-
cil of what you bring and from whom. You will Leave Sufficient for their
families. Per Order, Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 29th August, 1777.

Whereas his honor Major Gen 1 - B. Lincoln has Kequested this Coun-
cil to Kaise a part of the Militia of this State to Serve in Continental
Service agreeable to the Resolution of the Hon b i e Continental Congress
of the United States, In obedience to which this Council have heretofore
Resolved that three hundred & twenty-five men of the Militia of this
State should be Raised for the defence of this and the United States of
America, and whereas the price of all kinds of Provisions & Clothing
are Raised to Exorbitant Prices,

Resolved therefore that fifty shillings p r Month be paid to Each per-
son that shall Serve agreeable to the aforesaid Resolution in Addition to
their Continental pay.

By order of Council,

Ira Allen, Sec'y-

1 Capt, Clay was a leading supporter of the authority of New York
in Cumberland county, but not a tory. He was arrested because of
his zeal for New York, and discharged after a rebuke by Chittenden.—
See p. 137.

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 153

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 29 August 1777.
The following Contains a Lisl of the Tories of this State, and the sev-
eral Crimes with which they Stand Charged, (viz.)

Beninmin Eastman ( Bv thch ' 0wn Coufession are found S uilt y

Benjamin Jiastman, ) of agsisting the Enemv in disarming the In-

i-mnenas muci, ^ habitants of Sandgate within this State.

James Reynolds, "]

Ephraim Mallory, Acknowledge they Voluntarily joined the

jonn^avoe, V Enemy, and were taken in action the 16"'

Solomon Milhngton, fi ns tan1

Bartholomew Wennicks, | '

George Tibbetts, J

( Taken in action the 16 instant & by his
Paul Gardiner, ) own Confession tired his Piece three times

(on Gen 1 - Starks Brigade.

f Voluntarily applied to Mr. Skeene, 2 took

j his protection, procured a quantity of ammu-

t- i tt„ -i„„ l J nition, Promised a number of Cattle, carria-

Joseph Havuand, i & ' c Taken by CoL WarnerS [me n] on

j li'is return endeavouring to carry his pro-
jects into Execution.

1 A wealthy citizen of Arlington, who was proscribed in the act of Eeb.
26, 1779. In Yt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 129, it is said he was abducted,
and was never heard of afterward, one supposition being that he was
burnt in a prison-ship near New York. His family, it is said, was fre-
quently abused by the Whigs, and his property was confiscated by the
state and offered for sale, but nobody would buy it. The General As-
sembly in 1778 gave the use of the farm to Mrs. Hurd.

2 Col. Philip Skene, grandson of John Skene of Halyards in Fife-
shire, Scotland. He entered the British army in 1739 and was in active
service in Europe until 1756, when he came to America. He became
captain in the 27th regiment in 1757 ; was wounded at the attack on
Ticonderoga in July 1758, appointed major of brigade in 1759, in October
of that year commanded at Crown Point, and at that time projected the
settlements at Wood Creek and South Bay now known as Whitehall. In
1762 he was in the expedition against Martinico and Havana and was one
of the first to enter the breach at the storming of the Moro Castle. He
returned to New York in 1763, and in 1765 obtained a patent for the
township of Skenesboro [Whitehall,] fixing his residence there in 1770.
He contemplated a much larger jurisdiction from the crown, embracing
territory on both sides of Lake Champlain, but was foiled by the revolu-
tion. In June 1775 he was arrested at Philadelphia as a loyalist and was
held as a prisoner until he was exchanged in October 1776. In 1777 he
joined Burgoyne's army as commander of a loyal American regiment,
accompanied Baum in his attack on Bennington, and was again taken
prisoner at Saratoga. In 1779 he was attainted and his property was
confiscated by New York. He then returned to England, where he

154 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

„, ,_ , , ( Confess they were Conversant with the En-

Ebenezer Washburn, 3 e haye taken p rote ction, & voluntarily
Edward Bump, ^ assisted with Teams, provisions. &c.

( Found to be in the aforesaid action &
Abraham .Lake, -j sup p 0Se( j to be in Arms.

Watts Hubbery jr.] [_ Th Evidence against him enclosed.
[Hubbard, of Windsor,] \

The above are the whole which the Council have in Custody except
some few who have been Brought so late the evidence have not as yet
arrived.

I am Dear General your most Obedient Humble servant,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -
To the Hon. Major General Lincoln.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 30 th August 1777.
Francis Mattison & David Mattison [of Clarendon] are Permitted
the Liberty of this Town [Bennington] until further orders from this
Council.

Gave an order on Colonel Brush com')' for 2 days Provision for Isaac
Ives & Samuel Barto.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec'y-

Phinehas Chase of Munro Pattent & Archibald McVicker of Little
White Creek are permitted to return to their Several Habitations until fur-
ther orders, They behaving as Becometh.

By order of Council, Ira AXLEM", Sec'y-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 2 d September 1777.
To Lieutenant Ebenezer Hyde :

Sir, — You are hereby required to Examine the Goods deposited in the
cart now in the care of Seth Kealerand Report the Several Articles Par-
ticularly which are not wearing apparel, for which this shall be your
Sufficient Warrant. You will make Returns as soon as may be.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec'y-

Francis Mattison and David Mattison are permitted to Return to
Clarendon, &c. By order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec'y-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 3 d September 1777.
Captain Elijah More of Putney and Cap 4 - Leonard Spauldin, 1 are ap-
pointed Commissioners of Sequestration. ..Ve.

died, Oct. 9, 1810, near Stoke Goldington, Bucks.— See Drake's Dic-
tionary of American Biography; and Ira Allen's History of Vermont, in
Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. t.

1 Lieut. Leonard Spaulding is first named as a resident of Putney
in 1768. From the outset of the controversies he was widely known as
an outspeaking and sturdy enemy of loyalists and Yorkers, and as such he
was a favorite with the whigs and Green Mountain Boys. Thus, in 1771.
when a judgment had been recovered against him in a York court and
the officer had seized a portion of his property, a large party crossed

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 155

Francis Breakenridge is permitted to Return home, & Remain on
his father's home farm, and if found off to expect 39 Lashes of the Beach
Seal, until further orders from this Council.

Thomas Green is permitted to Return home, on the Recommendation
of Maj. Younglove, until further orders.

State of Vermont. In Council, 3d September 1777.
To Thadeus Harris of Bennington :

Sir, — You are directed to deliver all the Cattle in you Care or in Mr.
Breakenridges Inclosures, thai you know or have reason to believe be-

Connecticut River from New Hampshire into Putney, broke open the
enclosure, and rescued the property. In 1774 he had become a citizen of
Dummerston, and there he was so free in the expression of his whig sen-
timents as to earn special attention from the royal authorities. He was
arrested and imprisoned eleven days for treason, one account being that
"Mr. Spaulding's pretended Crime was, that he threw out some words
unfavourable to the British tyrant relating to the Quebec bill by which
he is made Pope of that government.'' Another was, that u One man
they put into close prison for high treason, and all they proved against
him was that he said if the king had signed the Quebec bill, it was his
opinion that he had broke his coronation-oath. But the good people went
and opened the prison-door and let him go, and did no violence to any
man's person or property." This in no measure dampened the patriotic
zeal of Mr. Spaulding, who in 1775 was conspicous among those who re-
sented the Westminster massacre by arresting the royal officers. Again
his zeal broke out in 1776, when, at the head of a military force, he held
in duress judge and colonel Samuel Wells, a wealthy citizen of Brattle-
boro and a leader among the Yorkers and loyalists. For this irregularity
he was arraigned b} T the Cumberland County Committee on the 25th of
July, 1776, and it was resolved "that Lieutenant Spaulding make suitable
Confession to the Committee for his Conduct in Taking Col - Wells by
military force, that mode of proceeding Being Contrary to the minds of
this Committee, and also a Violation of a Certain Resolve formerly
passed by this Committee." Whereupon "Mr. Spaulding Comply'd
with the above Vote by making his proper Confession, &c." When in
1781 the Vermont government, by way of conciliation, had appointed
two well known Yorkers to office — men who were officials under New
York at the time of the Westminster massacre — Mr. Spaulding united
with others in sending an indignant remonstrance to the Governor and
Council, which effected a delay in the issuing of the commissions, though
finally the gentlemen thus complained of became valuable and acceptable
officers. Lieut. Spaulding was a delegate in all the Conventions begin-
ning with that of Sept. 25, 1776, and representative of Dummerston in
the General Assembly of March, 1778, and for the years 1781, '84, '86,
and '87. — See Eastern Vermont ; Shade's State Papers ; and Deming's
Catalogue, 1778 to 1851.

156 Council^/ Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

longs to the State of New York, to Major Younglove, as he is one of the
Commissioners of Sequestration for said State.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, Secy-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 3 d September 1777.

Then personally appeared David Smith & acknowledged himself
bound in a recognizance of one hundred pounds to the Secretary of the
Council of the State of Vermont, That Captain Michael Lantman shall
appear before the General Committee of Albany within six days to an-
swer any Complaint that may be exhibited against him.

