Address commemorative of the Life and PuMlc Services of Brig. -Gen. Jacob F^yley By Edwin A. Payley UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES An Address Commemorative of the Life and Public Services OF Brig.- Gen. Jacob Bay ley 1726-1815 A Founder of the State of Vermont. A Neglected Patriot of the Revolution. Delivered before the Vermont Historical Society in the Hall of Representatives in the Capitol at Montpelier, Vermont, on January 28, 1919, by Edwin A. Bayley Esq., of Lexington, Massachusetts, a descendant from General Bayley in the Fourth Generation. F Brigadier-General Jacob Bayley Mr. President, Members and Guests of the Vermont Historical Society: I wish to express my appreciation for the invitation of the Society to address this meeting and I am glad to believe that the invitation came from the desire of the Society to honor the memory of one of the pioneer founders of this beautiful, green mountain State, a man to whom I am proud to trace my name and lineage. I desire to congratulate the Society upon having re- cently completed fourscore years of corporate existence, during which it has rendered great and enduring public service, the value of which can neither be adequately meas- ured or expressed. I would further congratulate the Society on having ifl within the last few months established itself in its new and commodious quarters where it will be better able to continue g its important work; such ample housing accomodations for its library and museum furnished by the authority of the (Q State is a public recognition, not only of the valuable ser- vices rendered by the Society, but also of the efficient leader- ship and untiring efforts of its highly respected president now in the chair. ~ At a time like the present when the world is resounding with praises for recent deeds of patriotic devotion to the v ideals of liberty, justice and independence, it seems pe- culiarly fitting for this Society to honor the memory of one of the founders of this State, whose self-sacrificing and pa- triotic services for those same ideals, rendered nearly a century and a half ago, have never been generally understood nor properly recognized. In attempting to perform the duty to which your invitation calls me, I fully realize that I am in no way re- 4 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY lieving myself of any filial obligation to the memory of Brig-Gen. Jacob Bayley, for I fully concur in the confes- sion that, "They who on glorious ancestors enlarge Produce their debt instead of their discharge." Judged by the record of his public services in civil and military affairs, General Bayley earned a distinction which was excelled or even equalled by comparatively very few men of his time residing within the limits of this State; this is a strong statement, yet it is amply warranted from a study of the history of that period, and therefore renders the neglect from which his memory has so long suffered all the more difficult to explain or to excuse. To properly estimate the life and services of any public man it is necessary to understand the history of the times in which he lived and the relation in which he stood to the important events which make up that history; I therefore invite you to review with me as briefly as possible the long and eventful life of General Bayley and its relation to the history of that period. The last half of the eighteenth century is recognized by historians as a most epoch-making period on this continent, for it witnessed the establishment not only of the final supremacy of England over France through the French and Indian War but also of the independence of the American Colonies through the War of the Revolution. General Bayley's active life covered substantially the whole of that important period; he was born on the nine- teenth day of July, 1720, in that part of "Quid" Ncwbury, Massachusetts, which is now included in the town of West Newbury, where the site of his birthplace is marked by a memorial tablet suitably inscribed, erected some years ago by the Historical Society of that town. He was a descend- ant in the fifth generation from John Bayly, a weaver by trade, who emigrated from Chippenham, in the County of BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 5 Wiltshire, England, in the year 1635 and settled on what is now known as "Bailey's Hill" at Salisbury Point in the town of Amesbury, Massachusetts. General Bayley was the eighth child of the family of nine children of Joshua and Sarah (Coffin) Bayley, the latter was the daughter of Stephen and Sarah (Atkinson) Coffin, all families of high standing and influence in their com- munities. Several of Joshua Bayley's children beside Jacob attained positions of unusual prominence, influence and usefulness, two of his sons, Abner and Enoch, graduated from Harvard College and both became ministers; two of his daughters, Judith and Abigail, married, respectively, Deacon Stephen Little of Newburyport and Col. Moses Little of West Newbury, who were brothers, and members of a prominent and influential family. There in "Ould" Newbury General Bayley's youth was spent and there his deeply religious and strongly patriotic character was formed. He was energetic, self-reliant and public spirited and early assumed the serious responsi- bilities of life; at the age of eighteen years he united with the church and soon after his nineteenth birthday, he married Prudence Noyes, a daughter of Ephraim and Prudence (Stickney) Noyes, who during their long wedded life of sixty-four years was ever his faithful and efficient helpmate. Shortly after their marriage the young couple moved to that part of the town of Haverhill, Massachusetts, then known as "Timberlane", which was presently organized as the town of Hampstead, New Hampshire, and which was their home for the next seventeen or eighteen years. The records of the town of Hampstead show that General Bayley soon won the confidence and respect of his fellow-townsmen, for at the first meeting after the organi- zation of the town, in the year 1749, when he was only twenty-three years of age, he was elected a member of the Board of Selectmen and subsequently was re-elected several times. 6 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY The outbreak of the French and Indian War, in the year 1755, found General Bayley eager to answer the call of his country and marked an important turning point in his life, for it was the beginning of his distinguished military career. He promptly volunteered his services in the New Hamp- shire militia and served throughout the War, being pro- moted for meritorious service, from Lietuenant to Captain, Lieut-Colonel, and finally Colonel, which appointment he received in his thirty-third year. As Captain of his Company in the year 1757, he was with the besieged forces which so stoutly defended Fort William Henry on the shores of Lake George, where he narrowly escaped massacre at the hands of the treacherous Indian allies of the French forces under General Montcalm. He was in command of his Company in the victories won at the battles of Ticonderoga and Crown Point in the year 1759, and the following year, as Colonel, lie took part in the successful campaign which ended in the siege and capture of Montreal, which practically closed the active fightingof the War in the northeastern section of the country. After the fall of Montreal, General Bayley, with some of his officers returned to their homes in southeastern New Hampshire by way of an old Indian trail, which led down through that part of the Connecticut Valley then known as "Lower Coos"; one of their camping places on that home- ward trip was on or near the "Great Ox-Bow", in what is now the town of Newbury in this State. We can easily imagine that the expansive meadows, rich in their virgin fertility, divided by the sweeping bends of the winding Connecticut and surrounded on all sides by a background of hills and mountains covered with primeval forests, appealed to them more strongly than any locality they had ever before seen, and then and there General Bayley and his associate officer, Capt. John Ilazen, determined to secure grants of those inviting lands and immediately set about carrying that purpose into effect. BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 7 Particularly interesting in this connection is a letter written by General Bayley under date of September 30, 1762, while he was on duty at Crown Point, to his brother- in-law, Col. Moses Little of Newbury, Massachusetts, in which he requested the latter to purchase a stock of cattle for him and have them driven to "Coos", where he stated he already had a winter's supply of hay cut for them, add- ing, "I have forty families now ready to move on the town; I presume to go up myself in the spring if I am well." The following year he secured title to those lands by a charter from the Province of New Hampshire, bearing the date of May 18, 1763, which covered a tract six miles square on the west side of the Connecticut River and to this town- ship he gave the name of "Newbury" in honor of the town of his birth in Massachusetts. His removal to this new settlement during the next year