USA > Vermont > Bennington County > History of Bennington County, Vt. : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 4
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Prior to this time the governor of the province of Massachusetts had exer- cised governmental authority over the province of New. Hampshire, but fol- lowing the settlement of the boundary question New Hampshire was given an independent governor for her territory. Accordingly, on the 3d of June, 1741, Benning Wentworth was commissioned to exercise the duties of that office.
By virtue of the authority conferred upon the governor, the province being what was termed a royal province, that officer was empowered to make grants or charters of lesser tracts of land within his jurisdiction, in the name of the king, to such individuals as pleased the executive fancy, for consideration, or as a reward for political fealty, which tracts of land were called townships. But in many, if not in all of these grants, there was reserved to the governor a parcel of land varying in extent to be for his own use and emolument. The grants seldom, if ever, expressed a money consideration to be paid the gover- nor as a purchase price, but they frequently made provision for the payment of an annual sum, generally one shilling, proclamation money, to be continued for a certain number of years.
The first grant made by Governor Wentworth conveying lands within the territory that subsequently became the State of Vermont, was executed on the 3d day of January, in the year 1749, but that that officer had made grants of land lying east of the Connecticut River at an earlier period, is not to be doubted. The grant of the town of Bennington was not made until after the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, in 1748, as that for a time terminated the war be- tween England and France.
During the progress of this war, the character of the land in this section became known to the colonists, who in the course of their numerous journeys had an opportunity to become acquainted with it, but on account of the dis- turbed condition of the country at that time, and the fact that the territory was overrun by the Indians hostile to the English arms, no measures were taken for its chartering until settlement and improvement could be made with safety.
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
Between the time of granting the charter of Bennington and the breaking out of the second conflict between England and France, Governor Wentworth had made grants of fourteen townships west of the Connecticut River, none of which, like Bennington, abutted against what was deemed to be the New York east line.
It would seem from the correspondence that was exchanged between the provincial governments of New Hampshire and New York that Governor Wentworth assumed the west line of Massachusetts and Connecticut (being continued northerly) to be also the west boundary of his own province, but as to just what constituted the province of New York, he had no definite knowl- edge. However, that he might act understandingly, he, on the 17th of No- vember, 1749, addressed a letter to the governor of New York, the latter por- tion of which reads : "In consequence of his majesty's determination of the boundaries between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, a surveyor and proper chainman were appointed to run the western line from three miles north of Patucket Falls; and the surveyor, upon oath, has declared that it strikes Hud- son's River about eighty poles north of where Mohawk's River comes into Hudson's River, which I presume is north of the city of Albany ; for which reason it will be necessary for me to be informed how far north of Albany the government of New York extends by his majesty's commission to your excel- lency, and how many miles to the eastward of Hudson's River, to the north- ward of the Massachusetts line, that I may govern myself accordingly," etc. This communication was duly received by the governor of New York, and laid before the council in April, 1750, from which minutes the claim and position of New York respecting the lands, not alone north of Albany, but to the east- ward of Hudson's River, is clearly defined and set forth, as follows : "And his excellency having required the advice of the board thereupon, the council humbly advised his excellency to acquaint Governor Wentworth, in answer to his said letter, that this province is bounded eastward by the Connecticut River ; the letters patent from King Charles II. to the Duke of York, expressly grant- ing ' all the lands from the west side of the Connecticut River to the east side of Delaware Bay ;'" and notice of this proceeding and determination on the part of the council of New York was transmitted to Governor Wentworth by letter dated April 9th, 1750, by Governor Clinton, of New York.
It may be well enough to remark in this connection, parenthetically per- haps, that upon this correspondence regarding the right of possession of the tract of land above referred to, the issue was substantially joined ; and the dis- pute and series of disputes that followed, carried on by the governor and coun- cil of New Hampshire, and after a royal decree against her, by the inhabitants of the granted territory-the famous Green Mountain Boys-were not finally settled until the admission of Vermont into the Federal Union of States, in the year 1791.
