USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume III > Part 52
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(iii) Heber Allen was living in Salisbury, Connecticut, ia 1772, hut later settled in Chittenden County, Vermoat. He had a son, Heman, who was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1795, and hecame a lawyer; was Chief Judge of the courts of Chittenden County from 1811 to 1814, and from 1812 to 1817, was a member of the Vermont State Leg- islature. From 1823 to 1828 he was Minister from the United States to Chili. He died at Highgate, Vermont, April 9,1852.
(iv) Leni Allen was living in Salisbury, Connecticut, as early, at least, as January, 1772. At Salisbury, in Nov- ember, 1774, he advertised in certain Connecticut newspapers that he had "for sale a tract of land six miles square od the east side of Lake Champlain, north of Onion River [in the New Hampshire Grants, later the State of Vermont]. Some farmers have already bought tracts thereon, and are settled. Ready cash given for Susquehanna Rights." At that time, as shown by the records of The Susquehanna Company, Levi Allen was the owner, by purchase, of several rights, or shares, in the Susquehanna Purchase.
(vi) Ira Allen was horn at Cornwall, Connecticut, April 21, 1751. As early, at least, as January, 1772, he was living at Salisbury, and was by occupation a surveyor of lands. In 1771 or '72, in connection with his brothers, he took up a large tract of land in the "New Hampshire Grants", and in November, 1774, was living in what was later Chittenden County, Vermont. At that time he had acquired several rights in the Susquehanna Purchase. In the campaign against Canada Ira Allen was a Lieutenant in the regiment commanded by Col. Seth Warner-a native of Roxbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut, where he died, December 26, 1784, aged forty-two years.
On the formation, in 1777, of the new State of Vermont, Ira Allen became a member of its Council and also its Secretary. He served as Treasurer of Vermont for nine years, and was Surveyor General for several years previous to and including 1786. He was also a Colonel, and later Major General, in the State militia. In 1786, in connection with his brother Levi, he was commissioned to negotiate, in hehalf of Vermont, a treaty of Commerce with Canada. In November, 1790, he was active in inducing the Legislature of the State tocharter and establish the University of Vermont, and contributed £4,000 to the fund raised for the support of the institutinn. His official relations with Vermont came to an end in 1790, with the settlement of the State's long-standing controversy with New York.
In 1795 General Allen sailed for Europe with a commission from the Governor of Vermont to purchase arms for the State. He went to France, where he purchased twenty-four cannon and 20,000 muskets. Setting sail for home his ship was overhauled by a British cruiser, and, on inspection of its cargo, was seized as a prize, the British officersclaiming that the arms were intended for the insurrectory and rebellious Irish who at that period were turning things upside down on the Emerald Isle, preliminary to the "rising of '98."
Relative to the seizure of General Allen and his property we are able to print, for the first time extracts from cer- tain letters written in 1797 by Col. Timothy Pickering, then Secretary of State of the United States. Under the date of April 1, 1797, Colonel Pickering wrote to a friend as follows: "A vessel laden with arms and other military appara- tus has been taken and carried into England, with Gen. Ira Allen on board. It was said that these arms, cannon, &c., were for the State of Vermont. General Allen has applied to our Minister in London for his interference.
Under the date of April 6th, Colonel Pickering wrote to the Hon. Rufus King, United States Minister to England, in part as follows: "I have written to Vermont for information about the arms and cannon captured in the Olire Branch with Gen. Ira Allen and carried into England. * * * There appears to be little room to douht of their real destination-such as you mention to he suggested in London. It is incredible that General Allen should undertake to purchase 20,000 muskets and twenty-four brass caunon, with their appendages for the militia of Vermont, at the request of Governor Chittenden. Nothing but an Act of the Legislature would warrant the measure or provide the funds."
Under the date of June 16th Colonel Pickering wrote to Minister King concerning Allen's case to the effect that the Senators from Vermont had informed him (Pickering) that Allen had been embarrassed in his pecuniary affairs, through land speculations, to the amount of ahnut $200,000 .; that Governor Chittenden had advised him to speculate in arms, for the purpose of supplying the militia of Vermont, who, by the law of the State, were required to furnish themselves with arms, or, if paupers, that their respective towns should supply the needed arms; that General Allen having been succesful in obtaining arms in France gave notice of the fact to Governor Chittenden, who formally commun- icated the information to the Vermont Legislature; that these arms had cost General Allen twenty-five livres ($4.78) each, but that he would readily be able to sell them to the militia for fifty livres, to the number of 10,000 or 15,000 in Vermont, and the residue to the militia of neighboring States.
