History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

Author: Aldrich, Lewis Cass. ed. cn; Holmes, Frank R
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1260

USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 3

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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.

applicants, they rebelled against any such usurpation of right, and were at once made bitterly hostile to the New York powers. So great, indeed, was the indignation of the settlers at this outrageous proceeding that it was a dangerous occupation for any New York officer to appear upon the grants. That they might know whether the New York authorities could justly evict them from their land, or compel them to repurchase, the settlers met in convention, through representatives from the several towns, and decided to send Samuel Robinson, of Bennington, to England to present their grievances to the king. The king and council, after patiently hearing the statements of Mr. Robinson, made an order forbidding the "Governor or Commander-in-Chief of his Majesty's Province of New York, for the time being," from making " any grant whatsoever of any part of the lands described in the report (the report of the board of trade), until his majesty's pleasure be further known," etc.

But, notwithstanding this, the governor of New York did continue to make grants, and did bring suits in ejectment against the settlers, until, at last, their patience became exhausted at the continued oppression put upon them ; and as law and justice were denied them, an organization for mutual protection of life and property became necessary. This re- sulted in the formation of that heroic band of statesmen and warriors known in history as the " Green Mountain Boys," of which Ethan Allen was chosen colonel, and Seth Warner, Remember Baker, Robert Cochran, Gideon Warner and others, captains.

After the royal decree of 1764, by which the Connecticut River became the eastern boun dary of the province of New York, the success- ful authorities made all possible haste to organize and govern the same, thus hoping to subdue the rebellious spirit that had then begun to manifest itself in various quarters; and in carrying out their plan of government the territory of the grants was divided into counties, the portion east of the mountains being called Cumberland county ; and they had created courts and appointed officers for the civil government of the county when the king's order of 1767 was received, and by which their former proceedings were annulled. But in spite of this the act creating the county was again passed, and the county again organized under New York authority. The county seat of Cumberland county

EARLY COUNTY DIVISIONS.

was fixed at Chester, in the present county of Windsor, and here courts were held for four or five years, but no permanent county buildings were erected at that place.

The town of Chester, as will be seen by reference to earlier pages, was first chartered by Governor Wentworth, on February 22, 1754, under the name of Hamstead. On November 3, 1761, the town was rechartered under the name of Flamstead, or New Flamstead; and on July 14, 1766, the name " Chester " was adopted. This latter name was given the town by the charter that was then granted by the provincial authorities of New York to Thomas Chandler and thirty- six associates.

In many of the towns lying in the southeastern portion of the grants there was a strong contingent of settlers who were satisfied to accept the New York terms of adjustment of the existing difficulties, and who were willing to surrender their claims under New Hampshire and pro- cure new charters from New York. In Chester there were many persons inclined to this course, although this class were far more numer- ous in the towns farther south. But in Chester, too, there was an equally determined class of settlers who refused to submit to the New York authority ; and the feeling between these opposing factions at length grew so bitter that it was deemed advisable to move the county seat to Westminster, which was accordingly done.

And about the same time, on March 7, 1770, that portion of the ter- ritory of the grants east of the mountains and north of the town lines of the present towns of Norwich, Sharon and Royalton, was formed into another county by the name of Gloucester, the county seat of which was fixed at Newbury. This action on the part of the New Yorkers divided the territory east of the mountains into two distinct sub-dis- tricts. The great majority of the residents of Gloucester county were opposed to the New York authority, while the majority of those who dwelt in Cumberland county may be said to have been indifferent as to the situation or else they favored New York control. But still there were many in Cumberland county that warmly and earnestly espoused the cause for which the Green Mountain Boys and the residents west of the mountains were contending.

But the New York authorities did not confine their operations exclu - sively to the region where their followers were the most numerous, for

HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.

they also divided the territory east of the Green Mountains into two separate counties, the one called Albany county and the other Charlotte county. The county seat of the first was fixed at Albany, while that of the latter was at Skenesborough (now Whitehall). The north lines of the towns of Arlington and Sunderland separated these counties, and this boundary was continued westerly to the Hudson River. This or- ganization of the territory of the grants into counties, by the authorities of New York, was continued until the year 1777, when the representa- tives of the people on the disputed tract declared their lands to be an independent jurisdiction or State, and gave to it the name of VERMONT.

