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 8
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From the date of the above proclamation it would appear that the Con- vention was in session not less than tour days.
" The truth of this most valuable addition to the proceedings of the Convention is fully confirmed by the following:
On the 26th of June, 1777, the Cumberland County Committee of Safety [under New York] appointed a committee to draft a "True Representation of the Broken State of the Inhabitants of the County," which was done on that day, and the document. signed by JAMES CLAY, Chairman. was presented to the New York Council of Safety on the 15th of July. This " True Representation " declared :
" 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." -See Eastern Vermont, pp. 294-296.
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Adjourned Session at Windsor, June 4, 1777.
they are hereby directed and required to desist acting in such capacity by virtue of any authority derived from the Honorable Convention of the State of New York, and that their several associates are directed strictly to observe the same.
Resolved, That the several Committees of Safety acting under the all- thority of this State be and are hereby directed to take into their imme- diate custody all such estates of enemical persons who have heretofore or that may hereafter be by sufficient evidence proved to be such, which estates are not already in custody by virtue of such authority, and them safely keep for the use of this State during the recess of this Convention except what may be sufficient to defray the necessary charges arising for trial of such offender or offenders.
Resolved, That all Commissioners appointed by the authority of the State of New York for the purpose of seizing the estates of enemical persons for the use of that State, to the prejudice of this, be and hereby are required to desist and surcease such commission or commissions immediately on sight hereof, and they are hereby severally strictly for- bid disposing of any such estate so seized within this State except what is sufficient to defray the charge of trial, seizing, &c., until further order from this Convention or the orders of the President or Vice President of this State with his Council during the recess of this said Convention.
Resolved, That the Committees of the several towns in this State be and are hereby empowered to seize and secure all and every person and their estates that appear to be enemical to their country and to proceed to trial in manner and form following:
That the Committee of any town in this State shall seize the person and estate of any such suspected enemies and if on examination they shall find just cause to proceed against the same they are hereby empow- ered to call thirteen committee men from the adjacent towns including the committee of said town. which are hereby empowered to try such offender or offenders and give sentence against him or them and order the said judgment to be put in execution-Provided the offender or offenders is not worthy of death or other corporal punishment, in which case the committees are empowered to imprison the offender or offenders in the common gaol or gaols within this State, there to remain without bail until a proper court shall be established in this State to try him or them.
Extract from the minutes,
JONAS FAY, Sec'y.
By order.
A true copy, Attest, LEONARD SPAULDING.1
1 Mr. Spaulding was the delegate from Dummerston. At a preceding session of the Convention, in Sept. 1776, he had been appointed, with Samuel Fletcher, "to notify Townshend, Putney, New Fane and Dum- merston," which seems to have been done by furnishing written copies of the proceedings of the Conventions. There was then no printing office in the State.
THE CONVENTION AT WINDSOR,
JULY 2-8, 1777.
-
OF this Convention-unsurpassed in importance by any other in the State, in that it established a constitution and frame of government -- no official record, and no full and satisfactory unofficial account even, has ever been published. Dr. WILLIAMS, the earliest historian of Vermont, [1794.] wrote his history when many of the members of the Convention were living, but the only allusion he makes to that body consists of the facts that it was sitting at Windsor on the 4th of July, 1777, and "their committee wrote in the most pressing terms, July 8, [3.] to the Commit- tee of Safety at Exeter, in New Hampshire, for assistance" against the invasion by a British force.1
IRA ALLEN was a member of the Convention, and certainly was so fa- miliar with all that occurred in it that he could have given a detailed account, but in 1798 he wrote a few lines only as a record, as follows:
A draft of a constitution was laid before the Convention, and read. The business being new, and of great consequence, required serious de- liberation. The Convention had it under consideration when the news of the evacuation of Ticonderoga arrived. which alarmed them very much, as thereby the frontiers of the State were exposed to the inroads of an enemy. The family of the President of the Convention, as well as those of many other members, were exposed to the foe. In this aw- ful crisis the Convention was for leaving Windsor, but a severe thunder- storm came on, and gave them time to reflect, while other members, less alarmed at the news, called the attention of the whole to finish the Con- stitution, which was then reading paragraph by paragraph for the last time. This was done, and the Convention then appointed a Council of Safety to act during the recess, and the Convention adjourned.2
WILLIAM SLADE [1823,] and ZADOCK THOMPSON, [1824, 1842, 1853,] adopted the account of IRA ALLEN, and thus the early historians of the State left to more recent investigators the task of discovering what- ever more could be found.
