USA > Vermont > The history of Vermont; with descriptions, physical and topographical > Part 11
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arranged in a part by itself; being presented in one point of view.
In 1797, Thomas Chittenden died. He had been the governor of the state from its first organization ; and was highly respected and much beloved. While he lived, little was said or known here comparatively of opposing political parties. Their own struggle for a separate, independent existence had kept the inhabitants united. But when this question was decided in their favor, and the rod, as it were, no longer suspended in a menacing attitude over their heads, they began, like the other states to find ground of discord among themselves. They were soon split into two great political parties, called federal and republican ; general terms, which leave doubtful the grounds of this division. The origin of these names was the adoption of the United States con- stitution, by which the separate states became united in one general, or federal government. Those friendly to this union or league, were called federalists ; and those opposed to it, democrats, believing that too much power was taken by it out of the people's hands. They after- wards took to themselves the appellation Republican. Subsequently the republicans bestowed on the federalists the title of British partisans, and they in turn were complimented as the French party. The French nation had thrown off the shackles of royalty, and proclaimed liberty and equality ; " the republic one and indivisible." They then in this country, who in addition to the obli- gations which they deservedly cherished towards that nation for their noble interposition in our behalf against
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the encroachments of Britain, and regarding the federal compact as leaning too much towards monarchy and aristocracy, might very naturally incur the suspicion of undue bias and influence. The strenuous advocates for the provisions of the constitution might also as easily and naturally fall under the odium of undue admiration of the English form of government. Both were proba- bly misjudged ; and misjudged and wronged each other, equally seeking the best good of their country ; but dif- fering as to the means of accomplishing it. But these were terms of reproach and created no little acrimony in the country.
It reached Vermont ; and on the death of Gov. Chit- tenden, there was no choice of governor by the people. Isaac Tichener, of Bennington, was subsequently chosen by the general assembly. He was a man of talents ; and distinguished personal accomplishments ; and set the example of opening the business of the assembly by a formal speech, 1797; and subsequently characterized as "the governor's speech."
In 1798, Tichener was re-elected. This year a colli- sion took place between the national government and that of France. The tone of the French Directory was insolent ; requiring this country to take side with them in the war with England. President Adams firmly resisted their demands, and a kind of retaliatory war on the ocean was the consequence. The legislature of Vermont sustained the president in a warm and patriotic address ; which was very gratifying to him as appeared from his reply.
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The question of foreigners being candidates for the high office of government was discussed this year; and an amendment to the constitution proposed by Massa- chusetts, excluding from the presidency, senate and house of representatives, all who were not of this country when its independence was declared. But it met with opposi- tion at the south ; and could not pass the test.
In 1799, Tichener was re-elected governor. This year decided against them the claims of certain tribes of Indians then in Canada ; and who once resided on the banks of the rivers and in the vallies of Vermont. They had made repeated application for remuneration for losses sustained in leaving them. Their state, as is that of all the tribes now, more or less, was pitiable. But they had voluntarily left their lands and tenements at the solicitation of the British; and taken arms with them against these colonies. Their redress, then, if sought in the right place, would seem requiring to be so from those whose cause they had espoused.
In this year also, the doctrines of nullification were broached in Virginia and Kentucky. Resolutions were passed, which carried out in practice, would approach the confines of South Carolina state-right principles. These were in consequence of certain laws in congress ; such as the sedition and alien acts which were unpopu- lar in that quarter. But Vermont formally disowned these principles ; and acknowledged the paramount authority of congress in such cases.
Mr. Tichener was successively re-elected the nine following years, making twelve years without interrup-
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tion ; evidence of his popularity ; especially with his party. He is said to have been a man of unusually statesman- like qualifications ; gentlemanly and courteous in his demeanor. As a senator in congress he was highly respected, and supported well the reputation of the state which he represented. He was a native of New Jersey ; of tall and commanding figure; the initials of his name were once to be seen carved high on one of the beeches on the summit of the green mountains, by the way side of the now abandoned turnpike.
