USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Charlestown > History of Charlestown, New-Hampshire, the old No. 4 > Part 16
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"In Convention at Charlestown, January 18, 1781.
We the subscribers, delegates from the several towns to which our names are affixed, wishing for and endeavoring to form a Union of the New-Hampshire Grants on both sides of Connecticut River, and con- tented that they be annexed to New-Hampshire, or be a separate state, as Congress may judge proper; but thinking ourselves not authorized by our Constituents to unite with the said Grants, in the method re- solved by the said Convention ; and being of opinion that their pro- ceedings have a tendency to weaken the reins of government-to re- tard the exertions of those who are engaged to oppose the public en- emy-to introduce irregularity and disorder in the County of Cheshire, and not conducive to the end proposed ; think it our duty to protest against the proceedings of said Convention."
Winchester SAMUEL ASHLEY,
REUBEN ALEXANDER,
Walpole, BENJAMIN BELLOWS,
Charlestown, SAMUEL HUNT.
Richmond, OLIVER CAPRON.
S TIMOTHY ELLIS,
Keene, DANIEL NEWCOMB.
Alstead, NATHANIEL S. PRENTICE.
S OLIVER, ASHLEY,
Claremont,
MATTHIAS STONE.
Newport,
BENJAMIN GILES.
Extract from Minutes. BEZA WOODWARD, Clerk. .
The secret history of the above report in favor of union with Ver- mont is thus given by Colonel Ira Allen.
" The Governor and Council appointed Colonel Ira Allen to repair to Charlestown to meet that Convention and to take such measures as his prudence should dictate and which might be conducive to the in-
-
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
terest of the state. Mr. Allen took credentials from Sunderland as a member to meet the Convention from that town agreeable to invitation ; before he arrived, the Convention had been in session two days and had appointed a committee to state the business of their meeting. For- ty-three towns were represented in the Convention : twelve of those representatives were members of the Council and Assembly of New- Hampshire. Mr. Allen did not take a seat as a member of the Con- vention nor produce his credentials. At length the Committee report- ed to unite all the New-Hampshire Grants to New-Hampshire, which was adopted by a great majority and went, in fact, to annihilate the state of Vermont. Mr. Allen informed some confidential persons that the Governor, Council, and some other leading characters on the west side of the Green Mountains were for extending their claim of juris- diction to the Mason line; and that, if the Convention would take proper measures, the Legislature of Vermont would extend their claim at their adjourned term in February 1781 ; and that he was authorized to give such assurance.
A motion was made and carried to consider the report and recommit it to the Committee to be corrected and fitted for the press as it would be a matter of public notoriety and lay it again before the Convention next morning. The friends of New-Hampshire were much pleased with their success, and well enjoyed the night; but the scene changed the next morning, and the committee reversed their report and report- ed to unite all the territory of New-Hampshire west of Mason's line extending to the Connecticut River with the State of Vermont ; and which report was accepted by a great majority of the Convention, it being principally opposed by twelve members of the Council and Assembly of New-Hampshire, who thereupon withdrew to remonstrate against the proceeding."
This bare-faced conduct of the members of the Legislature disclosed their intentions at once, and furnished Vermont with fair pretensions to extend her jurisdiction on grounds of similar policy and self-preser- vation. (See Vermont Historical Soc. Coll. Volume I. pp 413-14 and Vol. II. Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Ver- mont, by Hon. E. P. Walton.)
The Committee appointed by the Charlestown Convention made ap- plication, on the 10th of February, to the Assembly of Vermont, for a union of the towns west of Mason's Grant with that state. The fol- lowing is the application of the Committee which was signed by the Chairman.
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
" To the Hou'ble the Gen'l Assembly of the State of Vermont, now sitting in Windsor."
" The Committee appointed by the Convention, holden the 16th of January, to confer with the Assembly of said State, beg leave to inform that the Convention are desirous of being united with the State before mentioned in one separate independent government upon such princi- ples as shall be mutually thought the most equitable and beneficial for the whole, desiring an answer as soon as may be.
By order of the Committee ELISHA PAYNE. Windsor Feb. 10th, 1781."
About the same time a petition was presented by inhabitants, living to the west of Vermont, for a like union with that state of the ter- ritory lying to the eastward of Hudson River. In this the petitioners prayed for protection against their enemies in Canada, and avowed that New-York had left them in such an exposed situation that, unless Vermont would receive them, they should be obliged to remove, with their families and effects, into the interior parts of the country, for safety.
