USA > Vermont > Bennington County > History of Bennington County, Vt. : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 5
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" Next to him," continues the same writer, " Seth Warner seems to have been the most distinguished in those times. Warner was cool, firm, steady, resolute, and fully determined that the laws of New York respecting the set- tlers never should be carried into execution. When an officer came to take him as a rioter, he considered it as an affair of open hostility; defended him- self, attacked, wounded and disarmed the officer, but, with the spirit of a sol- dier, spared his life."
On the 8th day of July, 1771, Sir William Tryon succeeded to the govern- orship of the province of New York. He was fully aware of the king's pro- hibitory order of 1767, yet, notwithstanding that, after he had become ac- quainted with the condition of affairs, he made grants of land on the disputed tract almost as freely as had his predecessors. But finding that forcible meas- ures were not availing against the determined people on the grants he adopted a more pacific policy, and sought to accomplish by this means that which neither he nor his predecessors could do by force. In pursuing his pacific policy, on the 19th of May 1772, Governor Tryon sent a letter to Rev. Will- iam Dewey, (meaning Rev. Jedediah Dewey,) and other inhabitants of Ben- nington and the adjoining country, which, after reciting, the many illegal and criminal acts that the people had committed, stated that he was fully disposed to afford the people such as the nature and situation of their circumstances
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
would justify; and invited the people to send to New York any persons whom they might choose to select, to represent their cause and interests, "except Robert Cochran, as also Allen, Baker and Sevil, and Seth Warner," the latter especially being excepted as one " whose audacious behavior to a civil magis- trate has subjected him to the penalty of the laws of his country." To this interesting letter Mr. Dewey and others made a reply, bearing date June 5th, 1772, representing their rights and claim to the lands concerning which the dispute was had; representing the persecutions to which the people had been frequently subjected, and ending after this manner : "We flatter ourselves from the candor of your excellency's favorable letter, that you will be friendly dis- posed toward us; and we most earnestly pray and beseech your excellency would assist to quiet us in our possessions, till his majesty, in his royal wis- dom, shall be graciously pleased to settle the controversy. Should your excel- lency grant this our humble request, our satisfaction would be inexpres- sible," etc.
The letter was accompanied by a special communication subscribed by Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Remember Baker, and Robert Cochran, setting forth at much length the position of the subscribers as representing the great mass of inhabitants on the grants; and in particular the grievances of the people, showing specific acts of oppression and persecution that cannot for want of space be given here.
The duty of visiting the governor and council of New York, and bearing the letter and other communication, was assigned to Captain Stephen Fay and Jonas Fay. These persons at once proceeded to New York to lay the com- munications before Governor Tryon, which was done, and the same submitted to the council for action. After proper consideration the council advised as follows: " The committee are desirous your council should afford the inhabi- tants of those townships all the relief in your power, by suspending, till his majesty's pleasure shall be known, all prosecutions in behalf of the crown, on account of the crimes with which they stand charged, by depositions before us; and to recommend it to the owners of the contested lands, under grants from this province, to put a stop, during the same period, to all civil suits concerning the lands in question." This measure was approved by the gov- ernor, and then communicated to the inhabitants of Bennington and vicinity.
The news of this successful mission being brought home to the people of the grants their joy was unbounded ; for they thought they saw an issue out of all their afflictions. A large mass-meeting was held at the meeting-house in Ben- nington, at which the letters and all proceedings before the New York council were read. The Messrs. Fay soon communicated to the governor of New York a report, previously promised, relating to him the effect that the above declaration had on the people, which report was as follows : " We, as messen- gers, laid before them an extract of the minutes of his majesty's council of the
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BOUNDARY TROUBLES.
province of New York of the 2d instant, together with his excellency, Governor Tryon's letter of the same date, directed to the inhabitants of Bennington, &c., and after reading the same, the above committee and a numerous concourse of the inhabitants of the adjacent country and other spectators, gave a full and unanimous vote in favor of the papers aforesaid; and the thanks of the people were presented to us for our diligence in procuring these papers. Peace was also recommended on the whole New Hampshire Grants, by all who were present; when the whole artillery of Bennington, with the small arms, were several times discharged in honor of the governor and council of New York- Health to the king-Health to Governor Tryon-Health to the council of New York-Universal peace and plenty, liberty and prosperity, by sundry respect- able gentlemen, some of whom were from neighboring provinces."
