USA > Vermont > The history of Vermont, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 9
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election and the legislative session took place accordingly, the constitution going into effect without the form of ratification by the people. New Hampshire recognised the new order of things, almost before the people of Vermont. Upon the alarm occasioned by the fall of Ti- conderoga, which occurred while the convention which framed the constitution was still in session, when an appeal was made to New Hampshire for aid, the executive of that state, in a letter addressed to Vermont as a free, sovereign, but new state, recognised the new commonwealth.
New York was not, however, disposed to re- linquish jurisdiction so readily. The vexed
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
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question of land titles, and the pledged protec- tion of the state to certain holders under her grants were in the way, as also, no doubt, some pride. In February, 1778, while the election of the Vermont legislature was pending, the go- vernor of New York issued a proclamation, af- firming certain land titles, and adopting a more conciliatory tone than had been the custom under the royal regime ; but still declaring, in reference to the resistants, that New York would " vigor- ously maintain its rightful supremacy over the persons and property of those disaffected sub- jects." Little Vermont, however, unawed by threats, was equally invulnerable to mingled threats and cajolery ; and having taken her stand, was resolved to maintain it. In the spring of this year (1778) Ethan Allen returned from his forced foreign travels, and his detention as prisoner in his own country ; and he made early use of his pen by publishing an answer to the New York proclamation, in which he declared that its overtures were " all romantic, designed only to deceive backwoods people."
The original constitution of Vermont had many peculiarities which have been since aban- doned. It was thoroughly democratic, extending suffrage in a far more liberal spirit than 'any other of the states. Every man twenty-one years of age, who had resided a year in the state previous to the election, was entitled to vote. The
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ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION.
1778.]
executive power was originally vested in a go- vernor, lieutenant-governor, and a council of twelve, elected at the time when the representa- tives were chosen. The legislature consisted of one body only, called the assembly, the members of which were required to make a subscription to a belief in God, and the inspiration of the Scriptures, and to make a profession of the Pro- testant faith. Each town had one representative, and no more. The council could suggest amend- ments in the acts passed, but had no legislative power, and no absolute veto. Every law was at first required to lie over one session, except in urgent cases, and be printed for the information of the people. Schools in every town were re- quired by the constitution. No person, born in this country or brought from over sea, could be held in servitude or apprenticeship, except for crime or debt, unless by_their own consent after reaching majority. A council of thirteen cen- sors was chosen every thirteen years to inquire into violations of the constitution, and recom- mend amendments if necessary; but their of- fice would seem to have been nearly a sinecure, so far as amendments were concerned.
In 1785 a revision took place, in which the requirement that laws should lay over a year was abandoned, except in cases where the go- vernor and council objected to any portion. At the same revisal, the requirement of a Protest-
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ant faith in the representatives was stricken out ; and. at another revision, in 1793, all religious subscription was abolished. For nearly fifty years the constitution remained unaltered, ex- cept in the introduction of an article providing for the naturalization of foreigners; but in 1836 Vermont accommodated her mode of le- gislation to that of the other states, and abolish- ing the council of twelve, adopted a senate of thirty members in its stead. Pennsylvania had tried, and early abandoned the plan of a one- house legislature; and it is remarkable that Franklin was an earnest advocate for a system which experience has proved inconvenient, if not impracticable. The other important provisions of the constitution remain as in the beginning. The judiciary is elected by the legislature. The expenses of the government of Vermont are upon the most frugal scale possible ; and her laws are fewer in number, and less in bulk, than those of any other state in the Union.
Thomas Chittenden, chosen governor of Ver- mont at the first election in 1778, held that of- fice by annual re-election for eighteen years ; and during the whole term of his gubernatorial service continued his occupation of farmer and innkeeper. It is related that a stranger from another state, having business with the governor, overtook a farmer driving a load of hay, and in- quired of him the way to the residence of that
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ANECDOTE OF CHITTENDEN. 155
official. The farmer answered that it was a short distance, and he was going directly there ; and the stranger walked his horse behind the wagon, until it stopped at an inn. The farmer inquired if the horse of the traveller was to be fed, and receiving a reply in the affirmative, attended to the animal. He next directed his boys to take charge of the hay. Then, taking off his farmer's frock, and washing his hands and head, he turned to the waiting stranger: "Now then, what is it you want of the governor ?" Such practical re- publicanism could not fail to be popular, since it was natural, simple, and unaffected.
