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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01188 3318 עב
THE STORY OF VERMONT -
BY HAROLD W. SLOCUM
GRIESON VERHON
VERMONT SEAL
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK
CHICAGO BOSTON ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO
1770944
THE STORY OF VERMONT
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Slocum, Harold W.
The story of Vermont, by Harold W. Slocum. New York, Chicago (etc .; C. Scribner's sons [1926]
x p., 1 1., 140 p. illus. (incl. ports., map) 18em.
1. Vermont-Hist.
I. Title.
. 26-15039 Library of Congress F49.563
11 Copy 2.
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/storyofvermontby00sloc
COPYRIGHT, 1926, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Printed in the United States of America
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FOREWORD
In one of his books Alphonse Daudet wrote: "The Northern nations alone have invented, to meet their harsh climate, the word home, that intimate family circle to which the Pro- vençal and the Italian prefer the gardens of cafés and the noise and excitement of the streets." The motif which runs through all the history of Vermont is love of home. The early settlers came to Vermont neither to escape from religious or political oppression nor to seek great wealth. Vermont offered only those things which are dear to a home- loving heart, the opportunity by honest labor in a beautiful environment to earn the neces- sities and a few of the luxuries of life.
The history of a people with such a com- mendable and modest ambition might well be one of peaceful and rather uneventful devel- opment. However, in order to defend their homes, these resolute pioneers, scattered in small settlements up and down the Green Mountains, were compelled to oppose first the mother country, then the powerful colony
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FOREWORD
of New York, and finally the Continental Congress of the United States. How, after twenty years of struggle, they did this suc- cessfully is one of the most interesting stories in the history of the United States.
Perhaps because of this struggle Vermonters to-day, in whatever part of the world they may live, regard the whole Green Mountain State, rather than any particular section of it, as home.
In this book I have endeavored to retell the story of the State in a manner that will interest both children and their parents. It is my hope that it may awaken the interest of those unfamiliar with the story of Vermont and increase the loyalty and pride of those to whom the Green Mountain State is home.
To Mr. Walter H. Crockett of the Uni- versity of Vermont I wish to express my thanks for reviewing the manuscript from the view-point of historical accuracy.
HAROLD W. SLOCUM.
BURLINGTON, VERMONT.
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGE
I. FORT DUMMER
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II. EARLY SETTLERS
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III. WAR WITH ENGLAND
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IV. THE WAR IN VERMONT
39
V. STATESMANSHIP
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VI. AFTER THE WAR 67
VII .. THE BEGINNING OF PARTIES
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VIII.
THE WAR OF 1812 AND AFTER
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IX. CIVIL WAR
106
X. THE GREEN MOUNTAINS
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117
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INDEX
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ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Champlain, two soldiers, and a number of Indians launched their canoes in a beautiful lake. 3
Fort Dummer had a high wall to protect the soldiers 7
Fort Dummer, Brattleboro, Vermont . 10
Benning Wentworth, Governor of New Hamp- shire 15
The father returns, bringing with him new things and news of old friends 17
Catamount Tavern, Bennington, Vermont 21
The Green Mountain Boys refuse to give up their homes to the Yorkers 23
Map of Vermont . 33
Ethan Allen replied: "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress". .
37
The two fleets met in the northern part of the lake and fought until dark 45
Monument to Green Mountain Boys at Rutlaml, Vermont 47
General Stark sends word for the Green Moun- tain Boys to hurry . 53
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Ira Allen
PAGE 65
Old capitol, first capitol building, Montpelier,
Vermont .
