USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1854 > Part 42
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From the following extract from an obituary notice published soon after his decease, the reader may learn how he was estimated by his contemporaries :
"This gentleman, from an early period of his life, took a very decided part in the defence of the rights of man, and rendered essential services in the ex- alted command which he held over the Green Mountain boys, in the defence of the New Hampshire grants. He also distinguished himself, and maintained the character of a brave officer, in his command of his regiment, during the late war. His ability in command, few exceeded. His dexterity and snecess were uncommon. His natural disposition was kind, generous and humane. His remains were interred with the honors of war, which were justly due to his merits. An immense concourse of people attended his funeral, and the whole was performed with uncommon decency and affection. Ile has left an amia- ble consort, and three children, to mourn their irreparable loss."
Col. Warner struggled long with complicated and distressing mal- adies, which he bore with uncommon resignation, until deprived of his reason, after which he was constantly fighting his battles over again, not in imagination only, but by the exertion of a preternatural physical strength, so that it required two or three persons to take
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charge of him. There was a guard of about thirty men kept at his house, from the time of his decease, December 26th, to the 29th, when his funeral was attended, and a sermon preached by Rev. Thomas Canfield, from Sammel i. 27. " llow are the mighty fallen. and the weapons of war perished."
The following inscription is on the tablet placed over his grave :
" In memory of COL. SETHI WARNER, ESQ., Who departed this life December 26th, A. D. 1784, In the forty-second year of his age.
Triumphant leader at our armies' head, Whose martial glory struck a panic dread, Thy warlike deeds engraven on this stone, Tell future ages what a hero's done, Full sixteen battles he did fight, For to procure his country's right. Oh! this brave hero, he did fall By death, who ever conquers all.
When this you see, remember me."
This epitaph is with some difficulty deciphered on a dilapidated stone, which lies sadly neglected by the inhabitants of his native parish. It is a crying reproach to the inhabitants of his native town, that they should allow the remains of one of its most distinguished sons to lie within its borders, with no suitable monument to mark the place of his sepulture. It is greatly to be hoped, that for their own honor, the citizens will allow the hero to sleep no longer without a monument suited to his fame.
CHAPTER XX.
SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF NATIVES OF WOODBURY, WIIO HAVE EMI- GRATED FROM THE ANCIENT TOWN, AND BECOME DISTINGUISHED IN THE PLACES OF THEIR ADOPTION. THE NAMES WILL BE FOUND IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.
GEN. ETHAN ALLEN.
IN placing the name of Ethan Allen in the list of natices of Wood- bury, the author is well aware, that the honor of having been his birthplace has been claimed by several other towns. Litchfield, Cornwall and Salisbury, have been competitors in this contest. And now in renewing the claim of ancient Woodbury to this honor, no disrespect is intended toward other claimants, the design of this arti- cle being simply to state the evidence on which the claim is founded, the author having given much attention to the investigation of the question. It is certainly somewhat singular that there should be any question at all about the matter, Gen. Allen, and one or more of his brothers, having been the authors of several publications, a part of them of a historical and biographical nature. But no allusion to the subject in hand is made in either of these works, so far as the writer is informed.
The first fact to be mentioned in support of the claim of Wood- bury, is the testimony of the aged people of the territory, all of whom (and the author has conversed with many on the subject) assert, so far as they pretend to have any knowledge or information on the subject, that Allen was born in the vicinity of Mine Hill, in the parish of Roxbury, then a part of Woodbury. The writer held a conversation with the late Deacon Amos Squire, at the age of ninety- seven, a very intelligent and well-informed old gentleman, and with the late Abiather Squire, a very aged man, who possessed the most remarkable memory of any man he has ever met, in reference to this question, and other matters of interest. The information from them, as from others, establishes the same fact, Gen. Allen's nativity in Roxbury parish.
