USA > Vermont > Early history of Vermont, Vol. III > Part 5
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temple of freedom ever stand a lesson to oppres- sors, an example to the oppressed and a sanct- uary for the rights of mankind! and may these happy United States attain that complete splendor and prosperity which will illustrate the blessings of their government, and for ages to come rejoice the departed souls of its founders." Such was the man Vermont and all America delighted to honor.
James Monroe, the sixth President of the United States, held the office of President for two terms, from 1817 to 1825; the second war with Great Britain had come to an end, the fierce party spirit between the Democrats and Whigs, that had run high during the administration of Andrew Jack- son and into the administration of James Madi- son, had subsided, and the friendly feelings during the administration of James Monroe were so evi- dent it was called an era of good feeling. James Monroe soon after the close of the Revolutionary War before he became President of the United States visited Vermont, but his visit at that time did not attract the wide attention as at the time he made his second visit, when he officially stood at the head of the nation. He entered Vermont at Norwich, July 22, 1817, and passed through the · town and viewed the copperas works in Strafford, and then back to Norwich to Curtis's Hotel, where he received a hearty welcome to the State and where an address was delivered in part as follows :
"With the liveliest emotions of duty we meet, for the first time, a Chief Magistrate of the Union within our territory. An emulation to pay re- spectful attention to the ruler of our nation, ap-
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pointed by our own choice, under a constitution so eminently calculated for individual security, for individual interests, and national happiness ; a. spontaneous burst of joy among all classes of our citizens, at the visit of the President of the United States, are the best pledges a free people can pre- sent to a Chief Magistrate, of their contentment with the laws, and the operation of them in the government under the constitution, and their con- fidence in the administration."
After a verbal reply by the President, he and his suite, with a number of other gentlemen, partook of a dinner that had been specially prepared, and then was introduced to a large circle of ladies and children of the neighborhood. On the same day he left for Windsor, and on his arrival there, the bells began a joyous ring, and the heavy Artillery in- termingled its loud peals, and the American flags displayed, and party spirit, that malignant pas- sion which had so long been the bane of the United States, was dispelled from the gathered thousands. The President was also received by the young ladies of the village. A superb dinner was prepar- ed. At Pettes' Hotel, Captain Josiah Dunham, a Federalist, addressed the President in part as fol- lows :-
"The State of Vermont, Sir, after having alone, and successfully, borne a signal share in the heat and burden of our revolutionary labors, was the first to appreciate the importance of our federal compact, and to solicit admission into the national union. Under that compact, Sir, in the sanctuary of that union, we are free-we are protected-we
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are flourishing and happy. Our mountains echo with the cheerful voice of industry and security ; our valleys smile with abundance and peace. The blessings are dear to our hearts. We habitually cherish them as inseparable from our existence. In their defence, Sir, we have bled; and we are still ready, should our country call, to bleed again.
In this tour, undertaken through a remote sec- tion of the Union, for the additional security of our growing republic, you have an opportunity to be- come intimately acquainted with our local feelings -our local interests-our republican spirit-but above all, our unshaken attachment to our nat- ional government, and our national institutions.
We feel ourselves flattered by this first visit from the chief magistrate of our nation, and in behold- ing your face, Sir, we behold a new pledge for the continuance of our invaluable blessings."
The President in his reply said :-
"FELLOW CITIZENS-I have approached the State of Vermont with peculiar sensibility. On a former visit, immediately after the Revolutionary War, I left it a wilderness, and I now find it bloom- ing with luxuriant promise of wealth and happi- ness, to a numerous population. A brave and free people will never abandon the defence of their country. The patriotism of Vermont has been re- lied on in times of peril; and the just expectation of their virtue was honorably sustained. I shall ever rely on their wisdom in the councils of the nation, as on their courage in the field."
In a reply to an address to him by the young ladies of the Windsor Female Academy he said :--
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" YOUNG LADIES-I beg you to be assured, that no attention which I have received in the course of my route, has afforded me greater satisfaction, than that by which I have been honored by the Young Ladies of the Female Academy of Windsor. I take a deep interest as a parent and citizen, in the suc- cess of female education, and have been delighted, wherever I have been, to witness the attention paid to it. That you may be distinguished for your graceful and useful acquirements, and for every amiable virtue, is the object of my sincere de- sire. Accept my best wishes for your happiness."
