USA > Vermont > Windham County > Guilford > Official history of Guilford, Vermont, 1678-1961. With genealogies and biographical sketches > Part 4
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11th. Made choice of Samuel Nichols, Esqr. Town Treasurer.
12th. Made choice of John Barney, Edward Houghton, and Capt. William Bullock, assessors.
13th. Made choice of Simeon Edwards and James Cutler Collectors of Town Rates.
14th. Voted that Sheep & Hogs shall not run at large.
15th. Made choice of James Barney, Elijah Welch, Benjamin Chase and Daniel Edwards Hogg Constables.
16th. Voted to pay Benjamin Carpenter his Expense money that he expended at Westminster as a dilegate for the Town.
17th. Voted to adjourn this meeting to the first Monday in May next at 9 o'clock in the morning.
Attest, Elijah Welch, Town Clerk
Guilford, June 3d, 1776.
The Town of Guilford met, being legally warned, and made choice of Samuel Nichols Moderator.
2d. Made choice of Samuel Nichols, Esqr. First Committee Man for the County. Israel Gurley 2 dito.
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And made choice of Simeon Edwards & Elijah Welch, Town Committee in their places.
3d. Meeting dissolved.
Pr. Elijah Welch, Town Clerk
Guilford, July ye 5th, 1776.
The Town of Guilford met together and first made choice of Sam'l Nichols, Esqr. Moderator of sd. meeting.
2d. It was put to vote to see if we should raise a bounty for the soldiers that are called for now, and it was voted that we should by subscription & it should be recorded on the town book, and what each man subscribed.
3d. It was voted that the Committees Clerk should record the proceedings of this meeting and make a return of it to the Town Clerk.
4th. It was voted that we should make up the bounty of each man Four Pounds Bay Money.
5th. They reconsidered the 2d. vote of this meeting and voted it should be raised by a rate.
6th. Voted that the Committee of Safety of the Town of Guilford shall see who ought to pay Rates to make up this Bounty for the Soldiers, & who ought not.
7th. Voted to chuise a Committee to raise the money for the bounty aforesd. and chose Esqr. Nichols, Capt. John Barney, and Paul Chase.
8th. Voted to raise ten men to go into the service of this Colony.
9th. Voted that Capt. Barney stand as a Committee Man to go to Brattleborough with some of the Committee in order to send for fire arms and powder & send by Col. Smith.
A true Copy of the proceedings of sd. Meeting. Levi Goodenough, Comte. Clerk. Elijah Welch, Town Clerk.
Dorset Convention: Guilford was represented in the Dorset con- vention, held Sept. 25, 1776, by John Shepardson and Benjamin Car- penter. At this time it was unanimously resolved "to take suitable measures, as soon as may be, to declare the New Hampshire Grants a free and independent state." The convention adjourned to meet at Westminster, where on January 16, 1777, they published the following declaration:
"This convention, whose members are duly chosen by the free voice of their constituents, in the several towns on the New Hampshire Grants, in public meeting assembled, in our own names, and in behalf
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of our constituents DO HEREBY PROCLAIM AND PUBLICLY DECLARE THAT THE DISTRICT OF TERRITORY COMPREHENDING AND USUALLY KNOWN BY THE NAME AND DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS OF RIGHT TO BE AND IS HEREBY DECLARED FOREVER HEREAFTER TO BE A FREE AND IN- DEPENDENT JURISDICTION OR STATE. TO BE FOREVER HEREAFTER CALLED, KNOWN AND DISTINGUISHED BY THE NAME OF NEW CONNECTICUT, ALIAS VERMONT."
The foregoing declaration was unanimously adopted by the con- vention, after which they drew up a declaration and petition to Con- gress, in which they announced to that body as the grand representa- tive of the United States, that they had declared the territory commonly known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, a free and independent state, possessing the right to regulate their own in- ternal policy in any manner which should not be repugnant to the resolves of Congress. They further declared their attachment to the common cause, and expressed their willingness to contribute their full proportion toward maintaining the war with Great Britain.
They closed by praying that their declaration might be acknowl- edged by Congress, and that delegates from Vermont might be ad- mitted to seats in that body. At this convention Jotham Bigelow, of Guilford, was chosen a member of the Committee of War.