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As nearly as ean be gleaned from the records, Mercy Allen, a widow, with one adult son, Nehemiah, and several sons and daugh- ters, who were minors, removed from Coventry to Litchfield, Conn .. about the year 1720. The names of some of the other children were Daniel, Joseph, Ebenezer, Lydia, who married Benjamin Smalley, of Lebanon, Conn., and Lucy. Nehemiah moved a few years after to Guilford, Conn. Widow Merey Allen, mother of these, died at Litchfield, February 5th, 1727-8, and her son Daniel was appointed executor on her estate. Joseph Allen, father of Gen. Ethan, received his first piece of land from Daniel, as executor on his mother's estate, March 1, 1728-9, which consisted of one-third of her real estate. Ilis age at this time is not known, but he had attained his majority in 1732, as he was grantor in a deed to his sister Lydia, in Novem- ber of that year, and to Paul Peck, Jr., in March of the next year. These deeds covered 100 acres of land each. By these two deeds he had parted with all his cultivated lands in Litchfield, though he still retained his right to some wild lands as late as 1742, several years after he had removed to Cornwall, which he sold to Thomas Harri- son, describing them as " being the whole of my rights in lands in Litchfield." The Allens formed a migratory family, and if the ac- counts we have are to be believed, Joseph shortly after the sale of his interest in the "old homestead," in 1733, removed, and took up his abode in the " Baker neighborhood," in the parish of Roxbury. Here he became acquainted with Mary, daughter of Remember Ba- ker, to whom he was married March 11th, 1736-7. The entry on the record is :
" Joseph Allen and Mary Baker were joined together in Marriage by ye Ruv- erend Mr. Anthony Stoddor, March ye 11th 1736-7."
Mr. Stoddard was the pastor of the first church in Woodbury. Roxbury not being at this time organized into a separate parish. It is to be noted here, that in the foregoing entry, no place of residence is given to either party. This was the customary entry, where both parties were residents of the town, while the recorder was particular to enter the fact, if either, or both parties belonged to another town. If therefore, Joseph Allen had not been a resident of Woodbury, as well as the other party, the fact would, in all probability, have been noted. Here he continued till about the year 1740, when he remov- ed to Cornwall, Conn., and purchased lands of " Samuel Robbards," as appears by his deed to Allen, dated April 28th, 1710. Mean- while, Ethan, son of Joseph and Mary Allen, had been born at
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Woodbury, January 10th, 1787-8. Heman the next son, was born at Cornwall, October 15th, 1740, Lydia, April 6th, 1742, Heber, October 4th. 1743, Levi, July 16th, 1745, Lucy, April 2d, 1747, Zimri, December 10th, 1748; but the date of the birth of Ira, the youngest child, is not found on record. Joseph Allen, father of these, died at Cornwall, April 14th, 1755.
Joseph Allen was not a rich man, and having, as is seen, a large family to support, his son Ethan from an early age resided with his mother's relatives in Roxbury parish, till after the early years of his manhood, when he returned again to Cornwall, where he resided till the twenty-fourth year of his age, when, in January, 1762, he re- moved to Salisbury, Conn., and, in company with three others, en- tered into the iron business, and built a furnace. In June of this year, he returned to Roxbury, and was married to Mary, daughter of Cornelius Brownson, by Rev. Daniel Brinsmade of Judea parish, Woodbury, for which service he paid him a fee of four shillings. The entry on Mr. Brinsmade's record reads
" Ethan Allen of Cornwall and Mary Brownson of Roxbury, were married June 23, 1762, - 48. -
Mr. Brinsmade kept a record of the fee paid, as well as of the date of the marriage. This entry also throws light on the entry in the case of his father's marriage. Here the place of residence of the parties is mentioned, they not being residents of the parish where s the ceremony took place. So we may well infer, in the former entry, that both parties resided in Woodbury, from the silence of the record in that particular, especially as it is undisputed, that one party was a resident. Besides Allen - had long before his marriage sold his place of residence in Litchfield.
Confirmatory of the opinion, that Ethan Allen was a native of Woodbury, and resided there during the early years of his life, there is in possession of the author, an original letter from Ethan Allen to the first Benjamin Stiles, Esq., of Woodbury, which throws much light on this inquiry. He must have been more than twenty years the senior of Gen. Allen. A copy of this letter follows :
" Bennington, 16th Novemr 1755.