marks another important turning point in his career, for he then became a pioneer on the frontier of the northern wil- derness of New England, in the settlement, protection and development of which he was destined to play a most con- spicuous part; his coming and the important services which he was to render have been comprehensibly and somewhat quaintly described by Rev. Grant Powers in his interesting "Historical Sketches of the Coos Country", in the following language : "He (General Bayley) had been from the first the prin- cipal mover in the settlement. His influence was felt in every proceeding, and now he had come to bless himself and to save much people alive, in the approaching contest between Great Britain and her Colonies." General Bayley's extensive farm included nearly three- quarters of what has long been known as the "Great Ox- bow", so-called from the shape of the broad, sweeping bend made by the Connecticut River at that point; about his home centered the activities of the new settlement; in his house on June 12, 1764, was held the first town meeting in 8 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY Newbury and at that meeting he was chosen first selectman ; in his house also the settlers gathered in September of that year to organize their first church, of which he was elected one of the first two deacons, an office which he continued to hold during the remainder of his life, and there also, the regular church services were held until the building of a little log meeting-house nearby. The isolated location of this settlement at its beginning and the rapid growth and development of the vicinity are shown in a letter written by him in October, 1768, in which he said, "Tis but seven years since I struck the first stroke here, at which time there was not one inhabitant on the River for seventy miles down, none Eastward for sixty miles, none be- tween us and Canada, and now almost all the lands are settled or settling in almost every town on the east side of the River." It was during this period that Dartmouth College was established at Hanover, New Hampshire, and General Bayley's generous interest and public spirited efforts in connection with the selection of its location deserve parti- cular mention. About the year 1767, Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, who had been for some years conducting a school at Lebanon, Connecticut, known as "Moor's Indian Charity School," desired to remove it to some location on the frontier, where it would be able to assist more directly in the education of the Indians. John Wentworth, then Provincial Governor of New Hampshire, secured the removal of the School to some place within that Province, its definite location to be determined by a committee. General Bayley at once became very much interested; he visited Pres. Wheelock and offered to contribute one thousand acres of land if it was located with ten miles of Newbury, and subsequently he accompanied President Wheelock when the latter visited the various locations which were being considered. Mutters seemed to progress favor- ably and largely through General Bayley's efforts and in- BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY fluence the selection of North Haverhill, New Hampshire > directly opposite Newbury, seemed assured; deeds of a large number of acres of land in Newbury and Haverhill were executed and delivered into the hands of a committee of three, of whom General Bayley was one, to await Pres. Wheelock's acceptance. The granting of the charter to the College in the year 1769 served to intensify the rivalry over its location, and early in the following year Gen. Bayley personally offered, in addition to his previous subscription of land, to erect a building two hundred feet long, for the use of the College on the land already donated in Haverhill. Finally, however, other considerations prevailed and in July, 1770, Hanover was selected, but even then he would not give up and wrote Pres. Wheelock a kind and loyal letter, in which he offered to raise the funds for the construction of all the buildings needed to establish the College, provided its location could be changed to Haverhill. We are now approaching the most important period of General Bayley's public life, covering, as it does, the active and prominent part he took in the organization of the State of Vermont and the distinguished military service which he rendered during the War of the Revolution. The history of the founding of this State is largely the history of the territory known as the "New Hampshire Grants." These "Grants" comprize the land extending from the northern boundary of Massachusetts on the south, to Canada on the north, bounded on the east by "Mason's Grant" so-called, (on a line running north and south through New Hampshire, about twenty miles east of the Connecticut River) and on the west by a line extending from the northwest corner of Massachusetts to Lake Cham- plain, and thence northward along the Lake. Those boundaries, except on the easterly side, are substantially coincident with the present boundaries of this State. 10 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY The Province of New Hampshire claimed sovereignty over the whole of this territory; the Province of New York also claimed title to a large portion of it, and when, in the year 1749, Bcnning Wentworth, then the Colonial Governor of New Hampshire, granted a charter of a township adjoin- ing the New York boundary line (which later became the town of Bennington, Vermont), the Province of New York immediately disputed New Hampshire's claim and a con- troversy was precipitated which lasted for more than thirty years, until the conclusion of the Revolutionary War. The bitterness of this controversy reached such a state that it came to be referred to as "The War of the Grants" and its immediate effect upon the inhabitants of The Grants equalled, if not exceeded, that of the Revolutionary War itself. The authorities of the Province of New York despairing of reaching any amicable settlement and thoroughly aroused at what they regarded as the alarming and unjust encroach- ment of the Province of New Hampshire, quietly and shrewdly appealed to the King of England to establish the dis- puted boundary line between the two Provinces; as the result of this appeal the King, by Proclamation issued on June 20, 1764, duly declared: "The western banks of the Connecticut River to be the boundary line between the said two Provinces." Instead of settling the rising controversy this Royal Decree served rather to intensify it, for the Province of New York construed it to operate as a forfeiture of all lands cov- ered by the charters previously granted by the Province of New Hampshire, and forthwith began action to dispossess the settlers then holding title under them. As might be expected, such a course aroused active resistance among the settlers throughout the Grants and divided them into parties, or factions, according to the course they believed should be pursued in order to relieve the unfortunate and complicated situation. BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 11 One of these factions known as "The Bennington Party", was largely composed of settlers residing in the southwestern part of The Grants, who were influenced chiefly by hostility toward New York, and a desire to establish an independent state, which would comprise the lands between the Con- necticut River and the eastern boundary of New York, with the seat of government west of the Green Mountains ; among the leaders of this faction were Thomas Chittenden, who became the first governor of Vermont, and the three Allen brothers, Ira, Ethan and Heman, who were the leaders of the famous "Green Mountain Boys." They were practical politicians, able, bold and resourceful. Another faction, known as "The New Hampshire Party", comprised those settlers residing east of the Green Mountains, who, in consequence of their scattered and un- protected situation, were opposed to establishing an inde- pendent state and favored annexation with the Province of New Hampshire; of this party, General Bayley was the acknowledged leader. The patriotism and loyalty of its members have never been called into question, and their service along the northern frontier in protecting southern New England has never been fully understood nor appreciated. There was a third faction, known as "The College Party", which, for a few years, was a powerful factor, first against the Provincial Government of New Hampshire, and later against the Bennington Party; the purpose of the College Party was to organize the territory between the Green Mountains on the west and Mason's Grant on the east, into an independent state, with the seat of government at or near Hanover, in the valley of the Connecticut. This party derived its name from the fact that its leaders were officers in or closely associated with Dartmouth College; they may well be described as intellectual statesmen, ag- gressive and well-educated, but unable to cope successfully with the practical politicians at the head of the Bennington Party. 