PlRT III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



81 



GCILFORD. 



GUILFORD. 



chosen annually by the people under their 

 charter, until the 19th May, 1772, when 

 the inhabitants, at a "district meeting as- 

 sembled" in the district of Guilford, vo-. 

 ted, that Guilford was in the county of 

 Cumberland and province of New York, 

 and chose officers of the town, agreeably 

 to the laws of that province. At that 

 meeting a record was first made in a reg- 

 ular town book, which was purchased by 

 the original proprietors some years before! 

 By that record it appears, John Shepard- 

 6on was chosen " district clerk, John Bar- 

 ney supervisor," itc, and the meeting 

 ■was then adjourned to a day after the an- 

 nual meeting by the charter. Having re- 

 nounced their charter, and there being no 

 government which really exercised au- 

 thority over them, they continued to leg- 

 islate for themselves, and tradition says 

 that good justice was done, yet one prin- 

 ciple of the charter was still adhered to, 

 none but proprietors, or those who held 

 under them, had a right to rule, or vote 

 in their meetings. Thus was this little 

 republic regulated by a town meeting, 

 which was adjourned from time to time, 

 without interruption from abroad, or con- 

 tentions at home, until the year 1776. 

 Then the town was beset with violent to- 

 nes and Yorkers on the one side, and 

 brave whigs and New-states-men on the 

 other. The whigs, united with those op- 

 posed to the claims of the state of New- 

 York, that and the succeeding year, out 

 voted the tories and the Yorkers. In 1776 

 the town voted to pay the e.vpenses of 

 Benjamin Carpenter, their delegate to the 

 Westminster Convention in 1775. They 

 voted to raise nine soldiers for the conti- 

 nental army, equip them with arms and 

 powder, give them a bounty of £4 " bay 

 money," by a ta.x; upon the inhabitants of 

 the town, and it was done. I'hey also 

 resolved, that " no man should vote for 

 town officers, who was not qualified ac- 

 cording to the direction of the Continen- 

 tal Congress." Under that resolution, 

 their committee, chosen for the purpose, 

 e.xcluded tories from the polls, vi ct armis, 

 and the 'poor ^ if qualified^ participated in 

 the government. The title of the town 

 as belonging to the state of New York, 

 was left out of the records. To give some 

 idea of the laws passed by the old repub- 

 lic of Guilford, we will quote the follow- 

 ing, passed the next year, 1777. " Voted, 

 not to let any person vote in this meeting, 

 but such as have 40 pounds real or per- 

 sonal estate. Voted, John Barney and 

 Benjamin Carpenter be a committee to 

 go to Windsor, in June next, to hear the 

 report of the agent sent to Congress 

 concerning a new state. looted, that any 

 Ft. hi. 11 



person who shall, for the future, pretend 

 to hold lands by bush fence possession, 

 shall be dealt witii by the town, as a 

 breaker of the peace of the town, and a 

 riotous person, itc. Attest — 



" Elijah W'elgh, T. Clerk. 

 They further chose a committee to es- 

 tablish the price of labor, all kinds of pro- 

 duce, goods, wares and merchandise. The 

 report of the committee was adopted as 

 the law of the town. All the articles 

 mentioned were a legal tender for debts, 

 with a penalty of the article sold, or the 

 value thereof, with costs. The punish- 

 ment of offenders was various, such as 

 ^^ beech scot," fines, &c., but the most dis- 

 graceful of all was to be compelled to em- 

 brace the Liberty Pale, with both arms, 

 the time specified by the committee of in- 

 spection, or judges. There was again an 

 entire change of politics in 1778. It ap- 

 pears by the records, that a warrant and 

 notification for a town meeting was sent 

 from the " Council of Bennington," and 

 a meeting held upon the same, when it 

 was " Voted, not to act agreeable to said 

 warrant," and the meeting was dissolved.- 

 In 1779, after doing the customary town 

 business, " Voted, Lovell Bullock, Timo- 

 thy Root, and Henry Sherburn, a com- 

 mittee to defend the town against the pre- 

 tended state of Vermont, and to represent 

 the town in County Committee."* " Hen- 

 ry Sherburn, Elliot and Hezekiah Stow- 

 ell," all violent " Yorkers, were cho- 

 sen to take special care of the powder and 

 lead, and other town stores"-and the meet- 

 ing adjourned to the next year. In 1780, a 

 like meeting was held. There is the 

 following record for 1781 . " Then all the 

 people met together that means to stand 

 in opposition against the pretended state 

 of Vermont, and acted on the following 

 articles, viz." Among others see thefoU 

 lowing — " Voted, to defend themselves 

 against the insults of the pretended state 

 of Vermont. Voted, Peter Briggs and 

 William Bullock for a Committee to serud 

 to Charlestown Convention. t Voted, that 

 Hezekiah Stowell keep the names of those 

 that are against said pretended state," 

 &c. Also'^ May, 1782. " Then the peo- 

 ple met in general, and voted to stand 

 against the pretended state of Vermont, 

 until the decision of Congress be known, 

 with lives and fortunes: Voted, to receive 

 the instructions which came from New 

 York, «&c. Voted, and chose Henry Ev- 

 ens, Daniel Ashcraft and Nathan Fitch, 

 to forbid the constable acting." These 

 appear not to he regular meetings of the 



* See Slade's Vermont State Paper.^, p. 106. 

 t State Papers, p. 128 ; also Part '2C, p. GO, 