" Sir, I received your favour of the 9th instant, and thank you for your kind remembrance of me, am glad to hear you are in health, and with an opportu- nity of conversing with me, the sociability that I have been honored with, from you, was always pleasing to me, and also edifying, whether on historical, phil- osophical, or political subjects. Am apprehensive, that in the succession of the
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next year, I shall do myself the honor to visit yon, and other friends at Wood- bury, and in the mean time, let you know, I retain a grateful sense of your advice and friendship to me in the tender and early years of my manhood, and shall ever be happy, to continue that early friendship, and intercourse of good offices, and regret it, that our respective local situations in life, must in great measure, deprive us of such happiness.
" As to my Philosophy, that you mention, forty of the Books are bound, and will be sent to New York to-morrow, 1500 are printed, and contain 457 pages, in large octavo. The curiosity of the public is much excited, and there is a great demand for the books, they will in all probability reach Woodbury, in the course of the winter. In one of them you read my very soul, for I have not concealed my opinion, nor disguised my sentiments in the least, and how- ever you may, as a severe critic, censer my performance, I presume you will not impeach me with cowardise. I expect, that the clergy, and their devotces, will proclaim war with me, in the name of the Lord, his battles they effect to fight, having put on the armour of Faith, the sword of the Spirit and the Ar- tillery of Hell fire. But I am a hardy Mountaineer, and have been accustomed to the dangers and horrors of War, and captivity, and scorn to be intimidated by threats, if they fight me, they must absolutely produce some of their tre- mendous fire, and give me a sensitive scorching.
" Pray be so good as to write to me, and in the epistolary way maintain a correspondence with your Old Friend and Humble Servt,
EthanAllen
" Benjamin Stiles, Esq."
This does not seem to be such a letter as a man born in Litchfield, nurtured in Cornwall, and removed to Vermont, unconnected with Woodbury, would be likely to write.
In 1764, while residing in Salisbury, he purchased two and a half acres of land on Mine Hill, or one-sixteenth part of the mining title in that locality, and in 1771, he still owned land in Judea society, near Capt. Gideon Hollister's. Before his removal to Vermont, by an execution in his favor against Abram Brownson and others, brothers of his wife, we learn that he was residing in Northampton, Mass. This was probably a mere transition stage in his journey to Vermont, whither he removed about the year, 1772, having been for several years previous engaged in surveying lands in that territory in company with his brother Ira. After his removal to Vermont he resided at Bennington, Sunderland, Arlington, Tinmouth, Winooski, and perhaps other places.
We come now to inquire what there is to raise a doubt whether
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Ethan Allen was a native of Woodbury, or not, It consists in the simple, unexplained fact, that the date of his birth appears also on the records of Litchfield. On the first page of the first volume of the Litchfield town records, appear four entries in the handwriting of Jolin Bird, the first town-clerk of that town, viz., the dates of the marriages of Daniel Allen, and his brother Joseph, and the date of the birth of Ethan, Joseph's first-born, and that of Mary, Daniel's first-born. The face of the record bears unmistakable evidence, that these entries were made with the same pen, the same ink, and at the same time. They occur in the midst of other entries of the Allen name. There are only two entries, however, in the name, subse- quent to this-the dates of the birth of two other children of Daniel Allen. All the family had removed from Litchfield except the latter. Daniel's marriage in Litchfield, performed by Rev. Mr. Collins, and Joseph's marriage in Woodbury, by Mr. Stoddard, oc- curred within forty-eight days of each other, and the births of their first children within fourteen days of each other. The names of both wives were Mary, and the children were of opposite sexes. The author's theory of these entries is, that they were all made at one time by the clerk, after the birth of Daniel's child, (which was latest in point of time,) at his solicitation, to commemorate these coin- cidences. As no further entries in the name were made except the date of birth of Daniel's two remaining children at a subsequent period, the opinion is strengthened. On the theory that Ethan Allen was a native of Woodbury, his sympathies with the people of that town, his friendly acquaintance with Mr. Stiles, the marrying of his wife there, his continuing to hold an interest in lands in that town, and numerous other circumstances, receive a satisfactory explanation. For all these reasons we have come to the firm conclusion, that " Ancient Woodbury" justly claims the honor of having been the birthplace of the "hero of Ticonderoga."
As there are several good memoirs of Gen. Allen extant, it is not judged necessary to introduce an extended notice of his life and services in these pages. The brief account which follows, is extract- ed chiefly from a memoir of his life, by Jared Sparks, LL. D., and another by De Puy, lately issued from the press.
