USA > Vermont > Records of the Council of Safety and Governor and Council of the State of Vermont, to which are prefixed the records of the General Conventions from July 1775 to December 1777, Vol. I > Part 2
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The sixth company seems, from the then residence of the officers, to have been of Danby, Arlington, and Colchester. Capt. Vail repre- sented Danby in several of the Conventions. Of Lieut. Ira Allen's em- inent services to the state notice is not needed. Feb. 10, 1778, Jesse Sawyer was appointed Captain in Maj. Benj. Wait's regiment, intended for an expedition to Canada under Gen. Lafayette. May 28 of the same year he was ordered by the Gov. and Council to search for inimical per- sons in towns north of Arlington.
The seventh company probably consisted in part of men from the northern towns near Onion [Winooski] river, and part from Sunder- land and vicinity. It is difficult to locate the residence of Capt. IIe- man Allen. IIe was a brother of Ethan, born in Cornwall, Conn., Oet. 15, 1740, died May 18, 1778, of disease contracted in Bennington battle. HIe was a member of the Convention of Jan. 16, 1776, and was its agent to present its petition to Congress ; a delegate for Middleborough [Mid- dlebury] in the Convention of July 24, 1776 ; a member at large with Col. Seth Warner in the Convention of Sept. 25. 1776 ; a delegate for Rutland in the Convention of Jan. 15, 1777, and for Colchester in the Convention of June 4, 1777. He served with Warner in the Canada ex- pedition of 1775, and in July 1777 was appointed a member of the State Council of Safety .- Ira Allen's Vermont in Vermont Historical Society Collections, vol! I, p. 369, 388 ; Ethan Allen Mss., close of the index. Lieut. Gideon Warren resided in Sunderland, and was Captain in com- mand of the men who guarded the frontier, Feb. 7, 1778. May 28, 1778, he was appointed Colonel of the 5th regiment of Vermont militia. It appears from a vote of the Gov. and Council of April 30, 1779, that Col. Warren was wounded in the service, and received from Vermont one hundred and twenty pounds, advanced on his claim upon the continen- tal treasury for the allowance made by Congress to wounded officers. Joshua Stanton resided in Colchester, and he is noticed as a prominent and useful man .- See the history of Colchester, in the Vt. Historical Magazine, vol. 1, pp. 761-763.
9
Convention at Dorset, July 26, 1775.
our committee meeting on the New Hampshire Grants, upon due notice
On the 5th of July previous to the Convention. Ethan Allen proposed to the Provincial Congress of New York the following list of officers for the regiment of Green Mountain Boys :
Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, S
Field Officers.
Captains.
Lieutenants.
Remember Baker.
Ira Allen,
Robert Cochran.
John Grant.
Michael Veal. [Micah Vail.]
Ebenezer Allen,
Peleg Sutherling, [Sunderland,]
David Ives,
Gideon Warren,
Wait Hopkins, Heman Allen.
Jesse Sawyer.
Levi Allen, Adjutant; Elijah Babcock. Commissary ; Jonas Fay, Doctor & Surgeon .-- See Ethan Allen Mss., p. 157 ; Collection of Historical Mss. relating to the war of the revolution, in the office of the Secretary of State, New York, published at Albany in 1868, vol. I, p. 109. This was a bitter dose for New York, as Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Re- member Baker, Robert Cochran, and Peleg Sunderland were all de- clared guilty of felony and sentenced to death by the act of New York of March 9, 1774 .- See Slade's Vermont State Papers, pp. 42-54. Most of the persons in Allen's list were appointed. Of the others, Baker was killed previous to the Convention, otherwise he would probably have been a favorite. Ethan Allen received from Congress, 14th May, 1778. a brevet commission as Lieutenant Colonel, " in reward of his fortitude, firmness and zeal in the cause of his country;" Cochran joined Elmore's Connecti- cut regiment in 1775, and the 3d battalion of N. Y. in the continental army in 1776, rendered brave service as captain, major, and lieutenant colonel. and died at Sandy Hill, New York, July 3, 1812, and was buried at Fort Edward, N. Y., near the grave of Jane MeRea, who was murdered by Burgoyne's Indians in 1777. Levi Allen served in the Canada can- paign of 1775. but in 1779 he was denounced by Ethan Allen to the Court of Confiscation in Bennington County as being ". of Torey principles," and his property was confiscated .- See It. Hist. Mag., vol. I, pp. 571-574; Slade's State Papers, 563. "Capt. Peleg Sunderland " appears in the legislative records. He was " a mighty hunter " of both wild beasts and tories, and a man of considerable acquirements. Dr. Fay did serve for a time in Warner's regiment .- See biographical notices in Early His- tory of Vermont.