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BOUNDARY DISPUTE.
As has already been stated the province of New York, through its gover- nor and council claimed to own all the land to the Connecticut River on the east. The foundation of this claim rested on a charter granted by King Charles II., to his brother James, the Duke of New York, and bearing date March 12, 1664. But prior to this time the duke had become possessed of certain lands on the coast by the purchase of a part of the charter right of Lord Stirling. This latter tract embraced in part the lands occupied and claimed by the Dutch, which was also granted by the king's charter. The Duke of York, at the instigation and with the assistance of the king, made a campaign against the Dutch possessions-the New Netherlands, by which the latter was passed into the hands of the aggressor, the conquest being completed during the month of September, 1664.
For something over nine years was the province of New York governed by the deputies of the Duke of York, but in July, 1673, the Dutch reconquered the province. Now the Dutch never claimed nor sought to exercise jurisdic- tion, either during their first nor present possessions, over the soil at a distance farther than twenty miles east from the Hudson River, and for that matter the governor and council of New York never attempted to exercise such jurisdic- tion until they found that the government of the province of New Hampshire claimed the land as part of the latter.
But the Dutch after repossessing the province made a treaty with the Eng- lish, by which the latter again became possessor, and following this the duke again had recourse to the throne, and procured a second charter, bearing date June 20, 1674, describing the chartered lands in precisely the same language as was expressed in the charter of 1664. In the year 1685 the Duke of York succeeded to the throne, upon which his title was merged in the crown, where- upon the colony of New York was afterward governed as a royal province.
Such, then, was the condition of things when Governor Wentworth sent his letter of request to the governor of New York, in 1749, and upon the reply made by the council of the latter province the issue became joined. No ag- gressive steps were taken by either province for some years from the fact that in 1754 war between England and France was again declared and local differ- ences and disagreements became for the time absorbed by the greater contest between these foreign powers for supremacy in America. But notwithstand- ing this, and notwithstanding the claim to the land in question, now Vermont, by the province of New York, Governor Wentworth did, between the years 1750 and 1754, both inclusive, make grants of fourteen townships west of the Connecticut. The war for a time put an end to the controversy, but after peace had been restored it was again taken up and carried forward with unremitting vigor and earnestness on both sides, the events of which will be the subject of discussion in the following chapters.
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
CHAPTER VI.
From the Close of the French War to the Revolution -- Charters of Townships-Conflict- ing Claims to the Grants-Controversy between New York and New Hampshire-Action of the Crown-Green Mountain Boys Defend the Inhabitants of the Grants in their Possession of the Disputed Territory .- Counties Organized by New York-Leading Spirits During the Troublous Period-Adjudged Guilty of Felony and Sentenced to Death- Events Preceding the Revolution.
T' HE French surrendered Montreal, and all other of their possessions in America, to the British government on the 8th of September, 1760, and by that surrender peace was again restored in the colonies, although the treaty at Paris was not finally concluded until February 10, 1763.
During the progress of the war the whole region of country, now Vermont, was constantly traversed by the militia men and soldiery of the provinces on the south, and the residents of New Hampshire east of the Connecticut River. In order to better facilitate the transportation of troops and baggage a road was cut across the country from Charleston, New Hampshire, to Crown Point. The general character of the soil and topography having thus been generally known to residents of other localities, the applications for charter privileges be- came numerous ; and in response to the many requests made upon him, Gov- ernor Wentworth, in 1761, issued no less than fifty-nine grants of townships lying west of the Connecticut. In 1762 ten were issued; in 1763 thirty-eight were granted, and in 1764 ten more, half of those last granted being to single individuals. From the fact that so many of these townships were granted on . the territory west of the Connecticut River, the region embraced by them be- came to be known as the New Hampshire Grants ; and by this name was the region called until the independence of Vermont as a State of the Union was recognized by her admission as such by Congress.
