USA > Vermont > Early history of Vermont, Vol. II > Part 24
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On complaint made to General Washington and through him to Congress, Congress by reso- lution ordered Knowlton and Wells to be ar- rested, but they escaped, it was thought, through the aid of Ethan and Ira Allen. On November 16, 1783, a party of a dozen adherents to New York arrested Knowlton, ostensibly on account of said
387
OF VERMONT.
order, but let him go after taking him over the Vermont line into Massachusetts.
He represented Newfane in the General Assem- bly in 1784 to 1789, excepting the year of 1787, for five years; he was a member of the Council from October 1790, to October 1801, eleven years, and a member of the Convention of 1793; Judge of Windham County Court from 1787 to Decem- ber 1794, and in 1802, fifteen years, and Judge of the Supreme Court in 1786; he was represented as a leading character, and a man of great ambi- tion and enterprise, but of few words, though a man of the keenest perception.
DOCTOR JONATHAN ARNOLD was born in Provi- dence, R. I., December 14, 1741; he was a member of the Assembly of that State in 1776, and the au- thor of the act of that State, repealing the law re- quiring the oath of allegiance to the mother coun- try, and their member of the Continental Con- gress from 1782 to 1784, and surgeon in the Rev- olutionary Army. After the War he removed to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and was its first Town Clerk in 1790, and was one of the Governor's Council at the time of his death; he was one of the Judges of Orange County from 1793, until his death February 1, 1789. He had two sons, Jo- siah Lyndon and Lemuel Hastings, the first born in Providence, R. I., and the other at St. Johns- bury. It was said of Dr. Arnold that he was
"Slave to no sect, who takes no private road, But looks thro' Nature up to Nature's God- And knows where Faith, Law, Morals all began, All end-in Love of God, and Love of Man."
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EARLY HISTORY
COLONEL EBENEZER CRAFTS came from Stur- bridge, Massachusetts, and was a graduate of Yale College in 1759; he removed to Vermont in 1791, and died in 1810. He was one of the gran- tees of Minden (now Craftsbury), and was the father of Governor Samuel.C. Crafts.
JOSEPH TYLER Was a patriot from the opening of the Revolutionary War. He came from Upton, Massachusetts, and commenced the first settle- ment in Townshend, 1761; he was first Major of a regiment of minute-men. He was a delegate for Townshend in Cumberland County, and Commit- tee of Safety from June 1776, to June 1777, when the people of his town instructed him not to act in that capacity under the new Constitution of New York, as their town did "not belong to the juris- diction of that State." It does not appear as he acted longer in the interest of New York. He was appointed by the Westminster Convention one of a committee to obtain signatures in Cumberland and Gloucester Counties pledging the signers to opposition to Great Britain. In February 1781, he was made a member of the Vermont Board of War. He represented Townshend in the General Assembly in 1783 and 1784.
CAPTAIN JOHN STARK of Pawlet came from New Hampshire previous to 1770, and was a cousin of General John Stark, and commanded a company in the Battle of Bennington. He was Judge of Bennington County Court, Rutland shire, from March 1778, to December 1779, and was one of the grantees of the "Two Heroes" which included Grand Isle; he removed to Grand
389
OF VERMONT.
Isle about the year 1800, and soon after was killed by a kick of a horse. He had one son Sam- uel and twelve daughters. His son Samuel re- moved to Oswego County, New York, and had ten daughters before he left Vermont.
SAMUEL KNIGHT came first to Brattleboro and later to Guilford, and was commissioned attorney in "His Majesty's Court of Record" in Cumber- land County June 23, 1772, and appointed by New York commissioner to administer oaths of of- fice; his profession brought him to Westminster at the time of the massacre and the coroner's jury named him among the murderers of William French, but he was not personally engaged in the assault, and was not arrested with others of the Tory party; he left the place and did not return to Brattleboro until March 1776.
He took no active part in the Revolutionary struggle, but strenuously favored New York in the controversy with Vermont down to 1778. He finally became satisfied that New York was not going to succeed and submitted to Vermont au- thority and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in the latter State; he was Judge of Windham County Court four years; Judge of the Supreme Court from 1789 to 1793, and represented Brat- tleboro in 1781 to 1785, inclusive. He was a man of great abilities and "an honest man, the noblest work of God."
NOAH SABIN came to Putney in 1768, and was its first Town Clerk, 1770. In April 1772, he was appointed by New York, Judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas and Justice of the Peace
:
390
EARLY HISTORY
for Cumberland County, and was one of the Judges at the time of the Westminster massacre, and was earnest to have the Court go on, and dis- countenanced all opposition of the people to the Court and the royal authority in the County ; he therefore was very unpopular with the Whigs, and for a while his life was in danger; he was de- nounced as a murderer because of his official con- nection with the Westminster affair, and arrested by the Committee of Safety, and confined to his farm on the penalty of death at the hand of any man who should find him outside of its limits.