In 1809, the republican party succeeded and chose Jonas Galusha, of Shaftsbury, governor ; a baptist clergy- man of good standing; and of strong mind, and wise by observation and experience. He was re-elected the three following years in succession. Nothing worthy of particular record took place in Vermont during this period. The course of events and civil transactions moved placidly along in the channels marked out for it by the current of Divine Providence.
In 1813, there was no choice by the people. In the assembly the parties were exactly balanced between Galusha and Martin Chittenden, son of the first governor ; and of the same political sentiments. The latter was finally elected ; and also the six following years without interruption. The military events which took place in and near this state under his administration, are recorded in another place. The summer of 1816 was remarka- bly cold ; and corn in this and the other New England states was cut off by frost. It was a gloomy season ; snow and frost in June, and drying winds shortening
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much the crop of hay. It was so cold about the tenth or twelfth of September, that the water in ponds and rivers froze to some thickness. The following year, (1817,) was cold, but not so destructive to the fruits of the earth. The apprehensions of worldly men were excited ; and the fall crops were somewhat shortened. An impious railer at Divine Providence, a hill-side dweller, placed his bible in his corn-field in an October evening threatening frost. It came, and cut down his corn; and he with an oath, committed his bible to the flames ; as if the leather, and paper, and ink, and materials in which its sacred truths were encased, would change the course of nature, and the operation of the elements.
In 1820, Richard Skinner, of Manchester, was chosen governor; a man in the profession of the law, and distinguished as a jurist and advocate. He was re-elected the two years next following after which he declined being a candidate. The measures proposed by him were judicious, and his administration popular. He was born in Litchfield, Ct.
In 1823, C. P. Van Ness, of Burlington, was placed in the gubernatorial chair. The chief magistrates of this state previous to Mr. Van Ness are dead; and their characters and deeds belong to history. This gentleman has subsequently to his retirement from the appointments which were conferred upon him in Vermont, been sent by the national councils to Spain, as ambassa- dor, at which court he represented this government several years. The two next years he was re-elected ;
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the first of which (1824) was distinguished for the jour- ney of the Marquis de La Fayette through the country. He entered Windsor in this state on the fourth of July, the day of our nation's independence, in securing which he had been no little subservient, some forty or fifty years previous. He was met and made welcome by the gov- ernor; and a large concourse of Vermonters; and memorable were the proceedings of that day; the long procession of freemen and their children ; the remnant of revolutionary soldiers ; the Divine goodness acknowl- edged and blessing sought ; the nation's guest; the congratulatory address, and reply ; the right hand given and received between long parted comrades and fellow sufferers. The coincidence of circumstances must have rendered it an interesting spectacle. The recollections of events long since transpired ; the intermediate scenes witnessed ; the recognizing of countenances once familiar, but now changed ; inquiries after the dead and the mis- sing ; the blithesome appearance of the youth and children born on the soil, made free and consecrated to freedom by the blood of their forefathers, conspired to excite emotions of gratitude and sympathy not easily effaced.
The Marquis was deeply affected ; and manifested much sensibility. Indeed the whole period of his visit to this country must have been a source of much enjoy- ment and absorbing reflection. To retrace the footsteps of youth after a long, intervening absence, is always inconceivable attractive and impressive to the sensitive mind. How intense then must have been his sensations,
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enjoying this privilege as he did in such peculiar cir- cumstances !
He has been called the martyr of liberty. So far as sacrificing his youthful ease and prospects ; so far as he subsequently exercised self-denial and disinterested zeal and effort, and suffered much in her cause, and that of humanity, the appellation may be proper. But he fell not untimely and midway in his career ; but in a. green flourishing fullness of years and honors; in the very lap, so to speak, of freedom herself. May he not be called an example of the final triumph of virtue. Thus illustrating the truth and equity of a superintending Providence !