But many of its citizens regarded the whole proceedings of the es- tablishment of the state of Vermont as unlawful and unwarranted, and a considerable number of them met at Brattleborough on January 28th, 1777, and prepared a petition addressed to the Legislature of New York, stating that the pretended state of Vermont had prohibited the exercise of all authority derived from New York; had made laws to bind the people of Cumberland County and had lately adopted a constitution under which state and other officers were soon to be elected. From the evils which threatened them in this position they prayed to be defended. That their views might be fully presented, they appointed James Clay to represent them as their agent before the New York Legislature.
In answer to this petition and to several others of a similar tenor, the Senate and Assembly of New York passed resolutions on February 12, 1777, which were embodied in a proclamation which was issued on Feb. 23d, over the signature of Governor Clinton.
Its closing paragraph was in these words. "The several branches of the Legislature of the State of New York will concur in the necessary measures for protecting the loyal inhabitants of this State, residing in the counties of Albany, Charlotte, Cumberland, and Gloucester, in their persons and estates, and for compelling all persons residing within this state, and refusing obedience to the Government and
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Legislature thereof, to yield that obedience and allegiance, which, by law and of right, they owe to this state."
This proclamation was most welcome to the Vermont adherents to New York. Forty-six of the inhabitants of Halifax joined in an address of thanks to Governor Clinton. The partisans of the new state of Vermont, however, regarded the proclamation with contempt, and in some towns it was publicly burned. A majority of the people of Brattleboro were in favor of the New York jurisdiction, and at their annual meeting, held on March 3d resolved unanimously to send a protest to the Assembly of the "pretended state", denouncing the conduct of that body in disavowing allegiance to New York, as "an act tending to disunite the friends of America in the present impor- tant contest with Great Britain." However they might feel regarding the respective rights of New York and Vermont, all were united in their desire for national independence. The "Yorkers" were not Tories, as has many times been alleged.
Delegates from several towns assembled on March 18th at the house of Capt. Sergeants, in Brattleboro. This meeting was ad- journed to reconvene at the same place on April 15th, when repre- sentatives from Guilford, Brattleboro, Putney, Newfane, Hinsdale (Vernon) and Rockingham attended. A protest was adopted, in part as follows:
"We conceive that endeavouring at present to establish a separate state here is not only in violation of the Continental Union, but is imprudent, and to the last degree impolitic and dangerous, tending in the present important crisis to weaken the authority of the Continental Congress, disunite the friends of America, and stimulate a spirit of separation and sedition which may end in the ruin of the United States. (Consider the result when the South, in 1861, undertook to follow the example set by Vermont in 1777.) And we esteem it not only our duty, but the duty of all who are friends to the liberty of America, to bear open testi- mony against it. Therefore, on behalf of ourselves, and those who delegated us for that purpose, we publicly declare that as we have not, in any way assisted in, or consented to, the forming of a separate and independent government, we shall not consider ourselves bound by any acts of the Legislature thereof, but shall, as in duty bound, con- tinue to yield our allegiance to the State of New York, until otherwise directed by the Honourable Continental Congress. And we do hereby solemnly protest against the right of any persons to govern us, and the other inhabitants of the New Hampsire Grants, except that of the Continental Congress and the Legislature of New York, and against all measures which shall be used to enforce the pretended rights of any other person, or body of men, and against all the bad conse-
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quences which may arise from attempting at present to establish an independent government in the 'Grants' before mentioned."
Before separating, a letter was prepared and presented to the con- vention, of which Thomas Cutler, of Guilford, was chairman, expres- sive of the ideas of those who had joined in the protest. As an epitome of their sentiments, and of the course which they wished to pursue, this document is now of especial value. At the time it was written, its composers were careful to make use of such language as would dig- nify the measures which they wished to publish and pursue.
"As we are warmly interested in favour of American liberty," said they, "we cannot view with unconcern, or remain silent spectators of the present disorderly attempt to separate the New Hampshire Grants from the thirteen United States, a measure directly tending, in our opinion, to weaken the opposition made by the continent to its Euro- pean oppressors, and introduce the utmost confusion, at a time when good order and unanimity are essentially necessary.