"The Senators from Vermont assure me", wrote Pickering, "that the most friendly intercourse has taken place, and is increasing between the inhabitants of Vermont and those of Canada; and nothing would be more impractic- able than to induce the Inrmer to aid an insurrection against the British Government in that Province. Upon the whole, it is the real wish of the Executive of the United States that the arms and military stores in question may be restored tn General Allen, to be brought to the United States, where they are much wanted." (See the "Pickering Papers", XXXVII: 91, 103, 187-mentioned on page 29, Vol. I.)
It took General Allen eight years in the English Courts to prove his claim, and during his stay in Europe (1795-1803) he wrote, largely from memory, his "History of Vermont."
Ira Allen has been compared with Alexander Hamilton in likeness, intellectual precocity, statesmanship, personal honor, imposing presence and pleasing address. His wife was Jerusha Hayden (born February 6, 1764), daughter of Maj. Gen. Roger and Jerusha (Hayden) Enos of Connecticut. General Allen spent the last few years of his life in Philadelphia, where he died January 7, 1814. His wife died May 16, 1838.
(i) ETHAN ALLEN was horn January 10, 1737. William Cothrem, in his history of Woodbury, Connecticut, pub- lished a considerable number of years ago, says: "Litchfield, Cornwall and Salisbury compete for the honor of being the birthplace of Ethan Allen. Woodbury, however, was his birthplace without much douht." Most of the American encyclopedias and biographical dictionaries however give Litchfield as the place of his birth, and the inscription on the monument erected over his grave in Burlington, Vermont, states that he was born in Litchfield. In the New York Tribune of September 17, 1911, a correspondent said: "In June nf this year I paid a visit to the birthplace of Ethan Allen, in the beautiful little village of Litchfield, Connecticut. The quaint old Colonial house, which impressed me very much, * * * is in a good state of preservation."
As shown by original authentic records, which the present writer has examined, Ethan Allen and other members of his father's family were living at Cornwall, Connecticut, in March, 1763; and in January, 1772, they were all living at Salisbury, Connecticut. At some time between 1763 and 1770 or '71 Ethan and two or three of his brothers took up large tracts of land in the "New Hampshire Grants"-territory lying west of the Connecticut River, north of Massa- chusetts, and bounded on its western limits chiefly by Lake Champlain, and which in 1775, was given the name of Vermont-from the lofty and richly-timbered range of mountains, known as the Green Mountains, which dominates that region of country.
Early in 1772, Ethan Allen removed from Salisbury to Bennington in the south-western corner of the "New Hamp- shire Grants" and not far from the Massachusetts and New York State borders. At once he became deeply interested in the New York-New Hampshire imbroglio.
The original actual settlers on the land covered by or included in the "New Hampshire Grants" had purchased their holdings from the Province of New Hampshire, and, basing their reliance upon the royal charters and the faith of the Government of the Colony, had cultivated the land and made improvements thereon In 1764, by order of the British Crown, the territory in question was anoexed to New York; whereupon certain mercenary and litigious citizens of this Province procured from the authorities of the Province patents covering sundry townships that had
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already been located, laid out and named by the New Hampshire grantees. Many vexations lawsuits followed, and oppressive Crown prosecutions-"designed to overawe, ahuse, terrify and impoverish the settlers."
Lossing, in his "Life and Times of Philip Schuyler", says: "Orders were issued [hy New York authorities] for the survey and sale of farms in the possession of actual settlers [on the New Hampshire Grants], who had bought and paid for them, and, in many instances, had made great progress in improvements. In this, New York acted not only uojustly, but very unwisely. This oppression-for oppression it was-was a fatal mistake. It was like sowing drag- on's teeth to see them produce a crop of full-armed men. The settlers were disposed to be quiet, loyal subjects of New York. They cared not who was their political master, so long as their private rights were respected. But this act of injustice converted them into rebellious foes, determined and defiant."