Eichard Bovey and Garritt Bovey are permitted to Eeturn to their
farms, there to remain until further orders from Albany.

John Bass of Col - Hale's Regiment who has been taken A: retaken,
is permitted to pass to his Regiment.

Resolved that Captain Benjamin Wait 1 be and he is hereby appointed
Major in Lieutenant Col. Samuel Herrick's Regiment of Rangers.

P r order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec'v-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 4 th September 1777.
To the officer Commanding the Gnards at Capt. Dewey's Barn:

Sir, — You are hereby required to Remove all the prisoners to the
School House & see that there is a proper Guard over them except

1 Benjamin Wait, though not ranked among the few persons who
are recognized as leaders of the people and founders of tin- slate, has
left a record which is very remarkable for the many military and civil
services recorded, and the graces that prove and adorn a Christian
character.

He was born in Sudbury, Mass., Feb. 13, 1737, and at the age of eigh-
teen entered military service under the British General A.mherst. In
1756 he was captured by the French, taken to Quebec, and from thence
to France, where he was retaken by the English and carried i<> England.
In 1757 he returned to America, and assisted in 175S in the capture of
Louisburgh, and in the reduction of Canada in the two succeeding years.
On the submission of Canada he was sent from Detroit to bring in the
French garrisons in Illinois, and performed the service successfully in a
winter's march which lasted from December until the succeeding March.
At twenty-five years of age he had been engaged in forty battles and
skirmishes, and had his clothing perforated many limes, but received no
wound.

In 1767 he settled in Windsor, his family being the third. In 1769 he
was employed by Benjamin Whiting of Newbury, (one of the Deputy-
Surveyor Generals of New York,) to arrest depredators upon the king's
timber. In 1770 he identified himself decidedly with the Green Moun-
tain Boys in their opposition to New York. Feb. 7, 1775. he was the
sole delegate from Windsor in the whig convention of the county of
Cumberland. Though an avowed opponent of New York in the pend-
ing controversy about jurisdiction and land titles, he united, in June
1775, with Maj. Wm. Williams and Maj. Joab Hoisington, in a letter to

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 157

those thai are wounded. If there is sufficient Room in the Meeting House
for them you are to put them there in Lieu of the School House.

By order of the Council, Ira Allex, Sec'v-

Resolved that Lieutenant John Barnes he & he is herehy appointed

Lieutenant in Captain Richard Wait's Company of Rangers in L l - Colo-
Samuel Herrick's Regiment.

tin- New York authorities, which is characteristic both of their patriot-
ism and stern Puritanic religious principles, in that in it they urged the
raising of a regiment "of good, active, enterprising soldiers," in order
"to keep under proper subjection regulars, Roman Catholicks, and the
savages at the northward," and to defend their own rights and privileges
"against ministerial tyranny and oppression." August 14 of the same
year he signed a list of the officers of the upper regiment of militia in
Cumberland county as " Beniamin Wait, Major." Oct. 10. 1776, he was
commissioned by New York as captain in Maj. Hoisington's battalion
of rangers. Sept. 3, 1777, he was appointed major, by Vermont, in Her-
rick's regiment of rangers, and he commanded that part of it (perhaps
consisting mainly of Ebenezer Allen's company.) which in connection
with Col. John Brown swept the British from the north end of Lake
George, and consequently from Ticonderoga. He was complimented by
the Council of Safety for his •• spirited conduct " on this occasion, and in
November succeeding was ordered to take possession of Mount Inde-
pendence. Feb. 10, 1778, he was authorized by the Council to co-ope-
i ate with Col. Herrick in raising three hundred men for an intended expe-
dition to Canada under Gen. Lafayette, and of this force he was ap-
pointed major.

October 23, 1779, he was appointed sheriff of Windsor county, which
office he held for seven years, with the exception of a brief period
when he resigned the office for other service: and on the 27th of the
same month the General Assembly resolved that North and South Hero
in Grand Isle county should be granted to him and company, which
grant was voted by the Governor and Council Nov. 11, 1779. In Oct.
1783, having been made colonel, he commanded the force detailed to
maintain the authority of Vermont in the southern part of Windham
county; and in the same month, with Stephen Jacobs, then state's attor-
ney, he by his firmness and good advice quelled an attempted insurrec-
tion in Windsor county. In this affair Wait and Jacobs were both
wounded, the former being confined twenty-six days by his wound, which
was in the head. When " the piping times of peace" had come, the
manifold services of Mr. Wait were complimented by the General As-
sembly in elections to the offices of brigadier general, and finally major
general of militia, the last being the highest military title that could be
conferred.

The township of Waitsfield was chartered to Roger Enos, Benjamin
Wait, and others, Feb. 25, 1782, and Gen. Wait was the first settler in

158 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, io March 12, 1778.

Captain Joseph Ingley has a permit to Take a Bay mare Taken from
Capt. Hurd's Sou & use during the pleasure of Council.

Samuel Barto is permitted to Return to his place of abode in Dorset
& there to Remain until further orders from this Council.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, bec'v-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, )
4th September 1777. 1 \
To all whom it may concern :

You are required to deliver unto Capt. [Peleg] Sunderland the bearer
such Arms and other Accoutrements as you have taken from the field
of Battle in Hubbardton, and on the receipt of your accounts you will
be reasonably paid for your trouble.

By order of Council, IRA Allen, SecV

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 4 th September 1777.

This Council having heard the evidence against Arthur Bostwick 3
heard his Evidence, and considered the case with all the attending cir-
cumstances, do judge and order that the said Bostwick pay a tine tor the
use of this State of Three pounds and stand Committed until this Judg-
ment be complied with.

By order of Council, Thomas Chittenden, Pres 1 -

Thomas Bull has giveu his word for the above sum, to be forthwith
paid.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 4th September 1777.

This Council having before them , 3 who stands

charged with being an Enemy to the United States of America, having
heard the Witnesses and considered them with all the attending circum-

1789. He was also the first representative, chosen in L795, and was re-
elected in 1796, '7, '8 and '9, and 1801 and '2. He was truly "the
father of the town," which became the last and best fruits of his life, in
the intelligence, piety, and thrift of its people. It is one of a number of
almost purely agricultural towns, perched on the hills like Peacham and
Randolph, or nestled in the deep valleys of Vermont, which have been
famous not only for the general excellence of their people, but for the
many strong and useful men they have sent out to bless other communi-
ties with like good fruits. Gen. Wait died in 1822, aged 86 years.— See
Zadoc Thompson's Vermont Gazetteer, first edition, 1824; B. II. Hall's
Eastern Vermont; and Deming's Catalogue, 1778 to 1851.

1 Two pages of the record are missing, and the proceedings (being of
Sept. 4,) are supplied from Slade's State Papers, p. 2u4. Mr. S. undoubt-
edly copied them before the record had been mutilated.

3 Name omitted in Slade. The permit to Arthur Bostwick, granted on
the next day, indicates that he was the man.

3 Blank in Slade. Probably Samuel Rose of Manchester was the per-
son, as the Council, five days after this date, resolved to confiscate his
estate. Rose was proscribed by the act of Eeb. 26 1779.

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 159

stances, do judge that the said is an Enemy to the

said States and a dangerous person to go at large, Therefore order that
he be committed to Close Confinement until Released by order of this
Council. By order of Council, Thomas Chittenden, Pres 1 -

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 4 th September, 1777.

Resolved that Gen. Jacob Bailey, Dr. Jonas Fay, and Capt. Ira Allen
be a Committee to wait on the Hon 1 ' 1 '' Major General Lincoln to assure
him thai every Aid and Assistance in the power of this Council will be
Granted him on the earliest notice.

By order of Council, Ira Allen, Sec'v-

Bennington, 5th September, 1777; Commissionated Major Benjamin
Wait. Ira Allen, Sec'y-

Jonathan Smith is Permitted to pass to Litchfield in Connecticut &
Return in 15 days.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, \
Bennington September 5 th 1777. )
Permit Arthur Bostwick to pass the Guards from this to Manchester,
and Remain on his farm during his Good Behaviour or the pleasure of
this Council. Pr order, Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -

Let him Take his oxen and cart.
To whom it may concern.

