USA > Vermont > History of eastern Vermont, from its earliest settlement to the close of the eighteeth century with a biographical chapter and appendixes > Part 20
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* Williams's Hist. Vt., Ist ed., p. 411; 2d ed. ii 478 Brattleborough Semi- Weekly Eagle, vol. iii., nos. 43, 45-47, 49-51, 58, 60, 76. Doc Hist. N. Y., iv. 1034
t See Appendix H
189
THE INDUCTION OF WELLS AND BRUSH.
1772.]
of New York, and, having notified their attendance to the house on the 2d of February, 1773, were called in, and after presenting their credentials, were ordered to withdraw. Having been received as representatives by a unanimous vote, they were waited upon by Mr. De Lancey and Mr. Nicoll, two of the representatives, by whom they were conducted to one of the commissioners appointed to qualify representatives, and having taken the required oaths, were allowed to take their seats " at the table." Such was the ceremony by which mem- bers were inducted into office under the old courtier-like regime. Republicanism has removed most of the forms which served to give dignity to the legislative transactions of our ancestors, and the result may, for a time, have been beneficial. But the expe- rience of the last twenty years has shown, at least in our deli- berative bodies, that a decrease in respectful conduct has fol- lowed closely upon a disuse of ceremonial observances, and the scenes which have lately disgraced the floor of our National Congress have awakened in many a heart a wish for the revival of some of that becoming etiquette which lent so great a grace to the proceedings of the assemblies of former days .*
Previous to the election of Wells and Brush, some of the members of the Legislature had proposed the passage of a number of necessary and judicious laws, relating to Cumber- land county. Leave having been granted, on the 15th of January, 1772, to bring in such acts as would meet the ends designed, the yeomanry of Cumberland had the satisfaction of knowing before the close of the session that their wants had been considered, and that the punishment of the statute- breaker and the protection of good men were certain, so far as legal enactments could avail, to produce these results.
The first of these acts, passed on the 26th of February, was for the revival and continuation of an act which had been made six years before for the purpose of " laying out, regulating and keeping in repair" the roads of the county.+ At the same time a law was enacted for regulating the inns and taverns of the county. By its provisions no person was allowed to sell "by retail, any rum, brandy, wine, or spirits of any kind, under the
* Council Minutes, in office Sec. State, N. Y., 1765-1783, xxvi. 331. Journal Gen. Ass. N. Y., 1767-1775. Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv. 816, 817.
+ See ante, pp. 138, 139. By an act passed March 8th, 1773, this act was ex- tended to Gloucester county. Laws of N. Y., Van Schaack's ed., 1691-1773, pp. 487-490, 646, 804, 805.
190
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
[1772.
quantity of one quart; nor any cider, strong beer, metheglin, or any such strong liquor, or any mixt liquors, directly or indi- rectly, under the quantity of five gallons," without a license, on pain of forfeiting the sum of twenty shillings, current money, for every offence, one-half of the fine to be paid to him who should sue for it, the other half to the overseers of the poor, for the benefit of those under their care. Licenses were to be granted for one year by the court of General Sessions of the Peace, to such persons as the justices should recommend, and were to be entered by the clerk on the court records. The jus- tice from whom a recommendation proceeded, was to receive three shillings for every license granted, and the clerk two shillings for his services. By another provision, the act was to be read once in every year at the session of the court .*
Many difficulties had already arisen from the imperfect con- dition of the laws regarding the probate of wills and the set- tlement of the affairs of intestates. By an act passed on the 11th of November, 1692, in the fourth year of the reign of Wil- liam and Mary, the courts of Common Pleas for the remote counties in the colony of New York, had been authorized " to take the examination of witnesses to any will within the said respective remote counties upon oath, and to grant letters of administration."
On the 24th of March, 1772, an act was passed extending the aforesaid act to Cumberland and Gloucester counties, giving to the courts of Common Pleas in those counties power "to take the examination of any witnesses to wills upon oath ;" and "to act, do, and perform every matter and thing" pertaining to the supervising of intestates' estates, the regulating of the probate of wills, and the granting of letters of administration. When the courts were not in session, the same authority was given to the judges and justices by virtue of their office, and the clerks were ordered to give such assistance as might with propriety be
* This act was amended March 8th, 1773, and was extended to Gloucester county. As altered, no person was allowed to retail " any Rum, Brandy, Wine, or Spirits of any kind, under the Quantity of Five Gallons," without a license. No person having a license "to retail strong Liquors," was permitted to "sell any mixt Liquors, directly or indirectly, on pain of forfeiting the Sum of Twenty Shillings," current money, for each offence, to be recovered and applied as directed by the former act. The judges of the Inferior court of Common Pleas were authorized to grant licenses at the meetings of the court of General Sessions of the Peace, to such persons as they should deem proper. Laws of N. Y., Van Schaack's ed., 1691-1773, pp. 646, 647, 805.
