In 1784 the southeastern corner of Vermont was in great turmoil. Two hundred and forty years ago, residents loyal to New York were in revolt against the Vermont government. At the time, the Attorney General of Vermont was Stephen R. Bradley. On January 10th he issued a document addressed to those residents refusing to comply with Vermont laws. He said that the Vermont government was willing to forget past transgressions if those refusing to follow Vermont laws would pledge allegiance to the state.
This offer was not accepted by the Yorkers. Stephen R. Bradley was also a colonel in the Vermont Militia and reported the following event to the Vermont Journal publication. We have paraphrased his reporting to make it more easily understood.
On Saturday morning, January 17th, I received a report that the night before a group of twenty armed men had marched from Guilford to Brattleboro and arrived at the Arms Tavern around midnight. They surrounded the Brattleboro tavern and demanded that Constable Waters come out and surrender tax money he had collected from local farmers. Waters refused to leave the tavern so the mob fired shots into the building. The tavern was occupied by travelers and one or two were injured. The armed men rushed into the building and captured Constable Waters.
I immediately sent a message to the sheriff to gather a posse with the intent of rescuing the Constable. Members of the Vermont Militia were contacted and we met in Brattleboro on the 18th. On Monday, the 19th, we received information that the whole body of Yorkers, who were determined to oppose the collecting of taxes, and anything connected with Vermont government, were assembled at Guilford.
We gathered 200 Vermont Militia in Brattleboro and immediately marched to Guilford in order to force them to comply with our laws. As soon as we arrived the Yorkers ran away without firing a shot. The militia remained in Guilford and word was spread that the Yorkers should come in, surrender their arms, and pledge allegiance to Vermont. We made it clear that the insurrection would not be tolerated.
The troops occupied Guilford Center until 30 men came in and surrendered on Wednesday, the 21st. We then marched 120 of our troops to southern Guilford, near Packer’s Corner, where it was reported 40 more insurrectionists were gathered. As we got near the house we saw many men come out of the building and prepare for confrontation. When we were a little over 300 yards from the house the Yorkers fired one volley in our direction. As we continued to advance they retreated and disappeared into the woods. Militia pursued the retreating Yorkers and more musket fire occurred. Captain Sylvanus Fisk was hit and died of his wounds. Ethan Allen and a larger contingent of Vermont Militia arrived in two days. The Yorkers had fled to Massachusetts. For a time, this quieted the rebellion.
In March, 1784 New York’s Governor Clinton requested that the U.S. Congress declare war on Vermont. He wanted the Vermont government overthrown and land claimed by Vermont returned to New York. The Congress took no action on the request. Meanwhile, Vermont’s government moved to solidify its militia. Stephen Bradley was one of five military leaders selected to create a post-Revolution military structure that could guard against any advances from New York.
While Bradley served in the militia and held various judicial posts, he also served in the Vermont legislature. In 1785 he proposed a bill for “quieting ancient settlers”. The intent of the bill was to establish a legal process for early Vermont settlers with disputed land claims to find a solution in the court system. The bill was adopted into law. For the next few years, Bradley served as a Vermont Superior Court Judge and made decisions on many of these disputed land claims. This process helped Vermont move forward from the New York/New Hampshire land claim issues that had caused such acrimony between different factions within the state.
Once Vermont got its house in order by settling land disputes, (and disavowing efforts by the Allen brothers to have the state join Canada), it took steps to enter negotiations with the United States government. In 1789 Stephen Bradley was one of three Vermonters chosen to enter into discussions with the US Congress for the expressed goal of Vermont joining the United States. These discussions led to an understanding between U.S. officials and Vermont agents as to how Vermont could join the Union.
The biggest stumbling block was the land and border dispute between New York and Vermont. In 1790 Bradley was one of six Vermont leaders chosen to negotiate with the Empire State government. This negotiation lasted from January to October and was completed in New York City. The U.S. Congress also met in New York City from 1789 to 1791. It was decided that Vermont would have to pay $30,000 to New York to compensate the state for its claim to Vermont territory.
In late October, at the next meeting of the Vermont legislature, Stephen Bradley made a motion to accept the newly settled boundary between Vermont and New York. This motion passed. Bradley then made a motion that the legislature convene a convention to “deliberate upon and agree to the Constitution of the United States”. This motion also passed and a convention was planned for early in the new year; to meet in Bennington.
On January 6, 1791 Vermont’s convention to consider adopting the US Constitution began. There were 104 delegates and government officials at the convention and a fair amount of disagreement as to whether Vermont should adopt the US Constitution. Some delegates feared joining the Union would cause Vermonters to lose their rights. Others wanted to postpone any votes in order to give residents a chance to discuss the pros and cons for a few more months. Still others were opposed to the taxes that would need to be raised in order to pay New York $30,000 in compensation.
Stephen R. Bradley did not speak during the first day of the convention, but on the second day he argued that Vermont should join. He stated that circumstances required that Vermont become one the United States. He said the country was new and Vermont should join so the “sister states” could grow up together. He also argued that Vermont was unable to defend itself against aggression. He believed, after negotiating with the United States and New York, that if Vermont did not vote to join the Union, then the state could be forced to join the US through military coercion; or the state could be forcefully broken up and land distributed between existing states.
On Saturday, January 8th, Stephen Bradley made a motion that the convention appoint a committee to draft a document accepting the U.S. Constitution. This caused much more debate but, by the end of the day, the motion was passed and it was decided that the document would be presented to the convention on Monday, January 10th. On Monday the ratification of the U.S. Constitution was proposed and all but four delegates voted in favor of joining the United States. As an aside, Vermont did struggle raising taxes and the payment to New York was not completed until October, 1799.
Vermont officially joined the Unites States on March 4, 1791. Stephen R. Bradley was chosen to be one of the two United States Senators from the newly adopted state of Vermont.