On December 7, 1778, the church at Putney re- fused to receive him to the communion on account of his political opinions, but in April 1784, he was admitted to the communion after he submitted to Vermont, and was also appointed Judge of Pro- bate; he was also Judge of Probate from October 1786, to October 1801. He died March 10, 1811, in his 96th year. He was said to be a conscien- tious man.
GENERAL JOHN STRONG was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, in 1738, and settled in Addison in 1766; he was captured by a party of British and Indians, but was paroled by General Frazer. He went to Dorset and lived there with his family till 1783, when he returned to Addison. He repre- sented Dorset from 1779 to 1783, and Addison from 1784 until 1787. He was Assistant Judge for Bennington County in 1781 and 1782, and Chief Judge for Addison County from 1785 until 1801; he was Probate Judge for Addison County from 1786 to 1802, and member of the Council
391
OF VERMONT.
from 1786 until 1803, and also a delegate in the Convention of 1791. His death occurred in June 1816.
COLONEL WILLIAM WILLIAMS came from North- boro, Massachusetts, to Marlboro, Vermont, in 1769, and moved to Wilmington previous to 1777; he represented Wilmington in the Conven- tion at Windsor which adopted the Constitution, and was appointed by that Convention to pro- cure arms for the State. He served in the "French War" which ended in the treaty of peace signed at Paris February 10, 1763; in June 1775, he of- fered his services to New York with Benjamin Wait and others to raise men in defense of Cum- berland County against "regulars, Roman Catho- lics and savages at the northward;" he distin- guished himself as commander of a regiment at the Battle of Bennington.
He was representative of Wilmington in the General Assembly from October 1779, to October 1781. In 1782, he was again a resident of Marl- boro, and after the close of the Revolutionary War removed to Lower Canada where he died in 1823. B. H. Hall says, "as an officer he was brave, energetic, skillful and humane; as a citizen, active, enterprising and progressive; he was held in high estimation by the inhabitants of the var- ious towns in which he dwelt, and though of a wandering disposition he could easily accommo- date himself to any circumstances in which he might be placed."
JUDGE ISRAEL SMITH settled in Thetford in 1766, and was an active man in town and county
392
EARLY HISTORY
affairs and favorable for national independence. He represented the town many years in the Gen- eral Assembly, and held the office of Judge of Pro- bate and County Judge, first Assistant Judge from 1786 to 1793, and Chief Judge from 1793 to 1797. He held offices under New York from 1770 to 1777.
COLONEL NATHANIEL BRUSH came to Benning- ton about 1775, and commanded the militia of that town in the Battle of Bennington ; he served as Judge of Probate in 1781, and from 1787 to 1794, and as Clerk of the Courts from 1787 to 1803.
AMOS FASSETT was a son of Deacon John Fassett of Bennington and brother of Hon. John Fassett, Jr. He removed to Cambridge in 1784, with Noah Chittenden, and was Assistant Judge for several years.
CAPTAIN NEHEMIAH LOVEWELL was known as a famous fighter and served as Captain in Ver- mont in 1780 to 1782; he was one of the grantees of Goshen and represented Corinth in 1783.
BENJAMIN HICKOCK was a delegate for Hub- bardton in the Convention at Dorset July 24, 1776; he was taken prisoner with others at Hub- bardton July 6, 1777, by a party of Indians and Tories under Captain Justus Sherwood, but was released.
SETH SMITH of Brattleboro was an agent of the adherents to New York in Windham County, and in that capacity visited Governor Clinton who sent him to represent Vermont matters in Con- gress : he did it so unfavorably that the grand
393
OF VERMONT.
jury of the County indicted him for attempting to betray the State "into the hands of a foreign power."
JOHN ARMS was one of the first settlers of Brat- tleboro; held several offices under New York from 1766 until 1770. He joined the enemy, but re- pented and returned to Vermont and was par- doned on taking the oath of allegiance to Ver- mont. He wrote a political account of the West- minster massacre.
STEPHEN ROW BRADLEY LL. D., was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, February 20, 1754, and the son of Moses and Mary (Row) Bradley, and grandson of Stephen Bradley of New Haven, Con- necticut, who served under Oliver Cromwell. The grandson, Stephen R., graduated at Yale College in July 1775; he had considerable military spirit, and was aid-de-camp to General David Worcester, and present when that General was slain at Dan- bury in April 1777. He studied law under Tap- ping Reeve at Litchfield, Connecticut. His first appearance in Vermont was at Westminster May 26, 1779, when he was admitted to the bar of this State and appointed its Clerk; he was ap- pointed on October 22, 1779, as one of the agents to present the case of the controversy of Vermont to Congress.
