USA > Vermont > The story of Vermont (1889) > Part 14
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A popular phrase which is not quite just to New England refers to that part of the Union as "a good place - to go away from." This saying, born of the arrogance of rapid material growth in the newer States, is sometimes echoed even by New Englanders. Narrowing the inquiry to Vermont, is it true? Is not that State a good one in which to live, to bring up children, to make business in- vestments ? What are the advantages which the State offers to its people? In the second century of its Statehood, is it to continue to grow in pros- perity and attractiveness ? What promise does the present give of future usefulness ?
The Vermont of to-day is in many ways an ex-
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ceptionally favored State. Even in material things it faces a future bright with promise. It will never attain the enormous aggregate wealth of such States as New York and Pennsylvania, but its wealth is well distributed. There are relatively few of the very rich and of the very poor. The people are mostly of that great middle class which, removed from the fear of penury on the one hand and from the temptations of affluence on the other, forms the hope and stay of any republic. The property owned in the State is increasing slowly but surely, and year by year the advantages and conveniences which the general prosperity rather than individual affluence affords to a commonwealth are more widely extended.
The farming population of the State is growing less numerous, but this in itself is no cause for sur- prise or possibly even of regret, since in spite of it the farm productions are increasing. It does not take so many men to till the acres of the State as before the introduction of the mowing-machine and horse-rake and before the substitution of dairy farming or breeding for grain raising. The de- population in the rural districts must move more slowly in the future; at no distant period it must cease altogether. Already the choicest portions of the Western country are occupied and land is sold at prices as high as those obtained in Vermont.
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The principle of the regulation of the freight charges of railroads by the Government, established in the Inter-State Commerce law and certain to be extended in future legislation, will give the East as compared with the far West just freight rates to the markets ; the increasing number of farmers in the State who find more profit in cultivating a few acres well than a large number in a careless and wasteful fashion is another agency tending to counteract the lessening of farm population.
The manufactures of the State are in even more promising condition than its agriculture. Ver- mont's pure and healthful climate, the abundance of transportation facilities, the cheapness of land for sites of factories and operatives' homes and the low cost of stone and lumber for build- ing are all elements which promise contin- ual growth of the man- ufacturing industry, particularly in the direction of working up the metal and wood Ice Yachting - on products of the State. Its mineral wealth in Lake Champlain marble and limestone,
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in granite, slate, talc, soapstone and iron is in no danger of lacking capital for its development, so manifest are the attractions offered.
The natural advantages of the State have of late years brought to it an increasing number of city people in search of quiet and congenial homes in the country, either for the whole year or for the summer months. These residents bid fair in time to add no inconsiderable element to the popula- tion of the State and to measurably increase its resources. In common with those in the Berk- shire hills of Massachusetts Vermont farms are purchased in considerable numbers to form fine country places; some rise in the value of land from this cause is in the more favored spots to be expected.
The State is indeed singularly adapted by nat- ure for the residence of people of refined tastes and a liking for natural beauties. Its death rate is low, its lake and river valleys present glimpses of pict- uresque beauty, while its mountain scenery, every- where fine, rises to the pitch of grandeur at Mount Mansfield, than which New England has no more beautiful peak. The hills of the State in many places suffered greatly in appearance and useful- ness by the shorsightedness of many of the early settlers who cut the trees bare from their rounded tops, only to find after years of sad experience that
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the wealth of the soil on their steep slopes leached away in the heavy rains, leaving the ground arid and unfruitful. The evil is one that tends to cor- rect itself, however, and many of the hill tops are reclothing themselves with the forest under the wholesome neglect of the owners.
In many parts of the State fewer acres are under cultivation than in 1840, not at all to the ultimate disadvantage of the people; not a few towns and settlements, early planted on commanding hill- tops, have been removed bodily to more sheltered positions in the valleys, leaving their former sites to be again covered with trees. The streams of the State, broken by picturesque falls and rapids, its springs of pure, sparkling water, its lakes, its mingled forest and meadow and intervale, its pure air, clear sky and tempered summer heat make it, for at least a great portion of the year, a place rich in delights.
Even the winters, though severe, are wholesome and enjoyable to those in vigorous health. The dry air renders a like degree of cold much less dis- agreeable than on the sea-coast, so that the low readings of the thermometer do not indicate a cli- mate at all rigorous. The hills break the force of the wind which causes such fearful havoc in many parts of the country; the snow and ice facilitate rather than impede the work of farm life, besides
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lending themselves to healthy winter amusements.
