 Hello everyone, this is Dan O'Neill, the executive director of the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum and Historic Site, and I'd like to welcome you to our third Sunday lecture series. First, I'd like to thank all of you, the supporters, who have made this season and made the museum possible. If you'd like to make a donation to continue supporting our operations, please look in the description box below for a link that will allow you to donate securely online. We'd also like to thank the sponsors of our third Sunday lecture series. These businesses have made a vital investment in their community so that we can continue bringing you these programs at no charge. They are Burlington Cars, 802 Cars, and People's United Bank. We are also including links to those businesses in our description box below. For this month's third Sunday lecture series, it is my pleasure to introduce Glen Fay. Glen Fay is a seventh generation Vermonter, was an educator for many years as an adjunct professor at UVM, and a chemistry teacher at CVU High School in Heinsberg. He became hooked on primary source research related to the American Revolution and the Maritime War of 1812 on Lake Champlain while completing an NSF grant. As a result, he is now researching the life and characters in New England during the same moment in history. He has a BS in biology and earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies. His book, Vermont's Ebenezer Allen, Patriot, Commando, and Emancipator is due out on or before July 4th, 2021. It is with great pleasure that I introduce Glen Fay. The life and times of Vermont's Ebenezer Allen, Patriot, Commando, Emancipator, and Public Servant, historian Alan Stratton complimented Ebenezer Allen. He said Alan's chronological record was literally unbelievable. Alan accomplished more politically, militarily, and personally in a span of eight years from 1775 to 1783 than an ordinary man did in a lifetime. And in that time, he pulled off some astonishing accomplishments. If we peel back the military accomplishments and examine some of his civic life and decision making, we see a no-nonsense principled man. As we shall see, some of Alan's activities will have some shock value and might be offensive, even considering the fact that they occurred during our revolution. If you're not a Revolutionary War history scholar, keep in mind that in Alan's birth year, 1743, there was no United States yet. And it would be almost 50 years before there would be a state of Vermont. In simple general terms, the colonies were British colonies that had been one from the French and indigenous people over a bloody couple of hundred years. New England was increasingly polarized between American patriots and British loyalists living side by side. The Vermont that we know today was part of the New Hampshire land grants. In fact, the word Vermont had not even been invented yet. Also keep in mind, as tempting as it may be, that we should not be too quick to judge others from another time, using our own hindsight and present-day ethics. My upcoming book, Vermont's Ebenezer Alan, goes into much more depth on this Patriot Commando and Emancipator. Ebenezer was born in 1743 to Samuel and Hannah Miller Jones Allen in Northampton Mass, later to be raised in New Marlboro Mass. As a point of reference, Ebenezer and Vermont founder Ethan Allen's great-grandfathers were brothers, meaning these two heroes were cousins, although it is unknown if the two men were aware of their common lineage. As we shall see, Ethan and Ebenezer did frequent many of the same towns and territories, along with several others of the Allen clan. Ethan had been born in 1738, making him five years older than Ebenezer. The other Vermont founder, Ira Allen, wouldn't be born until 1751, making Ebenezer eight years older than him. Perhaps in the future, instead of people defining Ebenezer Allen as the cousin of Ethan and Ira, Ethan and Ira will be defined as the cousins of Vermont's Ebenezer Allen. Throughout this presentation, I will refer to Ebenezer as Allen. We know very little about Allen's early life, but we do know his father passed away when he was 12, leaving him with his mother and two older siblings to an arduous farm life. Survival skills were not just a fad, they were essential. He received little formal education and an apprentice briefly with a blacksmith at a young age. At that time, blacksmithing was a prestigious profession and the king of the trades, often part of the social and political hierarchy. Blacksmithing was in high demand for making tools, repairing almost everything, and relied on engineering and problem-solving skills. Allen also became acquainted with Indian character at a young age and spoke three Native American dialects fluently. This helps explain how Allen became a man with discipline, know-how, brawn, and a healthy self-esteem. In 1762, Allen married Lydia Richards in a new Marlboro Mass, although not much is recorded of Richards' family history or of their early matrimony. We know that