USA > Vermont > History of eastern Vermont, from its earliest settlement to the close of the eighteeth century with a biographical chapter and appendixes > Part 25
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In presenting to Lord Dartmouth an account of his official conduct, contained in a report dated April 5th, Lieutenant- Governor Colden referred to the course he had pursued in endeavoring to protect the rights of the crown in Cumberland county, in these words : "It was necessary for me, my Lord, to call upon the Assembly for aid, to reinstate the authority of government in that county, and to bring the atrocious offend- ers to punishment. They have given but one thousand pounds for this purpose, which is much too small a sum; but the party in the Assembly who have opposed every measure that has a tendency to strengthen or support government, by working on the parsimonious disposition of some of the country members, had too much influence on this occasion. I am now
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LIEUT .- GOV. COLDEN'S DISPATCHES.
1775.]
waiting for an answer from Generai Gage, to whom I have wrote on this affair in Cumberland. By his assistance I hope I shall soon be able to hold a court of Oyer and Terminer in that county, where I am assured there are some hundreds of the inhabitants well affected to government; and that if the debts of the people who have been concerned in this outrage, were all paid, there would not be a sixpence of property left among them."
In answer to the request of Colden, it was commonly reported at the time, that Gage, who was then at Boston, sent a number of arms to New York by a vessel named "the King's Fisher." Whatever may have been the fact, "the affair at Lexington" diverted the attention of government from the proposed method of re-establishing the authority of the crown in the interior of the province, and led to a different disposition of the bayonets, at whose point obedience and submission were to have been secured .*
Inasmuch as the inhabitants of Bennington and the vicinity who held under New Hampshire, had for some years previous been engaged in quarrels with the New York settlers, there are those who have supposed that the doings at Westminster must have originated in disputes regarding the titles of land. This opinion is very erroneous. Less than a month from the time of the affray, Colden, in his official dispatches to Lord Dartmouth, commenced an account of the " dangerous insurrec- tion," by declaring that a number of people in Cumberland county had been worked up by the example and influence of Massachusetts Bay, "to such a degree, that they had embraced the dangerous resolution of shutting up the courts of justice." After a concise description of attending circumstances, he con- cluded in these words : "It is proper your Lordship should be informed, that the inhabitants of Cumberland county have not been made uneasy by any dispute about the Title of their Lands. Those who have not obtained Grants under this governmt, live in quiet possession under the grants formerly made by New Hampshire. The Rioters have not pretended any such pretext for their conduct. The example of Massachusetts Bay is the only reason they have assigned. Yet I make no doubt they will be joined by the Bennington Rioters, who will endeavor to
London Documents, in office Sec. State N. Y., vol. xlv. Doc. Hist. N. Y. iv. 915.
.
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HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
[1775.
make one common cause of it, though they have no connection but in their violence to Government." An opinion like this, and from such a source, is sufficient to show that the causes which incited the " Bennington Mob" to deeds of violence, were in no respect identical with those which determined the people of Cumber- land county to prevent the sittings of the court.
The events of the 13th of March have been styled in these pages a mob, a riot, and an affray, names chosen by the crown adherents to express their idea of the nature of the transactions of that day. The term "massacre" was the more dignified title employed by the Whigs to convey their own notions of the same proceedings. A more correct conception is conveyed in the word insurrection. The people rose against civil and political authority, and in so doing were justified on principles which do not admit of dispute. An examination of facts will show that in the history of Cumberland county-a type of the history of the colonies-there were present the three conditions which alone can justify an insurrection. First, there was oppression on the part of the government against which resist- ance was finally made; secondly, every peaceable means, by petitions and remonstrances, for removing this oppression, had been tried, but in vain; thirdly, forcible measures were not resorted to until the probability of success had become so strong as to amount, for the time being, almost to a certainty. Trusting thus to the justice of their cause, and to the favor of Him who is ever ready to succor the oppressed, these deter- mined men resolved to achieve for themselves the bless- ings of independence, and laid the foundations of those in- stitutions which are the characteristics of a republican govern- ment.
