USA > Vermont > History of eastern Vermont, from its earliest settlement to the close of the eighteeth century with a biographical chapter and appendixes > Part 64
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* Letter from Hon. W. C. Bradley, dated February 27th, 1857. Letters from John Kelly to Mrs. Norman. Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv. 1024, 1025.
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HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
accompanied by his two sons John, and Thomas, Jr .* At a meeting of the proprietors of the town, held at Worcester, Mas- sachusetts, on the 8th of March, in the year last mentioned, Mr. Chandler was chosen moderator. At "a meeting warned to be held at the dwelling house of William Warner," in New Flamstead, on the 12th of March, 1765, he was again chosen moderator. This was the last meeting held under the New Hampshire charter. For the better protection of the domains west of Connecticut river, which had lately been declared within the province of New York, the limits of Albany county were so extended as to include them ; additional justices of the peace for this wide-spread bailiwick were appointed ; and, on the 20th of January, 1766, Mr. Chandler received a dedimus potestatem commission, empowering him to administer oaths of office. It is probable that he was, at the same time, made a justice of the peace and of the quorum, for at a meeting held at Springfield on the 27th of February, 1766, he and others were present in that capacity, to appoint constables for a num- ber of the then sparsely settled towns in that region. It appears that there was a military organization on the "Grants" at this period, for on the latter occasion, Simon Stevens received the commission of a captain in the " eighth company of foot in the re- giment of militia for which Thomas Chandler Esquire is Colonel."
On the 16th of July, 1766, Mr. Chandler was appointed first judge of the Inferior court of Common Pleas of Cumberland county, a justice of the peace, and surrogate of the county. He also received a dedimus potestatem commission on the day following.' For the purpose of securing the title of the lands in the town of his residence, he obtained a charter from New York for himself and thirty-six others, in which the name Ches- ter was substituted for New Flamstead. The patent of the county was issued on the 3d of July, 1766. The charter of Chester was granted on the 14th of July, 1766. Mr. Chandler received his appointments a few days later. The first town meeting under the new charter was held on the first Monday in June, 1767. Though the officers were regularly chosen on this occasion, and on other similar occasions for a number of years following, yet their names were not recorded until the
* The Chandler family were settled in Chester previous to the 26th of Decem- ber, 1763, for on that day Thomas Chester Chandler, a grand-son of Thomas Chandler, was born in that town. The birth of this child was the first that took place in Chester.
635
HIS OPINIONS.
19th of May, 1772, when, at a meeting held in the Court house, Colonel Chandler was chosen moderator, supervisor, and town clerk. The latter office he continued to hold until the 3d of March, 1777. When the county was re-organized by a direct act of the Crown, in 1768, he was again chosen on the 7th of April, in that year, to all the positions he had held under the old regime. Four years later, on the 14th of April, 1772, he was re-appointed to all the offices he had before filled, with the exception of the surrogateship, and the office created by the writ of dedimus potestatem, as before explained.
Of the actual opinions entertained by Colonel Chandler at the time of the " Westminster Massacre," it is difficult to form a correct estimate. He had acted as moderator at many of the town meetings which had been held in Chester, during the six months previous to this occurrence, and when the conduct of Great Britain in oppressing her colonies was under discussion, and when the people resolved to "joyn with their Fellow American Subjects in opposing in all Lawfull ways, every in- croachment on their Natural Rights," had shown no opposition to the measure. He also declared publicly, a few days before the affray, that he believed "it would be for the good of the county not to have any court as things were," and evinced a conciliatory spirit towards those who favored violent and deci- sive measures. After he had consulted with his associate, Judge Sabin, a man who deemed it his duty to uphold the laws, let the cost be what it might, it is probable that his views were changed; for, when asked a few hours previous to the commencement of the fight, whether he and Sabin would con- sult with the Whigs as to the expediency of holding the session, he replied that the judges were willing to give redress in a legal manner, but could enter into no discussion as to " whether his Majesty's business should be done or not." Sabine, in "The American Loyalists," referring to Judge Chandler's behavior on this occasion, remarks :- " He appears to have conducted with prudence, and to have used his exertions to prevent the melancholy consequences which resulted from the unwise pro- ceedings of other adherents of the Crown." Although he was afterwards imprisoned in the Court-house, yet his confinement did not last but two or three days, and it does not appear that he was ever tried, although he gave bonds at the time of his release to appear and take his trial at such time as should be appointed.