Ethan and three or four of his brothers emigrated to the territory west of the Green Mountains, among the first settlers, and were prominent members of the social and political compacts into which the inhabitants gradually formed themselves. Bold, active and en- terprising, they espoused with zeal and defended with energy, the
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canse of the settlers against what were deemed the encroaching schemes of their neighbors, and, with a keen interest, sustained their share in all the border contests. Four of them were engaged in the military operations of the Revolution, and, by a hazardous and sue- eessful adventure at the breaking out of the war, in the capture of Ticonderoga, the name of Ethan Allen gained a renown, which spread widely at the time, and has been perpetuated in history.
A brief account of the contest in relation to the New Hampshire grants, was introduced into the preceding sketch, and will not be repeated here. When the actions of ejeetment came on at Albany to try the title of the settlers to their land, the management of the business was intrusted to Ethan Allen. Daring, ambitious, and having extreme confidence in his powers, both of body and mind, he entered zealously upon the task. Ilis aid was rendered the more valuable, by reason of his extensive acquaintance in New England and New York. Although laboring under the disadvantages of a defective early education, he possessed considerable general informa- tion, and could write a letter or an argument in strong and intelligi- ble, if not accurate and polished language. He could also address a multitude, and, when occasion required, a court, with skill and effect. Ile immediately prepared the defense, employed Mr. Ingersol of Connectient, an eminent counselor, to try the cases, but the result was foreordained, and they were therefore lost. After Allen retired from the court, several gentlemen, interested in the New York grants-one of whom was the king's attorney for the colony-called upon him, and urged him to go home and advise his friends to make the best terms they could with their new landlords ; intimating that their cause was now desperate, and reminding him of the proverb, that " Might often prevails against right." Neither admiring the delicacy of this sentiment, nor intimidated by the threat it held out, Allen coolly replied, " The gods of the valleys are not the gods of the hills." This laconie figure of speech he left to be interpreted by his visitors, adding only, when an explanation was asked by Kemp, the king's attorney, that if he would accompany him to the hill of Ben- nington the sense should " be made clear." Resistance to the execu- tion of process next followed. A military association was formed, Allen was appointed colonel, and Seth Warner, Remember Baker and others were made captains. Proclamations were issued by the governor of New York offering at first £20, and soon after £50, each for the arrest of these persons. Allen and his friends sent out a counter-proclamation, offering a reward for the arrest of the attor-
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ney-general and others. Allen, who was brave even to rashness, was in no degree intimidated by the rewards offered for his appre- hension, and this he designed that those who had advised that meas- ure should fully understand. He even went so far as to go to Albany and take a bowl of punch, in presence of his enemies, on a bet. The attorney-general happened to be present, and Allen, after drinking his punch, and giving a hearty " Huzza for the Green Mountains," departed unharmed. During these contests, the adherents of New York, among the settlers on the grants, on due conviction before a proper tribunal of Green Mountain Boys, were usually punished by whipping and banishment-the whipping was quaintly denominated, " the application of the beech-seal," or, as Allen sometimes expressed it, " a castigation with the twigs of the wilderness."
The American Revolution called forth the latent energies of many individuals, who would, in a more peaceable state of political affairs, have slumbered in obscurity, and gone down to the grave un- honored and unknown. True-hearted volunteers rallied at the calls of the brave and wise men of our country, imbued with a spirit wor- thy of the little band which defended the pass of Thermopyla. Perhaps no individual, of equal advantages, and in the station he occupied, contributed more toward establishing the independence of our country, than Ethan Allen. The mass of the people among whom he resided, were rude and uncultivated, yet bold in spirit and zealous in action. It consequently followed that no one but a man of strong natural endowments-of much decision, energy and brave- ry-could control their prejudices and inclinations. Upon Allen, whose courage was undoubted, and whose zealous devotion to their interests was universally acknowledged, they implicitly relied. They had known him in adversity and prosperity. They had weighed him, and found nothing lacking. To friend or foe, he was ever the same unyielding advocate of the rights of man and universal liberty. From the commencement, therefore, of that struggle until its final close, Ethan Allen proved a zealous and strenuous supporter of the cause, whether in the field, or council-whether at home, a freeman, or loaded with the chains of despotism in a foreign country. His spirit never quailed beneath the sneer of the tory, or the harsh threats of insolent authority. A stranger to fear, his opinions were ever given without disguise or hesitation ; and, an enemy to oppression, he sought every opportunity to redress the wrongs of the oppressed. It is not to be supposed that he was faultless. Like other men, he had his errors and his follies ; yet he was not willfully stubborn in either.