CHAPTER IV.

The Controversy with New York-Means Employed to Overcome the New Hamp- shire Grantees-Change of Sentiment East of the Mountains-Allegiance to New York Disclaimed-The Massacre at Westminster-Death of William French-Meet- ings held at Westminster-The Settlers Formally Renounce Allegiance to New York -The Commencement of the Struggle for State and National Independence-The Conventions at Dorset-Towns East of the Mountains Asked to Send Delegates-The Conventions at Westminster-Independence of the State Declared-Named New Connecticut-Changed to Vermont-Conventions at Windsor- State Constitution Adopted-Paul Spooner of Hartland.

D URING the period of the controversy with New York concerning the right of ownership in and jurisdiction over the territory known so many years by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, the chief theater of events lay west of the Green Mountains. This section was much nearer the seat of government of the province of New York, and should her officers not be able to suppress an insurrection in that locality, how little could they hope to hold in subjection any strong rebellious sentiment that should manifest itself in the more remote and inaccessi- ble regions beyond the mountains! But with these people the New Yorkers pursued a decidedly different course from that employed against the Green Mountain Boys, using pacific measures to accomplish their purpose with the former, while force of arms must be resorted to in order to overcome the opposition offered by Ethan Allen and his brave com -

THE CONTROVERSY WITH NEW YORK.

patriots. On the west side the New York authorities never gained any substantial foothold or advantage over the settlers on the grants, and the officers sent to apprehend the alleged rioters were treated to such smarting applications of the beech seal and sundry other punishments as to most effectually discourage other officers from making any attempt at arrest or eviction. And that element of the population that were called Tories found the region wholly unsafe for habitation, and either fled to other parts or so conducted themselves as not to bring upon them a visitation of the wrath of the leaders of the alleged mob. To be sure the territory had, in the same manner as that on the east side, been divided into counties, and officers appointed to exercise their respective functions therein; but hardly any of these attempted to act, and when an occasional justice or other petty officer assumed to perform the duty imposed upon him by virtue of his appointment, he did so in defiance of the order of the Green Mountain Boys, and upon conviction was punished in such manner as suggested itself to the fancy of the leaders, and by no means were their primitively constituted magistrates inclined to exercise leniency toward offenders. For inimical conduct, which was nothing more nor less than Toryism, David Redding was hanged at Bennington.

But on the east side of the mountains the character of the people and situation was decidedly different; and it is believed that public sentiment for and against New York was nearly equally divided, excepting of course that element of the settlers that expressed or held no decided preference. This was the situation prior to the breaking out of the Rev- olution, but that event aroused all factions to activity, and the so-called Tory contingent became decidedly small and weak, though it was by no means extinguished.

The affection entertained for the authorities and government of the province of New York by the inhabitants of the grants east of the mount- ains became suddenly and effectually alienated during the years just pre- ceding the Revolution, and the peculiar situation of New York was the innocent and ignorant cause of it. The reader will bear in mind that the Duke of York was the grantee, under the charter issued by the king, to the entire province named in his honor, and this charter was not unlike many others. But the Duke of York, in course of time, ascended the

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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.

throne, and by that event the province of New York merged in the crown, became an English province, and was governed by officers ap- pointed by the king. From this fact it was known as a royal province, and its authorities and magistrates were the immediate subjects of the crown, and owed a closer allegiance thereto than many of the other prov- inces. Therefore, when in 1774 the representatives of the several col- onies met at Philadelphia for the purpose of deliberating upon measures to relieve themselves from the oppressions put upon the colonies by the mother country, it was not a surprising thing that New York was re- luctant about acting with the earnestness shown by the other provinces throughout the land. This lack of zeal cost the governing authorities of New York the friendship, not only of other provinces, but particularly of the settlers on the grants east of the Green Mountains. These peo- ple had, in the main, been former residents of the provinces south and east of the section in which they then lived, and as those colonies were eager and earnest in their efforts to separate from Great Britain, they felt that the tardy action of New York was sufficient cause for throwing off all allegiance to that province, and uniting with the great mass of the people in the common cause against England and her oppressive policy.