Bennington 5 Septem 1777.
Dear General — Agreeable to the proposals of Last Evening the Coun-
cil of Safety would Recommend to your honor Colonels Seth Warner &
Samuel Herrick, 1 as persons who from their knowledge of the Situation

'Seth Warner was born in Woodbury, (then Roxbury,) Conn.,
May 17, 1743, came to Bennington to reside in January 1765, and in 1771
was elected, by a Convention, one of the •• Captains of the Green Moun-
tain Boys," of whom Ethan Allen was the commander, whose special
duties were to protect the New Hampshire grantees and resist the at-
tacks of the New York authorities; upon them. In this business Warner
was zealous and thorough, and yet his zeal was tempered by wisdom.
May 10, 1775, he commanded the party that captured the fort at Crown
Point. In July 1775 he was elected, by another Convention, lieutenant-
colonel commandant of the regiment of Green Mountain Boys to serve
in the continental army ; early in 1776 he raised another regiment and
served very efficiently in Canada; and July 5, 1776, he was appointed
colonel by Congress, and raised still another regiment, which he com-
manded through the war. As the resolutions of Congress in respect to
this regiment have rarely if ever been printed in the histories of Ver-
mont, they are here given. June 25, 1776, Congress had resolved

That a colonel's commission be immediately issued to major Dubois,
with instructions forthwith to raise a regiment to serve for three years,
or during the war, and that the corps of officers be composed of such as have
served with credit in Canada ; no officer to receive his commission until
his company be raised and armed ; the arms of the people enlisting

160 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

of the Country to the Northward of this, & their particular acquaintance
with a number of persons under their Command, who have for a Number
of years Inhabited contiguous to the several post which the Enemy at

themselves, to be valued by the committees of the counties, where the
companies are raised, and paid for by the continent, on their being mus-
tered.
This was followed, July 5, 1776, by the following :

Resolved, That a regiment be raised out of the officers who served in Can-
ada, on the same terms on which the regiment, to be commanded by
colonel Dubois, is to be raised ; and that the following persons be ap-
pointed officers of the said regiment :
Seth Warner, colonel ;
Samuel Safford, lieutenant colonel ;
Elisha Painter, major ;
"Wait Hopkins, John Grant, Gideon Brownson, Abiather Angel, Simeon
Smith, Joshua Stanton, [Abner] Seely, Jacob Vorsboroug, captains;

John Allen, Fusset, [John Fassett, jr.,] [Ebenezer] Walbridge,

[William] Deane, James Gold, Sili, Ebenezer Hide, Gamaliel

Painter, first lieutenants.

Ebenezer Beaumont, adjutant. — Journals of Congress 177<1, vol. n. pp.
219, 234.

In every emergency of unusual difficulty, Warner was always relied
on as a safe man ; and so it happened that he was assigned to bring
up the rear in the disastrous retreat from Canada in the spring of 1776,
and still again, in Juty of the same year, when he commanded the rear-
guard in St. Clair's retreat from Ticonderoga, and foughl the bloody bat-
tle on the stubbornly contested field of Hubbardton. At Bennington,
only the remnant of his regiment saved at Hubbardton was present.
Warner himself was there in advance of them, and with Stark planned
the attack, and after the victory Stark in his official account said : " War-
ner's superior skill in the action was of great service to me." Hon. D.
S. Boardman of Conn., who had often seen Warner, thus described him :

Col. Warner was of noble personal appearance ; very tall, not less than
six feet two inches ; large framed, bul rather thin in flesh, and apparently
of great bodily strength. His features were regular, strongly marked,
and indicative of mental strength, a fixedness of purpose, and yet or
much benevolent good nature, and in all respects both commanding and
pleasing. His manners were simple, natural and in all respects entirely
free from any kind of affectation; social, at once both pleasing and dig-
nified ; and when engaged in relating the events of his life, both military
and ordinary, he displayed no arrogance, but interwove in his narrative
a notice of such incidents as showed love of adventure, and at the same
time his love of fun.

In the summer of 1784 Warner's health failed, and he returned to his
native town and died therein December of that year, in the forty-second
year of his age.— See ante, pp. 6-10; also H. Halls Early History ; and
Daniel Chipinan's Memoir of Col. Seth Warner.

Samuel Herrick came to Bennington about the year 1768, but left
the town and the state soon after the close of the revolutionary war, re-

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 161

present occupy— Thai on application to either of them at any time they
would be n-ady to furnish your honor with such men or numbers of In-
teligible [intelligent] men to Report the particular Situation of the Ene-
my at every particular post as might be confided in.
I am Dr. General, by order of Council,
Your most Obedient

Humble Servant,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres 1 -
Major General B. Lincoln.

In Council of Safety, G 1 ' 1 September 1777.

To 3Ir. David Fasset —

Sir, — Agreeable to Gcd. Lincoln's Request to this Council you are di-
rected to engage live Teams to Carry Flour to Manchester this day.
By order of Council,

Ira Allen, Sec r 'J-

State of Vermont. Ix Council of Safety, September 6 1777.

To Capt. William Fitch:

Sir, — You are hereby directed to deliver to Captain Goodenough the
bearer Two sides of Leather out of Marshes Fratts [vats] & out of his
Leather, Taking his Receipt for the same after appraised.
By order of Council.

Ira Allen, Sec'y-

Mr. John Waldo one of the committee of St. Coik is permitted To
Take John Sessions 1 to the Committee there.

Resolved that Mr. Joseph Fay, he & is Hereby appointed Secretary
to this Council.

Attest,

Ira Allen, Sec'v-

moving to Springfield, Montgomery County, New York, and nothing is
known of his previous or subsequent life. His record in Vermont was
highly honorable. In May 177.~> Warner and Herrick were the two Ben-
nington captains who joined the expedition for the capture of the forts
at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. On the evacuation of Ticonderoga
in July 1777 Herrick was appointed colonel of Vermont rangers, and in
August he led the attack on the rear of Baum's right in the battle of
Bennington. Gordon, in his history, acknowledged "the superior mili-
itary skill" of Warner and Herrick. In September of the same year
Herrick's regiment with Col. Brown's troops gained the command of
Lake George, dispossessed the enemy of Mounts Independence, Defi-
ance, and Hope, and forced their retreat from Ticonderoga. Subse-
quently Herrick was colonel of the southwestern regiment of Vermont
militia. — See H. Hall's Early History.

Probably this was not Deacon John Sessions of Westminster, several
times delegate in the N". Y. Assembly, and afterward representative of
Westminster in the General Assembly of Vermont.

162 Council of Safety— Aug- 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 6 September 1777.
This Council have no objection to Jesse Fields assisting Commissary
Brush until General Lincoln's pleasure shall be known concerning the
same.

By order of Council,

Ira Allen, Sec'y-
To Lieut. Col - Herrick.

State of Vermont, Bennington September 6 1777.
This may Certify to all whom it may Concern that Brigadier General
Stark has this day made a present of one Hessian Broad Sword to the
Honorable Council of the State of Vermont, in order to be kept in said
Council Chamber as a Memorial in Commemoration of the Glorious ac-
tion fought at Walloomsack August 16 1777 in which case the Exertions
of the said Council was found to be Exceedingly Serviceable.
By the Donor's order,

John Casey, A. I). Camp.
Copy. Attest,

Ira Allen, Sec'y-

State of Vermont. In Council. <; September 1777.
The following Contains a List of Persons belonging to the state of N.
York Confined on Suspicion of being Enemies to the United States of
America, viz.

} Thomas Collins, ) (Jesse Brown A: )

{ Beuben Green, \ ( William Moffit. [

The above are the whole which the Council have in Custody.
I am Gentlemen your most Obedient Humble Servant,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -
[To] the General Committee at Albany.

The following Contains a List of the Tories belonging to this State.
& the Several Crimes with which they Stand charged, viz*-

f Has joined a Tory Scout under Armes and
| assisted them in Taking and keeping a pris-

Samuel Hose, 1 J oner ' nu ' [ h - v llis 1 "' lVn confession Given hard

j money to several young nun to induce and
| Enable them to join s d Scout & go to the
L British Troops.

[ Went Voluntarily under Armes to the En-

| emies Cam]), and was Taken on the 16 day of

Beriah Chelson, J An S- , in th e memorable Battle fought near

) this place. The reason of Chelson s being Sent

| in Irons is, he has once Broke from the

L Guards and Got some Miles before Retaken.

This Council wish those persons to be Sent on Board the Guard Ships

in the North River, or otherwise Dealt with as your honor in your Great

Wisdom shall think proper.

I am Dr Gen 1 - your most Obedient Humble Servant,
_ „ ,, , Thomas Chittenden. Pres v -

The Uon hl - Major General Gates.

1 Of Manchester, proscribed by the act of Feb. 26, 1779, and his prop-
erty confiscated.

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 163

Peter Payne being arained for Enemical Conduct towards the United
States of America, this Council having heard the Evidence against the
said Payne & his Arguments, & having duly deliberated on the same, do
Judge & order that the said Peter Payne pay as a fine for the use of
this State Twenty pounds, & Stand Committed until Judgment is com-
plied with. Sep 1 - 11, Judgt- is complied with & he has Taken the Oath
of Allegiance & is acquitted.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 6 th Sept. 1777.

( Is proved an Enemy to the United States
Bennit Bardsley, 1 < of America by words & actions & is Judged

(a Dangerous person to go at Large.

f Has taken Protection under Gen 1 - Bur-

T T 2 j goine, and been very officious in assisting

Isaac ives, <j Him ^ by hig own c on f ess i on Deen t0 tne R eg .

[ulars & Drove Cattle.