"The final adjudication of the King of Great Britain in privy Council, (the only proper court which could then determine matters of this nature), that this territory was within the jurisdiction of New York; our peaceable acquiescence in that judgment; and representa- tion in Continental Congress and the Convention of New York, both before and since the Declaration of Independence, are undoubted proofs that our allegiance is justly due to the state of New York until Congress shall otherwise determine. The resolutions of Congress of the 30th of June, last, and the articles of confederation, are convinc- ing to us that that honourable body disapproves of a measure so ex- traordinary.
"The present government of New York engaging to remove such grievances as we really laboured under, from the iniquity and bad policy of our former governors, we hope will quiet the complaints arising from those grievances. The confusion that erecting a new state, without the consent of Congress, has already, and will more abun- dantly, introduce; the present inability of the people to support a separate government, however frugally the public moneys are man- aged; and the very great scarcity of men properly qualified to make and put in execution a wise system of laws, plainly demonstrates to us the wretched policy of so extraordinary an attempt at this time.
"We have, therefore, agreed upon, and shall forward to the As- sembly of the pretended state of Vermont, a protest against erecting the 'Grants' into an independent government in the present time, and also one copy thereof to His Excellency Governor Clinton, and another to the press for publication, that the world may know our disapprobation of the present irregular proceedings.
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"We think it the duty of every friend to the independence of America, more especially in the 'Grants', to use their most strenuous efforts to suppress or check this offspring of anarchy in its infancy. And as preserving unanimity amongst the number who choose not to assist in dividing the continent, in this momentous crisis, may have a tendency to answer that end, and is essentially necessary, as well for the public good as for the security of their persons and property, we beg leave to recommend to you to elect a committee in such time that they may meet at Capt. Sergeant's, in Brattleborough, on the 30th day of June, next, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, to exist for six months; to authorize them to consent to such measures as they shall think most likely to restore to this divided county internal tranquillity, and submission to the just and necessary authority of those who, by order of Congress, are regularly appointed to rule over us; from time to time to transmit to the government of New York, accounts of all such matters as may be material for them to be acquainted with, and to take such steps as they think best for relieving those who may suffer in their persons or properties by any authority pretended to be derived from the state of Vermont."
By a special resolution copies of the foregoing letter were signed by Thomas Cutler of Guilford, the chairman of the convention, and were sent to those towns in which there were a considerable number of those opposed to the new state, and all towns favoring the protest were invited to send delegates to the convention to be held on June 30th, following. Whether or not this convention was so held, does not appear.
1759923
The Republic of Guilford: The fact that Guilford was organized, its first meeting held and officers chosen in accordance with a plan formulated by the Assembly of New York early in the year 1772, to- gether with the fact that the town clerk who made the record of that meeting, the first held within the town, stated in his minutes that "the inhabitants of the tract of land called Guilford, in the County of Cum- berland and Province of New York, met together, etc.," seems to have been the authority upon which sundry historians base that assertion that Guilford at that time renounced its charter which it had received from New Hampshire, and thereby became "a little independent republic," and the "Republic of Guilford" has been so many times mentioned as to lead many to believe that there really was one, but instead of being independent, Guilford was literally a bone of contention over which New York and Vermont disputed and wrangled during the entire period of so-called independence, during which time the townspeople adopted such measures as to them seemed advisable in the manage- ment of public affairs of this rapidly growing community, which was
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Official History of Guilford
very soon to become the metropolis of the state. The principal acts of sovereignty which have been ascribed to the people of the "Repub- lic" are the fixing of prices of labor and commodities by the town government, and in providing fines and penalties in certain cases. Four town meetings were held in 1777, as shown by the following records:
Feb. 20th, 1777 the Town of Guilford met together according to request, and first made choice of Major Shepardson Moderator of said Meeting.
2d. Voted to adjourn the Meeting to the House of Hezekiah Stowell. 3d. Voted to choose a committee of nine men to state the price of Labor, Provisions, Merchantable Goods, etc., and to make report to the Town for their approbation, and made choice of Capt. John Barney, John Noyes, Levi Goodenough, Timothy Root, Adam Whiting, Hezekiah Stowell, Daniel Wilkins, Deacon Thomas Cutler and Peter Briggs for the above sd. Committee.
4th. Made choice of John Noyes County Committeeman, and voted to adjourn this Meeting to the 6th day of March, one o'clock afternoon.