by 1765 they had produced two children, Abil and Timothy. Ethan Allen had just been banished from Salisbury, Connecticut for publicly questioning and antagonizing church beliefs and Northampton Mass for getting variated or vaccinated against smallpox, which was frowned upon by fatalistic church beliefs at the time. Life in the New Hampshire land grants during the later 1700s was difficult at best. New York and New Hampshire both claimed the territory between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River, which is now known as Vermont. Therefore, buying or trading land parcels from either colony was risky. A lot of the territory was still wilderness, occupied by long-time indigenous natives, and plenty of British loyalists lived among those with strong American revolutionary sentiments. The loyalists feared spies that would evict them. The Patriots distressed the loyalists and feared they would collaborate with British forces. The New Hampshire Green Mountain Boys militia group was established at some point in the late 1760s by Ethan Allen, and Ebenezer was an active charter member of that rowdy rough-housing group. They quickly opposed and rebelled against enforcement of New York laws, such as the one that prohibited meetings of more than two people at one time. In general, colonial Americans moved around the New Front here for all kinds of reasons. Americans often claimed that a chief reason was to be near family members and friends. Finding success on the American Front here meant setting up businesses, trade, or land speculation opportunities. Properties near bodies of water offered transportation and sometimes energy for mills. In 1771, Allen, along with his friend and fellow Green Mountain Boy, Thomas Ashley, who had married Lydia Richards Allen's sister, Zeroia Richards, built shanties in Polney. They took advantage of land grants from Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire. Unfortunately, the land deeds were challenged by the so-called Yorkites who maintained that New York owned the land. A lot of the Polney grantees were former residents of Litchfield County, Connecticut, and Berkshire County mass. Often the land grants came with stipulations. In exchange for the land, the grantees were required to pay the rent of one ear of Indian corn a year for ten years, one shelling per 100 acres, cultivate five acres for every fifty they owned, and reserve large white pines for the Royal Navy mass. Settling in the wilderness might have seemed like a good strategy at the time, but Allen would not remain in Polney for very long. Allen had an interest in farming, the timber trade, and land investments, and he wanted to explore opportunities in the vast Northern wilderness too. A daughter, Ashti Allen, was born in Ontario, Canada in 1774, possibly while on a travel expedition. By 1775, the family had moved to Tinmuth, which was a growing town, and by 1790 it would grow to a population of almost 1,000 inhabitants. Even though Tinmuth was Allen's family residence for three years, the record is clear. He was not much of a homebody. On May 10th, 1775, Allen was one of 83 men led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, who captured Fort Ticonderoga before a daybreak. Most accounts of this Green Mountain Boys mission agree that it was risky, with not enough boats to move men across the lake in the darkness. As usual, they signaled with owl hoots, with the good fortune of the Fort's centuries rifle misfire, and surprising the British commander with a rude awakening in the darkness. There is no doubt that the surprise and ferocity of Allen's unit overpowered the British, and they didn't have a chance. The capture of the Fort marked a turning point for the Continental Forces, and was celebrated by George Washington as scores of the Fort's cannons were moved by Oxcart to Dorchester Heights in Boston to fire on the British ships who were menacing and controlling the city from the harbor. After the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga, Captain Seth Warner led a small detachment of Green Mountain Boys, including Allen, 12 miles up the lake to the ground point, and easily overpowered a small unit and captured that fort as well. In 1775, the Green Mountain Continental Army Rangers Militia, often referred to as Warner's Regiment, was established by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, and paid for by New York. This was much to the chagrin of the Yorkers as the Green Mountain Boys had a history of resisting their governance, terrorizing their lawmen, and running them off what would become Vermont territory. Seth Warner was selected as commander of the Rangers, and Ethan Allen was chosen as a first lieutenant of that regiment, which was sometimes called the Green Mountain Boys, not to be confused with the pre-revolution Green Mountain Boys. As a side note, Ethan Allen was captured outside of Montreal and imprisoned for almost three years in 1775, during which time Ebenezer was having a breakout military combat career. And that