191
PETITION FOR CONFIRMATION CHARTERS.
1773.]
demanded of them. Owing, no doubt, to the troubles conse- quent upon the prosecution of the Deans for felling his Majes- ty's trees, as related in a previous chapter, a bill was brought in, on the 28th of February, for preventing abuses " in the de- struction of timber by joint tenants, or tenants in common, to the prejudice of their fellow joint tenants or commoners." It was ordered to a second reading, but, as no further account of it appears on the Assembly journals, it is probable that it was defeated .*
Although a number of the townships east of the Green Moun- tains, had received confirmation charters from New York agree- able to the order in Council of July 20th, 1764, still the majority of them were held by grants from New Hampshire. To pro- duce a uniformity in the titles, about four hundred of the favor- ers of the jurisdiction of New York residing in the counties of Cumberland and Gloucester, petitioned the King on the 26th of January, 1773, to confirm to them the rest of the townships for one half of the usual fees of office. "Your petitioners," said they, "are not desirous of any change of jurisdiction, but are perfectly satisfied with, and earnestly wish to continue under the government of New York, and are only anxious to have their titles made valid and secure by confirmations under the Great Seal of the said province, which have been hitherto suspended, as your petitioners are informed, by your Majesty's royal in- structions." On account of the insecurity of their titles, they declared that they could not carry on their improvements " with spirit and vigour" for fear of being deprived of them and losing their labor ; that they were not entitled to the rights and privi- leges of freeholders, by reason of the defects of their New Hamp- shire charters ; and from the same cause, were unable to sup- port any action in behalf of their landed property, when it was injured or withheld from them. " While these distressing cir- cumstances," said they, "fall heavy on individuals, they at the same time obstruct the growth and further cultivation of these new counties, impede the equal administration of justice, and prevent the payment and augmentation of your Majesty's re- venue from the quit rents." These were some of the reasons which induced them to seek for a securer title than that under
* Act of Assembly, passed in the Province of New York, London ed. MDOOXIX., 1691-1718, pp. 16, 17. Acts of 12th George III., in Laws of N. Y., Van Schaack's ed., 1691-1773, pp. 646, 647, 707. Journal Gen. Ass. N. Y., 1767-1775.
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HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
[1773.
which they then held. But a reduction of the fees of office one half, as prayed for by the petitioners, was deemed too great a. " mark of favor and indulgence" to be granted, and the riotous conduct of the settlers on the west side of the mountains receiv- ed more attention from government than the reasonable com- plaints of the more peaceable inhabitants of Cumberland and Gloucester .*
At the session of the Assembly of New York in 1773, an act was passed on the 18th of March relative to Cumberland county, for the purpose of settling certain disputed questions regarding the sheriff's duties and privileges. By the law enacted on that occasion, he was authorized to compute his mileage fees " for the service of all writs and papers" from the court-house at Westminster. He was also empowered, "for the time being," to demand "the usual customary" mileage fees for every mile he might "necessarily travel in or out" of the county, "in order to facilitate the return" of writs and processes issued from the Supreme court of the colony. An affidavit from him of the number of miles he had thus travelled, was declared to be sufficient proof when presented to one of the judges of the Inferior court of Common Pleas, and, after the approval of the affidavit, the sheriff was allowed to tax his mileage fees in the bills of costs. In addition to these privi- leges, he was authorized, by himself or his deputies, to serve justices' warrants, summonses, executions, and other precepts in civil causes, and to collect the fees for his trouble.+
By an act passed on the 11th of November, 1692, when Ben- jamin Fletcher was Governor of New York, for " settling fairs and markets in each respective city and county throughout the province," an attempt had been made to excite and maintain an interest in improving the agricultural condition of the country. The manner in which these fairs were conducted, was most liberal and beneficial. According to the regulations, "all and every person or persons, inhabitants, strangers, or sojourners" might resort to them, and "carry or cause to be carried" thither, " all sorts of cattle, horses, mares, colts, grain, victuals, provisions, and other necessaries, together with all sorts of mer- chandise of what nature soever," and expose them for sale or barter " in gross, or by retail, at the times, hours, and seasons"
* Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv. 821-824.
