USA > Vermont > Early history of Vermont, Vol. I > Part 15
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I will close this history of the early days of Vermont and the acts of her sturdy and brave pioneers by quoting the eloquent words of Hon. L. E. Chittenden, taken from an oration delivered by him at Burlington, July 4, 1876. He said :--
"How was it possible that a few scattered set- tlers, deficient in resources and poor in purse, could accomplish the results which they did accom- plish? In 1774, they numbered scarcely more than 1,500 families. They were dispersed from the Winooski and the Great Bend of the Connecti- cut to the Massachusetts line. They had no means of assessing taxes, no organization which was not purely voluntary. They had already maintained themselves against the power of New York through a struggle of nearly ten years. They sprang to arms at the summons of revolu-
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tion. They captured Ticonderoga, raised a regi- ment which made the name of Green Mountain Boys historical, joined in the invasion of Canada, saved the remnants of Wooster's army, and barred their long frontier against invasion. Relieved for a space from arms, they came into convention, to form a constitution. The news of Burgoyne's invasion, and St. Clair's retreat, arrested their deliberations. Again they hurried to the frontier, fought the battle of Bennington, raised another regiment and paid its expenses out of Tory prop- erty. Again they kept an invading army idle for many months which almost outnumbered their population, and sent them back to the place from whence they came. Once more we find them in convention at Windsor, finishing that first Con- stitution, the most democratic, free and just ever yet adopted in any American State. They adopt- ed it without even the form of a vote, and having launched the independent State of Vermont in de- fiance of New York, New Hampshire, King George, and I might say of all the evil powers of earth and air, they entered upon that singular struggle with Congress and the other States, which did not end until 1791, when all opposition worn out or over- come, Vermont took her seat at the national board in a Federal Union.
"Look now at the men whose characters our fathers could assimilate, whose diversities they could make an element of strength. Let us namea few of the leaders, who resembled each other in one respect only-they were all patriots.
"There was Ethan Allen. a man of giant frame
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and iron muscle, in manner rough, but in soul as gentle as a woman, impatient of restraint, intoler- ant of opposition, his mind undisciplined and in constant revolt against all control, human or Divine.
"Ira Allen; his brother, a born diplomatist, smooth and polished in address, equally skilled in concealing his own thoughts and in discovering those of others.
"Seth Warner, the soldier, open and generous, into whose soul jealousy or vice of any kind could find no by-way to enter, the Bayard of Vermont, without fear and without reproach.
"Their First Governor, a plain, simple farmer, but shrewd and far-sighted, whom men could take into their confidence in spite of themselves, whose rule of life it was to make the best of everybody, because to use a rather Irish expression, which he applied daily, "he knew they always turned out better than he thought they would."
"The two Fays, Jonas and Joseph, masters of the caucus, so systematic that no convention could be held regular that had not a Fay for its secretary.
"The Robinsons, negotiators, pioneers in all missions to other States and powers: Nathaniel and Daniel Chipman educated trained lawyers, slightly aristocratic, faithful servants of the church by law established. Stephen R. Bradlay, a Demo- crat by nature, the best political writer of his time. Ebenezer Allen, who could not write a sen- tence correctly, but who could and did write the first American Emancipation proclamation. Re-
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member Baker, who always doubted which he hated most, a Yorker, a Tory, or an Indian. Cochran. a hunter and guide, a philosopher and a patriot-and I might name a score of others, but these will serve to make leaders enough for all our political parties, for as many sects as ever opposed the Pope,-so unlike each other in all things that you would not suppose they could have sprung from the same race. Had they been like ourselves, they would have all been leaders, but each would have led a different party.