year, 1775, Allen was part of a company of men in Warner's Regiment that he had helped muster from Poltny and Tynmouth and served in a five-week scouting party into Canada. At 32, Allen's courage, military skill, charismatic leadership ability, and gutsy physical presence were getting noticed. The following year, Allen served as a delegate to the Safety Committee Convention of New Hampshire. He was also commissioned as a captain in the militia group known as Harrecks Rangers for immediate defense of the New Hampshire colony. As we shall see, a lot of paramilitary missions emanated from the Council of Safety and were carried out by small, well-trained units, and Allen was a key operative in these missions. The differences between the training and strategies of the British infantry and Rogers Rangers woodland fighters were very different. European units were comprised of career warriors, and in Europe, the poor and lower class artisans. Strict discipline was imposed with punishments such as flogging. European battlefields were often more open than in the thick wilderness of the east coast of New England. Troops marched in formation and often attempted to volley into masses of their opponents. By contrast, the American Light Infantry militias were more accustomed to woodland fighting and sharpshooting. The cis and rangers tended to be intelligent and well-trained. The strategies used in the Light Infantry were passed on from Rogers Rangers standing orders and they give us insight into warfare in the woodlands of New England. Here are some of my favorites. Don't forget nothing. 2. Have your musket clean as a whistle. Hatchet scoured. 60 rounds powder and bulb. Be ready to march at a minute's warning. 3. When you're on the march, act the way you would if you was sneaking up on a deer. See the enemy first. 4. When we camp, half the party stays awake while the other half sleeps. 5. If we take prisoners, we keep them separate till we have had the time to examine them so they can cook up a story between them. 6. Don't sit down to eat without posting sentries. 7. Don't sleep beyond dawn. Dawn's when the French and Indians attack. 8. Don't stand up when the enemy's coming against you. Kneel down. Lie down. Hide behind a tree. 9. Let the enemy come till he's almost close enough to touch. Then let him have it and jump out and finish him up with your hatchet. The regimental dress code was not always faithfully adhered to in the North Country. The Warners Regiment dress uniforms included cocked black felt hats, green coats faced with red buckskin waistcoats and breeches, coarse woolen stockings, heavy low shoes checked with white shirts. In the field, they sometimes wore rifle frocks. Not all the troops were equipped with bayonets, and they carried English or French muskets, though some carried American rifles. Jerry Mullen of Warners Regiment of Reenactors, who has carefully researched the topic, says only 60% of the warriors in the regiment were uniforms. Officers bought their own uniforms and usually carried swords and pistols. Mullen said it was unlikely that Herrick's Rangers wore uniforms unless they had procured them from their work in Warners Regiment. So it is likely that Allen wore the green regimental uniform when on duty since he was an officer. What was Allen like as a person? His grandson, Dr. Melvin Barnes, Jr., of Grand Isle and Alberg, Vermont, was 12 years old when Allen passed away, and he was well acquainted with him. Burns noted he was very perceptive. In general, Allen had a military manner and character. He had black eyes, a large head, and prominent features, and a dark complexion. He had a deep chest with long, stout upper limbs and shorter legs with bigger-than-average size and strength. Apparently, one of the past times of Ethan and Ebenezer and their lot was to pick up 25-pound bags of salt in their teeth and toss them over their shoulders, competing for distance. According to his grandson, quote, his disposition left him eminently exposed to the designs of cunning and less scrupulous beings, to the views and artifices of the times. Other accounts confirm Allen's spirited and combative personality, and he harbored a particular contempt for dishonesty. One has to wonder how he would view our elected officials today. At any rate, these personal qualities merited recognition and respect with his contemporaries. As a kid, Burns listened to many hair-raising tales told by his grandfather, although he admitted he had no reason to believe they were exaggerated. For example, Burns recounted a corroborated story about Allen, who was eating with British officers in Quebec after the Revolutionary War had ended, which would have made Allen age 40 or older at the time. Apparently, the trash talking evolved to the point where one of the officers, who was sitting at the table across from Allen, challenged him to a duel and asked when and where they should meet. Allen replied, Here's we now sit, drawing his pistol, he said, quote, I will take your pistol in my mouth, and you should