The action taken by Governor Wentworth in the promiscuous chartering of townships, so closely followed the war, and in the face of his letter to the governor of New York, of November 17, 1749, in which he says: "It being my intention to avoid, as much as I can, consistent with his majesty's instruc- tions, interfering with your government," seems somewhat strange to say mildly. He knew full well that the province of New York claimed the land ; that it was granted in two several royal charters to the Duke of York. There- fore, if opinions are history, one has the right to assume that the fees received by the grantor were something of a factor in guiding his action. At all events he showed himself quite diligent in disposing of the territory, and while his de- fense of the inhabitants under the charters prior to the decision against him by the royal tribunal was not entirely passive, it was not, however, characterized by that zeal naturally to be expected from one whose estate was at hazard.
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BOUNDARY DISPUTE.
The evident relief fromn responsibility shown by his action after the royal de- cree, would seem to confirm this theory. This opinion has been shared in by a number of authors, but is not intended to be here advanced as representing the whole truth of the motive that actuated Governor Wentworth. We are inclined to the belief entertained by a majority of past writers, that it was due mainly to the pressure brought upon him by anxious settlers, and many spec- ulators, and not wholly for his own aggrandizement that Governor Wentworth was induced to so freely and promiscuously grant township charters.
As is elsewhere fully commented upon the township of Bennington was the first that was chartered by Governor Wentworth, but its settlement and im- provement under that grant was deferred until the year 1761, on account of the disturbed condition of the country, and the further fact that when chartered (1749) the township was on the frontier, and wholly unprotected as against In- dian depredations.
When the knowledge of the unlimited chartering of townships by Governor Wentworth was brought to the governor and council of New York, immediate steps were taken to arrest such proceedings, in the form of a proclamation, issued December 28, 1763, by Cadwallader Colden, lieutenant-governor of New York, by which the sheriff of the county of Albany was directed to make a return of the names of all persons who had taken possession of lands under New Hampshire grants. This proclamation was met by the promulgation of a similar document from the governor of New Hampshire, by its terms reassert- ing the validity of the New Hampshire claim to title, setting forth the incon- sistencies of New York's claim, giving ample and logical reasoning upon that subject, and urging the inhabitants of the grants " to be industrious in clearing and cultivating their lands, agreeable to their respective grants ;" and further commanding "all civil officers within this province, of what quality soever, to continue and be diligent in exercising jurisdiction in their respective offices, as far westward as grants of land have been made by this government ; and to deal with any person or persons that may presume to interrupt the inhabitants or settlers on said lands, as to law and justice do appertain ; the pretended right of jurisdiction mentioned in the aforesaid proclamation notwithstanding."
The measure of retaliation and defiance of New York authority on the part of New Hampshire caused the former no little uneasiness, whereupon, not having the greatest confidence in her own charter and the rights it purported to convey, New York sought royal relief in the presentation anew of her side of the controversy, reinforced by what purported to be a petition signed by in - habitants of the grants, representing that they were desirous of being annexed to New York, and praying that the western bank of the Connecticut River be established as the eastern boundary of that province. Upon this ex parte pre- sentation the king, with the advice of council, made an order declaring " the western banks of the River Connecticut, from where it enters the province of
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
Massachusetts Bay, as far north as the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, to be the boundary line between the said two provinces of New Hampshire and New York." This order was made on July 20, 1764. This decision and de- termination had the effect of taking the territory of the grants out of the juris- diction of New Hampshire, and placing it under the control of the province of New York; a condition that was in no wise prejudicial to the grants and its in- habitants, but was, nevertheless, embarrassing for the reason that the residents were opposed to the policy of New York in endeavoring to possess itself of ter- ritory that they felt of right belonged to New Hampshire. Still, they were willing to submit to the annexation ordered by the king, and did not feel any apprehension concerning the title to lands already purchased, paid for and im- proved. The governor of New Hampshire made due protest and remon- strance against this procedure, but was at length induced to abandon the con- test, and issued a proclamation, "recommending to the proprietors and settlers. due obedience to the authority and laws of the colony of New York "
But a very different construction was put upon the royal determination in New York. The government of that province construed it as a declaration not only of what was to be, for time to come, but of what was, and always had been, the eastern limit of New York; and as a consequence, that the grants which had been made by the governor of New Hampshire were grants of what had always belonged to New York. In conformity with this construction, the grants of New Hampshire were considered by the government of New York as illegal, and having no authority. In this state of things the government of New York proceeded to extend its jurisdiction over the grants, and in so doing divided the districts into four counties: the southwestern parts were annexed to the county of Albany; the northwestern parts were formed into a county by the name of Charlotte; the southeastern parts were formed into the county of Cumberland, while the towns north of Cumberland county and east of the mountains, were erected into Gloucester county.
