DISTURBANCES IN WINDHAM COUNTY.

DISPERSION OF THE YORKERS.

his men, were pursued, and all either ta- | March, between a company of Vermonken prisoners or dispersed. Those taken ters under Captain Knights, and a party were put under bonds for their good be- of Yorkers, near the south part of Guilhavior, and were compelled to furnish ford, in which the latter had one man supplies and quarters for the troops. Un- killed and several wounded; but before der Allen's martial law, the constable the close of the year 1784, the Yorkers found no difficulty in the collection of found their property mostly confiscated, taxes: nor was he very scrupulous about and themselves so harshly handled by the the sum assessed in the tax bill. Produce, civil and military authority of Vermont, horses, cattle and sheep, and whatever that they either submitted and took the else could be found belonging to the most oath of allegiance to the state, or abanviolent Yorkers, were taken and sold for doned the country, and settled in other the benefit of the state. places. The greater part of them fled into the state of New York, and settled upon lands especially granted by that state for the benefit of these sufferers. This dispersion of her partisans from the county of Windham terminated the attempts of New York to maintain her authority in Vermont by means of a military force; and, although she did not readily acknowledge the independence of Vermont, she probably, from this period, relinquished all hope of overthrowing the govern ment of Vermont, or of preventing the final acknowledgment of her independence by Congress.

During the following winter the disturbances became still more serious. On the night of the 17th of January, 1784, a party of Yorkers from Guilford, commanded by David Ashcroft and William White, about 12 o'clock at night, attacked the inn of Josiah Arms in Brattleborough, which was the quarters of General Farnsworth, Major Boyden, Constable Waters, and some others holding offices under the government of Vermont, and demanded the immediate surrender of Waters, who had been guilty of extorting taxes from persons professing allegiance to New York. Not being in a condition to make an effectual resistance to an armed force, Waters voluntarily surrendered himself into the hands of the Yorkers, but not till after they had fired about 30 balls through the house, and wounded Major Boyden in the leg, and shot a traveller through the thigh. Waters was carried into Massachusetts, but the party being pursued by a few Vermonters, he was released the next day and returned.

#

These disturbances, growing out of the controversy with New York, were followed by some others of a different character. During the long protracted war with Great Britain, the people had, to a very great extent, neglected their private concerns, and, when that contest was brought to a favorable termination and they were allowed an opportunity to look about them,itwas found that the affairs,not only of individuals, but of the states and The legislature of Vermont had, at their the general government, were in a most session in October, "voted to raise 200 embarrassed and wretched condition. The men for the defence of Windham county public debt of the United States exceeded against the Yorkers."- After the affair $40,000,000, and many of the states had at Brattleborough, finding the people of contracted debts in carrying on the war, Guilford determined to oppose the collec- amounting to several millions. The buildtion of taxes, Colonel S. R. Bradley, at ings and farms of individuals had gone to the head of this force, proceeded, January decay, and their business had become de18th, to that town for the purpose of en-ranged by neglect, and not a few had been forcing the collections. The parties of obliged to contract large debts for the sup Yorkers were all dispersed without oppo- port of their families. The creditors, both sition, excepting one which had collected of the public and of individuals, were benear the line of Massachusetts. This coming clamorous for their pay; while party, consisting of 25 men, fired upon the resources of the country were exhaustthe Vermonters as they advanced, by ed, the paper currency of the country which one man was severely wounded. rapidly depreciating, and the amount of The Yorkers then retreated with all pos- specie in existence being totally inadesible speed, over the line into Massachu-quate to meet the demand, the manner in setts. Several of the leaders were, however, taken and brought to merited punishment, by whipping, fine, and pillory. Another skirmish occurred on the 5th of

which these debts were to be paid,-these creditors satisfied,-was a subject of deep solicitude.

In this state of things, taxes were at tempted to be raised to meet the demands upon the general and state governments, and the courts, which had been to a very great extent suspended from the com

SHAY'S INSURRECTION.