Governor Chittenden was a native of Guilford, in Connecticut, and having early filled many posts of trust in his native state, he removed to the New Hampshire grants in 1774. He had followed the custom always prevalent in unarti- ficial communities, and early taken to himself a wife. With her and his infant children he es- tablished himself on the borders, in the township of Williston, and was in the successful pursuit of his peaceful occupations when the difficulties with Great Britain commenced. He was ap- pointed one of a committee sent to Philadelphia, in 1775, to procure intelligence of the measures which Congress intended to pursue, and to take advice as to the course which should be adopted by the people of the New Hampshire grants.
Upon the retreat of the American army from
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
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Canada, in 1776, Mr. Chittenden, with others in the border towns, was compelled to withdraw to escape the ravages of war and Indian treachery. He took up his temporary abode in Arlington, and became at once one of the most prominent men in the affairs of the state. He was presi- dent of the council of safety, and his practical knowledge was very useful to his compatriots in the management of their complicated business. Mr. Chittenden was one of the earliest advocates for a separate state government, as the best mode of determining the complicated questions of ju- risdiction, raised by New York and New Hamp- shire. This purpose he steadily pursued until he saw Vermont acknowledged by the neighbour- ing states, and admitted as a member of the Federal Union. He was a member of the con- vention which framed the state government, and indeed was identified with all the measures of importance undertaken by the people of Ver- mont while he lived, which was to the appointed limit-" three score years and ten." As governor he kept down party spirit by his moderation and calmness ; and the want of a liberal education, which must in some situations operate as a great disadvantage, in the case of Governor Chitten- den was perhaps a decided benefit to the interests of the state. In his day no gubernatorial speech or message opened the sessions of the assembly, but the legislators proceeded directly to the
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SUMMARY OF CHARACTER.
1778.]
business, which their modest pay-six shillings currency per day-did not tempt them to pro- long, or needlessly to make intricate. The go- vernor's salary was on the same modest scale, being originally fixed at £150 per annum ; and the whole proceedings of this truly republican body were marked by the utmost simplicity and plainness.
The narrative, as we proceed, will exhibit such of the public acts of Governor Chittenden as possess historical interest. No better connec- tion than the present can perhaps be found to give a summary of his character. We quote from Thompson's History of Vermont. “Al- most every age of the world has produced indi- viduals, who seem to have been moulded by nature particularly for the exigencies of the " times in which they lived. There have always been some master spirits, who were peculiarly fiitted to control the agitated waters of public opinion, and either to soothe them into a calm, or else to mount upon the wind and direct the waves; and the results attained under their gui- dance have usually been happy or otherwise, ac- cording as the ruling motives of the leaders have been patriotic or selfish. These results, it is true, are materially affected by the amount of virtue and intelligence among the people; but virtue and intelligence do not, alone, fit an indi- vidual for becoming a popular and successful
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
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leader in troublesome times. There is necessary, in addition to these, a certain indescribable tact and native energy which few individuals have possessed, and which, perhaps, no one in our state has manifested in a more eminent degree than Governor Chittenden.
" He had not, indeed, enjoyed many of the advantages of education ; but his want of learning was amply compensated by the possession of a strong and active mind, which at the time he emi- grated to Vermont was matured by age, prac- tised to business, and enriched by a careful observance of men and things. His knowledge was practical rather than theoretic. He was regular in his habits, plain and simple in his manners, averse to ostentation of equipage or dress; and he cared little for the luxuries, the blandishments, or the etiquette of refined society. In short, though he was destitute of many of the qualifications now deemed essential in a states- man, he possessed all that were necessary, and none that were superfluous, in the times in which he lived; and he was probably far better fitted to be the leader and governor of the independent, dauntless and hardy, but uncultivated settlers of Vermont, than would have been a man of more theoretic knowledge or polite accomplishments."