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State Capitol, Montpelier, Vermont
89
Commodore MacDonough had been very busy making and arming a ship at Vergennes · 99
All crops failed in 1816. Many Vermonters sold their farms and joined the ever-increasing caravan 101
Concord Academy, 1825. First school in the United States for the training of teachers 103
The birthplace of Stephen A. Douglas, Brandon, Vermont . 109
The life of a woman on a farm was hard work
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In the spring it was time to make maple sugar
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President Coolidge 123
Lake Willoughby, Vermont
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Nowhere else in the country were there such fine
marble and granite as in Vermont
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THE STORY OF VERMONT
THE STORY OF VERMONT
CHAPTER I
FORT DUMMER
Three hundred and sixteen years ago Sam- uel de Champlain, with two soldiers and a number of Indians, launched his canoes in the waters of the beautiful lake that was later to be called Lake Champlain. They were the first white men to discover Lake Champlain. Eleven years later a band of Pilgrims landed from their ship, the Mayflower, on the shores of Massachusetts and founded the colony of Plymouth. Plymouth was about two hundred miles south of Lake Champlain. Samuel de Champlain and his followers were French, the Pilgrims were English. Between them lay the mountains, lakes, and rivers of Vermont.
As the years went by more and more people came from France to the country north of Vermont and more people came from England to the colony at Plymouth. The people from France, as a rule, were not anxious to make new homes in this country. Most of them were soldiers who were sent by their king to build
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THE STORY OF VERMONT
forts here and there in the newly discovered lands. After the forts had been built men with sacks full of bright-colored beads and other things that the Indians were fond of would come and offer these things to the Indians in exchange for the furs of wild animals. Then these men would go back to France to sell these furs and in that way make lots of money. Besides the soldiers and traders there were a large number of brave priests who went out among the Indians to tell them of the Chris- tian faith.
On the other hand, the people who came from England wanted to build new homes in this country. They cleared away the forests in order to build houses and plant crops. As a result of this difference between the French and the English, it came about that one hun- dred years after Champlain had discovered the lake that is named after him the French in the north country had only two towns, Quebec and Montreal, but they had forts and trading- posts clear from what is now the State of Maine as far west as what is now the State of Minnesota and south along the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. The English, on the other hand, had a large number of towns,
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Champlain, two soldiers, and a number of Indians launched their canoes in a beautiful lake.
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but they were all quite near together and not far from the seashore. One French fort was located at Isle la Motte, in Lake Champlain, but there was no English fort anywhere in Vermont.
The French did not like the idea of the English towns growing, slowly but surely, nearer to their forts in New England. They decided that if they attacked some of the towns farthest away from Boston and killed the people it would frighten the English set- tlers in the other nearby towns, so that they would leave their homes and go back nearer to Boston.
So the French soldiers with a large number of Indians began a series of raids on the Eng- lish towns in the colony of Massachusetts. They started out from Canada, went down Lake Champlain to the Winooski River, then along this river to about where Montpelier now stands. Here they left the Winooski River and travelled through the woods until they came to the White River. They followed this river until it emptied into the Connecticut River at what is now White River Junction, and then down the Connecticut River to the nearest English towns in Massachusetts,
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FORT DUMMER
When a few miles from the town, they would hide in the woods until night.
Oftentimes in the cold winter, the French and Indians would wait in their hiding-place in the woods until darkness came on and lights shone out from the small houses of the Eng- lish settlers. As it grew late one by one the lights would go out, showing that the unsus- pecting settlers had gone to bed. When the last light was gone the enemy silently, like shadows, moved out from the dark forest through the fields to the houses. Four or five surrounded each house, the muskets were made ready, and the cruel Indians took their tomahawks in one hand and the scalping knife in the other. Then the signal was given and the Indians broke the stillness with their terrifying war-whoop.
Up until this time all had been perfectly still; the English, sleeping in their beds, never dreamed that their cruel enemy was just out- side their doors. They were awakened by the horrible war-whoop of the Indians. The men ran for their guns, and the women and children crowded into the corners of the rooms. Some- times before the men could get to their guns the Indians would break in the door and with
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THE STORY OF VERMONT
tomahawk and knife kill every member of the family. Sometimes the father and big broth- ers got their guns and drove the Indians out of the house. When this happened the In- dians usually set the house on fire, and the family had to come out and try to fight their way to a neighbor's house. Out in the open the enemy often were able to kill all the men and capture the women and children.