"We have to go deeper to find their points of unity. They all came from that iron-souled race of thinkers, who, early in the 17th century burst the letters of Church and State, and shook the. centres of monarchy to their bases with the prop- osition, that the powers of government were de- rived from the people, should be employed for the benefit of the people, that any system or religion which taught the contrary was no true system or religion. For this faith. they might be and were broken on the wheel, but from it they would not turn. They were Republicans in religion and in politics. Emigrating from Europe into the free air of this Western world these principles became a part of themselves, their descendants carried them into western Connecticut and Massachusetts, and from thence into this wilderness, where they con- fronted all the dangers and deprivations of a new settlement. They were patriots by birth, by growth and by education. However much they might differ in other affairs, they were all agreed that they would not tolerate any invasion of
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1
their rights of person or property. That was tyranny, and tyranny was to be resisted to the death. They were taught by their fathers-their lives were perpetual illustrations of the necessity of united action. In their case division was de- struction,-union, perfect union of opinion, re- sources, characters, and powers alone could pre- serve them.
"I now ask your attention to some of the con- sequences to the person and the community of this common unity of action and opinion, among these men, who differed so widely among themselves. I need not remind you that in their time the tele- graph, the railway and the steamboat had not been invented. There was scarcely a. highway upon the Grants. Men went from place to place on foot or on horseback, following Indian trails or lines of marked trees. You will scarcely credit the assertion that under such circumstances the full effective strength of the new settlement could be mustered at any given point with nearly as much celerity as now. The statement is almost incred- ible, but you will hear my proofs before you reject it. I take them from history. It was on the 9th of May 1775, when Allen summoned his first man to march upon Ticonderoga. He lost a full day waiting for boats, on the shore of the lake, and even then captured the fort in the morning twi- light of May 10th. There was then a block house near the north end of the bridge at Winooski. It was called Fort Frederic, garrisoned by men en- gaged in surveying or clearing the intervales above. They were under the command of Remem-
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ber Baker. In some way, Allen's summons reached Baker in time to enable him to call in his men, equip them, embark them on a flat-boat, sail down the river to its mouth, row or sail up the lake, capture a boat filled with escaping British soldiers, on the way to Canada, and to reach Crown Point in time to take part in the capture of that fort, before noon of the 10th of May. Could you do much better now ?
"I find the fact also recorded that in the winter of 1776, an express from Albany brought the news to Bennington that Sir John Johnson with five ยท hundred Tories and a body of Indians was march- ing upon Tryon County, then at the eve of insur- rection. The Yorkers-the people who had kid- napped Baker, and declared Allen an outlaw-im- plored the Green Mountain Boys to help them. Did they answer, You are the men who, with strong hand, without right, for more than ten years have been striving to rob us of our homes? No! no! Within twelve hours after the news reached the Grants, more than ninety Green Mountain Boys, armed, equipped and provisioned, were on the march, and every one of these Vermonters was furnished by a single town. They joined Schuyler, marched to Johnstown, and received the surrender of the invading force ..
"David Wooster, a captain in the French war, had a New York grant of lands in the town of Ad- dison. In 1761, the Vermonters who had ex- pelled Col. Reid from the meadows of Otter Creek found Wooster serving writs on the settlers of the lands he claimed. They tied him and his sheriff to
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a tree, threatened them with the Beech seal, and released them only when they had withdrawn their writs, and promised to go and sin no more.
"We next hear of Wooster in midwinter of 1776. Montgomery has fallen. Wooster is in command of a defeated and dispirited army below Montreal, and the smallpox is epidemic among the frozen, starved and wounded patriots, who have traversed the wilds of Maine only to be defeated before Quebec. They aresurrounded by an enemy twice their number. He is writing to Col. Warner. 'Our prospect is dubious,' he says, 'I have sent to General Schuyler, General Washington and to Congress. but you know how long it will be before we can haverelief from them.' 'You . and the valiant Green Mountain Corps are in our neighborhood.' * * 'You all have arms and ever stand ready to lend a helping hand to your brethren in distress.' Had I time I would read the whole of this touching letter. He implores Warner to send him help. 'Let the men set out at once *
* by tens, twenties, thirties or fifties.' 'It will have a good effect on the Canadians.' 'I am confident I shall see you here with your men in a very short time.'
"This letter was written near Montreal on the 6th of January, and on the 22d, only 16 days later, Schuyler withdrew his request upon Wash- ington for reinforcements, because, as he said, Warner had been so successful in sending men to Wooster's aid. Again the courage and celerity of the Vermonters saved the army. They formed Wooster's rear guard, standing like a wall be-
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tween him and his pursuers, and fought all the way from the St. Lawrence to the islands of Lake Champlain. Nor did they relax their watchful care until June, when the last weary, wounded soldier of that army was safely sheltered within the walls of Ticonderoga.
