USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > Gazetteer and business directory of Chittenden County, Vermont, for 1882-83 > Part 8
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LAND TITLE CONTROVERSY.
Except in the instances already mentioned, no settlement was made within the present limits of the State of Vermont, owing to its distance from the English settlements on the seacoasts, and from the French on the St. Law- rence, until 1724. In 1716, however, Massachusetts granted a tract of land, in the southeastern part of the State, containing more than one hundred thous- and acres, upon which, eight years later, the settlement of Fort Dummer was commenced. At this time the fort was supposed to be within the limits and under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts ; but a controversy soon after
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arose between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, relative to the boundary line between these States, or Provinces, as they then were, which, after a long and tedious struggle, was adjusted, March 5, 1740, when King George II. determined that, "the northern boundary of the province of Massachusetts be, a similar curve line, pursuing the course of the Merrimac River, at three miles distance, on the north side thereof, beginning at the Atlantic Ocean, and ending at a point due north of Pawtucket falls ; and a straight line drawn from thence, due west, until it meets with his Majesty's other governments." This line was run in 1741, and has ever since been admitted as the boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
By this decision, and the establishment of this line, the government of New Hampshire concluded that their jurisdiction extended as far west as Massachusetts had claimed and exercised, that is, within twenty miles of Hudson River. It was also well known, both in Great Britain and America, that the King had repeatedly recommended to the assembly of New Hamp- shire, to make provision for the support of Fort Dummer ; and Fort Dum- mer was located upon the west side of the river, thus proving that the jurisdic- tion of New Hampshire extended west of the Connecticut ; but how far west had not been particularly inquired into, the twenty mile line from the Hudson being taken for granted, and silently acquiesced in by the King.
The land lying between the Connecticut and New York was the most fer- tile and productive in the State, and it soon began to attract the attention of pioneers. Accordingly, Benning Wentworth, then governor of New Hamp- shire, in 1749, made a grant of a township six miles square, located twenty miles east of Hudson River, and six miles north of the Massachusetts line, to which, in allusion to his own name, he gave the name of Bennington. Dur- ing the following four or five years he made several other grants east of the Connecticut River. But in 1754, the breaking out of hostilities between France and Great Britain put a stop to all these operations, and no other grants were made until after the close of the war. During its progress, how- ever, the New England troops cut a road through from Charlestown, in New Hampshire, to Crown Point, N. Y., and were frequently passing through these lands, and thus many became acquainted with their rare fertility and agricul- tural possibilities. The war was closed in September, 1760, by the taking of Montreal, and the whole of Canada became annexed to Great Britain. Dur- ing the following month King George III. acceded to the throne of England ; and to his obstinacy, bigotry, and perhaps ignorance, is owing the troubles that sprang up between New Hampshire and New York, indirectly leading to the subsequent revolt, in 1775, by which England lost one of the finest countrys upon which the sun ever shone.
Applications for grants were rapidly made to Governor Wentworth, so that in the year 1761, not less than sixty charters were issued, granting as many townships of six miles square, and in two years more the number amounted to one hundred and thirty-eight. The territory began to be known by the
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name of the New Hampshire Grants, and the number of actual settlers soon grew to be quite large. The forests began to disappear, giving place to large fields of grain, and all gave token of a prosperous, happy future. But a dark day dawned upon this peaceful scene. A proclamation was issued by Gov. Colden, of New York, April 10, 1765, giving a copy of an order issued by George III., in council July 20, 1764, stating that "the western bank of the Connecticut should thereafter be regarded as the eastern boundary of New York," and notifying his Majesty's subjects to govern themselves accordingly.
This had been brought about by the jealousy and cupidity of New York, who had just awakened to a knowledge of the richness of the territory. Their whole claim was based upon an old charter issued by Charles II., in 1664, making an extraordinary grant to his brother, the Duke of York, containing, among other parts of America, " all the lands from the west of the Connecti- cut River to the east side of Delaware Bay." This grant was entirely incon- sistent with the previous charters, which had been granted to Massachusetts and Connecticut, and neither of them had ever admitted it to have any effect, with regard to the lands which they had settled, or claimed to the west of the said river.
