USA > Vermont > History of eastern Vermont, from its earliest settlement to the close of the eighteeth century with a biographical chapter and appendixes > Part 66
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Later in the year, he addressed a "Memorial and Petition" to the " men that are assembled at Westminster in the County of Cumberland, who call themselves a County Congress." In this remarkable production he accused the representatives of the people of usurpation and oppression ; pictured their temporary government as a despotism ; and branded their chairman as a tyrant. After detailing a few instances, in which they had been obliged for the good of the community, to exer- cise dictatorial powers, he continued in this strain :- " You pro- ceeded on other business equally Infamous and Rascally, and then, like the Rump Parliament, adjourned yourselves. But your Sovereign, Col. Hazeltine, thinking good to call you to- gether before the time you was adjourned to, did do it, and you met on the 15th of August Last, and Proceeded to business. And why should you not? The King, by the Constitution, has a Right to call, adjourn, prorogue and dissolve parliaments. King HAZELTINE did Right in calling you together before the Time you had adjourned yourself to. This was to Let you Know he was your King, and it was no more than duty to Obey your Prince. Indeed, it must be confessed it was a rascally Trick in you ever to adjourn yourselves, for that was an In- fringement of your King Hazeltine's Prerogative, for the King by his Prerogative has the sole Right of adjourning Parlia- ments." The closing paragraphs of this memorial, although abounding in bombast and fustian, are sufficiently curious to warrant their presentation in this connection. " As for myself," wrote this conceited but witty poltroon, "I belong to another order of men, who will neither Joyn with you, nor Oppose you. For why should I run with the Wind ? Surely, if I should, it will outrun me. Or why should I fight with the wind ? Surely,
656
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
there is not so much substance in the Skull of it, as that I could beat its Brains out with a Beetle. Surely, I will content myself with bearing your Blow, and will Say, Whoo-Raugh, Whoo- Raugh to your mighty Rushing. After a mighty wind comes a calm.
" Your petitioner most humbly prays, that you would be graciously pleased to annihilate yourselves, and Return into your Primitive Nothingness, unless the Good People of the County shall please to employ you about something.
" But, oh, mighty Chaos, if you will not condescend to grant this petition, I have another to make, which I beg of you not to deny me, which is this, that your almighty Nothingships would be pleased to Honour your Petitioner, who heartily Despises you, by making him first General and Commander-in- Chief of all your despisers, that so he may be at the head of nine-tenths of the good people of this county. And your Peti- tioner as in Duty bound shall ever pray."
In the fall of the same year, he was brought before the com- mittee of Chester, on a charge which had been preferred against him of speaking disrespectfully of the Continental Congress and the county committee. A quarrel having arisen among the members in respect to the manner in which the trial should be conducted, Grout refused to make any defence, and remained wholly inactive during the proceedings. By a portion of the committee, he was adjudged to be an enemy to his country. From this decision he appealed to the county committee. The subject came before them on the 29th of No- vember, but they refused to sustain the appeal, and ordered him to withdraw it. At another meeting held on the 24th of July, 1776, a complaint was exhibited by John Chandler against Grout. The members being unwilling to act upon it, referred it, at first, to the Chester committee, but by a subsequent vote recalled the reference and resolved to receive Grout's answer at their session in the following November. On the 8th of that month, a complaint against Thomas Chandler, Jr., was pre- sented by Grout, to the county committee, accusing him of mal- treatment. "After maturely deliberating upon the case," the committee ordered Chandler to pay to Grout "the sum of Six Pence, York Currency." The costs of the investigation were divided equally between them, and both were " Reprimanded by the Chairman in presence of the whole Board." Grout suffered on other occasions from the patriotism or maliciousness
657
TRAGIC FATE.
of the Chandlers, and through their influence and that of others connected with them, he was taken prisoner, at Charles- town, New Hampshire, on the 27th of December, 1776. On the 2d of June, 1777, he was a resident of Chester, but soon after removed to Montreal, where he assumed his true charac- ter, that of a British subject, and is said to have become "a distinguished lawyer."*
He resided in Canada during the remainder of the war, and probably for several years after its close. His end was as tragic as his life had been turbulent and unhappy. With a large sum of money in his possession, which he had collected for some per- son residing in one of the states, he left Canada for the purpose of conveying it to the owner, and was never afterwards heard of. For a long time it was supposed that he had been drowned in crossing Lake Champlain. Many years after his sudden dis- appearance, a man was convicted of some crime punishable by death. Previous to his execution he acknowledged his guilt, and, in detailing the dark transactions of his life, confessed that he had murdered John Grout for the purpose of obtaining the money which he carried. He also described the place where he had buried the body. A search having been instituted, human bones were found at the spot he had designated.
