USA > Vermont > The story of Vermont (1889) > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16
Another convention was held at Dorset on Allen's return, at which thirty-one towns were represented, and a resolution was passed pledging the lives and fortunes of the people to the common defence. A proposition to ask New Hampshire to form the Grants into a separate district was seri- ously considered, but nothing came of it. In the same month a convention of the eastern towns was held at Westminster and arrangements were made for a joint meeting at Dorset in September, repre- senting the towns on both sides of the mountain. The September convention again repudiated the authority of New York and organized a Committee of Safety, composed of such men as Samuel Chit- tenden, Ira Allen and Jonas Fay. In October the convention met again, but the country was then in
.
£
94
BUILDING THE STATE.
a fever of excitement over Carleton's invasion and an adjournment was effected to January 15, 1777, no other business being accomplished.
The January convention was in session but three days, yet it was a meeting fraught with grave im- portance for the future, for on the seventeenth day of January, 1777, the declaration was passed that the territory known as the New Hampshire Grants " of right ought to be and is hereby declared for- ever to be considered as a separate free and inde- pendent jurisdiction or State." This Declaration of Independence was undoubtedly suggested by that adopted by the Philadelphia convention on July 4, 1776. It is a glowing memory to every loyal son of the Green Mountain State. To this day it is celebrated, not only in the State, but wher- ever from Maine to Texas, from Boston to San Francisco a few Vermonters are gathered together. On the seventeenth of January good children of the State eat butternuts and maple sugar, and pork and beans in honor of the Green Mountain Boys. They devote a few hours to the stirring old stories of Allen and Warner, of the cupidity of the " Yorkers," of the cruel craft of the Indians, and the Hessians' brutality and, above all, they laud the pluck and heroism which enabled the Vermonters of '77 to build the State of which its sons and daughters are to-day so proud.
95
BUILDING THE STATE.
The convention in its choice of a name for the new State was at first so unfortunate as to pitch upon "New Connecticut," but before the year was out this was changed to Vermont, a fanciful title derived doubtless from the Reverend Samuel Peters act of christening and from the Green Mountains
You shall see some - body hung, for if Redding is not hung I will be hung myself."
which are the State's most notable natural object. The majority of the settlers were from Connecticut and their love of their old home suggested the name, but it was soon apparent that it was hardly a fit one for an independent commonwealth. No one has since regretted that the name was changed
96
BUILDING THE STATE.
or denied the appropriateness and beauty of the one finally selected.
To set forth the claims of the new State another petition was prepared. This was sent to Congress by agents empowered to represent the people, but to the new petition no more favor was shown than to the old. It must not be held altogether to the discredit of Congress that it was not willing to act promptly in Vermont's favor. A large majority of the members were heartily in sympathy with the new State. They hesitated not to assure its dele- gates of this. But they were also mortally afraid of offending New York. That powerful colony was full of Tories whose wealth and influence were cast in the scale against the popular cause. The pos- session of New York was absolutely necessary. With the king in undisputed control of the prov- ince which lay like a wall between Massachusetts on the one hand and Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas on the other, the war for freedom would be waged at a serious disadvantage. How- ever much its members might sympathize with Vermont Congress could hardly afford to run much risk of alienating New York. It is probable that this risk was overestimated at the time, and that the admission of Vermont to an equality with the other colonies would not have turned New York over to the king. The different colonies had how-
97
BUILDING THE STATE.
ever but scant information of one another's real condition; it suited the New York agents to rep- resent the situation as extremely critical and Congress, as congresses will, fell into the not inexcusable error of unnecessary caution.
Repulsed and discouraged the delegates returned to Vermont. Public interest ran high and sessions of the convention, more representative than any that had met before, were held in June and July. At the July session, which convened at Windsor, the Constitution of the State was adopted, under circumstances that were most peculiar. Burgoyne's advance up the lake and the evacuation of Ticon- deroga had been reported to the Assembly; many members were alarmed for the safety of their homes and families, and on the eighth of July were on the point of demanding an adjournment when a heavy thunder-shower came up. It was while waiting for this to subside that the con- vention passed, paragraph by paragraph, the first Constitution of Vermont.