Although the settlers of the grants were alarmed and displeased at this change, they had no idea it would amount to more than a change of juris- diction, and supposed their titles to lands would be perfectly secure. But, ere long, new grantees began to appear, with charters issued by the authori- ties of New York, who ousted, or attempted to, the original grantees. But in this they found a difficult task. The settlers of Vermont were a bold, hardy people, law-abiding, but possessing a peculiarly acute sense of jus- tice, and sturdy in defending their rights. Their allegience to King George III. soon became merely nominal, as they obeyed only the mandates of their own conventions and town meetings. The New York claimants would come on, present their claims, and oust those already occupying the land, if possi- ble, while they in turn would be driven off by the settlers, leading to much violence and outrage on both sides. One party was called "land pirates " and " land thieves," while the people of the grants were, in turn, stigmatized as "rebels " and " outlaws."
In these scenes of violence and opposition, Ethan Allen placed himself at the head of the settlers of the Grants. Bold, enterprising, and ambitious, wielding the pen and the sword with almost equal facility, though rash and indiscreet, withal, he soon made himself and his "Green Mountain Boys" a foe whom the Yorkers learned to respect, in point of arms at least. His grave, marked by that tall Tuscan shaft in a Burlington cemetery, is now visited by hundreds each year, who thus pay their tribute of respect to the memory of the bold, patriotic, yet rough mountain hero. Associated with Allen were Seth Warner and Remember Baker, in courage and bravery not a whit behind their leader. Baker has already been spoken of as one of the first settlers of this county, coming here with his uncle, Col. Ira Allen. His useful life was
1
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unfortunately brought to a sad end, during the early part of the Revolution, while in a skirmish with Indians near St. John, in August, 1775. Warner was cool, firm, steady, resolute, and fully determined that the laws of New York, respecting the settlers, never should be carried into execution. At the beginning of the trouble, when an officer came to take him as a rioter, he considered it as an affair of open hostility, and defended himself, attacked, wounded and disarmed the officer, but, with the spirit of a soldier, spared his life.
We will relate one instance to show something of the spirit of the times : A Scotchman, by the name of Will Cockburn, was sent out by New York parties to survey their claims, and from the following extracts from a letter written to his employers, in 1771, it would seem that he at least met with difficulties :-
ALBANY, September 10, 1771.
" SIR :- After being the second time stopped in Social- borough, by James Mead and Asa Johnson, in behalf of the settlers in Rut- land and Pittsford, I have run out lots from the south bounds to within about two miles of the Great Falls [Southerland Falls, on Otter Creek]. I found it in vain to persist any longer, as they were resolved at all events to stop us. There have been many threats pronounced against me. Gideon Conley, who lives by the Great Falls, was to shoot me, * * * and your acquaintance Nathan [Ethan] Allen, was in the woods with another party blacked and dressed like Indians, as I was informed. Several of my men can prove Townsend and Train threatened my life, that I should never return home, etc.
"The people of Durham [now Clarendon] assured me these men intended to murder us if we did not go from thence, and advised me by all means to desist surveying. * * * I found I would not be allowed to go northward, as they suspected I would begin again, and therefore intended to convey us to Danby and so on to the southward, and by all accounts we should not have been very kindly treated. I was advised by no means to go that road. * * On my assuring them I would survey no more in those parts, we were permitted to proceed along the Crown Point road, with the hearty prayers of the women, as we passed, never to re- turn. * *
"I have not been able to fix Kier's location, and Danby people have been continually on the watch always. * * Since I have been here, several have visited me, asking questions, no doubt to be able to know us, should we venture within their territories, and at the same time warning us of the danger, should we be found there. Marsh's survey is likewise un- done, as I did not care to venture myself that way. I shall be able to inform you more particularly at our meeting, and am,
"Sir, your most obedient servant,
"James Duane. New York."
WILL COCKBURN.
Cockburn was the second time stopped by Mead and Johnson, at Rutland, and by other parties threatened with death, and their threats appear to have prevented him from making further attempts under the patent of Social- borough. The next summer, however, he was found, with a number of his 3
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assistants, in this county, at Bolton, and was arrested by Remember Baker, Seth Warner, and others, who, after breaking his compass and chain, took him and his party to Castleton for trial before a court of the settlers, where he was finally released.