12 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY There was also a fourth faction, known as "The New York Party", or "Yorkers." The members of this faction comprised the settlers who favored the sovereignty of New York and a division of The Grants at the line of the Green Mountains; its membership, however, was never large, nor its influence great. The settlers throughout The Grants fully realized that the titles to the lands, held by them under the charters granted by the Province of New Hampshire, were placed in jeopardy by the Royal Proclamation above referred to. General Bayley at once became very active in his efforts to protect the settlers and secure a remedy for this embar- rassing situation, and the records of the town of Newbury show the following entry relating to the matter: "May, 1765, the Proprietors met to consult what meas- ures to take in consequence of the King's Proclamation de- claring the west bank of the Connecticut River the dividing line between New Hampshire and New York." As time passed on there was a growing sentiment among the settlers east of the Green Mountains in favor of the annexation of that portion of The Grants to the Province of New Hampshire, and General Bayley, as the leader of the New Hampshire Party, was very active in this object. At first the New Hampshire Party had the active support of John Wentworth, then the Provincial Governor of New Hampshire, but later his sudden and at first unexplained change of mind caused much anxiety among the settlers in the eastern part of The Grants and finally led General Bayley to secure a new charter for the town of Newbury from the Province of New York, in order to protect the settlers in the titles to their lands. The complicated situation in which General Bayley found himself is shown in a letter which lie wrote to Pres. Wheelock under the date of January 15, 1771, from which I quote the following: BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 13 "You, sir, was pleased to promise your assistance that lands on the west side of the Connecticut River might be ceded back to New Hampshire, and depend upon it, your advice is wanted by this unstable people. Temptations and threats are made use of. I am writing Governor Went- worth on the affair, but what shall I write! If I appear active for New Hampshire, where is my credit in New York ! If that sinks we have a separate (Bennington) party, who I may particularly say are avowed enemies to the cause of Christ, at least by practice, by which means we are tied up, but God overrules all things, and deliverance will come to his people some way most to His glory." In his reply under date of January 22nd, Pres. Wheelock wrote : "I should act out of character if I should move anything in the affair, nor is there need that I should, since you who are the most proper man are already embarked in it. I wish you success and pray God to give you the desire of your heart." A few days later Pres. Wheelock received a letter from Governor Wentworth under the date of January 31, 1771, in which the Governor wrote: "The appointment of a new Governor of New York is a happy circumstance for the aggrieved inhabitants of the con- testing river claims. If they are wise they will eagerly em- brace the opportunity in furnishing a proper petition to ac- complish their purpose." And two months later, in March 1771, we find that General Bayley was actively and successfully circulating a petition through the valley towns to secure their reannexation to the Province of New Hampshire. The change in the attitude of Governor Wentworth in this matter is clearly set forth in a statement made by General Bayley to Asa Benton, of Thctford, Vermont, early in the year 1773, which I quote as follows: "When Governor Wentworth came to the first com- mencement at Dartmouth College in August 1771, he visited 14 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY me at my home in Newbury and while there he appeared to be very jealous to get the lands on the western side of the Connecticut River added to the Province of New Hampshire and desired my assistance in the affair, and when he took his leave of me, he gave me his hand and added that he would use his utmost efforts to recover the aforesaid lands. About two months afterwards I received a letter from Governor Went- worth in the following tenor, namely that I must make the best terms I could with New York for he could do no more to help me toward getting into the Province of New Hamp- shire. I was very much surprised and disturbed and immediate- ly went to Portsmouth to ascertain from the Governor why he had so suddenly changed his mind, but I could not get the satisfaction from him that I desired and expected. He put me off and seemed cold and indifferent." General Baj'ley, as might well be expected, was very much perplexed and disturbed by the change in Governor Wentworth's attitude, and returning to Newbury laid the situation before his people. It appears that after due con- sideration they concluded that the wisest course was to accept and make the best of what seemed to be the inevitable, and accordingly at a town meeting held on November 20, 1771, it was voted: "To send agents to New York to acknowledge their jurisdiction and that Jacob Bayley, Moses Little and Ben- jamin Whiting should be agents to act together, or singly, as occasion served, with each other." Moses Little, it will be remembered, was General Bayley's brother-in-law, and although not an actual resident of Newbury he was one of the grantees named in its charter, and a man of prominence and influence in the Province of Massachusetts. Benjamin Whiting was the town surveyor of Newbury. In pursuance of this vote General Bayley sot out upon his mission to New York, probably in the following Decem- ber or January. On his way he visited southwestern Ver- mont and then 1 met and conferred with the Aliens, Chit- BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 15 tenden and other leaders, who strongly urged him to join with them in resisting the authority of New York. General Bayley, however, did not believe that such a course was advisable and gave as his reason that the people of his sec- tion were poor and far from aid and could not, from their remoteness, act in conjunction with the people of south- western Vermont. Upon his arrival in New York he was met by the Gov- ernor's Secretary; the following is General Bayley 's own statement of that meeting: "The Governor's secretary smilingly said: 'What, you are come now; now you are obliged to come, for your gover- nor has come before you and now you are come.' Says I, 'What do you mean by your governor's coming? I don't understand you.' 'Why,' says he, handing me a letter, 'you may see what I mean/ the contents of which ran thus: That if the Governor of New York would grant patents to the Governor of New Hampshire of those five hundred acre lots which old Governor W T entworth had reserved for himself in every town on the western side of the River when he gave charters of said towns, then he, namely Governor Went- worth, would be contented to resign his claims to those towns and would exert himself no more to have them revert to the Province of New Hampshire." As the result of that interview General Bayley believed he had discovered the cause of Governor Wentworth's sudden change of heart with reference to the re-annexation of The Grants. to New Hampshire, and his subsequent disclosure to his friends of what he had learned called forth the charge by the Governor that General Bayley had wilfully misrep- resented the purport of his letter; that such was not the fact, and that General Bayley's statement was entirely correct and justified, is shown by the letter itself, of which fortunately, I am able to present the following complete copy: 16 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY "December 14, 1771. To His Excellency, Governor Try on, New York: I beg leave to entreat your friendship to me, which may in some degree relieve a misfortune lately thrown upon me. The late Governor of this Province, Benning Wentworth, Esq., at an advanced age, and extremely debilitated with infirmity, was prevailed upon to destroy his will and make a new one some time after, to the utter disinheriting of myself and every other relation he had. Many particular circum- stances aggravated this event. During his administration were granted by him many townships of Crown Lands, both on the east and west sides of the Connecticut River, in each of which was one lot of five hundred acres reserved, w r hich he intended as a grant to himself. The impropriety of this mode was often represented to him, but he still persisted until my arrival, when he thought it best to desire some more valid security, but through delay natural to old age he neg- lected acquiring it. Since his death all those lots that are in this province have been granted to his majesty's subjects, being esteemed only reservations and insufficient to convey any property to him. If the lots in like circumstances that have fallen into the Province of New York are yet ungranted and it is consistent with your intentions, I should be happy in soliciting such recovery, as being effected through favor, which permit me to assure your