636
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
Other views have, however, been entertained respecting Chandler's real intentions. It was the remark of an old man, who in his boyhood had often seen him, that "he was not deemed a right honest man, and was supposed by many to have forwarded the scrape." In that highly entertaining and instruc- tive novel, called "The Rangers ; or the Tory's Daughter," the Hon. Daniel P. Thompson has also painted the sycophancy of Colonel Chandler, in colors which do not increase the brilliancy of his reputation. The most plausible account which can be given of his conduct, as derived from a thorough examination of the facts, appears to be this. He was a man who, although attached to the Crown from which he derived his authority, was unwilling that the people, whose welfare he desired espe- cially to consult, should suffer. He wished, as a loyal officer, that the court should convene; was willing in his judicial capa- city to listen to the demands of the people; and announced himself ready to assist in removing the grievances of which they complained. Being withheld by Judge Sabin-whose fidelity to the King was greater than his love for the people- from the course of action to which views like these would have prompted him, he determined to remain with his associate, and bear the indignation of the populace. This he did, there is hardly room to doubt, with all the dignity becoming his sta- tion. He suffered confinement with his friends, and after his release, when popular clamor had in a measure subsided, and an opportunity had been given him for reflection, decided in favor of those who had determined to cut loose from Great Britain, and ever after was a zealous supporter of the American cause. He was often exposed to the opprobrious remarks of those who remembered him as associated with the Court party during the struggle of the 13th of March, and his connection with that side was not unfrequently cited as a reason why he could not be a hearty upholder of democratic or republican principles. Yet, in the face of prejudice so bitter, and calumny so offensive, Colonel Chandler, firmly attached to the cause he had espoused, toiled, for a time at least, earnestly and faith- fully in its behalf.
Owing to causes which cannot now be ascertained, he became impoverished in his old age, and continued so until his death. At the session of the Legislature, held in October, 1784, he pre- sented a petition to the General Assembly, in which he ex- pressed his willingness to deliver up the whole of his estate to
637
DEATH IN PRISON.
his creditors, in good faith, in order to satisfy the executions which had been issued against him, and prayed, in view of his " advanced age and infirmities," for the passage of an act by which his creditors might be enabled to divide his property among them, and he be relieved "from the fears of going into a lonesome prison." In answer to this request, he was ordered to cite his creditors, and require them to show cause why the petition should not be granted. His pecuniary embarrassments, "brought about" as Mr. Thompson declares, " by a long course of secret fraud in selling wild lands to which he had no titles," placed him finally entirely at the mercy of his creditors, who threw him into jail at Westminster. By a statute law of the state, a creditor was at this period bound to provide for the sup- port of an insolvent debtor, whom he had imprisoned for debt, in case the debtor should make oath to his utter inability to dis- charge such debt. Maintained by his creditors, Chandler con- tinued in prison during a portion of the spring and summer of 1785. In the month of June, of that year, the General Assem- bly re-considered the petition which he had presented at the last session, and passed an act " to enable Thomas Chandler of Chester, in the county of Windsor, Esqr., who now stands com- mitted a prisoner in the common gaol at Westminster, in the county of Windham, to deliver up all his estate, real and per- sonal, to his creditors, bona fide, and to discharge the said Thomas from his imprisonment."
The terms on which his release was to be effected were peculiarly stringent, but Providence had determined to relieve him, not only from the miseries of a jail but from the vexations of his fleshly prison. The act was passed on the 16th of June, 1785. On the 20th of the same month he died in the jail at Westminster. Owing to a foolish and unnatural belief which then prevailed concerning the inhumation of the body of an imprisoned debtor, the remains of Judge Chandler were buried privately, and without the ceremony of a funeral. In one cor- ner of the " old Westminster churchyard," next to the high- way, was to be seen until within a few years, the stump of a tree which marked the locality of his strangely constructed grave. Whatever his faults may have been, he deserves to be remembered as one of the earliest and most influential of the settlers of Eastern Vermont .*
* Commissions. Deming's Catalogue, passim. MS. Letters. Thompson's Vt., Part III. p. 53. The Rangers; or the Tory's Daughter, i. 99. Journals Gen. Ass.
638
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
T
JOHN CHANDLER.