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO THE PEOPLE.

mencement of the war, again resumed evidently dictated by a paternal regard to their functions, and numerous suits for their welfare and happiness. In this adthe collection of debts were entered upon dress he earnestly exhorts the people to their dockets. These attempts to enforce be industrious and economical-to avoid collections, in the then exhausted and de- as much as possible the purchase of forpressed state of the country, produced eign productions, and to give their attenvery extensive dissatisfaction among the tion to the raising of flax and wool, and people, and conventions of the malcon- the various necessaries for food and clothtents were assembled in various parts of ing; and he expresses the anxious hope the country, at which their grievances that by their prudence and diligence-by were discussed, and resolutions passed, their mutual forbearance and kindnessbreathing threatenings of opposition and together with such assistance as the legviolence to the civil and judicial authori-islature should, at its next session, be ties. As the shortest way to postpone the able to afford,-their sufferings would be payment of their debts, it was at length brought to a speedy termination, and determined to prevent, by force, the sit-themselves become a prosperous and hapting of the courts in which the suits were py people. pending; and various attempts were made in different parts of the country to carry this determination into execution, which, in the state of Massachusetts, resulted in the memorable Shay's Insurrection, in the latter part of the year 1786 and beginning of 1787.

The condition of Vermont at this period, was much better than that the confederated states. She had maged to pay her own troops during the war, by the avails of her public lands and other means, and having no connexion with Congress, no part of the burden of the public debt of the United States rested on her. But she was not equally exempt from the other causes of dissatisfaction, which operated in the confederated states. Many of the people, though possessed of houses and lands, were, in other respects, in low and straitened circumstances and so much incumbered with debts, that their immediate payment in the present scarcity of money, would require the sacrifice of all they had, and reduce themselves and families to a state of penury and starvation. Thus situated, it is not surprising, that the spirit of opposition to the judicial authority, which had manifested itself in the neighboring states, should make its appearance in Vermont.

In October, the legislature met at Rutland, and measures, designed to relieve the pecuniary embarrassments of the people, occupied a large share of the session. In pursuance of this object two acts were passed; one making all such articles a tender upon execution, to the inhabitants of either of the United States, as are made a tender upon execution by their respective laws; and the other, compelling creditors to receive specified articles in payment, after the expiration of the times limited in the contract.* A preamble and sundry resolutions were also adopted, expressive of the extreme anxiety of the assembly to gratify the wishes of the people and relieve their embarrassments, and requiring the people to assemble in their respective towns on the 1st Tuesday of January, at the usual place of holding freemen's meetings, and there express by Yea or Nay their approval or disapproval of "emitting a small bank of paper money on loan or otherwise,"-of continuing the acts above mentioned, and of a general tender act. The yeas and nays on these subjects were to be transmitted to the speaker of the Assembly, to be a guide to the Legislature at its next session. But these several acts and resolutions did not serve to quiet all the people; for there So early as the spring of 1784, a con- were many who did not intend to be comvention from several towns was assem-pelled to pay their debts in any way, and bled at Wells, by which sundry reso- they judged it the shortest method of passed in relation to the gen- avoiding payments to prevent the sitting eral sufferings and embarrassments of the of the courts, in which judgments and people, and a liberal amount of execration executions might be obtained against was meted out to the lawyers and sheriffs, them; and two attempts of this kind were but no disposition was manifested in this made shortly after the session of the legisstate to oppose the collection of debts by lature at which the above acts and resoluforce till the year 1786. During the sum- tions were passed, one in the county of mer of this year, the sufferings of the peo- Windsor, and the other in the county of ple becoming loud, on account of the extreme scarcity severe and their complaints Rutland. of money, Governor Chittenden in the

lutions were

On the last day of October, 1786, the

month of August published an address to Papers; the first on page 504, and the second on the inhabitants of the state, which was

*These .acts may be found in Slade's Vt. State page 508.