take mine and yours, and we will both fire at the word of command by the Jesus, end quote. There is no word on whether the British officer complied with Allen's daring retort. In July 1776, after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence of Philadelphia, Allen was a member of the Convention at Dorset and the 1777 Convention at Windsor, representing Timmeth, where the Vermont Constitution was written. At that convention, Vermont declared independence from New York and Great Britain. Incidentally, they also made slavery illegal, which would go into effect largely unenforced the following year, in 1778. The Republic of Vermont would exist for the next 14 years as an independent territory before it became a state. In the late 1770s, Vermont was still a dangerous place to be, whether you were a British loyalist, also known as a Tory, an American patriot or a Native American. The southern towns like Bennington were the safest places to be for settlers since the north was still wilderness. The British occupied some American cities in Canada, and raids by the British and Native Americans, sometimes in concert, were prevalent. Fort Vengeance in Pittsburgh, 1780, and a fort in Rutland were built to protect settlers from British General Haldeman's raids and included garrisons of the Vermont militia. In fact, historian James E. Peterson points out the Council of Safety, as late as 1780, proclaimed that settlers were not safe north of Pittsburgh. In the towns without forts, settlers faced a constant threat of attacks, being taken prisoner and being killed. But living among the patriots were loyalists whose sentiments lay with the British, and life could be hazardous for them too. Some of the loyalists were known as protectioners because they were receiving protection under British General John Burgoyne. The Council of Safety often suspected them of spying for the British and often confiscated their properties or worse. There was also a word of a Tory camp and nearby Clarendon. In July 77, after the Americans surrender Fort Ticonderoga, a number of the residents of Tinmuth anticipated British attacks and left town. Together south, in Arlington, Chasbury, Bennington, where it would be safer. However, some citizens who had British loyalties stayed behind. Two of the alleged loyalists were brothers, John and William Irish, who had built adjoining farms in Tinmuth. The Republic's Council of Safety, an independent leadership group for the Republic, sent Captain Allen with his tactical unit of private soldiers, including Phineas Clough, John Train, and Allen's Lieutenant, Isaac Old Rifle Clark, to reconnoitre so-called protectioners in the area. On Sunday, midday, July 27, 1777, the men got to work. Allen, who was well known in Tinmuth, and received information that the Irish brothers were indeed Tories, and he ordered Clough to approach the Irish brothers on a ruse and tell them he wanted to join the Tories. John Irish told Clough to accompany him to his house, and that he would take him to the Tory camp, but that Clough needed to go as a prisoner and sign papers first. Allen and his men covertly observed the encounter and took up concealed positions behind the trees, with loaded rifles from a few dozen yards away. Apparently the Tory, John Irish, had gone to get papers for Clough to sign, and Clough decided the jig was up, and it was time to make a run for it. Clough bolted out of the house, headed for the woods with Irish in pursuit with his rifle. Irish warned Clough to stop, and that he would shoot him if he ran. Irish aimed his gun to shoot Clough. Allen shot Irish in the left hand, and Irish dropped his gun. According to Melvin Burns, Irish exclaimed, Captain Allen, you have killed me. At that point, Lieutenant Clark aimed his rifle and said, no, he ain't, but I will, and shot him through the heart. After killing Irish, the party continued on to reconnoiter the Tory camp, then moved on to Arlington. There are several different versions of this story, and this one was corroborated by Dr. Burns and Judge Obadiah Noble. Judge Noble was described as having impeccable character and served in the public office for many years afterward in Tinnmouth. Lieutenant old rifle Isaac Clark reportedly carried out other, shall we say, well executed orders, similar to this one in his service with Allen. Other stories are reserved for the book. Clark was soon promoted to captain, would marry Governor Chittenden's daughter Hannah, and would eventually become the distinguished Colonel old rifle Clark, commanding the 11th U.S. infantry stationed in a condonement that he bought, located in what is now Battery Park in Burlington during the War of 1812. My book includes excruciating details from loyalist Rebecca Irish's account of the incident, which differs from the preceding account and the family's subsequent eviction after their house was confiscated. A month later in August 77, while serving with Captain Samuel Herrick's Green Mountain Rangers, Allen played in a heroic role in the Battle of