The very first meeting of the Vermont legis- lature was embarrassed by the presentation of a dilemma. The New Hampshire towns contiguous
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1778.] EMBARRASSING PETITION.
to Vermont had not been unmindful of the pro- ceedings of the new state, and having a com- munity of feeling and interest with the people of this model commonwealth, they were desirous of a closer union. Accordingly, on March 12th, the first day of the assembling of the legislature, a petition was presented from sixteen towns in New Hampshire, praying to be admitted as members of the state of Vermont. The petition set forth that they, the said sixteen towns, " were not connected with any state with respect to their internal police." The argument by which they defended this assertion was, that the origi- nal grant of the province to John Mason was circumscribed by a line drawn at the distance of sixty miles from the sea, and not including the territory immediately adjoining the Connecticut River. These towns were, like Vermont west of the river, "New Hampshire grants," being annexed to that state solely by royal commis- sions, supplementary to the original charter. These commissions, they argued, could be of force no longer than while the authority of the crown subsisted ; and as all royal authority was done away, the obligation which annexed them to the state of New Hampshire was done away with it. And they, therefore, reasoned that it belonged to the people to determine what state they would join, and what government they would be under. It did not perhaps occur to
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
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the friends of this measure that their argument proved too much, and that the same objections which they urged against the royal grants would operate with equal force against the original royal charter. But when the " wish is father to the thought," we cannot expect impartial reason- ing or discriminating logic.
The disposal of the application was a sad puzzle to the neophytes in legislation. The re- presentatives of the towns west of the mountains were decidedly opposed to the petitioners ; and probably, could the question have been decided at once, the majority of the assembly would have voted to dismiss the petition. But the repre- sentatives of the towns on the Connecticut River, being allured by feelings of interest and neigh- bourhood to the petitioners, more than intimated that unless the New Hampshire towns were re- ceived, they would secede from Vermont, and join with the petitioners in the erection of a new state. Afraid of the responsibility of a decision, and unacquainted with their precise powers in such an unexpected position, the legislature adjourned on the 18th of March, to consult their constituents.
The advocates of the union of the new towns were indefatigable in their exertions to secure the members of the legislature and produce such an impression as they desired ; and when the as- sembly met, by adjournment, on the 4th of June, it appeared that a majority of the members were
1778.] NEW HAMPSHIRE TOWNS ANNEXED. 161
in favour of the annexation. It was represented to the assembly that the inhabitants of these towns were unanimous in their desire to join Vermont, and that New Hampshire, as a state, would make no objection. Under these repre- sentations the assembly voted-thirty-seven to twelve-that the union should take place. And the assembly further resolved, that any other of the towns on the New Hampshire bank of the Connecticut River might come into Vermont, upon producing a vote of the inhabitants to that effect, or sending a representative. And having thus, with admirable indifference to what New Hampshire might say upon the subject, cut them- selves off, with a provision to accommodate more deserting communities, the sixteen towns politely announced to the government of New Hampshire that they had shaken off her jurisdiction; and they requested that a division line might be es- tablished, and a friendly intercourse be still maintained between the severed members and New Hampshire.
As may readily be imagined, the New Hamp- shire legislature were not at all prepared to sub- mit to a proceeding which would at once dismem- ber their state, and establish a precedent which might lead to endless confusion. No landmarks and no boundaries would be safe under such lati- tudinarian construction. The legislature of New Hampshire authorized the president of the.
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
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council of safety, Mesheck Weare, to correspond, under instructions, with Vermont, and with the delegates of the state in Congress. To the latter he wrote on the 19th of August, urging them to take advice and procure the interposition of Congress ; intimating his apprehensions that this would be the only method in which the contro- versy could be settled without the effusion of - blood, since all overtures of reconciliation made to the towns had been in vain.
