30 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part. II. 



CHARACTER OF THE SETTLERS. 



ETHAN ALLEN. 



SETH WARNER. 



ton. During the next year, 177J, settle- 

 ments were commenced in several town- 

 ships in Rutland county, and this year 

 was taken the first census of the inhabit- 

 ants on the the grants on the east side of 

 the mountains. By this enumeration it 

 appears that Cumberland county contain- 

 ed, in 1771, 3,1147 inhabitants, and Glou- 

 -cester county 722, and it was estimated 

 that these two counties contained at that 

 lime two thirds of the people in the whole 

 -district. The whole number of inhabit- 

 ants must therefore have been about 7000. 



No complete census was taken till the 

 year 1791, and hence it is impossible to 

 determine the precise population of Ver- 

 mont at the time of the commencement of 

 the American Revolution. But as the 

 settlements were rapidly extending during 

 the five years succeeding the year 1771, we 

 may safely conclude, that the whole pop- 

 ulation of Vermont at the commrncement 

 of the war was at least 20,001). At>autthe 

 close of the war we find the j)opu!ation 

 incidentally estimated by Doct. Williams 

 at 30,000 souls. 



The settlers on the New Hampshire 

 grants were a brave, hardy, but unculti- 

 vated race of men. They knew little of 

 the ctirpiette of refined society, were bless- 

 ed witii (ew of the advantages of educa- 

 tion, and were destitute of the elegancies, 

 and in most cases of the common conve- 

 niences of life. They were sensible that 

 they must rely upon the labor of their own 

 hands for their daily subsistence, and for 

 the accumulation of property. They pos- 

 sessed minds which were naturally strong 

 and active, and they were aroused to the 

 exercise of their highest energies by Die 

 difficulties, which they were compelled to 

 encounter. The controversy in which 

 they were engaged involved their dearest 

 rights. On its issue depended not only 

 their titles to their possessions, but, in 

 many cases, their personal liberty and 

 safety. Though unskilled in the rules of 

 logic, their reasoning was strong and con- 

 clusive, and they possessed the courage 

 and perseverance necessary for carrying 

 their plans and decisions into execution. 



We have already observed that, at the 

 head of the opjiosition to the proceedings 

 of New York, stood Ethan Allen, a man 

 obviously fitted by nature for the circum- 

 stances and exigencies of the times. Bold, 

 ardent and unyielding, he possessed an 

 unusual degree of vigor both of body and 

 mind, and an unlimited confidence in 

 his own abilities. With these qualifica- 

 tions, the then existing state of the settle- 

 ment rendered him ]>eculiarly fitted to be- 

 come a prominent and successful leader. 

 During the progress of the controversy, 



Allen wrote and dispersed several pam- 

 phlets, in whicli he exhibited, in a man- 

 ner peculiar to himself, and well suited 

 to the state of public feeling, the injustice 

 and cruelty of the claims and proceedino-g 

 of New York. And aithough these pam- 

 phlets are unworthy of notice as literary 

 productions, yet, they were at the time 

 e.xtensively circulated, and contributed 

 much to inform the minds, arouse the zeal, 

 and unite the efforts of the settlers. 



The bold and unpolished roughness of 

 Allen's writings were well suited to givo 

 a just description of the views and pro- 

 ceedings of a band of speculating and un- 

 principled land-jobbers. His method of 

 writing was likewise well adnpted to tho 

 condition and feelings of the settlers, and 

 probably exerted a greater influence over 

 their opinions and conduct, than the same 

 sentiments would have done clothed in 

 the chaste style of classic elegance. Nor 

 did it ditfer greatly in style, or literary 

 merit, from the pamphlets which came 

 from New York. But although Allen wrote 

 with asperity and freedom, there was 

 something generous and noble in his con- 

 duct. He refrained from every thing 

 which had the appearance of meanness, 

 injustice, cruelty or abuse towards those 

 who fell into his power, and protested 

 against the same in others.* 



Next to Allen, Seth Warner seems to 

 have acted the most conspicuous part 

 among the settlers. He, like Allen, was 

 firm and resolute, fully determined that 

 the decisions of New York against the set- 

 tlers should never be carried into execu- 

 tion. But while Allen was daring and 

 sometimes rash and imprudent, Warner 

 was always cool, calm and comparatively 

 cautious. After Warner was proscribed 



* Ethan Allen wns bnru at Litchfield, Conn, on 

 the lOtli of January, 1737. He married in Connec- 

 ticut, came to Vermont himself about tlie year 1769 

 and spent most of his after life here, but his family 

 did not come to Vermont till 1778, just before his 

 return from captivity. He was taken piisoner at 

 Montreal in the fall' of 1775, and carried to Eng- 

 land — was exclianged in May 1778 — removed to 

 Burlington in 17S7. where he died of apoplexy on 

 tiie ]2lh February 1789. His ashes rest beneath a 

 plain marble slab in the beautiful cemotory near 

 Wiriooski lower falls, having npon it the following 

 insciiption: — 



" The 

 Corporeal Part 

 of 

 Gcnl. Ethan Allen 

 rests beneath this stone 

 the 12th day of Feb. 1789, 

 aged 50 years. 

 His spirit tried ihe mercies of his God 

 In whom he believed and strongly trusted." 

 His truEi age wag 62 years, on© month and two 

 clays. 