" STEPHEN FAY, JONAS FAY."
It would seem, under all ordinary circumstances, that the truce and friendly relation thus agreed to between the contesting factions should be firm and en- during; yet almost immediately did this come to naught, and the gulf be- tween the New Yorkers and the people on the grants was deepened and wid- ened. It seems that while Stephen and Jonas Fay were absent on their mis- sion that information was brought to the people at Bennington and vicinity that Surveyor Kockburn and his assistants were engaged in running lines on the north part of the grants, in the interest of some land-grabbing New York- ers; and that a party of the Green Mountain Boys, under Ethan Allen, pro- ceeded to arrest them, which being done, and Kockburn and party being found in the act of surveying in opposition to the interests of the people of the grants, he was ordered to forever quit the territory, and warned that if again caught thereon he should suffer death.
Allen and his party had brought the offending surveyor to Castleton, be- ing on their way with him toward New York, and while there the news of the governor and council's favorable action and determination was first told them. They immediately reconsidered their harsh sentence upon Kockburn and hon- orably discharged him. Nor was this all. On this same expedition Allen and his followers dispossessed the tenants of a saw-mill situate at the point where Vergennes now stands, on Otter Creek. This was claimed, under New York authority, by Colonel Reed, and which, " by force, and without color, or even pretense of recourse to law, he had taken from the original owners and builders, more than three years before, and did, at the same time, extend his force, terrors and threats into the town of New Haven ; who, by the haughty aid of Mr. Benzell, the famed engineer, with a number of assistants under their command, so terrified the inhabitants (which were about twelve in number), that they left their possessions and farms to the conquerors, and escaped with the skin of their teeth; although they had expended large sums of money in cutting roads to, and settling in that new country. Colonel Reed, at the same
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
time, and with the same force, did take possession of one hundred and thirty saw-logs, and fourteen thousand feet of pine boards, which boards were made in the same mill, all of which he converted to his own use. Not long after the original proprietors of the said mill did re-enter and take possession thereof, but was, a second time, attacked by Colonel Reed's stewart, with a number of armed men, under his (supposed) instructions, and by their superior force and threats, obliged to quit the premises again ; all of which tenements said Reed occupied and enjoyed until dispossessed."
The foregoing extract is taken from the reply made by the inhabitants of the grants to a letter of condemnation of their action sent by Governor Tryon to them just after the favorable action of his council in extending lenity to the settlers, which action, together with its ratification by the people on the grants, he supposed to be in the nature of a mutual armistice. Governor Tryon by his letter demanded that Colonel Reed be restored to possession of his mill and lands.
The chief defense made by Allen and his associates regarding their action in this matter was based upon the entire justice of their course, and the fact , that they were not aware of the favorable action taken by New York, else the raid upon Surveyor Kockburn might not have been made; but the demand that Colonel Reed be repossessed of his (claimed) property met with a flat re- fusal.
The responsibility, however, of this defiant action on the part of Allen and his associates did not rest with them alone. At a general meeting held at Manchester on the 27th of August, 1772, of the committees of safety of the towns of Bennington, Sunderland, Manchester, Dorset, Rupert, Pawlet, Wells, Poultney, Castleton, Pittsford and Rutland, the answer to his excellency's let- ter and demand was read to the committees, and the vote was called by Nathan Clark, chairnian, " whether the said answer should be approved of by the said committees ? and it was voted in the affirmative." Although the letter sent to Governor Tryon by the approval of the committees contained a request that a reply be made concerning " the determination of government relative to the particulars litigated in this paper," no record of any answer is to be found ; and it is believed that Governor Tryon was so highly incensed at the action of the committees that he caused all negotiations to abruptly terminate. The bone of contention, therefore, still remained; and the failure of an attempted reconciliation only served to embitter the resentment of the contending parties, and produce a state of hostility more decided and alarming.