Nathan Canfield, 8 1 -d i + i i a • r i ■ *■

rj t , xj , 4 ' Proved to have been Aiding and assisting

Zadock Hard. . ., t, •.• , m j -\

Andrew Hawlev 4 <* to the British Troops, and dangerous persons

nun*' t '' ! to go at Large.

Caleb Daton, 4 J ° °

This Council having heard the Witnesses with all the Attending Cir-
cumstances of the Several persons above named, do judge & order that
s d persons be Committed to Close Confinement in the Common Gaol at
Westminster until Released by proper authority.

By order of Council, " Thomas Chittenden, Pres"'-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 6 Sept 1 - 1777.

The Council's Compliments most Cordially wait on his Honor Briga-
dier General Stark, with their sincere thanks for the Honor the General
has been pleased to do them, by presenting them with a Hessian Broad
Sword Taken by a number of Troops from the State of New Hampshire
& Elsewhere under his Immediate Command, in the Memorable Battle
fought in Walloomsac near this place on the 16 day of August last. And
also for the Honor the General has been pleased to do them in applaud-
ing their Exertions in a public Weal as a Council.

P r Joseph Pay, Sec'v-

Brig. Gen 1 - Stark.

1 Tried, convicted, satisfied the judgment, and was discharged.

2 Isaac Ives of Wallingford was proscribed by the act of Feb. 26, 1779.

3 Nathan Canfield was a prominent man in Arlington. As a tory he
was ordered to be confined in jail at Litchfield, Conn., but he was per-
mitted to remain at his home on his friends giving bonds that he would
report to the Council at any time. Notwithstanding his tory politics,
he was on excellent terms with Ethan Allen, Warner, Baker, and other
whigs. Mr. Canfield represented Arlington in the General Assembly
of 1786.— See Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, p. 134.

4 These were all tried, convicted, and fined. The record shows that
Hard and Hawley satisfied the judgments, and it is presumed that Daton
did also.

164 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

State of Vermont. In Council or Safety, 8 Sepf- 1777.
To the officer of the Guard at the School House:— Permit Mr. David
Fassett to Take out of the Guard House Zadock Hard & Andrew Haw-
ley; he is to return them in three days.

By order of Council, " Thomas Chittenden, Pres' ( -

Bennington 8 September 1777.
Dear General— In the absence of Doct r FayRec d your favour of the 7 11 '

Instant, in which your honor informs that you have been so kind as t.»
supply our Troops' with some necessaries outof the Massachusetts stores,
for which this Council return you their sincere thanks, & have to assure
you that if the Like quantity of stores are to be had. shall replace them
again, otherwise Pay an Equivalent in cash to their full satisfaction.
I am sir Your most Obedienl Hum ble Servant,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -
Major Gen. Lincoln.

To Nathaniel Fisk 1 & Phil. Griffen:

Notwithstanding your ungratefulness to your Country & notwith-
standing you have by your conduct forfeited the confidence of your
countrymen, yet nevertheless on the application of Mr. Edward Veil in
your behalf, this Council are India-ed out of Humanity to accept you
again into friendship on your Voluntary Surrender & Taking the oath of
fidelity to the United Studs of America forthwith, And dispensing with
the loss you have already sustained to atone for your past folly.
By order of Council,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres ,f -
Whereas Complaint has been made to this Council against you for dis-
posing of cattle & horses belonging to this state, you are therefore
hereby summoned to appear before this Council to answer the Complaint
Immediately.

By Older.

Thomas Chittenden, Pres' 1 -
To W" 1 - Searls, Jr., of Arlington}

State of Vermont. Ix Council of Safety. 8 Sept' r 1777.
To Captain Jonathan W. Fassett:

Sir, — You are hereby Authorized to procure or Empress Ten Teams
immediately for the use of forwarding provisions to the Army.
By order.

Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -

State of Ver.moxt. Ix Council, 8 September 1777.
To Captain Ebenezer Allen:

Sir— This day nc> yours of the 6«> Instant dated at Manchester
Kequesting this Council to furnish you with Shoes. We have taken the

x Fisk voluntarily appeared and took the oath of fidelity to the United
States, in compliance with this "manifest" of the Council.

3 Sept. 10, 1777, he was also required to pay for a yoke of oxen. It is
presumed these orders were complied with, a- .Mi-. Searls seems to have
appealed to the Council afterward for an order to aid him in a dispute
with Andrew Hawley.

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 165

same into Consideration, & do hereby Recommend to you to Take some
Leather oul ol Marshes Tan yard at" Shaftsbury and make Mogasons to
answer the present purpose until Shoes can be procured. You are to
make application to Captain Fitch or the person who has the care of the
yard. The Leather is to be appraised and Returns made to this Board.
By older,

Tho s - Chittenden, Pres'-

The following is a Copy of a Complaint Rec d from L l - Isaac Clark, —

Bennington, 8 September 1777.
To the Council of Safety, — I the Subscriber Complain of David Rem-
ington of Castleton for going to the Ministerial Army and Serving as
Conductor of Teams in the King's Service as doth appear by his writings. 1

Isaac Clark, L f -

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 8 Sept 1- 1777.
To the Officer of the Main Guard:

Sir, — You are hereby required to take the body of David Remington
& him safely keep in the Guard House until further orders from this
Council ; you are also to Continue him in Irons.

By order,

Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

State of Vermont. In Council, 9 tl] September 1777.
Permit Samuel Burton to Take his oxen & keep them until further or-
ders.

p v order,

Thomas Chittenden, Pres' 1 -
To the person who has them in Keeping.

Charles Brewster is appointed one of the Commissioners of Sequesta-
tion for this state.

Resolved that the Estate of Samuel Rose of Manchester be Confiscated
to the use of this State for Ids Enimical Conduct towards the United
States of America. [He was proscribed by the act of Feb. 26, 1779.]

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 9 Sept' r 1777.
Resolved that Nathan Canfield be Committed to Close Confinement in
the Common Goal in Litchfield in Lieu of Westminster Goal.

Permit M ess - Lemuel Canfield and Jabez Worster to pass to Arlington
& move to this place Nathan Canfields Family [and] Moveable effects &
Lease out his farm.

I Jy order of Council, Tho s - Chittenden, Pres H -

To all to whom it may Concern.

State of Vermont. In Council, 10 th September 1777.
Whereas W m - Searls Ju 1 ' has disposed of one jo'ke of oxen, which is
the property of William Beedle of Manchester who has been apprehend-

1 Remington , s properly was confiscated, and he was banished by the
Council. In Oct. 1778 the Governor and Council issued an order per-
mitting him to live in Cumberland County.

166 Cnuncil of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

ed as an Enemy to the United States, Resolved therefore that s d Searls
be & is hereby directed immediately to pay into the Treasury of this
State Seventy four Dollars, which was the sum he Rec d for said oxen.
Execution Issued on the above Judg' 1 to Eb' r Wallis.

By Order,

Jos. Eat, Sec'v-

Memorandum.— Captain Tapan Noble has a Cart in his custody which
belongs to this State, which he promises to return.

Joseph Donkle has returned a Gun and Cartouch Box he rec' d some
time ago of the Council ; his Rec 1 was mislaid & not given up.

State of Vermont. Ik Council or Safety, 11 th Sepf r 1777.

To Peter Harwood:

You are directed to Receive the Sick person in David Fassetts Care
into your House & Keep until further orders.
By order of Council,

Tno s - Chittenden, Pres' 1 -

Permit the bearer Francis Burnes to pass to Pownal, and Return to
this place at the end of six days.

p r Order,

Tho 1s Chittenden, Pres" 11 -

Nathan Canfield is permitted to go to Arlington to see his wife as she
is sick, & Return again in 36 hours.

State of Vermont. In Council, 12 th September 1777.

To Fregift Cole :

Sir, — You are hereby required to Deliver to Lieu 1 Isaac Clark five
sides of Leather out of the Leather belonging to Marsh & Take his
Rec* for the Same.

By Order, Joseph Fay, Se&v-

Whereas sundry persons in this State have been so losl to a sense of
the duty they owe to the Supreme Arbiter of Rights & their country,
friends and Relations as to join the Tyrant of Great Britain, together
with his foreign Mercenary Troops & Cruel Savages in Amies, & have
been flagrantly Guilty of sheding the Blood of their Innocent Neighbors
and friends, — And whereas several Women wives to those Merciless &
unprovoked Murderers have aided & assisted in Bringing about Such
their designs by harbouring, secreting, feeding & Giving private Intel-
ligence to such Immesaries of Great Britain & by Riding post Carrying
Intelligence to the Enemies Camp and Scouts, are found to be dangerous
persons to Society and instruments of Great Mischief to this & the
United States of America,

Resolved therefore that all such persons as have joined or may here-
after join the British Troops (& let! or may hereafter leave) their wives
and families within this State, Have their wives and families sent to
General John Burgoins Head Quarters, or some other Branch of the
Ministerial Army, as soon as may be.

