USA > Vermont > History of eastern Vermont, from its earliest settlement to the close of the eighteeth century with a biographical chapter and appendixes > Part 23
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When the sheriff had approached within about five yards of the door, he commanded the "rioters" to disperse. To this order the Whigs made no reply. Finding that he should not be able to gain admittance to the building by ordinary means, as the Whigs had placed a strong guard at all the entrances, he caused the "King's proclamation" to be read, and ordered the "mob" to depart within fifteen minutes, threatening, in case of refusal, to " blow a lane" through them, wide enough to afford an easy exit for all whom the bullets might spare. The Whigs, in reply, made known their firm determination to remain where they were, but at the same time informed the sheriff that he and his men might enter without their arms, but on no other condition. At this juncture, one of the Whigs advancing a little from the doorway, turned to the sheriff's party and asked them "if they were come for war ?" adding, that he and his friends had " come for peace," and should be glad to hold a parley with them. Upon this, Samuel Gale, the Clerk of the Court, drew a pistol, and holding it up, exclaimed, " damn the parley with such damned rascals as you are. I will hold no parley with such damned rascals but by this," referring to the pistol. Both parties being by this time much exasperated, a wordy rencounter ensued, in which the clerk and the sheriff
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found their equal in the tongue of Charles Davenport, a skilful carpenter from the patriotic little village of Dummerston ; for when the Tories informed the "rioters" that they "should be in hell before morning," the ready carpenter replied, that if tlie sheriff should offer to take possession of the Court-house, the Whigs " would send him and all his men" to the same place "in fifteen minutes." The Tories now drew off a short dis- tance, and seemed to be engaged in consultation. Regarding this as a favorable sign, the Whigs deputized three of their men to treat with them. But they soon returned, wiser only in being assured that they were " damned rascals."
About seven o'clock in the evening, Judge Chandler came into the Court-house, and was immediately asked whether he and his associate, Sabin, would consult with a committee of the Whigs as to the expediency of convening the court on the morrow. To this inquiry Chandler replied, that the judges could not enter into a discussion as to " whether his Majesty's business should be done or not, but that if they thought them- selves aggrieved, and would apply to them in a proper way, they would give them redress if it was in their power." A conversation then ensued between Chandler and Azariah Wright of Westminster, who for several years had been the captain of the militia of that town, and was now the leader of the Whigs. To the statement that arms had been brought to the Court-house by the Tories, when he had given his word that such an act should not be tolerated, Chandler answered, by acknowledging the truth of what was said, but declared that this proceeding had been without his consent. To prevent an outbreak, he gave his pledge that the Tories should be deprived of their weapons, that the Whigs should "enjoy the house" without molestation until morning, and that the court would then assemble and hear what those who were aggrieved might wish to offer. Having made these promises, he departed. The Whigs thereupon left the house, and chose a committee who drew up a schedule of the subjects in regard to which they should demand redress from the court. The report was then read to the company, and was adopted without any dissent. After this Capt. Wright and his associates went, some to their homes, some to the neighboring houses, leaving, however, a . guard in the Court-house to give notice in case an attack should be made in the night. The sheriff, that he might increase his own forces as much as possible, sent word to all
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the Tories in the neighborhood to join him without delay, and that he might lessen the power of his opponents, arrested such of the Whigs as he could take without endangering himself.
Meantime the majority of the sheriff's posse having as- sembled at Norton's tavern *- the Royal inn of the village- were holding a con- sultation as to the course they should pur- sue, and over their punch-bowls, filled in honor of George III., were deciding the fate of the " rebels." Loud- ly they talked of the spirit of anarchy which, originating in the dis- turbances of the stamp- ed paper act of 1765, John Norton's Tavern. was now culminating in general dissatisfaction. Heated by their angry discussions, and inflamed by their deep potations, they were more than ready to perform the deeds of which the following hours were witness. Nor was their leader dissatisfied to find men so willing to second his murderous intentions.