ATTEMPTS TO STOP THE COURTS.

WINDSOR COUNTY.

RUTLAND COUNTY.

time fixed by law for holding the court of began to harangue and threaten the court common pleas at Windsor, a mob of about for not adjourning agreeably to request, 30 armed men, headed by Benjamin Steb- upon which the court ordered the sheriff bins and Robert Morrison, assembled near to adjourn till 9 o'clock the next mornthe court-house with the obvious designing. of preventing the sitting of the court. They were waited on by Benjamin Wait, the sheriff of the county, the riot act was read, and they were ordered to disperse; which order, after a little hesitation, they judged it prudent to obey. The court then went in, and proceeded to business withont molestation.

Warrants having been issued for the ringleaders of the insurgents, Morrison was soon arrested, and indicted for a riot. He pleaded guilty, and threw himself upon the mercy of the court. The court sentenced him to suffer one month's imprisonment, to procure bonds of £100 for his good behaviour for two years, to pay a fine of £10, and the costs of suit. The insurgents, who belonged principally in Hartland, hearing of the arrest of Morrison, assembled at the house of Captain Lull, in that town, to the number of about 40, under arms, with the intention of rescuing their leader. This coming to the knowledge of the court, they ordered the sheriff to procure assistance, proceed to the place, arrest the insurgents, and commit them to prison. The sheriff having collected a small force, proceeded in the night to Hartland, came upon the insurgents unawares, and, after a short scuffle, in which some slight wounds were inflicted, but no lives lost, he succeeded in taking and committing to prison 27 of their number. These, on being arraigned before the court, pleaded guilty, and were sentenced to pay fines, and costs of court, and procure bonds for their good behavior for one year. This put an end to the disturbances in Windsor county, and the militia, which had, during these transactions, turned out to the number of five or six hundred, returned to their homes.

The mob now refused to let the court depart; called for arms, which were immediately brought from a neighboring house, where they had been lodged for the occasion, and placed sentries at the door and around the house, making prisoners of the sheriff, judges, and a number of other gentlemen, whom they kept in confinement for several hours; but, finding they were not to be intimidated, they were suffered to depart. In the evening a committee of the insurgents, who styled themselves Regulators, again waited upon the judges at their lodgings, and renewed their demand for an adjournment without day, but were informed that it could not be complied with-that not only their oath and duty, but the honor and dignity of the government, obliged them to proceed in the necessary business of the aeurt.*

Intated at this answer, the rioters resolved to prevent, at all hazards, the sitting of the court the next day. With this view they took possession of the courthouse, and messengers were sent to rally re-enforcements from the neighboring towns. In the mean time, orders were sent to Col. Clark and Col. Pearl and Lieut. Col. Spafford to call out the militia without loss of time for the support of government. These orders were issued about 8 o'clock in the evening, and were responded to with such alacrity that by 9 o'clock the next morning the two colonels above mentioned appeared with sufficient force to protect the court from further insult or molestation.

The insurgents left the court-house early in the morning, but continued in the vicinity during the day to the number of 150. In the evening, several of their A few days after, a scene somewhat leaders were arrested and committed to similar was acted at Rutland. On the prison; but Lee, the chief in command, 21st of November the court opened at made his escape, and Capt. Cooly, of that place, at 11 o'clock in the morning, Pittsford, retired with about 40 of the inand adjourned to 2 o'clock in the after-surgents in a body. The insurgents arnoon. In the mean time, a committee, rested were put upon trial, found guilty, pretending to have their appointment and fined from £3 to £25 each, according from the people, waited on the court and to the aggravation of their offence, and requested them to adjourn without day. were required to find sureties for their The court informed them that after call- good behavior for one year. ing the docket and attending to the necessary business of the day, they would take their request into consideration. On opening the court in the afternoon, one Col. Lee, at the head of about 100 mal* This firm and dignified reply of the court may contents, rushed into the court house, and be found at length in the Vermont Gazette, printed in a most insolent and riotous manner at Bennington, Dec. 11, 1786.