Though adopted with such appearance of haste, the new organic law of the State was well considered. It was admirably adapted to the needs of the times. Many of its ideas were borrowed from the Pennsyl- vania Constitution which had been recommended as a model by Dr. Thomas Young of Philadelphia. Its provisions were moderate and liberal and con-
98
BUILDING THE STATE.
trasted quite strongly with those of the Constitu- tion recently adopted by New York. That State had limited the franchise by a property qualifica- tion; Vermont imposed no such restriction. New York's Constitution affirmed the validity of the Albany patents in the disputed territory; Ver- mont's as stoutly denied it. The liberty-loving citizens of the Green Mountain State in this nota- ble document gave practical proof of their faith in freedom, for their Constitution prohibited slavery within the limits of the State. Property in man was at that time not only permitted but practised throughout the entire north and to Vermont there- fore belongs the credit of first setting the official seal of condemnation against the evil. For the rest, the Constitution vested the legislative power in an Assembly elected by ballot, one member from each town, while to a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and twelve Councilors, elected by ballot of the whole State, were entrusted duties mainly of an executive and advisory nature.
The first election under the new Constitution was held in the spring of 1778. Thomas Chit- tenden, who had been President of the Committee of Safety, was chosen Governor. The new Legis- lature was at once confronted by grave financial problems. A loan office had been opened the previous year and the people invited to lend money
99
BUILDING THE STATE.
upon six per cent. interest. Few however had re- sponded to the invitation. Money was imperatively needed to carry on the war, and a bill was passed providing for the confiscation and sale of the es- tates of Tories, an example which was followed by all the other States.
The Committee or Council of Safety had already seized the personal property of the Tories for the general use. The unfortunate loyalists were now stripped of their lands, and all that they possessed. Not quite all, however; for a certain amount of household furniture, painfully enumerated by hands unused to the pen in the old inventories which have come down to us, was allowed each housewife who wished to leave the State and join her Tory hus- band or friends.
Since the war began and the authority of the New York courts had been repudiated, the Grants had been in a chaotic condition that would have merged into anarchy, had it not been for the good sense and good counsel of the people. Until the new Constitution was framed and the provisions made in it for courts and legal processes could be appealed to, the citizens were practically without law, though by the town and State committees a rude but summary justice was administered.
The temper of the people was well illustrated in the summer of 1778 by the incidents attending the
-
1
100 - 1
BUILDING THE STATE.
execution of David Redding. This individual had been found guilty of acting as a spy for the enemy and condemned to be hung on June 4, the day appointed for the meeting of the Legislature. Law- yers were scarce in those days, but on the very morning of the execution some one who happened to possess a copy of Blackstone, applied to the Gov- ernor and Council for a reprieve on the ground that Redding had been tried by a jury of only six of his peers instead of twelve. The reprieve was granted, much to the disgust of the multitude. They had assembled to see a spy hung and they were strongly inclined to take the matter into their own hands.
When the murmurings were loudest Ethan Allen, just back from imprisonment in New York, spoke to the crowd from a stump. He explained why the execution had been delayed, and added, " You shall see somebody hung, for if Redding is not hung I will be hung myself." No one wished to see the hero of Ticonderoga thus summarily cut off, but the grim humor of his utterance put the people into the best of temper, and they dispersed with confi- dence that Redding would not escape his deserts. A jury of twelve good men and true was promptly impaneled, and one week later upon their verdict the spy was executed. It is to the credit of the people that this was the only serious disturbance
AN OLD-TIME ELECTION.
سنة
ஆபிஸ்
٠
L: (
EnCY RARY
١
103
BUILDING THE STATE.
during the two years when the State was deprived of courts and all legal machinery.
