USA > Vermont > Early history of Vermont, Vol. I > Part 17
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of June, pinched with hunger, and suffering from inhuman treatment that the Captain refused to alleviate. Allen with the other prisoners were left on board of a sloop six weeks and were not landed at Halifax till the middle of August, and there all of them, thirty-four in number, were locked up in a large room, together, the furniture of which con- sisted principally of excrement-tubs. They re- monstrated against such usage, but to no pur- pose. Five of the prisoners, including Allen, were legally entitled to parole which they could not obtain. The provisions were better than they had previously been served with, but all grew weaker and weaker on account of sickness contracted from the foulness of the place. On Oct. 12th most of them were ordered on board a man-of-war that was bound for New York.
Allen expected to be treated as cruelly as be- fore, but when he went on deck, he was met by Captain Smith, who gave him his hand and in- vited him to dine with him, and assured Allen he should be treated as a gentleman, and that he had given orders to the crew to so treat him. This was unexpected. On account of such kindness an- other side of Allen's character was exhibited. This kind treatment affected him so he could hardly speak and drew tears from his eyes, which all the harsh usage he had met with was unable to pro- duce, but he soon got control of his feelings and expressed his gratitude for the unexpected favors.
A few additional prisoners were taken on board among whom was a Captain Burke. A conspiracy had been concocted by Burke and some of the
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ship's crew, to kill Captain Smith and take the ship, and the thirty-four thousand pounds Sterling that was theron, into an American port. This Al- len and some other prisoners, that was led into the secret, opposed. Allen told them he could not reconcile it to his conscience, and it should not be done, and pointed out the ungratefulness of such an act, and he should guard Captain Smith's life. Nothing more was heard of the conspiracy.
The ship cast anchor at New York and Captain Smith recommended Allen to Admiral Howe and to General Sir William Howe as a gentleman of honor and veracity, and desired that he should be treated as such. He was landed at New York and given his parole, but restricted to the limits of the city. The merciless manner in which the prison- ers in the hands of the British at New York were treated, the hellish delight and triumph of the Tories over them, as they were dying by the hun- dreds by starvation and sickness, the foulness of the places where they were kept, the despair that seemed to be imprinted on their countenances as they begged for a morsel of bread, was too much for Allen to bear in his exhausted condition. Allen regarded General Howe a murderous tyrant. While Allen was detained at New York, General Howe though a British officer offered him the Col- onelcy of a regiment of Tories if he turned traitor to his suffering country; they used, as they thought a persuasive argument to induce Allen to accept their offer; they said the country would be soon conquered, and when that should be done he should have a large tract of land either in New
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Hampshire or Connecticut. Allen replied, "that if he by faithfullness to the American cause had recommended himself to General Howe, he should be loth, by unfaithfulness to lose the General's good opinion, and besides, he viewed the offer of land to be limited to that which the devil offered Jesus Christ, 'to give him all the kingdoms of the world if he would fall down and worship him;' when at the same time, the damned soul had not one foot of land on earth."
On Jan. 22, 1777, Allen was admitted to parole with other officers and quartered on the westerly part of Long Island, and was treated well till the news came that Burgoyne had retaken Ticondero- ga, which made the Britons feel their importance and gave them an insatiable thirst for cruelty. On August 25, 1777, Allen was apprehended, on pre- tense he had violated his parole, and taken to New York and imprisoned, and denied all food for three days, and suffered otherwise from the inhuman treatment of the enemy and remained their prison- er until the 6th of May, 1778.
It has been claimed that Ethan Allen was desti- tute of religious principle or faith. Whatever may have been his particular religious belief, it was evident he was a man of action, principle and patriotism, and had a high regard for the rights of his fellow man. He possessed the courage to stand by his convictions in the hour of trial and danger. The poetry composed by him for a mon- umental inscription for his wife, Mary Brownson Allen, indicated his trust in God. These lines are found on page 29 of this volume.
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Ethan, Heman, Zimri, and Ira Allen with Rem- ember Baker constituted the Onion River Land Company, and as such became the most extensive land proprietors in the State, first under the New Hampshire Grants, and subsequently under the State by grants from Vermont. Some of Gov. Thomas Chittenden's letters and public docu- ments were written by Ethan Allen.