" Beech sealing" was a favorite mode of punishment awarded the obnoxious New York officials. This consisted of tying the victim to a tree and admin- istering a certain number of lashes with a beech gad. The last chastisement of this sort was inflicted on one Benjamin Hough, who occupied land under the odious title of Socialborough, and for a long time had been looked upon with disfavor by the Green Mountain Boys; but at last he was invested by New York with the power of a magistrate, and attempted the duties of his office. He was subsequently formally served with a copy of a resolution of the convention at Manchester, on April 12 and 13, 1774, certified by Jonas Fay, clerk, by which it was declared that whoever should, in the then situa- tion of affairs. " until his majesty's pleasure in the premises should be further known," presume to take a commission of the peace from the New York govern- ment, should " be deemed an enemy to their country and the common cause." He was also verbally warned to desist from the further exercise of his official authority, and threatened with punishment if he persisted. To these warn- ings he paid no heed, but continued as active and troublesome as ever. The indignation against him became very great, and it was resolved to make such an example of him as would not only effectually silence him, but deter others from the commission of like offences. He was accordingly seized by a body of his neighbors. placed in a sleigh, and carried about thirty miles, to Sunder- land, where he was kept for three days under strict guard, until Monday, January 30, 1775, when. the leading Green Mountain Boys being assembled, he was brought to trial, the court appointed for the purpose consisting of Ethan Allen. Seth Warner, Robert Cochran, Peleg Sunderland, James Mead, Gideon Warren. and Jesse Sawyer. His judges being seated, he was put upon his defence, which being held insufficient, he was found guilty and sen- tenced "to be tied to a tree and receive two hundred lashes on the naked back, and then as soon as he should be able, should depart the New Hamp- shire Grants and not return again till his majesty's pleasure should be known in the premises, on pain of receiving five hundred lashes." This sentence was read to him from a paper by Allen. and was immediately put into execu- tion, after which he was given a pass to depart to New York, which read as follows :-
" SUNDERLAND, January 3. 1775.
"This may certify to the inhabitants of the New Hampshire Grants, that Ben- jamin Hough hath this day received full punishment for his crimes committed heretofore against this country, and our inhabitants are ordered to give him the said Huff free and unmolested passport towards the city of New York, or the westward of our grants, he behaving as becometh. Given under our hands the day and date aforesaid.
ETHAN ALLEN. SETH WARNER."
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Thus the people of the Grants struggled on until the breaking out of the Revolution, when the greater and common trouble consumed the lesser. On the 24th and 25th of September, 1776, one of the conventions of the Green Mountain Boys was held at the house of Cephas Kent, in Dorset, at which it was resolved "to take suitable measures as soon as may be, to declare the New Hampshire Grants a separate district. This was the germ which soon expanded and grew into the free and independent State of Vermont-the only State in the Union, except Texas, which was admitted by petition of her people. The delegates to this convention from Chittenden County were Col. Thomas Chittenden, of Williston, after whom the county was named, and who subsequently became Vermont's first governor, and Lieut. Ira Allen, of Colchester. The close of the war found Vermont an independent State, to which Yew York relinquished all right and title upon payment of $30,000. Thus ended " the trials that tried men's souls"-trials which nerved the Green Mountain Boys to declare and maintain their independence, and to emerge a free and sovereign State.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
The end of the long struggle between England and France had arrived-a glorious end for the British lion. Spain had paid for her indiscretion by dis- gorging the beautiful island of Cuba, which was exchanged for the present State of Florida. It would seem, then, that covered with glory, enriched by the addition to her territory of Canada and Florida, England would feel com- pensated for the debt she had incurred. But it was directly the opposite. No sooner was peace declared than she determined to get back from her Ameri- can possessions what she had expended in defending them. Accordingly, we find the history of the next twelve years, from the treaty of peace in 1763 to 1775, a continuous narrative of unwise, ungenerous attempts on the part of the mother country to increase her revenues at the expense of her col- onies. and on the part of the colonies, of spirited and united resistance to these attempts.