" The propriety of complying with these two applications, was dis- eussed in a joint committee of the whole Council and Assembly, and the views of the Committee were embodied in a report, in which a concise history of the origin and progress of the hostile proceedings of the peo- ple and governments of 'New-Hampshire and New-York,' was given, tending to show that the extension of the jurisdiction of the state to the east, and west, as asked for, had become a necessary measure of self-de- fense against the unjust elaims of those states which were striving, by every possible means, to increase their territories and power, by the ex- tinguishment and annihilation of Vermont. Such extensions of juris- diction were, also, declared to be just to those who asked for them, and necessary to the adoption of proper means for the defense of the fron- tiers, against the common enemy." (See Early His. of Vt., by H. Hall, page 339.)
The report was very able, and may be found in full, in Slade's " Ver- mont State Papers," commencing on the 128th page. It recapitulates, very elcarly, the facts in the controversy, and shows, from the Vermont stand-point, the injustice of the course pursued, both by New-Hamp- shire and New-York ; exhibiting New-Hampshire's double dealing and New-York's art and eunning, in the promotion of her selfish sehemes, in no very favorable light. It finally eoneludes, with the following recom-
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
mendations ;- " That the legislature of the state, do lay a jurisdictional claim to all the lands, situated east of Connecticut river, north of Mass- achusetts and south of latitude forty-five; and that they do not exercise jurisdiction, for the time being." It was also recommended, that a like jurisdictional claim be made to all the land "situate north of the line of the State of Massachusetts, and extending the same to Hudson's river, the east of the centre of the deepest channel of said river, to the head thereof; from thence, east of a north line, being extended to latitude forty-five, and south of the same line, including all the lands and waters, to the place where this State now exercises jurisdiction, and not to exercise jurisdiction for the time being."
In accordance with the resolution relating to the eastern union, nego- tiations were immediately entered upon, with the Cornish Convention, for settling the terms upon which the union should be consummated. These, without difficulty, were mutually agreed upon in the course of a few days. " They were, in substance, that the Constitution of the State of Vermont, should remain unchanged, until it should be altered in the mode therein pointed out. That, as soon as circumstances would permit, the legislature of the state, should apply to Congress, to be admitted in- to the Confederation ; and that, after such admission, Congress might de- termine questions of disputed boundaries ; that the expenses and losses of the several towns on both sides of the Connecticut, occasioned by the war, should thereafter be equitably adjusted ; and that a general act of amnesty and oblivion, should be passed by the legislature for all offene- es and acts of tresspass, committed against the authority of the state, by persons under a claim of being subjects of New-York; and all suits, prosecutions and judgments against them, should be discharged, and an- nulled. Other provisions, of less importance, were made, and it was agreed that the question of forming the union on such terms, should be submitted to the several towns, in the State of Vermont, and to the towns, to about twenty miles east of the Connecticut river ; and that, if two-thirds of the towns, on each side of the river approved of the union, it should be considered as ratified, and completed. The Assembly then adjourned, to meet again, at Windsor, on the first Wednesday of the en- suing April."
The Assembly met, according to adjournment, when it was found that the necessary majority of the towns had given in their votes for the con- summation of the union. The following towns, east of the Connecticut River, made returns acceding to the union with the State of Vermont, viz .- Hinsdale, Walpole, Surry, Gilsum, Alstead, Charlestown, Acworth,
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
Lempster, Saville, Claremont, Newport, Cornish, Croydon, Plainfield, Grantham, Marlow, Lebanon, Grafton, Dresden, Hanover, Cardigan, Lyme, Dorchester, Haverhill, Landaff, Gunthwaite, Lancaster, Piermont, Richmond, Chesterfield, Westmoreland, Bath, Lyman, Morristown alias Franconia, and Lincoln. No return from any town dissenting from the union was received.
The union was also acceded to by the votes of the following towns in Vermont, viz .- Shaftsbury, Arlington, Sandgate, Sunderland, Dorset, Rupert, Pawlet, Poultney, Castleton, Danby, Tinmouth, Rutland, Pitts- ford, Bethel, Pomfret, Peacham, Fairlee, Guilford, Moretown, Whiting- ham, Marlborough, Newfane, Wilmington, Putney, Westminster, Ath- ens, Chester, Windsor, Reading, Thetford, Strafford, Barnard, Royalton, Sharon, Norwich, and Hinsdale, now Vernon.
The following towns disapproved of the union; viz .- Bennington, Manchester, Clarendon, Dummerston, Londonderry, Woodstock, and Hertford, now Hartland.