It is evident to the reader of all that has been written and published of Ethan Allen, that his public services, after his release from his imprison- ment, were far less prominent than before his cap- ture. And the impression has prevailed, to some ex- tent, that he had lost his energy and zeal both for the nation and the State, but this view was a mis- take. It is true his patriotism was doubted in the closing months of 1780; that he was arraigned before the General Assembly; and that he resigned his commission as General of the Vermont militia because there was an uneasiness among some of the people on account of his command. He was very indignant that false, ignominious aspersions against him were entertained. He was acquitted of all disloyalty and public confidence was restored to him. The aspersions against him did not serve to dampen his patriotism, and on resigning his commission of general, he said, if the Assembly thought best to give him the command at any time, he would endeavor to serve the State ac- cording to his abilities. He served the State after- wards in 1782, on being called upon by the Gen- eral Assembly and the Governor to suppress the enemies in Windham County, and he met the call
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promptly. That he was not as prominent in the service of Vermont and the nation as in his earlier days was due not to any change of views towards the State or country, or the decay of his powers, but because the occasions for like and striking ser- vices did not again occur. After his arraignment in 1780, he was called into service for the State in 1781, when New York attempted to awe Vermont into subjection to its demands. Allen was one of the few public men who were engaged in the Hal- dimand correspondence, and took part in it with Ira Allen and Joseph Fay. General Ethan Allen was ready to serve the State with sword or pen to the last day of his life, with all the force of mind and muscle that he ever possessed. He was always a hero.
Allen married for his second wife the daugh- ter of a Colonel in the British army. In Aug- ust, 1778, the Governor and Council requested Allen to repair to Philadelphia and ascertain in what light the attempted Union of Vermont with a part of New Hampshire was viewed by Con- gress, which service he performed, and in October, 1778, he reported to the Vermont Legislature that the members of Congress were unanimously opposed to Vermont extending jurisdiction across Connecticut River. On Feb. 16th, 1779, Allen, Jonas Fay, and Paul Spooner, Esquires, were chosen by the House to manage the political af- fairs of the State at Congress. In March, 1779, Ethan Allen addressed a letter to General Wash- ington, in which, after stating that the enemies' ships and scouting parties were expected down
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Lake Champlain to annoy the frontier that was weakly guarded and widely extended, said, "un- doubtedly your Excellency will readily conceive that this part of the country has done more than its adequate proportion in the war, and though they are greatly reduced as to materials to main- tain standing forces, yet on sudden emergencies the militia is able and willing to face an equal number of the enemy though they should have no other reward but the satisfaction of defeating them." These statements show that his zeal, bravery and patriotism for his country had not abated. In April, 1779, Gov. Chittenden sent Al- len to Cumberland County to quell a disturbance that had been created in opposition to a draft for men to re-enforce the military on the border. Col. William Patterson who had been commissioned by Gov. Clinton had raised a regiment of 500 men. Allen with an armed force promptly arrested Pat- terson and 43 others who were indicted for the part they took in resisting the draft. On June 12th 1779, Allen and Hon. Jonas Fay were directed to wait upon the General Council of America, and recommended to that Honorable Board to do and transact any business that concerned the State of Vermont. This was giving these two men very broad powers. In 1781, Allen was appointed by the Council, with others, a committee to make a. draft of the political affairs of the State for publi- cation.