Excellency, I shall rejoice to cultivate and establish with the greatest attention. I am, etc. JOHN WENTWORTH." This letter clearly shows that the change in the Gov- ernor's attitude and his renunciation of any claim favoring the re-annexation of The Grants to New Hampshire, was due to his desire to secure for himself charters of those lands located within The Grants which his uncle and pre- decessor, Benning Wentworth, had reserved, but had not secured actual title to. Governor Wentwortlrs cupidity has thus left him in a very unenviable, if not dishonorable, posi- tion, but inasmuch as he placed himself there, as the fore- going letter proves, he is entitled to very little sympathy, and his attempt to defend his own reputation by his un- warranted charge against General Hayley, simply recoils upon himself and injures no one's reputation but his own. BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 17 After such a reception at the Governor's office, General Bayley realized that he was placed at quite a disadvantage, nevertheless he would not yield to any discouragement, and on February 6, 1772, he presented to Governor Tryon and his Council the petition for a new charter for Newbury. So well did he conduct the matter that within two weeks, on February 19th, it was agreed that the new charter should be granted which securely confirmed the validity of the titles of the settlers to their lands. In this charter, which bears the date of April 13, 1772, General Bayley 's name again heads the list of proprietors and thus, for the second time, he became "The Father of Newbury." The object of his trip having been thus successfully ac- complished, he hastened to return home where we may well believe the news of the new charter brought great general satisfaction and relief. The expense of securing the charter, which was considerable, was borne by General Bayley and after it was issued and delivered he kept it in his possession for sixteen years before recording it, apparently fearing for its safety if it left his custody. In this connection, one of the indirect effects of his trip deserves particular mention, as it doubtless exerted a strong influence upon General Bay- ley's future course and the proper recognition of his position in the affairs of the State; this was the confirmation of the unfavorable opinion which he and others in his locality held of some of the leaders of the Bennington Party, whom he found to be very outspoken free thinkers and avowed dis- believers of the Bible. Although General Bayley was far from being a religious fanatic, or even an emotional Christian, he nevertheless was a man of a deeply religious nature with a strong reverence for the Bible and its teachings and he was naturally averse to allying himself with a party largely dominated by men holding such religious ideas as he found were held by some of the most influential leaders of the Bennington Party. 18 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY A few years previously, in 1768, the Province of New York had divided The Grants into two counties, Benning- ton on the west of the Green Mountains and Cumberland on the east, with Newbury as the shire town of the latter; in the year 1770 Cumberland County was divided on a line running east and west between the towns of Norwich and Hartford (Vt.), the name of Cumberland being; still re- tained by the southerly portion, and the name Gloucester being given to the northerly part, and when, in the year 1772, the Province of New York established the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Gloucester County, General Bayley was appointed judge of the new court, which position he held continuously for the next five years. As time ran on the settlement of The Grants went rapidly forward, but the jurisdiction of New York grew more and more arbitrary and unsatisfactory, and it became clear that sooner or later the territory must be organized into an independent province, or be divided between the Provinces of New Hampshire and New York, or annexed to one of them, and a definite move was made in this matter in January 1775, when the Bennington Party called a convention of the resi- dents of The Grants to meet at Manchester. Several other conventions were held during that and the following year, but only a few of the settlers in Cumberland or Gloucester Counties took any part in them. The members of these conventions earnestly sought the cooperation of General Bayley. but he did not believe that the time had come for The Grants to be organized as an independent state, and he neither had the time nor the inclination to attend these conventions, for he was continually occupied in enlisting men and furnishing equipment for the "rangers" in guarding and scouting. From the beginning of the Revolutionary War he became the chief bulwark of the Colonial cause along the northern frontier, and he fully realized that its protection, upon which the safety of southern New England depended, rested almost entirely upon him. BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 19 During this period, for better public protection, com- mittees of safety were organized in many of the towns along the Connecticut Valley; these were under the direction of a central committee, of which General Bayley was Chairman, with headquarters at Newbury. It soon became apparent that the public safety required a commanding officer over all the militia of the frontier and river towns, and since the patriotism, ability and military experience of General Bayley were well known, he was, in August, 1776, duly commissioned by the Provincial Congress of the State of New York, Brigadier-General of Gloucester and Cumberland Counties. During a part of that year he was with the Continental Army at Boston; General Wash- ington, who was also there, was very desirous of establish- ing a shorter military road from eastern New England to Canada than the one then used by the way of Lake Cham- plain; from General Bayley he learned that a much shorter route could be laid out through the Coos country, and soon after, General Bayley, with the approval of his commander - in-chief, began laying out such a route from Newbury to St. Johns, Canada, a distance of about one hundred miles, over which it was believed that troops could be sent to Can- ada more quickly by ten days than by the way of Lake Champlain. After this road had been partially constructed for a distance of fifteen or twenty miles northward from Newbury, work was temporarily interrupted by the report that Canadian troops were advancing down the line of the proposed route to attack the frontier. Three years later, in 1779, the construction of this road was continued through to the northern part of Vermont under the immediate di- rection of General Hazen, and although it was never much used for military purposes, it was of great assistance in the settlement of that region, and is known as the "Bayley- Hazen Military Road." Its starting point in Wells River is now marked by a granite and bronze tablet suitably inscribed. 20 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY The great need of funds to provide for the equipment and maintenance of the Colonial troops and General Bay- ley's own self-sacrifice is shown in a letter addressed by him to the New York Provincial Congress, dated February 26, 1777, in which he stated that the only soldiers in his locality were those under pay from him, whom he employed to construct the military road above mentioned, and that he was in great need of funds to provide for the protection of the northern frontier ; referring to himself, he said : "I am continually employed in the service, but have no pay, and am willing as long as I can live without begging." When the necessary funds were not forthcoming Gen- eral Bayley continued to draw on his own private means, even to the extent of mortgaging his farm. The year 1777 was an exceedingly active one through- out The Grants. In January a convention met at West- minster which adopted a declaration of independence by which The Grants renounced the sovereignty of the Province of New York. The convention also selected a committee of five, which included Thomas Chittenden, Heman Allen and General Bayley, to serve as delegates to present the proceedings of the convention to the Continental Congress, and there negotiate in behalf of the new state. About this time New York ordered throughout The Grants an election of provincial officers under its constitu- tion; the Bennington Party, in opposition to this move on the part of New York, and with its customary adroitness circulated copies of the New York constitution throughout The Grants, the effect of which upon the sentiment of the inhabitants is well shown in a letter addressed by General Bayley to the New York Assembly under the date of June 14, 1777, in which he stated his position as follows: "Gentlemen : I acknowledge the receipt of an ordinance from you for the election of governor, lieutenant-governor, and senators and representatives, etc., but I am happy to BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 21 think that our people will not choose to sit in the State of New York. The people before