USA > Vermont > Grand Isle County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 6
USA > Vermont > Franklin County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 6
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The Green Mountain Boys were a continual source of trouble and annoyance to the New York authorities, and, do what they might, they never could bring them to justice, although a price was set upon the heads of the leaders. But, notwithstanding the annoyance caused them, the Governor of New York and his Provincial Assembly contin- ued to make laws for governing the district of the grants, and appointed officers charged with the duty of executing their laws ; but as often as any attempt was made to enforce these laws, just so often were the of- ficers visited with the punishments prescribed by the chief officers of the Green Mountain Boys.
A preceding paragraph has made mention of the fact that the juris- diction of Albany county was made to extend over the district of the grants. On the 3d of July, 1766, the Assembly of New York erected
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Cumberland county out of a part of the district, and fixed the county seat at Chester, (now in Windsor county) ; but this locality was found to be uncongenial, consequently the shire town was changed to West- minster, where there was less opposition to New York. But the king's decree of June 26th, 1767, had the effect of annulling this proceeding of the provincial legislature ; but notwithstanding that, and the further prohibition contained in the decree of July 24th following, the New York Assembly, on the 20th of February, 1768, repassed the act which had been annulled, and proceeded with the county organization. The county of Cumberland extended from the south line of the grants north to the south line of the towns of Tunbridge, Strafford and Thetford, while its western boundary was the main mountain range. On the 7th of March, 1770, the same authority erected another county-Gloucester -out of the lands north of Cumberland county, east of the mountains. Two years later, March 12th, 1772, Charlotte county was created, com- prehending all the district west of the mountains and north of the north lines of the towns of Arlington and Sunderland. The part south of the last named line still remained a part of Albany county. The county seat of Charlotte county was established at Skeenesborough, now Whitehall, N. Y., and Philip Skeene was appointed its judge of the Common Pleas Court. The county of Charlotte of course included what now comprises the counties of Franklin and Grand Isle, but as the sole occupants of these counties at that time were none else than Indi- ans, and an occasional Frenchman, it is not probable that Judge Skeene was called upon to exercise his judicial functions in this region.
But this organization of the district into counties had not the effect of bringing the inhabitants into a state of ready submission to the New York authority. On the contrary they were only stimulated to use greater endeavors in preventing the exercise of any authority on the part of New York; and when officers, civil and otherwise, were chosen from among the residents on the grants, they were under constant sur- veillance from the followers of the Green Mountain Boys, and the slight- est manifestation of authority on their part, or any attempt at executing process, or even attempting to persuade wavering persons to be out- spoken in favor of New York, only brought upon them a visitation of the penalties prescribed for such cases. New York exercised a wise
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discretion in fixing the county seats well within the bounds of her own province, for the governor and members of her provincial legislature well knew the results of locating them east of the twenty-mile line. The situation east of the mountains, however, was somewhat different, for in that region was shown less resistance to the authority of New York; in fact there was a strong element in favor of that control. More than that, there had not been the same oppressive measures en- ployed, as was the case west of the mountains, in bringing the inhabit- ants into ready submission, and in some cases the town charters were surrendered and new ones taken from New York without more than a nominal consideration being charged therefor. On the east side, too, New York found it more politic to use peaceful measures with the settlers, for if otherwise it would have been a great inconvenience and expense to enforce authority in a locality so remote from the seat of government. Therefore, the inhabitants east of the mountains not hav- ing special grievance against the New Yorker, did not generally join in resisting the controling authority. This was the situation in general, although there were towns whose inhabitants were in full sympathy with the cause for which the people west of the mountains were con- tending, and they rendered substantial aid to that cause in many ways.
Concerning the stirring events of the period of which we write, the editor feels constrained to refer to the inhabitants of the New Hampshire grants who were leaders of the opposition to New York authority ; and in so doing makes free to quote from an early writer of Vermont his- tory: "Notwithstanding the attempt which had been made to arrest the progress of the controversy, it does not appear that the government of New York had, at any time, taken measures to restrain the location and settlement of lands under New York titles. The bone of conten- tion, therefore, still remained; and the failure of an attempted reconcil- iation had served to embitter the resentment of the contending parties, and produced a state of hostility more decided and alarming. The mass of settlers on the New Hampshire grants consisted of a brave, hardy set of men. Their minds, naturally strong and active, had been roused to the exercise of their highest energies in a controversy involv- ing everything that was dear to them. Though unskilled in the rules of logic, they nevertheless reasoned conclusively ; and having once
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come to a decision, they wanted not the courage or conduct necessary to carry it into execution. Foremost among them stood Ethan Allen ; bold, ardent and unyielding ; possessing a vigorous intellect and an un- common share of self-confidence, he was peculiarly fitted to become a successful leader of the opposition. In the progress of this controversy several pamphlets were written by him, exhibiting, in a manner peculiar to himself, and well suited to the taste of public feeling, the injustice of the New York claims. These pamphlets were extensively circulated, and contributed much to inform the minds, arouse the zeal, and unite the efforts of the settlers. So far as the documents of this period shed any light on the subject, it appears that the inhabitants residing in the present counties of Bennington and Rutland had formed an association by committees from the several town, which met, if not statedly, at least on extraordinary occasions, to adopt such measures as the public exigencies required. Among other acts of this body it had been de- creed, 'that no person should take grants, or confirmation of grants under the government of New York.' And an order had also been made, 'forbidding all inhabitants in the District of the New Hampshire grants to hold, take, or accept, any office of honor or profit under the colony of New York; and that all civil and military officers, who had acted under the authority of the Governor or Legislature of New York, were required to suspend their functions on pain of being viewed.'"
