CHAPTER XIV.
THE UNIONS.
Owing to the continual disturbance and partial depopulation of the State caused by the presence of the enemy, the election of state officers was deferred by a convention in December till the 12th of March, 1778. It was held on that day, and the government took regular form under the Constitution.
Thomas Chittenden, who had for some time been prominent in the political affairs of the forming commonwealth, was elected governor. He was born in Guilford, Conn., in 1730. In early manhood he began pioneer life in Salisbury, Conn., where he lived twenty-six years, prosperous, and a man of consequence in the town. Then the pioneer spirit, that lusty begetter of new states, again laid hold of him, and he purchased a tract in the wilderness lying upon the fertile borders of the Winooski, in the town of Williston. In 1774 he took his family to this wild region, but was scarcely established when the retreat of the American army from Canada left the northern settlers exposed to the enemy, and they retired to the southern part of the Grants. Living at times in Danby, Pownal, and Arlington, Chittenden remained till 1787, when he returned to Williston. He had not long been an inhabitant of the Grants when he naturally took his place among the leading men of the district. He was one of the committee that drafted the Vermont Declaration of Independence, and of the one that framed the government, and was president of that Council of Safety which exercised all the powers of the government until it was constitutionally organized, when he was elected governor, in which office, with the exception of one year, he was continued for eighteen years. His educational advantages had been slight, but he was possessed of a natural sagacity which enabled him to penetrate the character and designs of others, and to perceive, without the process of reasoning, the best course to pursue in any emergency. He was a masterful man, yet carried his points without appearing to force them, and seemed to fall into the ways of others while in fact he led them imperceptibly into his own. His calm, strong features expressed the kindness of heart that his acts were full of, such as refusing to sell for cash the abundant yield of his acres, but reserving it for the relief of the people in a foreseen time of need. Among the people with whom he had cast his lot, his lack of polished manners was no discredit. Hearty friendship was a better key to their affections, and his tall, athletic figure commended him to the favor of the stalwart Green Mountain Boys.[81] Governor Chittenden was eminently fitted for the times upon which he fell, and for the place to which he was appointed, and he wisely guided the young State through its turbulent infancy.
The first legislature met at Windsor in March, 1778, when a new trouble arose. Sixteen towns east of Connecticut River applied for admission to the new State of Vermont, on the frivolous plea that as New Hampshire, under the original grant to John Mason, extended only sixty miles inland from the sea, and its extension to the westward of this line had been made by royal commissions to the governor of that province, the royal authority being now overthrown, the people of the region were at liberty to elect what jurisdiction they would be under; but, as afterward became evident, the real object was to establish the seat of government on the Connecticut River. At first there was little disposition to accede to this petition, but it was also warmly urged by some of the Vermont river towns, that threatened in case of refusal to unite with the New Hampshire towns in establishing a new State. Whereupon the legislature submitted the subject to the consideration of the people, who should instruct their representatives how to act upon it at the adjourned session of the assembly to be held at Bennington in June.
A few days before this session, Ethan Allen arrived at Bennington, his once burly form gaunt and worn by the cruel captivity from which he had just been released, but his bold spirit as robust as ever. The people thronged into the little hamlet to greet their old leader, and, though powder was scarce and precious, the rusty old cannon that had been brought from Hoosic Fort years before to repel the rumored invasion of Governor Tryon was roundly charged, and thundered forth a welcoming salute of thirteen guns for the United States, and one for young Vermont. In response to a letter from Washington, commending Allen's unabated zeal in the cause of his country, Congress conferred upon him a brevet commission of colonel. But he appears to have thought his services more needed by his State than by the country, for he found the land speculators of New York as rapacious under the republican Governor Clinton as they were under the royal governors; and, after his return, he took no active part in the military operations of the United States. He was made brigadier-general of the militia of Vermont, a position that he held till 1780, when, being accused of traitorous correspondence with the enemy, he indignantly resigned it, at the same time declaring his willingness to render the State any service within his power, a promise he faithfully fulfilled during the few remaining years of his eventful life.
In the time afforded by the adjournment of the assembly, the friends of the proposed union managed to secure a majority of the legislature, and when it met at Bennington thirty-seven of the forty-nine towns represented were found in favor of the union. An act was passed authorizing the sixteen towns to elect members to the assembly, and it was resolved that other towns might be similarly admitted.
New Hampshire protested to Governor Chittenden against the union, and instructed her delegates in Congress to seek the aid of that body in opposing it. At the same time Vermont sent Ethan Allen to Congress to learn its views concerning the union. He reported the proceeding was regarded with such disapprobation that, if Vermont did not at once recede, the whole power of Congress would be exerted to annihilate her, and establish the rights of New Hampshire.
Thus Vermont became aware that she had not only incurred the enmity of the New Hampshire government, until now so friendly that it tacitly acknowledged the independence of the young State, but had also strengthened the unfavorable feeling of Congress toward her. If the wily politicians of New York had intrigued to accomplish these ends, they could hardly have devised a more successful method. The action of the succeeding legislature was unfriendly to the union, and in February, 1779, it was finally dissolved.