Ethan Allen wrote the vindication of the op- position of the inhabitants of Vermont to the Gov- ernment of New York, and of their right to form
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an independent State, which was submitted to the impartial World. This was the most important document that was written concerning the contro- versy of Vermont with New York, and the efforts of the Green Mountain Boys to establish the ter- ritory called the New Hampshire Grants as an in- dependent jurisdiction. It is too long to be insert- ed here; it was a protest against the demand of New York to have Congress decide in their favor the controversy on an ex parte hearing; it set forth the fact that New York obtained the jurisdiction of the contested territory on an ex parte hearing before the King and Council in 1764, contrary to the minds of the settlers under New Hampshire, and that, therefore, such determination so obtained ought to be treated nul and void: that theconduct of New York in the matter was reprehensible; it set forth the measures that were taken by the Grants to modify the decision of the King and Council favorable to the rights of the settlers; it set forth the unwarrantable course of New York to dispossess the settlers of their lands by writs of ejectment and the resistance made by the in- habitants, and how the New Hampshire Grants, west of Connecticut River, declared themselves a free and independent State. Ethan Allen also wrote the reply to Gov. Clinton's proclamation that had been issued to induce the Grants, by threats and promises, to become subjects of New York. That proclamation referred to an act of outlawry that had been passed against Ethan Allen and other leading Green Mountain Bovs. Allen in his reply, said, "In the lifetime of this act
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I was called by the Yorkers an outlaw, and after- wards by the British, was called a rebel; and I humbly conceive that there was as much propriety in the one name as the other; and I verily believe, that the King's commissioners would now be as willing to pardon me for the sin of rebellion, provided I would, afterwards, be subject to Great Britain, as the Legislature of New York, provided I would be subject to New York; and I must confess I had as leave be a subject of the one as the other; and it is well known I have had great experience with them both." Before the proclamation of Gov. Clinton had been issued, New York had granted lands, to New York adherents, that had previously been granted by New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, which regranting created great alarm to the people who had taken their title from New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, for fear they would loose their lands and their improvements thereon. It had the effect to stir up strong opposition to New York authority. To allay the alarm and opposition to New York, Gov. Clinton stated in his proclamation, in sub- stance, the regrants by New York should be treat- ed as of no effect. It the grants ever had any val- idity they could not be nullified after people had purchased and took possession of their lands in good faith. If the grants made by New York were not valid, then their offers and overtures were but empty words. Allen exposed the hollowness of their offer in the following language: For the legis- lative authority of the State of New York, to pre- tend, as they do in their proclamation, to vacate
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any grants made by their own authority, in favor of any possession, and to confirm such possessions by nullifying and defeating their own grants, is the hight of folly and stupidity: For the lands being once granted, the property passeth to the grantee who is become the sole proprietor of the same; and he is as independent of that legislative authority which granted it, as any person may be supposed to be, who purchaseth a farm of land of me by deed of conveyance; and it is as much out of the power of that legislature to vacate a grant made by them, or the same authority, in favor of any pos- sessor, as it is out of my power to vacate my deed of conveyance in favor of some second person. It is contrary to common sense to suppose, that the property of the subject is at the arbitrary disposal of the legislature; if it was, they might give a grant to-day, and vacate it to-morrow, and so on, ad infinitum." The following shows Allen's activ- ity in the interest of Vermont. Samuel Minott of Brattleboro, the chairman of a committee of the adherents of New York, wrote to Gov. Clinton May 25th, 1779, that, "The Committee of Cum- berland (now Windham) County who are now met for the purpose of opposing the authority of the State of Vermont, take this opportunity to in- form your Exellency by Express, that Col. Ethan Allen with a number of Green Mountain Boys made his appearance in this County yesterday, well armed and equipped, for the purpose of re- ducing the loyal inhabitants of this County to submission to the authority of the State of Ver- mont, and made prisoners of Col. Eleazer Patter-
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son and all of the Militia officers, but one, and a number of other persons. Allen bids defiance to the State of New York, and he and the Green Mountain Boys declare they will establish their state by thesword, and fight all who shall attempt to oppose them. * Our situation is truly crit- ical and distressing, we, therefore, most humbly beseech your Excellency to take the most speedy and efficient measures for our relief; otherwise our persons and property must be at the disposal of Ethan Allen, who is more to be dreaded than death with all its terrors."
In October, 1780, Ethan Allen with the approv- al of the General Assembly entered into an agree- ment for Vermont, with Maj. Carleton for Gen. Haldimand, in pursuance of which the British force was withdrawn to Canada. On April 12th, 1781, Allen was chosen Brigadier-General again, which office he had previously resigned when inquiry was instituted by the General Assembly on charges made against him by William Hutchins and Simon Hathaway. Allen now declined to accept the of- fice, but with the promise that he would render any service desired of him at any time, although not formally commissioned : that promise he faith- fully observed.