During the course of the controversy there had been some negotia- tions between the association and the inhabitants and Governor Tryon of New York, by which it was hoped might result an amicable adjust- ment of the existing difficulties ; and to this end Captain Stephen Fay and Jonas Fay were sent to New York to treat and possibly make terms with the controling authorities. The agents of the settlers, the Messrs. Fay, were provided with a document which set forth the arguments urged in defense of their action by the leaders, which document was duly signed by Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Remember Baker and Rob- ert Cochran. But while the negotiations were pending certain of the Green Mountain Boys proceeded to Otter Creek, and there dispossessed Colonel Reed, a New Yorker, of a certain mill and other property which he had claimed and forcibly possessed himself in opposition to the rights of the first occupant under the New Hampshire charters. This action
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so incensed Governor Tyron that he dispatched a letter to the inhabit- ants demanding Colonel Reed's reinstatement in the property as a con- dition precedent to further negotiations, and his favorable intercession with the Crown in behalf of the distressed people. To this demand Ethan Allen, as clerk for the committees, made reply, re-affirming the rights of the original owner of the property, and of Colonel Reed's un- just action in dispossessing him ; and further justifying the action of the committee in ousting Reed, and declining to yield to the governor's de- mand. This again widened the breach between the contending factions, and left them in much the same condition as previously they had been. On the 5th of February, 1774, the Assembly of New York was con- vened, and a committee of that body recommended that the governor issue a proclamation offering a reward of fifty pounds each for the ap- prehension and arrest of Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Remember Baker, Robert Cochran, Peleg Sunderland, Silvanus Brown, James Breaken- ridge and John Smith, as "principal ringleaders of, and actors in, the riots and disturbances aforesaid," etc. This was followed on the 9th of March, 1779, by the passage of an act by the Assembly entitled “ an act for preventing tumultuous and riotous assemblies in places therein mentioned," etc. ; meaning in the counties of Albany and Charlotte, and referring to the alleged riotous acts of the so-called Bennington Mob.
The foregoing recommendation by the committee the act of the As- sembly, and the proclamation by the governor of New York, setting a price upon the heads of the leaders of the people on the grants, amounted to a virtual declaration of war against the designated persons as well as all who followed their leadership. But, however severe and formidable that action may have appeared, it did not have the effect of producing consternation among the masses at whom it was directed, nor did it result in tempering the severity of the feelings of the leaders. On the contrary, the result of that action found them only the more de- termined in their resistance to the New York authority and oppression. The proscribed persons, on the 26th of April, 1774, held a meeting and issued a counter proclamation, defending their actions. and giving the New Yorkers an understanding of what they might expect should they attempt to enforce arrests on the grants; and further they addressed their " friends and neighbors " on the grants, asking their co operation
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
and assistance in resisting the unjust and oppressive authority of New York, and declaring their intention to " inflict immediate death " upon whoever should undertake to arrest them.
What might have been the result of this controversy had it been con- tinued on the lines marked out by the contending parties, would indeed be difficult to conjecture. But at that time or very soon afterward the whole country was thrown into a state of high excitement growing out of the relations of the American colonies with the mother country. The acts of oppression heaped upon the colonies by Great Britain were of such a character as to call for something more than mild protestations, and the final result was a strong inclination on the part of the people to throw off the British yoke, and establish an independent nation and government. To the growing sentiment in favor of such a course all the colonies were attracted, and by it local strifes and controversies were for the time forgotten. New York, at this time, was a royal province, the government of which differed somewhat from that of other colonies. Its governor was appointed by the Crown, and all others were supposed to be chosen directly under the sanction of the king; and it was the tardy action of that province in approving of the resolutions of the Congress of the colonies, held September 5th, 1774, that had the effect of alienating from her the affections of the people on the grants east- ward of the Green Mountains. From this time forth the cause of the people became a common one, and they were ever afterward united.