Hilkiah Grout, whose name has occurred in these pages, was a brother of John, and was born at Lunenburgh, Massachusetts, on the 23d of July, 1728. He lived for many years on the banks of Black river in the town of Weathersfield, in Windsor county, Vermont, and there died, leaving a large family of children. Some of these were born previous to the time when his wife and some of her family were carried captive to Canada. Others were born after her return from bondage.
Elijah Grout, another brother, born at Lunenburgh, Massa- chusetts, passed the greater part of his life, and died, at Charles- town, New Hampshire.
Jonathan Grout, born also at Lunenburgh, a third brother of John, resided at Petersham, Massachusetts. He obtained the
* By an act of the General Assembly of Vermont, passed in February, 1779, those persons who had voluntarily left that state, or any one of the United States, and "joined the enemies thereof," were forbidden to return to Vermont. Accom- panying this act were the names of one hundred and eight persons to whom its provisions particularly referred. In the list appeared the name of John Grout of Chester .- Acts and Laws Gen. Ass. Vt., Feb., 1779, p. 72. Slade's Vt. State Papers, pp. 355, 356.
42
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HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
charter of Lunenburgh, a town in Essex county, Vermont, and owned nearly all the territory comprised within its limits .*
LOT HALL
Los Ifall
WAS born at Yarmouth,in Barnstable county, Mas- sachusetts, in the year 1757. Of his youthful days little is known. It is certain, however, that he enjoyed all the advantages of a good school education, and that he dili- gently improved whatever opportunities were offered him of obtaining information. At the commencement of the revolu- tionary war, he warmly espoused the cause of the colonies, and eagerly awaited the hour that should see him engaged in the service of his country.
In accordance with a resolution of Congress, passed on the 18th of July, 1775, recommending to each colony, to provide for the protection of its harbors and navigation, " by armed ves- sels, or otherwise," South Carolina endeavored to render her maritime position more secure. On the 16th of January, 1776, the delegates from South Carolina informed Congress that their colony, " being in want of seamen, had given orders to offer high wages to such as would engage" in her service, and desired the advice of Congress on the subject. The committee to whom the matter was referred, reported on the 19th, recommending to Captain Robert Cockran who had been sent from South Ca- rolina to obtain seamen, to offer to each able-bodied seaman, who would enter the service of that colony, wages at the rate of $8 per month, an immediate bounty of $9, and upon reaching South Carolina, a further bounty of $5. The captain was com- mended to the favor of Washington, who, on the 30th of Ja- nuary, promised to "give him every assistance" within his power.
In the month of May following, young Hall procured enlist- ing orders from Elijah Freeman Payne, who was then the lieu-
MS. Records, Cumberland Co. Com. Safety. Grout's MS. Letters. Letters from Harry Hale, Esq., of Chelsea, Vt., December 1st and 17th, 1852. Doc. Hist- N. Y., iv. 758, 759, 766.
659
NAVAL SUCCESS.
tenant of a twenty-gun ship lying at Charleston, South Caro- lina, commanded by Captain Cockran. This ship, which was called the Randolph, had been fitted out by South Carolina, as a part of her proportion of the continental navy, and in accord- ance with the recommendations of Congress, which had been adopted on the 18th of July, 1775. Payne had promised Hall a lieutenancy in the marine department, provided the latter should enlist fifteen men and transport them to Providence, Rhode Island. Entering upon his task with energy, and determined to win the station which had been offered him, Hall in a short time enlisted twenty-nine men and a boy, residents of Barn- stable county, and having procured a schooner, commanded by Capt. Samuel Gray, conveyed his recruits to the place ap- pointed. He then went to Stonington, Connecticut, where he purchased six small cannon of Joseph Dennison, and returning to Providence obtained a schooner of about fifty tons burthen, belonging to Clark and Nightingale, and, with his men, sailed for Stonington, to take on board the cannon. Becoming con- vinced by this short trip, that the schooner would not carry sail sufficient to render her serviceable, either in giving chase, or in conducting a retreat, he procured another at Stonington named the Eagle. This vessel was immediately fitted out with provisions and warlike stores, and in her Captain Payne and Lieutenant Hall put to sea, in the month of June, with the intention of making a cruising passage to Charleston, where they and their men were to join the Randolph.