In claiming for William French the title of the proto-martyr to the cause of American liberty and of the Revolution, it may chance that but few will be found willing to allow him such an honor. Lexington and Concord point with pride to their battle- grounds, and Charlestown boasts of her Bunker Hill, on whose top towers the symbol of our national strength, the personifica- tion of the genius of America. But amid these noble memories it should never be forgotten, that on the plains of Westminster the cause of freedom received its first victim, and that in his grave were buried all hopes of reconciliation with the mother country.
When the Grecian warrior consulted the oracle at Delphi,
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THE PROTO-MARTYR OF THE REVOLUTION.
1775.]
wishing to know whether the Athenians or Spartans would con- quer in battle, the priestess gave answer that the army would be victorious in which a soldier was first slain; for she well knew that his comrades would not tire in the struggle until the death of the first martyr had been avenged by the defeat of his and his country's foes. And thus, when on the side of Liberty and the American Colonies the proto-martyr fell, every wound in his body became a mouth which called for vengeance, and from every drop of blood there sprang forth a hero, not in embryo, but armed, to battle bravely for his country .*
* See Appendix I.
CHAPTER X.
THE FIRST YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION.
The " Friends of Liberty"-Patriotism of the " Guilfordites"-The Westminster Resolutions-The New York Provincial Congress-" County Congress " at Westminster-Deputies from Cumberland County-Proceedings in Gloucester County-Town Associations in Behalf of Freedom-Efforts to Increase the Military Force of New York-Convention at Westminster-The Militia of Cumberland and Gloucester Counties-Troubles Incident to the Choice of Officers-Efforts to allay Discontent-Dorset Convention-Loan from the Pro- vincial Congress-Jacob Bayley chosen Brigadier-General-Methods of Govern- ment adopted in the absence of Fixed Laws-Powers of the Committee of Safety of Cumberland County-Instructions to Delegates-Letter to the New York Provincial Congress-July Meeting of Cumberland County Committee of Safety-Name of New York Provincial Congress changed-Supplies of Gun- powder, Lead, and Flints-Value of Lead-Rangers-Joab Hoisington's Com- mission as Major of the Rangers-Under-Officers Nominated-Proposition to make the " Grants" a Separate District-Views of the Inhabitants of Cumber- land County on the Subject-Stevens and Sessions's Declarations in the New York Convention-Report upon the Condition of Cumberland County-Pre- parations to meet Gen. Carleton-Divisions in the Cumberland County Com- mittee of Safety-Separation from New York inevitable.
THE events of the 13th of March were an expression of the dislike of the majority of the inhabitants of Cumberland county to the policy of Great Britain. The determination mani- fested on that occasion they were not prepared to alter in the least, unless sufficient reason for a change should be given. The governmental representatives of the mother country on their part evinced no conciliatory disposition, and, thenceforth, oppo- sition to oppression was the guiding principle of the "Friends of Liberty." Meetings were held in many of the larger towns, at which the conduct of those who had been prominent in stopping the courts at Westminster was highly applauded. A spirit of hearty cooperation, the earnest of success, was every- where apparent. Though the path of revolution was often-
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PATRIOTISM OF THE "GUILFORDITES."
1775.]
times shrouded in darkness, yet, from that period, each step in it was a step forward.
On the 28th of March, the people of Guilford assembled in town meeting and manifested their willingness to remain under the jurisdiction of New York, by voting that they would " be subject to the laws of that government" to which they had been annexed by the Crown. At the same time they directed the town committee of safety to decide whether those who had received commissions from Governor Tryon should retain or resign them. On the 7th of April the subject was taken from the hands of the committee, and the holders of the obnoxious commissions were desired to return them, or declare their prin- ciples in such a manner as would leave no doubt of their posi- tion .* Concert and expeditiousness in action were then, as now, regarded as the secrets of success. It was the acknowledgment of this truth that led the "Guilfordites" to guard against internal division and petty strife. "We recommend to the inhabitants of this town," said they, " that they take all proper measures for unity one with another, and that no man cast any reflections one upon another, which will surely create discord and disagreement ; and, by dividing, we shall surely come to destruction." "We recommend to the people as aforesaid, that every person hold himself in an habitual and actual readiness on any emergency whatsoever ; and every man to appear at a minute's warning, and then and there choose officers to lead us, according to the instruction of our elders and committee."+
The influence of Ethan Allen and his followers, which in Bennington and the vicinity had led the settlers under New Hampshire titles to maltreat those who held grants from New York, began now to exert its effect on the other side of the Green mountains. At a meeting of committees from Cumber- land and Gloucester counties, held at Westminster on the 11th of April, resolutions were passed which bore evidences of disaf- fection towards the colonial government of New York. It is
* " Voted, that we recommend to all those Persons in this Town who have re- ceived Commissions under Governor Tryon, that they Resign said Commissions, or Erase their names out of a Certain Covenant, Signed by the body of the People, to mitigate or Soften the minds of the People."-Votes and Proceedings of the Town of Guilford, 1775, in Brattleborough Semi-Weekly Eagle, Thursday, June 20th, 1850.