JOHN, the first son of Thomas Chandler, was born at Wood- stock, Connecticut, on the 4th of March, 1734, O.S. (March 15th, 1737, N.S.), and was married to Elizabeth Painter on the 4th of May, 1758. He removed with his father to Chester in the year 1763, and aided in the early establishment of that town. Under a commission from New York, he was author- ized to administer the necessary oaths to all persons who should receive office in Cumberland county. This post he held from July 17th, 1766, to April 14th, 1772. During the same period he served as an assistant justice of the Inferior court of Common Pleas and as a justice of the peace. He also held the office of county clerk from July 16th, 1766, to February 25th, 1772, when he was removed for misconduct. Of his future career very little is known .*
THOMAS CHANDLER JR.
Thomas Chandler fur THE second son of Thomas Chan- dler, and who bore the name of his father, was born on the 23d of September, 1740, O.S., and was married to Sarah Lord on the 21st of July, 1763. At an adjourned meeting of the pro- prietors of New Flamstead, afterwards Chester, held at Wor- cester, Massachusetts, on the 22d of March, 1763, Thomas Chandler Jr. was chosen town-clerk. On the 8th of March, 1764, he was re-elected, and when on the 12th of March, 1765,
Vt., Oct., 1784, p. 15; June, 1785, pp. 17, 40, 43. Slade's Vt. State Papers, p. 497.
An account of the peculiar circumstances under, and the manner in which the burial of Judge Chandler took place, is given ante, pp. 583, 584.
* Council Minutes in office Sec. State N. Y., 1765-1783, xxvi. 228.
639
THOMAS CHANDLER JR.
the proprietors assembled for business, at the dwelling-house of William Warner in New Flamstead, he was continued in the same office for another year. He was again elected town- clerk at the March meeting in 1777, and served in that capa- city during the two years succeeding. From July 16th, 1766, until March 13th, 1775, the date of the " Westminster Massa- cre," he was an assistant justice of the Inferior court of Com- mon Pleas for Cumberland county and a justice of the peace. Both before and after the event alluded to, he endeavored to allay the discontent of the people of the county, both by argu- ment and persuasion, but failed to accomplish that end.
At the first session of the General Assembly of Vermont, in March, 1778, he was chosen secretary of state, and held that office until the following October. At the same time he re- ceived the appointment of clerk of the House. In October, 1778, he was made speaker, and served in that capacity until the middle of the session of 1780. During the years 1779 and 1780, he was a member of the Council; from 1778 to 1781, and in 1787, represented the town of Chester in the General Assembly ; and in the year 1779 was a judge of the Superior court. When the estates of the Tories who had left Vermont were declared confiscated, he was chosen a commissioner of sequestration. Although disliked by many on account of a prejudice founded upon his former connection with the colonial government of New York, and charged with conduct which subjected him to the loss of his place as speaker of the House in 1780, yet his efforts in the town of Chester were always exerted in behalf of the American cause, and his patriotism was undoubted.
Having been reduced to poverty " by a long series of sick- ness in his family," he presented a petition to the Legislature of Vermont, dated October 15th, 1792, asking for an act of insolvency in his behalf. While the New Hampshire Grants were subject to the jurisdiction of New York, his position in the local government was high, and his influence, although circum- scribed, was acknowledged. But under the régime inaugurated by the establishment of Vermont as an independent state, he gradually sunk into obscurity, and died it is supposed, although not as miserably, yet as much embarrassed as his father .*
* See Biographical Notice of AZARIAH WRIGHT.
640
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
ELKANAH DAY
WAS a resident of Westmin- Johanathe Day ster, and in that town and throughout the county of Windham, was known and respected as a physician. Before Vermont was declared a separate and independent state, and while the people on the "Grants " acted in concert with the government of New York in the cause of American free- dom, he was appointed by the Provincial Congress of New York a captain in the detachment of Rangers which was com- manded by Maj. Joab Hoisington. Having accepted the com- mission, he endeavored to enlist his complement of men, but amid the duties and labors of his profession he was unable to devote the time necessary to accomplish this object. Con- vinced that he could effect more good as a physician than as a soldier, and finding that his patients were "totally unwilling" that he should discontinue his practice among them, he resigned his commission on the 23d of October, 1776. He afterwards held the office of high-sheriff of Windham county for several years. He appears to have been first elected to that station in 1781, and held it until the year 1787 .*
SAMUEL FLETCHER.