Bennington, fought in Wall Loom sick New York against the British forces under General John Burgoyne. Herrick's Rangers was a group of Minuteman infantry soldiers that were well trained, disciplined, and hardy. These guys could go on long marches quickly and remain concealed through the backwoods without food and fight fiercely at a moment's notice. This militia unit was more like a special forces unit than the Continental Army units, which tended to be slower moving and often carried heavier supplies. The Bennington battle was where American commander, John Stark, famously declared, these are your enemies, the Redcoats and the Tories. They are ours or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow. After the battle, Stark remembered it was, whoa, the hottest engagement I have ever witnessed resembling a continual clap of thunder. Allen's role in that battle was significant. He was known for being cool and deliberate while facing extreme danger and one of the best marksmen in the Continental Army. Abbey Hemingway's Gazetteer refers to the battle with this account of the Americans facing a British cannon on the battlefield. The British had a field piece placed upon an eminence which very much disturbed the Vermont militia men. General John Stark ordered Ebenezer Allen to take 20 sharpshooters from his company and go so near the cannon that they could shoot down the artillery men firing it. Just as Allen entered the field, there came a great shot from a field piece which grazed his cheek. He put up his head, rubbed his face and said, them fellows shoot as careless as the devil. No more disconcerted than if a snowball had been thrown. He rushed on, made the attack upon the artillery men and in a very short time all that were not killed or wounded fled and left the gun. After fighting in Bennington, Allen served in the Pallet Expedition Force with the Rangers along with 2,000 other soldiers from the region. This was a strategic location for keeping Burgoyne's armies under control. At that time in 1777 the wagon rode when only as far north as Pallet, so moving northward would be on foot with limited supplies. The following months in September, Allen was appointed to the rank of Major in Herrick's Rangers and served with Colonel John Brown, sweeping the British from the north end of Lake George and subsequently from Fort Ticonderoga. Allen was complimented by the Vermont Council for his spirited conduct in action. To some historians, Allen's capture of Mount Defiance on that outing was his greatest achievement. It was audacious and courageous to say the least and he did it before daybreak. Allen's ad hoc special forces unit scaled an almost vertical rock face that was opposite the cut trail. Allen, quote, clambered to the top and in a stentorian voice cried out, shoot them rascals. At that moment his men were hanged by crevices and bushes below the summit. The surprised British soldiers panicked and the canineers wildly fired into space, not knowing what to aim at. Allen and his men came after them like a swarm of hornets and the entire British garrison fled down the cut trail. Historian Russell Bellicoke says Allen's men then turned the cannons on the British in the fort and fired at them. Unfortunately, they found that Fort Ty was out of range of the cannons. The entire British garrison was captured by Major Benjamin Waite at the bottom of the mountain. After the war, Waite would become the founder of the town of Waitesfield, Vermont. But that's another story. After the capture of Mount Defiance, 1,000 American troops under the command of Colonel Brown surrounded Fort Tyconderoga. The British appeared to be well defended inside the fort. Allen decided he would go on a scouting expedition to see what he could learn about the size and condition of General Watson Powell's force. Allen tied a piece of white cloth on the end of his musket and strolled alone toward the fort. He was able to ascertain that the British group was not a large force and they were not prepared for intense combat. Nonetheless, even though the Americans realized they vastly outnumbered the British inside the fort, they lacked the fortitude to attack. One cannot help but wonder what might have happened if Allen had been in charge of the American troops instead of Colonel Brown. Later on, following the eventual British evacuation of the fort and retreat towards Canada, Allen's company ambushed the British rear guard who were 40 miles north in Essex, New York, headed for the safety of Canada. By some accounts, the British recognized Allen's unit and were terrified of their well-known ferocity. As he would later recount, they captured 50 of Burgoyne's forces as they retreated for Montreal. The haul also included three boats, 100 horses, four cows, and 12 yoke of oxen. At that time, his men also captured a female British slave, Dinomatis, and her infant child. Allen reacted by obtaining leave of the detachment under his command to handwrite a certificate of emancipation and deliver Mattis to Bennington. His emancipation