On their way from Windsor to Woodstock the President and his suite was met on the 23d of July by a cavalcade of citizens and a detachment of cavalry which escorted him to Woodstock village where he was received by the citizens with such demonstrations of regard as the spontaneous offering of a free people could give to a respected Chief Magistrate. Hon. Titus Hutchinson gave an appropriate address of welcome. The Presi- dent in his reply, said, he was happy to visit the State of Vermont and to meet the citizens of Wood- stock; that the demonstrations made in the pro- gress of his journey, he was disposed to receive as a mark of respect to the office of President than a personal compliment.
The President and his suite proceeded northward through Royalton and other towns and entered the village of Montpelier the 24th of July. He was met in Berlin by two companies of cavalry and large number of prominent citizens and escorted by them to the village, and conducted to the State
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House under a national salute from the Washing- ton Artillery. In front of the State House, between three and four hundred pupils, both boys and girls, of the Academy and the members of the village schools, dressed in neat uniform, each tastefully decorated with garlands from the field of nature, were arranged in two lines facing each other in perfect order. The President walked through the assemblage with uncovered head bowing as he passed, entered the State House under a fanciful arch of evergreens, emblematic of the duration of our liberties; on one side of the arch were these words, "July 4, 1776," and on the other side, "Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776." James Fisk who had been a member of Congress, who afterwards was United States Senator from Vermont and who was a personal and political friend of the President, de- livered the following address of welcome:
"SIR-The citizens of Montpelier and its vicinity, have directed their Committee to present you their respectful salutations and bid you a cordial wel- come.
"The infancy of our settlement places our pro- gress in the arts and sciences something behind most of our sister States; but we shall not be denied some claim to a share of that ardent love of liberty, and the Rights of Man, that attach- ment to the honor and interests of our country, which now so distinguish the American character; while the fields of Hubbardton, the heights of Wal- loomsack, and the plains of Plattsburgh, are ad- mitted to witness in our favor.
"Many of those, we now represent, ventured
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their lives in the Revolutionary contest; and per- mit us, sir, to say, the value of this opportunity is greatly enhanced, by the consideration, that we now tender our respects to one who shared in all the hardships and dangers of that eventful period, which gave liberty and independence to our country : nor are we unmindful that from that period until now, every public act of your life evinces an unalterable attachment to the principles for which you then contended.
"With such pledges, we feel an unlimited confi- dence, that should your measures fulfil your in- tentions, your administration, under the guidance of Divine Providence, will be as prosperous and happy as its commencement is tranquil and prom- ising; and that the honor, the rights and interests of the nation will pass from your hands unim- paired."
The President responded as follows :-
"FELLOW CITIZENS-The kind reception which your ardent attachment to the civil and religious institutions of our country have prompted you to give me, is the more grateful, because from citizens, who, having bled in their defence, can never be un- mindful of their value.
"Though you do not claim pre-eminent distinc- tion in the arts and sciences, yet your highly re- spectable colleges and schools plainly evince, that in the march of enterprise and industry through the place which recently was a wilderness, the sciences and the arts do not linger far in the rear.
"Your confidence in my sincere determination, to administer the government on national principles,
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is greatfully acknowledged; and so far as the pres- ervation of the honor, the rights, and interests of the nation unimpaired, may depend upon me, you · may rely upon my best efforts to accomplish this great and desirable object."
The President then visited the schools in the Representative Room; the scholars received him by rising, and by Mr. Hill the Preceptor of the Academy, saying, "I present to your Excellency, the finest blossoms and fairest flowers that our climate produces," to which the President replied, "They are the finest that nature can produce." The President was then escorted to the dwelling of Wyllys I. Cadwell, Esq., where he partook of a collation, and soon after took leave of the com- mittee of arrangements, ascended his carriage and resumed his journey. It was said by a resident citizen of Montpelier, that it was indeed an ani- mating and affecting scene to behold the venerable head of the Union, saluted by the pride of their parents and the hope of their country, while beauty sparkeled from every countenance, and tears of parented affection rolled down the cheek of many an aged sire.