The settlers being practically abandoned by New Hampshire after the adverse decisions of the courts in 1770 and '71, mutually agreed "to take every requisite lawful and effectual method to defend" their property and to oppose the New York officers in their attempts to arrest the rioters-so characterized. Ethan Allen advocated armed resis- tance whereupon the settlers were organized into a regiment, of which Allen was elected Colonel, and which became known as the "Green Mountain Boys." Seth Warner, previously mentioned in this note, commanded a company in this regiment. Allen, in his capacity as Colonel, made it his duty to defend the settlers from the Sheriff of Albany County, New York, who came repeatedly with from 300 to 700 men to dispossess and eject the settlers from the ter- ritory, which was now without government, except that administered by the militia.
At Bennington, under the date of June 5, 1772, Allen, Seth Warner and other "Green Mountain Boys" addressed an open letter to Sir William Tryon, who, in July, 1771, had become the royal Governor of the Province of New York (in fact, was the last person to hold that office). This letter was published in the Connecticut Courant of July 14, 1772, and in other newspapers of the time. The writers referred to the fact that Governor Tryon had refused to give them a safe conduct to New York, in order to lay before him what he denominated their "illegal business." They then de- clared:
"It is His Majesty's will and pleasure that we be under the jurisdiction of New York, and we not only now assent to if, but have ever done the same. * : * * A certain number of designing gentlemen in New York and elsewhere procured patents under the great seal of that Province; and the New York grantees being non-residents brought sundry writs of ejectment against the New Hampshire grantees and actual settlers on the same land, covered by both patents as afuresaid. * * * We would acquaint your Excellency that since our misfortune of being annexed to New York, law has heen rather used as a tool (than a rule of equity) to cheat tis out of the country we have made vastly valuable by our labor. * : * The alteration of jurisdiction, in 1764, could not affect private property. * * * In the time of Sir Henry Moore's administration [as royal Governor of New York, 1765-'69] His Majesty was pleased [in 1767] to lay the government of New York under absolute prohibition not to grant or patent any of the lands ante- cedently granted under the great seal of the Province of New Hampshire; and, furthermore, forhade the Government to disturb or molest the settlers. * * * We are informed your Excellency has lately made application to the Assembly to raise an armed force to subdue us. We apprehend you view us as opposing your jurisdiction, and that the late violent acts hy us done were in rebellion to His Majesty's authority. We are sure we can convince you that this is not so; but that on the other hand Mr. Duane, Mr. Kemp and their associates are the aggressors."
Allen was declared an outlaw hy New York, and Governor Tryon offered a reward of £150 for his capture. He evaded arrest, although on one occasion he actually rode into Albany, alighted at the principal tavern, where he was well koown, and called for and drank a bowl of punch. The news soon spread that he was in the town, and a throng of people-including the Sheriff of Albany County-gathered at the tavern. Allen, wholly unmoved, finished his punch, remounted his horse and safely rode away with a parting "Huzza for the Green Mountains!" A chronicler of that period wrote: "Those who were disposed to arrest him drew back with caution, feeling the enterprise would he accompanied with much danger."
Allen was one of the first to openly espouse the cause of the American Colonists against Great Britain, and at Sheffield, in the south-western corner of Massachusetts, on March 1, 1775 (only a few days before the occurrence of the events narrated on page 820, Vol. II), he wrote to the Hon. Oliver Wolcott (see page 284, Vol. I.) at Litchfield, Connecticut, in part as follows "Provided the controversy between Great Britain and the Colonies should terminate in a war, the regiment of Green Mountain Boys will, I dare engage, assist their American brethren in the capacity of rangers." (See the original letter among the unpublished papers of the Hot. Oliver Wolcott, in the possession of The Connecticut Historical Society.)
Shortly after the foregoing letter was written, John Brown, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, passing through the New Hampshire Grants district, on his way to Montreal, wrote to Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren, at Boston, that, "should hostilities he committed by the King's troops, the people of the New Hampshire Grants would seize the fort at Ticonderoga" -- in the south-eastern corner of Essex County, New York, on the western shore of Lake Champ- lain, near the outlet of Lake George.
As noted on page 484, Vol. I., Lieut. Col. (afterwards Major General) Benedict Arnold proposed, eight days after the fight at Lexington, that a force of Americans should be sent northward for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, and early in May, he went forward as the leader of such a force-a small body of Massachusetts Militia. Ethan Allen, in a personal "Narrative" which he wrote and published in 1779, stated, with reference to the expedition against Fort Ticonderoga: "While I was wishing for an opportunity to signalize myself in behalf of my country, directions were privately sent to me from the then Colony of Connecticut to raise the Green Mountain Boys, and if possible, with them to surprise and take the fortress of Ticonderoga."