The struggles and clouds under which good men often make their way through this world, failing to accomplish the important purposes at which they aim ; seeing the guilty go unpunished, and the innocent suffer, have led many to doubt the reality of a Divine Providence. They have looked upon this world as a mystery, in which fraud and oppression more often prevail than integrity and philanthropy. Thus Moreau, a celebrated French marshal, said when dying of his wounds, at the battle of Dresden, both legs being shot off by a cannon ball, " the scoundrel Bonaparte is always lucky."
But La Fayette, having enlisted in the cause of sound, rational liberty in his early days, he undertook after the close of the war of independence, to reform the encroachments and abuses of the French govern- ment. His benevolent plans and counsels exciting the
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jealousy of the Bourbon court, were rejected, and the volcanic eruption which overspread Europe took place. He was driven into exile, and wandered over the conti- nent of Europe in obscurity and much misery. When the mighty arm of Napoleon swayed the sceptre of France, he was hunted down with still greater vigilance and perseverance. He was missing; no where to be seen or heard of for a number of years in succession. His family and friends supposed that he had indeed fallen a martyr to liberty. The cruelties inflicted on him, incarcerated as he was in the heart of Germany, were great, and his sufferings intense. But his spirit was unbroken ; and after the downfall of the Emperor of the French, his fetters were knocked off, and he emerged from his prison ; and in the hands of Divine Providence, was eminently instrumental in the establish- ing of the present comparatively free government in that country ; the Citizen King ; the House of Peers ; and the House of Deputies. Thus the desires of his heart were accomplished ; the guarded liberty of his country. Having united this land of his early footsteps and love ; and seen the healthful operation for half a century, of a free government, he returned to his beloved France and quietly died in the bosom of his family, admired and honored by the world. Here is an example of virtue, after long delay, and much eclipsed, shining brightly at last ; in the end triumphant. He had seen too, the mighty man of war, long successful, rising to an eagle-eminence, fallen suddenly and low, dashed upon a rock in the ocean, an example of retributive justice,
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sure, though sometimes lingering, the end of guilty, blood-stained ambition.
Gen. Isaac Fletcher, late member of congress from the fifth district, being adjutant and inspector general of the Vermont militia at the time, " was in attendance upon his Excellency, C. P. Van Ness, during the visit of La Fayette, and was by that worthy patriot made the dispenser of his bounty, by which the aged Gen. Barton was relieved from his imprisonment for debt in the common jail in Danville." So characteristic is this deed of the Marquis, exemplifying the benevolence of his disposition toward a fellow soldier in distress, that it deserves being recorded, although the occasion for it might seem to reflect on the slumbering sympathy of somebody; and if that of the state, she has made amends by abolishing subsequently imprisonment for debt.
In 1826, and 7, Ezra Butler, a baptist clergyman, was governor of Vermont, who discharged the duties of this responsible trust to the satisfaction of those who deputed him to it ; with honor to himself, and without justly incurring reproach from any.
Samuel C. Crafts was elected governor in 1828, and the following year. He originated from Derby in Con- necticut. During his administration Gen. Jackson was chosen President of the United States ; taking the chair March 4th, 1829. The vote of this state was given for John Q. Adams. The Masonic question also about this time became much agitated in this state. It had previously been discussed with warmth in the western
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part of New York. It had become a political question in consequence of the supposed murder of a man by the name of Morgan, who had revealed and published the arcana of his fraternity. He was said to have been taken forcibly and carried into Canada, and put to death in the most cruel manner. This was in the north- western part of New York. This was denied by ma- sons ; and much was published on both sides; and in some places a very great excitement produced. The oaths were published, which, it was said, candidates must take on becoming members of the brotherhood ; and which were alleged to be incompatible with the rights and privileges of those not belonging to it; and dangerous to the community. It is certain that the subject took strong hold of the feelings of many Ver- monters.
