USA > Vermont > History of eastern Vermont, from its earliest settlement to the close of the eighteeth century with a biographical chapter and appendixes > Part 68
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On the 12th of September, 1780, Luke Knowlton was fur- nished by Gov. George Clinton with an introductory letter to the New York delegates in Congress, and soon after visited Philadelphia for the purpose of urging upon Congress the ne- cessity of settling the controversy between New York and Ver- mont. The result of his mission has been stated in another place .* Previous to the year 1784, Mr. Knowlton gave in his adherence to the government of Vermont, and became a citizen of that state. In the division of the $30,000 which New York received from Vermont, on the accession of the latter state to the Union, Mr. Knowlton received $249.53, on account of the losses he had sustained, by being obliged to give up lands which he had held under a New York title.
It is much to be regretted that so little is known of the life of a man of the ability of Luke Knowlton. The Hon. Paul. H. Knowlton, who resides at the village of Knowlton, in the town- ship of Broome, C. E., and is a member of the Legislative Council of Canada, possesses no records of family biography relating to his enterprising and intelligent grandfather.+
* See ante, pp. 381, 382.
+ Thompson's Vt., Part III. p. 126. Graham's Descriptive Sketch of Vt., 1797, p. 103. Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv. 1024.
An account of the conduct of Luke Knowlton during the time in which the British in Canada were endeavoring to obtain possession of Vermont, and of the suspicions which this conduct excited, is given in the sketch of the life of SAMUEL WELLS.
677
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOSEPH LORD.
JOSEPH LORD
OF Putney, by commissions dated the 26 Seph Loi
16th of July, 1766, was appointed second.
judge of the Inferior court of Common Pleas, and a justice of the peace for Cumberland county. These commissions were renewed on two subsequent occasions, and he was continued in office until the commencement of the Revolution. He was also appointed by a writ of dedimus potestatem, a commissioner to " swear all officers" chosen in that county, and held the office until the 14th of April, 1772. Respecting his abilities, there are no means of deciding ; but of his uprightness and candor, as a man and as a judicial officer, there can be no doubt. A few months previous to the time for appointing judges in the year 1772, Mr. Lord was desirous of withdrawing from the ser- vice of the province. In his letter to Governor Tryon, dated the 29th of January, he declared his reasons for wishing to retire, in these words :- " I, being now arrived at the sixty-eighth year of my age, and attended with the infirmities common to advancing years, such as great deafness, loss of memory, dim- ness of sight, and at times, a paralytic tremor in my hands, &c., which disqualifies me for the full, free, and perfect discharge of the offices of second judge of the Inferior court of Common Pleas, and justice of the peace, which I have sustained in the county for several years last past-and having a desire to retire from public business and spend the remainder of my days in a calm retirement therefrom, and concern myself in nothing else, but doing good to my numerous family and neighbors, and praying for the KING, your Excellency, and all others the King's officers, and prepare for a glorious IMMORTALITY-there- fore humbly entreat your Excellency to appoint some other per- son to said offices in my room and stead."
Having been informed that his colleague had tendered his resignation, Judge Chandler wrote to Governor Tryon, begging him to continue Judge Lord in office in the next commission, and suggesting the propriety of rewarding him for his past ser- vices-especially for his efforts in quelling a disturbance in which the inhabitants of Windsor had been engaged-by grant- ing to him some of the " unappropriated lands" in the province,
678
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
which the late Gov. Benning Wentworth had conveyed to him- self, the title to which, by a subsequent resolve of the present Governor and the Council of New Hampshire, had been de- clared void. Previous to this time, the court had been consti- tuted with three judges. A fourth was added in the next com- mission, and Judge Lord was continued, but with the under- standing that he was to take only " as little share of the burden of the office" upon himself as should be agreeable to him. " His Excellency," wrote Governor Tryon, in a letter dated the 3d of April, 1772, " desirous of retaining in office the most re- spectable persons in the county, could not think of appointing any person in your stead." The little that is known of this worthy magistrate is so favorable, that a natural regret arises at the absence of the data which might supply the details of his life, character, and services .*
WILLIAM PATERSON.
