The great events with which the closing years of the Revolutionary struggle were filled did not so nearly approach the locality of which this work treats, although the settlers of Vermont continued to perform their share of the work which was to secure freedom to the nation. Their valorous deeds and those of the colonies at large are recorded on many a historic page of general history and need not be traced in detail here.

      It was while the people of the county were still oppressed by the war which had overwhelmed the country for six years, that the organization of Rutland county was effected. Onthe 13th of February, 1781, Bennington county, then comprising the entire territory west of the Green Mountains, was given its present boundaries, while all the region northward and west of the mountains was given the name of Rutland county. The first officers of this county were as follows: Increase MOSELEY, of Clarendon, chief judge; Thomas PORTER, of Tinmouth, Joseph BOWKER and Benjamin WHIPPLE, of Rutland, side judges; Obadiah NOBLE, of Tinmouth, clerk; Abraham IVES, of Wallingford, sheriff; Nathaniel CHIPMAN, of Tinmouth, State's attorney; Joseph BOWKER, of Rutland, judge of probate.

      Rutland county retained its original boundaries until 1787, when Addison county was formed, reducing it to its present limits, with the exception of the transfer of the town of Orwell to Addison county in 1847. The county is about fifty-five miles centrally distant from Montpelier, the State capital; is forty-two miles long from north to south and thirty-four wide from east to west and contains 958 square miles of territory.

      After the organization of the county its courts were held in Tinmouth until 1784, that town having been selected as the county seat; that town was then about the center of population in the county and the home of many of the prominent men. The early courts were held and public business transacted in the public house of Solomon BINGHAM, on the "Tinmouth Flats," where the family lived in one part of the log building and the other part sufficed for the court-room. Here the first jail was also located and built of logs. In 1784 Rutland was made the shire town and the courts were transferred thither. Details of these matters will appear in subsequent chapters.

      As the reader will learn from a perusal of the various town histories herein and the chapters treating upon other topics, the people of the county pursued their vocations in peace and in a fair degree of prosperity until the mutterings that presaged another war with England were heard in unmistakable tones. Of this prominent event in the history of the country, a short account must be given.

      The causes which led to the second war with Great Britain are well understood, and a brief reference to them and to the events which transpired in this immediate vicinity, will serve the purpose of these pages. Causes of complaint against the mother country had existed for several years, and as early as 1809 led to the passage by Congress of a law interdicting all commercial intercourse with Great Britain. On the 3d of April, 1812, Congress laid an embargo on all shipping within the jurisdiction of the United States for ninety days, and on the 18th of June following an act was passed declaring war with Great Britain. The principal causes which led to the adoption of this measure were declared to be the impressment of American seamen by the British, and the plundering of American commerce.

      On the assembling of the Vermont Legislature in October, the governor, Jonas GALUSHA, in his message urged the members to second the measure of the general government, and provide means for defending the borders and for sustaining the national rights and honor. The Assembly majority concurred in the sentiments thus expressed, while a minority entered a protest. A law was passed prohibiting all intercourse between the people of Vermont and Canada, without a permit from the governor, under a penalty of $1,000 fine and seven years confinement at hard labor in the State prison. A tax of one cent per acre was laid on the lands of the State, in addition to the usual assessments, and other acts were passed relating to the payment of the militia.

      These regulations proving oppressive to the people, many of the supporters of the war went over to the opposition. As the election of 1813 approached, both parties exerted their utmost endeavor to preserve their ascendancy. No governor was elected by the people. The Legislature elected a governor whose opinions were in direct opposition to the war. The laws relating to the support of, and providing ways and means for, the war were repealed. The party spirit ran so high that opponents branded each other with opprobious epithets. The impartial administration of justice was endangered. Opposition to the measures of the government became so strong that the laws of Congress, especially the act relating to customs duties, were treated as a nullity, and so general became the practice of smuggling cattle and other supplies into Canada and bringing out goods of English manufacture in return, that it was regarded less as a crime than as a justifiable act.