Having thus summarized the leading events relative to the action taken by New York, on the one side, and the general opposition movements of the peo- ple on the grants on the other side, without having detailed specific acts of ·offense and opposition, it is appropriate in this place and before proceeding .farther to relate some of the incidents that occurred that called for prompt de-
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LAND CONTROVERSY.
fensive action on the part of the inhabitants of the contested territory. These events are gleaned from Zadock Thompson's narrative.
In October, 1769, a party of New York surveyors was observed to be run- ning a line across the farm of James Breakenridge, in Bennington, and being forbidden to proceed by Breakenridge and others, who had collected at the place, they desisted and went home, whereupon Abraham Ten Broek, one of the proprietors of the patent of Walloomscoik, petitioned the governor and council of New York, setting forth that the commissioners and surveyors for dividing that patent had been "riotously opposed by sundry persons, and pre- vented by their threats from executing the trust reposed in them." The gov- ernor issued his proclamation, " for apprehending the principals and ringlead- ers;" and at the following term of the court at Albany, the Rev. Jedediah Dewey, Joseph Robinson, Elijah Fay, Thomas Henderson, Ebenezer Robin- son and John Stewart were indicted as rioters, but none of them were arrested, or brought to trial.
In October, 1769, the settlers made two petitions to the governor and council of New Hampshire to the effect that they interpose in their behalf with the crown. These petitions were dated, respectively the 18th and 24th of October. The last was signed by Samuel Safford for Bennington, Benjamin Gardner for Pownal, Jehial Hawley for Arlington, Benjamin Purdy for Man- chester, Thomas Barney for Sunderland, and Benjamin Colvin for Shaftsbury. But no relief came through this channel, and the grants of further patents, and action of ejectment by New York, continued uninterruptedly.
About this time, in 1769, Ethan Allen came to reside at Bennington. He afterward lived in Arlington and Sunderland, but finally removed to Burling- ton, where the suddenly died on February 12, 1789. In defending the actions brought against the settlers, Ethan Allen took an active part; he went to New Hampshire and secured the necessary papers and documents to use on the defense; he engaged the service of an eminent attorney, Mr. Ingersoll, of Connecticut, for the defense, and secured the attendance of such witnesses as were needed on the trial. He also attended the trial of three cases, that of Josiah Carpenter, of Shaftsbury, and two others, in each of which the New Yorkers were successful. As Allen was about to leave Albany he was ap- proached by the attorney-general and urged to advise his Green Mountain friends to make the best terms of settlement with the new landlords that was possible, reinforcing his argument with the remark that might often prevails against right. To this Allen coolly replied that the gods of the valleys are not the gods of the hills; and when Mr. Kemp, the attorney-general, asked for an explanation he was told to accompany him (Allen) to Bennington, and the sense of the remark would be made clear ..
It was the unfortunate determination of these actions that led to the con- vention of the people of the grants at Bennington, which has heretofore been
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
noticed, at which it was resolved by the people to support their rights and property by force, as law and justice were denied them.