Ceasing from their revelry, they, at the command of the sheriff, left the tavern in small parties, and proceeded stealthily up the hill on whose brow stood the Court-house. Unobserved as they supposed in their approach, they reached the building, and at the hour before midnight presented themselves at its doors, armed, and prepared for action. But the waning moon, tipping their bayonets with her light as they marched, had
* This tavern, which is still standing, was probably built as early as the year 1770, and was kept for many years by its owner, John Norton, who for that period was a man of wealth and influence. He belonged to an Irish-Scotch family, who in Ireland were accustomed to write the name MacNaughton. When John removed to Westminster, he omitted the prefix, and changed the orthogra- phy of the surname. After this alteration, nothing would more offend him than to be addressed by his former name. He secretly favored the cause of Great Britain during the Revolution, and was generally regarded as a Tory. Being in conversation with Ethan Allen concerning Universalism at the time of the intro- duction of that doctrine into Vermont, Norton remarked concerning it, "that religion will suit you, will it not, General Allen?" "No, no," replied Allen, in his most contemptuous tone, " for there must be a hell in the other world for the punishment of Tories."
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warned the sentry of their coming, and they now found guards stationed at the doors, ready to dispute with them the passages which they had hoped to find undefended. Advancing towards the door, the sheriff demanded entrance in his Majesty's name. His words were without effect. He then informed the "rioters" that he should enter, quietly if he could, or if necessary, by force, and commanding the posse to follow him, proceeded to do as he had said he would. Having gained the uppermost of the three steps, which from the outside afforded approach to the main door, he was pushed back by the guards stationed to defend it. Recovering, he renewed the attempt, but with no better success than before. To the second repulse were added blows from the clubs of the "rioters," which, though compara- tively harmless, served to exasperate him on whom they fell. The sheriff now ordered his men to fire, and three guns were discharged, yet with so high an aim that the balls passed above the heads of those in the house, and lodged in the upper parts of the rooms. At the second fire the aim was lower, and the sentries were driven from their posts. The assailants having in this manner effected an entrance, pushed forward with " guns, swords, and clubs," and in the quaint words of an eye-witness, " did most cruelly mammoc" such as opposed them. Crowded in the narrow passages of the lower story of the building, on the stairs, and among the benches of the court-room, the hostile parties amid total darkness sustained for a time a hand-to-hand conflict. But the strife was of short duration. The shouts of the sheriff and his men soon announced that their deadly weapons and superior numbers had given them the victory.
Some of the Whigs escaped by a side passage, ten were wounded, two of them mortally, and seven were made prisoners. Of the sheriff's posse, two received slight flesh wounds. In the south-west corner of the Court-house, on the lower floor, was a bar-room, arranged most conveniently for those among the "judges, jury-men, and pleaders," who were inclined to be bibacious. The Tories, who immediately before the assault had aroused their courage by copious draughts, not only at the Royal tavern but at this place also, now renewed their drink- ing-bout, being served by the jailor, Pollard Whipple, who also acted in the capacity of bar-tender, and a brawling frolic was kept up until morning. Meanwhile the wounded and suffering prisoners, crowded in two narrow, dungeon-like rooms, destitute of the necessities which their situation demanded,
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and deprived of light and heat, were compelled during the long and dark watches of the night, to bear the insane taunts of the victors, and listen to their vile abuse.
On the morning of the 14th, all was -tumult and confusion. The judges, however, opened the court at the appointed hour, but instead of proceeding with business, spent the little time they were together in preparing "a true state of the Facts Exactly as they happened," in the "very melancholy and un- happy affair" of the evening previous. This account, which was in the main fair and impartial, was dated "in open court," and was signed by Thomas Chandler and Noah Sabin, judges ; Stephen Greenleaf and Benjamin Butterfield, assistant justices ; Bildad Andross, justice of the peace; and Samuel Gale, clerk of the court. It closed with this appeal :- " We humbly sub- mit to every Reasonable Inhabitant, whether his Majesty's courts of justice, the Grand and only security For the life, liberty, and property of the publick, should Be trampled on and Destroyed, whereby said Persons and properties of individuals must at all times be exposed to the Rage of a Riotous and Tumultuous assembly, or whether it Does not Behove Every of his Majesty's Liege subjects In the said county, to assemble themselves forthwith for the Protection of the Laws, and maintenance of Justice." Public feeling being much excited, the judges did not deem it prudent to call the docket, and adjourned the court until three o'clock in the afternoon. This adjournment was on the same day continued until the June term. But the court had seen its last meeting. The second Tuesday in June came, the judges have never held the session appointed for that occasion.