The colonies would willingly have borne part of the load, had they been allowed a voice in laying the duties or taxes to be imposed. But they in- sisted that taxation without representation was an infringement on the rights of freemen ; that the power to tax them should be vested in their own col- onial assemblies,-or that, if Parliament were to exercise it, they should be represented in Parliament. To the folly of George III., then, strengthened by the tyranny of the British Parliament, who, in his name, allowed his lands to be granted twice over. and the first grantees to be persecuted as felons and outlaws; who would do nothing for his people in America without being exhorbitantly paid : by the passage of the notorious Stamp Act, in 1765, and the Boston Port Bill, in 1774, is owing to the estrangement and revolt in 1775, which took practical development at Lexington, at Bunker Hill, at Bos-
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ton, in the expedition of Arnold through the wilds of Maine, in the taking of Ticonderoga, and in the co-operation of Montgomery, by the way of Lake Champlain, Montreal and St. Lawrence, with Arnold under the frowning walls of Quebec.
The people of the New Hampshire Grants, as may well be supposed, entered with and especially hearty zeal into this contest for American Inde- pendence. Their schooling had been such as to render them an exceedingly undesirable foe to meet. A large proportion of the settlers had served in the French and Indian war, and during the twelve or fifteen years that intervened had been almost continuously at strife with New York, leading to a feeling of deadly hatred against King George and the British Parliament. It is not strange, then, that the Green Mountain Boys were soon both feared and re- spected by their adversaries. The few who had settled in Chittenden County, left, as previously mentioned, on the approach of Burgoyne ; no battle was fought within its limits, and except one or two incursions by Indians and Tories, no blood was shed (see sketches of Colchester and Shelburne). But subsequent to the war, the Green Mountain Boy's leader and idol, Ethan Allen, made his home here, therefore it is proper to give the events that occurred in its immediate vicinity, more than a passing notice, though they constitute no part of its local history, and are, withal, well known subjects of general history.
Haldibrand, the governor of Crown Point and Ticonderoga, had announced to the government, in 1773, that the fort at Crown Point "was entirely de- stroyed," and that Ticonderoga was in a "ruinous condition," and that both "could not cover fifty men in winter." The appeal to arms, which in April, 1775, had sounded from the plains of Lexington, seems to have suggested, simultaneously, to various patrotic individuals in the colonies, the idea of capturing these important fortresses in their dilapidated and exposed con- dition. Members of the provincial legislature of Connecticut, on their own individual responsibility. raised funds to effect this object, and appointed a committee to proceed to the scene, and to attempt the execution of the plan. In the county of Berkshire a small force was collected, but at Bennington the fearless spirit and powerful influence of Ethan Allen was enlisted in the enterprise. An intrepid band of two hundred and seventy volunteers, all of whom except forty belonged to the Green Mountains, were collected at Cas- tleton, Rutland County, on the 7th of May. At this moment Benedict Arnold, invested with plenary powers from the Massachusetts committee of safety to accomplish the same object, appeared on the scene, and claimed the command of the expedition. A contest ensued which threatened to defeat the whole design, but was terminated by the troops refusing to proceed except under the leadership of Allen, their tried and cherished leader. Arnold was constrained to yield, and joined the force as an aid to the commander. The garrison of Ticonderoga was slumbering in profound security. To procure means of crossing the lake, Col. Herrick had been sent to Skeensboro, and Remem-
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ber Baker was to join them with boats from Otter Creek; but when the troops reached Shoreham, neither had appeared. Seizing such vessels as could be procured, Allen boldly decided to cross. The landing was effected at a little cove, a mile north of the fort. When the morning dawned only eighty-three men had reached the western shore; yet Allen, knowing how much delay would imperil the issue, decided to advance at once to the assault. The story need not be repeated. The fortress, which had cost so much blood and treasure, was won by the little band in a bloodless triumph, "in the name of Jehovah and the Continental Congress," on the roth of May, 1775.