      The people of Rutland county were in no degree behind those of other sections of the State, nearer to the scenes of actual hostility, in the virulence and bitterness of their political animosities. So far was the question of peace or war with England carried into the political contests between the rival parties, that it became the chief topic of contention and the source of the bitterest enmity. Families and friends were separated and stood in hostile array against each other; a man's politics constituted his passport or his mark of rejection at his neighbor's door, and matters reached such a pitch that the dread of civil commotion hung heavily on the minds of the more considerate portion of the community.

      On this question, which seemed to both parties to involve the greater question of our independence, we find on one hand in Rutland county such men as Nathaniel CHIPMAN, Chauncey LANGDON, Charles K. WILLIAMS and their political friends. On the other, Moses STRONG, Robert TEMPLE, Jonas CLARK and Rollin C. MALLARY, and their associates; these men arrayed against each other, and with leaders of such marked ability, and influence, it is no matter of surprise that the feelings of the people of the county should have been worked up with increasing intensity, as the decision in Congress on the question of peace or war culminated; and when war was actually declared, on the 18th of June, 1812, the excitement was intense. Rumors of every nature were abroad. The news was disseminated with almost telegraphic rapidity, flying from town to town by express riders and speeding from one scattered settlement to another throughout Western Vermont.

      Notwithstanding this hostility, even up to the brink of civil war, the spirit of patriotism and devotion to the Union burned in every soul with its accustomed fervor. All were ready, when the hour of trial came, to defend the country with their lives, if necessary, from external foes; and when the British army and fleet moved out of Canada to Plattsburg, to crush our defenses there and invade the soil of a sister State, that moment the bitterness and clamor of party were hushed and, so far as the grounds of contention were concerned, hushed forever.

      On that occasion the people of Rutland county, without distinction of party, and in common with the people of adjacent counties, volunteered their services to repel the common enemy. With such weapons as they had at command, they hurried from their homes and within a few days after the first alarm were on their way to join their New York friends on the banks of the Saranac. But few of the volunteers from this county reached Plattsburg, as the news of the battle and the decisive American victory met them on their way, and they quietly returned to their homes and disbanded. Companies of volunteers were formed in Benson, Brandon, Castleton, Danby, Fairhaven, Hubbardton, Middletown, Orwell, Pawlet, Pittsford, Poultney, Rutland, Tinmouth, Wallingford, Wells, and portions of companies in other towns. They were on the march in two days after the first call, and a few of them reached Middlebury; but the majority received intelligence that their services were not needed on reaching Sudbury, Whiting and Salisbury.

      After the battle of Plattsburg nothing further occurred in this vicinity worthy of particular mention during the war. In October the Legislature assembled. No governor had been elected by the people; Martin CHITTENDEN was accordingly again elected by a small majority. Many accusations were  made against the governor, a number of which were presented from Rutland county, because the militia was not ordered out for the defense of Plattsburg, instead of being called out as volunteers. He replied that a call upon our patriotic citizens for their voluntary services was; in this case, considered to be the only method' by which timely and efficient aid could be afforded.

      The war had ceased; the gloom which had hung over the people disappeared, and a general congratulation prevailed, as the soldiery returned to their homes as citizens, and again turned the implements of war into the instruments of husbandry. The violence of party spirit declined; the sentiment of the people became united and the peaceful pursuits of business were renewed.

      Peace again spread her beneficent wings over the country and every hamlet in the land felt its benign influence. The inhabitants of Rutland county again gave their undivided attention to the cultivation of their farms and building up the early industries. This reign of peace and general prosperity has not been interrupted since in any manner worthy of particular mention here (except as will appear in the details given in subsequent pages), until the breaking out of the great Rebellion, which plunged the country into a monstrous civil war. The inhabitants have wisely administered their public affairs, and by their energy have made the most of their private industries. Schools, churches and benevolent institutions have not been neglected in the often more absorbing pursuit of wealth; and the result is a community which, for general intelligence and morality, will favorably compare with any in the country.

"History of Rutland County Vermont with Illustrations & 
Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men & Pioneers"
Edited by H. Y. Smith & W. S. Rann, Syracuse, N. Y.
D. Mason & Co., Publishers, 1886
History of Rutland County
Chapter VII.
(pages 65-69)

Transcribed by Karima, 2002