One of the first matters with which the new Leg- islature must deal was a petition from sixteen western towns of New Hampshire for permission to join the State. The petition was favorably con- sidered, but New Hampshire, which had until then been very friendly to Vermont, at once became ‹ quite the reverse, and for the time that State as well as New York was to be reckoned among the enemies of the Grants. Allen, who had been sent to Congress to represent Vermont as a suitor for admission to the Union, reported this unfavorable condition of affairs. In October the Legislature repaired its mistake and voted that no change should be made in the old boundaries.
Proposition and counter proposition for the set- tlement of the dispute met in Congress and de- feated each other. Soon after the petition of the sixteen towns above referred to, a plan was put forward to divide Vermont between New Hamp- shire and New York, giving the lands east of the mountain to the former and those west to the latter. The proposition was satisfactory to New York, it suited the irate temper of New Hampshire, but a piteous wail went up from New Yorkers claiming land on the east side of the mountain. This the New York delegates in Congress would have been
104
BUILDING THE STATE.
willing to disregard, but opposition to the division scheme now arose from unexpected quarters. Mas- sachusetts for the moment revived her claim to the territory, apparently only with the friendly object of defeating the division scheme, and some of the Southern States, jealous of New York's power and importance, declared themselves unwilling to sanc- tion any arrangement which should confirm its title to either the whole or a part of Vermont.
Meanwhile the Legislature was recruiting its lean treasury by regranting townships where the land had already been patented by New York. A scheme for enlarging the boundaries by annexing to the new State not only the western towns of New Hampshire but the northeastern ones of New York was seriously discussed. The eagerness with which it was caught up by those poorer residents of the latter State, who were deprived of the franchise by the property qualification in its Constitution, showed that the people of the Grants had many friends among the " Yorkers." Indeed in the latter part of 1780, the aristocratic Senate at Albany was only prevented from ceding the jurisdiction of Vermont by a threat from Governor Clinton that he would prorogue that body if it persisted.
Shortly after this time the proposed union with a number of towns east of the Connecticut and west of the New York line was actually consum-
105
BUILDING THE STATE.
mated. The members from these towns were given seats in the Vermont assembly, and Governor Chit- tenden publicly proclaimed the annexation.
This bold measure greatly helped Vermont with Congress, and that body was further impelled to consider her wishes by the fear that her people might form an alliance with Great Britain. The letter of Colonel Robinson to Ethan Allen already referred to was in the following March submitted to Congress. It served to deepen the feeling of apprehension, and on the twentieth of August a resolution was adopted, New York alone voting in the negative, stating that an indispensable prelimi- nary to the recognition of Vermont as a separate State should be its explicit relinquishment of the territory claimed by it east of the Connecticut and west of the twenty-mile line.
This proposition was eminently reasonable and it is possible that if it had been promptly accepted the State might then have been admitted to the Union. But whether the Legislature feared that Congress would fail to keep its implied promise or was prevented from complying by the belief that it could hold all the territory over which it claimed jurisdiction, the suggestion was not ac- cepted. The opportunity was lost. For when in the following spring a delegation appeared before Congress prepared, by the advice of General
106
BUILDING THE STATE.
Washington, to agree to the terms proposed, that body was again in a timid and dilatory mood and the delegates returned home disgusted and unsuccessful.
Meanwhile New York had recovered somewhat from the confusion into which the outbreak of the war had thrown her and the authorities had re- sumed their efforts to establish their sway to the banks of the Connecticut. Governor Clinton (among whose many excellent qualities an iron will was conceded by all in Vermont to be the most promi- nent) lent every encouragement in his power to the Yorkers in the southeastern corner of the State. He appointed civil and military officers of his faction in that section and advised them to uphold their authority by force.
Colonel Timothy Church, whose commission was issued by Clinton, was the ruling spirit among the Yorkers of Windham County, as that portion of the State had been designated. Firm in his adhe- rence to New York he forcibly resisted the execu- tion of a judgment rendered against him by a Vermont justice in a civil suit. The Vermont sheriff, thus repelled by Church and his men, com- plained to Governor Chittenden, and Ethan Allen was commissioned to lead two hundred and fifty volunteers to put down the " Windham County rebellion." Church, Timothy Phelps the New
107
BUILDING THE STATE.