win Paterson THE prominency of the part borne by this indi- vidual in the affray at Westminster, has given his name a notoriety. Of the man himself little is known. William Paterson is said to have been of Irish and Scotch descent, and is supposed to have been born in Ireland. Following in the train of his friend, Crean Brush, he removed to Westminster in the year 1772 or 1773, and in October of the latter year received from the Council of Ap- pointment of the province of New York the shrievalty of Cum- berland county, which office he held until the authority of Great Britain ceased to be recognized on the "Grants." Of the man- ner in which he conducted at the "Westminster Massacre," an account has already been given.t In his history of the " Ame- rican Loyalists," Mr. Sabine, in closing a sketch of the events of March 13th, observes of Paterson :- " That he was very much in fault, in the transactions which connect his name with the sad deeds here briefly considered, hardly admits of a
* Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv. 757-759, 765, 766.
t See ante, p. 218.
679
CHARLES PHELPS.
doubt, and appears as well from the statements of the Loyalists, as from the report of the Whig committee." After suffering imprisonment in the Court-house at Westminster, until Sun- day, the 19th of March, he, with several of his friends, was placed in charge of a body of the Whigs, who guarded him to Northampton, where he was again placed in confinement. How long he remained at Northampton does not appear, but he did not obtain a final discharge until the 22d of November following. It would be pleasant, could we tear aside the veil of oblivion which shrouds his history in obscurity, or explore the recesses in which are buried those little data, which, were they all gathered, would reveal more fully the transactions of his life. But the veil appears impenetrable to mortal eyes, and the very locality of the recesses we would explore is yet to be determined.
CHARLES PHELPS,
SON of Nathaniel Phelps, was born at Northampton, Massa- Charles Phelps chusetts, on the 15th of August, 1717, and was educated in the profession of the law. He married Dorothy, a daughter of Hezekiah Root, of the same place, on the 24th of April, 1740, and afterwards removed to Hadley, where he resided for many years. In the charter of Marlborough, which town was the third on the New Hampshire Grants granted by Gov. Benning Wentworth, his name appears as one of the original grantees. This charter, which was dated the 29th of April, 1751, was re- newed on the 21st of September, 1761, and again renewed on the 17th of April, 1764. On the last occasion, power was given to Charles Phelps to call town meetings, and the name of New Marlborough was substituted for that of Marlborough. But the prefix, although used by the Phelps family for a time, was never received with favor. In the year 1764, Mr. Phelps, with his family, removed to Marlborough, for the purpose of commencing a settlement on the lands which he held from New Hampshire. On learning that the King, by an Order in Council dated the 20th of July, 1764, had established " the
680
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
western banks of the river Connecticut" as the eastern boun- dary line of New York, he applied to the Governor of that province, on the 15th of October, 1765, for a charter confirma- tory of the charter of Marlborough, and renewed his application in October of the following year. It does not appear that his request was favorably answered. Notwithstanding this failure to secure the title of his lands, he was convinced that the New Hampshire Grants were now within the jurisdiction of New York, and henceforth became a subject of that province. Re- siding on the "Grants" at a time anterior to the establishment of any of the forms of government within its bounds, and hav- ing been instrumental in obtaining the patent for Cumberland county, he grew up, as it were, with this first division of the disputed territory, labored for its benefit, and finally received as his reward the lion's share in the bitter fruits of its over- throw. After suffering by fine, imprisonment, confiscation of property, and banishment from Vermont, on account of his devotion to New York, he at length took the oath of allegiance to the former state. His feelings, however, underwent but lit- tle change, and until the day of his death, he retained the strongest antipathy against the government which had been the means of destroying his own happiness, and rendering his household the abode of sorrow and insanity.
His eccentricities, which at first were neither many nor strongly marked, were not regarded with that leniency which would have tended to make them less the objects of notice. On this account, and by reason of the sufferings which his attachment to New York induced, his peculiarities increased with age. Between the years 1770 and 1772, at the expense of the proprietors of the town of Marlborough, he built a kind of log barn near his dwelling, to which he gave the name of a meeting-house, but it was never used as such, except by his own family. The causes which led to his dismissal, and that of his son Timothy, from the church, are not known. At the bar, Mr. Phelps is said to have been intolerable, by reason of the length of his pleadings. The four hours allowed him by the court would often bring him to the threshold only of his argument, and he was frequently obliged to stop without touch- ing upon the merits of the case.
