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ALLANS k^ff)' frilHl " ■» !" i 'H,. ■ AlS^NUAL A0I>RESS •.:.^\ ''/■'^'Sj^li^^J&".i ^^^^p'^'^-^^'-'^P^-^M^^^^^^^i^ -' '^'C- ■■ 'ii'-' • ■■ .**».■.-? •^••*» - ,'.,..'<**''—- -..mtimtlttmiitmtk ,^«r. J ■^" LIBRARIB THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO LONDON CANADA I' ',01 : ^ c- mmm mmm HISTORY OF THE ST. ALBANS RAW. 4 i ANNUAL ADDRESS BEFORE THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY DELIVERED AT MONTPELIER, VT., ON" TXJBJSDAY KVBlNI»rG^, OCTOBER 17, ISre. By Hon. EDWARD A. SOWLES. \ ST. ALBANS: Messenoeb Pbintino Works. 1876. TTrmmm pimin jin)'.. ■■'■* •»' ''••Vv'- A U!7S0 * i C BBWwn r(E30J.UTI0r^ AND fJ0RRE3P0NDENCE. Tlio following Joint Besolution was adopted by the Senate and House of Bepresentatives, at their biennial session, 1876: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, That the Secretary of M the Senate be and is hereby directed to procure the printing in pamphlet form of fifteen hundred copies of the address delivered before the Ver- mont Historical Society on the 17th instant, by the Hon. Edward A. Sowles. That there be furnished to each member of the Senate and House of Bep- resentatives two copies ; to each Town Clerk, one copy ; to each college, normal school and academy in this state, one copy ; to the Governor, each of the heads of departments, and each Judge of the Supreme Gotirt, une copyj to the State Library, two hundred copies ; to the Vermont Histori- cal Society, two hundred and fifty copies, and that the remaining copies shall be divided between the public libraries in the State not otherwise supplied, under the direction of the State Librarian* The following letter was addressed to Hon. Edward A. Sowles : Office of the Secbetaby of the Senate,)^ MoNTPEUEB, Vt., Octobeb 23, 1870. > Dear Sir: By a joint resolution adopted by the Senate and House of Bepresentatives, I am directed to procure the printing of fifteen hundred copies of the address delivered by you before the Vermont Historical Society on the 17th instant, at Montpelier, on " The St. Albans Baid." I would respectfully request you to furnish me with a copy of the above mentioned address for publication as soon as convenient. I am. Sir, your humble servant, F. W. BALDWIN, Secretary qf tlu Senate. To which the following reply was received : Senate Chamber, Montpelieb, Vt., Oct., 2ri, 1876. Dear Sir: Your favor of the 23d inst., informing me ofiS.cially thot a joint resolution adopted by the Senate and House of Bepresentatives directed you to procure the printing of fifteen hundred copies of my ad- dress delivered before the Vermont Historical Society in the Bepresenta- tives' Hall, at Montpelier, on the 17th inst., on " The St. Albans Baid," is received. The address was prepared hastily, without any expectation that I should be called on by the Legislature to furnish a copy for publication. My private engagements and official duties have been such as to prevent a revision of the same- This, alone, might be ground for hesitancy in complying with the flattering request. I have concluded, however, to furnish it, trusting that the printer will correct and the public overlook all imperfections that may appear in so hastily written a production. Yours Very BespectfuUy, EDWABD A. SOWLES. FTTTWWPP" n ivm PROCEEDINGS OF JhE Y^^J^ON'^ j4l?T0F(ICAl. ^OCIflTY, AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, 1876. The annual meeting of the Vermont Historical Society was called to order in room No. 12, in the State House, at Moutpclier, on Tuesday, October 17th, 1870, at 2 p. m. The records of the last meeting were read and approved. On motion, the following gentlemen were aiipointed a committee to nominate officers for the coming year : Samuel Wells, Dr. P. D. Bradford and Charles Dewey. The Librarian's report was read by Mr. M. D. Oilman, the librarian, showing that the ^.umber of additions to the collections of the Society for the last two years is 4,784, for .vhich acknowledgement has been made to each donor. The Treasurer's report was read by Col. H. D. Hopkins, and ordered recorded. E. B. Campbell, of Brattleboro, and J. G. Darling, of Boston, were elected honorary members. The committee on nominations reported a list of officers for the ensu- ing year. Rev. Dr. Lord declined a re-election as president, and the report was on motion recommitted. Charles W. Porter and John "W. Page were elected members of the Society. The following nominations were reported and the gentlemen named elected officers of the Society : President — Hon. E. P. Walton, of Montpelier. Vice-Presidents — Hon. James Barrett, of Woodstock, Luther L. Dutcher, of St. Albans, and Rev. Wm. S. Hazen, of Northfield. Recording-Secretary — Chas. W. Porter, of Montpelier. Corresponding-Secretaries — Hon. G. G. Benedict, of Burlington, O. S. Bliss, of Georgia. Treasurer — John W. Page, of Montpelier. Librarian — Marcus D. Gilmpn, of Montpelier. Curators— Hon. R. S. Taft, of Burlington; H. A. Cutting, M. D., of Ltmenburgh; Hon. Gilliert A. Davis, of Reading; Rev. W. H. Lord, D. D., of Montpelier, and H. A. Hnse, Esq., of Montpelier. Printing and Publishing Committee — Ex. Gov. HilandHall, of Benning- ton ; Hon. E. P. Walton, of Montpelier. Rev. W. H. Lord, of Montpelier. e * President Walton, on taking the chair, read the following letter from T. W. Wood: MONTPFXIER, Vt., Oct. 17, 1H7(1. Hon. E. r. Walton: My Dear ^r— Will you do mc the favor to preHont to tho Vermont Historical Society the portrait of llev. Wm. I^ Loi-d, D. 1)., which I have painted for the Society, with the hope that it may bo the commence, ment of a collection of portraits of men who make the history of our State ? Very Tnily Yours, T. W. WOOD. Hon. Joseph Poland offered the following resolutions, which were adopted : Resolved, That the hearty thanks of this Society be, and hereby are, tendered to the Artist, Thomas W. Wood, Esq., of Montpelier, for the presentation of the accurate and finely executed portrait of its retiring president, the Rev. Dr. William H. Lord. Resolved further. That the Secretary and Librarian be requested to ar- range with the proper officers for a suitable place in the State-House for its preservation and exhibition. i Resolved, That the Secretary and Librarian of this Society bo, and are hereby directed, to receive such portraits of eminent and worthy citizens of the State as may be presented for preservation, and cause the same to be properly placed in the capitol. Resolved, That a conmiittee of five, to be appointed by the President, be raised to co-operate in behalf of this Society ia such celebrations as may be had on Vermont centennial days in 1877, at Westminster, Wind- sor, Hubbardton and Bennington. Hon. Q. A. Davis offered the following resolution, which was adopted : Resolved, That the Treasurer of the Society bo required to give a good and sufficient bond, for such sum as the Finance Committee shall deem necessary for the safety of the funds of the Society. , Dr. P. D. Bradford offered the following resolution, which was adopted: »- Resolved, That the Recording-Secretary is requested to prepare com- plete lists of the resident, corresponding, and honorary members of the Society, for publication with the proceedings. A revolutionary velic of great interest, a sword of tho war of tho rev- olution, was presented by Miss Hemenway. ^ T^^saim Tho Society llicn ailjourncil to liall-pnRt Hovtsii o'clock p. m., then to meet in the Itnll of tho HouHe of llcpreHcntativeH, to be adilroHHed by the Hon. Edwnr^l A. SowleH, of Ht. AlbnnH, on the Ho-calletl "Ht. Albann llaid." EVENINC* HEHHION. The Society met and was addrcHsod by lion. Edward A. Bowles, when it adjourned to October 24th, '.