York sheriff and others were arrested, and at the next session of the court it was decreed that they should be banished and forbidden to return under penalty of death. Their estates were confiscated to the use of the State.
Congress by a close vote on the fifth of Decem- ber adopted a resolution condemning the treatment of Church and Phelps, and ordering the restitution of their property. No attention was paid to the order though it was accompanied by a threat to march troops into the State to enforce it. Event- ually New York recompensed the exiles by a gen- erous tract of land in Chenango County. Church and Phelps returned to Windham County in 1783. Here Phelps endeavored to act as sheriff, but he and Church were both promptly rearrested, as well as a number of their adherents who before had escaped or eluded capture. With these energetic measures the last attempt of the land jobbers to rule the State ceased.
The formal declaration of peace in September, 1783, did not decrease or alter the determination of Vermont to uphold its independence of New York. It did however put an end for the time being to its desire to enter the Union. The State was included in the territory whose freedom was conceded by Great Britain, and as New York's claims to authority were no longer seriously urged,
108
BUILDING THE STATE.
its independence was complete. So long as the war lasted there was every reason to desire the union with the other States, to share with them such protection against invasion as the feeble Con- tinental armies could afford, and bear becomingly as an equal a part in the toils and dangers of the common defense. But when the peace was signed and the actual stress of war ended, Vermont's resentment toward the Congress which had for years evaded its plea for admission was reinforced by other and more cogent arguments for holding aloof. The former colonies were bound together into a weak confederacy by a tie that was but a rope of sand. It was a confederacy crushed by a hopeless debt and torn by internal dissensions - a confederacy which Europe confidently looked to see dismembered and of whose permanence the most ardent friends of freedom had often little hope. There was little reason now for Vermont, unencumbered by debt, unvexed by rivalries, grow- ing in wealth and population at an unprecedented rate, and free to choose its own destiny, to desire admission to so uncertain a Union. And so for eight years its people turned their attention to the affairs of the State, sadly disordered by war and controversy.
During this period there was absolutely no limit to the powers vested in the Legislature. It was the
١
109
BUILDING THE STATE.
sole ruling power in what was to all intents and purposes an independent nation ; it was a nation in all but name, so far as any power exercised over it by Congress was concerned, yet it did not choose to exercise any authority more generous than that claimed by the other States under the loose federa- tion, and these were indeed quite sufficient for the ordering of all its affairs. It fixed its own weights and measures, established a minor coinage, organized a militia and set up a post-office department under a postmaster general, with offices in a few of the chief towns, pony expresses to outside points and a sliding scale of charges varying with the distance but uniform with those of the other States. More important to the pros- ETHANALLEN-MONUMENT perity of the people BURLINGTON. than all these, was the legislation for the sim- plification of the legal tangles that clouded the title of much of the real estate.
The natural result of the boundary dispute had been to multiply litigation in ejectment suits, but this litigation was reduced to a min-
1
110
BUILDING THE STATE.
:
imum by wise and prudent yet radical legislation modifying the severity of the common law. By ancient usage the occupant of land whose title should prove defective no matter how many years he had been in possession, had no redress against the rightful owner, nor had he any means of secur- ing payment for the improvements he might have made. In Vermont, however, special statutes were made in favor of one who in good faith was the occupant. They provided for an equitable enjoy- ment by him of his improvements and of the lands themselves upon a reasonable payment.
Singularly enough, Vermont's final admission to the Union was largely accomplished through the agency of her ancient enemy New York. There had always been in that colony a strong minority who favored the Vermonters' claims. Even the most obstinate now began to see that there was absolutely no hope of reclaiming the disputed terri- tory. On the other hand the power and influence of the Northern States in Congress would be in- creased by the admission of another from that section. Kentucky had applied for admission, and her influence, unless counterbalanced by that of a new Northern State, would still further enhance the commanding position of the South.