When, in the year 1775, the people residing on the eastern side of the Green Mountains evinced their hatred of oppression by their acts at Westminster on the 13th of March, Mr. Phelps
681
EFFORTS TO ANNEX VERMONT TO MASSACHUSETTS.
approved of the course then pursued, and, inasmuch as revolt from British domination, and opposition to New York exac- tions, were at that time deemed identical in spirit, since the lat- ter was the result of the former, he exerted his influence in resisting the encroachments of despotism, and in endeavoring to establish a new order of things. But when New York had thrown off her allegiance to Great Britain, and had entered into the war of the Revolution with a spirit as determined as that displayed by her sister colonies, he acknowledged her juris- diction, and uniting with the majority of the inhabitants on the "Grants," offered his services for the good of the thirteen colo- nies, as a citizen of New York. For nearly two years, senti- ments like these respecting the authority and jurisdiction of New York prevailed on the " Grants," and he is a bold and an uninformed man who would dare to assert that, previous to the year 1777, or even during the first half of that year, the people were in favor of a separate state.
On one occasion, Mr. Phelps, with a singularity of behavior not easily to be accounted for, was engaged in a scheme to effect the annexation of Vermont to Massachusetts. Of the truth of this statement, the evidence is as follows. In a deposition made by Phineas Freeman, at Marlborough, on the 19th of January, 1783, the deponent testified that in the latter part of June, 1779, Charles Phelps set out from that town with the avowed object of going to Bennington, for the purpose of consulting with a committee of Congress who were to meet there, and pre- senting to them the claims of New York to the disputed terri- tory of the "Grants." The deponent also stated, that in a con- versation which he held with Mr. Phelps previous to his depar- ture, Mr. Phelps declared that " he did not act out of good will to the state of New York, but to throw the people of Vermont into confusion ; that his ultimate design was to procure the ter- ritory of Vermont to be annexed to the Bay state ; that he looked upon the authority of New York as composed of as cor- rupt a set of men as were out of hell ; that he abhorred them as much as he did any set of men on earth ; that he would as soon come under the Infernal Prince as under the state of New York ; and would as soon put manure in his pocket as a com- mission from New York."
But this episode in the history of his attachment to New York did not long continue. When, in the summer of 1779, the friends of New York in Cumberland county determined to
682
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
petition the Legislature of that state for relief from the numerous inconveniences by which they were surrounded, he was chosen to bear their memorial to Kingston. Thence he was deputed by the Legislature to carry the same document to Philadel- phia. Of the manner in which he occupied the five weeks which he spent in that city, some opinion may be formed from a letter written on the 7th of October, 1779, by John Jay to George Clinton, and entrusted to Phelps as he was about to leave Philadelphia on his return. That the craftiness and volu- bility which characterized him as a lawyer, should have been apparent at this seeming crisis, is not at all remarkable. "You will receive this by Mr. Phelps," wrote Jay, " of whose fidelity to New York, I have a good opinion, tho' I cannot approve of all his manœuvres to serve the state on this occasion. He ap- pears neither to want talents or zeal, but the latter is not always according to knowledge, and the former carries him sometimes into finesse. One of the New Hampshire delegates told me that Phelps, in order to engage him against Vermont, endea- vored to persuade him that New Hampshire had a right to a number of townships in it; and he further told me, that on comparing notes with the Massachusetts delegates, he found that Phelps had been playing the same game with them. This story he told me in the presence of some of the Massachusetts delegates, who smiled and were silent. I have never said any- thing of this to Phelps, because it could have answered no good purpose, and I mention it to you, as a circumstance which marks the man. He has, however, by talking on the subject with everybody, done good. In my opinion, his expenses should be paid without hesitation, and he should be so treated as to go home in perfect good humour with the Legislature, for whom he now professes great regard and esteem, and I believe he is sincere in his attachment. Men of his turn and talk are always useful, when properly directed. It is safely done [in his case] by encouraging the good opinion he sustains of his own importance."