they saw your constitution were not willing to trouble themselves with a separation from New York, but now, almost to a man, are violently for it." Conditions had now reached a crisis and General Bayley felt that the time had come when a decision must be made be- tween the jurisdiction of New York and the establishment of an independent state, and at a town meeting held at New- bury on June 23, 1777, it was voted "to be separate from the state of New York and formed into a state by the name of. Vermont", and also, "to accept the independence voted in the convention held at Westminster on January 15 with the amendments and that Gen'l Jacob Bayley and Reuben Foster be delegates." General Bayley 's letter above mentioned and the action of his town were practically a renunciation of his alle- giance to the State of New York, and his approval of the estab- lishment of The Grants as an independent state. He took his seat in that memorable convention, which met at Windsor, on July 2, 1777, which considered and adopted a constitu- tion for the new state of Vermont. One of the important provisions of the new constitution was the appointment of a Council of Safety, which should administer the affairs of the new state until a permanent government was organized under the constitution. This Council embraced the three functions of Gover- nor, Council and General Assembly, and was all powerful until the election of officers provided for by the constitu- tion, which was to be held the following March; it was notable not only for the authority with which it was invested, but also for the character of the twelve men who composed it : at its head was Thomas Chittenden, soon to become the first Governor of the new State; Ira and Heman Allen, brothers of Ethan, were both members, as was also General Bayley, who was chosen at the personal solicitation of President Chittenden, for the reason, as the latter stated, that General Bayley was "the strongest man east of the mountains." 22 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY This high estimate of General Bayley's ability must be re- garded as of very great weight, coining as it did from such a contemporary as President Chittenden, with whose course and ideas it was well known General Bayley had at times little sympathy. While these important political events were transpiring in the new state of Vermont, the Revolutionary War was being aggressively pushed. In recognition of General Bayley's important military services throughout the terri- tory under his command, he was commissioned by General Washington, in the year 1777, Commissary-General of the Northern Department of the Colonial Army. In July of that year General Burgoyne, who had been advancing southward from Canada with a strong force of British, attacked and captured Fort Ticonderoga and was planning to fight his way down the Hudson and thus cut off New Eng- land from the rest of the colonies, "the gravity of the situa- tion was everywhere fully realized and General Bayley and all other Colonial officers were straining every nerve to marshall a sufficient force to prevent the success of this plan of the British. Events moved rapidly, and on August 15th the Battle of Bennington was fought and won, adding the name of John Stark to the long line of American heroes. General Bayley was at Castleton on the day of the battle, but immediately proceeded to Bennington and shared in the inspiration of that important victory. It was imperative that the Colonial forces should follow up the advantage which had been gained and every avail- able man was rushed to the front. The urgency of the sit- uation and General Bayley's hope of early success were shown in a letter written by him to Col. Morey, of Orford, New Hampshire, under date of September 22, 1777, from which I quote the following: "You and all the militia eastward must turn out and with horses and one month's provisions, which will, I hope, put an end to the dispute this way." BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 23 His hope was happily fulfilled, for the advance of the Col- onial forces could not be withstood and General Burgoyne was forced to retreat to Saratoga, where, on October 17th, after an overwhelming defeat at the hands of the brilliant but treacherous Benedict Arnold, he was obliged to surrender. General Bayley, in command of his regiment, took part in this battle and contributed to the important victory there won. Saratoga is recognized as one of the decisive battles of history and its far-reaching effect upon the Colonial cause can scarcely be over-estimated, and while the war continued for nearly three years, the subsequent fighting was largely con- fined to the southern portion of the Colonies and New Eng- land was relieved in a great measure from its previous strain and anxiety. In March of the following year the state of Vermont was organized under its new constitution, which provided for a government through a Governor, a Lieutenant-Governor, a Council of twelve members and a General Assembly of Representatives; General Bayley w r as elected a member of this first Governor's Council, which combined the func- tions and powers of both a Governor's Council and a Senate. During that same year General Bayley, with the Lieut- enant Governor and five others, were constituted a "Court of Confiscation", which was empowered to seize and order the sale of the real and personal estate belonging to the British sympathizers or Tories, whose attitude toward the Colonial cause was particularly offensive to the patriotism of the citi- zens in general; and during that same year General Bayley was also appointed Judge of the Probate Court of the Newbury District. The second election under the constitution occurred in September of that same year and General Bayley was again elected a member of the Governor's Council. The Assembly of that year established a Supreme Court for the County of Gloucester and General Bayley was appointed Chief Judge of the new Court. 24 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY Through the influence of the Bennington Party, which at that time had gained control of the Vermont Assembly, the towns on the east side of the Connecticut River, which had been admitted to Vermont against the opposition of the Bennington Party, were denied and deprived of certain powers and privileges, which were enjoyed by the other towns of the state and which those east-side towns claimed were guaranteed to them by the act of the union. This course of the Bennington Party aroused the opposition not only of the College Party, but of the residents generally of the Connecticut Valley and as a result the representatives of the east-side towns withdrew from the Assembly; with them went also the representatives of several of the towns on the west side of the River, who shared in the resentment aroused by the unjust course of the Bennington Party. Among those representatives of the west-side towns were the Lieut. -Governor and General Bayley, and at a town meeting held in Newbury in 1778 the town by vote approved of the action of its representatives in withdrawing from the Assembly; a convention of the seceding towns was im- mediately called to meet at Cornish, New Hampshire, where action was taken favoring a return of the River towns in Vermont to the state of New Hampshire, or as an alter- native, a union of the River towns in New Hampshire with the state of Vermont. General Bayley was a very active member of this con- vention and was one of a special committee of two, who were appointed to prepare and present to the New Hampshire Assembly a petition embodying this proposal. The Bennington Party exerted every effort to counter- act this movement, but was only partially successful, for the New Hampshire Assembly recommended: "That New Hampshire should lay claim to the jurisdic- tion of the whole of The Grants lying west of the River, but allowing and conceding, nevertheless, that if the Honorable Continental Congress should permit them to be a separate BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 25 state, as now claimed by some of the inhabitants thereof, by the name of ' Vermont', New Hampshire would acquiesce therein." Action upon this recommendation was delayed until the following session, which was to assemble in June 1779, and meanwhile the Cornish Committee were requested to as- certain the sentiment of the residents on the west side of the River ; this was found to be favorable to the recommenda- tion, and accordingly the claim was formally made by the New Hampshire Assembly. It will be readily understood that the state of Vermont was thus placed in an exceedingly embarrassing situation, for New York and New Hampshire each claimed the whole of the territory, while Massachusetts also put in a claim for a strip along the southern border; Congress seemed indifferent and the feeling between the rival parties in the state had become very intense and bitter. The leaders of the Bennington Party were greatly angered by the persistent claims of the adjoining states, and despairing of the immediate recognition of the state of Vermont by Congress through any course heretofore pur- sued, they proceeded