To the governor of Vermont, Mr. Weare wrote, claiming the sixteen towns as part of New Hamp- shire. He based his claim on the known bound- aries of the state before the Declaration of In- dependence ; on their sending delegates to the provincial convention ; on their petitions to the assembly for arms and ammunition ; on their re- ceiving commissions from the state government, and acting as a part of the state. He also an- nounced that the minority in the sixteen towns had claimed that protection which the govern- ment was bound by every consideration to afford; and he urged Governor Chittenden to exert his influence with the assembly of Vermont to dis- solve a connection which would endanger their peace, and probably their political existence. On the reception of this communication, Go- vernor Chittenden convened the council, and the result of their deliberations was to despatch Co- lonel Ethan Allen to Philadelphia, to ascertain
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NEW YORK DIFFICULTIES.
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how the proceedings of Vermont were regarded by the members of Congress.
While in this dispute with New Hampshire, the government of Vermont was perplexed also with its New York difficulties. Governor Clinton was in correspondence with the adherents of New York in Vermont, and under his advice their proceedings began to take form and import- ance. In a letter of July 7th, to one of his friends, he said, " I would still, as on a former occasion, earnestly recommend a firm and pru- dent resistance to the draughting of men, raising of taxes, and the exercise of every act of govern- ment under the ideal Vermont state; and in towns where our friends are sufficiently powerful for the purpose, I would advise the entering into association for the mutual defence of their per- sons and estates against this usurpation." Go- vernor Clinton also addressed Congress upon the same subject, urging that body to come to some decision. In this letter he reflected strongly upon Vermont for her proceedings, and predicted that without the interposition of Congress they must result in a civil war. And he declared that all the grievances of which Vermont com- plained, were from the former government of New York, and not from the present.
Governor Chittenden and his council had in- deed a difficult course before them. In addition to these difficulties from without, and the partial
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
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disaffection within, which gave pretext to the New York pretensions, the spirit of the Green Mountain Boys made them not a little unma- nageable. Having erected a state, and put the machinery of government into operation, they were not a little elated at their success, and at the appreciation of it which the New Hampshire towns showed in their, desire for union. But the wings of the Vermont legislature were a little clipped by the report which they received from Philadelphia. Colonel Allen returned from his mission in October, and the assembly was sum- moned to act upon his communication.
The report which the messenger brought from Philadelphia was, the members of Congress were unanimously opposed to the dismemberment of New Hampshire ; but that if proceedings in that ' regard were annulled, there would be nobody to oppose the admission of Vermont into the Union, except the representatives from New York. This understanding, of course, was informal, based on conversation with the members, and not on any action of Congress as a body. The subject was considered and debated several days, and was at length closed by three votes, indi- cating rather than affirming the opinion of the assembly.
At the first session of the legislature the state was divided into two counties. Bennington on the west, and Cumberland on the east of the
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SECESSION OF LEGISLATORS.
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mountains. On the question, "Shall the coun- ties in this state remain as they were established in March last ?" the vote was affirmative, thirty- five to twenty-six. The question, "Shall the towns on the east of the Connecticut River be included in the county of Cumberland ?" the decision was in the negative : yeas twenty-eight, nays thirty-three. The question, "Shall said towns be erected into a county by themselves ?" was negatived by the same vote. Discovering by these indications that the assembly hesitated to assume jurisdiction over the New Hampshire towns, the representatives from these towns withdrew, and were followed by the lieutenant- governor, two of the council, and fifteen mem- bers of the assembly from towns in Vermont proper. The number left was barely sufficient to form a quorum. The legislature finished its business, and adjourned to meet again in Feb- ruary, after in the mean while consulting their constituents. This mode of proceeding, to avoid responsibility, appears to have been quite a favourite course in the early days of the young state. It was certainly primitive and demo- cratic.