Following the meeting of this Congress there came a general suspen- sion of the royal authority on the part of nearly all the colonies, and New York, almost alone, still held firm to the British authority and con- trol. Holding that authority paramount, the dilatory province at- tempted to hold a session of court in Cumberland county on the 13th of March, 1775, and knowing that opposition would be made, and fear- ing results, an armed force accompanied the officers to the court house. The building was found to be in possession of strong and determined men, so, after some parley, the proceedings were delayed until the next day. But about midnight of the same day the court party returned and made an attack upon the building, resulting in the killing of Will- iam French and wounding of several others. On the next day, the 14th instant, the loyal colonists were reinforced by some 200 armed
-
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men from New Hampshire, and many of the royal party were arrested and placed in confinement. This affair, which has ever been known as the " massacre at Westminster," brought the people on the grants into a closer union with each other, uniting them not only as against the mother country, but against New York as well.
During the period of the Revolutionary War, the civil policy of the district commonly known as the New Hampshire grants partook of a character somewhat different from that theretofore adopted by its lead- ers. Prior to that time the people of the district apparently only desired that the charters under New Hampshire should be confirmed by New York when the latter assumed authorized jurisdiction in pursuance of the king's decree of July 20th, 1764, but as years passed, and one act of oppression followed another in quick succession, there developed a sentiment among some of the stronger minds of the district in favor of a new and separate jurisdiction. To this consummation the stalwart leaders were bending every energy, but they never openly presented the subject to the masses. To establish an independent colony or prov- ince in the face of the New York opposition was no easy thing to ac- complish. A favorable opportunity was necessary, and that was pre- sented in the outbreak of the Revolution.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
CHAPTER VI.
The Controversy Resumed-Proceedings on the Part of Vermont-Ethan Allen's Achievement at Ticonderoga-Seth Warner at Crown Point-Vermont Seeks Admis- sion to the Federal Union-The Declaration of American Independence -The Dorset Conventions-Vermont's Independence Declared-The State Formed-Name of New Connecticut-Changed to Vermont -Proceedings of Congress upon Vermont's Petition -The Subject Dismissed-Framing the State Constitution-First Union with New Hampshire Towns-Its Dissolution-New York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts' Claims-Vermont's Appeal-Action of Congress-Second Union with New Hampshire Towns-The Eastern Union-Their Dissolution-Negotiations with Canada-Their Results-General Washington's Reply to Governor Chittenden's Letter-New York Ceases Opposition to Vermont's Independence-The States Choose Commissioners- The Controversy Settled-Vermont Admitted to the Union-The Act of Congress.
T HE outbreak of the War of the Revolution actually commenced with the 19th of April, 1775, and by it the American colonies be- came united in a common cause against the mother country. New York, notwithstanding her tardiness in action, at length alienated herself from the crown, and united with the other provinces in the contest for independence. For the time being her governing authorities diverted their attention from the controversy with the people on the New Hamp- shire grants, and gave special heed to the more weighty matters pertain- ing to the nation's welfare. This was the opportunity for which the peo- ple on the grants were anxiously awaiting, and their leaders did not fail to profit by the occasion. Yet, they were in a decidedly singular and embarrassing situation; they had renounced any and all allegiance to New York; they had never been recognized as a province by the crown; they had no representation nor participation in the Continental Con- gress; and they were a practically isolated community, having no es- tablished government, no resources and no means of public revenue other than the determination of their leaders to create the former, and the willingness of the people at large to contribute to the latter. But these people, if anything, were fruitful of expedients. Their leaders determined to demonstrate to the Continental Congress that, notwith- standing their disloyalty to New York, they nevertheless held true to
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the cause of American independence; and this spirit of loyalty was made perfectly manifest in Allen's splendid achievement in the capture of Ticonderoga, on the 9th of May, 1775, in the name of the "Great Je- hovah and the Continental Congress;" an independent performance, the conception of his own fertile brain and the fruit of his own daring deter- mination and spirit. At the same time Seth Warner, on whose head, too, as well as Allen's, the New York authorities had set a price, with a body of the Green Mountain Boys, captured the British posts at Crown Point.