Warner arrived soon after the place surrendered, and taking command of a party, set off for the reduction of Crown Point, which was garrisoned only by a sergeant and twelve men. They surrendered upon the first summons, and Warner took possession of the fort. Skeensboro was also taken, the same day, by another party, and Maj. Skeene made prisoner. Allen and Arnold started soon after for St. Johns, where an armed sloop was lying, Arnold in command of a schooner, and Allen in command of a batteaux. They both set out together upon the expedition, but a fresh wind springing up from the south, the schooner outsailed the batteaux, and Arnold soon ar- rived at St. Johns, where he surprised and captured the sloop. The wind immediately shifting to the north, Arnold set sail with his prize, and met Allen with his batteaux at some distance from St. Johns. Thus in the course of a few days, and by a few daring individuals, was Lake Champlain and its important fortresses secured to the Americans.
On the 2 1st of August, Montgomery set out for Canada. The rest is well known-Montgomery's triumph, until he reached Quebec, where reverses met him and one-half the American forces slain, among them the gallant officer himself, December 31, 1775, followed by the subsequent retreat of the Ameri- cans from Canada, and the apprehended advance of Carlton, spreading uni- versal consternation and panic among the settlers in the environs of the lake.
After their retreat from Canada, the American army evacuated Crown Point, burned all the erections, destroyed all the public property that could not be carried with them, and gathered at Ticonderoga. A large and well appointed British army was concentrated at St. Johns, who, to effect a suc- cessful advance, found it was necessary to secure a naval preponderance upon the lake. Six vessels of a large class, which had been constructed in England, were taken apart at the foot of the rapids on the Sorel, the materials transported to St. Johns, and there rebuilt in the summer of 1776. Other vessels of various dimensions were also constructed with the utmost celerity. By these energetic efforts a fleet of thirty-one vessels, and carrying in their armament from one to eighteen guns, was prepared for active service on the Ist of October of that year. This fleet was navigated by seven hundred vete- ran seamen, and armed by a heavy corps of artillery.
Congress was not insensible to the vital emergency of the occasion, but
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possessed means totally inadequate for the magnitude of the crisis. The timber required for the construction of a flotilla was yet standing in the forest, and was to be cut, prepared and transported, to the ship-yard at Ticonderoga, almost unaided by the appliances of art or mechanism. Its equipments were to be conveyed a long distance, over roads new and almost impracticable. The ship carpenters who must construct the vessels were employed in urgent duties in the navy-yards upon the coasts. Stimulated rather than oppressed by all these adverse combinations, the energies of Arnold created and equipped a flotilla of fifteen vessels, with an aggregate battery of fifty-five guns, and manned by three hundred and fifty gallant and resolute men, but nearly all of whom were totally inexperienced in naval expeditions. The exigency invoked heroism and sacrifices, and notwithstanding the great disparity in every ele- ment of strength, Arnold fearlessly threw his little armament across the path of the invaders. The fleets met on the 11th of October, in a narrow strait between Valcour Island and the mainland. During four hours the conflict continued with terrific fury, and was ennobled by deeds of heroic and exalted daring, unsurpassed in the annals of naval warfare. Arnold, levelling almost every gun in own vessel, conducted the battle with the highest skill and the the most determined courage, until night terminated the engagement. One of the British gondolas was sunk, and another, with all its crew of sixty men, was blown up. An American schooner was also sunk and a gondola burnt, while the entire fleet was shattered and disabled. The disproportion in the strength of the fleets was too vast to justify a maintainance of the conflict. Arnold attempted to effect an escape to Crown Point, by boldly passing through the British fleet under cover of a dark and foggy night. His retreat was revealed to the vigilant enemy by the earliest dawn, and a prompt pur- suit ensued.
A solitary rock which stands in the broad lake, in the early gloom was mistaken by the British for an American vessel, and a cannonade was opened upon it. It is still called "Carleton's prize." Arnold was overtaken near Otter Creek, and sustained for another four hours, with his single galley, and and five gondolas, a bloody combat with the British fleet, in protecting the retreat of the remainder of his flotilla and crew from becoming trophies to the enemy, he ran the vessels upon the shore and blew them up. Their charred wrecks for many years remained upon the beach at Panton, memo- rials of the bravery and gallant deeds of he whose name was afterwards con- signed to infamy, and whose wretched after life was closed by death in the garret of a London tenement.
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