The story of Vermont since the Civil War is a long and interesting one. A single chapter can but hint at what has been done and what has hap- pened in a few of many directions. Some of the events of the period are too recent to need recount- ing, others cannot be adequately discussed until time has shown their full effect, and yet others might be told were space not lacking.
But the passing glimpse which we have taken of its latest years do not show it as a stagnant or an unprogressive commonwealth. Though almost stationary in population, of slow growth in wealth, and lying remote from the nation's great arteries of trade and centres of arts and commerce, Ver- mont has made itself felt in the union of States by a quiet example, honest methods and stalwart men. In all estimates which are based on comparative bigness it is and will be quite overborne by giants of younger and lustier growth, but its people are, as they have always been, among the most intelli- gent and progressive citizens of the Republic.
Whether within the State upholding its indus- tries and building its institutions, or transplanted .to others and there leavening the heterogeneous mass of raw humanity with the homely virtues, quick intelligence and sturdy energy of the Green Mountains, the children of Vermont are its chief
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pride and possession. They, and their children learning from them of their birthplace, have per- petuated wherever they have gone the traditions of the State and have retained its blunt honesty and unshaken patriotism.
For wherever their land or lot, they carry ever in their hearts a deep-rooted affection for the home of their fathers - the rugged, picturesque and fruitful Commonwealth which, from the fair shores of Memphremagog to the Massachusetts line, is alive with stirring memories of the days gone by, when men and women . of unsullied name and homely ways counted for so much in the building of a nation. The people of such a State are its best gift and product to the world, and their future achievements like their past, will fill the bright- est pages of the story of Vermont when it is told to the end.
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Colchester
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Darlington O
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St. John's
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MONTPELIER
Northfield W
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Middlebury 5
Chelsea
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WHITE RIVER JUNCTION
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Windson
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OGancheilge
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1 NOH A
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VERMONT
Bennington
Brattleborough
IN OUTLINE WITH COUNTIES COUNTY TOWNS, ETC. ETC.
.....
Woodstech
Rutland
Fair Haven
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Guildfell
Winoost
THE STORY OF VERMONT.
TOLD IN CHRONOLOGICAL EPITOME.
There is scarcely a State or section of the American Union that does not disclose under the careful study of the archæologist evidences of great antiquity. The Green Mountain State is no exception.
THE ERA OF BEGINNINGS.
Far back in the misty and prehistoric past Vermont was the home of busy workers. They antedate the roaming and fighting Indian tribes; they link the present to the days of monstrous beasts and vast geologic up- heavals. Discoveries of pottery and rude weapons in the State are, as the Marquis de Nadaillac observes, "the imperishable witnesses of men, the very memory of whom has been completely lost to those who succeeded them." These successors were, without doubt, the so-called "Mound- Builders." The great vases that have been unearthed, some of them capable of holding over six gallons, the copper tubes, skillfully beaten and rolled, disinterred from the remains of dead forests at Swanton and the sculptured stones also found at the same place indicate the occupation of Vermont by those patient and indefatigable workers of the long-ago. When they were scattered and driven westward by the assaults of a relentless savagery to them succeeded the thousand years of Indian occupation, during the closing days of which time Alogonquin and Iroquois made it the dark and bloody ground of savage war.
THE ERA OF DISCOVERY.
That the American continent was probably visited by European navigators before Columbus is now generally conceded by those who have examined the evidence. That Hudson was not the first to enter New York bay is as certain as it is likely that Cartier was preceded by other white men in ex- ploring the Northern waters. But though the coast of the whole continent and many of its navigable bays and rivers had been seen by adventurous mariners from across the Atlantic, by Spaniards, Frenchmen, Dutchmen and Englishmen, no European explorer it is asserted penetrated far enough into the wilderness to reach Vermont until well within the seventeenth cent- ury. What the State then became to the whites it had long been to the native tribes, the scene of desperate combat, sudden surprises and bloody
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reprisals rather than of permanent residence. It was debatable ground, a dangerous frontier between hostile tribes. So Champlain found it; so, tra- dition ran among his Indian friends, it had been for many years before his coming. With Champlain the history of the State really commences, though it was a part of the territory claimed for the King of France by Cartier in 1535.
160g. Samuel de Champlain explored the lake named for him and upon its western bank defeated the Iroquois - July 29. Henry Hudson explored the North River to Albany.