By Order of Council,

Joseph Fay, Sec^-

Resolved that Comfort Curtis be permitted to go to his Brothers in
White Crick & there to Remain until further orders from this Council,
upon giving sufficient Bail.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

Council of Safety — Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 167

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety 12 Septf 1 1777.

Then voluntarily appeared before this Council Henry Bullis, and ac-
knowledgeth himself Guilty of Taking his arms. v.y joining the Infa-
mous Samuel Adams 8 Company. A: going with them to the British
Army, praying this Council to Take him under their protection & deal
with him according to their judgment & discretion, this Council hav-
ing Taken the same under their Consideration, do judge that on his dis-
pensing with the loss of what he has already sustained & voluntarily
Taking the oath of Fidility to the United States of America he be dis-
missed.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

Permit Henry Bullis to pass from this to his farm in Manchester there
to remain unmolested, he behaving as becometh a friend to his Country,
as he has Taken the oath of Alegiance to the States of America.

By order," Joseph Fay, Secv-

To whom it may concern.

Statk of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 12 th Sept' r 1777.

Then personally appeared John Curtis and acknowledges himself
Bound to the Treasurer of this State in a Recognisance of Two hundred
pounds that Comfort Curtis 1 shall be ready at his house to answer the
Call of this Council at any Time.

By order, Tho s Chittenden, Pres H -

Permit Comfort Curtis to pass from this to his brother John Curtis s in
White Creek, he behaving as becometh a friend to his Country, there to
remain until further orders from this Council.

By order, Joseph Fay, Sec'y-

To ichom it may concern:

Nehemiah French having voluntarily appeared before this Council
and acknowledged himself Guilty of Taking up arms & joining the In-
famous Samuel Adams 8 Company- and joining the -British Army, pray-

1 Comfort Curtis of Clarendon was proscribed by the act of Feb. 26,
1779. Subsequent votes indicate that the property of John Curtis in
Vermont was confiscated, and Comfort Curtis was sent out of the State
with his family.

2 Doctor Samuel Adams settled in Aldington in 1764, coming from
Newton, Conn. He held his land by a New Hampshire title, and acted
officially under New Hampshire in Nov. 1773. He dissented, however,
in 1774 from the policy of the Conventions of the Green Mountain Boys,
and, at a time when many of those holding New York grants were in-
clined to quiet their possessions by covering them with New Hampshire
titles, he advised the contrary course, urging the N. H. grantees to pur-
chase New York titles. This was very offensive to the opponents of
New York, and they advised him at least to be silent. He resented this,
armed himself, and threatened to silence any man who interfered with
him. For this he was arrested, tried, convicted as an enemy, and pun-
ished by being hoisted up the catamount sign-post, and suspended there
for two hours, to his own chagrin and much merriment of the beholders.
Ira Allen said " this mild and exemplary disgrace had a salutary effect

168 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

incr this Council to Take him under their protection and deal with him
according to their Judgment & discretion. This Council having Taken
his case° under their consideration, do judge and order that the said
Nehem h French pay as a fine the Sum of Twenty pounds & stand Com-
mitted until this judgment is Complied with and the said French volun-
tarily take the oath of fidelity to the United States of America, then to
be discharged.
The above judg'* is satisfied in cost.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

State of Vermont. In Council, 12 th September 1777.
This Council on Eeconsideration vote and order thai Nathan Canfield
pay 30 pounds L. [lawful] money as a fine for the use of Ibis State and
be released from any further Confinement.

p r order, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

Eesolved that Nathan Canfield be permitted the privilege of Letting
bis Farm & effects in Arlington remain in the band of Diliverance
Squire unmolested, as lie has Satisfied this Council for his past Conduct,
& Taken the oath [of] Fidelity to the United States of America.

p 1 ' order,

Tho 8 - Chittenden, Pres' 1 -
Resolved that Nathan Canfield be permitted to pass and Repass on his
Lawful business, his behaving as becometh a friend to the States of
America.

By order, Tho 8 - Chittenden, Pres -1 '-

To whom it may concern.
Permit David Irish to pass from tbis to bis farm in Tinmouth, there
to remain unmolested until further orders from this ( louncil, be behaving
himself as becometh a friend to the Liberties of America.

By order, Joseph Fay, Sec'J-

To whom it may concern.

State of Vermont. In Council, 1:1"' September 1777.
Permit David Irish to pass from this to Ids Farm in Dauby, there to
remain unmolested until further orders from this Council, he behaving

as becometh a friend to his Country.

By order, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

To whom it may concern.

Resolved to Adjourn this Council sitting until Tuesday next.

P r Order, Joseph Fay, Sec'y-

Then personally appeared Lemuel Canfield & Jabez Worster, cV ac-
knowledge themselves bound to the Treasurer of tin- Stale & Recog-

on the doctor ;" nevertheless in 1777 he became a violent tory, and
raised a company in Arlington, Manchester, and the neighborhood, to co-
operate with Burgoyne. In this he was active, and on one occasion killed
a whig townsman, when he fled to Canada. His property was confiscated
and his family sent within the enemy's lines in 1778. He was of course
proscribed by the act of Feb. 26, 1779.— See Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. i, pp.
123, 120, 129 ; and I. Allen's History in Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol I,
p. 356.

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 169

nized in the Sum of one thousand pounds L. Money that Nathan Can-
field shall be ready at the call of this Council at any time, as Witness
our hands. Signed, Lemuel Caxfield,

Jabez Worster.

Rec d of Nathan Canfield 1 p r Blacksmith's Bellows, one anvil, one vice
without a Screw, & one p r Tongs, which was the property of Samuel
Buck [of] Arlington, in behalf of the Council Rec d .

P r Joseph Fay, Sec^-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 15 September 1777.

Permit Nehemiah French to pass from this to his farm in Manches-
ter, there to remain unmolested, lie behaving himself as becometh a
friend to the States of America, as he has Taken the oath of Allegiance
to the States. P r Order, Joseph Fay, Sec&-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 17 tl > Sept 1 - 1777.

Resolved, That [for] whatsoever of the Goods or Chatties that was
his property (viz 1 - David Castle) has been taken by our Scouts we make
him no Compensation but he to bear the loss, on the Council giving him
the said Castle a pass to return to his habitation and there to remain
under our protection, on his good Behaviour for the future.

P r Order, THOMAS CHITTENDEN. PreS 1 -

This Council on Reconsideration vote & order that Bennet Bardsley
pay as a fine for the use of this State the sum of fifteen pounds L.
money & be discharged from further confinement.

P r Order, Thos. Chittenden, Pres\.

September 24 1777. — Then appeared Bennet Bardsley and paid fifteen
pounds Lawful money in satisfaction for the above judgment of Council.
£15 0. Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

Bennington 17 th September 1777.

Dear General, — We Have Rec d - Certain Intelligence by two of our
Neighbours, who left the Enemy last Saturday, that they have Called in
all their outposts, at and South of the lake George, to join their main
body at Saratoga, Together with their artillery & provisions, so that
there is not Even a Guard Left. Also they see the Captain of the Bat-
towmen, who told them he was ordered to Distroy all the Boats that he
could not Handily git along down the River, by no means to Leave any
behind, & they judge by all the movements of the Enemy that they
are determined for Albany at all Eveuts, which agrees with every Intel-
ligence from General Gates Army.

We have certain Intelligence by Gentlemen who left there last Eve-
ning, that General Burgoyne is on the move Towards Stilwater, & that
the}' have done Great Mischief in Burning the buildings at White
Creek, also have taken some prisoners & Cattle from Cambridge, which
alarms the Inhabitants to that Degree that the}' are removing their Fam-
ilies & Effects into the Country. We are apprehensive of Danger
from the Enemy s small Scouts who are daily discovered between this &
the Enemy s Lines, as there is no Guards kept between this & General
Gates Head Quarters. We hope your Honor will Take this Matter un-

170 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

der your Consideration, & Grant Such Belief as your Wisdom shall di-
rect.
We are Dear Sir your most obedient & very Hum ble Servants,

By order, Tho s - Chittenden, Pres' 1 -

Hon 1 Maj. Gen 1 Lincoln.

Copy. Attest, Joseph Fay, Sec"y-

State of Vermont. In Council, 18 September 1777.
Samuel Stewart is permitted four days absence, then to return to this
place, as he has Taken the Oath of Alegiance to the United States. 1

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'y-

To whom it may concern.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 18 th Sept 1- 1777.