And the following sent in no opinion, viz .- Wells, Wallingford, Townsend, Weathersfield, Cavendish and Hartford.
The union was thus consummated ; and Colonel Ebenezer Walbridge, of Bennington, Matthew Lyon, of Arlington, and Stephen R. Bradley, of Westminister, were appointed, on the part of the legislature, to wait on the Convention, and inform them of the result : and that they would be received by the Assembly to take their seats, on the next morning, at nine o'clock.
Accordingly, the following persons, representing towns east of the Connecticut River, took their seats in the Vermont Assembly, at the time appointed, except those whose names are marked with an asterisk*, who took their seats afterwards, during the session.
Acworth, John Duncan ; Alstead, Nathaniel S. Prentice, Esq. ; Cardi- gan, Sawyer Bullock; Charlestown, Dr. Wm. Page, Capt. Samuel Wetherbe ; Chesterfield, Capt. Samuel King, Dea. Silas Thomson; Claremont, Dea. Matthias Stone, Capt. Oliver Ashley ; Cornish, William Ripley, Esq. ; Croydon, Moses Whipple; Dresden, Bezaleel Woodward, Esq. ; Enfield, Bela Turner ; Gilsum, Ebenezer Dewey ; * Grafton, Rus- sel Mason ; Gunthwaite, John Young; Hanover, Jonathan Freeman, Esq., Col. Jno. House ; Haverhill, Timothy Bedel, Esq., Maj. Joshua Howard ; Hinsdale, Daniel Jones, Esq .; Landaff, Absalom Peters ; Lebanon, Col. Elisha Payne, Lieut. Elihu Hyde; Lempster, Elijah Frink ; Lyman, Nathan Hodges ; Lyme, Jonathan Child, Walter Fair- field ; Marlow, Samuel Canfield ; Morristown and Bath, Col. Timothy
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
Bedel ; New Grantham, Capt. Abel Stevens ; Newport, Benjamin Giles, Esq .; New-Stamford, Israel Mead; * Orford, Davenport Phelps, Eben Fairfield ; Piermont, Thomas Russell, Esq. ; Plainfield, Lieut. John Ste- vens, Capt. Josiah Russell; Richmond, Silas Gaskill, Daniel Cass ; Sa- ville, Moses True ; Surrey, Wolston Brockway ; Walpole, Lieut. John Graves ; * Westmoreland, Jonathan Cole .*
CHAPTER X.
LEGAL PROVISIONS FOR THE TOWNS EAST OF THE RIVER-SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY AT CHARLESTOWN-REJECTION OF THE RESOLUTIONS OF CON- GRESS, OF THE SEVENTII AND TWENTIETH OF AUGUST-VARIOUS MATTERS TO THE CLOSE OF THE SESSION.
HE union of the towns east of the Connecticut with the State of Vermont being thus completed, and their representatives admitted to the Assembly, it became a subject demanding their immediate attention, what provision it would be necessary to make for them, in order that they might receive the benefit of the laws and the protection of the State. At the time of the admission of the six- teen towns, the whole State was divided into only two counties : Benning- ton on the west of the mountains and Cumberland on the east. But at the session of the Assembly, in February, 1781, a new division had been made. Bennington had been reduced to its present limits, and the towns to the north of it had been organized into the County of Rutland. Of Cumberland County, on the east of the mountains, there had been still greater divisions ; three counties instead of two had been formed out of it. These were Windham, Windsor and Orange; the two form- er having about their present extent; the latter including all the terri- tory to the north of Windsor. On mature consideration, the Assembly, with great unanimity, agreed on the division exhibited in the following Act, as that which would afford the best county accommodations to the newly annexed towns to the east of the river :-
" An act in addition to an act entitled 'an act for the division of the counties within this State.' (Slade's "State Papers," page 427, &c .. )
Be it enacted, &c., that all the lands within this state on the east side of the Connecticut river, lying and being opposite the County of Orange, be and hereby are, for the time being, annexed to the said County of Orange.
" Be it further enacted that all the lands lying and being within this state, on the east side of the Connecticut river, opposite to the County
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
of Windsor, and northward of the northerly lines of the towns of Claremont, Newport, Unity and Wendel, be and hereby are, for the time being annexed to the County of Windsor.
And be it further enacted, that all the lands within this state, on the east side of the Connecticut river, southward of the northerly lines of the towns of Claremont, Newport, Unity and Wendel, be and hereby are, for the time being, erected into one entire and distinct County by the name of Washington County."