Same Fletcher AMONG the early inhabitants of Townshend, no person occu- pied a higher position, or en- joyed a larger share of public confidence than Samuel Fletcher. He was born at Grafton, Massachusetts, in the year 1745, and at the age of seventeen enlisted as a soldier in the contest which was then being waged between the British and French colo- nies. In this service he continued a year. On his return he
* Journal N. Y. Prov. Cong., ii. 214.
641
SAMUEL FLETCHER.
learned the trade of a blacksmith, which he followed about four years, when he married a daughter of Col. John Hazeltine. Becoming the recipient of an ample fortune by this connection, he laid aside the sledge, and removed to Townshend, there to wield the axe among the trees of the forest. At the com- mencement of the Revolution he joined the American army, and in the capacity of orderly-sergeant, was present at the bat- tle of Bunker Hill. By the New York Provincial Congress he was appointed a lieutenant in a new company, which was formed in the month of July, 1775. Elisha Benedict of Al- bany, the captain of the new company, was soon after sent to Cumberland county for the purpose of delivering to Mr. Flet- cher his commission. He there learned that the "orderly" was "in the army at Cambridge," Massachusetts. Mr. Flet- cher's commission was soon after recalled, and the lieutenancy intended for him was conferred on another. In the month of January, 1776, he returned to Townshend, and was immedi- ately made captain of the militia in that town. On the 1st of February in the same year, the town committees of safety assembled and elected field-officers for the lower regiment in Cumberland county, agreeable to the wishes of the New York Provincial Congress. On this occasion Mr. Fletcher was chosen quarter-master, and his nomination was confirmed before the end of the month.
On the 11th of June following, a committee of safety for Cumberland county was formed at Westminster. Mr. Fletcher was present as a delegate from Townshend, and took an active part in the proceedings. Companies of minute men were soon after raised, whose superiority resulted from the excellence of their drill, and their readiness to march at the beat of drum, wherever their services were needed. A company of this character was commanded by Captain Fletcher, and when, in 1777, Ticonderoga was besieged, all his men volunteered to march for its relief. On this expedition, with a party of thir- teen, he attacked a British detachment of forty men, killed one of them, and took seven prisoners, without sustaining any loss himself. In August of the same year he was engaged in the battle of Bennington, and often in later years would speak of his participation in that struggle. He soon after received a major's commission, and continued to serve his country until after the defeat of Burgoyne. He was made a brigadier-gene- ral in the militia of Vermont on the 20th of June, 1781, and,
41
642
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
having reached the grade of major-general, retained that posi- tion for six years.
He represented Townshend in the General Assembly of Ver- mont at their first session, in March, 1778, and enjoyed the same honor at the session in October of the same year, and at that in February, 1779. During the session of the latter year, he was chosen councillor, and held the office by annual election until 1790. He was also councillor in 1808. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme court on the 13th of February, 1782, but refused to serve. From 1788 until 1806, he held the office of high sheriff of Windham county, and during the years 1778, 1783, 1784, and 1786, was a judge of the county court. He died on the 15th of September, 1814, aged nearly seventy years. On the occasion of his funeral, in connection with some remarks eulogistic of his character, made by the late Hon. Charles Phelps, of Townshend, a sketch of his life was given by the same gen- tleman, but the observations were extemporaneous, and were not preserved. His daughter, who afterwards became the wife of Mr. Ransom, and the mother of the Hon. Epaphroditus Ran- som, late Governor of Michigan, was the first person born in Townshend. She died a few years ago at Kalamazoo, at a very advanced age. His eldest daughter, who was formerly the wife of the Hon. Samuel Porter, of Dummerston, was living a few years ago in Springfield, Vermont, at the age of ninety. His only son, Squire H. Fletcher, was also living in 1853 near Buf- falo, New York, wanting but a few more years to place him in the octogenarian rank.