The "Vermont's Appeal to the Candid and Im- partial World" was written by him-an able pre- sentation of the right of Vermont to become an in- dependent State. In June 1780, he was appointed State's Attorney for Cumberland County. He represented Westminster in the General Assembly
394
EARLY ' HISTORY
in 1780, 1781, 1784, 1785, 1788, 1790 and 1800, and Clerk of the House in 1778, and in 1785 its Speaker. From March 1781, to March 1791, he was Register of Probate for Windham County, and in 1783, a Judge of the County Court and in 1788, a Judge of the Supreme Court; he was one of the commissioners appointed in October 1789, to settle the controversy with New York, and a delegate in the State Convention of 1791, which adopted the Constitution of the United States, and when the State was admitted into the Union he was elected the first United States Senator for the eastern side of the State and held that office until March 1795.
He again was elected and held the office from March 1801, to March 1813. He did honor to himself and to the State in all his services for the independence of the State and as Senator of the United States. He received five elections as Presi- dent of the Senate, and was President of the Con- vention of Republican members of Congress and as such January 19, 1808, summoned the Con- vention of members which met and nominated Madison for President. He was opposed to the War with Great Britain, and counselled Madison against it, and was so dissatisfied with the na- tional policy, he at the close of his term in 1813, withdrew from public life.
He was a lawyer of distinguished abilities, and a good orator; he had an inexhaustible flow of wit, and a great amount of unaffected urbanity, and had a large acquaintance with mankind, and an extensive range of historical knowledge.
395
OF VERMONT.
He was the author of that part of the existing Constitution of the United States which requires that the Vice-President, like the President, shall be chosen by a majority of the electoral votes. In 1818, he removed from Westminster to Walpole, New Hampshire, where he resided till he died, De- cember 9, 1830.
GENERAL WILLIAM EATON, a citizen of Vermont for some years, deserves an honorable mention. He was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, Febru- ary 23, 1764, entered the Continental Army at the age of 16, and came out of the Army in 1783, with the rank of sergeant; he entered Dartmouth College and graduated in 1790, having spent his vacations in Vermont as school teacher. From 1791 to 1793, he was Clerk of the Vermont House, and in 1792, he obtained a commission as Captain in the United States Army which he held till 1797, when he was appointed consul to Tu- nis where he arrived in March 1799.
He concerted with Hamet Caramelli, the lawful Chief of Tripoli, then in exile, an expedition against the usurping Chief, which was done on the authority of the United States, whose fleet was to co-operate. In fifty days he crossed the Lybian Desert with an army of 500 men, and en- camped before Derne, the capital of the richest province of Tripoli, April 26, 1805. This town contained a population of 15,000 and had strong defenses.
Eaton increased his force to 2,500 men by the addition of Arabs, and with the co-operation of three United States frigates captured the place in
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EARLY HISTORY
two hours, and soon opened his way to the gates of Tripoli. Peace was soon declared, that put an end to further proceedings. After his return to the United States Aaron Burr made an ineffectual endeavor to enlist him in his conspiracy. He was a witness for the government in the trial of Burr. Eaton died at Brimfield, Massachusetts, June 1, 1811.
NOAH CHITTENDEN was the oldest son of Gov- ernor Thomas Chittenden and born in Salisbury, Connecticut, in 1753; he came to Vermont with his father in 1784, and removed to Cambridge; and previous to 1796, to Jericho. He represented Jericho in 1796, and from 1812 to 1815, and was Sheriff of Addison County in 1785, when it ex- tended to Canada line, and of Chittenden County from 1787 to 1790; he was Assistant Judge of Chittenden County Court in 1804 until 1811; and Judge of Probate in 1811; he was Councillor from 1801 till 1812. He married a daughter of Hon. John Fassett and had a son Thomas and a daughter Hannah; Hannah married Hon. Tru- man Galusha of Jericho.
DR. SAMUEL ADAMS came from Newton, Connec- ticut, and settled in Arlington and held his land under New Hampshire title. He dissented in 1774, from the policy of the Conventions of the Green Mountain Boys, and urged grantees under New Hampshire to purchase New York titles. This was very offensive to the opponents of New York and they advised him to keep silent. This request he resented, armed himself and threatened to silence any man who interfered with him.
397
OF VERMONT. .