The seceding members were not disposed to give up the matter, but entered a formal protest upon the journal of the assembly against its proceedings, and then went on to set up for themselves. They called a convention to as-
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
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semble at Cornish, one of the sixteen towns, on the 9th of December, the understood object of which was to establish a new government, the centre of which should be the Connecticut River. Only eight towns on the west of the river were represented, and these did not enter very heartily into the proceedings, some of them declining to take any part. This convention proposed to New Hampshire to agree upon a division line-to submit the line to Congress, or to refer it to arbitration. Or, if none of these propositions were acceptable, they declared that they were willing that the whole of the New Hampshire grants, now Vermont, should be re-annexed to New Hampshire, in accordance with the views of Governor Wentworth, who is- sued them.
The Green Mountain Boys opened their eyes. The whole animus of the movement was now apparent, the sixteen towns evidently having no other object than to form a government, the centre of which should be upon the Connecti- cut River. How this was to be done, whether by uniting a considerable part, of New Hampshire with Vermont, or giving Vermont entire to New Hampshire, was a secondary consideration, pro- vided only that the metropolis of the new state was in the valley of the Connecticut. Since the, subject was brought home so directly to their own interest, they could perceive the
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RIVAL CLAIMANTS.
1778.]
injustice and impolicy of dismembering a state ; and the legislature which met on the 11th of February barely gave itself time to organize be- fore it dissolved the union with the New Hamp- shire towns.
But it is a great deal easier to make a false step than to retrieve it-to get into dif- ficulty than to find the way out. Vermont formally notified New Hampshire of her de- cision, while at the same time the convention of seceders were operating upon the legisla- ture of that state. The legislature of New Hampshire, acting upon the suggestion of some of her leading men, determined upon a summary settlement of the whole question. She resolved the whole of Vermont under her jurisdiction, in pursuance of the old Wentworth grants, and memoralized Congress accordingly. New York also put in her claim, and petitioned Congress for the whole territory in pursuance of the old royal decisions. The suspicion was not unreasonably entertained, that there was a purpose in these conflicting demands to di- vide the bone of contention between the two states, and settle the dispute by giving half of Vermont to each.
A new claimant now appeared, as if the matter were not already sufficiently complicated. Massachusetts demanded a share of the con- tested territory, and made a very plausible
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HISTORY OF VERMONT. [1778.
argument. New Hampshire had belonged to the jurisdiction of New York and Massachu- setts, and the precise bounds between these two states were not yet determined. Whichever of the two contending states should acquire the disputed territory, Massachusetts would come in upon it like an encumbrance upon a con- tested estate. It is, however, a matter of doubt whether the motives of Massachusetts were really to assert a claim, or to postpone the absorption of the little state which was so gallantly contending with her powerful neigh- bours. Whatever might have been the inten- tion, the effect was to save Vermont from being summarily divided.
1778.] ACTION OF THE "YORKERS." 169
CHAPTER XII.
Trouble with the adherents of New York in Vermont-Con- trast between the New York and Vermont claimants-Prin- ciples involved in the dispute-Vermont Congregationalists -Wallumschaick-Tenure of Rev. Godfrey Dellius-Con- vention of "Yorkers" at Brattleboro-Petition to the go- vernor of New York-Military organization-The New York officers captured by Ethan Allen-Appeals to Congress -Commissioners appointed by Congress-New York and. New Hampshire authorize Congress to adjudicate between them-Massachusetts declines-Vermont makes an appeal to the world-Extracts from that document-Congress cen- sures Vermont by resolution-Governor Chittenden's reply -- Sagacity of Vermont statesmen-Agents from Vermont sent to observe the proceedings of Congress-Their with- drawal and protest-Indefinite postponement of the matter by Congress-Indian forays-False alarm.
THE condition of the little state of Vermont was now more perplexing than ever. Hitherto, while demonstrations had been made against her from without, there had been a majority within in favour of her independence, sufficient to over- awe or silence the minority who supported the claims of New York. But now, acting upon the suggestions of Governor Clinton, and in keeping with the spirit and temper of the times, when every thing was determined by conventions and associations, the "Yorkers," as the adherents of that interest were termed, began to form
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