In this connection it should be stated that Ethan Allen's disappoint- ment did not abate one whit of his zeal for his country. He joined Gen. Schuyler in the capacity of an officer, but without a commission, and succeeded in raising a body of two hundred and fifty Canadians,
10
General Conventions.
to the towns in general-all which is humbly submitted to your wisdom, not doubting but the warrants will issue agreeable to our wishes. We are your most obedient, In behalf of the committee, NATHAN CLARK, Chairman.1
which he commanded. With only about one half of this unreliable body he attacked Montreal, fought bravely, but was deserted by most of his men and taken prisoner. Warner in the same campaign was more cautious and successful. These events justified the wisdom of the Convention in preferring Warner .- See Early History, pp. 214-218; Ira Allen's History of Vermont in Vermont Historical Society Collections, vol. I, p. 366, text and note.
1 Journal of New York Congress, July 1, 4, and August 15, 1775.
CONVENTION AT DORSET,
JANUARY 16, 1776.
[From a manuscript copy in the possession of Hon. JAMES H. PHELPS, of West Townshend, made by him from an official copy certified by JONAS FAY, clerk. First printed in Vermont Historical Society Collections, Vol. I.]
WARRANT.
ARLINGTON, 10th Dec'r, 1775.
Whereas, there has been several warrants or notifications sent up the country for a general meeting on the N. Hampshire Grants to be held at Mr. Cephas Kent's, in Dorset, on the first Wednesday of January next, and as it was thought very necessary that Col. Seth Warner with others should attend the said meeting, and their business being such that they could not attend at that time :
This is therefore to warn the inhabitants on the said N. Hampshire Grants west of the range of Green Mountains, to meet together by their Delegates from each town at the House of Mr. Cephas Kent's in said Dorset on the sixteenth day of January next, at nine o'clock in the morning, then and there to act on the following articles, (viz :)
1st. To choose a Moderator or Chairman for said meeting.
2d. To choose Clarks for said meeting.
3d. To see if the Law of New York shall have free circulation where it doth [not ?] infringe on our properties, or Title of Lands. or Riots (so called) in defense of the same.1
4th. To see if the said Convention will come into some proper regu- lations, or take some method to suppress all schismatic Mobbs that have, or may arise on said Grants.
5th. To see if they will choose an Agent, or Agents, to send to the Continental Congress.
6th. To see whether the Convention will consent to associate with N. York, or by themselves, in the cause of America.
MOSES ROBINSON, SAMUEL ROBINSON, SETH WARNER,
7
By order of
JEREMIAH CLARK. MARTIN POWELL, DANIEL SMITH, JONATHAN WILLARD,
Committee.
1 See Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. II, p. x.
12
General Conventions.
N. HAMPSHIRE
GRANTS. S DORSET, January 16, 1776.
At a Meeting of the Representatives of the several towns in N. Hamp- shire Grants, the West side of the Range of Green Mountains, held this day at the house of Mr. Cephas Kent's, Innholder, in said Dorset : Pro- ceeded as follows, viz :
1st. Made choice of Capt. Joseph Woodward, Chairman.
2d. Made choice of Doct. Jonas Fay, Clerk.
3d. Made choice of Col. Moses Robinson, Messrs. Samuel McCoon and Oliver Everts, Assistant Clerks.
4th. Made choice of Messrs. Thomas Ashley, William Marsh, Heman Allen, Abel Moulton, Moses Robinson, John MeLane, Gamaliel Painter, James Hurd and Joseph Bowker, a Committee to examine and report their opinion to the Convention, relative to the third article in the war- rant.
Adjourned to 3 o'clock, P. M.
Met at time and place.
Voted, To make an addition of four persons to the above Committee. Voted, To reconsider the two last votes, and to discourse the matter for which they were appointed in publick meeting.
Voted, That the paper with a number of signers exhibited to this Con- vention relative to Capt. Bowker's character, be ordered to lay on the table, till further order.