But the officers of Cumberland county, holding under the authority they derived from New York, felt it incumbent upon them that they perform such duties as had previously been their custom notwithstand- ing the opposition of the people, who advised against such action. This disregard of the people's wishes led to the unfortunate disaster that has ever since been termed the massacre at Westminster. This affair oc- curred at a time when the New York authorities were in control of the civil government of Cumberland county, of which county this region then formed a part. The facts of the case were so clearly and concisely stated in the narrative contained in "Thompson's Vermont " that we make bold to copy the same literally in these pages, as follows : " The affairs of the colonies had assumed so alarming an aspect, that delegates from most of the provinces met at Philadelphia on the 5th of Septent- ber, 1774, to consult upon measures for the common safety. The meet- ing of this congress was followed by an almost universal suspension of the royal authority in all the colonies, excepting New York, which re- fused to assent to the measures recommended by that body, and the

THE MASSACRE AT WESTMINSTER.

courts of justice were either shut up or adjourned without doing any business. The first interruption of this kind in the colony of New York happened in the county of Cumberland, on the New Hampshire grants.

" The stated session of the court for that county was to have been holden at Westminster, on the 13th of March, 1775. Much dissatisfac- tion prevailed in the county because New York had refused to adopt the resolves of the Continental Congress, and exertions were made to dis- suade the judges from holding the court. But, as they persisted in do- ing it, some of the inhabitants of Westminster and the adjacent towns took possession of the court-house at an early hour in order to prevent the officers of the court from entering. The court party soon appeared before the court-house armed with guns, swords and pistols, and com- manded the people to disperse. But, as they refused to obey, some harsh language passed between them, and the court party retired to their quarters.

" The people then had an interview with Judge (Thomas) Chandler, who assured them that they might have quiet possession of the house till morning, when the court should come in without arms, and should hear what they had to lay before them. But, contrary to this declaration, about eleven o'clock that night the sheriff with other officers of the court, attended by an armed force, repaired to the court-house. Being refused admittance, some of the party fired into the house and killed one man and wounded several others. The wounded men they seized and dragged to prison, with some others who did not succeed in making their escape. By means of those who escaped the news of this massacre was quickly spread, and before noon the next day a large body of armed men had collected." (About 200 of these came from New Hampshire, and oth- ers from Massachusetts, which, with those from the grants, aggregated a total armed force of five hundred men ) "A jury of inquest brought in a verdict that the man was murdered by the county party. Several of the officers were made prisoners and confined in the jail at Northampton ; but upon the application of the chief justice of New York, they were re- leased from prison and returned home."

The victim of the massacre at Westminster was William French. His body was interred in the graveyard at Westminster, and on the monu- ment erected to his memory was this inscription, a veritable literary curiosity :

HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.

" In Memory of William French, Son to Mr. Nathaniel French, Who Was Shot at Westminster, March ye 13th, 1775, by the hands of Cruel Ministerial tools of George ye 3d, in the Corthouse at a II a Clock at Night, in the 22d year of his age.

" Here William French his body lies, For murder his blood for vengeance cries, King Georg the third his Tory crew, tha with a bawl his head Shot threw, For Liberty and his Country's Good, he lost his Life his Dearest blood."

Following the affair at Westminster, the cause of the settlers upon the grants, both east and west of the mountains, became a common one. No longer was there a strong disaffected element, and all factions be- came united in the cause against both New York and Great Britain. In the midst of this feeling a convention of committees, representing the towns east of the mountains, was called to be holden at Westminster, on the IIth day of April, 1775. At this meeting the following proceedings were taken :

"I. VOTED, That Major Abijah Lovejoy1 be the Moderator of this meeting.

" 2. VOTED, That Dr. Reuben Jones 2 be the Clerk.

"3. VOTED, as our opinion, That our inhabitants are in great danger of having their property unjustly, cruelly, and unconstitutionally taken from them by the arbitrary and designing administration of the govern- ment of New York ; sundry instances have already taken place.

"4. VOTED, as our opinion, That the lives of those inhabitants are in the utmost hazard and imminent danger, under the present administra- tion. Witness the malicious and horrid massacre on the night of the 13th ult.