About the 3rd or 4th of May, 1775, Colonel Allen and some 230 men set out from Bennington. On May 7th, they reached Castleton, where they were joined by Arnold and his men. The combined force, with Allen as chief in command then moved forward, and "by a forced march arrived at the shore of the lake opposite Ticonderoga on the evening of May 9." With difficulty some boats were procured, and with eighty-three men, Allen crossed over to the western shore of the lake. Later some sixty or seventy more of his force crossed over and joined him. As the night was wan- ing, it was decided to attack the fort without waiting for more men; whereupon Allen, at the head of his men, with Arnold by his side, holdly advanced to the sally port. The surprised sentinel posted there challenged the party, and then attempted to fire his piece; but there was only a flash in the pan, and so he turned and ran to the parade-ground within the fortification, followed by Allen and his men, who, raising an Indian war-whoop, formed in a hollow square so as to command the entrances to the barracks.
"I then repaired," stated Allen in his "Narrative" previously mentioned, "to the room occupied by the commao- dant, Captain De La Place, and ordered him to come out. He came to the door with his breeches in his hand, when I ordered him to deliver up the fort instantly. He asked me by what authority I demanded it. I answered him, 'In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!' * * * It was then the gray of the morning of May 10." * * *
When Allen climbed the stairs to the second story of the west harracks, and walked along the balcony to the door of the commandant's bed-room, he was accompanied by three of his trusty men. They declared, years later, that Allen did not use at that time the language which he said he used, and with which he has been credited. They claimed that what he did do, and what he did say, was this: He heat upon the door with the hilt of his sword, and thundered forth, "Surrender in the name of the Continental Congress; and if you don't by God I'll make you."
At Ticonderoga, under the date of May 11, 1775, Allen, describing himself as "Colonel of the Green Mountain Boys," wrote to the Committee of Safety at Albany, New York, in part as follows: "I have the inexpressable satis- faction to acquaint you that at day-break of the 10th ins., pursuant to my directions from sundry leading gentlemen of Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut, I took the fortress of Ticonderoga with about 130 Green Mountain Boys. Colonel Easton, with about forty-seven valiant soldiers, distinguished themselves in the action. Col. [Benedict] Arnold entered the fortress with me, side by side. The guard was so surprised that, contrary to expectation, they did not fire on us, hut fled with precipitancy. We immediately entered the fortress and took the garrison prisoners- one Captain, one Lieutenant and forty-two men."
It is said that when Fort Ticonderoga was taken there was captured the first British flag that fell into the hands of the Americans in the Revolutionary contest.
The Second Continental Congress convened at Philadelphia on the same day that Allen captured Ticonderoga, and when news of this event reached Philadelphia, the Congress passed a formal vote of thanks to Allen for his exploit.
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An amusing but authentic anecdote bas been told with respect to Allen and the fall of Ticonderoga. Special thanksgiving services were being held at Bennington, at which the officiating clergymen ascribed to Heaven all the praise for the cheering success of the American arms at Ticonderoga. Allen, who was present in the congregation! listened to this line of talk until it became unhearable to him, and then he arose in his pew and roared: "Parson Dewey, Parson Dewey! Would you mind mentioning that Ethan Allen was there?"
In June, 1775, Congress resolved upon the invasion of Canada, and Gen. Philip Schuyler was ordered to the com- mand of the expedition. His chief subordinate officer was Gen. Richard Montgomery (mentioned on page 1929) , and upon him the command shortly fell, Schuyler being disabled by illness. While the expedition was being organized Ethan Allen was at Ticonderoga. In his "Narrative" he states: "The generals [Schuyler and Montgomery], with most of the field officers, requested me to attend them in the expedition. Though at that time I had no commission from Congress, yet they engaged me that I should be considered as an officer the same as though I had a commission, and I advanced with the army to Isle-aux-Noix."