Voted, That two persons from each Town in the Grants (who are present) be allowed to vote in this Meeting, and no more.
Adjourned to 8 o'clock to-morrow morning.
January 17, 1776 -Met at time and place.
Made choice of Capt. Heman Allen, Capt. Joseph Bowker, Col. Moses Robinson, John McLane, and Col. Timothy Brownson as a Committee to report their opinion relative to the number of Committee men each Town in the Grants shall be allowed.
REPORT OF THE FOREGOING SUB-COMMITTEE.
Your Committee beg leave to report as their opinion, that the several Towns in the Grants hereafter named, be allowed the number of Mem- bers set against the name of each town, and that each other inhabited town in the said Grants be allowed one, or more or less votes in propor- tion to the number such deputed Member or Members shall represent.
Towns' Names. No. votes allowed. Towns' Names. No. votes allowed. 4
Pownall, 4
Clarendon,
Bennington,
7
Rutland,
3
Shaftsbury,
4
Pittsford,
2
Arlington, 3
Rupert, 2
Sunderland, 2
Pawlet,
1
Manchester, 4
Wells,
1
Dorset,
2
Poultney, 2
Danhee,
3
Castleton,
Tinmouth, 2
Neshobee, [or Brandon,] 1 2
JOSEPH BOWKER, Chairman Sub-Committee.
A true Copy, Examined,
By JONAS FAY, Clerk.
13
Convention at Dorset, Jan. 16, 1776.
The above report being read was voted and accepted Nem. Con.
Voted, To represent the particular case of the Inhabitants of the N. Hampshire Grants to the honorable the Continental Congress by Re- monstrance and Petition.
Voted, That Lt. James Breakenridge, Capt. Heman Allen and Doct. Jonas Fay be, and they are hereby appointed to prefer said petition.
Voted, That Doct. Jonas Fay, Col. Wm. Marsh and Mr. Thomas Row- ley be a Committee with the above delegates to prepare the said Remon- strance and Petition.1
Voted, Nem. Con., to pay the above agents their Reasonable costs for their services on their return and exhibiting their accounts.
Voted, Messrs. Simeon Hathaway, Elijah Dewey, and James Break- enridge, [of Bennington,] or either two of them, be and are hereby ap- pointed a Committee with power to warn a General Meeting of the Com- mittees on the Grants when they shall judge necessary from Southern intelligence.
And that Col. John Strong, Zadock Everest and Asahel Ward, [ of Addison,] be a like Committee with like power of warning such Gen- eral Meeting of Committees in the Grants when they shall judge nec- essary from northern intelligence.
Voted, That the several Committees of Correspondence continue their dnty as usual.2
Lastly voted to Dissolve the Meeting.
pr JOSEPH WOODWARD, Chairman.
Errors excepted.
True Copy examined.
pr JONAS FAY, Clerk.
Cash received for the purpose of Defraying the charges of the Dele- gates appointed to attend Congress.
L. M.
Poultney
0- 6-4
Pittsford 0- 6-0
Rupert.
0-10-1
£1- 2-5
Received pr.
JONAS FAY, Clerk.
1 The Remonstrance and Petition, thus ordered, was reported and adopted by this Convention, and that part of the proceedings is quoted in full in the record of the Convention of July 24, 1776, following.
" This is the first allusion in the record of any General Convention, that has been preserved, of Committees of Correspondence. The infer- ence is that Conventions were held of which we have no record. Prob- ably the committee that warned this meeting was appointed and author- ized by a previous Convention.
CONVENTION AT DORSET,
JULY 24, 1776.
[From the manuscript copy of the HON. JAMES H. PHELPS, as published in the Vermont His- torical Society Collections, vol. I.]
WARRANT.
24th June, 1776.
These are to warn the several Inhabitants of the N. Hampshire Grants on the West side, and to desire those on the east side the Range of Green Mountains, That they meet by their several delegates in General Convention, to be held at the dwelling House of Mr. Cephas Kent, inn- holder in Dorset, on Wednesday, the twenty-fourth day of July next at S o'clock in the forenoon. to act on the following articles, (viz :)-
1 st. To choose a Moderator, and secondly a Clerk for said Conven- tion.