\ o'clock, p. m. OOTODKB 24, 1H7.er of C. C. Clay Jr., to the Hon. J. P. Benjamin, Secrets j of the Confederate States, bearing date Nov. Ist, 1864, and that of Jacob Thompson to the same person under date of Dec. 3d, 1864, and the fact that John Wilkea Booth was proven to have been in Canada in secret consultation with Thompson and Sanders before the St. Albans raid, and likewise a short time before the assassination of President Lincoln — all show conclusively to the mind of any reader, that there was a conspiracy plotted and organized in Canada to commit all those outrages by means of raids, murders and assassination, as a last resort to save that so-called " Southern Confederacy, as Alexander H. Stevens then said, "whose comer stone rests upon the great truth that the negro is net , equal to the white man — that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition." This brings us to an intelligent understanding of the origin of the St. Albans raid, and now we may the better trace its progress, consummation and results as a part of a great con- spiracy. On that memorable 19th day of October, 1864, at about the same hour that Sheridan was pursuing the rebels in the Shenandoah Valley, and a company of St, Albans Boys, with other Vermont soldiers, were hotly engaged with the enemy at the battle of Cedar Creek, about three o'clock in the after- noon — ^parties of from three to five persons — numbering in all from twenty to fifty persons, then domiciled or commorant within Her Majesty's proviucps of Canada, in the form and ap- pearance of a military array, took forcible and armed pos- session of a part of the village of St. Albans, under Lieutenant Bennett H. Young as their leader, for the gener>tl intent and purpose of carrying on and committing at^s of forcible depre- dations, rapine and war, from the provinces of Canada as a base of operations, and as a shelter for immediate retreat, against and upon the persons and property of unarmed and peaceable citizens of St. Albans. They were armed with large "•*:* T-^ — ... II !*' navy revolvers, concealed under a loose coat, and had belts and traveling bags or haversacks thrown across their shoulders. They first made a secret and simultaneous attack upon the three banks in the village, closed the outer doors and made prisoners of their inmates. In the First National Bank, Albert Sowles, the cashier, was present. He testifies as follows : " One of these sti'angers approached the counter on the other side of which I was stand- ing opposite him. As he came up to the counter, he sud- denly drew from a 'a holster' with which he was equipped, a large navy revolver, and, cocking and pointing the same at me, said, 'if you offer any resistance I will shoot you dead, you are my prisoner.' At this moment two other strangers similarly equipped, came into the bank, one of them remaining at, and guarding the door, while the other passed behind tb'' counter where I was standing, and went to the iron safe of the bank, in ihy rear, which contained the funds of the bank, and commenced stuff- ing bank bills, bonds, treasury notes and other securities into his pockets. After he had filled his pockets, he commenced throwing bonds, bank bills and treasury notes and private ^a pers across the counter to his confederates on the other side, who took them and filled their pockets in like manner. I was greatly intimidated and considered my life in danger. While these things were going on, one of the party said ' we repre- sent the Confederate States of America and we come here to retaliate for acts committed against our people by General Sherman.' He said ' it will be of no use to offer any resist- ance, as there are a hundred soldiers belonging to our party in your village.* He said ' you have got a very nico village here, and if there is the least resistance to us, or (iny of our men are shot, we shall burn the village.' He sai(^ these are our orders, and each man is sworn to carry,them oui' " These men took from this bank $58,000. The cashier was taken prisoner and placed under guar4 on the public park in ' front of the banking house. As tiiey v^fate marching him out of the bank, William H. Blaisdell, a cloiiluer, and customer of the bank, coming up, caught hold of one of the guard and "■!«■- 12 lii threw liim from the steps of the bank to the ground. Two of the party hastened back, one of them shouting, " shoot him, shoot him," giving this order to the man under filaisdell. They then took Blaisdell with other of iuizens across the street to the public park, where there were a number of persons then under gilard. The names of the persons who made this attack upon this bank, as afterwards ascertained, were Joseph McGrooty, Alexander Pope Bruce and Caleb McDowell Wallace, the latter claiming to be a nephew of the late Senator Crittenden, a dis- tinguished statesman from Kentucky. General John Nason, brigadier-general of volunteers, a man nearly eighty years old, was in the bank during the whole affray and was engaged in reading a newspaper. He was deaf, and not hearing what had transpiied, but seeing the brandish- ing of revolvers, he inquired of Sowles, "What gentlemen are those? It. seems to me they are rather rude in their behavior." At the St. Albans Bank, Cyrus N. Bishop, Assistant Cashier, and Martin A. Seymour, Clerk, were present. Mr. Bishop testified : " Two strainers stepped up to the counter in the bank together, and at once presented revolvers at me over the counter. I immediately ran into the directors' room and un- dertook to shut the door, but they seized hold of the door be- fore I had closed it, and pressing hard against it, succeeded in pushing it open. They then seized hold of me with one hand and pointed large navy revolvers at me with the other, which revolvers were cocked, threatening to blow my brains out if I made any resistance or gave any alarm. At that moment three other strangers entered the bank, each with a revolver in his hand. Then they inquired where we kept our gold and silver. I said to them that we had not any gold, but we had a few hundred dollars in silver, which was in a small safe in that room. The safe being locked, they forced me to unlock it by threatening my life. One of them stood guard at the entrance of the bank and two more stood guard over Mr. Sey- mour, the clerk, and myself, while the other two proceeded to take the mopey out of the safes and from the table where I •, 5 ■/ / ' ^l^.