"I could give many other illustrations of their promptness in marching to protect a friend or de- stroy an enemy. Let us now note their conduct in a difficult emergency.
"The embryo State never passed through a darker period than that between the advance of Burgoyne and the battle of Bennington. The re- treat of St. Clair leftthe whole western frontier unprotected. Burgoyne scattered his proclama- tions, setting forth his own strength and offering protection to all who would abandon the patriot cause. All the provisions brought to his camp would be paid for in gold. The defection was frightful. Every wavering man accepted his offers. Even one member of the Council, to his eternal disgrace be it said, deserted. The people were poor. They had no money or credit. Alarm and confusion everywhere prevailed. A volunteer force must be raised, armed, fed and clothed, or the contest in this quarter was ended. How could it be done?
"But there was a little band of men known as the Council of Safety which was neither discour- aged nor dismaved. They took account of their resources as cooly as a few weeks before they had discussed the provisions of the new Constitution. The prime necessity of the moment was to raise an
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adequate force of volunteers, and put a stop to these desertions. Both objects were accomplished by a single resolution, conceived, adopted, and its execution provided for, in a single session.
"Ira Allen, then a statesman 26 years old, was its author. It provided for a committee of seques- tration, with power to confiscate the estates of the Tories and out of the proceeds raise and pay the volunteers. It stopped desertions instantly. Volunteers promptly came forward. This resolu- tion was the first and a most fatal blow struck at the army of Burgoyne.
"Let me now call your attention to an illustra- tion of the practical common sense which appears to have controlled the actions of our ancestors. I refer vou to their first convention to frame a Constitution. It convened at Windsor in July, 1777. Halfits members came direct from their regiments to the convention. Burgoyne was ap- proaching with an army which twice outnumbered all the men on the Grants ableto bear arms. Con- gress had just declared that the idea of forming a new State here was in substance derogatory to that body and a violation of the rights of New York.
"Cool and undismaved the delegates met in convention. Ira Allen has written that 'the busi- ness being new and of great consequence required serious deliberation.' No doubt of that. A draft of the Constitution was presented, by whom pre- pared we do not know. They examined it section by section. In the midst of the debate an express arrived with news of St. Clair's retreat before
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Burgoyne. The families of the President and many of the members were exposed to the hireling and the savages in his train. Their first impulse was to adjourn and hasten to the defence of their homes. Just then a sudden July storm arose, which their venerable chaplain declared was an in- dication of the Almighty's will that the Constitu- tion should be adopted then and there, and while awaiting its cessation, in the very conflict of the elements, the darkened hall illuminated by the flashes of the lightning, they formed a State. The Constitution was read through and virtually adopted. A. vote appointing the Committee of Safety followed, an adjournment to December, the storm passed over, and within two hours of the arrival of the express the members were on their way to defend their families and their firesides.
"They came together again in December. Stir- ring events had happened meantime in which they had been actors. The battles of Bennington and Hubbardton had been fought; Burgoyne had sur- rendered, Ticonderoga had been retaken, the frontier had been cleared of the invader, and many of the volunteers had returned to their homes. The convention finished its work without delay. They adopted a preamble and ratified the Consti- tution. They decided that it was not expedient to submit their work to a popular vote. They named the 12th of March for their first election and sent Ira Allen to Connecticut to have the con- stitution printed."
CHAPTER XIV.
GENERAL ETHAN ALLEN.
Ethan Allen was a descendant of Samuel Allen, who came to New England in 1632. The most re- markable family that ever lived in Vermont, espe- cially in the early history of the State, was that of the Allens. It was numerous and closely identi- fied with the history of the controversy with New Hampshire and New York, resulting in the estab- lishing a government under the name of Vermont. From Samuel Allen of Chelmsford (in 1632), and Windsor, Conn. (in 1636), descended the six sons and one daughter of Joseph Allen of Litchfield and Coventry, Connecticut : to wit, Gen. Ethan Allen, Captain Heman, Lydia, Maj. Heber, Lieut. Levi, Zimri, and Col. Ira Allen.