Being a man of enterprise, industry, and skill, General Fletcher not only filled the various stations to which he was appointed with great credit, but found time to engage in pro- jects to increase the wealth and population of the state. By a resolution of the General Assembly of Vermont, passed on the 6th of November, 1780, the township of Jamaica was granted to him and fifty-three others, on the payment, for each right, of £9 lawful money, in silver, or other current funds. The char- ter was issued on the day following. It is much to be regretted that the MSS. of this excellent man were not preserved. He was a fine writer, and during a portion of his life, kept a full, accurate, and daily record of events of public importance, or of interest to himself on account of his participation in them. These, and other writings, it is supposed, were consigned to the care of his son-in-law, Mr. Ransom, who was the executor of
643
SAMUEL GALE.
his will, and were probably destroyed in the burning of that gentleman's house. Among the books lost on that occasion, was " a large and elegant old English folio edition of the Bible," which Col. John Hazeltine gave to his daughter at the time of her marriage, and which General Fletcher bequeathed to his daughter, Mrs. Ransom, in his will. Two memorials of the old soldier are still preserved. The one is a sword cane which he carried through all his campaigns in the Revolutionary War ; the other a watch which he wore during the last twenty years of his life.
In stature, General Fletcher measured about five feet ten inches. In person he was straight and finely proportioned, but inclined to corpulency. His eyes, which were blue, corre- sponded well with a light complexion, and his manly beauty was generally acknowledged. He was elegant in manners, and in deportment, bland and refined. Kindness characterized his intercourse with all, and generousness and hospitality were the faults, if he had any, of his character. He was very particular in his dress, which, although always in the fashion, was never contrary to the canons of good taste. Possessing the qualifica- tions which make the man, he was also so fortunate as to com- bine with these most necessary requisites those other and finer excellences, which rendered him the beau ideal of a perfect gentleman .*
SAMUEL GALE.
OF the loyalists who bore a con- S. Çales spicuous part in the events connected with the " Westminster Massacre," none are more entitled to respect and consideration than Samuel Gale. He was born in Hamp- shire, England, on the 14th of October, 1747, and during his boyhood received the benefits of a good education. Having been appointed a paymaster in the British army, he was ordered
* Thompson's Vt., Art. TOWNSHEND. Deming's Appendix, p. 216. Letter of Hon. E. Ransom, Feb. 6th, 1853. Journal N. Y. Prov. Cong., i. 84, 95; ii. 53, 54, 68. Am. Archives, Fourth Series, vol. ii., col. 1796.
644
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
to the American colonies, probably about the year 1770. From manuscript plottings prepared by him, which are still extant, it is evident that his knowledge and practice as a surveyor were accurate and extensive. But of these facts more definite evidence exists. On the 12th of March, 1772, he issued at Philadelphia the printed prospectus of a work which he was then preparing, to be entitled "The Complete Surveyor." To this paper were affixed recommendatory notices from the Right, Honorable, the Earl of Stirling, Lieutenant-Governor Cadwal- lader Colden, Mr. Rittenhouse, and Mr. Lukens. From a let- ter which he wrote while a prisoner at Fairfield, Connecticut, to John Mckesson, secretary of the New York Provincial Con- gress, dated February 29th, 1776, it appears that the work was still unpublished. Having, in this communication, requested to be released on parole, if no other better relief could be afforded, he added :- " You may mention what you choose in the parole, but I would choose, by all means, if possible, to be at New York or Philadelphia, where I may finish my intended publication on surveying, which you well know is allowed by all parties to be a matter of great actual service to America." Of the volume- published or unpublished-nothing further is known .*
On the 25th of June, 1773, he married Rebecca, the eldest daughter of Col. Samuel Wells, of Brattleborough, and soon after left the service. Becoming a resident of Cumberland county, he was appointed, on the 7th of March, 1774, clerk of the court, that office having become vacant by the resignation
* That he was at one period employed as a surveyor on the New Hampshire Grants, is evident from the following extract, taken from "The Natural and Po -. litical History of the State of Vermont," a work by Ira Allen, which was pub- lished at London in the year 1798.
" In the summer of 1773, Mr. Ira Allen, with three men, went from the block fort on Onion river, in pursuit of a Mr. S. Gale, who, with a number of men, was surveying in the district of the New Hampshire Grants, for the land jobbers of New York. Allen and his party traversed the district from east to west, through the townships of Waterbury, Middlesex, and Kingsland, to Moretown, alias Brad- ford, and Haverhill; and, at length, obtaining information of the surveyor's des- tination, they procured provisions and some spirits, and went again in quest of him. They discovered his line, and, by that, followed him to near the north-east corner of the present town of Montpelier. Here it ended, and he could not be traced further, because, being apprised of his danger, he made a corner on dry land, and thus precipitately escaped, and Allen came to the corner an hour after he fled. On the sixteenth day they reached the block fort, whence they sat out." -pp. 45, 46.
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