By a similar act, the towns on the east side of the Connecticut were divided, during this session, into four Probate districts, viz .- the dis- tricts of Haverhill, Dresden, Claremont and Keene.
The change in the jurisdiction of the townships east of the river al- so necessitated further legislation. There were many cases still pending and awaiting decision in the New-Hampshire courts. Justice required that, under the circumstances, there should a way be prepared for the transfer of these to the Vermont courts. This was seen by the Assem- bly, and provided for by the following Aet :-
" An act to impower the Courts, hereafter to be appointed, in the Counties of Washington and Orange, to take up all actions and suits, both civil and criminal, pending in said counties, and pursue them to final judgment and execution.
Whereas, there have been divers actions and suits, both civil and criminal, commenced in the Counties of Cheshire and Grafton, while under the jurisdiction of New-Hampshire, many of which are now pending and undetermined; Therefore, to prevent injustice to the pub- lic, or expense to individuals, respecting the same,
Be it enacted, &c., that all suits, actions, and processes, of whatever name or nature, now pending in any inferior Court of Common Pleas, or Court of General Sessions of the Peace, within either of the said Counties, be transferred to, taken up, tried and determined by the County Courts hereafter respectively appointed in the Counties of Washington and Orange, and that no fees be demanded by the said Courts for entering any actions which have been already entered in either of the said Counties of Cheshire and Grafton ; and, that all suits now pending in the Superior Court, in either of said Counties, be, in like manner, taken up, and transferred to the Superior Courts of the State of Vermont, to be by them determined ; and that the said suits and actions be tried and adjudged, and cost taxed, and appeals allowed, agreeable to the rules, laws, and customs of the State of New-Hamp- shire; and that all attachments heretofore made, and all bail hereto-
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
fore taken, be allowed and held good ; and that all executions, writs, and warrants now in the hands of any or either of the Sheriff's or offi- cers, in the Counties aforesaid, be levied, served, and returned by the said officers, to the Superior, or County Courts respectively, as they is- sued from the superior, or inferior Courts, in said Counties ; and, that alias and pluries executions be issued and levied, until the said judg- ments be satisfied ; and, that the said Courts, hereafter to be appointed in said Counties, be, and they are hereby impowered, to hear aud deter- mine all suits and actions now pending in either of said Counties, for the trial of the title to any tract or tracts of land whatever, in either of said Counties ; and, that all appeals, heretofore made from any judg- ment recovered in any inferior Court in either of said Counties to a Superior Court, and not yet entered, be entered and tried at the Supe- rior Court of the State of Vermont, at their next session in said Counties.
And be it further enacted, that all actions, and suits, pending in the Superior or County Courts, in said County of Cheshire, be transferred to the Superior and County Courts, respectively, that shall first be held in the County of Washington ; and all actions and suits pending in the County of Grafton be, in like manner, transferred to the Superior and County Courts, to be holden in the County of Orange."
An act was also passed at this session, directing the County Courts in their office and duty ; and when it was deemed that all business had been accomplished, which was essential to the perfecting of the eastern union and to meet the demands of the public welfare, the Assembly adjourned, to meet at Bennington, on the 13th of the following June.
At the session of the Assembly, at Bennington, against much opposi- tion of the towns on and especially east of the Connecticut River, the fol- lowing towns, west of Vermont and in the State of New-York, were ad- mitted to the union, viz .- Black Creek, Cambridge, Hoosick, Greenfield, Granville, Little Hoosick, North Granville, South Granville, Skeensbo- ro, Schaghticoke and Saratoga. These towns were admitted by 53 yeas to 24 nays, and their representatives took seats in the Assembly.
The Assembly, on the 28th of June, resolved to hold its next session at Charlestown, on the 11th of the October following.
At this session, Rev. Bulkley Olcott, the Congregational minister of Charlestown, preached the election sermon. He was also, on the organ- ization of the Assembly, appointed its Chaplain.
I have been able to obtain no certified list of the representatives from the New-Hampshire towns at this session. Hon. Hiland Hall, in his Early History of Vermont, says : "The Assembly consisted of one hundred
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and thirty-seven members, from one hundred and two towns." Of these, ninety-one were from Vermont, or towns west of the Connecticut River, and forty-six from towns that had united with that State from New- Hampshire. The following roll of the New-Hampshire members is giv- en, as the best that has been obtained.