-tiajia^'^ ■ "• -..••! 13 was at work when tlioy first entered the liank. xVs they took the money, they stuffed it into their pockets and haver- sacks, which were shing across theu' shoulders. I asked them 'what is your programme?' They said that they were Confederate soldiers from General Early's army in the Shenandoah Valley. They said that they had come here to rob us and burn our town, and they had it under their control at that moment. They then said thej would administer the oath of the Confederate States to me. The leader of the gang then proceeded to administer some kind of an oath to me. He compelled me to raise up my right hand and called upon me to solemnly swear that I would not give alarm or fire upon the Confederate soldiers. That is about all I can remember of the oath in question. At the same time they threatened Mr. Seymour's life, and administered a similar oath to him. About this time Samuel Breck came to the outer door. One of the party took hold of him by the collar with, one hand, presenting a revolver at him with the other. This person demanded Mr. Breck's money. Mr. Breck replied, 'It is private property,' when this mwi said, 'I don't care a d — n for that.' After taking his money, he was forced ^y the party into the directors' room, and there with Mr. Seymour and myself detained as prisoner." ^ Mr. Seymour's testimony was substantially like that of Mr. Bishop, only he says his captor said, " Not a word out of your head. We are h jre to retaliate for the doings of General Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. There are seventy-five men of us in town. We have got possession of your town and are going to biu'n it." During this time the leader of the gang administered what he called the " ' Confederate oath,' that we would do nothing to injure the interests of the Confederate Government ; that we would not fire upon any of its soldiers now in town, and that we would not tell any one they had been there within two hours after they had left." They took from this bank $73,522. Mr. Bishop afterwards identified three of the gang in open couit, who gave their names as Thomas Bronsdon Collins, Marcus Speer and Square Turner Travis. . . . :. I ;'- 14 I'. 'I E B r M At the Franklin County Bank, Maicils W. BearclslGy; cashier, and one Jackson Clark, a wood sawyer, were present, and the treatment of these men was more brutal in its char- acter, if possible, than either of the others. Mr. Beardsley testified : "Three or four strangers came into the bank at the same time, and took position near the window opening into the street. I supposed they were waiting for the man stand- ing at the counter to complete his business. In a moment after, one of the meu vho had last entered the bank stepped a few paces towards the counter and drew from under his coat a large revolver and cocking it, pointed it directly at me without a word being said. While holding it pointed at me, the stranger who had first entered the bank spoke to me saying, 'We are Confederate soldiers, sir. There are one hundred of us in town. We have come to rob the banks and burn your town and we are going to do it.' This he spoke in a very determined sort of a way, and I was much alarmed. At that time a man L\ my employ, being alarmed at the. demonstrations that were being made, started for the door. He was immediately arrested by one of the men, who put a pistol to his head and sftid, 'I will blow your brains out if you stir another inch.' Clark was ordered to be put into the vault of the bank. The man in command then ordered me 'to bring first all of the greenbacks you have got, and then all the ottter moneys of your bank.' I opened the drawer and gav ? him all the greenbacks we had. During this time two other men, who had put Clark into the vault, were filling their pockets and haversacks, which they had thrown across their shoulders, with the bills of the bank, from an iron safe stand- ing within the vault, the door of which was open. All the men were soon thus engaged, excepting one, who stood at the door at the entrance of the bank. At this time one of the men brought out of the vault a small tin trunk, and aaid to mo, 'What is this?' I told him it belonged to the Tel- ler of the bank, who was absent. He asked me what was in it. I told him I did not know. He then said with an oath, 'I wiU know what is in it.' He then undertook to force the cover off, but failing, threw it aside. Then he stood iip in .,^-4-.-^ 4i^^ ~—' II ■ I 15 fi'ont of me and with an oath said, 'you keep quiet or I will iblow your brains out.' By this time thoy had got all the moneys of the bank. The men all came out of the vault, ex- •cepting Clark. The leader then spoke to me and said, 'Come, you must go into the vault.' I told him it was an air-tight place and I could not live in there. I said, ' I understand what your object is. It is that x shall give no alarm.' He replied, 'no matter, you have got to go in.' He took me by the shoulders and put me into the vault where Clark was. I was satisfied that if I made any resistance they would shoot me. They then shut the two sets of iron doors which enclosed the vault, and turned the bolts from the outside, so that we could not get out. I very much feared the building was going to be burned, as they had stated. In about twenty minutes I heard footsteps and conversation in the banking room, and I made a noise on the door to attract attention. THis was heard without and the doors were unbolted and we came out of the vault. The persons who opened the vault doors were J. R. Armington and Dana R. Bailey. I found myself in a very prostrate condition, owing to the close atmosphere in a small vault, and the intense fear and anxiety that I had passed through." The amount taken from the bank was about $70,000, and the only person indentified as having participated in the affair was William H. Hutchinson, who resided in the State of Georgia, and who, by "the fortunes of war" had lost a large fortune on account of his secession proclivities. Lieutenant Young had pi'epared " a proclamation " which he designed to have read to the people of St. Albans, but in his hasty retreat failed to do so. It recited, in terms, the purpose of their mis- sion, which was retaliation. The original was found at the