There were three Heman Allens in the Allen fam- ily : one was the son of said Heber, and one the son of Mathew the brother of Samuel Allen, and the other the son of Joseph Allen. From Mathew Al- len descended Maj. Ebenezer Allen of Tinmouth and Heman Allen of Milton, Vt., and afterwards of Burlington. Joseph Allen married Mary Baker and they were the parents of Gen. Ethan Allen. Mary Baker was the sister of the father of Remem- ber Baker, the brave associate of Ethan Allen. Remember Baker and the said six sons and daugh- ters of Joseph Allen were cousins. The mother of Remember Baker was aunt to Seth Warner: and
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thus it is seen that the most distinguished of the early heroes and statesmen of Vermont were re- lated by the ties both of blood and marriage.
Ethan Allen was born in Litchfield, Ct., January 10th, A. D. 1737. He was the eldest of his fa- ther's family and the one that his parents designed should receive a collegiate education, but the death of his father in straightened circumstances obliged Ethan to abandon, much to his bitter dis- appointment, the pursuit of a collegiate education in the 18th year of his age, while pursuing his pre- paratory studies. At an early age he was fond of political discussion and became interested in the affairs of the Colonies and in their contentions with Great Britain. He was a great reader and he said he had "acquainted himself with the his- tory of mankind." We have but a meagre account of his early life, but it is said he followed the life of a hunter for several years. The first account we have of him in Vermont (New Hampshire Grants) was in the year 1766, and he immediately took a lively interest in behalf of the people in- habiting the Grants, who were suffering from the wrongs and oppressive measures of the authori- ties of New York.
Gov. Wentworth of New Hampshire had grant- ed townships as far west as Bennington, and claimed the right under the Charter from the British Crown to do so. The settlers had paid for their lands in the several towns granted, and had taken possession of them, felled the for- ests, planted their crops and established their homes. The people in each town thus settled
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managed and controlled their own municipal af- fairs-each grant was sort of a primitive Repub- lic. New York, another Province of Great Brit- ain, denied the right of New Hampshire, and as- serted a right in opposition. The settlers sup- posed that the conflict was simply a mere ques- tion of Colonial jurisdiction, and had no idea it was going to interfere with or disturb their title obtained under the grants from New Hampshire. But it was not long before they were undeceived, for soon the Colonial officials of New York ignored their rights and demanded pay for the lands again for the New York speculators who required the settlers to take the title of their lands under New York grants. The time had now come to op- pose the claims of New York in their courts, or appeal to arms to maintain their rights. In such contests the Grants must have a leader who was bold, energetic and fearless, and who sympathized with them. They found such a leader and defender of their rights in Ethan Allen. He came to the front in their support. He at first put confidence in the courts of New York and when suits of eject- ment were brought against those in possession of lands under the New Hampshire grants, by those who took their supposed title under grants from New York, Allen took his lawyer and went before the New York judges, and pleaded the Royal grant purchased and paid for with the money of the grantees, in full confidence that his claims would be respected by their courts, but he was mistaken. The courts there rejected the Royal grant and the titles obtained by the settlers under
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the grants from the Governor of New Hampshire, as so much waste paper, and judgement was pro- nounced in favor of the claimants under New York grants. The King's attorney told Allen he "better go home and advise his people to make the best terms they could with their landlords, for might often prevails against right." Allen answered, "The gods of the hills are not the gods of valleys." This the Yorkers found out later.