In the mean time, the leaders of the insurgents, who had escaped arrest, sent expresses through the country with the

RESOLUTION OF THANKS TO THE MILITIA.

BANK AND TENDER ACT.

at the October session, as already mentioned, were laid before the General Assembly, and exhibited the following results.

most false and groundless reports respecting the answer of the judges, the proceedings of the court and the treatment of the prisoners, and on Sunday morning, the 26th of November, the insurgents again assembled in Rutland to the number of 200. These were mostly men who had not been engaged in the riots of the preceding Tuesday and Wednesday, and when they had ascertained the facts in the case, and the utter falsehood of the reports, which had induced them to countenance the rebellion, a large proportion of them declared themselves in favor of the government, and joined the militia under Col. Clark. This so disheartened the remainder that they immediately dispersed, and left their leaders to their fate. On Monday evening, every thing being quiet, the militia received the thanks of the court for their prompt and efficient services, and were discharged. The court continued to sit unmolested till it had fin-ed to check the legal enforcement of colished its business, and then adjourned without day.

1st. Shall there be established a Bank for the issue of paper money on loan to the people? Yeas 456, Nays 2,197. 2dly. Is it expedient to pass a general Tender Act? Yeas 150, Nays 881. 3dly. Shall the present act making articles a tender on execution be continued? Yeas 481, Nays 611. 4thly. Shall the act for the fulfillment of contracts in kind after the specified time of payment is elapsed, passed in October, 1786, be continued? Yeas 855, Nays 225. An act was also passed making neat cattle, beef, pork, sheep, wheat, rye, and Indian corn a lawful tender, if turned out by the debtor on any execution, which must be received by the creditor at the value of their appraisal by men under oath. These proceedings serv

lections; the people, relieved in a measure from vexatious litigation, now applied Thus terminated the feeble attempts to themselves with greater diligence to their impede the course of justice in Vermont; respective avocations; business gradually and the event showed, that, notwithstand- resumed its wonted activity; the earth, ing the general distress and dissatisfac- by the blessing of Providence, rewarded tion, the yeomanry of the country were abundantly the labors of the husbandman; firmly attached to the principles of consti- and the hardships and sufferings of the tutional liberty, and would utterly dis- people were soon relieved and forgotten countenance any resort to lawless vio-in the midst of the general prosperity and lence for the redress of grievances. It happiness. showed that it was the settled determination of the great body of the people to support the constitution and government of their choice, the courts of justice which they had established and the laws which they had enacted, as the only sure means of securing to themselves and their children the fruits of their own industry, and to endure patiently the evils and sufferings under which they labored, until by peaceable and constitutional means their removal could be effected.

The next session of the Vermont Legislature, after the transactions which have just been related, was commenced at Bennington on the 15th of February, 1787, and on the 2d day of March the following resolution was passed by the General Assembly, and ordered to be published:

"Resolved, That this house entertains a high sense of the services done to this state by the officers and soldiers, whose spirited exertions crushed the late daring insurrection against government in the Counties of Rutland and Windsor, and does hereby return the said officers and soldiers their hearty thanks."

At this session, the yeas and nays taken on the 1st Tuesday in January upon the questions submitted to the people

SECTION IV.

Settlement of the Controversy with New York, and the admission of Vermont into the Union.

On the 20th of January, 1783, the preliminary articles of peace were signed, which terminated the war with Great Britain, and established the independence of the United States. By this event, Congress was in a great measure relieved from its embarrassments with regard to Vermont, and Vermont released from her fears. The British army upon the northern frontiers of Vermont, whose efforts had been so long paralyzed by the artful policy of a few individuals, was now withdrawn, and the people of Vermont were now in little dread of external foes, nor very solicitous for an immediate union with the confederated states. Their confidence in the wisdom and ability of Congress, which had been much impaired by the evasive and vacillating policy of that body with regard to Vermont, during the war, was now dearly destroyed. They

82

CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT.