March 6th. Meet according to adjournment, and first Major Shep- ardson being absent made choice of John Noyes Moderator in his stead, and the Committee above sd. proceeded and made report to the Town as follows:
Good merchantable wheat shall not exceed 6/0 pr. Bushel. Good Rye shall not exceed 4/0 per ditto. Good Indian Corn 3/0 per ditto. Oats 1/8 per ditto. Peas and beans 6/0 per bushel each. Good yallow potatoes shall not in the spring exceed 2/0 per Bushel. Spanish pota- toes 1/6 in the spring. Good Flax seed shall not exceed 6/0 per Bushel. Good salt shall not exceed 10/0 per Bushel, allowing one penny a mile pr. Bushel for land carriage from the first port of delivery, etc. Good West India Rum & New England Rum & Molasses, & good Muscovado sugar shall be sold on the same footing as they are stated in the New England States. Farming labour in the Summer season shall not ex- ceed 3/ per day, and so in usual proportion at other seasons of the year, and the labour of Mechanics and tradesmen & other labour to be computed according to the wages and custom that hath been prac- ticed among us compared with farming labour.
Pork weighing from five to seven score at /31/2 per lb. From 7 to 10 score /3 3/4 per lb. and all above 10 score /4.
Good grass fed beef of the best quality shall not exceed 24/ per C, and so in proportion for stall fed beef and likewise beef of an in- ferior quality. Raw Hides shall not exceed /3 per lb. Good well taned soal leather shall not exceed 1/4 per lb. Mens neat leather shoes of the
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best sort shall not exceed 9/ per pair and other shoes in proportion according to their quality.
Good merchantable wool shall not exceed 2/ per lb. Good mer- chantable flax shall not exceed 1/ per lb. Good yard wide tow cloth shall not exceed 2/10 per yard and so in proportion, according to its width and quality, coarse linning to be computed after the rate of tow cloth. Good striped flannel shall not exceed 3/6 per yd. and other flannels according to their width and quality, the other woollen cloths in like proportion. Good merchantable hay in the cock shall not ex- ceed 24/ per ton and in the spring 36/ per ton. Good cheese shall not exceed /6 per lb. Good butter shall not exceed /9 per lb. Tallow shall not exceed /8 per lb. Hogs fat shall not exceed /7 per lb. Good pine board, clear stuff, shall not exceed 36/ per thousand, and covering boards 3/4 inch thick at 24/ per thousand, and other boards according to their quality compared to pine, etc. Good clear salted pork at /8 per lb. wt.
This Town unanimously came into and adopted the above stated prices, and if any person in this town shall sell any of the commod- ities herein specified, to any person in the neighboring town at a higher price than is here stated shall forfit the value of said article to this town. And if any person or persons directly or indirectly shall receive or take a greater price for any of the above mentioned articles than is here stated he shall forfeit and pay the value of said article or articles the one half to & for the use of this town & the other half to the complainant, and we, the inhabitants of Guilford, in Town Meeting assembled do charge & appoint the Committee of said Town to hear and determine all cases and complaints that shall legally come to your or their knowledge, so far as it respects this town in the afore sd. articles, together with cost of suit, and if he or they are found guilty they shall pay cost of suit. By a unanimous vote of this town, and chose Major John Shepardson one of the Committee of Inspec- tion.
Guilford, March ye 6th 1777 Attest, Elijah Welch, Town Clerk.
Guilford, April 7, 1777
(Articles 1-10 Town Officers were elected.)
11th. Voted that each Freeholder shall work 6 days, those under age 3 days apiece, and that any person being duly warned by the surveyor refuse to work without a reasonable excuse shall pay a fine of six shillings for each day neglect, and the town com- mittee to grant out warants on having a complaint from the surveyors.
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12th. Voted to shut up Sheep and Hogs and not let them run at large. 13th. Jesse Dimmick, James Cutler, David Joy, Jr., David Davis Hog Constables.
14th. Chose John Barney, Thomas Cutler, David Stowell, John Shepardson and David Dennison Fence Viewers.
15th. It was a unanimous vote of this Town to sell the right of land in this town called the School Right, to be sold at public vendue to the highest bidder, and the use of the money to be applied to the maintaining a school and for no other.
16th. Chose Hezekiah Stowell, Asa Rice, John Barney, Thomas Cutler, Daniel Wilkins, a committee to sell said lands and to give a deed in the name and behalf of the town;
Voted to adjourn this meeting to the first Monday in April, 1778.