REPRESENTATIVE FROMS
Acworth, Peleg Sprague ; Alstead, Nathaniel S. Prentice; Bath, Elisha Cleaveland; Canaan, Thomas Baldwin; Cardigan, Sawyer Bullock ; Charlestown, Dr. William Page, Capt. Samuel Wetherbe; Chesterfield, Samuel King, Silas Thomson ; Claremont, Benjamin Sumner, Matthias Stone; Cornish, William Ripley ; Croydon, Moses Whipple ; Dresden, Bezaleel Woodward ; Enfield, Bela Turner; Gilsum, Ebenezer Dewey ; Grafton, Russell Mason ; Gunthwaite, John Young; Hanover, Jonathan Wright, Jonathan Freeman ; Haverhill, Timothy Bedel, Esq., Joshua Howard ; Hinsdale, Daniel Jones ; Keene, Isaac Wyman, Ezra Stiles; Landaff, Absalom Peters ; Lebanon, Elisha Payne, Elihu Hyde ; Lempster, Elijah Frink ; Lyman, Nathan Hodges ; Lyme, Jona- than Child, Ebenezer Green; Marlow, Samuel Canfield; New Gran- tham, Abel Stevens; Newport, Benjamin Giles ; New Stamford, Israel Mead ; Orford, Davenport Phelps, Eben Fairfield ; Piermont, Thomas Russell ; Plainfield, Francis Smith ; Richmond, Silas Gaskill : Saville, Moses True ; Surry, Wolston Brockway ; Walpole, John Graves, Jona- than Hall ; Westmoreland, Jonathan Cole, Archelaus Temple.
The town of Keene, at a meeting held March 26th, 1781, voted not to unite with the Grants on the west side of the Connecticut River. It still was represented by the venerable Captain Isaac Wyman, one of its most trustworthy and respectable citizens, and by Ezra Stiles, Esq, who was of importance enough to be chosen by the Assembly one of the nine Commissioners of Vermont, to meet with a similar number chosen by New-Hampshire, to adjust the jurisdictional boundary line of the two states.
Charlestown, undoubtedly, exerted its share of influence in bringing about the union of the New-Hampshire towns with Vermont. If we review the early history of the town, from its settlement to 1760, we shall find little in the course pursued by New-Hampshire which would be adapted to attach the inhabitants to her jurisdiction. The township was not originally chartered by New-Hampshire, and its settlers were disappointed on ascertaining that they were within its limits ; and pe- titioned the King, to be set back again to Massachusetts, to which State they had always supposed they belonged. The Old Bay State had been
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
their main source of reliance. It was from thence that had come their defense in every time of trouble. Every important military detachment that had come to their aid, for sixteen years, was from that state. New- Hampshire was petitioned and petitioned, both before and after the township was chartered by that state, and in not one instance was a fa- vorable answer returned. It can hardly be deemed remarkable, then, under such circumstances, that the inhabitants of Charlestown, at that time, should not be very strongly attached to the New-Hampshire gov- ernment ; and that, when the opportunity came to them to place them- selves under another jurisdiction, they were not reluctant to make the change.
Some of the historians of Vermont have represented the inhabitants on the east side of the Connecticut as influenced, in pursuing the course they did, by a desire to bring the capital of the state to that river. This motive, it is true, was put forth by John Wheelock, whose aspirations were to have the seat of government at Hanover Plain. But a large majority of the people, it is believed, acted from other considerations. Such was their situation, that they believed that they should be greatly benefitted by coming under the jurisdiction of Vermont ; and that they had a right to change their relations, if they chose to do so; and that their choice, under all the circumstances, was to go with the Grants, can be hardly a matter to surprise us. Their charters had emanated from the same source. Their customs and habits of life, also, rendered the connection closer between them than with the inhabitants of eastern New-Hampshire. These things, together with the long neglect of Charles- town by the New-Hampshire government, would appear to be sufficient to account for their desire for change, without the petty motives of am- bition, which have been so frequently charged upon them.
The laws passed at this session of the assembly may be found in Slade's Vermont State Papers, commencing page 439.
On the meeting of the assembly at Charlestown, it was found that Congress, by resolutions passed on the 7th and the 20th of the previ- ous August, had placed before the people of Vermont very high in- ducement to give up her eastern and western unions, which she had but so recently formed. Those who had been opposed to the admission of Vermont into the Federal Union had become more and more con- vinced that her admission, however long deferred, would be ultimately necessary. The increasing conviction that this would be the final re- sult is shown by the following letter of James Madison, afterwards President Madison, to his friend Edmund Pendleton.
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