On some of these trips the French and In- dians burned every house in the settlement which they attacked, but usually quite a num- ber of the English were able to reach the strongest house and keep the Indians back, so they could not set it on fire. If they could hold out until the beginning of morning they were safe, for always at the first sign of dawn the French and Indians, with their captives and all the stolen things they could carry, started back for the great forest. Then they began at once the long, hard march from one end of Ver- mont to the other, back to Lake Champlain, and then on to their homes in Canada. When they reached Canada only the strongest of the captives remained; all the rest had been unable to keep up and had perished during the terrible journey.
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Fort Dummer had a high wall to protect the soldiers.
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THE STORY OF VERMONT
As a result of these attacks the Colonial Assembly met in Boston to decide what should be done. Some thought that soldiers should be sent to all the settlements to guard the peo- ple but others said that there were not enough soldiers to guard all the towns and no one knew which town would be attacked next. These people thought that the best thing to do was to give up some of the settlements and send soldiers to guard the others.
The Lieutenant-Governor of the Massachu- setts Colony told the members of the Assembly that he had learned that the French and In- dians came down one of two rivers. He pro- posed that at the place where these rivers met they should build a fort so that when the French and Indians came down either river the soldiers at the fort could send a warning to the towns.
Some of the members did not agree to this, because they said that either the soldiers would be captured by the enemy before they could reach the towns or the enemy would get to the towns first. In answer to this the Lieu- tenant-Governor, whose name was Dummer, said that near the place where he would build the fort there were high mountains and that
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FORT DUMMER
soldiers from the top of these mountains could see all the surrounding country. He then ex- plained that when the French and Indians camped for the night they built fires both for cooking and for warmth. The soldiers watch- ing on the mountains could see the smoke from these fires rising above the tops of the forest- trees many miles away and would be able to reach the settlements and warn the people be- fore the enemy appeared.
Finally it was agreed that, instead of giving up land, the English should go farther north toward the French. Timothy Dwight with some soldiers and carpenters started out in February and built the fort where the two rivers meet, as Lieutenant-Governor Dummer had suggested. These rivers are now called the Connecticut and West Rivers. Late in the summer the fort was finished, and you may see by the picture that it had a high wall to pro- tect the soldiers in case of an attack by the enemy.
The fort was named Fort Dummer in honor of the Lieutenant-Governor and was the first English settlement in what is now Ver- mont.
Day after day, year after year, the soldiers
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THE STORY OF VERMONT
went out from this fort and climbed the moun- tains to watch for the smoke of the enemies' camp. The French and Indians soon discov- ered that when they crept up to a settlement at night, instead of finding all the people
Fort Dummer, Brattleboro, Vermont. From Crockett's "History of Vermont," by courtesy of the author.
asleep, they found them very much awake and ready for a fight. The French and Indians did not want to fight and so ran back into the forest and returned to Canada after mak- ing the long trip both ways for nothing.
And so it came about that the English settlements crept farther and farther north, and at night the people in the little frontier
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towns went to bed without any fear of French and Indians, for they knew that far up in the woods the soldiers at Fort Dummer were on guard.
CHAPTER II EARLY SETTLERS
For more than thirty years Fort Dummer was the only permanent English settlement in Vermont, and, aside from a few French houses on Lake Champlain, it was the only white settlement in our State. Stranger still, so far as we know, there were no Indian villages in Vermont during that time. The reason for this can be given in one word-War !
You have probably studied in your history books about the French and Indian wars. The French in Canada were determined to prevent the English from coming farther north, and the result was years of warfare. Vermont, lying between the two provinces, was a "no man's land."
We have told how the French with their In- dian allies marched south to raid the English settlements. As the English grew stronger, they in turn formed small armies. They were often called rangers. These rangers marched north through the wilderness of Vermont and attacked the French and Indian settlements.
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EARLY SETTLERS
Their purpose was to recapture their friends who had been carried away by the enemy and to take revenge on the enemy for his bloody raids.
So year after year the beautiful State of Vermont was the highway for French and Indian war parties stealing south and English rangers cautiously going north. Between those two it was not safe for any person to build his home.