3d. To receive the report of Capt. Heman Allen from the Continental Congress, he having been previously appointed to transact business in behalf of the inhabitants of said Grants.
4th. To know the minds of the Convention, relative to their associat- ing with the province of N. Hampshire.
5th In case the last article be objected to : Whether said Convention will agree to an association (not repugnant to that of the Continental Congress) and subseribe thereto, to do duty in conjunction with the Con- tinental Troops (only) as Members of the District of Land which they inhabit.
6th. To see if said Convention will earnestly recommend it to the sev- eral Field Officers heretofore nominated on said Grants, to see that their men be forthwith furnished with suitable arms, ammunition and accout- rements, &e., agreeable to a resolve of the honble the Continental Con- gress.
7th. To see if said Convention will make preparation, and settle with Capt Heman Allen for his expenses and services for the publick.
And 8th. to transact any other business that shall be thought necessary and in the power of Sd Convention for the safety of the liberties of the Colonies in General and the N. Hampshire Grants in particular.
JAMES BREAKENRIDGE, SIMEON HATHAWAY, Committee Appointed. ELIJAH DEWEY,
Copy examined,
pr JONAS FAY, Clerk.
15
Convention at Dorset, July 24, 1776.
DORSET, July 24th, 1776.
In consequence of the foregoing Warrant, the following persons, being Delegated, met at this place to transact the business of Sd warning, (viz :)
Towns' Names. Delegates' Names.
Pownall, Capt. Sam'l Wright. Simeon Hathaway, Benning- Jonas Fay,
ton, Jno. Burnam, Jr.
Shafts- S Maj. Jeremiah Clark,
bury, Mr. John Burnam.
Sunder-
land, Joseph Bradley.
ford, Jona. Rowley,
Jonathan Fassett.
Rutland, S Asa Johnson,
Joseph Bowker.
Clarendon, Thomas Braten.
No. Wal- S Matthew Lyon,
lingford, { Abr'm Jackson.
Tin- § Eben'r Allen,
mouth, Stephen Royce.
Danbee, Capt. Micah Veal, [Vail,]
William Gage.
Towns- Capt. Samuel Fletcher,
hend, 2 Josiah Fish.2
Middle-
borough, 2 Capt. Heman Allen,
Bridport, Samuel Benton.
Sudbury, John Gage.
Addison,
Col. John Strong.
Cornwall, James Bentley.
Burling- Lemuel Bradley.
ton,
Stamford, Thomas Morgan.
Voted, Unanimously, that the above persons be admitted as legal mem- bers of this Convention.
Copy examined.
pr JONAS FAY, Clerk.
PROCEEDED-(VIZ.)
Chose Capt. Joseph Bowker, Chairman. Chose Doct. Jonas Fay, Clerk.
After which on a motion being made and agreed to by the House the Clerk proceeded to read the following Address, Remonstrance and Peti- tion of the Inhabitants of the N. Hampshire Grants to the honorable the
Towns' Names. Delegates' Names.
Hines- burgh & Isaac Lawrence. Monkton, )
Neshobee [or John Mott.
Brandon,]
Pitts- Aaron Parsons,
Man-
Col. Wm. Marsh,1
Lt. Martin Powell,
chester, Gideon Ormsby.
Dorset,
John Manley,
Abr'm Underhill.
Reuben Harmon,
Rupert,
Amos Curtis.
Pawlet,
Capt. Wm. Fitch,
Maj. Roger Rose.
Wells,
Ogden Mallory.
Poult- § Nehemiah Howe,
ney,
William Ward.
Castle-
Ephraim Buel,
ton, Jesse Belknap.
Hubber-
Benja. Hitchcock.
ton,
Williston, Col. Thos. Chittenden.
Jerico, Brown Chamberlain.
Colchester, Ira Allen.
( Daniel Culver,
1 See note on p. 22, post.
2 Messrs. Fletcher and Fish were the first Delegates in General Con- vention from eastern Vermont.
16
General Conventions.
Continental Congress. which was exhibited to that board by Capt. Heman Allen in the latter part of the month of April, or in the begin- ning of the month of May, A. D. 1776. (viz.)