stated that based on the Continental Congress resolve, all prizes belonged to the captivators, and he was conscientious that it was not right, quote, in the sight of God to keep slaves, end quote. The emancipation would give her and child their freedom to pass and repass anywhere through the United States of America, with her behaving as becoming and no trade and no traffic for herself and child as though she was born free without being molested by any persons or persons. This certificate was recorded by the Bennington Town Clerk. It is worth noting that in 2014, in a seven days interview, University of Vermont professor Harvey Amani Whitfield praised Allen's decision to free Mattis, calling it glowing significance of his decision-making at a time when there was still and would continue to be slaves held in Vermont. After capturing the rearguard, Allen was subsequently commissioned as a colonel in the state militia. The Americans didn't have the money or military personnel to occupy Fort Ty, and most of the Rangers returned to their farms, livelihoods, and families. As we know, the fort, along with other fortifications, changed hands several times throughout the war. Another mission in 1778 put Allen in charge of the fort in New Haven, just above the falls, later to become for Gens, Vermont. Keep in mind, Vermont had declared itself a separate republic, and New York especially was having a hard time accepting this. What events led up to Allen's mission in New Haven? Back in 1769, a few families moved north from Salisbury, Connecticut, and settled near Otter Creek in New Haven. Cleared land, built dwellings, and a sawmill at the falls. Not long afterwards, a colonel reed of New York arrived with a group of armed settlers who claimed the land on both sides of Otter Creek for a distance of two miles on each shore, based on New York grants. The New Yorker colonel reed ejected the Connecticut settlers, moved his group in, and built more houses in a grist mill. Soon, the Yorkers were in turn dispossessed by Ethan Allen and his crew. Their houses and grist mill destroyed, and the rightful owners put back in possession of their property. But not so fast. Colonel reed eventually arrived again with a number of Scottish immigrants and expelled the first settlers again and repaired the mill. When word of this reached Bennington in March of 1778, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain boys headed to the New Haven Falls and forcibly ejected and restated their friends. They broke the mill stones and threw them over the falls, erected a blockhouse, and garrisoned it with a small party under the command of none other than Ebenezer Allen. Allen ordered scout patrols into the area and from time to time to deter further interference. Life was good until Allen left town. This time, Tory Justice Sherwood and his crew of followers broke up the settlement again and evicted the original settlers. Remember that name, Justice Sherwood. Sherwood was a former Green Mountain boy who increasingly had ambivalent feelings about the revolution. In 1776, he turned traitor and British loyalist and by 1780, he was a British secret agent living in Quebec. Sherwood would soon be the Quebec governor's main northeast negotiator and spy operating out of North Hero, Vermont. Contrary to some public opinion, the War of Independence did not end in 1776. Hostilities continued for years and even long after the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. Between the years 1778 and 1780, Allen was still in a prime of his mid-thirties and he was ordered to conduct dozens of missions for the safety council. These missions included the aforementioned Tinmuth and New Haven assignments as well as other assignments protecting patriotic Vermonters in various locations. In one case, he and Ethan and a detachment of 100 men arrested a number of loyalists in Cumberland County now in New Hampshire who refused to recognize the authority of the new state of Vermont. Most of them went to trial and paid small fines. In November 1778, under orders from the British command in Quebec, Major Charles Carlton began a raid with eight large vessels, a great number of bateaus and Native Americans and canoes with a total of around a thousand men. They went a short two miles south of Chimney Point to Middlebury and scorched and burned everything near Otter Creek all the way down to Ferrisburg. This included burning mills and the New Haven blockhouse and taking prisoners as well. It is possible that the Vermont militia prevented further scorching and burning since Carlton's men had left everything including settlements and Panton and Monkton in ashes. Apparently, Alan's scouting party became aware of Carlton's raids and he sent a message to Ethan who pulled out all of the Vermont militia. Carlton's forces subsequently stood down and passed down the lake without further attacks. Alan planned and oversaw the construction of Fort Vengeance in Pittsburgh in 1780 which was commissioned by the Council of Safety for protection