The charges that were made against General Ethan Allen were infidelity to the country in con- nection with the Haldimand correspondence. Allen was very indignant, and while the charges were being read, he declared that the paper contained false and ignominious aspersions against him, and would hear no more of it, and went out of the house.
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After the Assembly had heard the testimony of Joseph Fay and Stephen R. Bradley, the charges were withdrawn, and the House by resolution ap- pointed a committee to thank Allen for his good services. The armistice entered into with the British by General Allen and others were not only approved of by the Vermont authorities but was for the benefit of both Vermont and the Confed- eracy. He betrayed nobody, but served his State. He was a party to a truce which protected Ver- mont and New York alike. These facts show no stain upon his character as an officer or patriot. Strictly speaking, he owed nothing to the Con- tinental cause, as he was not in the service of Con- gress, nor was he or his State recognized by it. Congress left Vermont standing alone. Vermont declared herself to be, and in fact was, an inde- pendent State; and as such had a right to protect herself from every foe, by any means allowable to a sovereign State. That was Allen's ground, and the ground assumed and asserted by Gov. Chitten- den. And as the result proved, it was the true ground. Vermont maintained her independence till she was admitted into the Union.
Allen's loyalty to the Confederacy as well as his magnanimous spirit was shown in his letter to Gov. Clinton of April 14, 1781, in which he tend- ered his own services, and the services of two other Vermont officers, to New York, to defend that State, against their cruel invaders. This also shows that Gov. Clinton's distrust of Allen's pat- riotism was unfounded. If we remember the former hostile relations between Allen and Clinton
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that letter must be deemed extraordinary. On the 11th day of January, 1782, Allen was appointed as one of the Committee to make a draught of the then state of the controversy, to be published. . On Sept. 2d, 1782, Allen was commissioned Brigadier General to raise and equip 250 men to march into the County of Windham as a posse comitatus for the assistance of the civil authority of that County.
The noted "Catamount-Tavern" house at Ben- nington was the home of Ethan Allen for several years from 1770, after he came to reside in the New Hampshire Grants, as Vermont was then called. And Allen was sojourning at that house in the spring of 1775. It was from the Councilroom of that house that he, on May 3d, 1775, is- sued the order mustering the Green Mountain Boys for the capture of Ticonderoga. It was here in 1778, that David Redding, a traitor and a spy, was tried, convicted and sentenced to be executed by the Green Mountain Boys. Redding was con- victed by a jury of six men, though he should have been tried by a jury of twelve men. And many were fearful that the gallows would be cheated of its prey by reason of that fact, and violence was apprehended. Whereupon Allen, who had just re- turned from his long English captivity, mounted a stump and waiving his hat, exlaimed, "attention the whole!" and then advised the multitude, to de- part, peaceably, to their habitations, and return on the day fixed by the Governor and Council, and with an oath said, "you shall see somebody hung at all events, for if Redding is not then hung, I will be hung myself." Redding was retried by a
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jury of twelve men and hung as predicted by Allen.
In October 1779, Allen was appointed as one of the Committee to form the outlines of the plan to be pursued by the State for defense against the neighboring States in consequence of the acts of Congress. Allen was determined that Vermont should become absolutely independent or be ad- mitted as a State of the American Union; and in no event be subject to New York. In May 1781, Dr. George Smith, who was one of the British commissioners to treat with Vermont, wrote to Gen. Haldimand that he heard Col. Allen declare, "that there was a north pole and a south pole, and should a thunder-gust come from the South, (Congress) they would shut the door opposite that point and open the door facing the North, (Canada).