The President reached Burlington on the even- ing of July 24th. He was met at Williston by a large number of citizens from Burlington with a large detachment of cavalry commanded by Major Brinsmaid and escorted to town. The President's arrival at Burlington was announced by a national salute from the Battery, followed by another fired from one of the United States galleys, lying in the harbor; the bells of the churches were rung, and
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every one seemed delighted to honer the Chief Magistrate of our country. Two hundred and twenty children from the Academy were paraded on an eminence and saluted the President as he passed. Nothing could exceed the interest that this band of children excited.
On the President's arrival at his quarters, Hon. Daniel Farrand, chairman of the Committee of arrangement, congratulated him on his safe ar- rival at Burlington and within that part of the State of Vermont, and that the people were glad of the opportunity afforded to assure him of a cordial reception, and to testify to him the high sense they entertained of his private worth, and to discharge the pleasing task of tendering to the Chief Magistrate of our country the respect due to his exalted station. Mr. Farrand, in his address referred to Vermont, as placed upon the frontier of the United States in situations assailable by the sudden irruptions of an invading foe, the dangers to which we may be exposed, that would give ad- ditional value to any precautionary measures of defense. And in course of his address said :-
"We rejoice that the noise of war is lost in the busy arts of peace, that the citizen is left to the honest pursuits of industry and enterprise, under a confidence that his interest is identified with that of the public. But you will not believe us alarmed by idle fears, when we assure you that the recent events on this frontier have shown us, that what- ever we hold dear may be jeopardized by the chances of war. The citizens of Vermont will not soon for- get the memorable eleventh of September 1814,
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nor fail to appreciate the worth of those who so valiantly defended their country's flag, and secured to themselves immortal glory. The anxious solici- tude of that awful but glorious day, has forcibly impressed upon our minds the truth of the position that peace is the time to prepare for war.
We are pleased to know that this subject has already engaged your attention. From a personal inspection of the various parts of our extended re- public you will be enabled the better to ascertain its vulnerable points and advise to measures of future security. Nor is this subject an uninterest- ing one. The patriot, whose liberal soul is ani- mated by the prospect of ameliorating the condi- tion of his fellowmen, here finds an object com- mensurate to his desires, and while he generously devotes himself to the welfare of his country, he is sustained by a consciousness that his exertions have promoted its glory. Nature also seems to have designated our beloved country as the scene of no ordinary exertions. She has here scattered her gifts with a munificent hand and points the way to high and ennobling pursuits. The vast extent of our territory, the grandeur of its scenery, its mountains, its rivers, its inland seas, together with the progress of population and improvement, combine to render it an object of sublime contem- plation.
"The alacrity and zeal with which you have en- gaged in the military and naval defences of our country, is an additional pledge of your honorable motives and patriotic wishes.
"That your labor may be crowned with abund-
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ant success, and that you may long live to reap the rich reward of a life well spent in the service of your country is our most earnest wish."
To which address, the President made a most happy and dignified reply ; viz :-
"FELLOW CITIZENS,-In entering the town of Burlington, I find myself in view of a scene, asso- ciated in every bosom with the dearest interests and highest honor of the country. The eventful action on your lake and its invaded shores, can never be contemplated without the deepest emo- tion. It bound the union by stronger ties, if pos- sible, than ever. It filled every breast with confi- dence in our arms, and aroused the spirit of the country. The proximity of those scenes shall ani- mate your children to emulate the honorable ex- ample of their fathers. They too shall realize, that in the hour of peril, their country shall never want defenders, resolute and brave as their ancestors, and firm as the mountains, that gave them birth.
"Truly, no nation has richer treasures of civil or religious liberty to defend. No stronger ties to united and to enlightened and extended patriotism. That a just sense of these truths pervades the community, is evinced in the respect, which you tender to the office of the Chief Magistrate of the country in my person.
"The important objects of my tour become the more interesting, as I find the frontier more expos- ed. You may feel assured that the Government will not withold any practicable measures for the security of your town, nor have I ever doubted that preparation for defence in time of peace, would ever prove the best economy in war.