t These recommendations were passed on the 20th of April. On the 3d of May following, the people assembled again in town meeting, and completed the organization of the town militia, by the appointment of officers.
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HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
[1775.
"'our opinion," these committees declared, "that our inhabit- ants are in great danger of having their property unjustly, cruelly, and unconstitutionally taken from them by the arbitrary and designing administration of the government of New York, sundry instances having already taken place; that the lives of those inhabitants are in the utmost hazard and imminent danger under the present administration, witness the malicious and horrid massacre of the 13th ultimo; 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 administra- tion 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 proper remonstrance against the unjustifiable conduct of that government, with an humble petition to be taken out of so op- pressive a jurisdiction, and either annexed to some other govern- ment 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." In connection with these proceedings. Col. John Hazeltine, Charles Phelps, and Col. Ethan Allen were appointed to pre- pare a remonstrance and petition embodying the sentiments entertained by the committees. Such was the action of the con- vention on this occasion. But when, in the course of the fol- lowing months, it was ascertained that all the provinces were in a similar situation on account of the tyranny of Great Britain, the inhabitants of the two counties willingly joined with the rest of the inhabitants of New York in aggressive and repulsive endeavor; and it was not until the idea of forming the New Hampshire Grants into an independent state, had seized upon the mass of the community, that they ceased to cooperate with the province to which they rightly belonged. Even then there were some who considered themselves as subjects of New York, and these, through many years of confiscation and statutory inhibition, maintained with sacredness their allegiance to that state .*
In conformity with the course adopted in most of the colonies, a Provincial Convention was held in the city of New York, on the 20th of April, at which delegates from nine counties were
* Slade's Vt. State Papers, p. 60. American Archives, Fourth Series, 1775, vol. ii. col. 315.
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THE NEW YORK PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.
1775.]
in attendance. Cumberland and Gloucester were not repre- sented. The session lasted three days. Soon after its close circular letters were dispatched to all the counties in the pro- vince, notifying the project of establishing a Provincial Congress. Pursuant to this call, deputies from different parts of the pro- vince assembled at the Exchange in the city of New York, on the 22d of May, and on the following day a Provincial Congress was formed, and Peter Van Brugh Livingston was elected presi- dent. Owing, in a measure, to the sparseness of population, the inhabitants of Cumberland had been delayed in sending dele- gates to the Convention. For the purpose of obviating any trouble which might ensue from this neglect, a " County Con- gress" was convoked at Westminster, on the 6th of June .* Col. Hazeltine, who was chairman on this occasion, stated that it was the desire of the committee of correspondence in the. city of New York to know fully the sentiments of the inhabit- ants of the county " with regard to the hostile measures that are using by the British Parliament to enforce the late cruel, unjust, and oppressive acts of the said British Parliament through the British Colonies in America."
In answer to this inquiry, the convention, expressing "the voice of the people," declared by their resolutions the illegality of the acts of parliament which had been lately passed in order to raise a revenue in America, and denounced them as opposed to the Bill of Rights and to a fundamental principle of the British Constitution, which did not allow any person to be deprived of his property without his consent, unless he had previously for- feited it by his misdeeds. They also resolved, in conjunction with their brethren in America, to "resist and oppose" these obnoxious acts at the expense of their " lives and fortunes" and " to the last extremity," provided duty to God and their coun- try should require it. They expressed their acquiescence in the conduct of their friends in the city of New York, and agreed
* At a previous session of the "Congress," held at Westminster, James Clay, John Barrett, Solomon Phelps, and Elkanah Day had been appointed a committee to examine into the monetary affairs of the county. In their report, rendered on the 4th of June, they stated that it would be necessary for those towns which were yet in arrears to pay up their taxes "in order to do justice to the treasurer, Ben- jamin Burt, and committee for building the court-house and jail." "The good . people of the county," observe the committee, "may rely upon it, that said money to be collected, will not go to satisfie the demands of Samuel Wells and Crean Brush, Esquires, but it will be put to the real interest of the county, in paying its just debts."