to develope a scheme which they hoped would force the final recognition of the state; this plan embraced the carrying on of secret negotiations with General Haldimand, the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in Canada, the ostensible object of which was to detach Ver- mont from the United States and annex her to Canada under the British Dominion. At first only eight men in Vermont were in the secret, and these included the leaders of the Bennington Party; with this object in view they agreed upon a truce with the British, by which the troops of the latter were withdrawn from western Vermont, and the Colonial forces in that part of the State were disbanded with the expectation on the part of the British that Vermont was presently to be annexed to Canada. This was certainly a bold and desperate scheme. The negotitaions were 26 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY carried on for nearly four years, from 1779 to 1783; there was a large amount of correspondence and some of the letters written by the leaders of the Bcnnington Party to the British authorities in Canada appeared to indicate that they were in fact ready to turn Vermont over to Canada. It is little wonder, therefore, that General Bayley and his associates in the Connecticut Valley, who were not parties to the secret, and who had for a long time entertained a strong aversion for some of the leaders of the Bennington Party on account of their infidel beliefs, should, in consequence of the apparent character of these negotiations, distrust their patriotism. General Bayley's views upon this situation were well shown in a letter written by him under date of November 6, 1780, in which he said: "All the force that can be spared from Canada is at Crown Point and Onion River; and though they have been for six weeks in that quarter, and it has been in their power to distress the people on The Grants west of the mountains, yet not a man killed or captivated, nor a house burnt; but look on this side, where people are opposed to the people on the west, in their extravagances they burn, kill, and cap- tivate, and have been and now are watching to destroy this and other places on these rivers." The same feeling of suspicion and some of the reasons why he advocated annexation with New Hampshire and his fixed determination regarding his own course, w r ere clearly shown in a remarkably strong and patriotic letter written by him to President Weare of the New Hampshire Assembly, under date of November 22 of the same year, from which I quote the following: "I understand General Allen has made peace for Ver- mont till that time (February 1781) but as we do not own that state we shall be their only butt. If the United States and you in particular do not take notice of such treasonable conduct we had better let this cause drop. If you had the jurisdiction of the whole Grants which I am sure you could if you only desire it, the country would be safe; but if you BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 27 split at the (Connecticut) river you keep all in confusion, while the matter hangs in suspense the enemy may take possession, then where is your State! For my part I am determined to fight for New Hampshire and the United States as long as I am alive and have one copper in my hand, but if our exertions are not greater and more effectual, another year will end the dispute (and) not in our favor." It appears that at this time General Bayley believed that a public sentiment in favor of a union with the British Gov- ernment in Canada was spreading throughout the Grants, and it was imperative that the Colonial forces should make some open and aggressive move in order to counteract this grow- ing British sentiment ; for this reason he was strongly in favor of an invasion of Canada, and was willing to risk his own life in the attempt as appears in the following additional quota- tion from the foregoing letter: "The United States suffer themselves to be attacked front and rear and on the flanks; Did Burgoyne get clear when that was the case with him? Our chariot is in the mire. Praying to Hercules or France without putting to the shoulder with all our might will not do. This frontier is the only one for five hundred miles west remaining. It is near the enemy. It is of great importance to you as well as to the other New England states and the cause is general. Shall we forever be on the defensive and yet not be able to defend ourselves as it is impossible we should while Canada is in the hands of the enemy? Shall we not make an at- tempt on Canada, that harbor of spoils, thieves and rob- bers? I must confess the cause is sinking so fast in my view, I am willing (as I see no other remedy) to make the attempt if I run ten chances to one to die in the attempt." How firmly convinced the British authorities in Canada were with reference to what they believed the real purpose of the western Vermont leaders was in their negotiations with General Haldimand, and General Bayley's relation to the situation were clearly stated in a secret report made to General Haldimand by one of the British commissioners. This report bears the date of September 30, 1781, and from it I quote as follows : 28 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY 'I beg leave to trouble you with a few remarks of my own founded on the closest observation and scrutiny that I was able to make on the words and actions of Messrs. Allen and Fay while I was with them. I am fully of the opin- ion that Messrs. Chfttenden, Allen and Fay, with a number of the leading men of Vermont, are making every exertion in their power to endeavor to bring about a reunion with (the British) government and that at least one-third of the popu- lace sincerely wishes for such a change. But I find that Congress are much alarmed and have lately, at great expense, employed a number of emissaries in Vermont to counteract, underhand, whatever is doing for (the British) government. The principal of those are Gen- eral Bayley, Colonels Charles Johnson, Morey, Brewster and Major Childs on the Connecticut River. This Junto, of which General Bayley is the soul, are en- deavoring to set the populace against their present leaders by insinuating to them that they are Tories and intend to sell Vermont, etc. I believe that Congress intend to bring the populace of Vermont to a general vote \vhether they will relinquish their present claim or not, at which time they hope, by the influ- ence of Bayley's party, to turn out the present leaders and at least have their own creatures appointed, whom they will endeavor to support by establishing a considerable force somewhere on the frontiers of Vermont next spring. Messrs. Allen and Fay have very sincerely acknowledged to me their embarrassment and their fears that the populace could not be easily gained, and in a very sensible manner pointed out the difficulties and dangers attending such an attempt, while the rebellious part of the populace, however few, had reason to suspect so much more assistance from the southward than the friends of (the British) government could at present expect from the northward; they observed that so long as these motives emboldened the former and depressed the latter, there would be but little hopes of success. They, however, requested (as the last resource)that General Haldi- mand would issue a proclamation pointing out in a very par- ticular manner the privileges he was authorized to grant Vermont. This proclamation they hoped would be accept- able to so large a part of the people that by the ensuing spring, with the assistance and protection of General Haldimand, BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 29 they could effectually establish a British government, but, if this failed, they know of no other method at present." General Bayley's feelings during this period are further shown in a letter written by him to General Washington, dated April 10, 1782, in which, referring to the correspond- ence with General Haldimand, he said: "I must say the correspondence of Vermont with the enemy was not to deceive them, but was actually designed to destroy the United States, the question, whom did they mean to deceive Congress, or the enemy?" and again in another letter to General Washington, under the date of May 30, of the same year, he said : "Major James Rogers has been in here and has gone back satisfied that most of the leading men in Vermont will not oppose the British government. I believe he will not find it true; although many are gone back, this town and some adjacent stand fast." and again writing General Washington under the date of September 16, of the same year, speaking of the need of funds and how he had impoverished himself, he said : "If it is consistent, I wish some gentleman at Boston might be appointed to settle the account, as it is very ex- pensive for me to go to Philadelphia; have nothing left but my farm, but what I have advanced for the public; even my time as much as though I had been the whole time in the army since the present war. I have not received anything for my time (and I think it well spent if I have done any good), but little for my advancements." Colonel