Meanwhile, the Whigs who had been driven from the Court- house by the sheriff's party had not been idle. Messengers were despatched in every direction to carry the news and pro- cure assistance. Dr. Jones, zealous in the cause of liberty, rode hatless to Dummerston, and others performed longer journeys with as little preparation. As in olden times, when the Cross of Fire-the emblem of impending war-was borne from village to village, so now, at the approach of the courier-
" In arms the huts and hamlets rise; From winding glen, from upland brown They poured each hardy tenant down. * * * * *
The fisherman forsook the strand,
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The swarthy smith took dirk and brand; With changed cheer, the mower blithe Left in the half-cut swathe his scythe ; The herds without a keeper strayed, The plough was in mid-furrow stayed;
Prompt at the signal of alarms, Each son of freedom rushed to arms."
By noon, more than four hundred persons had assembled in Westminster, of whom about one-half were from New Hamp. shire. One company from Walpole was commanded by Capt., afterwards Col. Benjamin Bellows, of revolutionary distinction. Capt. Stephen Sargeant brought his company from Rockingham. Guilford furnished an organized band, and the Westminster militia were in full force under their old leader, Azariah Wright. Such a body as this, the adherents of the court were not prepared to encounter. Those of the Whigs who had been imprisoned the night previous, were soon liberated, and before evening the judges with their assistants, and such of their retainers as could be taken, were placed in arrest. The court-room in which they were confined, and which had been the scene of a part of the struggle, presented a spectacle which told but too plainly of the rage which had characterized the actions of the combatants. The benches
were broken, and the braces, timbers, and studs of the un- finished room, were cut and battered by the bullets which had been fired by the Tories, after they had obtained entrance into the building. Blood was to be seen in the passages, and the stairs were stained with stiffened gore. Visitors curious to see how judges and justices appeared in prison, were admitted, four or five at a time. As night set in, the darkness seemed to render the Whigs furious. Many who had come from Dummerston and Putney " were instant with loud voices," requiring that the judges should be brought out before them, and compelled to " make acknowledgements to their satisfaction ;" that the Court- house should be pulled down or burned, and that all who had been engaged in " perpetrating the horrid massacre" should be put in irons. They even went so far in their exasperation, as to vow they would fire upon every person they should find in the Court-house, who had participated in the scenes of the pre- ceding night. These inhuman suggestions, although seconded by the leader of the Guilford militia, and winked at by Dr. Jones, met with a strong opposition from Capt. Bellows. Firm in the cause of the people, he did not forget what was
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due to justice. Inflexible in his purpose, he appeared as the guardian of rights, and while he desired the punishment of the prisoners in a legal manner, he took especial care that they should suffer no violence at the hands of infuriated men.
The morning of the 15th brought with it a renewal of the scenes and feelings of the day before. In one part of the town, Leonard Spaulding, the Dummerston farmer, who a few months previous had been committed "to the Common goal for high treason against the British tyrant, George the Third," was busily engaged in examining all persons who he suspected had come to reinforce the sheriff's party. In another quarter, the beating of a drum heralded the approach of Solomon Harvey, " Practi- tioner of Physic," at the head of a body of three hundred men. In the centre walked four of the sheriff's posse, who had been intercepted on their way home. The whole party halted in front of the Court-house. An investigation was had, which ended more favorably than the poor prisoners had expected. The stern old doctor disarmed them, and dismissed them with a pass signed with his own name, to which was prefixed the title of Colonel.