against Native Americans and British. In 1780, Alan assembled a force of 200 men at the request of Governor Clinton of New York to successfully deter an invasion by Sir John Johnson from Canada. Keep in mind, as we shall see in a moment during that busy time period in his life in the year 1779, Alan was granted a 64-acre lot by the Vermont Assembly. Alan selected the lot on the southern tip of an island on Lake Champlain in a drawing with two other men. In fact, it is fairly well established that he built a log house or shanty on that land and spent some time there during the next couple of years when he was able. This location in northern Vermont would become his stomping ground for a couple of decades of work and community service. During the 1780s, controversial negotiations proceeded between the British Governor General Frederick Haldeman and Ethan Ira and Joseph Fay. The headquarters for Sherwood's spy operation and negotiations was in the Champlain Islands located just a few miles north of Alan's new homestead. Under Haldeman's orders in 1781, Sherwood built the loyal blockhouse on Dutchman's point later to be named Blockhouse Point and North Hero on the on the map here. Keep in mind, the land and water in Vermont was still locked in a power struggle with the British forces still hanging around, especially on the lake. North Hero historian Mary Jane Healy found that two years later in 1783, the Vermont Assembly voted to give more than 300 North Hero property lots to the Green Mountain Boys in 64 acre parcels. According to the land records, the lot where the blockhouse had already been built two years before was sold by Joseph Fay to Justice Sherwood in 1783. The blockhouse was built to be an outpost and sat elevated on the southern point of North Hero Island overlooking lake transportation routes during the summer of 1781. It was also Sherwood's command post for parties of spies and for overseeing political kidnappings in Vermont. The building was a typical two-story blockhouse design. The aerial photo was taken of the blockhouse site in 1955, but we haven't determined the original size. Many blockhouses during that revolutionary time frame had a 16 by 20 foot sidewalls with up to 32 portholes, two stories high. They served as an arsenal and a meeting place. A sons of the American Revolution historical marker and flags remain at the blockhouse site, which is now owned privately. We can presume this site, including outbuildings and watercraft, and we know that it was used by British soldiers for at least 15 years until they abandoned it finally in 1796. Sherwood was despised by a lot of the patriotic Vermonters and apparently Ebenezer was assigned to provide protective security for Sherwood during the negotiations. According to Sherwood's journal, there was no love lost between the two men. Sherwood, who was Governor Haldeman's main negotiator, wrote of as Ebenezer, quote, this is the same Alan who treated me so ill when I was on the first flag. It is so painful for me to see him that I can barely treat him with common civility, end quote. Apparently, Alan enjoyed aggravating Sherwood. Since then, at least one historian by the name of Mary Beacock Fryer has restyled Sherwood as the Buckskin Pimpernel. As if the perils of the cold northern frontier were not enough, the post-war economy made life very difficult for settlers in Vermont. The realities of survival in the wilderness on indigenous land and the post-war economic recession created crisis and a conflict of commitment for many Vermonters. Accounts of the period described the lack of prosperity, food, and business opportunities despite hard work. When Alan sold his estate in Tinmouth, he took beef and pavement, then attempted to sell it privately to a private buyer in Canada via Crown Point. Since the British were still hanging around and would benefit from trade to Canada or directly with them, this was a no-no. And Colonel Alan found himself in hot water. Governor Chidden referred to American beef as contraband. His prosperity grew, and there were no further records of his active continental military duty after 1781. As an entrepreneur, there was no question that Alan was successful. Despite some of the aforementioned stories and the lure of British money, there is no evidence that he felt any loyalist yearnings. One story has Alan bringing lumber from a sawmill over water to the island on a raft to build a new frame house to augment his cabin in 1783. He unloaded the lumber, disassembled the raft, and used it to build the frame house and outbuildings, soon to be known as Alan's Point and South Hero. He planted the first apple orchard, grew wheat, corn, and other crops, and his farm thrived. He then built a blacksmith shop, and hundreds of new settlers followed to populate the community, which would come to be known as South Hero. In 1787, Alan enlarged his house, constructed outbuildings, and opened a public house. He operated a ferry to the mainland from the tip of Alan's Point to Colchester Point during the summer