For this he was arrested, tried and convicted as any enemy and punished by being hoisted up to the Catamount sign-post, and suspended there for two hours, to his own chagrin and much merri- ment of the beholders. This had a salutary effect on the doctor, but in 1777, he became a violent Tory and raised a company in Arlington, Man- chester and the neighborhood to co-operate with Burgoyne. On one occasion he killed a Whig townsman and fled to Canada. His property was confiscated and his family sent within the en- emy's lines in 1778, and was proscribed by the act of February 26, 1779.
DR. REUBEN JONES of Rockingham, afterwards of Chester, was an ardent Whig of Cumberland County, and very active in stirring up the people to arrest the loyal Court after the Westminster massacre, riding express, hatless to Dummerston for that purpose. He was an ardent supporter of the independence of Vermont, serving effeciently in each Convention, beginning with that of Septem- ber 25, 1776, and officiating as Secretary in some of them.
He represented Rockingham four years, and Chester one year, in the General Assembly. In his last years he was embarrassed by poverty and driven to and fro between Vermont and New Hampshire to escape jail. On one occasion while under arrest the popular sympathy was so strong for him as to force his release, for which he and two friends were indicted in Windsor County Court.
CAPTAIN AZARIAH WRIGHT in 1770, was Cap-
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EARLY HISTORY
tain of militia in Westminster and a leading Whig in 1774, and in March 1775, was efficient with his company in arresting the leaders of the Court party and dispersing their adherents at the West- minster massacre. In 1778, he with 12 men went to Quebec; and in 1779, was greatly offended be- cause Thomas Chandler, Jr., one of the said Court party was Speaker of the House, and wrote two queer letters to the Governor and Council and Assembly, which caused the resignation of Chandler.
GEORGE EARL was one of the jury of inquest to inquire into the death of William French, which sat at Westminster March 15, 1775, and was Captain of the Chester company of militia August 15, 1775; he was a member for Chester of the Cumberland County Committee of Safety in 1776, in which capacity he united with six other mem- bers November 7, 1776, in a protest against fur- ther proceedings as a Committee, because the action of the majority was "repugnant to the re- solves of the Continental Congress." The matter was compromised and the protestants resumed their seats, but their protest stands as proof of their fidelity as patriots.
NATHAN CANFIELD was a prominent man in Ar- lington. He was a Tory and as such was ordered to be confined in jail at Litchfield, Connecticut, but he was permitted to remain at his home on his friends giving bonds that he would report to the Council at any time. Notwithstanding his Tory politics he was on excellent terms with Ethan Allen, Warner. Baker, and other Whigs.
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OF VERMONT.
He represented Arlington in the General Assembly in 1786.
COLONEL THOMAS LEE of Rutland was Captain in Colonel Warner's regiment and presided at a court martial at Fort Ranger in 1779, for the trial of Major Hilkiah Grout; he was also Cap- tain in Colonel Gideon Warner's regiment in the Vermont militia in 1780. He headed the at- tempted insurrection in Rutland County in No- vember 1786.
COLONEL STEPHEN PEARL in 1780, was elected a member of the Board of War and was then a resident of Pawlet. In November 1786, he com- manded the Rutland County militia who put down the insurrection at that time. He shortly after removed to South Hero and from thence to Burlington, of which town he was a popular citi- zen and held various town and county offices.
MAJOR-GENERAL ROGER ENOS entered the Con- tinental Army at the opening of the Revolution- ary War, and was in the expedition of Benedict Arnold through the forest of Maine to Quebec in the autumn of 1775 ; he commanded therear divis- ion of eleven hundred men. The difficulties were so great, a council of war was held, and against the judgement and advice of Enos, Arnold deter- mined to go on and Enos was commanded to bring up his strongest men and leave the sick and feeble to return. Enos took the responsibility on himself and returned with his whole command. At first he was harshly censured, but later his con- duct was excused under the circumstances of the case.
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EARLY HISTORY
General Enos first appeared in Vermont history in March 1780, when the town of Enosburgh was granted to him and his associates. For a time he was commander of all the Vermont troops in service; he was one among the few cog- nizant of the Haldimand Correspondence, and governed his military movements accordingly. His residence was in Hartland until after 1791; he represented that town in the General Assembly a number of years between 1782 to 1790. The closing years of his life were spent with his daugh- ter, Mrs. Ira Allen, in Colchester. where he died October 6, 180S, in the 73d year of his age.
REV. LEWIS. BEBEE lived in Arlington previous to 1787, and from June 14, 1787, till May 6, 1791, was pastor of the Congregational Church in Pawlet. He was a member of the first Council of Censors.