To Ebenezer Willoughby:

Sir — I rec d yours of yesterday's date, also rec d verbal accounts from
your Father, am surprised at boath : tirst the account in your Letter
when you say that what you ever believed you now know to be true, viz.
that the protection of the States was the best, considering the Conversa-
tion I have lately had with you, & your conduct. Secondly that you
should think strange that we should Take care of your Interests, when
we had Certain Inteligence that you had joined our avowed Enemies
and was actually in their Service, & 3 dI >' that you should [escape] when
you was taken, by our people on your Return, which Circumstance [his
return] would have been much in your favour even if they had brought
you in. You were much to blame in breaking away from the Guard.
However what provocation ynu had to conduct in that manner is yet un-
known to me. Yet notwithstanding as it appears by your Letter and
your Fathers request that you have a desire to be Rec d into favour of
your Country, I am to inform you that if you see cause to come to this
Council you may depend on being used as well as you can reasonably ex-
pect when all the Circumstances of your case are known. Those per-
sons that Took you must be present when you come. If you think best
to come, it must be within two da}'S from this date. & this shall be your
Sufficient warrant on the way.

p r order, I am, Sir, yours, Tho s - Chittenden, Pres H -

Bennington. 18 Sept. 1777.
Dear General, — This day rec d your Orders to Forward the Militia, in
Consequence of which we have given orders for the Militia to be raised
immediately; also have forwarded copies to IS". Hampshire requesting the
Militia to be forwarded with all Expedition: as also your Letter to the
County of Berkshire. Nothing in the Power of this Council will be
neglected to Prosecute your orders when Called upon.
I am, D r General, your Most Obedient

Humble Servant,
By order of Council, JOSEPH Fay, Sec'v-

The Hon. Maj. Genl. Gates,

Commanding the Northern Department."

1 Stewart afterwards joined the army.

2 This was in answer to the following:

Camp on Bemus' Heights, Sept. 17, 1777.
1 have Rec'd Certain Intelligence that Gen 1 Burgovne has Caused
Skeensborough, Fort Ann, Fort George, Fort Edward," and the Post he

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 171

Bennington, 18 th Sept r - 1777.
Gentlemen, — I am ordered by this Council to Inclose a Copy of Gen 1 -
Gates' Letter to you, by which you will see the necessity of forwarding
your Militia with Expedition. You will also forward Copies (to the
Eastward) of the General's Letters Requesting them to Come forward.
I am, Gentlemen, your

most Obedient Humb 1 Serv 1 '
By order, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

Hon ble Committee of Charlestoion, N. Hampshire. (Copy.)

Bennington, 18 September, 1777.
Dr. Sir, — I am directed by the Council to Inclose you a Copy of a Let-
ter Just rec d from General Gates, by [which] you will see the importance
of the Exertion of the Militia at this Critical Juncture for the Salvation
of this Post, if not the whole Country. Therefore it is Expected that
you will Exert yourself & come forward with all the Militia you Can
raise out of your Regiment without one moment's loss of Time. Gen-
eral Gates has sent to the State of Massachusetts, & ordered us to send
to N. Hampshire, which we have done, & to the upper Regiment in this
State.

I am, by order, your most ob 1 Hum ble Servant,

Thomas Chittenden, President.

~N. B. — I heard by Capt. Dewey that your People now with the Army
Are Like Sheep without a Shephard, & very unesy at your being Absent,
& thretten to come otf with General Stark's men.

By order, Thomas Chittenden.

Col. William Williams.

Copy exam d > Joseph Fay, Secy.

Bennington, 18 Sept. 1777.
D r - Sir, — I am ordered to inclose you a Copy of General Gates' Letter,
by which you will immediately March with the Militia under your Com-
mand to join him. You will also forward copies to Col Marshe's regi-
ment.

I am, Sir, your Hum ble Servant,

By order, • Jo. Fay, Sec'y-

Col Peter Olcott.

Bennington, 18 th Sept r - 1777.
Dear General, — I am ordered by this Council to enclose a Copy of Gen-
eral Gates' letter to you, which agrees with ours of yesterday's date. We

Lately occupied to the Southward of Lake George and Skeensborough,
to be evacuated, and the artillery Stores and Provision to Be Brought to
his Army now at Van Veder's Mills, seven miles north of this Camp,
Except some heavy Cannon, which are carried to the five mile Island in
Lake George. From this it is Evident the Gen 1 Designs to Resque all
upon one Rash Stroke, it is therefore the Indispensible Duty of all con-
cerned to Exert themselves in Reinforcing this Army without one mo-
ment's Delay. The Militia from every Part should be ordered here with
all Possible Expedition. I am, S r ' your

most obedient hb le Sev**

Horatio Gates.
To the Honorable the Chairman of the Committee at Bennington, to be for-
warded to the Committees to the Eastward thereof.

172 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

have also agreeable to the General's orders, sent copies to the Eastward,
to forward the Militia of this Slate with all Expedition. You will please
consult General Bayley, & will Doubtless thiuk Proper that he return
or send home to forward the Militia with all Expedition.
I am D r Gen 1 your most

Obedient Humble Servant,

Joseph Fay, Sec'v-
Hon. Maj. Gen 1 Lincoln.

N. B.-We have also sent Copies to New Hampshire that the Militia
of that State be forwarded with all Expedition.

By order, Joseph Fay, Sec^-

Bennington, 18th Sept. 1777.
D r - General, — We have this day received a Letter from your Honor,
Directed to the Commanding officer of the Troops on their way to join
the Northern Department, which we have forwarded by Express. "We
heartily wish you success, and am your most obedient
Hum ble Servant,
By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

Hon. Brigadier General Stark.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 19 th - Sept r - 1777.

To Captain William Fitch:

Sir, — Whereas Mr. Timothy Mead has some days past made applica-
tion to this Council to Take Thirteen slice]) out of the Tory flock in Ar-
lington in lieu of that number which he lost. This Council positively
orders that none be dilivered until further Evidence can be had.
I am Sir your Hum 1 ' 1 - Servant,
By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 19 th Sept r - 1777.
Permit Garrit Williamson to Take a Red Rone horse that belongs to
himself or his son, Lately Taken by Lieut. Isaac Clark.

Pr Order, Thomas Chittenden, Pres v -

David Castle Ju r - is permitted to pass from f his to his home unmo-
lested as he has taken the oath of Fidility to the United States.

P r - Order, Tho s - CniTTENDEN, Pres'<-

David Castle jun 1 '- is permitted to remain at his Fathers house unmo-
lested until he is able, then to pass to this place.

p 1 order, Tno s - Chittenden, Pres' L

Bennet Bardsley is permitted to pass to Manchester and return within
five days Except he should satisfy the Judgment of this Council within
that Time and Receive a Certificate from this Council.

P 1 " Order, Tno s - Chittenden, Pre$ H -

Elijah Benedict is permitted to pass & Repass unmolested as he has
taken the oath of Fidelity to the States of America.

By order, Tho s - Chittenden, Pres"'-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 19 Sept r - 1777.
The bearer Captain Ebenezer Willougby having passed examination
before this Council has Leave to return to his home at Arlington, to re-
turn the Arms belonging to Mr. Moore, or the Guard he set over him,

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 173

and Return to this Council within five days from this date on the parole
of honor, having- first Notified Mr. Moore to attend on this Council with
him, or bring a line from said Moore to signify that all matters in dispute
between them is finally settled with Captain Willoughby. Should Mr.
Moore refuse, it is accepted [expected] he will attend on this notice.

By order, Joseph Fay, Sec'y-

To lohom it may concern.

Francis Barnes is permitted to pass from this to home & Return to
this Council in fifteen day-.

By order, Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -

The following persons are permitted to pass viz 1 - Daniel Dorchy &
Silvenus Perry from this to Sunderland & Return within one month.
By order, Thomas Chittenden, Pres H -

The bearer Samuel Trobridge is permitted to pass to Arlington and
Remove his family down the Country as he has Taken the oath oi' Fi-
delity. By order of Council, ' Thos. Chittenden, Pres'-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety. 20 Sept r - 1777.
Thomas Phillips is permitted to pass from this to Poughkeepsie.

By order, Joseph Fay, Sec'y-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 20 Sept 1 1777.
Andrew Ilawlev is permitted to pas- to his house in Arlington, his re-
turning within seven days to satisfy the judgment of this Council.

By order of Council, JosEPn Fay, Sec'y-

To whom it mat/ concern.

Zadock Hard is permitted to pass from this to his home in Arlington,
his Returning to this Council within seven days to satisfy the judgement
of this Council.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, .Sec'y-

The Council beg leave to return their sincere thanks to the Hon ,,le
Brigadier General John Starkes for the Infinite Service he has been
pleased to do them in defending them and their Constituents from the
cruel & bloody rage of their unatural Enemy who sought to distroy them
on the 16 day'of August last. They also return their grateful acknowl-
edgments for the Honor the General has been pleased to do the Council
by presenting them with a Hessian Gun with Bayonet, one Broad Sword,
one Brass Berriled Drum. & one Granidiers Cap, Taken on the Memor-
able 16 of August aforesaid for the use of this State. The General may
rely that they will be reserved for the use they were designed.
I am. Dear General, with sentiments of Esteem,

Your most Obedient Hum 1 ' 1 Servant,
Gen Stark. Tho s - Chittenden, Pres 11 -

Copy exam' 1 - Joseph Fay, Sec'y-

State of Vermont. In Council, 20 th September 1777.
Resolved on Reconsideration, that Zadock Hard has a fine of Forty
pounds & Ten shillings for the use of the State and to stand Commit-
ted until this Judgment is Complied with.
£10 10 0. By order of Council,

Tho s - Chittrnden, Pres'*-
Reo d - The above sum of £40 10 at two several payments, in behalf
of the Treasurer. Joseph Fay, Secy-

174 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 20 th Sept*- 1777.