From this point, ou September 10, 1775, the expedition advanced to and invested St. John's, the first military post within the Canadian horder. Ahout the same time Allen was requested by the American officers to venture out among the Canadians in order to observe "their disposition, designs and movements." This he did, and, as shown by a letter from Samuel Mott to Governor Trumbull of Connecticut (written October 6, 1775, at "the camp hefore St. John's"), was "very serviceable in bringing in the Canadians and Indians; but, being encouraged by others, he, con- trary to his own judgment, crossed the river below Mootreal with a party of New Englanders and Canadians, intending to augment the number of Canadians and get possession of Montreal."
According to Allen's "Narrative" this raiding party consisted of ahout 110 men, "near 80 of whom were Canadians." In the morning of September 24, they crossed over the St. Lawrence from Longueuil, a village on the right bank of the river, some two or three miles from Montreal, on the left hank. Brig. General Prescott, getting news of Allen's foray, gathered together a force of uearly 500 men, consisting of regular troops from the Montreal garrison, Canadians and Indians, and marched forth from Montreal to intercept the invaders. They met about two miles from the town in the afternoon of the 24th, when a smart engagement took place, in which Colonel Allen and two or three of his men were taken prisoners, about the same number were wounded, while the rest retreated. Allen was immediately put in irons and thrown into the Montreal prison, from which place, on September 25th, he wrote to General Prescott, saying: "I expect an honorable and humane treatment." It is related that Prescott replied: "You shall grace a halter at Tyburn, in England, damut you!" Within a short time thereafter, Allen still in irons, was transferred with Major Hazen, Captain Turner and other American prisoners, to the Gaspee, an armed British vessel lying in the St. Lawrence.
At Philadelphia, on November 30, 1775, the Continental Congress having been "informed that Mr. Ethan Allen, who was taket a prisoner near Montreal, is [was] confined in irons on board a vessel in the river St. Lawrence ordered that General Washington be directed to apply to General Howe on this matter, and desire that he [Allen] may be exchanged." In the meantime, however, Allen had been conveyed to Quebec, where, on November 9, 1775, he was traosferred to the British ship Adamant, which, a few days later, set sail for England. On board this ship as fellow passengers of Allen were other American prisoners, as well as Joseph Brant, the noted Mohawk Indian chief (see page 299, Vol. I), and other Indians of prominence, who were being escorted to England by Col. Guy Johnson, the Royal Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern department of America.
At Cambridge, Massachusetts, under the date of December 18, 1775, General Washington wrote to the British General, William Howe, in part as follows: "We have just been informed of a circumstance which, were it not so well authenticated, I should scarcely think credible. It is that Colonel Allen, who, with his small party, was defeated and taken prisoner near Moutreal, has been treated without regard to decency, humanity or the rules of war; and that he has been thrown into irons, and suffers all the hardships inflicted upon common felons. * * * Whatever treat- ment Colonel Allen receives-whatever fate he undergoes-such exactly shall be the treatment and fate of Brig. General Prescott now in our hands. [Washington had been informed by Generals Schuyler and Montgomery that Prescott was the cause of Allen's ignominous treatment and suffering.] The law of retaliation is not only justifiable in the eyes of God and mat, but absolutely a duty which, in our present circumstances, we owe to our relatives, friends and fellow- citizens."
The Adamant arrived at Falmouth, in Cornwall (the southernmost County of England), on December 22, 1775 and the American prisoners were immediately transferred to Pendennis Castle, one of the defenses of the seaport situated on a rock 198 feet above the town.
At London, under the date of December 27, 1775, Alexander Wedderburn (see pages 441, 603 and 605, Vol. I), Solicitor General of England, wrote to the Hon. William Eden (later Lord Auckland), Under-Secretary of State, ad- vising against "Ethan Allen and his people" being kept in England. The original of this letter is preserved among the "Auckland MSS." at King's College, Cambridge, and, so far as the present writer is aware, has never been printed -either wholly or in part-until now. It reads in part, as follows:
"It must be understood that Government does not expect to execute them. *
*
* I would send them back; but I think something more might he done than merely to return them as prisoners to America. Allen, by the account of Kay [William Kay, Secret Intelligence Agent of the British Government at Montreal], took up arms because he was dispossessed of land he had settled hetween New Hampshire and New York, in consequence of an order of Council settling the boundary of these two Provinces, and had balanced for some time whether to have recourse to the rebels or to [Gen. Guy] Carleton. The doubt of being well received by the latter determined him to join the former, and Kay adds that he is a bold, active fellow. * * *
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