time , but couW not afterwards be found. What transpired in the streets immediately after the plunder- in stopped over night at a farm house within three miles of St. Albans, with a sympathizer, and the following night was con- veyed into Canada by British subjects, and fully cared for un- til his death. Mr. Wescott also stated that several persons 25 course all the Q." i^al peo- 11 as re- sulTered id U. S. was of I valua- raiders that one n north" igo, as a cal ball, ding on vas then s said to gham, a shot by t as the im with fired his f wound- revolver, the fact ng near •st hear- ' around d. And :ds died lis latter that he P of St. vokB con- for un- persons who designed to have participated in the raid failed to reach St. Albans in time, and that as late as the evening of the fol- lowing day he met one of them on board of one of the Lake Cha jplain steamers, who had in his possession, in a trunk, a quantity of " Greek-fire,'' which was afterwards, by his advice, thrown overboard to prevent detection and arrest. There were also about fifty others who failed to " put in " an appearance in time, or who were skulking in the neighboring woods ready to participate vintil tlieir coui'age f'^iled them. After receiving General Dix's dispatch, the pursuing party and others captured ard assisted Canadian officials in captur- ing fourteen of the raiders and about iS86,000 of their booty. One of the gang immediately sent the following dispatch: *' George N. Sanders, Ottawa Hotel, Montreal : We are captured. Do what you can for us. C. M. Wallace." Lieutenant Young, the leader, was recognized and captured by George Beals and E. D. Fuller, on Canadian soil. He ex- pressed to his captors his regret that his party did not burn B t. Albans, but they were so fast for plunder that they neglect- ed to do so. Shortly thereafter Young wrote the following letter : Frelighsburgh, C. E., Saturday, Oct. 21. To the Editor of the Evening Telegraph : " Through the columns of your journal I wish to make some statements to the peojile of Canada, regarding the recent oper- ations in Vermont. I went there for the purpose of burning the town and surrounding villages in retaliation for the recent outrages committed in the Shenandoah Valley, and elsewhere in the Confederate Stai,3s. I am a commissioned officer of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, and have vio- lated no laws of Canada. I do not wish my name coupled with the epithets now applied without a knowledge on the part of the people of Canada, as to who we are and what caused our action. I wish, also, to make a few statements as to how myself and party were taken. T was seized on Canadian soil by American citizens with arms in their hands and violently iiii i 1 1 m w I n i .f 26 searched. My pocket-book was taken from me, and I was started towards tlie United States. I reached out my hand and caught the reins of my horse, when three pistols were leveled at my head, with threats to shoot the d d scoundrel dead, if he moved. Some Canadian citizens then spoke up and the Americans, seeing the bailiff, started with me toward him, two of them holding arms in their hands. These state- ments can be proved by Canadian citizens. The Americans came into this place and even beyond it, brandishing guns and threatening to kill some of us even after we were in the hands of the English authorities. Siu'ely the people of Vermont must have forgottei^ that the people of danada are not in the midst of war, and ruled by a man despotic in his actions and supreme in his infamy. I am not afi'aid to go • before the courts of Canada, and when the affair is investigated, I am satisfied that the citizens of Vermont, and not my party, will be found to be the violators of Canadian and English law. Some one I hope, will be sent to investigate this breach of neutrality, and award to those American citizens doing armed duty in Canada, the just merit of their trans- gressions." Hoping you will give this a pubh cation, I remain, Yours EespectfuUy, Bennett H. Young. • First Lieutenant Provisional Armj', Confederate States of America. Hon R. H. Hoyt, Alanson M. Clark, C. C. Burton, Mar- shal Mason, and many others from St. Albans, interviewed Lieutenant Young at Frelighsburgh, and acquainted him with the fact that many widows and orphans would suffer in consequence of his depletion of the vaults of the banks at St. Albans. He retorted, by saying that that was all very nice talk when applied to the northern people, but that it had no significance with the northern armies then subjugating the south by means of fire, the sword and the musket. He himself had suffered even more than the horrors of the battlefield. He had been bereft of his kin, and boastfully de- ii 27 ciarotl, as also ilid Georgo W. Saiulers, at St. Johns, that this iucursion was but the beginnmg of a series of attacks which would tenify the people of the northern border states, so that they wou'id release the final grasp they then held at the neck of the rebellion. These facts were testified to, substantially, by H. G. Edson Esq., at the military trial of the assassins of Abraham Lincoln, he having been of counsel for the U. S. Government and the banks, with Hon. Geo. F. Edmunds, the writer, and others, in the application for the extradition of the raiders. Their pursuers labored under many difficulties on account of / the extreme friendliness of thb TJanadian constabulary and ) authorities. There were, however, some notable exceptions, i where even prol'ered bribes of the raiders would not influence ' the higher sense of justice. Mr. Whitman,.a Magistrate of Stanbridge, an American by birth, buo a naturalized British subject, was instrumental in capturing and saving about $53,000 of moneys and securities, and acting under the advice of J. C. Baker Esq., not only held them, but transferred them into the hands of the Canadian authorities. Nearly all others were recreant and gave away to temptation. One Anson Kemp, a Canadian official, received from Wallace a package containing $10,000 of funds, which he retained. One Wells, a Bailiff, assisted in securing $1500 in the shed of a hotel. One Manahan, a Lawyer, likewise secreted quite an amount. Afterwards Wallace and Swager were discharged as belligerents, and they returned to Frelighsburgh and de- manded the moneys they had left with the above officials, and which they had aj^propriated to their own use, — but when liti- gation became imminent, they each paid back to the raiders, instead of the real owners, the several amounts left with them, or portions of it. This appeared clearly from the testimony of Ambrose L. Hall and Charles O. Standish, who both resid- ed at Frelighsburgh at the time, and the latter acted as the bearer of dispatches fi'om liieut. Young to Clay and Sanders, at Montreal, on the night