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HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
[1775.
to abide by the principles which they had taken as a basis of action. In view of the " very broken situation" of the county, as regarded civil authority, they asked for advice from the Pro- vincial Congress, touching the measures which would be potent in restoring " order and regularity." Owing to their defence- less condition, and the inefficiency consequent thereupon, they desired that arms and ammunition might be given them. "We have," said they, "many brave soldiers, but, unhappily for us, we have nothing to fight with." As a full endorsement of the efforts which were then being made to establish concerted action, Col. John Hazeltine of Townshend, Dr. Paul Spooner of Hertford, and Maj. William Williams of Westminster, were chosen delegates to represent the county in the New York Pro- vincial Congress .*
Soon after their appointment they proceeded to New York to engage in the duties incident to their position. They were the bearers of a letter from Col. Hazeltine containing an account of the late "Congress." This communication, fraught with patri- otic sentiments, was written in behalf of the committees who had assembled at Westminster, and was directed to Peter Van Brugh Livingston, the president of the Provincial Congress. One of its paragraphs was in these words :- "We detest and abhor these arbitrary, tyrannick, and sanguinary measures, which the British Parliament are most industriously pursuing against the American Colonies, in order to dragoon them into compli- ance with certain late detestable acts of Parliament replete with horrour, and repugnant to every idea of British freedom, and which have a direct tendency to reduce the free and brave Americans into a state of the most abject slavery and vassal- age." "You may rely upon it," observed the patriotic writer, in closing, "that our people in general are spirited, resolute, and active in the defence of our dear-bought rights and liber- ties, and will not flinch, if called, generously to spill our blood to oppose and resist ministerial tyranny and oppression."
Another letter entrusted to the delegates contained an offer from Maj. William Williams, Maj. Benjamin Wait, and Capt. Joab Hoisington, the last two of Windsor, to serve respectively as Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Major of a regiment of militia. "Glowing with true martial ardour, and willing, with
* Journal N. Y. Prov. Cong., i. 1, 5, 7. Am. Arch., Fourth Series, 1775, vol. ii. cols. 351, 918, 919, 1241, 1242. Credentials of Delegates, in office Sec. State, N. Y., 1775, p. 103.
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THE NEW YORK PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.
1775.]
the utmost cheerfulness and alacrity, to unsheath the sword in defence of the lives and properties of the good people" of the " ancient and truly respectable patriotick colony of New York;" seeing also that hostilities had already commenced, and that the sword had been actually drawn, they advised the formation of a regiment " of good, active, enterprising soldiers," in order " to keep under proper subjection regulars, Roman Catholicks, and the savages at the northward," and to defend their own rights and privileges "against ministerial tyranny and oppression." In case they should receive the appointments for which they sought in the proposed regiment, they promised to be "entirely under the command and order of the Provincial Congress," and flattered themselves that in such a position they would prove useful instruments in serving the "ancient and honourable colony of New York."*
1
Soon after the circular letter of the Provincial Convention of New York was received in Gloucester county, the people assembled and chose Jacob Bayley of Newbury to represent them in the Provincial Congress. On the 29th of June Bayley informed the Congress by letter that, on account of the great distance between Newbury and New York, and the exposed situation of the northern settlements, his friends did not deem it proper for him to attend the session until they should be "prepared to meet with an enemy at home." A county com- mittee was also formed, and sub-committees were chosen in each town and precinct. "The county seems to be very well united and firm in the cause of liberty," wrote John Taplin, on the 15th of July, "and I make no doubt but they will cheerfully join in whatever measures and directions the honourable Con- gress may point out from time to time."+
On the 21st of June, the delegates from Cumberland county took their seats in the Provincial Congress. Hazeltine remained only three days, but Williams and Spooner were present until the close of the session. The latter gentlemen, having given previous notice of their intention, laid before the Congress on the 7th of July, an account of the condition of the county which they represented. The nature or purport of their remarks is not known, but from a minute in the records of the Congress, it appears that when they had concluded their observations, a com-
* Journal N. Y. Prov. Cong., i. 95; ii. 53.