1620. Landing of the Pilgrims.
1623. Settlement of Albany.
1627. Grant to Massachusetts colony of land reaching westward to the Pacific and including much of New Hampshire and Vermont.
1629. Grant to Mason of New Hampshire covering a portion of the pre- ceding territory.
1636. Settlement of Springfield, Mass.
1650. Provisional settlement of New York's Connecticut boundary in- volving that of Vermont.
1654. Northampton, Mass., settled.
1656. The Connecticut boundary arrangement ratified by Holland.
THE ERA OF COLONIZATION.
1664. New York conquered by the British. The grant to the Duke of York, afterward said to include Vermont. The claim eastward to the Con- necticut River abandoned so far as concerned Connecticut colony. (The line was afterward the subject of dispute and rearrangement, but was not greatly changed until 1700 and 1731.)
1670. Deerfield settled.
1690. The raid on Schenectady.
1697. The peace of Ryswick.
1702. " Queen Anne's War " begun.
1704. The raid upon Deerfield and the retreat through Vermont.
1709. Failure of Montreal expedition.
1713. The peace of Utrecht.
1714 Northfield settled on the Vermont boundary.
1715. " Equivalent lands " in Vermont granted by Massachusetts to Connecticut.
1724. Building of Fort Dummer in Vermont by Massachusetts.
1730. French settlement at Chimney Point, Addison, Vt.
1731. Building of Fort Frederic (Crown Point) by the French.
1736. Township No. I (Westminster) granted by Massachusetts.
1739. Grant of Walloomsack.
1740. The southern boundary of New Hampshire fixed, after more than a century of dispute, as it now stands. This involved the southern boun- dary of Vermont also in after disputes.
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1741. Benning Wentworth made Governor of New Hampshire with power to make grants west of the Connecticut.
1744. "King George's War" with France. "Fort Massachusetts " : erected at Williamstown.
1745. French and Indian raid upon Saratoga. Capture of Louisbourg. 1748. The treaty of Aix la Chapelle.
THE ERA OF DISPUTE.
1749. Grant of Bennington to speculators by Governor Wentworth.
1750. Gov. Clinton of New York protests and an arrangement is made to submit the boundary question to the king.
1753. The New York and Massachusetts boundary disputed.
1754. The French and Indian war begun.
1755- Military expedition against Nova Scotia. Braddock's defeat. Gen. Johnson defeats Dieskau with much loss on both sides and erects Fort William Henry at the foot of Lake George.
1756. The formal declaration of war. Montcalm captures Oswego. The summer wasted by the British.
1757. The capture of Fort William Henry and massacre of a portion of its garrison.
1758. Louisbourg again captured. An unsuccessful attempt to drive the French from Lake Champlain.
1759. Ticonderoga and Crown Point taken. Wolfe captures Quebec. Niagara taken by the British.
1760. Montreal taken and war practically closed.
1760-1763. Many grants of townships made by Gov. Wentworth.
1761. Bennington settled. Pioneers pouring into Vermont very rapidly under the authority of New Hampshire.
1763. The formal peace between England and France. The northern boundary of New York with Canada (involving Vermont's) fixed at 45 degrees north. Colden puts forth the claim of New York.
1764. The king finally decides the Connecticut "to be" the eastern boundary of New York. Quibble upon the words " to be."
1765. Lieut. Gov. Colden's proclamation annexing Vermont to New York. The issuing of New York patents begun. The Stamp Act goes into effect - November I.
1766. The Stamp Act repealed. The New Hampshire grants settlers send Samuel Robinson of Bennington to England. Cumberland County set apart by New York (now Windsor and Windham).
1767. The king forbids New York, until authorized, to grant any more · land in Vermont - July 24. Death of Robinson - October 27.
1769. Death of Gov. Moore of New York. Lieut. Gov. Colden disre- gards the king's orders in council. The raid on Brackenridge's farm.
1770. Gov. Dunmore arrives in New York and endeavors to wrest from Colden his land fees. More Vermont lands granted. The ejectment suits
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at Albany decided against the settlers. Ethan Allen appears as defendants' council. Mr. Robinson and others indicted for riot. Gloucester County, north of Cumberland, constituted.