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"If in pursuing these important objects and ad- ministering the government upon principles con- sonant with the benign spirit of our constitution, my sincere and honest efforts should be crowned, . as you wish, with abundant success, it will be a real gratification to myself, that you and your State will eminently participate in the beneficent providential result."
The President then, accompanied by the Com- mittee and a number of other gentlemen partook of an excellent dinner provided by Mr. Hayes. At this dinner the President gave the following toast:
"The Citizens of Burlington,-May the scenes which remind them of the glory of this country continue to excite their patriotic emulation." After the President had retired the toast, "The President of the United States," was drank stand- ing.
Mr. Mason gave the following :---
"The glorious 11th of September, 1814,-a day ever to be remembered."
Col. Totten, gave the following : "Our nation's rights defended by our national strength." The last toast was given by Hon. Daniel Farrand, viz : "Our beloved country,-Union in her Councils and respect to her constituted authorities."
The next morning the President breakfasted with C. P. Van Ness, afterwards Governor of the State; then the government of the college and the students, the clergyman of the town and a num- ber of ladies and gentlemen waited on him and were presented, and having received their saluta- tions, the President took his leave and was escort-
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ed to the Lake and conducted on board the steam- boat Phoenix. During his departure a salute was fired from the town, and when going on board a salute was fired from the steamboat. The Presi- dent took his departure from Burlington accom- panied by about fifty gentlemen and was wafted upon the waters of Lake Champlain to Vergennes where he examined the extensive iron works there established, and viewed the place where the fleet of Macdonough was built, and visited the fort commenced at the line near Rouses Point under the direction of the Engineer, Col. Totten, and ex- pressed himself as much gratified at the able and skillful arrangements made by Col. Totten for the further defence of our country.
Henry Clay, a United States Senator from his adopted State, Kentucky, and a distinguished statesman, was born in the county of Hanover in the State of Virginia, on the 12th day of April, 1777. For many years he was one of the most prominent figures in the United States Senate and a leading man of the Whig party. In 1839, when the party was having its best days, and when Henry Clay was one of its shining lights, Mr. Clay visited Vermont. The writer has not been able to find even a printed sketch of that visit but have obtained an accurate account of it from Edward C. Loomis, a life long resident of Burling- ton, \'t. Mr. Loomis, whose recollections of the visit are clear, was an admirer of Henry Clay, and has voted for Presidential electors at the last eighteen Presidential elections. Henry Clay came to the State by way of The Thousand Islands and
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Montreal. A committee appointed for the purpose by the citizens of Burlington met their distinguish- ed visitor at St. Johns, Canada, and came up Lake Champlain to Burlington in the boat " Phœ- nix," and as he landed at the wharf, crowds press- ed towards him to get a fair view of him or to shake hands. Before he left the wharf an amusing incident took place. Edward Higby from the town of St. George, an active town politician, and an enthusiastic Whig, and a great admirer of Clay, climbed a board pile to get near the person of Clay, and as he reached out his hand toward him, a board on which Higby stood gave away and would have sent Higby head long to the ground, had not Clay, who saw the fix that Higby was in, placed his foot on the board to keep it from sliding and grasped Higby by the hand. As Clay placed his foot on the board Higby was shouting at the top of his voice. "Henry Clay saved his country twice, " as he got so far Clay grasped him by the hand, and Higby closed his sentence by saying, "and Lewis Higby once by -. "
When the citizens of Burlington learned that Clay was to give the town a visit a cavalry com: pany of 80 men were hurriedly gathered, uniformly dressed in white pantaloons, vests and coats and plug hats, that served as an escort while Clay was in town. He was escorted to the Hotel of John Howard on the north side of what was then called "Court House Square," where Clay addressed the throng. He was then escorted to the dwelling house of Horace Loomis on the north side of Pearl Street where he remained over night as the guest of
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Horace Loomis. The next day he attended the commencement exercises of the Vermont University at the old White Street Church. As the procession came from the college down Pearl Street, they stopped at Loomis's where Clay and his escort joined the procession and walked to the church. James Clay was with his father on this tour. In the evening of the same day a reception was held at the house of Samuel Hickock on the north side of Main Street opposite of the present site of the VanNess House. At ten o'clock that evening Clay left Burlington, accompanied by the Committee in the boat "Congress" amid the deafening shouts and good wishes of the people, as the boat moved up the lake towards Whitehall.