Finally in 1759 an English army under General Wolfe climbed the steep cliffs from the St. Lawrence River up to a plain just out- side the city of Quebec, called "The Plains of Abraham." The French commander, Mont- calm, marched his army out from the city to drive these English back. Here was fought the great battle which decided that England and not France should rule America. Both the famous generals were killed, but the French were defeated and forced to surrender. A few months later these long, bloody wars were over.
The war had done two things for Vermont: the armies going back and forth had blazed trails, and in a few places the English had built roads. The most famous road was from
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THE STORY OF VERMONT
Charlestown, New Hampshire, across the Green Mountains to Crown Point, on Lake Champlain. The second advantage for Ver- mont was that the English rangers discovered what a beautiful place Vermont was. After they returned from the war they remembered the fertile valleys and magnificent mountains, and many of them resolved to make new homes in this beautiful country.
They were told that all this country was a part of the colony of New Hampshire and was called the New Hampshire Grants. The Gov- ernor of New Hampshire was glad to sell them tracts of land for homes and farms, and his terms were not difficult. In fact, the wise Gov- ernor of the New Hampshire Colony, Benning Wentworth, realized that this land would not be of much value to him unless people went there to live.
So, beginning in 1760, one hundred and forty years after the Pilgrims had landed at Ply- mouth in Massachusetts, English settlers be- gan to enter Vermont. It was no easy task to start a home in this wild country. There were only a few roads, and often these early settlers had to carry everything needed to start a new home on their backs over many, many miles
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EARLY SETTLERS
Benning Wentworth, Governor of New Hampshire. From Crockett's "History of Vermont," by courtesy of the author.
and with only a narrow trail, a river or creek to guide them.
When finally, tired out from their long, hard journey, the pioneer and his family reached the land they had bought there was nothing there but wilderness. Sometimes they found
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THE STORY OF VERMONT
a clear space near a stream of water, where the beavers in building a town of their own had gnawed down a lot of trees. There was no time to rest. They had to have food and a house to protect them from the rain and from such wild animals as bears, panthers, and wolves. First they built a rude shelter of boughs and then they began to cut down trees in order to build a log house and to plant a garden in the cleared ground. When provisions were low these pioneers laid aside the axe and spade for a day and went into the woods to hunt or to fish.
When autumn came the snow on the moun- tain tops, the bright foliage of the forest and the frosty air warned them that they must prepare for winter. The little crops were har- vested and the cracks in their cabins were securely sealed with moss and clay.
Then came the long, cold winter, alone in the great forest, no doctor to care for them if they became sick, no stores, not even any neighbors. Night after night they listened to the cold winds and the howls of hungry wolves which gathered around the cabin. Often dur- ing the night these settlers could hear a wild animal trying to force in a door or window.
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EARLY SETTLERS
Then they were glad that the doors were se- curely protected by strong bars, but, to make
The father returns, bringing with him new things and news of old friends.
doubly sure, the father would get his gun, load it, and place it beside his home-made bed.
When spring came at last there were two welcome sounds, the song of birds and the strokes of an axe near-by telling them that
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THE STORY OF VERMONT
neighbors had arrived and were clearing the ground for a home. Henceforth, they would be less lonely. During the summer a number of new cabins were built and little settlements were started. In the spring the pioneers trav- elled back to the towns with skins of fur- bearing animals they had captured during the winter: the otter, the beaver, and the fox. These they exchanged for things needed in their forest homes.
You may imagine how eagerly the families waited for the return of the father bringing with him new things and news of old friends. Quite frequently he bought a horse and fast- ened his purchases in bundles on the horse's back. These pioneers must have been very skilful in loading their horses, for often, besides clothing, cooking utensils, and farm tools, they brought back little pigs and a crate of chickens. Sometimes they even drove cows before them through the forest.
In five years there were a number of com- munities in Vermont. Some of them had a church, a schoolhouse, a grist-mill to grind their grain and a saw-mill to cut the logs into boards so they could have floors, shelves, tables, and other things in their cabins. Of
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course, these mills were located near water- falls because they had no steam-engines in those days.