The commencement of the expedition was attended with success. Three prizes were taken-the Venus, George Collas, master, on the 23d of August; the Caledonia, Alexander Mc- Kinlay, master, on the 30th of August; and another vessel the name of which is not known. These were manned with sea- men from the crew of the Eagle, and the little fleet set sail for the port of Boston, where the Venus, under the charge of Wait Rathburn, prize-master, arrived on the 20th of September, and the Caledonia, under the charge of Nathaniel Thompson, prize- master, on the 23d of the same month. As the Eagle was con- voying in the third prize, she (the Eagle) fell in with and cap- tured the ship Spears, from the bay of Honduras bound for Glasgow, Scotland. The Spears being short of provisions, it was deemed advisable to increase her supplies, and to transfer to her all the prisoners on board of both the Eagle and the prize then under convoy. This was accordingly done, and by
660
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
the direction of Captain Payne, Lieutenant Hall, as prize-mas- ter, took the command of the Spears, with orders to keep com- pany with the Eagle. For this purpose he was furnished with private signals, by the help of which he was enabled to pursue the prescribed course for ten days, when the vessels were sepa- rated "by a hard gale of wind and foggy weather." Captain Payne, in the Eagle, succeeded in reaching Boston, and on his, arrival delivered to the proper authorities Captain Lamont of the Spears, whom he had taken prisoner.
Soon after the Spears separated from the Eagle, the prisoners on board the former vessel mutinied. Lieutenant Hall's men were so few in number that they were unable to quell the dis- turbance, and, on the 13th of September, he was deprived of the command of the ship. The mutineers then held a long. consultation, and agreed to make for Newfoundland, for the purpose of procuring provisions. On reaching the Banks, they fell in with a brig from Falmouth, England, and from her cap- tain, who was of course friendly to the cause of Great Britain, they obtained supplies. From Newfoundland they set sail for Glasgow. On arriving at that port, on the 13th of October, Lieutenant Hall was taken into custody by the authorities of the city, and confined in prison. Having learned that the Mayor of Glasgow was a free-mason, Lieutenant Hall informed him by letter that he was a member of that brotherhood, and craved his assistance. He soon after was visited by the mayor in person, who obtained for him an extension of the liberties of the prison to a circuit of two miles ; provided him with clothes and writing materials ; and invited him to dine at his mansion. From this gentleman Lieutenant Hall received many favors which tended to lessen the tedium of durance, and he ever after retained the profoundest sentiments of gratitude and esteem towards his noble benefactor.
On the fifth of April, 1777, Captain Lamont of the Spears arrived at Glasgow, and Lieutenant Hall was discharged from imprisonment, but no provision was made to enable him to procure a passage home. Finding a vessel belonging to an American citizen and engaged in the revenue service, he em- barked on board of her, and at the Isle of Man, and at White- haven also, endeavored to obtain a passage either to France or the West Indies, but was unsuccessful. Returning to Scotland, he took passage to Ireland, where, according to his own declara- tion, he " found the people very kind and civil, as well as warmly
661
UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICATION TO CONGRESS.
attached to the American cause." Having revealed to them his circumstances and condition, they provided for him "in a genteel manner" until the following August, when he sailed in the ship Glorious Memory for the West Indies, and arrived at Barbadoes in October. Thence he took passage for Antigua, and from that port sailed to St. Eustatia. Here he met with Captain Hinson of the Duke of Grafton, on board of which vessel he sailed for Virginia. When within Capes Charles and Henry, the Duke of Grafton was captured on the 28th of December by the St. Albans, a British man-of war of sixty-four guns, commanded by Robert Onslow, then lying in Hampton road, and Lieutenant Hall was again made prisoner. During the time of this second captivity, which lasted but ten days, his sufferings on board the St. Albans were " everything that Bri- tish insolence and cruelty could inflict, short of actual violence." Through the interposition of Patrick Henry, then Governor of Virginia, Lieutenant Hall was exchanged, and having been provided by his Excellency with a horse and money, set out on his journey home.