CONDITION OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

CONSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES.

beheld the United States without a cur- | ture deliberation, adopted a Constitution, rency, without any adequate revenue, while their armies were unpaid and dissatisfied, their credit gone, and the government daily sinking into insignificance and contempt.

which gave and secured to the central government all the powers necessary to give it firmness and efficiency. This constitution was ratified by the states, and the first Congress assembled under it, on the 3d of March, 1789.

Vermont, on the other hand, in consequence of being refused admission into the federal union, was, in a great measure, freed from the difficulties in which congress and the confederated states were involved. Her government, having learned wisdom from experience, was moving prosperously onward and was daily increasing in firmness and efficiency. The United States had contracted an immense debt in the prosecution of the war, but the calls of Congress upon the people to pay this debt, could not reach into Vermont. Vermont, it is true, was obliged to pay the forces which she had raised for her own defence, but these were few, as she had, during much of the war, relied for safety more upon her policy, than her power. And, much of the territory of Vermont being ungranted and at the disThe ancient difficulty with New York, That state posal of the legislature, after the close of the war, settlers from other states, invi- however, remained unsettled. ted hither by the mildness and efficiency well knew that Vermont would now reof the government, the comparative ex-main a free and independent state, and emption from taxes, and the fertility and she probably felt but little anxiety that it cheapness of the lands, annually made should be otherwise. But the former large accessions to her population and governors of New York had made grants resources, and enabled her, out of the of large tracts of land in Vermont, the vaavails of her public lands, to supply her lidity of which, the government of Vertreasury and pay her debts without im- mont refused to admit, and the grantees posing oppressive burdens upon the peo- were constantly complaining to the govple. The people of Vermont, observing ernment of New York of the injury done that their own condition was gradually them, in not being permitted to take posimproving, while that of their neighbors session of their property. The governwas constantly growing worse, ceased to ment of New York did not conceive that regard their admission into the union as it was under very strong obligation to rean event to be desired, or calculated to fund what had been extorted for these grants by the cupidity of the royal goverbetter their condition. nors of that province before the war; yet, she manifested a disposition to compromise the matter, and have the difficulties adjusted on amicable terms.

After the adoption of the federal constitution, the policy and proceedings of the new Congress were carefully observed by the people of Vermont. During two sessions they found the government laboring to restore public confidence by providing for the payment of the public debts, and by the establishment of equal law and justice in every department of the federal government. Their measures appeared to be marked with so much wisdom and prudence, as, in a great degree, to restore to the people of Vermont that confidence in the federal government, which had been nearly destroyed by the evasive and vacillating policy of the old Congress, and to remove the aversion, which they had for some time felt, to a confederacy with the United States.

In this state of things, many of the leading statesmen and philanthropists in the United States began to be filled with apprehension and alarm at the operation and tendency of public affairs. They perceived that the powers, with which Congress was invested, were totally inadequate to the purposes of government, and that a new, more solid and efficient organization was indispensable, in order to secure to the people of the United States, and their posterity, the blessings of that liberty and independence, which they had purchased at the expense of so A much blood, and toil, and treasure. the suggestion of James Madison, of Virginia, and in conformity with a resolution of Congress, a convention of delegates from the several United States assembled at Philadelphia in 1787, which, after ma

Events also occurred in relation to the federal government, which disposed New York still more, to admit the independence of Vermont, and to wish her confederation with the United States. It was perceived that by the exclusion of Vermont, the eastern states were deprived of their just representation in Congress, and New York could not but see, that, if their old difficulties could be settled, the interests and influence of Vermont would, in almost every instance, coincide with her It therefore soon became apparent own. that public sentiment in New York was in favor of a reconciliation. "Vermont, it was said, is in full possession of indepen