of the raid. 28 i ■ 'V' i^ flip Search warrants and warrants for arrest were refused hy the Canadian Magistrates with one or two exceptions, and especially by Mr. Kemp, the Magistrate at Frelighsburgh, who claimed that he had no power under Canadian laws to issue even a search warrant, after an affidavit had been filed upon which to base its issuance. This and similar obstacles, of course, rendered the further pursuit and capture of men and money almost impossible, although such offenders as had been captured were held to await application for extradition, under fj\: the 10th Article of the Webster:J i,shbvHrJkaiJ:imiffi^aa^ Mr. Seward, on the 21st of October, 1864, demanded, under . that treaty, the extradition of the fugitives, and the surrender of the money and securities, but the subsequent conduct of British officials will show clearly the prevailing sympathy, if not corruption, of some of the officials. Prior to 1861, Justices of the Peace had jurisdiction in such cases, but the celebrated Anderson case, t*hat of a negro from Missouri who shot his master while the latter was brut- ally pursuing him, involved such complications, that Parlia- ment in 1861 gave such jurisdiction exclusively to judges of a court of record. Hence Lord Monck directed Charles J. Cour- sol, a Police Judge of Montreal, to proceed to Stanbridge and take the prisoners into custody and try them on such applica- tion, which he did, taking them out of the jurisdiction of the Justices. He accordingly removed the prisoners to St. Johns, where they were placed in jail. They were arraigned before him, and as the preliminary affidavits were being drawn up, the magistrates were ordered to deliver over the money and secmities they held, into the hands of one Guilliam LaMothe, then a chief of police of Montreal The writer, as counsel for the several banks, protested against such transfer, when Judge Coursol exhibited to him a despatch directing him to appoint an agent to receive those funds, to be used as evidence on behalf of the government in their application for their extradition, which made the Cana- dian Government liable for their safe keeping. After the completion of the affidavits, and the issuance of the necessary warrants, rumors of contemplated raids from ,M i? m 29 jed by , and , who issue upon es, of en and d been under under render luct of thy, if negro the United States, for the pretended purpose of kidnapping the raiders, were started by their friends. This was a ruse, started for the purpose of getting an order from the governor or the attorney-general of Canada to remove the prisoners to Montreal, where they could find more congenial spirits, in the persons of their relatives, acquaintances and sympathizers, of both sexes. They were accordingly ordered to be removed, against the protest of some of the sufferers, and as they entered the city of Montreal, they were greeted by the coL^ratulations of their friends and the huzzahs of the multitude. A company of artillery accompanied them from the depot to prison, which served the double purpose of an escort for the raiders, and an assurance of fidelity to the interests of the United States. The display was a ''no one, and gave uni- versal satisfaction. At the prison they were warmly received. Their apartments were furnished with all the modern hotel improvements on *' the European plan." Their dinners were served with " bills of fare," not omitting " the wine list," by competent attendants, such as would grace the table of a prince. Lieut. Young facetiously refers to it in the ftilowing characteristic letter : "Montreal, Nov. 17, 18C4. To the Editor of the St. Albans Messenger — Would you please send me two copies of your daily. Dur- ing the present investigation, your editorials are quite inter- esting, and will furnish considerable amusement to myself and comrades. You are somewhat abusive, but I am sufficiently magnanimous to overlook your ire, feeling that in after years you will do me the justice to repair the wrong. I am extremely sorry that I cannot visit your town and sub- scribe for your valuable journal in person. My business engagements in Montreal prevent my coming at present. Ad- dress me care ' Montreal jail.' Should you not send me the papers, I hope you will remit enclosed bill by return mail. Should you visit Montreal in the next few weeks, I will be found at Payette's Hotel, (the jail,) and will be grateful to see you. Yours Respectfully, Bennett H. Young. First Lieut. Provisional Army Confederate Slates." 4 liiii t|l|l li'i III !F * 80 Acconipaiiyiiig the foregoing letter was a three dollar St. . • Albans bank bill, which, it was found, did not come into his possession honestly. Tlie«tone of this letter was in wide con- z trast with Young's professions in 18G1, when he \fUs a theolcg- ^ — ical student at Toronto, Canada West. Here litigation and technicality began, and writs of habeas corpus were invoked. Here treachery and bribery insidiously crept in and exhibited themselves. On the day following the raid, when Judge Ooursol was applied to as the commander of the Militia in the district of Montrp".!, which embraced the Southern frontier of Canada bordering on Vermont, and which included the police and detective fprces therein, he assured Hon. A. O. Aldis and a cashier of one of the banks, that he knew of a man Avho would secure the extradition of the raiders without question for the sum of $10,000. The keen perception of these gentlemen was not slow in detecting that the British Judge himself was the person. Judge Aldis at once replied that the banks had offered a reward of $10,000 for the surrender of the men and securities, payable on their conviction, or the delivery of the funds. Hence this British Judge, as he was pleased to call himself, half French and apparently half Aborigenes, exhibited great zeal at the first healing, which lasted several days after the raid, and down to the 13th of November 18G4, when a con- tinuance of thirty days was asked for by the counsel for the prisoners and granted. Two bearers of dispatches were immediately separately sent from Montreal to Bichmond, Va., for the pur""^se of getting record evidence of the appointment of Lieut. Young by Jefferson Davis, to undertake the raid. One of them was captured by General Augur, on the 12tli of No- vember, 1864, and the other, S. F. Cameron, a Chaplain in the Confederate service, ran the Union lines and entered Bichmond in safety. While crossing the Potomac river below Washing- ton, on the route, their small boat was capsized by a shot from a Union battery on the banks of the river, and one of the pai'ty drowned. Cameron, however, reached shore and passed through St. Albans in the character and habiliments of a Roman Catholic Priest, accompanied by two women dressed in m 31 the robos of