Loud and deep were the curses which the yeomen, as they gathered from hill and valley, poured forth, when they had been correctly informed of what had occurred. Some were anxious to riddle the Court-house with ball, others begged that the sheriff might be placed in their power, so that they might punish him as it should please them. One man, with a de- moniacal grin, declared that "his flesh crawled to be toma- hawking" the prisoners, and frequent was the wish that mur- derers might be treated as such. To the presence of Capt. Bellows the officers of the court owed the security which they enjoyed, amid this maelstrom of human passion. A legal inquest having been held on the body of William French, and the guilt of his death having been charged upon the sheriff and some of his party, he and those who were already im- prisoned with him were put in close confinement. On the evening of the same day, Robert Cockran, who had rendered himself conspicuous in being engaged with Ethan Allen in persecuting his Bennington neighbors who had settled under charters from New York, reached Westminster, having left his residence on the other side of the mountains, as soon as he had received information of the movements of the hostile parties. Armed with sword and pistols, he entered the village at the
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head of forty or more of the Green Mountain Boys. A year before, Governor Tryon had offered a reward of fifty pounds for his arrest. As he advanced, he tauntingly asked of those who he supposed were favorers of the court party, why they did not take him, and obtain the compensation. In loud tones he declared his intentions of seizing certain men who had aided the sheriff, provided "they continued upon earth," and in an incorrect citation from Scripture, expressed a determination of ascertaining " who was for the Lord, and who was for Balaam."
Mrs. Gale having obtained an opportunity of speaking with her husband, was requested by him to inform her mother of his imprisonment, and transmit the same information to her father, Col. Wells, and to Crean Brush, who, as representa- tives, were then in attendance on the General Assembly in the city of New York. This message having been delivered to Mrs. Wells at Brattleborough, she immediately made arrange- ments with Oliver Church of that town, and Joseph Hancock, of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to act as couriers, and a little after midnight they started on their journey .*
By the morning of Thursday, the 16th, " five hundred good martial soldiers, well equipped for war," had assembled in Westminster, besides others who had come as private citizens. After consultation, it was decided that some permanent dis- position ought to be made of the prisoners then in jail. In order to satisfy the people who had collected, a large committee was chosen to represent them, which committee was composed both of residents and non-residents of the county. The accused were then examined, and a decree was passed that those who had been the leaders in the " massacre" should be confined in the jail at Northampton, Massachusetts, until "they could have a fair trial." Those who were less guilty, were required to give bonds with security to John Hazeltine, to appear at the next court of Oyer and Terminer to be holden in the county, and on these conditions were released. Meantime the town became so much crowded with visitors, that there were not houses or barns sufficient to shelter them, and food enough to support them was with difficulty obtained. It was not until the follow-
* They arrived at New York on the following Monday, having been one hun- dred and ten hours in travelling a distance which is now accomplished in an eleventh part of that time. John Griffin, Arad Hunt, and Malachi Church, were afterwards sent express to the same place with confirmatory information.
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ing Sunday that preparations could be completed for convey- ing the prisoners down the river. In this interval they were visited by hundreds of those whom they had formerly oppressed, and who, now that their persecutors were bound, were ready to return upon them the bitterness which they had so lavishly expended when in power.