In one of the letters which Mr. Phelps wrote while in Phila- delphia, he detailed to Governor Clinton the arguments which he was in the habit of employing, in his attempts at proselytism among the members of Congress. Among other statements which he made was the following :- " I endeavor," he wrote, " to induce them to believe the truth that if Congress don't immediately interpose, there will be a great effusion of blood
683
STRENUOUS OPPOSITION TO VERMONT.
as soon as I return home; and that if it should be so, all the world will know at whose door it will be charged by all Ame- rica." To his efforts, however, was due the passage of certain resolutions, the effect of which it was generally expected would be to bring the controversy to an end. Though this result was not effected, yet it cannot be doubted that, at the time, the in- fluence of Mr. Phelps as an old-fashioned lobby-member, was greater than that of any of the other agents who were interested in the management of this question. That he fully estimated the value of his own services, appears from the application which he afterwards made to the Legislature of New York for additional pay. If the state would "give even a common scavenger as much as his pocket expense," he argued that he certainly deserved well for conducting " matters of such great weight, delicacy, and consequence," with so much skill and perseverance. His petition was read in the Assembly on the 14th of February, 1780. A few days later, the committee to whom it was referred reported contrary to its prayer, and the Assembly refused to grant the extra allowance. Notwithstand- ing this disappointment, Mr. Phelps still remained faithful to New York. In a letter to Governor Clinton, dated the 1st of September, 1780, he asked for advice with reference to the course he should pursue towards his neighbors who differed from him in opinion. He even went so far as to propose the expediency of taking four or five of them prisoners, and con- fining them at Kingston, in order to be avenged upon "the vile Vermonters" for the sufferings they had inflicted upon the Yorkers. Referring to the influences which had been exerted against the new state, he declared that he and his sons had "done more to overturn" it, than all the people residing in that vicinity. Alluding to the manner in which his services had been received, he stated that twenty thousand dollars would not make good the losses he had suffered.
Continuing in this manner a strenuous opposition to Vermont, despite the privations which it incurred-suffering often from the punishments which generally followed disobedience to the laws-engaging not unfrequently in personal conflicts with the sheriff or his deputies-Mr. Phelps, although he might have yielded the contest with honor, since New York was unable to support her authority in Vermont, persevered in the course he had chosen, with a determination to pursue it even to the end. In the month of June, 1782, he received from New York the
·
684
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
appointment of justice of the court of Oyer and Terminer and General Jail Delivery, and of justice of the peace and of the quorum, for Cumberland county. At the same time, he was commissioned to swear all officers, botlı civil and military, who should serve in that county. James Clay and Hilkiah Grout were appointed his colleagues in the latter position, but up to the 10th of July following, according to his own declaration, they had refused to administer to him the oaths of office, on account of the fear in which they stood of the indignation of the majority of the people. With the honors of these new appointments clustering thick upon him, Mr. Phelps imagined himself almost invincible to any power which his opponents might employ against him. But the revelations of the month of September, 1782, at which time Timothy Church, Timothy Phelps, Henry Evans, and William Shattuck, were deprived of their property, and banished from the state for treason, and when Charles Phelps escaped a like punishment by flight-the revelations of that month, even if the lessons of previous years had been of no avail, should have taught the "violent Yorker," that the time had come when the minority should yield to the majority-when factions opposition, backed by the authority of Grotius and Vattel, should cease-when the law of nations should give way before the "Great Jehovah" doctrine of Ethan Allen, and the principles of right succumb to the force which could render, not only the town of Guilford, but every other place within the limits of Vermont inhabited by a Yorker, as " desolate as Sodom and Gomorrah." Such, however, was far from being the immediate results effected by the decree of 1782.
