VERMONT 



HUG: 



VERMONT 



cording to population, each, county having at 

 least one senator. Each township sends one 

 member to the house of representatives. 



The executive power is vested in a governor, 

 lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, treas- 

 urer and auditor, elected by the people for two 

 years. The superintendent of public instruc- 

 tion and various commissioners are appointed 

 by the governor or are elected by the general 

 assembly biennially. The governor's powers of 

 appointment and pardon are limited, and his 

 may be overridden by a majority vote in 

 the assembly. 



The judicial department consists of a su- 

 preme court, a court of chancery, county and 

 probate courts and justices of the peace. The 

 supreme court has seven justices, elected for 

 two years by the general assembly, and it meets 

 in each county and in a general session once 

 a year. Other judges are elected by the peo- 

 ple. There are fourteen counties, and local 

 government is vested chiefly in the county 

 courts and township officials. 



There is local option and high license for 

 the sale of liquor. Standard health and acci- 

 dent laws, workmen's compensation acts and 

 child-labor laws have been passed. Labor dis- 

 putes are settled by a state board of arbitra- 

 tion. In 1915 statewide primary laws were 

 adopted, making Vermont one of the forty-two 

 direct primary states. 



Settlement. Probably the first white man to 

 enter Vermont was Champlain, who established 

 the French claim to the territory. A fort was 

 built on the Isle La Motte, and French trad- 

 ing posts were established along the shores of 

 Upper Lake Champlain. In 1690, an English 

 settlement was made at Chimney Point, but the 

 first permanent white settlement was not made 

 until 1764, when Massachusetts established a 

 settlement at Fort Dumincr, in the present 

 town of Brattlcboro. During the French and 

 in Wars this frontier territory was the 

 scene of numerous Indian attacks and French 

 and English expeditions. 



A dispute arose between New Hampshire 

 and New York concerning thrir iv>p 

 boundaries in the territory of Vermont. From 

 1761 to 1763 the governor of New Hampshire 

 issued 108 grants of settlements, and the ter- 

 ritory became known as the Hampshire Grants. 

 New York claimed this territory east to the 

 Connecticut River, and in 1764 England recog- 

 1 New York's claims. Thereupon New 

 York ordered the settlers to surrender the land 

 granted by New Hampshire and repurchase it 



from the colony of Now York. Under Ethan 

 Allen, Seth Warner and Remember Baker, the 

 settlers took up arms to defend their right*. 

 and they organized in 1771 a military force 

 known throughout the colonies as the "Green 

 Mountain Boys." 



During the Revolution these Vermont troops 

 distinguished themselves in many brave and 

 successful encounters with the Indians and Eng- 

 lish, including a prominent part in the capture 

 of Fort 'Ticonderoga and the Canadian expedi- 

 tion. Fresh from defeat at Hubbardton, tin- 

 Vermont troops under Warner arrived just in 

 time to save the day for the American troops 

 at Bennington, where Burgoyne's series of vic- 

 tories was checked and the tide of the war was 

 turned. 



In January, 1777, the settlers of Vermont de- 

 clared their independence and adopted *'N 

 Connecticut" as the name of their state. In 

 July, the name was changed to Vermont, and 

 a constitution was adopted containing a clause 

 providing for the abolition of slavery; Ver- 

 mont was the first state to make such a provi- 

 sion. In 1782 the present boundary with New 

 Hampshire was fixed, and in 1790 New York's 

 claims were abandoned. 



Statehood. Vermont, for fourteen years an 

 independent state, was not recognized by Con- 

 gress until March 4, 1791, when it was adm 

 as the fourteenth state of the Union. During 

 the War of 1812 Vermont troops took a promi- 

 ment part in the battles at Plattsburg, Chip- 

 pewa and Lundy's Lane. In the War of Seces- 

 sion the state supported the Union with its 

 full quota of troops. Admirals George Dewey 

 and Charles E. Clark, commander of the Ore- 

 gon, were noted Vermonters. The state has 

 been Republican since the formation of tint 

 party in 1856. 



Other Items of Interest. Dwellers in Orleans 

 County, Vermont, still toll of thoir "runaway" 

 pond. This was a body of water two miles 

 long and about a half mile wul< . which was 

 called Long Pond. It discharged to the south. 

 but a short distance north of it lay another 

 pond which emptied by a rapid stream into 

 Memphrcmagog. The millor whose gristmill 

 was turned by this little stream was much in- 

 convenienced because at times the flow of 

 water was not great enough to turn his wheel, 

 and a plan was made to "tap" Long Pond and 

 send a part of its waters to tl.- north. A ditch 

 waa cut, but almost immediately the water be- 

 gan to rush through it with such force that tho 

 sides were washed away, the bed of the channel 