Resolved on Reconsideration that Caleb Daton pay a fine of thirty
pound for the use of this State and Stand Committed until this Judgment
be Complied with. By order of Council

jr30 Thos. Chittenden, Pres H -

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 20 Sept*- 1777.

Resolved on Reconsideration that Andrew Hawley of Arlington pay a
fine of Forty Eight pounds for the use of this State, in Complying here-
with to be discharged, otherwise to Stand Committed until this Judg-
ment is Complied with. By order,

£48 o 0. Thomas Chittenden, Pres 1 -

Rec d - of Andrew Hawley £15 12 6 Lawful money in part pay of the
above Judgment. P r - Joseph Fay, Sec'*-

£15 12 6.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 20 th Sept* • 1777.
Dear General— -Your favour of the 18 Instant was duly rec d - for
which I am ordered to return you the thanks of this Council. A gen-
tleman was last Evening in Council who left the Enemies Head Quar-
ters, Monday Evening last & has bad such Inteligence among them for
Considerable Time past as to be able to Collect their strength very
nearly. They consist of Six Regiments of British which makes 3,000
& about the same number of Foreign Troops, besides Tories. They
have about six weeks Provisions which they keep Constantly on board
their Water Craft Except what is daily dealt to the Troops. They seem
engaged to risque all on one Desperate Battle. The Front of the Army
expect to Winter in Albany if General How penetrate up North River,
if not at Ticonderoga & their rear in Canada. Any Service in the
Power of the Council is always ready at your Command. I have the
Honor to be, D 1 '- General, by order of the Council,

Your most Obedient hum ble Servant,

Jonas Fay, V. P.

Since Closing this Letter a person has arived from Fort George who
brings Inteligence that only 30 men are at that place, & no Water
Craft except 2 Gun Boats, Moored off at a distance from Shore. Since
the above Col - Johnson of General Stark's Brigade mentions that on
hearing a brisk Cannonade yesterday afternoon, sent two of his men
back on horses, who have returned & Report that General Arnold with
his Detachment made Prisoners of 250 of the Enemy & being rein-
forced Possessed himself of three of the Enemies Field Pieces & made
himself intire master of the Ground. This is the best Inteligence and
the most Exact I can Obtain. Wishing' your Honor Success,
I am D r - Gen 1 - your most

Obedient Humble Servant, Jonas Fay.

Brigadier General Stark.

State of Vermont, in Council of Safety, }
Bennington, 20 th Sept r - 1777. \
A gentleman an acquaintance of mine was last evening in Council
from the Enemies Head Quarters, Monday Evening last, who has had
Such an acquaintance among them for some time past as to put it in his
Power to Learn their Strength and Situation very nearly. They consist
of Six British Regime, which ammt, to nearly 3,000, & about the same

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 175

number of Foreign Troops Exclusive of Tories. They Have Six weeks
Provisions which they keep constantly on board their Water Craft. The
gentleman learns further that they seem disposed to Risque all on one
desperate action. The Front of their Army expect to Winter in Al-
bany if General How penetrates up North River, if not at Ticonderoga
it there rear in Canada. Any thing in the Power of this Council is
always Ready at your Command.

I have honor to be D r - Gen 1 - by order.

Your most Obedient Hum ble Servant,

Jonas Fay, V. P.

N. B. By a person this Instant arrived from Fort George, only 30
men are at that place, & 2 gun boats Lye anchored at a distance from
Land, & that the Enemy have not more than 3 Weeks Provisions.

Hon ble Maj r - General Gates.

Bennington, 21 September 1777.
Circular Letter.
To all Gentlemen Concerned:

The Council enclose a Cop}' of the Hon ble Gen. Gates Particular
& Positive orders of this days date to you, which he requests may be
forwarded to you with the Greatest Speed. It Seemes assistance can
never be more Wanted than at tins Critical Moment. The Armies
are now in such position as renders it Impossible for the Enemy to
avoid an Action. It is a thing almost Impossible for them to retreat,
therefore if you will now Instantly give your assistants, you never can
have it in your power to do yourselves & your Country a Greater Ser-
vice. So favourable a prospect of success in the Northern Department
never before appeared. Pray exert yourselves this once & the Matter
cannot Ditain 3*011 Long.

I am D r - Gentlemen with Great anxiety
(by order of the Council)

Your Most Ob 1 - Hum ble Serv*-

Tno»- Chittenden, P.
Joseph Fay, isec?-
Copy exam d -

Jos. Fay, Sec'y-

Bennington, 6 o clock 2P Sept r - 1777. ?
State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, date above. \
Dear General. — Your particular Orders by Maj or Cochran has been
duly Rec d - <fc Copies thereof have been inclosed and forwarded to ever}'
necessary part, with orders to have them forwarded without one Mo-
ments Loss of Time.

The Council are very anxiously concerned for your honors Welfare,
and the General may absolutely rest assured that no one thing shall be
Wanting that is in their Power to Grant every assistants.
I am D r - General by order of Council

Your most Obedient Hum bIe Servant,

Thos. Chittenden, P.
Hon ble 2Iaj r - Gen 1 - Gates.

Copy Exam d - Joseph Fay, Sec'y-

176 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

Bennington, 22 d September 1777.
Dear General— I am directed by the Council to inform you, that the
Hangers of this State under the Command of Col°- Samuel Herrick in
Conjunction with Col"- John Brown of Pittsfield, have the Command of
Lake George & the Enemies Water Craft, as also Mount Defiance,
Hope, & the French Lines By Ticonderoga, Skeensboro &c. Have
Taken 2 Captains, 9 Subalterns, 143 Rank & non commissioned officers,
119 Canadians, 20 artificers— 293 Total — And one hundred of our pris-
oners Released, a quantity of Provisions & a number of Armes, out of
which the one hundred Prisoners Just Mentioned who were Taken in
the action at Hughbarton [Hubbardton] were furnished & now act in
Conjunction with Colonels Herrick & Brown. The enemies Water
Craft Consist of 200 Battous & one Armed Sloop. Last friday an action
Ensued between Generals Gates & Burgoyne. General Arnold with
his Division attacked a Division of Burgoyne, in which General Arnold
gained the Ground, when the Enemy were reinforced by the main body,
when General Arnold was oblidged to Retreat, but being Reinforced,
Recovered his own so that the Ground remained 8 o'clock yesterday di-
vided between them, none Gained on Either Side, & the dead unbu-
ried; this ace*- came by express from General Gates 8 Head Quarters yes-
terday afternoon, by Map- Cochran, who returns this Morning with the
Hon ble Major General Lincoln. The Major adds that the Loss in this
Action is Computed by the best accounts at between 2 & 300 killed &
"Wounded, & the Enemies Loss at 1000 killed wounded & Taken pris-
oners. Among the Wounded is Gen. Burgoyne, thol in the Bowels.
Their loss is of the British Troops. The Cannon was again heard yes-
terday, but no particular ace 1 - of the Execution has yet Transpired. The
Enemy Seem determined to risque all al once, as it is reported they have
the whole of their Stores & other necessaries with them. A: cul away
the Bridges behind them as they advanced. They keep their Provisions
constantly on Board their Boals in the North River.
I have the Honor to be with the

Council's best Compliments by order

your honors most Obedient Humble Servant,

Joseph Fay, Sec'v-
Hon ble General Wolcott.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 22 Sept r - 1777.

This may certify that Libeus Armstrong has Dilivered one Load of
Boards which lift Brought from Phisters Mills. 1 Also that he Carried
one Load of Provisions from this up to the lines at Cochran's House in
this place on the 16th of August Last for the use of the Army.

By order, Joseph Fay, Secv-

Francis Pfister, who had been an officer in the Royal American Regi-
ment in 1760, retired from the army and settled near Hoosick four cor-
ners. He commanded the Tories, as Colonel, in the battle of Benning-
ton, and was mortally wounded. Hon. L. B. Armstrong of Dorset has
Col. Pfister's first commission, dated Sept. 18, 1760, his draughting in-
struments, and a beautifully drawn map of the route from St. Johns via
Lake George and the Hudson to New York citv.— Vt. Hist. Mag., vol. I,
pp. 154-158, 186.

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 177

State of Vekmont. In Council of Safety, 22 Sept r - 1777.