+ Act of 13th George III., in Laws of New York, Van Schaack's ed. 1691-1773, pp. 796, 797.
193
COUNTY FAIRS.
1773.]
appointed. At each fair, an officer, styled a Governor, had supreme control, and was empowered to " commissionate " rulers of the fair, who were " to hold Courts of Pypowder," in the manner in which they were conducted in England .* In accordance with these regulations, an act was passed on the 8th of March, 1773, "respecting fairs in the counties of Albany, Cumberland, and Tryon." In making provision for the second named county, two fairs were appointed to be holden annually at Westminster ; the first from the first Wednesday in June until the evening of the Friday next ensuing, and the second, for the same period, from the first Wednesday in September. All the rules and usages which had obtained under the old act, were applied with full force by the new act to the regulation of the fairs in the county of Cumberland.t
A question having arisen as to the remuneration which the members from Cumberland were to receive for their services, an act was passed on the 8th of March by which the sum of - twelve shillings, current money, was allotted to each of them for every day's attendance on the Assembly. Ten days was apportioned to each at the beginning, and the same number of days at the close of the session, to be used in going to and returning from the Assembly, and for the time thus consumed, regular attendance fees were allowed. The county treasurer was ordered to pay the representatives their wages on a warrant from the supervisors, and the sum thus expended was to be assessed as other charges, and collected within ten days after the assessment.
On the 29th of November, 1745, an act had been passed to prevent damages by swine in Dutchess county. Cumberland being in want of similar protection, this act was extended to that county on the 8th of March, 1773, and was declared to be in force until the 1st of January, 1775 .;
* The word Piepoudre, Piepowder, or Pypowder, is derived from the French pied, foot, and poudreux, dusty, from poudre, dust; or pied-puldreaux, a peddler. Piepowder courts were granted at fairs in England, for the purpose of investigating all manner of causes arising and disorders committed upon the place, and were so called either " because justice was done to any injured person before the dust of the fair was off his feet," or because the principal disputes determined were be- tween those who resorted to the fairs, and the alien merchants or peddlers who generally attended on such occasions. Brand's Popular Antiquities, ii. 468.
+ Act of 4th William and Mary, and act of 13th George III., in Laws of New York, Van Schaack's ed., 1691-1773, pp. 11-14, 802.
# The act of November 29th, 1745, referring to Dutchess county, was again
13
194
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
[1774.
At the session of the Legislature, for the year 1774, only one act was passed in which especial reference was had to Cumber- land county. This act, passed on the 9th of March, had for its object, the revision of the laws concerning " common and pub- lic highways," and the facilitation of the business of "raising the county charges." By its provisions, all disputes which might arise as to the "place proper for making a road," were to be determined by commissioners appointed by the court of General Sessions, who were to be paid by the towns interested. The road which they might lay out, was to be worked as were other roads. Owing to the importance of Westminster, as the county town, particular care was taken that the approaches to it should be kept in good condition. Its inhabitants who were freeholders and who lived on the " town street," or wlio owned lands bordering thereon, were each of them ordered to work three days during the year 1774, " in clearing, opening, and re- pairing the said town street, to the breadth of ten rods." This service was to be deducted from the amount of general road labor, which each was required to perform. As to the classes of persons bound to or excused from labor, by the general road law, it was enacted, that every laborer or tradesman who was not a freeholder or housekeeper, should be obliged to work only three days in each year on the highways, and all indented ser vants living with and laboring for their masters, and young men living with and laboring for their parents, and not freeholders, were wholly excused from road work on their own account. Freeholders were compelled to keep the roads in repair, and eight hours of labor in that service, was deemed a day's work.