Henry Clay gave Horace Loomis, whose guest he was, a cane that was cut by Clay from his Ash- land, Kentucky homestead. The cane now is in possession of Edward C. Loomis, the son of said Horace Loomis, and is highly prized.
CHAPTER III.
DISTURBANCES AND BRITISH AGGRESSION ON THE NORTHERN FRONTIER FROM 1791 TO 1798 AND VERMONT'S PART THEREIN.
It has been stated in Volume II of this history, there was, after the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain considerable irri- tation created on the northern frontier and especi- ally in Alburg growing out of the British troops continuing to occupy some points within the juris- diction of Vermont and there interfering with the duties of Vermont's officers under the laws of the State.
In considering the disturbances on the northern frontier with the British and the Indians, it will not be devoid of interest to relate more fully the nature and extent of the difficulty. Perhaps it was natural that the haughty British nation should look with disdain upon young America that had compelled her to grant to the Colonies an independent power, and to be extremely watch- ful that American citizens did not tread upon their rights or interfere with their pride.
In 1784, British garrisons were maintained from Ogdensburg easterly on the frontier in New York and northwestern Vermont, even as far south on
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Vermont soil as North Hero at Dutchman's Point, and that a Britished armed sehooner, with a full complement of sailors, gunners and marines, was stationed at Windmill Bay between Alburgh, Vt. and Point au Fer in New York, and its commander had supervision of all boats passing through the Lake in any direction, co-operating with the gari- sons which the British had materially strengthen- ed in 1791. All this looked, at least, as though they did not intend to live on terms of friendship with the people who lived on territory that had been wrenched from their grasp. Alburgh had been chartered to Ira Allen, February 23d, 1781, but had no legally organized government until June 7, 1792, when the people met and organized as a Vermont town. Congress had made Alburgh a port of entry but no serious disturbance had been created previous to 1792, as the act creating the place as a port of entry and making a place of residence for the collector of the district had not been put in force by Secretary Hamilton, but soon after interference by British officers com- menced and continued with great annoyance till late in 1794. The difficulty was on the question of jurisdiction. When Canada belonged to France the jurisdictional line was latitude 45° north. And this line in 1776, had been agreed upon by Sir Henry Moore, then Governor of the Province of New York and Brig. Gen. Guy Carleton, then in Canada, and this line was acknowledged by Great Britain in the treaty of 1783 to be the northern boundry of the United States so far as a part of New York and Vermont were concerned. For
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Great Britain to maintain posts south of this line after 1783, was, clearly an infrac- tion of that treaty, and this was finally admitted by the representatives of Great . Brit- ain, but they excused themselves for their course, and the exercise of authority south of that line on the ground, as they claimed, that the Unit- ed States were at the same time violating some other articles of the treaty. On this question, that the facts may appear, it will be necessary to state that, on the first day of November 1744, the King of France had granted the township of Alburgh to Francis Focault ; that after the conquest of Canada by Great Britain this grant had been confirmed by the King; that the title had passed from Focault through Gen. Haldimand and Henry Caldwell to John Caldwell-all British subjects; and that at the time of this controversy many citizens of Cald- well (now Alburgh) were in possession of their lands under the Caldwells, either by deeds or leases, and the British claim was that the title in Focault's successors was good. It has been stated that Al- burgh had been granted to Ira Allen by Vermont. Henry Caldwell wrote Governor Chittenden from Belmont near Quebec on March 20, 1785, and said he had had frequent conversations with Col. Ira Allen respecting his property to the southward of the Province of Canada and he had stated that his claim was founded on a late grant from Ver- mont in consideration of his services rendered and expenses paid in the interest of the State, but that he was willing to relinquish his claim provided he got an equivalent from the State or elsewhere.
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