" To the Honorable John Hancock, Esq'r., President of the honorable the Continental Congress, &c., &c., now assembled at Philadelphia :-
" The Humble Address, Remonstrance and Petition of that part of America being situated south of Canada line, West of Connecticut River, North of the Massachusetts Bay, and East of a twenty mile line from. Hudson's River, commonly called and known by the name of the N. Hampshire Grants,-Humbly Sheweth,
" That your honor's Petitioners being fully sensible and duly affected with the very alarming situation in which the united colonies are involv- ed. by means of a designing Ministry, who have flagrantly used, and are still using their utmost efforts to bring the inhabitants of this very ex- tensive continent of America, into a base and servile subjection to Arbitrary Power ; Contrary to all the most sacred ties of Obligation by Covenant, and the well known Constitution by which the British Empire ought to be governed ; your Petitioners, not to be prolix or waste Time, when the whole Continent are in so disagreeable situation, would how- ever beg leave to Remonstrate in as short terms as possible the very peculiar situation in which your petitioners have for a series of years been exercised, and are still struggling under.
" Perhaps your honors, or at least some of you, are not unacquainted, that at the conclusion of the last War, the above described premises, which your petitioners now inhabit, was deemed and reputed to be in the province of New-Hampshire, and consequently within the jurisdic- tion of the same. Whereupon applications were freely made to Benning Wentworth, Esq., the then Governor of the province of N. Hampshire, who, with the advice of his council, did grant under the Great Seal of said province to your honors' Petitioners a large number of Townships of the contents of six miles square each, in consequence of which a great number of your petitioners, who were men of considerable substance, disposed of their interests in their native places, and with their numer- ous families proceeded many of them two hundred miles, encountering many Dangers. Fatigues and great Hardships to inhabit a desolate Wilderness, which has now become a well-settled frontier to three Governments. This was not all our Trouble, for soon after the com- meneement of those Settlements, the Monopolizing Land Traders of New-York, being apprised that the province of New-Hampshire had granted the said Lands, and that settlements were actually making, did present a petition (as we have often heard and verily believe) in your Petitioners' names, praying that his Majesty would annex the said lands granted by the authority of N. Hampshire to N. York on account of its local and other circumstances for the benefit of the inhabitants.
"Your petitioners not being apprized of the intrigue (in this case) were mute, therefore as no objection was made why the prayer of the petition should not be granted, his Majesty was pleased with the advice of his Council on the 20th day of July. A. D. 1764, to grant the same, immediately after which the Land Traders of N. York Petitioned the then Governor of that Province for grants of Land, some part of which had been previously granted to your petitioners by the Governor and Council of N. Hampshire. The dispute then became serious, and your Petitioners then petitioned his Majesty for Relief in the Premises. His Majesty was pleased to appoint a Committee. who reported to his Majesty in the premises, and his Majesty was pleased to pass an order in the fol- lowing words (viz.) :-
17
Convention at Dorset, July 24, 1776.
"' At a Court at Saint James's the 24th day of July, 1767.
*** PRESENT :
"' The King's Most Excellent Majesty.
The Archbishop of Canterbury. Earl of Shelburn.
Lord Chancellor.
Viscount Falmouth.
Duke of Queensborough.
Viscount Barrington.
Duke of Ancarter.
Viscount Clark.
Lord Chamberlain.
Bishop of London.
Earl of Litchfield.
Earl of Bristol.
Mr. Sec'y Conway. Thom's Stanley, Esq.
". His Majesty taking the said Report into consideration was pleased with the advice of his Privy Council to approve thereof and doth hereby strictly charge, require and command, that the Governor or Commander- in-Chief of his Majesty's Province of New York for the time being, do not upon pain of his Majesty's highest displeasure presume to make any grant whatsoever of any part of the Land described in said Report until his Majesty's further pleasure shall be known concerning the same.
"'WILLIAM SHARPE. ". A true Copy, Attest, G'w. BANYAR, Dept'y Sec'y.'"1
"The many intervening and unhappy disputes which since have hap- pened between those Land Traders of New York and your Petitioners would take up too much time under the present situation of Public Af- fairs to recite, as Capt. Heman Allen and Doct'r Jonas Fay who we have appointed to present this to your honors will be furnished therewith should they find your honors' admittance, and such particulars be thought necessary. Let it suffice here only to mention that the oppressions from those overgrown land Traders were so grievous that your Petition- ers were again induced, at a great expense, to petition his Majesty ; in consequence of which a Committee was appointed and made a report in favor of your Petitioners, which is too prolix to be inserted here.