About this time, 1765, visitors who came back from the older towns in New Hampshire and Massachusetts brought news which dis- turbed these people a great deal. They said that the King in England, who ruled all the colonies, had decided that the lands these early settlers had bought from the Governor of New Hampshire did not belong to him but to the Governor of New York State. This was bad enough, for these people were from New England and wanted to remain New England- ers. But it was also reported that the Governor of New York was selling the homes and farms they had worked so hard to make to specula- tors in New York City and Albany. A few weeks after these reports gangs of men began to appear who said that they had been sent by the new owners of the land to survey it. These surveyors told the settlers that if they wanted to keep their farms they would have to pay for them again to the speculators in New York State who were now the lawful owners.
You may imagine that the settlers in Ver-
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mont were pretty angry about this. The men came together to decide what they should do. The chief settlement at that time on the west- ern side of the State was at Bennington. In this place there was a tavern with a stuffed catamount fastened in front of it for a sign and it was called the "Catamount Tavern." At this tavern delegates from the other towns met and decided to send a petition to the King of England telling him that they had bought their land in good faith from the Governor of New Hampshire, that they had gone into the wilderness and by great toil built houses and cleared farms, and asking him to protect them. Until they had a reply from the King they de- cided that they would guard their homes them- selves. This was the beginning of a govern- ment in our State.
The gangs of men from New York were told to go away, and if they did not go peace- fully these early Vermonters made them go. Then the Governor of New York sent his sheriff and a band of men with guns to drive the Vermonters out from their homes; but the Vermonters had guns too, and told the sheriff that if he tried to take their lands they would fight.
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Catamount Tavern, Bennington, Vermont.
From Crockett's "History of Vermont," by courtesy of the author.
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The men from New York who came with the sheriff saw that the Vermonters meant what they said and they knew that they were all good marksmen. They said to the sheriff: "We are not going to stay here and be killed for some speculators in the city; let them come and do their own fighting." So the sheriff too had to go back to New York and tell his gov- ernor what had happened.
The Governor of New York sent more armed men to drive away the Vermonters or, as they were called, "The Green Mountain Boys." He threatened to put in prison and even to kill any who dared to resist his officers. He offered a reward to any one who would cap- ture Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Remember Baker, Robert Cochran, and others who were the leaders of the Green Mountain Boys.
But the Green Mountain Boys stood firm. One time, at the beginning of their trouble, Ethan Allen was in Albany, and one of the governor's officers told him that if he and his people did not give up their lands peacefully soldiers would be sent to take them. Ethan Allen replied that if they came they would learn that "the gods of the valleys were not the gods of the hills."
Catamount Tavern
Poland Millions
The Green Mountain Boys refuse to give up their homes to the Yorkers.
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The Yorkers came and they learned what Ethan Allen had foretold. Up and down the whole western part of the State wherever the Yorkers entered they were met by the Green Mountain Boys and were driven back. There were no real battles fought, but there were a number of interesting small fights. We have not space in this short story of Vermont to tell about them, but in the larger histories of Vermont you may read about them and you will find it interesting reading too. If it had not been for the bravery of these sturdy Green Mountain Boys there probably would have been no Vermont to-day.
By and by the King of England sent word to the Governor of New York that the Green Mountain Boys must not be driven from their homes. But the King of England was far away across the ocean, the Governor of New York and the speculators in New York were de- termined to get this land, so they sent excuses to the King and kept up the warfare. But their men were always driven back by the Green Mountain Boys.
Finally the Governor of New York went to the British General in New York City and asked him to send some of his regular soldiers
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to drive out the Green Mountain Boys. The British General replied that he would not use his soldiers to help the governor to disobey the King.
CHAPTER III WAR WITH ENGLAND
If you will look at the map of Vermont in your geography you will see that the Green Mountains extend right through the middle of the State from the northern border to the southern. As a result of this the people who first settled on the eastern side of the moun- tains did not know those who settled on the western side as well as they did the people who lived south in the Massachusetts Colony. Besides we must remember that in these pio- neer days there was no State of Vermont and therefore no State loyalty to draw the people together.
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