Allen also wrote the "Concise refutation of the claims of New Hampshire and Massachusetts to the territory of Vermont." It was an able docu- ment but too long to be inserted here, and refer the reader to Page 223 of the II. Vol. of the "Gov- ernor and Council." Allen again showed his warm attachment to the interests of Vermont and his determination to stand by her against all enemies from whatever quarter they should come in his letter addressed to the President of Congress on March 9, 1781. After justifying his course in ar- ranging for an armistice and an exchange of prisoners with General Haldimand, said, "I am confident that Congress will not dispute my sin- cere attachment to the cause of my country, though I do not hesitate to say I am fully ground-
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ed in opinion that Vermont has an indubitable right to agree on terms of cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, provided the United States persist in rejecting her application for a Union with them: For Vermont of all people, would be the most miserable were she obliged to defend the independence of the United Claiming States, and they at the same time at full liberty to overturn and ruin the independence of Vermont. I am as resolutely determined to defend the independence of Vermont as Congress is that of the United States, and rather than fail, will return with hardy Green Mountain Boys into the desolate caverns of the mountains, and wage war with human na- ture at large." Reference has been made to the fact that Ethan Allen with other leading Ver- monters, took a hand in the correspondence and negotiations with the British in Canada for an armistice and exchange of prisoners for which he and the others were greatly censured. Allen on October 30, 1784, at the request of Gov. Chitten- den, addressed to the public a document from which the following extract is taken. "The Foreign Policy of this Government has been demonstrated to be good in the final consequences of it, and the State is in good and respectable condition at pres- ent. It only remains that our courts of equity and law do impartial, and that our citizens sup- port the honor and dignity of our laws and unit- edly combine to support our liberty and inde- pendency."
In 1787, some unjust suspicions had been in- dulged in that Allen was in some way aiding
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Shays's rebellion in Massachusetts. On the 3d of May, 1787, Ethan Allen wrote to Col. Ben- jamin Simmons of Mass., stating that that State "might depend upon the Vermont Government to aid in quelling the rebellion. Allen also wrote to the Governor of Mass., assuring him that no asylum would be given in the State of Vermont to the insurgents of the State of Mass." In Decem- ber 1780, Ethan Allen applied to Gov. Trumbull of Connecticut in behalf of Vermont, for powder with which to ward off an expected invasion from Canada and the Governor ordered two tons of powder to be sent to the Green Mountain Boys from the powder mill of Elderkin and Wales of that State. This fact shows that while Allen and . others in Vermont, from October 1780, until 1783, were trying to protect the State from the British army in Canada by diplomacy, they also relied upon the effects of powder. And they had it on hand for use.
Ethan Allen died in Burlington, Vt., February 12th, A. D. 1789, and was buried near the site of his monument in Green Mountain Cemetery. No portrait of Allen has ever been found. Allen was commissioned as a Brigadier-General by Vermont and engaged in the Revolutionary war, but was in that sense only a Brigadier-General in the Ameri- can Army. The several statues of him are unlike and are said not to be perfect representations. The statues at Montpelier, Vt., and at the national capital at Washington, D. C., were produced by the same sculptor. It was a long time after the first move was made to erect a monument to his
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memory before the efforts were crowned with suc- cess. At Montpelier in Council on October 17th, 1831, it was resolved that a committee be ap- pointed to inquire into the expediency of making an appropriation for the purpose of erecting a monument to the memory of Ethan Allen, late Brigadier-General in the American Army, and re- port by bill or otherwise.
The Legislature November 14th, 1855, ap- propriated a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars to erect a monument at the burial place of Ethan Allen, but it was finally placed at the State House at Montpelier. The preamble to the act appropriating the money, was as follows: viz, "Whereas, the courage, the perseverance, the sagacity, and the virtue of Ethan Allen zealously and constantly exercised in upholding the rights and liberties of the people of the New Hampshire Grants, and his successful efforts in establishing the sovereignty of the State of Vermont, against the active opposition of New Hampshire and New York, the wavering neutrality of the Federal gov- ernment, and the artful overtures of the agents of the British Crown, have justly rendered his name the foremost, in the early history of this State, and entitle it to the grateful and reverent remem- brance of the citizens thereof." The monument and statue erected at the place of his burial were completed, unveiled, and presented July 4th, 1873, with appropriate exercises. The monument is of Barre granite. The base of the pedestal is eight feet square on the ground and consists of two steps of granite, on which rests a die of solid
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