Ethan Allen - Brattleboro Historical Society

Stephen Bradley comes to Vermont 1779

If you are interested in early Vermont history then you should become acquainted with Stephen R. Bradley. He moved to Westminster, Vermont in 1779 and quickly became an important figure in the economic and political establishment of the state. He was born in Connecticut, but we know little of his early life. Bradley graduated from Yale in 1775 and joined the Connecticut Militia at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He became an officer in the militia and also trained to be a lawyer. In early 1779 he resigned from the Connecticut Militia and moved to the newly established region of Vermont. Towns from the area had met in 1777 and declared their independence from New York and Great Britain. Vermont operated as its own state but New York still claimed the land as theirs. Bradley’s first Vermont court case placed him in the middle of another kind of battle. In May of 1779, while […]

Stephen Bradley and Vermont Statehood 1784-1791

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 […]

Burlington and the Allen’s (1760’s-1770’s)

In the 1760’s the Burling family purchased land from New Hampshire governor Benning Wentworth. The Burling’s were land speculators and had hoped to make money by re-selling the land to others who were interested in settling in the recently established New Hampshire Grants. Unfortunately for the Burling’s, the King of England ruled that New Hampshire did not have the right to sell any land west of the Connecticut River, so the Burling’s were worried that their large land investments were illegal and worthless. The Burling’s sent representatives to England in hopes of convincing the King that he should reconsider and recognize the New Hampshire Grant land titles. However, the King did not agree with the Burling’s. This meant it was unclear as to who really owned the land east of Lake Champlain and west of the Connecticut River. Was the land New York’s or New Hampshire’s to sell? The Burling’s were worried that they would […]