1 Williams's History, vol. 2, 177.
$ Vt. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. I, p. 383.
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Convention at Windsor, July 2-8, 1777.
B. H. HALL [1858] added one fact, viz: "a right to the county jail at Westminster was, however, reiterated, and the orders were issued to a sergeant and six men to guard it both by night and day. and to permit no one to advance withing six feet of the gratings, or to approach the jail door." 1
The late Rev. PLINY H. WHITE, of Coventry. gave the results of much research in an interesting address delivered before the Vermont Histor- ical Society, July 2, 1863.º Mr. WHITE added several particulars, and first a list of twenty-four of the members, sixteen having been ascertained by the late LEONARD DEMING of Middlebury, and eight by Mr. WHITE. The list is as follows:
Barnet, Alexander Harvey.
New- ( Jacob Bayley,
Ben- ( Jonas Fay,
bury. Reuben Foster.
nington, Joseph Safford.
Pomfret. John Throop.
Brad- ‘ Benja. Baldwin,
ford. Bildad Andrus.
( Thos. Chandler,
Rock- S Joshua Webb, ingham, Reuben Jones.
Chester, Jabez Sargent.
Rutland. Joseph Bowker.
Danby, S Thos. Chittenden. William Gage.
land.
Tin- Ebr Allen, mouth. Charles Brewster.
Hartford. Joseph Marsh.
Marlboro, Francis Whitmore.
Pownal. Joseph Williams.
To these the editor of these papers adds the following-four on good authority, and ten probable members:
Danby, Thomas Rowley.3
Benning- S John Burnham,+
Wilmington, William Williams, prob- ably.1 ton, Nathan Clark, probably.5 Dummerston, Lt. Leonard Spauld- ing, probably.8
Clarendon, Benj. Spencer, probably.5
S Capt. Ira Allen.6 Westminster, Nath'l Robinson, prob- ably .?
Colchester. Capt. Heman Allen.6
Windsor. Ebenezer Hoisington,
Shaftsbury. Maj. Jeremiah Clark, probably.5
probably.10
Townshend, Samuel Fletcher, prob- ably.7
Pomfret, John W. Dana, probably.11 Cavendish, John Coffein, probably.11
' Eastern Vermont, p. 298. apparently on the authority of a letter dated July 7, 1777, from Col. William Williams of Wilmington to Capt. John Sessions. As this letter was dated while the Convention was in session, it is probable Col. Williams was a member. He represented Wilmington in the legislature of Vermont in 1779. Wilmington was represented in the Convention of Sept. 25, 1776, by letter, and again Jan. 4. 1777, by Wm. Mellen delegate. It was also represented in the first legislature, March 1778, by Elijah Alvord. It is quite probable, therefore, that the town was represented in the Convention of July 1777. It could not send,
Wm. Ward,
Poultney Nehemiah Howe.
Sunder- S Timothy Brownson.
Guilford. Benjamin Carpenter.
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General Conventions.
Mr. WHITE adds :-
The Convention was organized by choosing JOSEPH BOWKER, Presi- dent; JOSEPH MARSH, Vice-President. Before proceeding to business the convention listened to a sermon by Rev. AARON HUTCHINSON of Pomfret.
After sermon the Convention proceeded to the specific business for which it was elected, digressing from that to consider any other matter relating to the interests of the new State which seemed to require at- tention.
Very early in the session their attention was called away from their more immediate business by a dispatch from Col. SETH WARNER, an- nouncing the advance of Burgoyne upon Ticonderoga, and calling for assistance. The dispatch was as follows :
RUTLAND, July 1, 1777.
To the Hon. the Convention now sitting at Windsor in the State of Vermont.
GENTLEMEN :- Last evening I received an express from the general commanding at Ticonderoga, advising me that the enemy have come up the lake, with 17 or 18 gunboats, two large ships, and other craft, and lie at Three Mile Point. The general expects an attack every hour. He orders me to call out the militia of this state, of Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, to join him as soon as possible. I have sent an express to Col. Simonds. Col. Robinson and Col. Williams are at Hubbardton, wait- ing to be joined by Col. Bellows, who is with me. When the whole are joined they will amount to 700 or 800 men. I know not to whom to apply except to your honorable body. to call out the militia on the east side of
a better man than Col. Williams. Every intelligent reader will of course understand that the seizure of the jail of Cumberland county was an en- forcement of the assertion of the jurisdiction of Vermont as against New York.
2 Vt. Historical Soc. Collections, vol. I, p. 56-66.
3 Vt. Historical Magazine, vol. I. p. 98. Danby was entitled to three members, and the addition of Mr. Rowley's name to the preceding list completes the delegation from that town.