"5. VOTED, as our opinion, That it is the duty of said inhabitants, as predicated on the eternal and immutable law of self-preservation, to wholly renounce and resist the administration of the government of New York, till such time as the lives and property of those inhabitants may be secured by it ; or till such time as they can have opportunity to lay their grievances before his most gracious majesty in council, together with a

1 Major Abijah Lovejoy of Westminster.

2 Dr. Reuben Jones of Rockingham, afterwards of Chester.

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION.

proper remonstrance against the unjustifiable conduct of that govern- ment ; with an humble petition to be taken out of so oppressive a juris- diction, and, either annexed to some other government, or erected and incorporated into a new one, as may appear best to the said inhabitants, to the royal wisdom and clemency, and till such time as his majesty shall settle this controversy.

"6. VOTED, That Colonel John Hazeltine, Charles Phelps, Esq., and Colonel Ethan Allen, be a committee to prepare such remonstrance and petition for the purpose aforesaid."

" It is difficult," says Slade, "to conjecture what would have been the issue of this controversy had not its progress been suddenly averted by the commencement of the Revolutionary war. The events of the memorable 19th of April, 1775, produced a shock which was felt to the very extremity of the colonies; and ' local and provincial contests were at once swallowed up by the novelty, the grandeur, and the importance of the contest thus opened between Great Britain and America.' The commencement of the war at this period led to a train of causes im- mediately connected with the final independence of Vermont. The attention of New York was suddenly diverted from the subject of its particular controversy to a higher one, involving the independence of the whole American community, while the final result of the former was necessarily thrown forward to a more distant period. The New Hamp- shire grantees did not fail to profit by this delay. While they never for a moment lost sight of the object for which they had so long con- tended, they improved the delay in the cultivation of a more perfect union, and in a better organization of their strength ; while a violent, irritable state of public feeling, ill calculated to sustain a long conflict, gradually settled down into a more deliberate but not less decided hostility to the claims of New York."

" In this state of things," continues the same writer, " the inhabitants on the grants soon began to feel their importance; and this feeling was not a little strengthened by the signal exploit (the surprise and capture of Ticonderoga on the 9th of May, 1775), which has given the brave Allen and his companions in arms so distinguished a place in the annals of the Revolution. Their frontier situation peculiarly exposed them to the depredations of the enemy. Their own immediate safety,

HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.

therefore, as well as a strong sympathy in the general hostility to the mother country, led them to take an early and distinguished part in the common cause. With New York, however, they were determined to have no immediate connection even in the common defence."

In the early proceedings that resulted in the declaration of independ- ence of Vermont, the inhabitants on the grants east of the mountains did not take an active part, and the first convention in which they were represented was that held at Dorset, on the 24th of July, 1776, at which time Captain Samuel Fletcher and Josiah Fish were delegates from Townshend, that town then being in Cumberland county, of which the present county of Windsor formed a part. Prior to that event, and on July 26, 1775, and January 16, 1776, conventions had been held at Dorset, but no representatives from the eastern towns of the grants were present. At the convention of July, 1776, it was " Voted to chose a committee to treat with the Inhabitants of the New Hampshire grants on the East side of the range of Green Mountains relative to their associating with this body"; and further, "Voted, That Captain Heman Allen, Colonel William Marsh, and Dr. Jonas Fay in conjunc- tion with Captain Samuel Fletcher and Mr. Joshua Fish, be a Com- mittee to exhibit the proceedings of this Convention to said inhabitants, and to do the business as above." In addition to these proceedings it was also voted that Dr. Jonas Fay, Colonel Thomas Chittenden and Lieutenant Ira Allen be appointed a committee to prepare instructions for the committee last above chosen.