Allen saw that the magnitude of the work of defense of the settlers was great. He knew it demanded all his energies. He and the other Green Mountain Boys were a great power and held the Yorkers in wholesome dread. Allen was sleepless and untiring. He would be in Connecticut enlist- ing material aid for the defense of the Grants; next he would be holding meetings in the Vermont settlements, perfecting organizations for defence among the settlers; then would be employed in resisting the New York sheriff and his posse. One day he would be holding a court for the trial of a Tory justice, and the next would be executing the sentence with the twigs of the wilderness; and then he would appear where the enemy would least expect him. The enemy looked upon him with dread, and they denounced him as a rebel, the leader of the mob, a felon, and an outlaw. They were insane with rage, but he hurled back defi- ance. He told them, "if you come forth in arms against us, thousands of your injured neighbors in the several Provinces will join with us to cut off and extirpate such an execrable race from the face of the earth." Allen and the Green Mountain Boys
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had the British and the Indians as enemies to keep at bay, and treacherous Tories and spies in their midst to watch and subdue.
The first systematical and bloody attempt by the British at Lexington to enslave America elec- trified the mind of Allen and fully determined him to take part in the controversy against British aggression and in favor of the Colonies. And while he was wishing an opportunity would present itself that he might signalize himself in behalf of his coun- try, directions came to him privately from the Col- ony of Connecticut, to raise men from among the Green Mountain Boys, and surprise and take the fortress of Ticonderoga. This enterprise he cheer- fully undertook, cut off all intelligence between the garrison and thecountry, and made a forced march from Bennington and arrived at Lake Champlain opposite Ticonderoga on the evening of the 9th day of May, 1775, with 230 brave Green Moun- tain Boys. It was with great difficulty that he procured boats to cross the lake, but he succeeded in landing S3 men near the garrison and sent Col. Seth Warner back with the boats to bring up the remainder of the men. It began to grow daylight. and Allen felt himself under the necessity to attack the fort, before Warner could cross the lake with his command, though he viewed it hazardous. He addressed the 83 men as follows :--
"Friends and fellow soldiers, You have, for a number of years past been a scourge and terror to arbitrary power. Your valor has been famed abroad, and acknowledged, as appears by the advice and orders to me, from the General Assem-
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bly of Connecticut, to surprise and take the garri- son now before us. I now propose to advance before you, and in person, conduct you through the wicket-gate; for we must this morning either quit our pretensions to valor, or possess ourselves of this fortress in a few minutes; and, inasmuch as it is a desperate attempt, which none but the bravest of men dare undertake, I do not urge it on any contrary to his will. You that will undertake voluntarily, poise your firelocks."
Every man poised his firelock. Allen at their head marched to the wicket-gate, where he found a sentry posted who snapped his fuse at Allen. On the approach of Allen the sentry retreated through the covered way into the fort and gave the alarm. Allen's party followed him into the fort. The gar- rison was taken by surprise and made but little resistance. One of the sentries who attempted to make some resistance was wounded by Allen and asked for quarter which was granted. Allen de- manded that he show him the place of the com- manding officer; this request was complied with and Allen quickly repaired to the place and ordered the commander, Captain De LaPlace, to come forth instantly, or he would sacrifice the whole garrison: at which the Captain came immediately to the door undressed, when Allen ordered the Captain to deliver him the fort instantly. He asked Allen by what authority he demanded it; Allen answered him in the ever memorable words, "In the name of the great Jehovah, and the Con- tinental Congress." The Captain began to speak again when Allen interrupted him, and demanded,
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with his drawn sword over his head, animmediate surrender of the garrison, to which the Captain immediately complied. Fifty men and officers sur- rendered; there were taken about 100 pieces of cannon, one 13 inch mortar and a number of swivels.
This capture was carried into effect in the gray of the morning of May 10, 1775. Allen did not know the work that he and his men accomplished that morning, would be regarded by all future generations as one of the most wonderful exploits in American history, and his praises be told as long as Vermont shall continue a state and the United States exist as a nation. This brilliant exploit must have been a bright spot in the memories of the Green Mountain Boys during their whole lives. It gave great encouragement to the drooping spirits of the American Patriots. But little did Allen dream that in a few months the tables would be turned and he become a pris- oner and compelled to drag out a miserable exist- ence for two years and eight months in an English prison.
Col. Warner and his men soon after the capture of the fort joined Allen at the fort. Allen immedi- ately sent Warner with 100 men to capture Crown Point which was garrisoned with a sergeant and 12 men, which was taken the same day with over 100 pieces of cannon.
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