John Munro was the proprietor of a patent, under New York authority, of a tract of land lying on White Creek, and extending into Shaftsbury Hollow. Munro was one of the justices of the peace of Albany county, and resided on his land in the town of Shaftsbury. About him was a number of his tenants who were a constant annoyance to the settlers under the New Hampshire grant. By the assistance of Munro the sheriff of Albany county surprised and arrested Silas Robinson, of Bennington, and succeeded in conveying him to prison at Albany. At the term of court held in January of the succeeding year, 1771, Robinson was indicted. He was kept in jail until October follow- ing. and then released on bail. Others indicted about the same time were Simeon Hathaway, Moses Scott and Jonathan Fisk. After the Robinson af- fair, whenever the sheriff appeared for the purpose of arresting any of the al- leged rioters or ejecting any settlers he was sure to be met by a force of men superior to his own, and determined he should not accomplish his purpose. On one occasion, being charged with the service of a writ of ejectment on James Breakenridge, he summoned a posse of seven hundred and fifty armed New York militia for his assistance; but the settlers being warned of his com- ing assembled to the number of about three hundred to oppose him. A few were stationed inside the house, and the remainder were disposed of, in two divisions, in concealed places, but within firing distance of the dwelling. The sheriff, who was none other than the redoubtable Ten Eyck, appeared and de- manded admittance, and threatened to break the door in case of refusal, but the answer was, "Attempt it and you are a dead man." The demand was then repeated, only to he answered with groans. At this point the concealed di- visions exposed themselves in such manner as to make their force appear about twice its actual size, seeing which the Yorkers beat a hasty retreat without having succeeded in the object of their journey. By this and similar attempts the New York authorities became convinced that the power of Albany county, summoned to aid the sheriff, was unavailing as against the determined attitude of the settlers on the grants. In fact they at length realized that their own people were in sympathy with the persecuted settlers, and that outside the circle of the avaricious and land-grabbing class they had no reliable following.
Another of the exploits of this same Munro, and the sheriff of Albany county, was the attempt to obtain possession of the premises of Samuel Rose, in the south part of Manchester. At the time of their visit Rose was absent from home and the officers found no opposition to their entry ; but scarcely had they got inside when a strong force of men from the neighborhood ap- peared and the intruders left somewhat speedily without having put a new tenant in possession. They did, however, command that Mrs. Rose hold the premises as their tenant, which demand was not complied with.
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LAND CONTROVERSY.
Finding the means employed had failed to accomplish the end sought the claimants had recourse to other methods. They adopted the plan of making offers of titles to certain individuals, and to others they offered offices of profit and honor, by which means they hoped to create dissentions in the ranks of the settlers, thus making their conquest more easy. But this scheme failed to operate successfully. To thwart it the settlers perfected the military organ- ization, and provided for the appointment of committees of safety in each town, which latter body in convention declared and resolved that no officer of New York should be permitted, without the consent of the committee, to carry any person outside the district of the New Hampshire grants ; and further, that. no person should take grants, or confirmation of grants, under the gov- ernment of New York ; als > forbidding all inhabitants in the district of the grants, to hold. take, or accept, any office of honor or profit under the colony of New York; and all civil and military officers who had acted under the au- thority of the governor or legislature of New York, were required to suspend their functions on pain of being viewed.
These organizations were so complete and their determination to protect the interests of the inhabitants so manifest that the New York people became somewhat alarmed at the reports concerning them ; and even John Munro seemed considerably alarmed regarding them, for he wrote Governor Tryon to the effect that " the rioters have established a company at Bennington, com- manded by Captain Warner ; and on New Year's Day his company was re- viewed, and continued all day in military exercise and firing at marks."
In the towns of Rupert and Pawlet, being near the line, some persons claim- ing to hold titles under New York, made a settlement and armed themselves that they might resist an attempt to dispossess. In October, 1771, Ethan Al- len, Remember Baker and Robert Cochran, with six others, inhabitants of Ru- pert, all well armed, proceeded to warn off the intruders, who, finding opposi- tion vain, fled to New York, and the log-houses which they had erected "were pulled down, laid in heaps, and burned with fire." For this alleged high crime a warrant was issued against the rioters by Alexander McNaughton, a New York justice, but the officer who had been sent to make the arrest, re- ported that no sheriff or constable could take them ; and recommended that a reward be offered for their capture. Accordingly the governor again had re- course to " proclamation," by which a reward of twenty pounds each was of- fered for the apprehension of the offenders.