In 1830, three gubernatorial candidates were started ; Crafts, called the national republican, and masonic. Palmer, the anti-masonic ; and Meach, the administration candidate. The first had 13,486 votes; the second 10,925; and the last 6,285. After thirty-two ballot- ings in the general assembly, Crafts was chosen. The next year, 1831, the same three candidates were in the field; and after nine trials in the house, for there was no choice by the people, William A. Palmer, of Dan- ville, the anti-masonic candidate was chosen by a majority of one vote.
In 1832, no choice of governor was made by the people. Palmer was re-elected in the assembly at the forty-third trial. These things show the state of feeling
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in Vermont in consequence of the masonic agitation. The enemies to this institution were persevering in their opposition to it ; and many of its lodges were about this time disbanded; particularly the grand lodge of the state of Vermont.
In the presidential contest which took place this year, this state had her anti-masonic candidate ; and gave her vote for William Wirt, standing before the union, alone and single-handed. Setting aside all party considerations, looking only at the man; his character and qualifications. Vermont need not blush to the end of time for that vote, solitary as it was.
This year a vote was passed to build a new state- house at Montpelier ; appropriating thirty thousand dollars for the purpose. A more particular account of it will be given hereafter.
The two subsequent years, Palmer was re-elected governor; that is in 1833-4. In 1835, no governor ยท was chosen ; but Silas H. Jennison, of Shoreham, being elected lieutenant governor, was the acting chief magis- trate. He was successively re-elected to this the highest office in the state, till 1840. In the national canvass for president which took place when Mr. Van Buren was successful, the vote of this state was given for Henry Clay ; and in the one of 1840, for William H. Har- rison.
The successor of Jennison was Charles Paine, who still, 1842, occupies the Vermont chair of state. In 1843, John Mattocks, of Peacham, was elected gov- ernor. Declining a re-election in 1844, William Slade,
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of Middlebury, was chosen governor, and at this time, 1846, occupies the gubernatorial chair.
In looking back on this line of supreme executive officers and their administrations, we see much to admire and venerate in them; and somewhat of the way and manner of Vermont freemen. In that line few weak, or dim, or uncertain points are seen, or deviations. It is clear and distinct ; direct and full. They adhered to the course pointed out to them in the chart under which the direction of the political ship was entrusted to them. By the Divine blessing on their skill and experience in the nautical science of state, she has been carried safely over the fluctuating and treacherous sea of civil and military life. Through their agency and the orderly conduct of the ship's company, she has been kept from foundering in the storm and tempest ; from being strand- ed by the sudden changes of wind and current ; from the dangers of the calm, and the inroads of worms and other vermin, lying in ordinary, or in the dry dock. A large portion of this band of state pilots have ceased struggling with the waves of political commotion, and gone to the award of the Great Pilot, whose word can silence the winds and still the tumults of the ocean. May the survivors, and those who shall follow; and may the line continue unbroken, so finish their course as to enter the peaceful haven of eternity.
You see among them, men of almost all occupations and professions in life ; and of great variety in their mental culture, and habits of study. Thus you will find the governor of Vermont, at one time a farmer ;
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unaided by a high state of discipline; but of plain, sound, common sense ; at another, the eloquent lawyer, well versed in letters and science; at one time, the merchant, or mechanic, or physician ; at another a clergy- man. You see them also of almost all religious deno- minations ; the congregationalist, the baptist, the me- thodist, and the universalist. Of the latter class is Jen- nison, who held this office several years. Meach is a methodist, and was placed in the gubernatorial canvass ; if none of that branch of the church have been actually called to the chair of state. This variety is seen and perhaps more extensively in those raised to the second post of honor in the state, that of lieutenant governors.
These facts are proof that Vermont freemen confer their honors in their own way ; without respect of per- sons ; as it regards occupation, employment, pursuit, profession, or religious belief.
At the session of the general assembly this year, October, 1842, the question of abolishing capital punish- ment came up; and after a full discussion, the law requiring death for certain crimes was repealed. Per- petual confinement now, solitary ; and more or less rigid and gloomy according to the aggravations of crime, is the highest punishment which the courts can inflict on the murderer. The infliction of death in certain cases is reserved for the governor, according to his discretion.