At this time, although the independence of Vermont had not been formally declared, the people were making an earnest effort to bring about that end through the intervention of Congress. It therefore be- came a part of the business of the July convention at Dorset to ascertain the general sentiment of all the towns relating to such a proceeding. For this purpose town meetings were requested to be held in the towns east of the mountains, at which the freemen should express their opinion as to the course best to be pursued. In Rockingham on the 26th of August it was voted to send two delegates to the convention to be held at Dorset in the fall, and instructed them " to use their best influence to obtain the passage of such resolve as would tend to establish the ' Grants' as a separate and independent State." And at a similar meet-

THE WESTMINSTER CONVENTION.

ing "the fullest meeting ever (then) known in Chester," held in Septem- ber, like measures were adopted, and the articles of association, which had been approved of by the Dorset committee, were signed by forty- two of the inhabitants. Other towns were heard from, some by written and others by verbal communications.

At an adjourned session of the Dorset convention, held September 25, 1776, ten towns east of the mountains were represented, but only one, Windsor, was in what is now the county of that name. Ebenezer Hois- ington represented that town. Mr. Hoisington took an active part in the proceedings of this as well as subsequent conventions, and served as a member of several of the most important committees.

From Dorset the convention adjourned to reassemble at Westminster on the 30th day of October, 1776. At the meeting at Westminster were two representatives from towns in this county, Mr. Hoisington for Windsor, and Colonel Thomas Chandler for Chester. This convention was in session but three days when it was voted to adjourn to meet again at Westminster, on the third Wednesday of January, 1777.

At the appointed time the representatives met at the court house in Westminster, the delegates from the eastern towns outnumbering those from the west side. From the towns now of Windsor county the dele- gates were as follows: From Chester, Colonel Thomas Chandler; Wind- sor, Ebenezer Hoisington; Hartford, Stephen Tilden; Woodstock, Benjamin Emmons; Norwich, Major Thomas Moredock and Jacob Bur- ton. The towns of Pomfret, Barnard and Royalton sent letters to the convention pronouncing in favor of a new State, but neither of these were otherwise represented. One of the first subjects of discussion in this convention was the sentiment existing in the towns east of the mountains regarding the formation of a new State ; and for the purpose of receiving correct information on that subject a committee, consisting of Lieutenant Leonard Spaulding, of Dummerston, Ebenezer Hois- ington, of Windsor, and Major Thomas Moredock, of Norwich, was chosen to examine and report as to the number of persons in the east- ern towns who were in favor of a new State, and how many were op- posed thereto. The report of this committee states that " We find by examination that more than three-fourths of the people in Cumberland and Gloucester counties, that have acted, are for a new State; the rest we view as neuters." 6

HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.

This convention was, perhaps, the most important of any that was held during the period of agitation and uncertainty, for it was here that the representatives of the towns on the New Hampshire Grants, through their committee selected for the purpose, declared to the world that " the district of territory comprehending and usually known by the name and description of the New Hampshire Grants, of right out to be, and is hereby declared forever hereafter to be considered as a separate, free and independent jurisdiction or State ; by the name, and forever hereafter to be called, known and distinguished by the name of New Connecticut," etc.

There seems to have been, and perhaps still is, considerable discus- sion concerning the fact whether the name of the newly created State is correctly given above-New Connecticut, or whether it was at that time named New Connecticut, alias Vermont. The great bulk of reliable au- thority on this subject seems to incline to the belief that the name New Connecticut only was given in the original declaration ; that the words " alias Vermont" were afterward added, and that on the 4th of June, following, the name was changed to Vermont. There is no question but that the name New Connecticut was adopted at the Westminster convention, but there was a question whether the added words were a part of the original document. At all events the succeeding conven- tion, at Windsor, June 4, 1777, was dissatisfied with some of the pro- visions of the original proceeding, particularly from the fact that no rea- sons were stated for the separation from New York; whereupon the body there assembled, by their first preamble, did state: "Whereas, This convention did at their session in Westminster, the 15th day of January last, among other things, declare the district of land commonly called and known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, to be 'a free and independent State, capable of regulating their own internal police in all and every respect whatsoever, and that it should thereafter be known by the name of New Connecticut.'" "Resolved, therefore, unanimously, that the said district described in the preamble to the dec- laration at Westminster, aforesaid, shall now hereafter be called and known by the name of Vermont."

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History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

Author: Aldrich, Lewis Cass. ed. cn; Holmes, Frank R Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1260

Author: Aldrich, Lewis Cass. ed. cn; Holmes, Frank R
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1260