Thomas Johnson of Newbury, a neighbor and firm friend of General Bayley and an ardent patriot, who had been captured and kept a prisoner in Canada during a por- tion of the time covered by the Haldimand correspondence, had an opportunity to learn the belief of some of the British authorities in Canada regarding the matter, which led him to share in the strong suspicion of the patriotism of the 30 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY leaders of the Bennington Party; this clearly appeared in a letter written by him to General Washington under the date of May 30, 1782, in which he reported certain information which he obtained while he was a prisoner of war, from which I quote the following: "I soon contracted an intimate acquaintance and con- versation with leading men in that quarter and obtained a particular state of the affairs of Vermont, and found that Ira Allen and others had twice been into Canada and that two Flags had been sent from Canada into Vermont ; and that the outlines of a Treaty were then actually formed between them, namely: That Vermont should be a Charter Govern- ment, similar in most respects to Connecticut, yet more lib- berty on the side of the State; that they should be pro- tected by government whenever necessary; that Ira Allen was then daily expected in again to complete the matter. I found, likewise, that this plan was agreed upon with Ethan Allen before he left the British During the carrying on of the aforesaid expeditions, it was agreed by the Aliens, etc., on the part of Vermont, that they would lay still and give them no trouble as the Officers had often told me. Thus Ethan Allen did at Castleton, in the fall of the year 1780, when the British destroyed Fort George, Fort Ann and many of the inhabitants in that quarter, and came round within one day's march of the place where Allen lay with near a thousand men, and suffered them all to pass on un- molested, when at the same time I heard many of the Officers often say that Allen might easily have cut them off, if he would, but he had agreed to the contrary. The rehearsal of these actions of the infernal villains is enough to make my blood run cold in every vein." The causes which inspired the writing of the foregoing letters served to still further arouse the efforts of General Bayley in behalf of the United States and against the pro- posed scheme of the union of Vermont with Canada, all of which made him particularly offensive to the British; that he was so regarded is shown in a letter written to Pres. Weare of the New Hampshire Assembly by Moses Dow of Haverhill, New Hampshire, under the date of June 16, 1782, in which he stated that: BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 31 "Governor Chittenden had received an account that all Newbury but three or four had voted to make application to New Hampshire to be received and protected, and that General Bayley was very active in the matter; that an ur- gent request had been sent to General Haldimand by some of the British sympathizers, entreating him in the most urgent and pressing manner to send immediately and take General Bayley off the ground, as he kept this part of the country in a tumult and confusion, and unless he was taken away General Haldimand could not carry his plans into effect." In consequence of this well-founded belief, a reward of five hundred guineas was offered for the capture of General Bayley, "dead or alive", and a carefully-planned but in- effectual attempt to surprise him at his home in June, 1782, only failed through the timely warning given to him by Col. Thomas Johnson. The incident, I think, is well worth re- repeating here: It appears that for several days some British soldiers had been lurking in the vicinity of General Bayley's home for the purpose of effecting his capture; on the afternoon of the day of the proposed attempt, Gen. Bayley and some of his men were plowing on his meadow. Colonel Johnson, who was at home on parole after his capture by the British, be- came aware of this plan and was determined, at all hazards, to prevent his friend from falling into the hands of the Bri- tish; fearing on account of his own safety to personally give him warning, Col. Johnson wrote this brief and non- committal message on a slip of paper: "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson", which he folded and handed to a friend directing him to cross the meadow and drop the paper in the sight of General Bayley, near where he was to pass. This was done; General Bayley received the warning, and after plowing a little longer, directed his men to stop work and look after them- selves, as he was going across the River. That very even- 32 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY ing the British surrounded General Bayley's home and captured the inmates, but he was safe among his friends in Haverhill. The history of those troublous times, which I have briefly outlined, was nearing a peaceful conclusion. The end of the Revolutionary War was near at hand and the powerful influence of General Washington was exerted to clear up the embarrassing situation with reference to the recognition of the State of Vermont; Congress declared that: "The relinquishment by Vermont of all demands or jurisdictions on the east side of the west bank of the Connec- ticut River and west of a line twenty miles east of the Hudson, was an indispensable preliminary to the State's recognition," and finally in June, 1782, the Vermont Assembly decided to accept this declaration as an ultimatum and voted to dis- solve the union with any territory outside of the limits pre- scribed by Congress. In view of the foregoing references to the suspicions entertained and expressed by General Bayley, and other leaders of the Xew Hampshire party regarding the patriotism of the leaders of the Bennington Party, I feel that it is only fair to state that while there certainly appeared to be just and ample grounds for such suspicions, a clearer under- standing of the whole situation satisfactorily explains the course pursued by the leaders of the Bennington Party; their object was the organization of The Grants as an in- dependent state and when that had been accomplished, the delay of Congress in recognizing the new state induced them to pursue the course which they did, in the hope of forcing that recognition, and there is good ground for the belief that the substance, at least, of the Haldimand cor- respondence was transmitted to Congress by the leaders of the Bennington Party, with the hope that it might assist them in their purpose. BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 33 I am glad to believe that the suspicions regarding the patriotism of the leaders of the Bennington Party were not well founded, and that throughout that trying period their allegiance to the United States was earnest and sincere, and that it was true of them all, as Ethan Allen stated with reference to his own allegiance, in a letter written by him to Congress, from which I quote as follows : "I am resolutely determined to defend the independence of Vermont, as Congress are that of the United States, and rather than fail, will retire with the hardy Green Mountain Boys into the caverns of the mountains and wage war with human nature at large." With the ending of the Revolutionary War and the War of the Grants, the causes of danger, disagreement and suspicion were removed and General Bayley at once re- sumed his prominent position in the affairs of the new State. In October 1783, he was appointed Chief Judge of the Orange County Court and the following year he was elected as the representative from Newbury to the General Assembly. In 1786 he was elected to his former position as a member of the Governor's Council and thereafter for seven consecutive years he was annually re-elected; during the same year, 1786, he was appointed Chief Judge of the Orange County Court and served continuously until 1791. He was also elected a member of the Constitutional Convention, which met in 1793. His long and distinguished public career closed with the expiration of his term as a member of the Governor's Coun- cil in the year 1794; he had passed his sixty-eighth birthday and had earned his release from the labor and turmoil of further public service. It is also true that the financial expenditures which he had made and the losses which he had suffered for the public welfare, and for which he never re- ceived any return, left him, for the remainder of his life, a poor man. In his retirement among his family and friends in Newbury, his life flowed quietly on for twenty years. 