1771. Gov. Tryon appointed. He continues the illegal granting of Ver- mont townships. Sheriff Ten Eyck and posse attempt to take Bracken- ridge's farm, but are driven off by a show of force. The townships form committees. Organization of the Green Mountain Boys. Surveyor Cock- burn frightened away from Socialborough. A reward offered for the arrest of .Allen, Baker and others.
1772. Jehiel Hawley and James Brackenridge repair to England to petition the king. Tryon ceases the grants. The British Board of Trade condemns the land jobbers. Justice Munroe's capture of Remember Baker and his rescue by neighbors. The Fays sent to New York to negotiate a truce. Charlotte County constituted by New York, lying on both sides of the lake.
1773. Col. Reid's tenants driven from Otter Creek. The "Durham (Clarendon) Rebellion " dealt with by the Green Mountain Boys.
1774. Reward offered for Allen, Baker, Warner and others concerned in the Durham disturbance and other acts of violence. Counter proclamation by settlers. Congress of delegates at Philadelphia. Tryon goes to England.
1775. Benjamin Hough whipped - January 30. The Westminster mas- sacre - March 13. Battle of Lexington. - April 19. Capture of Ticonde- roga - May 10. Assembling of Continental Congress - May 10. Forma- tion of Committees of safety. Gov. Tryon issues patents for 63,000 acres of land from his ship in New York harbor. Regiment of Green Mountain Boys formed. Invasion of Canada. Allen captured - September 25. Capture of St. Johns.
1776. Retreat from Canada. Meeting of Vermont convention and adop- tion of petition to Congress. Westminster convention - June 21. Decla- ration of Independence - July 4 Dorset Convention - July 24. Dorset joint Convention - September 25. Carleton's aimless expedition down Lake Champlain.
1777. Westminster Convention - January 15. Declaration of Indepen- dence - January 17. Petitions to Congress by both New York and Massa- chusetts. Windsor Convention - June 4 also July 2. Constitution adopted - July 8. Slavery prohibited. Council of safety named. Burgoyne's in- vasion. Evacuation of Ticonderoga - July 6. Battle of Hubbardton - July 7. Loan office opened. Property of Tories sold. Battle of Benning- ton - August 16. Stark censured by Congress - August 19. Gates suc- ceeds Schuyler. Burgoyne's surrender - October 17. George Clinton, an enemy of Vermont, becomes Governor of New York.
1778. Building of frontier forts by the Vermonters. British raiders on the lake among the farmers. Thomas Chittenden elected governor. Legis- lature meets at Windsor - March 12. Confiscation of Tory lands. Ethan Allen's return from prison. Redding hung as a traitor - June II. Union of western New Hampshire towns with Vermont proposed.
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1779. A code of laws adopted. Officers of New York regiment raised in Vermont arrested and fined. Legislature meets at Windsor - June 2. Congress appoints a committee to examine into the boundary dispute. No action follows. New Hampshire renews her claim to Vermont. Massachu- setts makes a similar claim. Congress, as before, is afraid of positive action. .: Vermont sends agents to Philadelphia. Vermont's " Appeal to the World " published.
1780. New York and New Hampshire plan to divide Vermont. Ira . Allen and Stephen R. Bradley sent to Philadelphia. Carleton comes up the , lake with a British force and takes Fort Ann. Ethan Allen calls out the militia. Sack of Royalton - October 16. Allen's truce with Carleton. Vermont begins a counter movement for a union with New York and New Hampshire towns.
1781. Allen submits to Congress Col. Robinson's letter of March 30, 1780. Gov. Chittenden's proclamation annexing the new towns - July 18. Congress declares it an "indispensable preliminary " to Vermont's admission that she give up the new towns. Vermont demurs. New York protests against the admission of the new State. Ira Allen sent to Canada to treat for exchange of prisoners. The intrigue with the British. The killing of Sergeant Tupper and the British general St. Leger's message of regret cause popular suspicion. The British general Haldimand presses to proclaim Ver- mont a crown province but is put off by the Vermont agents. Chittenden appeals to Washington - November 14. Conflicts of authority between Vermont peace officers and those of New York and New Hampshire. The fall of Yorktown - October 19.
1782. Washington writes to Chittenden, advising Vermont to give up an- nexed New York and New Hampshire towns - January I. The Legisla- ture complies, a committee of Congress favors the admission of Vermont, but the consideration of the report is postponed. The " Windham County Rebellion," arising from the commissioning by New York of civil and mili- tary officers in Southeastern Vermont. Their conflicts of authority with New York officers put down by Allen and the militia. The offenders ban- ished. The negotiations with the British languish. Congress condemns the severity of Vermont toward the Windham County " Yorkers " -Decem- ber 5- and orders the return of their property under pain of military inva- sion. The order disregarded.