In February, 1772, the sheriff of Albany county came to Rupert to make the arrest, but was obliged to return home empty- handed. Then the notori- ous John Munro, lured by his love for gold, devised a scheme for the arrest of at least one of the principal offenders. He engaged the service of ten or twelve servants and dependants, and proceeded before daylight, one Sunday morning in March, 1772, to the home of Remember Baker, in Arlington, for
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
the purpose of arresting him. The door was broken, and the party rushed in- side and attacked the family. Baker received a severe sword cut across the head and on the arm ; his wife was likewise injured about the head and neck, as was also a son, a small boy of twelve years. Baker was taken and bound and thrown into a sleigh and started with great speed towards New York. But the wily Munro was not quick enough, for word had been sent to Benning- ton, and the Green Mountain Boys overtook him and his party before they reached the Hudson, and rescued the captain. Munro and his party, how- ever, escaped across the river. A little later Munro made an attempt to ar- rest Seth Warner, but the latter, after once requesting him to desist, struck him on the head with a dull cutlass, after which he quietly rode off.
In the midst of this excited state of things the settlers on the grants were considerably alarmed by the rumor that Governor Tryon, becoming exasper- ated by the rebellious spirit shown by them, was marching with a strong armed force to conquer and punish the refractory Green Mountain Boys ; but far from being frightened the committees and military were immediately assembled and measures for defense taken. For this purpose two cannon and mortar, with necessary ammunition were procured from Hoosic Fort, and the militia of the country was gathered at Bennington and surrounding towns. When all the necessary warlike preparations were completed a spy was sent to ascertain the strength and probable intentions of the enemy ; but that messenger soon re- turned with the report that the Yorkers were wind-bound on the Hudson, and that they were not intending to make a raid upon the grants, but were bound for the military posts along Lake Champlain.
This warlike movement on the part of the residents of the grants, perfected with such rapidity, caused the few inhabitants wlio favored the cause of New York to leave the vicinity as being unsafe for them. They reported to Gov- ernor Tryon all that had been done, and that discreet officer then adopted the more pacific policy of addressing a letter to Rev. Jedediah Dewey and the other settlers, requesting negotiations looking to an amicable settlement of the con- troversy, which has already been mentioned.
The performances of the succeeding year, 1773, were less in number, but the offenders were subjected to no less summary treatment than previously. In July of this year Colonel Reed procured the services of a number of recently arrived Scotchmen and conducted them to the point where his mill property was formerly located, for the purpose of rebuilding the same and putting it in operation, all of which was done. But news of this coming to the ears of the Green Mountain Boys, they, under the leadership of Ethan Allen, Seth War- ner and Remember Baker, at once proceeded to the spot and again destroyed the building, and compelled the miller to break the stones with a sledge and throw the fragments into the stream. The tenants were then forbidden to re- build the mill.
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PUNISHMENT OF BENJAMIN HOUGH.
Allen and his companions then decided to erect a block-house on the loca- tion of the old mill, which was done during the year 1774. A settlement was soon commenced in the locality, under the protection afforded by the fort. In 1775 the fort was supplied with arms and ammunition, and furnished pro- tection to the settlers until 1776, when it was abandoned. But in the estima- tion of the authorities of New York, the crowning act of infamy and lawless- ness on the part of the Green Mountain Boys was perpetrated by the punish- ishment inflicted upon Benjamin Hough, a resident of the neighborhood of Clarendon, and a firm adherent to the cause of New York. In fact he lived in a vicinity that was peopled by persons mainly from New York, but most of whom were not violent in their expressions against the inhabitants elsewhere on the grants. But Hough was so exceedingly violent in his denunciations of the acts of the " rioters" that it became necessary that an example be made of him. In fact, he had gone so far as to visit Albany for the purpose of obtain- ing aid from that government to assist in subduing the Green Mountain Boys. Furthermore, he was a justice of the peace of Albany county, holding under a New York appointment, against the express command of a resolution of the committees of safety, thus being in the highest degree an " offensive partisan." After frequent warnings, all of which were unheeded, Hough was arrested and taken before a committee, consisting of Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Robert Cochran, Peleg Sunderland, James Mead, Gideon Warren and Jesse Sawyer, at Sunderland, for trial. Being found guilty, sentence was passed upon him as follows: "That the prisoner be taken from the bar of this committe of safety and be tied to a tree, and then, on his naked back, receive two hundred stripes; his back being dressed, he should depart out of the district, and on return, without special leave of the convention, to suffer death."
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