With this achievement standing to their credit, and believing that Congress, as a matter of right and simple justice, would give heed to their requests, the people on the grants on the 17th of January, 1776, prepared a memorial for presentation to Congress, wherein they set forth the claims on which their past action had been based, protesting loyalty to America in the contest then waging, and asking that they be recog- nized as a jurisdiction independent from New York and expressing per- fect willingness to do military duty as such. The convention at which this petition was prepared was held at Dorset, being assembled Janu- ary 16th, and adjourned to the next day. The committee nominated to present the petition to Congress, comprised Lieutenant James Break- enridge, Captain Heman Allen and Dr. Jonas Fay. The persons chosen duly repaired to the assembled Congress, presented their petition, but the action of that body only recommended that the petitioners, for the present, submit to the government of New York, but without prejudice to their rights or claims; and that Congress would, after "the present troubles are at an end," make a final determination of their rights through judges to whom the matter should be referred. Than this re- sult nothing could be less satisfactory to the committee or the people on the grants; therefore, at his request, Heman Allen was given leave to withdraw the petition. Thus were the inhabitants on the grants pecul- iarly situated when on the 4th day of July, 1776, Congress declared and published to the world the independence of the United States of Amer- ica. By this Vermont became indeed a separate jurisdiction, but not of the character her people most desired. Had the efforts of her lead- ers resulted as they had hoped, Vermont would have been one of the original States, but fate decreed otherwise; and it was not until the
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year 1791 that that consummation was reached. However disappointing may have been the action of Congress, the people on the grants were neither dismayed or discouraged by it; nor had that action, or the rec- ommendation of Congress, any force in inclining the people to submit to New York for any purposes whatever. The leaders sent circulars and documents to the several towns asking for another convention, which assembled at Dorset on the 24th of July, 1776, but soon afterwards ad- journed to meet again at the same place on September 25th following. On being again assembled at the time and place specified, it was found that delegates were present from most of the towns west of the mountains, while some of the eastern towns were represented by letters from the principal inhabitants. Among the several acts here proposed and dis- cussed was one by which it was voted without a dissenting voice, "to declare the New Hampshire grants a free and separate district." And for the purposes of an organization, a committee of seven was chosen to prepare a covenant or compact, to be signed by the delegates represent- ing the several towns, which should clearly set forth the situation of the people on the grants and what was proposed to be done with reference to their future conduct. The material part of this covenant was as fol- lows: "We, the subscribers, inhabitants of that district of land com- monly called and known by the name of New Hampshire grants, being legally delegated and authorized to transact the public and political af- fairs of the aforesaid district, for ourselves and constituents, do solemnly covenant and engage that, for the time being, we will strictly and religi- ously adhere to the several resolves of this or a future convention, con- stituted on said district by the free voice of the friends to American lib- erties, which shall not be repugnant to the resolves of the honorable, the Continental Congress relative to the cause of America."
From the meeting at Dorset the convention adjourned to reassemble at Westminster on the 15th day of January, 1777, at which time there were present representatives from towns both east and west of the moun- tains; and here, at this convention, the delegates, in their own names and in behalf of their constituents did publicly declare, "that the district of territory, comprehending and usually known by the name and de- scription of the New Hampshire grants, of right ought to be, and is hereby declared forever hereafter to be considered as a free and inde-
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pendent jurisdiction, or State; by the name, and forever hereafter to be called, known and distinguished by the name of New Connecticut, alias Vermont, etc."
In explanation of the name just mentioned, it may be stated that Slade, Thompson and other standard authorities on Vermont's early his- tory have agreed that the name was given by the Westminster conven- . tion as above recorded; but more recent writers, particularly Hiland Hall, who made, perhaps, more thorough research into the ancient arch- ives of the state than any of his predecessors, is inclined to the opinion that the name originally given the new jurisdiction was New Connecti- cut, and that alone; that the addition, alias Vermont, was an after- thought, and substitution, it being subsequently learned that the name New Connecticut had already been given to a colony in what is now the state of Pennsylvania. Whatever the fact was is of no material conse- quence in the present connection, but suffice it to say the independence of the state was then and there declared. And that Congress might have knowledge of the matter, the convention caused to be prepared a memorial of their proceedings, and duly transmitted to that body at Philadelphia. New York, too, had taken due cognizance of what was taking place among her refractory subjects, and also reported the result to Congress, enlarging upon and exaggerating the occurrence to suit her special purposes. After considerable delay Congress took action concerning the matter, but instead of giving countenance to the pro- ceeding on the part of the people on the grants, only refused to recog- nize the independence of the separate district, censured the delegates for their proceeding, and then dismissed them and their application for representation in the national body.
While the subject of recognition was pending before Congress, the people on the grants were quietly proceeding with their state organiza- tion. On the first Wednesday of June, 1777, the delegates from the towns again assembled at Windsor, and there revised the declaration of separate independence, and substituted the name Vermont for New Connecticut, as originally adopted. They also transacted other import- ant business, principal among which was the appointment of a commit- tee to prepare a draft of a constitution. Again, on the 2d of July, the convention met at Windsor, when the committee presented the original
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
draft of the state constitution. This was under consideration when news was brought that Ticonderoga had fallen into British hands, and that General Burgoyne was spreading desolation throughout the entire region. This intelligence so disconcerted the members that they were at once inclined to abandon further proceedings in the convention and set out for their homes. But the friendly intervention of a thunder storm gave them time to reflect, and they resumed consideration of the measures before their body. The matter being completed and adopted, the temporary affairs of the commonwealth were placed in the charge of a Council of Safety, after which the convention adjourned.
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