+ Journal N. Y. Prov. Cong., ii. 50, 60. Am. Arch., Fourth Series, 1775, vol ii. cols. 934, 935, 938, 939.
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HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
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mittee was chosen "to receive information of the members of that county and of any other persons, of the state of that county, and report thereon to this Congress." The Congress adjourned on the 8th of July, but a committee of safety was chosen to act during the recess, and John Morin Scott was appointed to repre- sent Cumberland county in the absence of the regular delegates. He was present but twice during the recess. Fortunately no business was transacted which demanded his especial atten- ti mn .*
Meanwhile the dwellers on both sides of the Green moun- tains were endeavoring to enlist soldiers and establish an effi- cient militia. Means were also taken to improve every oppor- tunity which could be made use of, to advance the safety of the community. The committee of correspondence in the town of Northfield, Massachusetts, informed the Council at Boston, on the 26th of June, that there were "two small cannon be- longing to the Massachusetts Bay" at Fort Dummer, which were left there when that garrison was dismantled, and one at Fort Hinsdale. These they offered to convey to the army on the western frontier, provided ordnance should be wanted in that section. In Townshend, through the activity of Col. John Hazeltine, fifty-one persons signed an agreement on the 12th of July, binding themselves to maintain and disseminate the principles of American liberty, and adopting as their rules of action the resolutions passed and promulged by the Continental Congress during the months of September and October, 1774. A similar association, with the same number of members, was formed at Springfield on the 26th of July, and on the 31st of the same month twenty-one of the twenty-four freeholders of Weathersfield united in completing a similar organization.t About the same period, Capt. Elisha Benedict of Albany, by the direction of the New York Provincial Congress, was en- gaged in forming military companies in Cumberland county,
* Journal N. Y. Prov. Cong., i. 49, 51, 69-71, 82, 86. Am. Arch., Fourth Series, 1775, vol. ii., cols. 1309, 1314, 1345, 1348, 1777, 1793, 1798.
t In Townshend the association was signed by all the citizens then in the place. Those out of town were Samuel Fletcher, Benjamin Moredock, Oliver Moredock, Aaron Johnson, Samuel Parkis, Thomas Barns, and Ebenezer Burt, who were " in the service at Roxbury, under Gen. Washington." The names of those who refused to sign the association subscribed in Weathersfield, were John Marsh, Joseph Marsh, and John Marsh, Jr .- Associations and Miscellaneous Pa- pers, in office Sec. State N. Y., 1775, xxx. 56, 78, 140. Journal N. Y. Prov Cong., i. 228.
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A MILITIA BILL.
1775.]
which were to be comprised in two regiments, called the upper and lower, and were to serve in the provincial, or, as it was afterwards designated, the state line .*
After an interval of nearly three weeks, the Provincial Con- gress of New York assembled on the 26th of July. On the same day a convention was held at Westminster, and the dele- gates from Cumberland, who had been previously appointed to represent that county in the Provincial Congress, were impow- ered to act singly, "in as ample and full a manner," as if all were present. With a certificate to this effect, signed by James Clay, the temporary chairman of the convention, William Wil- liams appeared in New York, and on the 12th of August took his seat in the Provincial Congress as the representative from Cumberland. In order to make the military force of the pro- vince more effective, a militia bill, reported by Anthony Hoff- man of Dutchess county, was adopted by the Congress on the 22d of August. By its provisions, the whole province was to be divided into districts, and each district was to furnish one company, "ordinarily to consist of about eighty-three able- bodied and effective men, officers included, between sixteen and sixty years of age." The companies were to be formed into regiments, the regiments into six brigades. One of these brigades, the sixth, was to comprise " the militia of the counties of Charlotte, Cumberland, and Gloucester."+ On the 2d of September, last day of the session, the gunpowder which had been imported and was then in store for the use of the pro- vince, was divided among the different counties. The portion assigned to Cumberland was one hundred pounds. During the recess which followed Williams remained in New York, and was a member of the committee of safety. He.was also
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