A short time before, a road had been laid out through the townships of Brattleborough, New Marlborough, Whiting, and Draper, in Cumberland county, and through the townships of Readesborough, New Stamford, and Pownal, in Albany county. As this road was calculated to facilitate the transportation of produce to market, and raise the value of land, the freeholders residing in the townships through which it passed, were ordered to work on it three days in each year, thenceforward. Samuel Anderson of Albany county, and John Houghton and Malachi Church of Brattleborough, were appointed commissioners to in-
revived on the 1st of April, 1775, to be continued until January 1st, 1790, and was, as before, extended to Cumberland county. Act of 15th George III. in New York Colony Laws, 1774, 1775, p. 127. See also act of 19th George II., and of 13th George III., in Laws of N. Y., Van Schaack's ed., 1691-1773, pp. 266, 803.
195
LAST SESSION OF THE COLONIAL LEGISLATURE.
1774.]
spect the road and alter its course, if they should think best, and were allowed eight shillings per diem for their services.
To facilitate the raising of county charges, the justices of the peace, in case any township or district should neglect to choose a supervisor, assessors, or collectors, " at the proper time," were authorized to nominate, at the next court session, the officers so neglected to be chosen, who were obliged to serve under a penalty of ten pounds. This penalty, if incurred, was to be sued for by the county treasurer, as were also moneys detained by the collectors against the will of the sheriff. The second Tues- day in June was fixed upon as the day on which the supervisors were to hold their annual meeting at Westminster. The laws passed by the New York Legislature for the benefit of Cumber- land county, although wisely planned, were not readily execut- ed. Where a direct and palpable benefit was to ensue from their observance, they were obeyed ; but when any one chose to break them, his disobedience was but little regarded, and was still more rarely punished .*
The last session of the Colonial Legislature of New York, held in the early part of the year 1775, was noted for the amount of business which was transacted and the large number of bills which were passed. Of the latter, only two related to Cumber- land county, and of these, that by which the western bounds of the county were changed, has been already noticed.+ The other bill, enacted on the 1st of April, had for its object, the pre- vention of the trial of causes in taverns, by justices of the peace. In accordance with an established law of the colony, justices of the peace were allowed to hold a court for the trial of causes to the value of five pounds and under. In Cumberland coun- ty, it had come to be the fashion for justices to hold their courts in taverns, "to the great prejudice of the suitors, and damage of the inhabitants." To prevent this abuse, justices who should be guilty of it after the second Tuesday in June following, were
* Act of 14th George III., in New York Colony Laws, 1774, 1775, pp. 51-55.
+ The law referred to, was passed March 12th, 1772, and was entitled, "An Act to empower Justices of the Peace, Mayors, Recorders, and Aldermen to try causes to the value of five pounds, and under, and for suspending an Act therein mentioned." Act of 12th George III., in Laws of New York, Van Schaack's ed. . 1691-1773, p. 648.
The "Act therein mentioned" was passed December 16th, 1737, while George Clarke was Lieutenant-Governor, and was entitled, " An Act for establishing and regulating Courts, to determine causes of Forty Shillings, and under, in this Co- lony."-Ibid. pp. 194-196.
196
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
[1774.
to forfeit for each offence ten pounds, and the proceedings of the court held in disobedience to this order, were declared null and void. Forfeitures in such cases, were to be sued for and reco- vered, with costs of suit, by a qui tam action in any court of record in the colony, one half of the sum to be allowed the pro- secutor for his trouble, the other half to be appropriated to the support of the poor in the township or district where the offence was committed .*
On the 3d of April, two days after the passage of this act, the Colonial Assembly of New York adjourned, never to meet again. The feelings of hatred towards Great Britain, which had originated, in part, in the extension of the stamp laws to the colonies ten years previous, had in the mean time been increasing in force, and now, as then, found their exponent in the conduct of the "Sons of Liberty." Long had these determined men waited for the time when they should be able to demand of Great Britain the free exercise of those rights which had been guaranteed to them as her subjects. That time had now come, and they were not unprepared to improve the opportunities which it offered.
Among the most prominent actors in the ante-revolutionary history of New York, was Isaac Low. Early in the year 1774, a committee of correspondence had been formed in the city of New York, for the purpose of ascertaining the feelings of the inhabitants of the province in regard to the usurpations of the mother country. As chairman of this committee, Low had written to the supervisors of Cumberland county, on the 21st of May, in that year, for information as to the measures which the majority of the people in that part of New York would be likely to adopt in the present crisis. At their meeting in June, no action was taken upon his letter by the supervisors, and, either "through ignorance or intention," they endeavored to keep the knowledge of the existence of such a document from the people. The secret, nevertheless, was whispered abroad, and having become known to Dr. Reuben Jones of Rocking- ham, and Capt. Azariah Wright of Westminster, was commu- nicated by them to the towns in which they lived. Meetings were, in consequence, called in those towns, and a committee from each was appointed to wait on the supervisors at their meeting in September, to see if they had in their possession
* Act of 15th George III., in New York Colony Laws, 1774, 1775, p. 128.