uuiiH. This so oliulod the vi{,'ilance of tho dotoc tiveH that they paHSOil into Canada unsoarched. Mr. Cameron li's since written a book entitled, ' Tho (confederate Secret Service," which was widely circulated at the South, similar to '* Baker's Secret Service." During tho interim of adjournments, counsel for the prison- ers wore l)usily engaged in their efforts to find grounds to secure their relo-iao. Judge Coursol and Edward Carter had been appointed by Attorney-General George E. Cartier to pre- pare tho warrants upon which the prisoners were held. These warrants were said to have been defective, and hence illega]^^ and this fact was well known to the law officers of the Cana- dian Government before tho final hearing. Mr. Carter, how- ever, disclosed their defects to Mr. Kerr, of counsel for the prisoners, who was liis brother-in-law. Accordingly, Mr. Kerr, on the 13th of December, 1804, the day on which the case stood adjourned, and before a portion of tho counsel of the United States and the banks had arrived, moved before Judge Coursol that the prisoners be discharged on account of these defects. Wliereupon Judge Coursol, in a very precipitate man- ner, after delivering a lengthy opinion — which could not have been prepared by him in the short time allotted him for that purpose — not only discharged the prisoners for the particular oifence on which he had had a hearing, but likewise on five other separate offences and warrants upon which no hearings had been had, and ordered the money and securities captured from them, and in the custody of the law, restored to their agent, for which written orders had previously been prepared and held in readiness. The writer was the only person present in the court-room from Vermont, at the time — others having been detained by a storm, and the scene in the court-room which followed their discharge was a disgrace to any court of justice. The final announcement of their dischai'ge was attended with rounds of applause and screams never before heard or known in a court of ju'stice, in which all seemed to participate. Then there was a rush for the doors and streets, and the news spread through the city and country with great celerity. MJ t [i2 '11 • H i ■ " ! i ■ : ! I i 'fin mv H ii it i ijii Hon. John Rose, of couusol for the United States, then one of the Canailiau ministcrH, protested against such conduct. Hon. Barney Devehn followed him, by warning the Canadians that such a course would be denounced by the United States with great severity, and would prove detrimental to the prov- inces. Counsel from the United States could only express their opinions outside of the court room, as they were not per- mitted i\t any time to address the court, because they had not been admitted to the Canadian bar and adopted the customary " robes and choker." Hon. Geo. F. Edmunds was iniiuired of if he designed to return to Montreal in the event of the recap- ture of any of the men to ask for theii* extradition. He (piick- ly x'eplied that "if he did it would be at the head of a regi- ment." Mr. Seward, in his letter to Minister Adams, under date of December 24th, 1804, fitly describes what followed. Ho says : " In ray dispatch of the 14th inst. I informed you that Coursol, the Provincial Judge at Montreal, had set at liberty the fellows who committed the crimes of robbery and murder at St. Albans. Subsequent information comprises the fact, with the addition that the money stolen, to the amount, as it is understood, of ninety thousand dollars, which was in the custody of the law, was delivered to the felons by the police, under the direction of the same judge, and that thus richly ' furnished with the spoils of our citizens, they were conveyed, amid popular accla- mation, in sleighs which had been prepared for their escape, from the court-room, beyond the reach of fresh pursuit; that the discharge of the prisoners was placed upon technical grounds, now confessed to be erroneous, equally in law and in fact ; that when new warrants were issued, the police were dil- atory and treacherous in their execution, and that all efforts for the recapture of the culprits have thus far been unsuccessful. It is believed that they have already escaped from Canada to find even more sure protection and favor in Nova Scotia. It is impossible to consider those proceedings as either^legal, just, or fi'iendly towards th e United^Sta^s." . I Mr. Richie, the partner of the Hon. John Rose, in company with the writer, immediately prepared fresh affidavits and^ ilili. 33 wurmutH for tho aiTOnt of i\u) fiigitivo", aiul, aftor applying to two of tho jiidgoH of the Suporior Court of Canada to sign a warrant for that piirpo.-io, and rocoiving direct refusals, finally Bucceoded in prevailing upon Judge James Smith, another Superior Judge, to sign a warrant. Mr. llichie and Hon. Geo. F. Edmunds then applied to Mr. Lamothe, chief of police, to execute the warrant, but he declined and likcNvise , declined to permit any one of his numerous police force to execute tho same. Finally, at a late hour that night, the High Sheriff of Montreal was prevailed upon to take tho warrants, and, aft(n' several days' pursuit by a faithful government policeman, Mr. McLaughlin, five of tho number wore recaptured; namely, Young, Travis, Spurr, Hutchinson and Swager, who, after a protracted hearing, were discharged by Judge Smith, on tho ground that they were belligerents against the United States, and that their doings at St. Albans were acts of war, and wore consequently excepted out of tho operations of the extradition treaty. He, however, held as a matter of law, that Judge Coursol erred in tho precipitate and unwarranted manner in wliich he ordered the discharge of tho jirisonors and the sur- render of the funds to them. Judge Coursol was, at that time, suspected and publicly accused of complicity with the raiders, and subsequent events sti'engthened these suspicions. He was summoned to appear before the police committee of the city council of Mon- treal, and there declined to answer interrogatories relating to his malfeasance in office, as beneath the dignity of a British Judge. He, however, was forced to admit that he had been in company with Sanders and one John Porterfield, the finan- cial agent of the Confederate States in Canada. Afterwards it was rumored, and not denied, that a large sum of money was paid this British Judge by a Southern refugee, then sojourn- ing in Canada, who shortly thereafter left the Provinces, not to return again. This judge was suspended from office in conse- quence of his conduct in the matter. The Hon. H. W. Torrence was appointed a commissioner by Lord Monck to inquire into the conduct of Mr. Lamothe and Judge Coursol, and made an elaborate report to the government. This com- *.