REV. ELIJAH SILL came from New Fairfield, Connecticut, and organized the Congregational Church in Dorset September 22, 1784, and was its pastor from that time until 1791.
COLONEL SETH WARNER was born in Wood- bury, (then Roxbury) Connecticut, May 17, 1743, and died at Roxbury parish in Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, December 26, 1784; his remains were interred with the honors of war which were justly due to his merits-the funeral sermon was preached from the text, "How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished." The following is on the tablet placed on his grave:
"Triumphant leader at our armnies' head,
Whose martial glory struck a panic dread.
Thy warlike deeds engraven on this stone, Tell future ages what a hero's done.
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OF VERMONT.
Full sixteen battles he did fight, For to procure his country's right, Oh! this brave hero, he did fall By death. who ever conquers all. When this you see remember me."
He came to Bennington to reside in January 1765, and in 1771, was elected by a convention Captain of the Green Mountain Boys, of whom Ethan Allen was commander, whose special duties were to protect the New Hampshire grantees from the influence and action of the New York author- ities, and in this business he was zealous and thorough, but his zeal was tempered with wis- dom. On May 10, 1775, he commanded the party that captured the fort at Crown Point; he was elected Lieutenant-Colonel commandant of the regiment of Green Mountain Boys to serve in the Continental Army, and in 1776, he raised a regiment and served efficiently in Canada, and on July 5, 1776, he was appointed Colonel by Con- gress and raised still another regiment that he commanded through the war; he was always re- lied on as a safe man.
He was assigned to bring up the rear in the disastrous retreat from Canada in the spring of 1776, and again in July of the same year in St. Clair's retreat from Ticonderoga, and fought the bloody battle on the stubbornly contested field of Hubbardton. Warner with the remnant of his regiment saved at Hubbardton was present at the Battle of Bennington and aided General Stark in planning the attack. Stark in his official ac- count of the battle said "Warner's superior skill in the action was a great service to me."
27
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EARLY HISTORY
Colonel Warner was of noble personal appear- ance, not less than six feet and two inches in height, thin in flesh, but of great bodily strength ; he was free from affectation, social, pleasing, and dignified. The following lines, concerning him, were published in the Vermont Gazette of January 17, 1785, viz :
"True to his trust, and worthy of command, He fought the battles of an injur'd land, Freedom exulting own'd her patriot son, And placed him on her list with Washington ; There with distinguished luster Warner shone, In all the list his peer was scarcely known ; But conquering death has laid the hero low, His conquests ended, and reliev'd his woe. Peace to his shade, let grateful thousands say, Who taught the road to fame, and led the way."
CHAPTER XXI.
REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, DIS- TRICT JUDGES AND LIEUTENANT- GOVERNORS.
The lists of the Representatives of Vermont in the Congress of the United States, United States District Judges, and Lieutenant-Governors of the State to the present time are as follows, viz:
Names of
Representatives.
Commencement of Service. .
Expiration of Service.
Nathaniel Niles
Dec.
1791 March 3,1795
Israel Smith
1791
" 1797
Daniel Buck
7.1795
" 1797
Mathew Lyon
May 15,1797
" 1801
Lewis R. Morris
66
" 1797
" 1803
Israel Smith
Dec. 7,1801
" 1803
William Chamberlin Oct. 17,1803
" 1805
Martin Chittenden
..
" 1803
" 1813
James Elliot
" 1803
66 " 1809
Gideon Olin
" 1803
" 1807
James Fisk
Dec.
2,1805
66 " 1809
James Witherill 1
Oct. 26,1807 April 25,1808
Samuel Shaw Nov. 7,1808 March 3, 1813
William Chamberlin May 22, 1809 May
1,1810
Jonathan H. Hubbard "
" 1809
" 1810
James Fisk
Dec. 3,1810 March 3,1815
William Strong
" 1810
" 1815
William C. Bradley May 24, 1813
" 1815
(403)
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EARLY HISTORY
Ezra Butler
May 24, 1813
" 1815
Richard Skinner
" 1813
" 1815
Charles Rich
" 1813
.. " 1815
Daniel Chipman
Dec. 4,1815
" 1817
Luther Jewett
" 1815
.6
" 1817
Chauncey Langdon
66
" 1815
" 1817
Asa Lyon
66
" 1815
" 1817
Charles Marsh
" 1815
" 1817
John Noyes
" 1815
" 1817
Heman Allen 2
Dec. 1,1817
* 1819
(of Colchester)
Samuel C. Crafts
" 1817
1825
William Hunter
" 1817 March 3,1819
Orsamus C. Merrill 3 «
" 1817 Jan. 13,1820
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