This is an experiment in which Vermont takes the lead, no other state having yet assumed this ground. It is a question lately much discussed ; and is in agita- tion in several legislative assemblies. It is surely a
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deviation from the law of the Jews, ordained and sanc- tioned by the Supreme Lawgiver. Time will test its expediency. The murderer, as the law was, had hope of escaping detection. This was his only chance of escape. Now the chance is doubled ; for to the hope of escaping conviction, is added that sooner or later, of escaping from the dungeon of solitary confinement.
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CHAPTER XII.
Senate of Vermont .- How constituted .- Members .- Their age. -Its operation and results .- New organization in the courts. --- Changes in the Superior court .- Chief Justices .- Remarks on annual appointments of Judges .- United States senators of Vermont .- Their character .- Character of that body .- Popu- lation .- Rapid increase .- Additional towns .- Changes of fifty years in the exterior .- Surface .- Buildings .- Cultivation .- Retrospection .- Contrast.
THE constitution of Vermont was so amended in January, 1836, as to substitute in the place of "the Council," a Senate. It consists of thirty members, cho- sen annually, and each one having arrived at least to the age of thirty years. Each county is entitled to one sen- ator; and after that, to additional members in propor- tion to its inhabitants. The first apportionment was : for Windham county, three ; Rutland, three ; Windsor, four ; Addison, three ; Orange, three; Washington, two; Chittenden, two; Caledonia, two ; Franklin, three ; Orleans, one; Essex, one ; Grand Isle, one ; Lamoille, two.
A new apportionment is to be made after each census taken of the United States. It possesses the same power to regulate and control its members as is enjoyed
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by the house of representatives. The trial of its mem- bers by impeachment is conferred on them. Every bill must pass both senate and house of representatives, and be signed by the governor. But if a bill be returned, it requires only the re-passing of it by a majority of both houses to become a law.
The following statements are from one high in office in the state, and enjoying the best means of knowing the facts and the operation of that body. "The first senate was elected in September, 1834, and organized in October of that year, David M. Camp, being the first president by virtue of his office, being lieutenant governor. He continued to hold that office till October, 1841, when he was succeeded by Waitstill R. Ranney. Lieut. governor Ranney was succeeded in 1843, by the Hon. Horace Eaton, who yet, 1846, retains that office. The entire body of the senate has been changed almost every two years ; and it has happened that many more young men have found their way into that body than could have been reasonably anticipated. The average ages of the senators, notwithstanding the constitutional requisition, that no one shall be less than thirty years, has, since the erection of that body, been less than that of the members of the house of representatives. There is a proposition now pending, to amend the constitution so as to require their term of office to be three years, one third of the number being elected annually .- It is questionable whether it will be ratified. If so, it will tend to give permanency and importance to the body."
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Relative to the alterations in the judicial department, the same writer remarks : "Our present judiciary system came into operation in October, 1825. The first court consisted of Richard Skinner, chief justice; Samuel Prentiss, Titus Hutchinson and Stephen Royce, Jr. assistant justices. Since that time, chief justice Skinner has been succeeded by Charles K. Williams, who is the present (1846) chief justice. Samuel Prentiss was made chief justice on the retirement of chief justice Skinner ; and on his retirement, Titus Hutchinson was called to that office, who was succeeded in 1839 by the present chief justice. Those persons who have held the office of assistant justices since the present system came in force, and have retired, are Bates Turner, Ephraim Paddock, Nicholas Baylies, Samuel S. Phelps, John Mattocks. The present assistant justices, (1842,) are Stephen Royce, Jacob Collamer, Isaac F. Redfield, Milo L. Bennett. In 1846, are Stephen Royce, Isaac F. Redfield, Milo L. Bennett, Daniel Kellogg.
The system has approved itself to the satisfaction of most of our people. It is a plan which imposes great labor on the court, but operates better under our plan of annual elections, I think, than any other."
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