Regarding the Whigs or Liberty-men who were killed and wounded in the affray, the following facts have been collected. William French,* son of Nathaniel French, resided in Brattle- borough, but so near the southern line of Dummerston, that he was sometimes claimed as an inhabitant of that town.t In the
* Many of the facts in this biographical notice were obtained from the Honor- able Theophilus Crawford, of Putney, who was born at Union, Connecticut, April 25th, 1764. In the year 1769, his father, James Crawford, moved with his- family to Westminster. At that time no large boats ran above Hadley Falls, and the journey thence up the river, was performed in a log boat or canoe. On the. evening of May 25th, the adventurers made Fort Dummer, in the midst of a. heavy rain-storm. This old defence was then inhabited by the French family, As soon as the arrival of the strangers had been made known, William French hurried down to the boat, took the little Theophilus in his arms, and carried him to the fort. Here the young traveller spent the first night of his Vermont life. On reaching Westminster, James Crawford took up his abode in a log building which formerly stood on the site of the residence of John May, Esq., lately deceased. At the time of the " massacre," he lived in the west part of the town. He was present at the burial of French, having previously assisted in laying out. the corpse. On the morning after the affray, Luke Knowlton of New Fane, who was then a favorer of the court faction, set out with eleven others on his return home. Passing along a cross-road leading from Westminster to New Fane, the party stopped at the house of James Crawford, and asked for something to drink. Mrs. Crawford, whose sentiments were the same as her husband's, replied, “ we have no drink for murderers," and refused compliance with the request. Knowlton, who was a polite man, bowed as this answer was given, and went his way, as did his companions theirs, thirsting. Theophilus Crawford was a member of the Council from 1816-1819 ; held the office of sheriff of Windham county in the year 1819; received the appointment of delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1822; and represented the town of Putney in the Assembly at the session of 1823. His death occurred in January, 1856.
+ When, in the year 1784, Theophilus Crawford was on his way to Guilford to assist in quelling the disturbances which had arisen from the insubordination of the " Yorkers," he stopped at the French house, then "the most north-eastern dwelling in Brattleborough." Mrs. French, who was still living, and in whose mind the remembrance of the loss of her son was still fresh, entreated him not to expose himself to the rage of the enemy, and warned him to shun the dangers which threatened him from the infuriated "Guilfordites." Her fears, though more imaginary in this instance than real, afford a proof of the terror with which she must at all times have regarded the scenes of that March night-a night so fatal to her highest and best expectations. The site of the French house forms a portion of the farm which is now familiarly known as" the Old Wellington Place," and is on the right hand side of what was, a few years ago, the stage road.
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census of 1771, his father's name appears in the lists of both towns. The people of Brattleborough who lived in his imme- diate neighborhood, were mainly favorers of the court party, and "some of them were in the sheriff's band, that officer being himself an inhabitant of that town." As for young French, his principles were those which he had received from his father .* Finding sympathy in the opinions of the liberty- loving people of Dummerston, he generally acted with them on questions relating to the public weal. He held no official station, but appears to have been much esteemed for his bravery and patriotism, " and the treatment he afterwards received from his opponents, sufficiently attests how much they feared his influence." At the time of his death he was not twenty- two years of age. In person, he was of a medium size and ' stature, and in the words of one who knew him, was esteemed as ".a clever, steady, honest, working farmer." He had come to Westminster with a number of others, his companions, in order to obtain and secure what he had before supposed he had a right to demand, namely, the privilege of being governed by sound laws and sound principles, and of restraining the advance of oppression. Being, undoubtedly, more ardent than others in expressing and enforcing his sentiments, he was among the first to attract attention, and in the issue was most mercilessly butchered. He was shot with five bullets in as many different places. One of the balls lodged in the calf of the leg, and another in the thigh. A third striking him in the mouth, broke out several of his teeth. He received the fourth in his forehead, and that which caused his death, entered the brain just behind the ear. In this horrible condition, still alive, he was dragged like a dog to the jail-room, and thrust in among the well and wounded. So closely was the prison crowded, that those who would have gladly bound up his wounds and spoken peace and consolation to the soul that still lingered in that bleeding and mangled body, were unable to act their wishes. Through the prison doors, his enemies vented their curses upon him, telling him that they wished " there were forty more" in his condition, and shouting to his companions "that they should all be in hell before the next night." When execration failed, they mocked him as he gasped for the failing breath, and made " sport for
At the Westminster Convention, held February 7th, 1775, Nathaniel French was chosen to represent Brattleborough in the Standing Committee of Cor- respondence.
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themselves at his dying motions." Between the hours of three and four on the next morning, Dr. William Hill, of Westmin- ster, was allowed to visit him ; but assistance had come too late. Death had released the martyr from his sufferings .* On the day after the affray the name of French was on every lip, and hundreds visited his corpse, anxious to
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