64 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



COI.. IRA ALLEN SENT TO CANADA. 



mS REPORT TO THE LEG 1 SL ATCRE. 



home. On his way, Allen encouraged 

 the settlers, who were abandoning the 

 country, to remain peaceably upon their 

 farms, and trust to the governor and 

 council to provide the means for their de- 

 fence ; and he assured them, that, if a re- 

 moval became necessary for the safet}' of 

 their families, they should have timely 

 notice, and assistance in accomplishing it. 



It was generally known that Col. Ira 

 Allen had been sent to the eneraj' in Can- 

 ada under a commission from the Gov- 

 ernor of Vermont, but the precise object 

 and extent of the negotiations, were tit 

 this time known only to eight individuals, 

 viz. Thomas Chittenden, Moses Robin- 

 son, Samuel SafFord, Ethan Allen, Ira 

 Allen, Timothy Brownson, John Fassett 

 and Josepli Fay. When it was under- 

 stood that Colonel Allen was to report 

 the result of his mission at the meeting of 

 the legislature at Bennington, in June, 

 curiosity and a desire to know the true 

 state of affairs, drew together a large 

 number of spectators from Vermont, the 

 neigliboring states, and Canada. The 

 whigs in Vermont and the adjoining states 

 were jealous that the views of the cabinet 

 council of Vermont extended to some- 

 thing farther than an exchange of pris- 

 oners ; they therefore sent their agents to 

 watch llie legislature and to discover 

 whether this intercourse tended to any 

 thing treasonable on the part of Vermont, 

 or injurious to the American cause. 

 While, on the other hand, emissaries 

 were sent^ from Canada to see whether 

 Col. Allen reported anything contrary to 

 the views interchanged between iiim and 

 the British agents at the Isle aux Noix, 

 witli regard to the establishment of Ver- 

 mont as a British province. 



A few days after the commencement of 

 the session, the two houses met in joint 

 committee on the subject of Col. Allen's 

 mission to Canada. Governor Chittenden 

 arose and stated, that Colonel Allen had 

 been sent to Canada to obtain the release, 

 or exchange, of sundry persons belonging 

 to this state, who were prisoners in the 

 hands of the enemy, and that, with much 

 difficulty, he had completed the business 

 in behalf of Vermont, though no such ex- 

 change had taken place with the United 

 States, nor with any other individual state. 

 He then informed the committee that Col. 

 Allen was then present, and that, if fur- 

 ther information was wanted, he could 

 best give it. Col. Allen tlien arose, and, 

 after recapitulating substantially what the 

 governor had stated, informed the com- 

 mittee that his commission and papers 

 had been left at home, but that they should 

 be submitted to their inspection the next 



day. Accordingly, on the next day, he at- 

 tended with the papers, which, after a 

 short verbal explanation, were read. From 

 tliese it appeared that the British had 

 shown great generosity in the exchange 

 of prisoners, but they contained nothing 

 respecting an armistice, or the establish- 

 ment of a royal government in Vermont; 

 the negotiations on tlie two latter subjects 

 having been purposely conducted on the 

 part of Vermont b\' means of verbal cor- 

 respondence. Colonel Allen then rose 

 and stated, that if any member of the 

 committee, or auditor among the specta- 

 tors, wished any further information re- 

 specting the business, he was ready to 

 answer their questions. All seemed sat- 

 isfied. The friends of the United States 

 complimented Allen for his open and can- 

 did conduct, and the spectators from Can- 

 ada returned full}' satisfied that notljing 

 had transpired inconsistent with their 

 views and designs. 



At this session of the legislature Major 

 Joseph Fay was a]>pointed " commissioner 

 of prisoners," and in July, he went on 

 board the Royal George on lake Cham- 

 plain, and obtained the exchange and a 

 further extension of the armistice. About 

 tliis time a correspondence was carried 

 on between Ethan and Ira Allen on the 

 one part, and the British on tlie other, by 

 means of a Britisii ffuard of a sergeant 

 and eiglit men. This guard conveyed 

 the communications from tlie British of- 

 ficers to Sunderland, where they were re- 

 ceived by one of the Aliens personally in 

 tlie dusk of the evening, who, the next 

 evening, returned an answer, which was 

 conveyed by them to lake Champlain. 

 And it is worthy of remark, that com- 

 munications were frequently interchang- 

 ed in this manner, during the years 17dl 

 and 1782, without discovery, notwith- 

 standing Sunderland was more than sixty 

 miles from the frontier. 



While this friendly intercourse was 

 thus maintiiincd between the Britisii and 

 a few of the leading men in Vermont, the 

 people generally were very inveterate in 

 their hatred towards the British and to- 

 ries. A person in Arlington, being suppos- ■ 

 ed to entertain friendly feelings towards 

 the British, a party collected in Manches- 

 ter and were proceeding to tear down his 

 house. In Sunderland they were met by 

 the Messrs. Brnwr.snns and Ira Allen, who, 

 with much difficulty, persuaded them to 

 return. That very night C'olon"! Allen 

 received a packet from a British guard 

 upon the same ground where this party 

 were persuaded to go back, and returned 

 an answer the next evening. 



Jonas Fay, Bezaleel Woodward and Ira 