+ Vt. Historical Magazine, vol. I. p. 165. He was a member of the Con- vention of the 4th of June preceding.
" He was appointed by the Convention one of the Council of Safety, and was a member of the Convention of June 4.
6 H. Hall's Early History of Vt., 454.
" He was a member of two previous conventions and of the first legis- lature.
8 Ile was a member of four preceding Conventions and of the first leg- islature.
9 He was a member of three preceding Conventions and of the first legislature.
10 He was a member of three preceding Conventions.
11 Both were members of the preceding June Convention, and of the first legislature.
65
Convention at Windsor, July 2-8, 1777.
the mountain. I shall expect that you will send on all the men that can possibly be raised, and that you will do all in your power to supply the troops at Ticonderoga with beef. Should the siege be long, they will be absolutely destitute, unless the country exert themselves. If 40 or 50 head of beef cattle can be brought on by the militia, they will be paid for by the commissary on their arrival. The safety of the post depends on the exertions of the country. Their lines are extensive and but partially manned, for want of men. I should be glad if a few hills of corn unhoed should not be a motive sufficient to detain men at home, considering the loss of such an important post might be irretrievable. I am, gentlemen, with the greatest respect, your obedient and very humble servant.
SETH WARNER.
P. S. I am this moment a going to mount my horse in company with Col. Bellows for Ticonderoga. I left Col. [Moses] Robinson at Hub- bardton this morning. That you may have wisdom to conduct in the business for which you are called together is the prayer of
S. W.
A copy of this dispatch was immediately forwarded by express to the General Assembly of New Hampshire, then in session at Exeter, with a letter from the convention as follows :
STATE OF VERMONT, In General Convention. Windsor, 3d July, 1777. 5
Gentlemen :- This House enclose to you a Copy of a Letter just re- ceived from Colo Warner by which your honors will learn the situation of the army in the northern department at that time. You will observe by that, that we have no knowledge that any Express has been sent you. Therefore as the matter nearly concerns the Liberties of the United States in General, this House flatter themselves that their forwarding this in- telligence may not prove unacceptable.
The Militia from this State are principally with the officer Command- ing the Continental Army at Ticonderoga, the remainder on their march for the relief of that distressed Post. It appears to this House from the various informations from thence, and the personal acquaintance of many of the members thereof, of the particular circumstances which attend our friends there at this present time, that every prudent Step ought to be immediately taken for their relief.
Your honors' Wisdom will doubtless be sufficient for your Conduct. Wishing a lasting peace and friendship, We have honor to be Gentlemen with sincere Sentiments of Respect your most
Obedt Humble Servants. By order of Convention.
JOSEPH BOWKER, President.
SUPERSCRIBED :
To the Honorable the General Assembly or Council of War at Exeter, State of New Hampshire.
From General Convention in the State of Vermont.
Having adopted such measures as seemed advisable to reinforce the beleagured fortress with men and provisions, the convention proceeded to consider the proposad constitution. It remained in session till the 8th of July, when its deliberations were interrupted by the arrival of a dispatch from General St. CLAIR, returning his earnest thanks for their exertions in behalf of Ticonderoga, but announcing the evacuation of that place on the morning of the 6th of July, the pursuit of the retreating Americans by the British and the attack upon Warner at Hubbardton on the morning of the 7th of July; the disastrous result of which was
66
General Conventions.
not known at the time of writing.1 This occasioned great alarm and anxiety. The families of many of the members, that of the President in- cluded, were within the very line of march of the triumphant enemy, and the first impulse was to leave the business unfinished, and fly to the defense of their homes.
A furious thunder storm however compelled them to remain for a while, and gave them time to conclude their business, though in a some- what hurried way. The constitution was read for the last time and unan-
1 General St. Clair to the President of the Vermont Convention at Windsor.
COLO MEAD'S, AT OTTER CREEK, July 7th, 1777.