The struggle between the two sections for the possession of the Federal capital caused New York
/
III
BUILDING THE STATE.
bitter regret that Vermont had not been admitted to add her vote in Congress to the northern side. The adoption of the Constitution in 1789 removed one strong popular objection to reapplying for ad- mission. Now for the first time in its history the Union seemed to be established upon a foundation firm enough to promise permanence. The Vermont- ers were stanch Federalists. They believed in a strong government and looked with more favor upon the United States, clothed with its new Federal powers, than they had upon the weak confederacy.
Standing in this altered position, both parties to the long dispute made a move toward comity. Commissioners from the two States met each other to finally determine the boundary dispute and, after considerable delay, New York agreed, upon the payment by Vermont of thirty thousand dollars as a partial indemnity for the losses which citizens of the former State had sustained, to relinquish all claim to the territory. The Legislatures of the two disputants ratified the agreement, and on the eight- eenth of February, 1791, Congress declared that on the fourth of March next ensuing Vermont should be admitted "as a new and entire member of the United States of America."
Thus ended the longest and most bitterly con- tested internal boundary dispute in the history of the country. The effect of the controversy upon
II2
BUILDING THE STATE.
the people had been marked and it continued to exert its influence upon them and the popular trend of thought for many years to come. So much dis- cussion of grave public questions had made them pre- eminently a people jealous of their political rights, quick in expedients, abounding in public spirit and in devotion to the common cause. They were prone to political discussions and to the study of the law. Of all the learned professions, this has since attracted the largest proportion of Vermont's aspiring youth. The people of the new State had deemed their rights worth fighting for; they had dared and suffered much to maintain them. What had cost them so much they valued and were ready to defend. They were, in a word, ideal citi- zens of a free republic. As was natural in a commonwealth which had just passed through a long and bloody war and had still abundant cause to fear its repetition, the militia of the State was numerous and well drilled. In 1792 it consisted of twenty regiments of infantry, fifteen companies of cavalry and six companies of artillery and must have included nearly all the male inhabitants of suitable age to bear arms.
The government of the State at the time of its admission was simplicity itself. There was no capital city and no State House. Each year the Legislature met for a few days in October at some
1
1
113
BUILDING THE STATE.
one of the larger towns designated by vote for that purpose. The members, like the State officials, were generally farmers. The pay accorded to the highest servants of the State was meagre com- pared with modern standards, yet it was not then complained of as insufficient. The Governor re- ceived one hundred and fifty pounds a year; the Lieutenant-Governor was paid fifteen shillings per day while the Assembly was in session, the Gover- nor's Councilors seven shillings a day and the Assemblymen six shillings. The Secretary of State received twelve shillings per day and the Secretary of the Council nine shillings during the few days in the year when actually employed. The Justice of the Supreme Court received one pound seven shillings and the Associate Justices one pound two shillings daily.
The year after the admission of the State its constitution was somewhat altered. The test oath prescribed for members of the Assembly was abol- ished, the religious liberty of legislators being secured by a clause which provided that " no relig- ious test shall be required of any member of the Assembly." Provision was made for the future re- vision of the Constitution and laws by the rather remarkable device of a Council of Censors, meet- ing every seven years, the members of which were to suggest changes in the laws and Constitution.
1
114
BUILDING THE STATE.
Thus, at the beginning of the new century, was the Green Mountain State introduced into the sis- terhood of commonwealths. Her preparation had been long, peculiar, perplexing and hazardous. But it had bred in her people a strength of purpose and a practical common-sense that were especially needed for the consistent development of a great, free State.
With full popular suffrage, with slavery pro- hibited, with no religious distinctions or disabili- ties, the wisdom of her citizens was emphasized by her lenient laws and Vermont at once took her stand as one of the most liberal and progressive States of the young Union.
١
CHAPTER V.
THE PARTIES DIVIDE.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.