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197
CALL FOR A CONVENTION.
1774.]
any papers which should have been laid before the people of the county. When that, which had been a suspicion, proved to be a fact, the supervisors made many excuses for their conduct. Some pleaded ignorance, " some one thing, and some another." But " the most of them," says Dr. Jones, in his account of the affair, " did seem to think that they could send a return to the committee at New York, without ever laying it before their constituents ; which principle, at this day, so much prevails, that it is the undoing of the people." "Men, at this day," adds the philosophic chronicler, "are so tainted with the princi- ples of tyranny, that they would fain believe that, as they are chosen by the people to any kind of office, for any particular thing, they have the sole power of that people by whom they are chosen, and can act in the name of that people in any matter or thing, though it is not in any connection with what they were chosen for."*
A resolution was now formed that no answer should be returned to Low's letter, until it had been laid before every town in the county. In accordance with this determination, the people in each town were invited to send delegates to a convention to be holden at Westminster on the 19th of October following. When the call was received at Chester, four of the inhabitants, by a written application, dated October 3d, re- quested Col. Thomas Chandler, the town clerk, to call a town meeting, that it might be known by a public expression whether the people were willing "to choose a comte to make report to ye comte of Correspondence," whether they would "stand for the privileges of North America ;" whether they were content " to receive the late acts of Parliament as Just," or would "view them as unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional." A meeting was accordingly held on the 10th of October. Col. Chandler was chosen moderator, and a committee of five were directed to join the county committee for the purpose of pre- paring a report for the committee of correspondence in the city of New York. Not content with lending their aid to effect those changes in behalf of which many were soon to suffer, they resolved in the most patriotic manner, and in language whose meaning was unmistakable, "that the People of America are Naturally Intituled to all the Priviledges of Free Borne Subjects of Great Britain, which Priviledges they have Never
Slade's Vt. State Papers, p. 55.
198
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
[1774.
Forfeited ; that Every Man's Estate, Honestly acquired, is his own, and no person on Earth has a Right to take it away with- out the Proprietor's Consent, unless he forfeit it by some crime of his committing; that all acts of the British Parliament, Tending to take away or abridge these Rights, ought not to be obeyed ; that the People of this Town will joyn with their Fellow American Subjects in opposing in all Lawfull ways every incroachment on their Natural Rights." Thus spoke the people of Chester. In capital letters and in syllables strength- ened by heavy gutturals, they spoke, but their language was not the " great swelling words of vanity." Every sound contained a meaning, and every meaning seemed to look forward to a development of itself in action. Similar meetings were held in other places with similar results .*
On the 19th of October, eighteen delegates from twelve towns, met in convention at the "County Hall" in Westminster. The session lasted two days. Col. John Hazeltine of Towns- hend, was chosen chairman, and the meeting having been pro- perly organized, the letter of Isaac Low, the act of the British Parliament by which a duty had been levied on tea for the purpose of raising a revenue in America, the Boston port bill, and several arbitrary declarations of the English government, were read in the hearing of the people. These papers were referred to a committee consisting of John Grout, of Chester ; Joshua Webb, of Westminster ; Paul Spooner, of Hertford ; Edward Harris, of Halifax; and Major William Williams, of Marlborough. In the report which they submitted on the fol- lowing day, they briefly reviewed the sufferings which they had endured as pioneers in the settlement of a new country, and the hardships they had encountered in "subduing the wilderness, and converting it into fruitful fields." They expressed the greatest surprise that Americans should, by the late acts of Parliament, have been deprived " of that great right of calling that their own," which they by their industry had honestly acquired; that the King and Parliament should dare to say with impunity they had "a right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever," and that they should " attempt to exercise that authority, by taking, at their pleasure, the pro- perties of the King's American subjects without their consent." " He who has nothing"-this was the argument of these liberty-
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