Attest, Elijah Welch, Town Clerk.
Guilford and the New State: In accordance with the provisions of the constitution, the representatives and councillors chosen on March 3rd met at Windsor on the 12th of March and duly organized. The votes being counted Thomas Chittenden was declared elected to the office of Governor, Joseph Marsh Deputy Governor and Col. Ira Allen State Treasurer. Twelve Councillors were chosen and formed into a body called the Council. Benjamin Carpenter, of Guilford, was a mem- ber of this, the first Vermont Council. The relation which the Council bore to the General Assembly was the same as that which the Senate now bears to the House of Representatives. All the land lying between the Green Mountains and the Connecticut River was erected into a single county, called Unity. This included all that had been com- prised within Gloucester and Cumberland counties. Unity County was divided into three Regimental Districts, and into four Probate Districts. On the 21st of March,-four days after Unity County was established, the vote was reconsidered and the name Cumberland was substituted. On March 24th this county was divided into two shires, Newbury and Westminster.
In order to increase the revenue of the state, and to punish those who were opposed to the new jurisdiction, a court of confiscation was established by the Council on March 26th. This court consisted of seven members, one of whom was Col. Benjamin Carpenter, the Guil- ford member of the Council. Power was given them to confiscate all lands and estates within Cumberland county which, upon sufficient evidence, should be adjudged forfeited.
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Tuesday, May 13th, 1777.
The Town of Guilford meet together according to request &
Ist. Chose Samuel Nichols, Esqr. Moderator.
2nd. Voted not to let any person vote in this Meeting but such as have forty pounds personal or real estate.
3d. Voted that those persons that have settled on lands without pur- chasing them, and refuse to buy sd. lands of the owners shall be immediately dispossessed, but those that don't mean to hold by possession & are willing to buy of the right owner when to be found to remain in peaceable possession until he can have an opportunity to buy said land.
4th. Voted that those that have run a brush fence round lots to hold them by virtue of that shall immediately quit said land, and not to proceed in that manner any more, and voted that any person that shall for the future pretend to hold lands by such a title shall be dealt with by this town as a breaker of the peace of this Town & as a Riotous person.
5th. Dismissed Simeon Edwards and Timothy Root from serving as a Committee of Safety for this town, and made choice of Joseph Elliot and Danile Wilkins to serve in their place.
6th. Voted that the Committee for laying out highways shall be ex- empt working at the highways as many days as they are on that business, day for day.
7th. Chose John Barney & Benjamin Carpenter a committee to go to Windsor in June next to hear the report of the agent sent to Congress concerning a new State.
Voted to dissolve the meeting.
Attest, Elijah Welch, Town Clerk.
On the 26th day of June 1777, members of the county committee of safety from six towns, with several other men appointed from their several towns for that purpose, met together at Brattleborough to for- mulate and promulgate their views concerning the Vermont Conven- tion held at Windsor on June 4th, preceding, which recommended to the people of the new state that they assemble in their respective towns on the 23d of the same month and choose representatives to meet at Windsor on the 2d of July following, for the purpose of forming a constitution, and electing delegates to the Congress of the United States.
Their report was as follows: "We, therefore, the Committee of the
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Official History of Guilford
County of Cumberland, and others specially appointed by the towns of Weathersfield, Westminster, Putney, Brattleboro, Hinsdale (Ver- non), and part of Guilford, for said purposes, do represent as follows, viz:
"That the convention held at Windsor on the 4th day of June, in- stant, for the purpose of establishing their new state of Vermont, have taken into their possession the prison of this county, and have strictly forbid all committees acting under the authority of the state of New York, so that it is become impracticable for the county committee or any other committee to proceed to any publick business in this county. As the result of these measures several prisoners now in prison in this county who might have been set at liberty, agreeable to the resolves of the Convention of the state of New York, are still kept in prison in the most pitiful circumstances, and are so like to continue. The publick peace is so interrupted by the proceedings of this convention at Windsor, and by those disorderly persons who are so warmly en- gaged in supporting the illegal authority of their new state, that it hath already considerably hindered the raising of men for the common defence; and we think we have reason to believe that if a stop is not speedily put to this spirit of disorder which rages so vehemently here, a final period will soon be put to any further provision being made in this county for the common defence of America.
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