On reaching Pennsylvania, his money being exhausted, he presented a memorial to Congress on the 23d of January, 1778, in which he recounted the scenes through which he had passed during the eighteen months preceding, and asked either for a situation on a continental vessel, or means sufficient to enable him to reach Boston. The subject was referred to the marine committee, but no record of their report appears on the pages of the Journals of Congress. By the assistance of his friends, and his " utmost exertions," he reached Barnstable on the 22d of February following. For these services. he afterwards endeavored to obtain the "pay allowed by the then naval establishment to officers of his rank," but failed to receive the well-earned reward. Many years after his death, Congress recognized the justice of the claim he had presented, and awarded to his descendants a portion of that remuneration which he should have received for his valuable services in behalf of his country.
On returning from captivity, Mr. Hall commenced the study of law at Barnstable, in the office of Shearjashub Bourne. Here, it is supposed, he remained until the latter part of the year 1782, when he removed to Vermont. At Bennington, where he at first took up his abode, he remained but a short time. In the year 1783 he was at Westminster, as appears by
662
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
an entry in the records of the Council of Vermont, dated on the 18th of October in that year at Westminster, and signed by him as secretary pro tempore. On the 13th of February, 1786, he was married in Boston, by the Rev. John Clark, to Mary Homer, of that place .* He afterwards purchased a dwelling on the flat, in the north part of Westminster, and by diligent atten- tion to his profession, obtained a good practice and an honora- ble reputation. He was chosen to represent the town in which he resided, in the General Assembly, at the sessions in 1789, 1791, 1792, and 1808. With Paul Brigham, Samuel Hitch- cock, and Lemuel Chipman, he was appointed a presidential elector by the General Assembly, at their session in 1792, and, with his colleagues, cast the vote of the state for'George Wash- ington and John Adams. By an act of the General Assembly, passed on the 1st of November, 1800, incorporating Middle- bury college, he was constituted a fellow of that institution, and served in that capacity until the time of his death. In 1799 he was a member of the Council of Censors, and for seven years-from 1794 to 1801-was a judge of the Supreme court of the state.
While holding this latter position, he discharged the duties of his office with great fidelity and credit. A charge delivered by him to the grand jurors of Windham county, at a session of the Supreme court, held at Newfane in the year 1798, was described in the "Farmer's Museum," a celebrated newspaper of that period, as a production "replete with sound principles and the very essence of federalism," and "honourable to its author as a politician, as a scholar, and as an ardent federalist." " At this juncture," observed the editor of the same journal, " we conceive that charges of such a complexion, coming from the grave authority of a judge, are eminently impressive, con- vincing, and useful." At a session of the Supreme court held in Windham county, during the month of August, 1800, Judge Hall again charged the grand jury in an able and eloquent
* At the time of her marriage, Miss Homer, who was an orphan, was only fif- teen years of age. Under the title of " A True Story," a very romantic account of the circumstances attending her courtship and marriage appeared in the "Herald of Freedom," in December, 1789. In this narrative, Ophelia represents Miss Homer; Lysander, Mr. Hall; and Alphonso a disappointed lover. The " True Story" was copied into the " Barnstable Journal" in August, 1829, and was reprinted in the "Troy Daily Post" on the 21st of February, 1845. Mrs. Hall outlived her husband many years, and died on the 21st of February, 1843, aged seventy-two years.
663
ELOQUENT EULOGY ON WASHINGTON.
manner. His address on this occasion was subsequently pub- lished at their request. In the course of his remarks, he ad- verted to the character of Washington, whose death had lately occurred, in these words :-
" Our country has sustained an irreparable loss by the death of this greatest and best of men. To bestow on him the epithet of great, would be but common praise. His name alone ex- presses enough. The simple name of WASHINGTON will be remembered with veneration and respect by posterity, when all the titles of human greatness and distinction have sunk beneath the stroke of time. All our orators and poets have vied with each other to do justice to his merit, and sacred and profane history have been ransacked to find his equal. When the parallel has been drawn between him and Moses or Solomon in sacred history, or between him and the greatest characters, both ancient and modern, that profane history can boast, they appear but diminished spectres. His deserved fame eclipses every other name.