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When convinced of an erroneous position, he was ever willing to yield ; but in theory, as in practice, he contested every inch of ground, and only yielded, when he had no weapons left to meet his antagonist. This trait in his character serves, at least, to prove that he was honest in his conclusions, however erroneous the premises from which they were deduced.
The period at which we have now arrived in the life of Gen. Allen places him in a more conspicuous and interesting position before the reader. Previous to this he has been seen only as the zealous friend of the section in which he resided-as the champion of the humble citizen, contending for the rights of individual property, and private justice. In these offices of friendship and duty, however, he had ever the confidence and esteem of his neighbors. He had evinced a love of freedom, and a spirit of patriotism, which warmly recommended him to the notice and the admiration of the most determined and able advocates of American liberty. That he should have been selected, therefore, as the leader in an enterprise of the highest moment to the canse of liberty, was alike due to his principles, his services, and his position.
The battle of Lexington aroused the whole country, and patriots flocked from all quarters to Boston. The General Assembly of Con- nectient was then in session, and a plan was there concocted for sur- prising Ticonderoga, and seizing the cannon in that fortress for the use of the army then gathering in the vicinity of Boston. The whole plan and proceedings were of a private character, supported by a loan from the public treasury on the bond of private individuals, without the public sanetion of the Assembly, but with its full knowledge and tacit approbation. A few men went from Connecticut to Benning- ton, and were joined by Allen with about two hundred and thirty Green Mountain Boys. Allen was chosen commander of the expe- dition ; Col. Easton was appointed second in command, and Seth Warner, the third. The enterprise was conducted with the most profound secrecy, and sentinels were posted upon all the roads, to prevent any rumor of their approach from reaching the menaced point. A lad of the name of Nathan Beman was engaged as a guide to lead the advancing party to the fort. At dawn of day, only the officers and eighty-three men had crossed the lake. Delay was haz- ardons, and Allen resolved not to wait for the remainder of the troops to cross, but immediately led his men quickly and stealthily up the height to the sally-port, and before the sun rose he had entered the gate, and formed his men on the parade between the barracks. Ilere
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they gave three huzzas, which aroused the sleeping inmates. When Col. Allen passed the gate, a sentinel snapped his fusce at him, and then retreated under a covered way. Another sentinel made a thrust at an officer with a bayonet, which slightly wounded him. Col. Al- len returned the compliment with a cut on the soldier's head, at which he threw down his musket, and asked for quarter. No more resist- ance was made. Allen demanded to be shown to the apartment of Capt. Delaplace, the commandant of the garrison. It was pointed out, and Col. Allen, with Nathan Beman at his elbow, who knew the way, hastily ascended the stairs, which were attached to the outside of the barracks, and called out with a voice of thunder at the door, ordering the astonished captain instantly to appear, or the whole gar- rison should be sacrificed. Started at so strange and unexpected a summons, he sprang from his bed, and opened the door, when the first salutation of his boisterous and unseasonable visitor, was an order immediately to surrender the fort. Rubbing his eyes and trying to colleet his scattered senses, the captain asked by what authority he presumed to make such a demand. " In the name of the Great Jeho- vah and the Continental Congress," replied Allen. Not accustomed to hear much of the Continental Congress in this remote corner, nor to respect its authority when he did, the commandant began to speak ; but Allen cut short the thread of his discourse by lifting his sword over his head, and reiterating the demand for an immediate surren- der. Having neither permission to argue, nor power to resist, Cap- tain Delaplace submitted, ordering his men to parade without arms, and the garrison was given up to the vietors. This surprise was ef- feeted about four o'clock on the morning of the 10th of May, 1775. As soon as the prisoners were secured, and the bustle of the occasion had a little subsided, Col. Allen sent Col. Warner with a detachment of men to take Crown Point, which object he effected, and took pos- session of that post.
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