Sir,-I was honored with your favor of the 2d Instant this Day. The Exertions of the Convention to reinforce us at Ticonderoga merit my warmest thanks tho' they have been too late to answer the good purpose they intended. Finding that the Enemy were ready for the attack, and that it was morally impossible we could maintain the Post with an hand- ful of Troops, & at the same time considering how necessary to the States it was to preserve our army, small as it is, it was determined in a Council of the General Officers that the Posts on Ticonderoga and Mount Independence should be evacuated, and a retreat attempted to Skeens- borough by the way of Castleton, and that everything we could remove with the sick, should be sent by water to the same place, covered by the armed Vessels. This was accordingly attempted the night of the sixth, and in part executed, tho' not as perfectly as I could have wished with respect to the stores, owing to the Confusion that naturally attends operations in the night, and to the want of that regularity that nothing but discipline and experience can give Troops, and just at break of day the army got on their march unperceived by the Enemy, altho' they were all round us, and should have effected it perfectly had it not been for the burning of a House, whether from accident or want of thought I cannot say, but it served to inform the Enemy of our Retreat. and a party of them were on the Mount before the whole of our people had got off of it. They did not attempt however to pursue us, but only fired a few shots from the Height which did us no damage. We pursued our Route to Castleton, which we reached last night with the main Body, having met on our way a party of the Enemy who had been collecting Cattle in the Country. These were immediately dispersed, and a few Prisoners taken. Colonel Warner with about a thousand men stopped six miles short of Castleton where he was attacked this morning. The event of the action I cannot as yet ascertain-the accounts are so various from the persons who have come in ; but I believe it was pretty severe on both sides. I am now on my march to Bennington, which place I am obliged to make, on account of Provisions, the Enemy having last night possessed them- selves of Skeensborough, of which I got intelligence this morning. which determined me to take the road for that place, and there I beg that the reinforcements coming on by No. 4 [Charlestown, N. H. ] may be sent, as I shall immediately march from thence for the North River, and en- deavor to throw myself betwixt the Enemy and the Inhabitants, and pre- vent Mr. Burgoyne from penetrating into the Country.
I am, Sir, your very Humble Servant. AR ST. CLAIR.
I must beg that all the Flour that can be got may be sent forward.
I have wrote to the first commanding Officer of the militia to take the shortest road to Bennington with directions to send the same orders to such others as may be already on this side No. 4 .- Vt. Hist. Col. Vol. I. p. 174.
67
Convention at Windsor, July 2-8, 1777.
imously adopted. It was also ordered that an election, under the con- stitution, should be held in December, 1777, when representatives should be elected to a general assembly, to meet at Bennington in January, 1778. JOSEPH MARSH, JOSEPH WILLIAMS and TIMOTHY BROWNSON were appointed a committee to procure a supply of arms for the state, with instructions to draw them, if possible, from govermental arsenals, but with authority to pledge the credit of the state to the amount of four thousand pounds, if it were found necessary to purchase. A Council of Safety was appointed to administer the atlairs of the state until some other provi- sion in that regard should be made. No list of the members of this Council is extant, but it is known that THos. CHITTENDEN, IRA ALLEN, MOSES ROBINSON, JONAS FAY, JOSEPH FAY, PAUL SPOONER, NATHAN CLARK, and JACOB BAYLEY, were of the number.1
The resolution of the Convention on the supply of arms, referred to by Mr. White, was as follows:
STATE OF VERMONT, In Convention, Windsor, July 8th, 1777. 3
Resolved, that Col. JOSEPH MARSH, Col. WM. WILLIAMS and Col. TIM- OTHY BROWNSON be appointed Contractors to procure a sufficient Quan- tity of Arms for this State as the exigency of the same shall require, draw- ing them if possible out of some Continental stores, giving such security for the same in behalf of this State as their wisdom may direct, and that they be impowered for the same purpose (if they cannot be so drawn) to hire not exceeding four thousand pounds, for which they are to give their obligation in behalf of this State, and that they make an exact return of their doings herein to this Convention, or in their recess to the Council of Safety for this State.
By order of the President,
JONAS FAY, Secretary.
The original number of the Council according to Gen. STARK, was twelve.2 This corresponds with the number of the committee appointed by the Dorset Convention of Sept. 25, 1776, to attend the next Conven- tion-of course as advisers or councillors,-and also with the number of the governor's council fixed in the constitution. Of this number the Rev. PLINY H. WHITE has given eight undoubted names. To that list Hon. HILAND HALL has assented with the reservation that no evidence exists of the membership of JOSEPH FAY other than the fact that he was secretary of the Council.3 The editor regards that fact, however, as very strong evidence. The first secretary was IRA ALLEN, a member of the Council, who served in the office until September 6, 1777, when JOSEPH FAY was elected to succeed him. Fay was at hand to enter upon the office; and he did so, as the record shows, on that day. To this it must be added that when a deputy secretary was appointed, a member of the Council was selected. The office was one of high dignity, correspond-
1 For Mr. WHITE's address in full, and Mr. HUTCHINSON'S sermon, see Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, p. 56-101.
2 Gen. John Stark to the Connecticut Courant, Aug. 18, 1777, in Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, p. 228.