1783. Vermont protests against the December resolutions. New York calls for their enforcement and Washington objects to the use of the army for that purpose. The Windham refugees (Church, Phelps, Shattuck and others) return to Vermont and are rearrested. Peace with Great Britain - September 3.
THE ERA OF FORMATION.
1784. Congress Committee reports against New York - May 29. Ver- mont ceases to press for admission to the Union. A State post-office es- tablished. Death of Seth Warner - December 26.
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1785. Legislation passed to quiet land titles in dispute. State coinage begun and a mint founded at Rupert.
1786. Final settlement of New York's Massachusetts boundary. Ver- mont constitution revised.
1787. Bill to cede jurisdiction of Vermont passes New York Assembly but fails in Senate. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
1788. The National Constitution ratified. Kentucky applies for admis- sion and Northern States desire admission of Vermont as a counter movement.
1789. Death of Ethan Allen - February 12. A bill providing for com- missioners to negotiate with Vermont passes New York Legislature - July 14. Vermont likewise creates a commission - October 23.
1790. The joint commission meets in New York -February. The act of appointment of the New York commissioners proves defective. A new act passed - March 6. October 7 the commissioners make a provisional arrangement. Vermont's Legislature ratifies the agreement - October 28 - and appropriates $30,000 to pay New York's claims in full.
1791. U. S. Constitution ratified- January 10. Congress passes act of admission. Vermont becomes a State - March 4.
1795. George Clinton's term as governor of New York ends.
1797. Death of Gov. Chittenden - August 25.
1800. Removals of Federal officials. Middlebury College founded. University of Vermont opened.
1801. Thomas Jefferson, President. The republicans, or French party, gain control of the Legislature.
1802. Ohio admitted to the Union.
1803. Proposed banks for Windsor and Burlington defeated.
1804. President Jefferson re-elected. The Massachusetts amendment limiting representation of slave States defeated in Vermont. Judges charged with exacting illegal fees.
1805. The accused judges declared innocent. Montpelier designated as the State capital after 1808.
1806. State banks at Woodstock and Middlebury established.
1807. Penitentiary at Windsor authorized. Israel Smith, Republican, governor.
THE ERA OF DEVELOPMENT.
1808. Legislature meets at Montpelier. James Madison elected presi- dent. Fight with smugglers on the lake. One of them hanged. National Temperance Society founded at Saratoga. Steam transit on Lake Cham- plain.
1809. Jonas Galusha, governor.
1810. Bills of Bank of U. S. made legal tender. State banks prove a failure.
1811. Remarkable floods. Renewal of U. S. Bank charter refused by Republicans. Private banks chartered in Vermont.
ERA OF DEVELOPMENT.
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1812. Madison re-elected president. War with Great Britain. Death of Robert Cochran- July 3. The State pledges its support to the war, de- clares non-intercourse with Canada, and levies a war tax.
1813. Chittenden elected governor by the Legislature. The Federalists' brief triumph. The war measures repealed. The Growler and Eagle taken by the British - June 2. The British at Plattsburg - July 30. Governor Chittenden orders the militia home - November 10. McDonough in win- ter quarters - December 19.
1814. Death of Ira Allen - January 7. British repulsed from Otter Creek - May 14. Battle of Plattsburg and Lake Champlain - Septem- ber II.
1815. Peace declared. Act granting monopoly of steam navigation passed and declared unconstitutional. The Republicans in control.
1816. The cold summer. The charter of the U. S. Bank renewed. James Monroe elected president. The "era of good feeling."
1817. Monroe visits Vermont. Another bad summer.
1818. Death of Dr. Jonas Fay - March 6.
1820. Madison re-elected. The "era of good feeling " continued. Pro- test against the admission of Missouri as a slave State.
1822. Lake Champlain canal opened. State Medical School founded. Death of John Stark - May 8.
1823. Act prohibiting horse racing passed.
1824. End of "era of good feeling." The Monroe party divided. Lafayette visits America. Burning of the University building.
1825. J. Q. Adams, president. Lafayette lays corner-stone of New University building - June 29. Lafayette at Windsor - June 28. Board of Canal Commissioners appointed. Erie Canal opened.
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