" His character in private as well as public life, is without a blemish. He seems to have possessed every accomplishment which makes a man either amiable or estimable. His senti- ments of religion were noble and elevated. His regard for Christianity was evidenced by a respectful attendance on its instituted forms of worship, and by treating with equal candor and indulgence all denominations, without preferring one to the other. His gentle and amiable disposition endeared him to his private friends. His graceful manners engaged him the affections of all orders of the people. He was one of the most accomplished men of the age, and possessed all the great quali- ties both of body and mind, natural and acquired, which could fit him for the high station to which he attained. The affability of his address encouraged those who might be overawed by the sense of his* dignity and wisdom. Though he often indulged his facetious humor, he knew how to temper it with discre- tion, and ever kept at a distance from all indecent familiarities with those about him. He loved and practised the virtues of domestic life, which seldom hold their residence among the great. He was chaste and temperate, enjoying without excess the social pleasures of the table. All his titles of greatness were adorned by the tender name of a faithful husband and an indulgent parent, for, though childless himself, he embraced as his own the children of his brother and sister, and the ex-
664
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
pressions of his regard were extended to the most distant and obscure branches of his numerous kindred. His familiar friends were judiciously selected. He respected the good and the vir- tuous, who with the innocent were rewarded by his judicious liberality, while the more diffusive circle of his benevolence was circumscribed only by the limits of the human race.
" When not engaged in war, he cultivated the arts of peace. That he delighted in farming, is evident from his following the plough in his native soil, and from the great improvements he made in every branch of agriculture. That he wished to be useful in ordinary life, was evidenced by his acting as a mem- ber of assembly, a magistrate, and sitting as a common juror in a court of justice, in the county where he resided. Washing- ton was not stimulated by avarice, fired by ambition, nor did he thirst for conquest. It should ever be remembered that he was never engaged in any offensive war. His whole military career is rendered more glorious and resplendent, when it is considered that he always fought in defence of his country. His mild disposition was ever respected by the good and virtuous, while the vigor of his character struck terror into the degene- rate and guilty. No more lives were sacrificed under his com- mand, than the fate of war rendered inevitable. Although he always considered the exercise of strict justice as the most important duty of his official life, yet the exercise of mercy was his most delightful employment. Should his enemies doubt this, I call on them to read, if they can, without emotion, his letter to Captain Asgill, containing the pleasing yet unexpected tidings of his enlargement from what he had long dreaded as a dismal confinement.
" Heaven seems to have sent him upon earth, to serve at once as an example of that perfection of which human nature is capable, and of that happiness it may enjoy in private life- and at the same time, to have liberally endowed him with those public virtues, which sometimes raise human nature above itself. In short, nothing seems wanting to grace the perfection of his character. He sustained adversity with firmness, and prosperity with moderation. The power and sublimity of his genius transcended the fame of Cæsar, and his consummate wisdom and prudence, that of Augustus. His superiority in peace, as well as in war, has been acknowledged by all, and even his enemies have confessed, with a sigh, his great and shining accomplishments, and that he loved his country and
665
JUDGE HALL'S CHARACTER.
deserved the empire of the world. Though we cannot expect to reach the transcendent height of his public honors and mili- tary glory, yet with respect to the exercise of his private and domestic virtues, we may in some measure be imitators of him. Let us, then, copy his bright example. Let us live and act as he advises, and in this way shall we more convincingly evi- dence our regard for his memory, than we should, were we daily to repair to his sepulchre, and bedew with tears of sincere regret, that stupendous monument of our country's salvation."
1
While attending the General Assembly, during their session at Montpelier, in the autumn of 1808, Judge Hall was seized with a violent catarrhal affection which assumed an incurable form, and caused his death on the 17th of May, 1809. In his " Descriptive Sketch" of Vermont, published in 1797, Dr. John A. Graham observes of Mr. Hall :- He " is one of the judges of the Supreme court, which office he fills in such a manner as to reflect honour, even on so important a station. His memory is so wonderfully tenacious, as to make him master of every subject he reads or hears, and to enable him to recapitulate them without the slightest hesitation or previous study." As a friend, Mr. Hall was constant, confiding, and generous. As a citizen, patriotic, public-spirited, and liberal. As a husband, obliging, affectionate, and gentle. He was ever ready to assist the poor in their misery, and the afflicted in their suffering. Nothing aroused more fully his resentment than the oppression of the weak by the strong .* His legal abilities were of a high order, and were well suited to the times in which, and the peo- ple among whom he lived. While on the bench, his opinions were prepared with deliberation, and his decisions were ever based in justice and right. His fund of anecdote was great, and a memory of surpassingly retentive powers enabled him to call up on any occasion, incidents illustrative of whatever topic might be under consideration. This remarkable faculty, com-
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