-■ It ilJ >< i i !i-;- i; 84 f JiiisHioiior roportc.l tlmt Jiul^e Conrsol wftB indictttblo for a " malfeasanco in his functionH, " as a jnfitioo, in having dis- chai'god tho prisonors on tlio 13th of Docembor, 18(54, and Mr. / Lamotlio was discharged from the office of chief of police. Notwithstanding his extraordinary conduct, Judge Conrsol was restored to his position as Judge on tho 9th of April, 186(5, by order of Sir (ieorge E. Carticr, Attorney General, and has been several times elected mayor of Montreal, and, on one occasion, entertained the Editorial Fraternity of New England M'ith groat magnificence at his palatial residence in Montreal. The witnesses, on behalf of the United States, were many times sneered and joered at, while on the streets, in the court room, and even on the witness stand in court, by women sym- pathizers with the Confederate cause, of whom there were large numbers in attendance, frequently evincing the bold and dashing characteristics of Southern chivalry. Shortly after this time. Lord Monck suggested to the suffer- ers at St. Albans, that, if memorialized, he would recommend an approi)riation to pay thy amount of money and securities so wrongfully given up by order of Coursol and Lamothe. This was done, and in April, 18(55, $19,000 in gold was paid to the First National Bank; $20,000 to the St. Albans Bank; and $31,000 in the bills of the Franklin County Bank, returaed to that Bank, said to have been purchased by an agent of the Canadian Government, at ten cents on the dollar. For this act the Canadians have frequently boasted of their magnan- imity, and not unfrequently claiming that they had paid the entire loss by the raid, of which this was a mere small propor- tion. The names of these marauders, as given by themselves, on their examination, were as follows : Bennett H. Young, Samuel Eugene Lackey, Squire Turner Travis, Alexander Pope Bruce, Charles Moore S wager, Caleb McDonald Wallace, James Alex- ander Doty, Joseph McGrorty, Samuel Simpson Gregg, Dudley Moore, Thomas Bronsden Collins, George Scott and William H. Hutchinson. They were young men of apparent education, culture and gentlemanly urbanity. They were mostly from the State of .*.• 85 for a ng cliH- 11(1 Mr. ice. lonrsol f April, sral, and on one Ingland treal. re many le court en sym- re were )okl and le suflfer- oramond jecurities Lamothe. 18 paid to IB Bank; returned nt of the For this magnan- paid the 11 propor- selves, on g, Samuel ipe Bruce, mes Alex- :g, Dudley i William ilture and 3 State of Kontiuiky — were soldiers in the Confederate Horvicc, principally from Mosby's and Morgan's guerilla bandw, and a few Sun- days before their raid on St. Albans had attended church in tliat village, and occupied the pews of men whom they after- wards sought to destroy. Some of them had been captured and held as prisoners of war in nortiiern prisons, and by strategy had escaped into Canada as an asylum. They each of them made a voluntary statement at their examination. One of these will suffice to show the motives which actuated them in making the raid. Thomas Bronsdoii Collins says : I have violated no laws of Canada or Groat Britain. Whatever I may have done at St. Al- bans, I did as a Confederate officer, acting under Lieutenant Young. When 1 loft St. Albans, I came to Canada solely for protection. I entered a hotel at Stanbridge unarmed and alone and was arrested and handcuffed by a Canadian magis- trate, (Whitman,) assisted by Yankees. He had no warrant for my aiTesc, nor had any sworn complaint been made to him against me. About $9,300 was taken from me when aii'ested, part Confederate booty, lawfully captured and held by me as such, and jjart of my own private funds. I asked the restoration of the money taken from me, and my discharge, as demanded by the rules of international law. The treaty under which ray extradition is claimed applies to rob- bers, murderers, thieves and forgers. I am neither, but a soldier, serving my country in a war commenced and waged against us by a barbarous foe, in violation of their own consti- tution, in disregard of all the rules of warfare as interpreted by civilized nations and Christian people and against Yankees too wise to expose themselves to danger, while they can buy mer- cenaries and steal negroes to tight their battles for them, who, whilst prating of neutrality, seduce your own people along the borders to violate the proclamation of your august Sovereign by joining their armies, and leave them when cap- tured by us to languish as prisoners in a climate unwholesome to them. If I aided in the sack of the St. Albans banks, it was because they were public institutions, and because I knew the pocket nerve of the Yankees to be the most sensitive, that they y 86 ji ■i ^ili iiiJIii woultl snffor most by being rudely toiiclied. I cared nothing for the booty, except to injure the enemies of my country. Federal soldiers are bought up at $1,000 a head, and the cap- ture of $200,000 is equivalent to the destruction of two hundred of said soldiers. I therefore thought the expedition ' would pay :' I guess it did, in view of . the facts ; also, that they have wisely sent several thousand soldiers from the ' bloody front ' to protect exposed points in the rear. For the part I took I am ready to abide the consequences, knowing that if I am ex- tradited to the Yankee butchers, my government can avenge, if not protect its soldiers." At the April term, 1865, of the Franklin County Court of Vermont, the Grand Jury found true bills of indictment against the above named parties, as well as against one Hezekiah Payne, for murder, attempt at murder and arson, alleged to have been committed at St. Aibaus at the time of the raid. A reward had been offered for the apprehension and conviction of any of the alleged felons, which resulted in the arrest of Payne at Datroit, Michigan, by one Captain Smith, a Southerner by birth, and formerly a captain in the Confederate army. Captain Smith was employed by Colonel Hill at Detroit, with instructions to report at Colonel Hill's head- quarters. This captain assumed the character of a Southern refugee and was assigned to duty by the government at Windsor, Canada West, directly opposite Detroit. Here the government placed him in charge of a hotel, in which he as- sumed to be landlord, and he had among his guests from sixty to ninety regular boarders, nearly all Southern refugees, who little suspected at the time that they were boarding with a United States Government detective, and who was daily reporting their sayings and doings in secret conclave to Colonel Hill. Mr. Payne v;as one of his constant boarders during the winter of 1864-5, and boastingly declared fully his connection with the St. Albans raid to Captain Smith and others of the band. Colonel Hill accordingly placed a female detective on Payne's track, who by her charms induced the latter to escort her to a theatre in Detroit on an evening. They accordingly embarked on board of the ferry boat, and as Payno '.