Having obtained an appointment as agent for his fellow-suf- ferers in Cumberland county, Mr. Phelps set out for Pough- keepsie, just in time to escape the seizure and punishment to which a number of the most prominent supporters of the juris- diction of New York were subjected, in the month of Septem- ber, 1782. Having reached Poughkeepsie, he visited Governor Clinton, and, after remaining in that town a few weeks, dis- closed to his Excellency his intention of proceeding to Philadel- phia. Convinced that his presence would be of but little use at the seat of government, the Governor endeavored to dissuade him from going. But his arguments were of no avail, and Phelps started on the journey, without letters, however, for the Governor had refused to write by him, lest the New York dele- gates should suppose that he favored the mission. On the evening
685
GREAT DESTITUTION.
of the 8th of October, he had " the satisfaction" of being heard for "two or three hours, with very little interruption," before the committee of Congress, to whom the subject of the contro- versy had been referred. It was at this period, and probably during this visit, that he prepared and presented for the "conside- ration of Congress and the impartial world" a " state paper," en- titled " Vermonters Unmasked," in which he called the atten- tion of all the states to the danger to which they were exposed, if the " audacious precedent" of dismembering states should be established, in consequence of the act of usurpation of which Ver- mont had been guilty, in depriving both New York and New Hampshire of a portion of their lawful and acknowledged terri- tory. Many other points were largely discussed in this produc- tion, and the whole argument was supported by copious extracts from Grotius, Puffendorf, Vattel, and other civilians.
But while thus engaged, his destitution was so great at one peri- od, that fears were expressed lest he should starve or freeze, before measures could be taken for his relief. Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, James Duane, then a delegate from New York, wrote to Governor Clinton in these words :- " Mr. Phelps has arrived, and I believe his eloquence will be well employed. He has op- portunities. His singularity draws attention, and he overflows in the plenitude of his communicative powers. He is, however, terribly distressed ; without cloaths fit for the season ; without money or credit to pay for his board ; and leaning on the scanty support which the exhausted purses of your delegates can afford. What is to be done for him ?" To the inconveniences which he bore, and to the manner in which he was supported while at Philadelphia, reference is made in the letters of the New York delegates to Governor Clinton, in words few but graphic. " As Mr. Phelps brought no letter," wrote Ezra L'Hommedieu, on the 23d of October, " we concluded he did not come by the Governor's approbation. However, I believe he has been of some service, though some trouble to us ; and having no money, he depends much on charity at present. I conclude we shall be obliged to advance money to get him out of town, though he will not go till he knows the determination of Congress." On the 5th of November, the same gentleman, in another com- munication, said :- " Mr. Phelps has been fortunate in getting most of his living for nothing. The President's steward is an acquaintance of his, and Mr. Hanson gave him a general invi- tation to come and eat with Mr. Philips. He cannot, however,
686
HISTORY OF EASTERN VERMONT.
get out of town without an advance of money, which I shall likely be obliged to make."
Under the sanction of Governor Clinton, William Shattuck and Henry Evans, two of the banished Yorkers, had gone to Philadelphia, and there were now three persons in that city instead of one, depending for support on the New York delega- tion. "What will be done for the sustenance of the deputies now here," wrote James Duane, on the 15th of November, "I know not. On a consultation with Mr. Roosevelt, it is agreed to borrow for them one hundred dollars, and draw on the state. If this plan fails, it is more than probable they will lose their liberty, as they have already done their property, for it is out of my power to aid them." Two days later, another communi- cation from Mr. Duane contained these words :- " The distress of Phelps having been brought to a crisis, we had no choice but to borrow for his and his unfortunate companions' support. This we did not venture on, till after a consultation with Mr. Roosevelt, and his promise to support us, and his opinion that our conduct must be approved. Mr. Wadsworth, on the first intimation, advanced one hundred dollars on our bills on your Excellency, which will, we hope, be sufficient to relieve these unhappy people, whose visit has given us infinite trouble and uneasiness." In a letter written on the 18th of November, Mr. L'Hommedieu, referring to the loan that had been effected, said :- " It will be necessary that Mr. Phelps have some of this money to enable him to leave town, which I believe will be in a few days." But Mr. Phelps could not be induced to depart until the decision of Congress should be made known. On tlie 5th of December, this consummation of his wishes was attained. On that day, Congress, by a resolution, ordered the inhabitants of the New Hampshire Grants " claiming to be an independent state" to make "full and ample restitution" to all who had suf- fered by their proceedings since the 1st day of the preceding September, and announced their determination to "enforce a compliance" with this command. Four days later, Mr. Phelps set out from Philadelphia with dispatches to Governor Clinton. He reached Marlborough early in January, 1783, but to his sorrow found that as little attention was paid to the resolves of Congress, as had been paid to the edicts of New York.
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