8 Early History, pp. 258 and 259, note.
68
General Conventions.
ing to the office of Secretary of State, which title IRA ALLEN assumed, and it was accorded to him by some officers of other states. The signature of the Secretary was recognized as of equal authority with that of the President. The duties of the Council were, many of them, so very delicate and confidential in their character that it is hardly possible to conceive that any person would be permitted to hold that office who was not amply qualified by talents, judgment and character, to be a member of the board. Mr. FAY was thus fitted, and eminently so: he was counted worthy of being the agent of the State to Congress, and accom- plished and discreet enough to be entrusted (in company with IRA ALLEN) with the Haldimand correspondence. While, then, Vermont had no men to spare for offices which are merely clerical, why should not the Council economize by appointing one of its own number for the second Secretary, as it did for the first ? Assuming, then, that JOSEPH FAY was a member of the Council, the number thus far ascertained is eight. To this number is to be added BENJAMIN SPENCER of Claren- don, on the authority of a letter from the Council, by PAUL SPOONER, deputy secretary, to Brig. Gen. BAYLEY, dated Angust 11, 1777. This let- ter announced that " Esq. Spencer" had joined the enemy.1 To fill this
1 See letter of that date, post ; also Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. I, D. 196.
BENJAMIN SPENCER of Durham [Clarendon] was justice of peace and assistant judge of the court of common pleas under the jurisdiction of New York in 1773. He was, says IRA ALLEN, "an artful, intriguing and designing man." He certainly was zealous in furthering the inter- ests of New York to such a degree as to require severe measures from the Vermont leaders. Accordingly they visited Clarendon with a large body of men. in the autumn of 1773, and warned Spencer to desist on penalty of suffering violence. He and other New York officers in the neighborhood persisted in issuing writs, &c., against the New Hamp- shire grantees, and a second visitation was made, and Spencer was ar- rested. The people assembled to witness the scene to be enacted, when Ethan Allen addressed the crowd, announcing that "the proprietors of the New Hampshire Grants had appointed himself, Seth Warner, Re- member Baker and Robert Cochran to inspect and set things in order and to see that there should be no intruders on the Grants ;" adding that " Durham had become a hornets' nest." which must be broken up. "A judgment seat" was then erected, on which Allen, Warner, Baker and Cochran seated themselves as judges. At Spencer's request, how- ever, the trial was transferred to his own door, where he was required to stand up with uncovered head. He was then charged with "cudling with the land-jobbers of New York to prevent the claimants of the New Hampshire rights from holding lands"-with issuing warrants as a jus- tice of the peace contrary to the orders of Allen and company, and other acts as a New York magistrate-with reporting their proceedings to the
69
Convention at Windsor, July 2-8, 1777.
vacancy BENJAMIN CARPENTER of Guilford was appointed by the Con- vention at Windsor, Dec. 24, 1777, of which appointment Col. CARPEN- TER was notified by a letter from the Council, by JONAS FAY, dated 10 January, 1778.1
New York authorities, conveying land under a New York title, and with endeavoring to seduce and inveigle the people to be subject to the laws and government of the colony of New York. Spencer was found guilty on all these charges, his house was declared to be a nuisance which must be burnt, and he was required to promise that he would no longer act as a New York magistrate. Spencer objected that the destruction of his house and property would be cruelty to his wife and children, whereupon the court, upon Warner's suggestion, decided that the house should be spared, but the roof taken off, to be replaced again when Spencer would accept it under a New Hampshire title. To this he agreed, when the roof was taken off "with great shouting and much noise and tumult," and Spencer was discharged, promising not to act under New York. Other Yorkers in Clarendon were visited in like manner, with salutary effeet, and then Ethan Allen adroitly and justly pledged the Green Mountain Boys to protect those Yorkers, who would quiet their titles by covering the New York grants with New Hampshire grants, from any exactions which might be attempted upon them on these forced purchases, -offering them the land "at a reasonable rate, as new lands were valued at the time you [they] purchased them" originally. By this process Spencer was reconciled to the new state, so that he accepted the posi- tion of delegate in the Convention at Windsor, June 4, 1777, pledging himselt to stand by the new state and "to resist by arms the fleets and armies of Great Britain." It is probable that he was a delegate in the July Convention also, as he was appointed a member of the Council of Safety. However, when Burgoyne's army advanced into the country, heralded by vaunting proclamations, Spencer sought personal safety with the enemy at Ticonderoga, and, it is said, died at that post a few weeks afterward .- Early History, pp. 169, 170, 172-177, 258.
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