* fl /►k*. 37 nothing country, the cap- hundred would ley have [y front ' took I I am ex- avenge, Court of t against Hezekiah lleged to raid. A )nviction arrest of iinith, a nfederate Hill at Il's head- Southern iment at Here the ich he as- rom sixty fees, who ig with a ras daily iclave to boarders [ fully his mith and a female luced the g. They as Payne stepped from the boat upon the wharf, ho was arrested by a United States Marshal, apparently very much to the chagrin and disgust of his fair companion. A search was at once in- stituted, and bills on one of the St. Albans banks were found concealed in the lining of his coat. He was conveyed to St. Albans and tried for the offences lor which he had been in- dicted by a county court and juiy, presided over by Chief Justice John Pierpoint, in June, 1865. He was identified in court by nearly half a dozen witnesses residing in St. Albans ; among them was the Rev. Francis W. Smith, who had no doubt as to his being the identical person who presented a revolver while on horseback, at one Nettleton, in the streets of St. Albans on the day of the raid, and compelled the latter to deliver to him his cap, as he had lost his own in the affray when he rode off towards Canada. On the other hand, the respondent introduced testimony to prove an apparent alibi, of the most positive character, that on. the morning of the day following the raid, at about 8^ o'clock, the prisoner was at a broker's office in Montreal, in company with a number of Southerners. This testimony left grounds for a reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury, and Payne was acquitted. A prominent Southerner afterwards informed the writer, in Montreal, that Payne participated in the St. Albans raid, and by dint of good luck reached Montreal the following morning at six o'clock, and delivered his booty to the Confederate treasury at that place, it thus appeared that all of the witnesses told the tiTith, but that the length of time which it would take to travel from St. Albans to Montreal, distant about sixty miles, over fearfully bad roads, was lost sight of, or not duly con- sidered by the prosecution and the jury. Payne having been tried once, could not again be placed in jeopardy. He was sup- posed by many to have been a near relative of Lewis Payn'e, the assailant of Secretary Seward and his son Frederick, on ti 46 about poisoning tlio aqueduct of New York City, 'of sotting tire to their cities when they least expected it,' that they would 'rescue the prisoners from Johnson's Island, and bring them to Canada.' Heard them say that something ought to be at- tempted at Ogdensburg, N. Y." Judge Coursol said to Judge Aldis and Albert Bowles, on the morning after the raid : '' That these Southerners had been about the city of Montreal in large numbers fur a long time, contemplating or getting up these raids, and that, if proper measures had been taken, their plans could have been found out and fnistrated. " Mr. Lamothe says: "After the Johnson's Island affair, and before the St. Albans raid, the Southern refugees appeared to be acting together in concert, and to be fully organized in Canada, and their organization, their purpose and intention of committing acts of forcible depredations, rapine and war upon the territory of the United States, must have been known to the Cartier-McDonald government; « * ♦ • that if there had been any steps taken by said government of Cartier-McDonald to prevent the same, the said raid on St. Albans might and would have been prevented, and would not have occuri'ed. " • Col. Wm. A. Armatinger, next in command of the militia in the district of Montreal, under Coursol, thus declared to one Jacob Bynders, a Canadian detective, before the St. Albans raid, as testified to by him : "We know all about the contem- plated raids; let them go on and have a fight on the frontier; it is none of our business ; we can lose nothing by it. It does not interfere with us. There are so many Confederate soldiers here in Montreal, we expect a fight every day, and we shall not interfere with it. " Rynders further testified, "I have no doubt Col. Armatinger knew the exact point at which Southern soldiers designed to make their attack at the time, which afterwards proved to be Si Albans, Vermont. He appeared to know all about it He was frequently in communication with the Southern soldiers, and they were on intimate terms." It was fully established, that in November, 1863, Mr. La- I ^m 47 I Mothe, Chief of Police, detected the raid on Johnsor's la- land, in the Lachine Canal, and by direction of Hon. L. H. Holton, then Finance Minister, put a stop to it. There was a change of Government in March following, and LaMothe was refused compensation for his services. He, therefore, declined to perform subsequent services in that direction, and there were no detectives used or employed for that purpose before the St. Albans raid. Lord Monck, Governor General, Sir John A. McDonald, Prime Minister, Sir George E. Cartier, Attoraey General, Hon. H. D. Longeveau, Solicitor General, and others, were impressed as witnesses by Great Britain, who all testified that they had no personal knowledge of the St. Albans raid before its occur- ence, although they were fully informed of the general objects and purposes of those insurgents in Canada. These facts, with many other minor details, were submit- ted to the Mixed Commission on American and British claims, composed of Count Jj. Coati, Italian Minister at Washington, as Umpire, James S. Frazer, of Indiana, Commissioner for the United States, and Bussell Gurney, Recorder of London, England, Commissioner for Great Britain, through Hon. Rob- ert S. Hale, Agent for the United States, who, on the 19th of August, 1873, disallowed compensation. Commissioner Frazer read an opinion, in which I am ad- vised that the majority of the Commission concurred, which was in part as follows : " I may not be prepared to say that Great Britain used that diligence to prevent hostile expeditions from Canada against the United States, which should be exercised by a neutral and friendly neighbor, but in the view which I take of these claims, this question is not important, an(| need not therefore be decided. * « * i think, rather, it was because no care which one nation may reasonably require of another in such cases would have been sufficient to discover it." Indeed, the decision must have been placed upon the ground that direct knowledge of this particular raid must have been coummunicated to the Canadian or British Government, before its " occurence, and they have failed to stop it, in order to charge such Government •F ''-«>i