" We are called on this moment by the Committee of Safety for the County of Albany to suppress a dangerous insurrection in Tryon County. Upwards of ninety soldiers were on their march within twelve hours after receiving the news, all inhabitants of one town inhabited by your petitioners, and all furnished with arms, ammunition, accoutre- ments, provisions, &c. Again we are alarmed by express from General Wooster commanding at Montreal, with the disagreeable news of the unfortunate attack on Quebec, (unfortunate indeed to lose so brave a commander.) requiring our immediate assistance by Troops ; in conse- quence of which a considerable number immediately marched for Que-
1 Dec. 24, 1786, John Munro [of Shaftsbury ] wrote to James Duane that he had been to England to get compensation for loss of his property ; that in Sept. 1785 the commissioners awarded him a pitiful sum, having made large deductions from his claim ; and he declared that " we discov- ered that the deduction was owing to the New Hampshire claims covering the most part of my property." Thus the important fact appears, that, eighteen years after the above order of the king in council, and when the controversy between Vermont and New York was fully understood, the validity of the New Hampshire Grants was affirmed by the British board which had jurisdiction of land titles in America .- E. Allen Mss., pp. 415-419 ; Early History of Vermont, p. 466.
3
18
General Conventions.
bec, and more are daily following their example.1 Yet while we your Petitioners are thus earnestly engaged, we beg leave to say that we are entirely willing to do all in our Power in the General Cause, under the Continental Congress, and have been ever since the taking Ticonderoga, &c., in which your petitioners were principally active, under the con- mand of Col. Ethan Allen, but are not willing to put ourselves under the honorable provincial Congress of New York in such manner as might in future be detrimental to our private property ; as the oath to be ad- ministered to those, who are, or shall be entrusted with commissions from said Congress, and the Association, agreed upon by the same au- thority, together with some particular restrictions and orders for regu- lating the Militia of said province, if conformed to by the inhabitants of the said N. Hampshire Grants, will (as we apprehend) be detrimental to your petitioners, in the determination of the dispute now subsisting be- tween your said Petitioners and certain claimants under said province of New York. And that your Petitioners' ardent desires of exerting themselves in the present struggle for freedom may not be restrained,
1 HILAND HALL has vividly stated the urgency of the demand upon the Green Mountain Boys in this emergency, and the promptitude and vigor of their response :
By the sudden death of Montgomery, the command in Canada de- volved on Gen. Wooster. He had been left at Montreal in charge of the troops at that place and its vicinity, and he immediately made every effort to obtain reinforcements from the colonies. On the 6th of Jan. 1776, he wrote to Col. Warner for aid in the most pressing terms. The following are extracts from his letter. After giving a general account of the misfortune at Quebec, he says : " I have not time to give you all the particulars, but this much will show you that in consequence of this defeat our present prospect in this country is rendered very dubious, and unless we can be quickly re-enforced, perhaps they may be fatal, not only to us who are stationed here, but also to the colonies in general ; as in my opinion the safety of the colonies, especially the frontiers, very greatly, depends upon keeping possession of this country. I have sent an express to Gen. Schuyler, General Washington and the Congress, but you know how far they have to go, and that it is very uncertain how long it will be before we can have relief from them. You. sir, and the valiant Green Mountain corps, are in our neighborhood. You all have arms, and I am confident ever stand ready to lend a helping hand to your brethren in distress, therefore let me beg you to raise as many men as you can, and somehow get into the country and stay with us till we can have relief from the colonies. You will see that proper officers are ap- pointed under you, and both officers and privates will have the same pay as the continental troops. It will be well for your men to set out as soon as they can be collected. It is not so much matter whether together or not, but let them be sent on by tens, twenties, thirties, forties or fifties, as fast as they can be collected. It will have a good effect upon the Can- adians to see succor coming on. You will be good enough to send copies of this letter or such parts of it as you think proper to the people below you. I can but hope the people will make a push to get into this coun- try, and I am confident I shall see you here with your men in a very short time." Gen. Wooster was not disappointed. IIe did see War- ner in Canada " in a very short time." Their promptness and alacrity on this alarming occasion elicited the notice and approval of both Wash- ington and Schuyler .- Early History, pp. 219, 220.
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