The first county organization by the government of New York in the dis- puted territory was that of Cumberland, July 3, 1766; but the act that created it was annulled by the crown in 1767, only to be re-enacted in February, 1768. The county seat was fixed at Chester, and afterward changed to Westminster, where a court-house and jail were built. The county of Gloucester was next organized out of the territory east of the mountains, and north of the south lines of the towns of Tunbridge, Strafford and Thetford. This act was passed March 7, 1770, and the county seat was fixed at Newbury.
In 1772 another county was created on the west side of the mountains by the name of Charlotte. It was bounded south by the north line of Arlington and Sunderland, and included the territory north of those towns, south of the Canada line, west of the mountains, and east of the Hudson River. The county seat was fixed at Skeenesborough, now Whitehall, and Philip Skeene was ap-
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BOUNDARY DISPUTE.
poin d one of the judges of the Common Pleas for said county. The remain- ing territory south of Charlotte county and west of the mountains, was an- nexed to and formed a part of Albany county. This organization of counties under New York continued until Vermont declared her independence in 1777.
After the organization of these counties was commenced the inhabitants of the several towns were called upon to surrender the charters which they had received from the governor of New Hampshire, and to take out new grants from New York, which proceeding was attended with great expense. Some of the towns complied with this requisition and bought their lands a second time, but by far the greater part refused to comply with the order, and where it was not complied with on the part of the grantees, new grants were made of their lands to such petitioners as would advance the extravagant fees de- manded. Actions of ejectment were commenced against many settlers who refused to repurchase, the venue being laid in the county of Albany, and it was no defense to show title under a grant from New Hampshire, and for that rea- son judgment was invariably rendered for the plaintiffs.
The New York claimants, while they found it an easy thing to obtain a judgment, realized fully that it was not so easy a matter to carry out the exe- cution, for when the officers came to eject the inhabitants from their houses and lands they generally met with a determined opposition from the possessors, and were not suffered to exercise the power of their office. The minds of the settlers, instead of being depressed into submission, seemed to derive new powers from oppression, and the people soon began to associate to defend one another in their opposition to the courts and officers of New York.
For the purpose of rendering this resistance the more-effectual, various asso- ciations were formed, and at length a convention of representatives from the several towns on the west side of the mountains was called. This convention, after mature deliberation, appointed Samuel Robinson, 1 of Bennington, their agent, to represent to the court of Great Britain the grievances of the settlers, and obtain, if possible, a confirmation of the grants made by the province of New Hampshire.
In accordance with the authority vested in him, Mr. Robinson proceeded to London and laid the matter before the king and council. How well he Succeeded in the object of his mission will be shown by the following extract : "His Majesty taking the said report (a report of the board of trade) into con - sideration, was pleased with the advice of his private council, to approve thereof, and do hereby strictly charge, require and command that the governor or com- mander-in-chief of his majesty's province of New York, for the time being, do not, upon pain of his majesty's highest displeasure, presume to make any grant
1 Williams's History of Vermont (edition of 1794) states that a committee of three, consist- ing of Samuel Robinson, James Breakenridge and Jehial Hawley were chosen to represent the inhabitants of the grants before the king and council.