Samuel Williams is permitted to pass and repass unmolested as he has
been examined before this Council. 1

By order, Thomas Chittenden, Pres^-

'Rev. Samuel Williams, LL. P., was born in Waltham, Mass.,
about 174(1; graduated at Harvard in 1701; was ordained minister of
Bradford, Mass.. Nov. 20. L765, where he remained until he became pro-
fessor of mathematics and natural philosophy in Harvard, which office
he held until 1788, when he resigned and removed to Rutland, Vermont.
The last dale is given from Blake's Biographical Dictionary, not without
a strong suspicion that it should be an earlier date. Dr. Williams was
elected to the General Assembly for Rutland in 1783-'5, 1787-'9o, and
1798-9 — in all fourteen years. He was a member of the Governor's
Council in 179o-'98 — four years, in two of which he had been elected to
the House also. He was judge of Rutland county court 1790 to 1797,
eight years; and in 1794 he preached the election sermon. For a time
he served as editor of the Rutland Herald, established in 1792; in 1794
he published the Natural and Civil History of Vermont in one volume
octavo ot 410 pages, which was extended in 1808 to two volumes of 1003
pages; and in 1795-'6 he published the Rural Magazine, comprising two
octavo volumes. He is entitled to honor as one of the founders of the
University of Vermont, for, said President John Wheeler in his his-
torical discourse, Aug. 1, 1854, " the creative mind of Dr. Samuel Will-
iams, and the reflective and profound mind of Judge [Samuel] Hitch-
cock, [two graduates of Harvard,] had worked for the University of Ver-
mont, and in it." He was unquestionably the most learned man of
Vermont in his day, and for his labors and influence in behalf of educa-
tion and piety, he was also one of the most useful. " Dr. Williams's
History of Vermont," said Zadock Thompson, u though diffuse in style
and embracing much foreign matter, will long continue our standard
work." Dr. Williams's greatest fault as historian was, that he did not
duly appreciate the high privilege of writing for posterity; hence he
omitted many interesting facts known generally in his day, which are
now unknown. He could have given us the details of the Conventions
of 1777 at Windsor, a full history of the Constitution, a clearer explana-
tion of the Haldimand correspondence, and pen-portraits at least of
every actor in the Council of Safety, and of our first Governor, whose
features now would be stamped upon the memory of every Vermonter,
if he could but know them, as indelibly as are those of George Wash-
ington, who was Chittenden's friend and correspondent in the period of
his severest trials. Of the History, Rev. Dr. Blake said: "It was es-
teemed the best historical work which had appeared in the country at
the time of its publication, and received high encomiums from some of
the philosophers of Europe." Dr. John A. Graham was a resident of
Rutland for awhile preceding 1797, and was personally acquainted with

178 Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

In Council or Safety, Sept. 22, 1777.

To Captain Jonas Galusha, Sir — You are hereby directed to repair,
with fifty men of the Militia of Col. Moses Robinson's Regiment, now
under your Command, to the Hon" le Major General Gates 1 Head Quar-
ters, who is Commander in Chief of the Northern Department. You
will on your arrival put yourself under his immediate Command, where
you will receive orders, during the Time you are Engaged for, unless
sooner discharged by him, or some other Continental officer Command-
ing the Northern Department, during which time, you will strictly ad-
here to & follow such orders and directions as you shall from time to
time receive from your superior officers.

^r,— You being the next officer in Command, and Captain Galusha
being unable to Attend the Service, will Take the above command, and
see the orders duly executed.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'y.

To Lieut. William Hutchins.

In Council, Bennington, 23 d Sept. 1777.
Dear Sir, -This moment rec (1 - your favour of this days date requesting
horses & Etnty Baggs to be forwarded with Expedition, in consequence
of which we have Granted press Warrants to procure them Without
Loss of Time, & will be on Tomorrow. I am. sir, with Esteem, by order
of Council, Your most Obedient Hum ble Servant,

Joseph Fay, Secy-
Col. B. Simonds.

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 24 th Sept* 1777.
To Mr. Conner, — You are hereby ordered to Diliver to Mr. William

Dr. Williams, of whom he said in his Descriptive Sketch of the Present
State of Vermont, London, 1797, p. 66:

Of Samuel Williams. LL. D., member of the Meteorological Society
in Germany, of the Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, and of the
Academy of Arts and Sciences in Massachusetts, it may with propriety
be said, that he is the most enlightened man in the State in every
branch of Philosophy and Polite Learning; and it is doing him no more
than justice to say, there are very few in the United States possessed of
greater abilities, or more extensive information: added to which, he is a
most excellent orator, and always speaks in a manner best adapted to
the understanding and capacity of those whom he addresses. In the
year 1794 the Doctor wrote and published the Natural History of Ver-
mont, executed much to his honor, and to the great satisfaction of all
Naturalists. In politeness, ease, and elegance of manners, Dr. Williams
is not inferior to the most polished English Gentleman.

Graham's volume is chiefly interesting for its personal gossip and
sketches, of which the above is one of the best. It is to be regretted
that he did not live in Vermont years earlier and give more details of
the personal history and characteristics of the actors in the tragic and
comic scenes which abounded in Vermont's earliest days. Dr. Williams
died in January 1817. The writer is not sure that the vote of the Coun-
cil refers to the Doctor, though it is very probable that he visted Ver-
mont at that time, perhaps to examine the field of his intended labors.

Council of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778. 179

Broomly his cow that you have in your Keeping, as I am informed your
cow is in Shaftsbury and can drive her home.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec?-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 24 September, 1777.

Whereas Complaint has been made to this Council by Doct. Nathaniel
Dickinson, 1 that he is not provided with necessaries, such as Medison,
Spirits, &c. for the use of the Wounded under his direction and care,
tho application has been sundry times made, we therefore think proper,
& do hereby appoint Mr. Nathan Clark to wait on you to Enquire into
the afair.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sed'tf-

DocV Hogan. 2

William Haviland is permitted to pass to see his Brother a prisoner in
the State of N. York.

By order, Joseph Fay, Sec r y-

To whom it may Concern.

Nathaniel Mallery is permitted to join Capt. Smiths company as he
has engaged to Take Arms in the defence of the Liberties of America.
By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Setfy-

State of Vermont. In Council, 24 Sept r 1777.
James Lee is permitted to pass from this to his home in the district of
Ira in the State of Vermont.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

Benjamin Lee is Permitted to pass from this to his home in the Dis-
trict of Ira in the State of Vermont.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, ISec^-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 24 th Sept. 1777.
Bennett Bardsley Sentenced to pay a fine of fifteen pounds to satisfy
the judgment of this Council against him for Enimical Conduct towards
the United States.

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

Date above rec d the sum of £15 in full of the above judgment as p r
Certificate given to him.

p r - Joseph Fay, Sec'v-

State of Verm jnt. In Council of Safety, 24 September, 1777.

In consequence of a Letter B,ec d from Colonel Benjamin Simonds
[ Simmons] for horses to forward flour to the relief of Gen 1 Warner at
Tyconderoga we have granted Warrants to procure them with all Expe-
dition. 3

By order of Council, Joseph Fay, Sec'y-

1 A resident of Bennington from 1766 to 1790.

2 Supposed to be the officer at the head of the medical branch in the
Northern Department.

3 Col. Simmons is supposed to have been in command of militia from
Berkshire County, Mass., mentioned by Gen. Stark, Warner, &c, in con-
nection with Bennington battle. In 1780 the town of Lincoln was
granted to Col. Benjamin Simmons and company. — See Vt. Hist. Soc.
Collections, vol. I.

180 Cnuncil of Safety— Aug. 15, 1777, to March 12, 1778.

To Captain Nathan Smith:

Sir, -You are hereby required to March with the men under your
Command to Pawlet on horseback, where you will apply to Colonel
Simonds [Simmons] for a horse Load of Flour to Each man & horse.
You furnish bags sufficient for such purpose.

By order of Council, ThoS- Chittenden, Pres H -

To Capt. Ebenezer Wood:

Sir,— You are hereby required to take the charge of the men, horses,
and Bags, ordered from this Town & proceed without one minutes loss of
time to^Pawlet where you will apply to Colonel Benjamin Simonds for a
Load of flour for each horse, and proceed to General Warner with the
same if Col - Simonds shall judge proper. When you return, you are to
take especial Care that the Horses & Baggs be returned to their proper
owners.

Joseph Fay, SecV

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 24 Sepf 1777.

Pursuant to a Complaint made to this Council by Henry Snyder for
two horses stole as will appear by the Complaint on rile.

Sergt John Bean and Alexander Gordon being apprehended & brought
before this Council, acknowledge themselves Guilty of stealings' 1 Horses.

Therefore this Council having Taken into consideration their cases, do
judge by the evidence and their own Confession thai the act was theft,
an attrocious Crime that demands (by the law of God & man) that the
prisoner or the persons found Guilty should be made a public Example
of to Deter people from such vicious practices. The Council unwilling to
see any person suffer, are nevertheless constrained in duly to themselves
and constituents to order that the said John Lean & Alexander Gordon
Keceive each 39 Lashes on the naked back at the Liberty pole in this
place to satisfy the Complaint, & be discharged. Mr. Josiah Brush the
Officer appointed to Execute this Warrant is appointed to see this judg-
ment put in Immediate Execution.

By order of Council, Tnos. Chittenden, Pres"'-

State of Vermont. In Council of Safety, 24 Sepf 1777.
Henry Snyder appeared be