34 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY He died on March 1, 1815, in the eighty-ninth year of his age, carrying with him to the end the confidence and esteem of all who knew him ; his burial place is in Ox-Bow Cemetery, nearby his Newbury home, overlooking the beautiful meadow and the winding river which first attracted him so strongly to that locality. Although I have made a careful search, I have been unable to find a picture of him, and consequently the fol- lowing description given by Mr. Wells, in his "History of Newbury, Vt.," will prove all the more interesting: "In person he was about middle height, a stature not exceeded by any of his sons or grandsons, with a muscular, well-knit frame capable of great endurance, and the lineament of his countenance could easily be traced in his descendants." The following is a summary of his many public positions : Besides the town offices which he held in Hampstead and New- bury (seven years as selectman and more than twenty times as moderator), his activity in wider fields included his ser- vice through the French and Indian War as Lieutenant, Captain and Colonel; through the Revolutionary W T ar as Brigadier General and Commissary General of the Nor- thern Department of the Colonial Army. He was the founder of Newbury, Vermont, securing its first charter from the Province of New Hampshire (1763) and its second charter from the Province of New York (1772); he was a delegate to the New York Provincial Congress (1777); a member of two Vermont General Assemblies (1777-1784); a member of the Council of Safety, which for the time being, governed the state of Vermont (1777); a member of the Court of Con- fiscation (1778); Judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for five years (1772-1777) ; Judge of the Probate Court of Newbury District; Chief Judge of the Supreme Court of Gloucester County (1778); Chief Judge of Orange County Court for six years (1783, 1786-1791); a member of two Vermont Constitutional Conventions (1777, 1793); a dele- BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 35 gate to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia (1777) and a member of the Governor's Council for ten terms (1778, 1786-1794). Such a long record of varied and im- portant public service marks General Bayley as a man of extraordinary ability, prominence and usefulness and fully entitles him to be ranked as one of the very foremost men in the founding and early history of this state. In this connection it will be instructive to consider the estimates placed upon his services by various disinterested writers, who have been careful students of the history of his time. Coffin in his "History of Newbury, Mass.," speaking of General Bayley's services, says : "These positions involved sacrifices of an extraordinary character, and many anecdotes might be related of his ex- ploits, hair-breadth escapes, encounters with the enemy, Indians and Tories; his constant vigilance to escape scouts sent from Canada to take him, for whom a reward of five hundred guineas had been offered, dead or alive; by means of spies he acquired important intelligence of the enemy in Canada and rendered great service with his purse, person and pen at and before the surrender of Burgoyne, where he was engaged with two or three of his sons; he made a treaty of friendship with the St. Francis Indians, and by his kindness to them won their attachment, and many of the tribe were of great service to the colonies during the Revolutionary War ; he sacrificed a large estate in the service of his country, for which he never received any compensation, and was equally distinguished for his talents, his patriotism and his piety." A descendant of Governor Chittenden has well des- scribed General Bayley as "One of the neglected patriots of the Revolution." Wells, in his "History of Newbury, Vt.," estimates General Bayley as follows: "He had great talents and his usefulness to the American cause was very great ; it is believed that losses which he suffer- ed by his service to the patriot cause amounted to sixty thousand dollars, for which, notwithstanding his applications to Congress, he received no return; he sacrificed all his estate 36 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY to pay his debts and died a poor man; he has been well called 'The Father of Newbury' and his services to the town and the church can hardly be over-estimated; his influence with the Indians doubtless prevented many disasters to the frontier, and his sacrifices in behalf of the American cause contributed toward the establishment of her colonies; his fame will always be great in this town, but by the present generation even of his descendants, the services which he rendered are very imperfectly understood; his sphere of operations was narrow, but in it no man could have accom- plished a more durable work ; his loyalty to the patriot cause was never questioned and his course during the war has never needed apology or required vindication ; it is unfortunate for his fame that he took the course which he did regarding the motives and influence of the Aliens, Governor Chittenden and the other leaders of the Vermont cause; had he under- stood their plans and acted with them, his name would have gone into history second in fame to that of no man in Ver- mont." Coming from such authorities the foregoing estimates of General Bayley must be regarded as competent and de- served. While his fame has suffered as above suggested, any student of the history of those times will admit that General Bayley had strong and natural grounds for his suspicion of the patriotism of the western Vermont leaders. When, however, the peace and independence of his country were finally established and the safety and protection of the inhabitants of the frontier were fully assured, he was loyal and broad-minded enough to forget the differences which had once separated them, and to join heartily with them in the upbuilding of the new state, in which they all were leaders. Little can be added to the comprehensive estimates of his life from which I have above quoted, and I will only summarize his character and services as follows: He was a pioneer of strong, unselfish purpose; A patriot of uncompromising fidelity; A soldier unstained by personal ambition; A citizen ever devoted to the public good. BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB BAYLEY 37 While he lacked the fire of a Sam Adams, his patriotism was equally deep and strong, and not less severely tested; although he never possessed the swaying eloquence of a Patrick Henry, nevertheless, he easily won and maintained the confidence of those who knew him ; while he did not have the genius for government of a Jefferson, yet his counsel was wise and his judgment sound; and although his name is not conspicuously linked with the chief command in any great battle, nevertheless his untiring and self-sacrificing services in raising, equipping and maintaining the militia throughout the large district under his command contributed very materially to those successes which gave to the names of others undying glory and fame. More than a century has passed since his death, and the United States, for which he fought with a patriotic self- sacrifice and devotion which knew neither limit, variable- ness, nor shadow of turning, is today the foremost nation of all the world; this State, which he helped to organize, and with the early history of which he was so closely and prominently identified, is today the home of happy and prosperous thousands, while thousands more now residing beyond its borders, cherish it with its green hills and fertile valleys as the dearest place on earth, and the town of New- bury, which he founded, loved so well, and served so long and faithfully, is today one of the most picturesque in all the famous valley of the Connecticut, its meadows are the most beautiful and fertile, its intervales the most in- viting for homes, commanding a view of meadow and river, of hill and mountain of surpassing natural beauty, affording a continuing proof of the foresight of the one who, more than a century and a half ago, while it was still an unbroken wilderness, chose it for his home, and for nearly half a cen- tury wisely directed its growth and development. In concluding, it is a pleasure to be able to state that the most prominent event in the celebration in 1912 of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of 38 THE VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY Newbury, Vermont, was the dedication to the memory of General Bayley of a large, impressive, granite monument, which was erected by his descendants in grateful memory of his distinguished public services, and which will serve through the coming years to inspire in all who interpret its true significance a patriotic devotion and self-sacrifice for the public good, such as ever actuated his life. Deeply appreciating the interest and attention of this audience, I feel that I cannot better close this tribute than by using the words of another, which so aptly epitomize General Bayley's life and character, and which, also, well express an increasing need of our own times: "God give us men! A time like this demands Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; Men who possess opinions and a will ; Men who have honor; men who will not lie; Men who can stand before a demagogue And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking; Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog In public duty and in private thinking." UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below Form L-9-15i-3,'34 UNIVERSITY of Cf JFORNiA AT LOS ANGKLES LIBRARY Binder Gaylord Bros., I n < Makers Stockton, Calif PAT. JAN. 2). 1908 f