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY ..
whatsoever, of any part of the lands described in the said report, until his majesty's further pleasure shall be known concerning the same."
This order of the king was made on the 26th of July 1767. Thus armed Mr. Robinson was nearly prepared for his return to America, when he was so unfortunate as to take the smallpox, from which disease he died in London, in October following. The king's order, however, was subsequently transmitted to the people on the grants. But little did the settlers appreciate the spirit and motives that actuated the authorities, and the courts as well, of New York. Actions continued to be brought, and when, on the trial, the royal order was offered by the defendants, it was ruled by the court that it should not be read or received in evidence. This made it impossible for the defendants to expect any justice whatever in the courts, and they were therefore compelled to resort to other and more heroic measures of defense. Another convention of the inhabitants of the grants was assembled at Bennington, at which it was " Resolved to support their rights and property under the New Hampshire grants, against the usurpation and unjust claims of the governor and council of New York, by force, as law and justice were denied them."
Having taken this somewhat unusual though determined position the men on the grants possessed all the courage necessary to put the resolution into practical operation. Several of the inhabitants had been indicted for riot, and officers were sent to arrest them; but they "were siezed by the people, and severely chastized with twigs of the wilderness." A military organization was also effected to more effectually resist the unwarrantable attacks upon the people, of which organization Ethan Allen was chosen colonel, and Seth Warner, Remember Baker, Robert Cochran, Gideon Warner and some others captains. This was the nucleus of a military organization that proved to be of the most efficient service to the people of the grants during that period of its civil, or perhaps semi-military history, when men of courage and determina- tion were needed; the period referred to being that of the events of which this chapter narrates. Subsequent chapters will show that this same organi- zation was deeply engaged in actual warfare during the struggle for national independence. During the earlier period of its existence this organization became known as the "Green Mountain Boys," a name by which they were afterward designated, and a name, too, that recalls to mind some of the most substantial, honorable and courageous statesmen of the American colonies. In addition to this military organization, committees of safety were likewise chosen in a number of the towns west of the mountains. On the other hand, the sheriff of Albany county was directed to raise the posse comitatus to assist in the execution of his office; and a proclamation was issued by the governor of New York, offering a reward of one hundred and fifty pounds for the apprehension of Ethan Allen, and fifty pounds each for Warner and five others, all of whom were deemed to be ringleaders of the alleged mob oppo-
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BOUNDARY DISPUTE.
sition to the authority of New York. But far from being intimidated or sup- pressed by this proclamation, Colonel Allen and his associates issued their own proclamation, offering a reward of five pounds for the arrest and delivery to- the Green Mountain Boys of the attorney-general of New York.
In discussing the condition of affairs during this period, Samuel Williams, one of the earliest historians of Vermont, says: "In this scene of violence and opposition to the proceedings of New York, Ethan Allen placed himself at the head. Bold, enterprising, ambitious, with great confidence in his own abilities, he undertook to direct the proceedings of the inhabitants. He wrote and dispersed (circulated) several pamphlets to display the injustice and de- signs of the New York proceedings; and so oppressive were those measures, ยท that although Allen was a very indifferent writer, his pamphlets were much read, and regarded, and had a great influence upon the minds and conduct of the people. The uncultivated roughness of his own temper and manners seems to have assisted him in giving a just description of the views and pro- ceedings of speculating land jobbers. And when all was a scene of violence and abuse such a method of writing did not greatly differ from the feeling of the settlers, or from the style of the pamphlets that came from New York. But though he wrote with asperity, a degree of generosity attended his conduct ; and he carefully avoided bloodshed, and protested against everything that had the appearance of meanness, injustice, cruelty, or abuse to those who fell into- his power."
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