months. Alan operated a flat-bottom scow ferry to carry people, animals, and wagons from the tip of South Hero over to the reef to Colchester along the current Colchester Causeway bike path. Some of the crossing was fordable with reefs and sandbars, but a lot of it would have been perilous over deep water. The ferrymen might use poles, oars, or sails to move a boat across the water. The fastest transportation technology in that era was over water, but trails and primitive roads were being cleared by the end of the century. Alan built the first road in South Hero, from his place on Alan Point to Lamberton Alan's place on what is now the Lake Champlain Transportation ferry landing and site in Grand Isle. This road would have been across what is now the current railway bike path and present day West Shore Road. Alan ran a prosperous lumber business, rafting lumber to Canada, which was a dangerous proposition at best. It involved a crew of men living on a huge log raft equipped with sails and orders, subject to unpredictable weather, big waves on the lake, currents on the river, not to mention hostile encounters along the way. In addition, Alan's public house at his residence became a popular meeting place for lodging and meetings. He became heavily involved in community service and served as the South Hero proprietors clerk, which was similar to the town clerk before the town was chartered in 1784, and he was selected as one of two justices of the peace. The other justice was a man by the name of Colonel Stephen Pearl. Remember the name Stephen Pearl, as he will pop up later on. In the meantime, land speculation was quite popular. According to historian Mary Jane Healy, many of the Champlain Alan's grantees had already settled elsewhere. Consequently, they sold their island lots. The Vermont Assembly had levied a tax of one half-cent per acre in order to support a general fund, and many of the grantees sold their lots without properly recording the sale or paying the tax. As a result of not being recorded or taxed, the lots were foreclosed. Public auctions known as sheriff's sales or vendues, where the lots were auctioned off, led to disputes over lots and that appeared to have multiple owners. Alan bought and sold hundreds of acres of properties in the islands, as did other leaders as well. In 1786, Alan was chosen as the second selectman for the New Town of South Hero and represented to the Vermont General Assembly, which he did until 1798. Since there was no town meeting house, it wouldn't have been unusual to hold meetings in his tavern. He continued to serve as town clerk until 1795, and even though historians note that he was no longer active in a military role, he did serve as a problem solver for the Council of Safety of the Young State of Vermont. Governor Chittenden appointed Alan in 1786 to remove all quote unlawful intruders in the Missisgoy Bay area by force. Back in 1765, the Abnakis had leased their lands on the bay to James Robertson of St. John Quebec. Swan had been chartered in 1763 and had a growing population of settlers by the 1780s, although Ira Alan claimed ownership of over 90 percent of the shares of the town in 1786. During that year, the alleged intruders, also known as the Abnakis, according to Power and Havilland, had left the Missisgoy area during the war to get out of harm's way. They returned and laid claim to the lands and threatened to dispossess the settlers. Ira Alan's argument was that the intruders were from the St. Francis tribe in Canada. Furthermore, he said the original inhabitants had lost their title as a consequence of the French war, and perhaps they could find justice by applying to the courts of Vermont. This controversy is a whole other story that deserves further discussion at another time. As a result, a small detachment of troops remained in the Missisgoy Bay area for at least two years to end the attacks and protect the settlers. We don't know if Alan used negotiations, force, or both to end the conflict. We do know that tribal lands have continued to be in dispute over the centuries. Recently, in 2020, four indigenous tribes, including the Abnakis, have been granted free fishing rights in Vermont after more than 200 years of trying. The summer of 1789 brought a severe drought. In fact, it was commonly called the Scarce Year and the uncommon year of starvation. Ebenezer was more fortunate with his hay crop than Cousin Ethan in Burlington. And because of that, what was about to transpire would be the reason why Ebenezer Alan would be remembered in history. The story is well known. General Ethan Alan showed up with his hay wagon on February 11th. Ebenezer had invited a number of Patriot brothers from the Green Mountain Boys ranks for an evening of reminiscences with stone walls, punch, and flips. Apparently, quite a crew showed up at Ebenezer's tavern. As we know, Ethan suffered a traumatic medical event during the return trip over ice. Although there are different stories about his demise, the most reliable one is that he suffered a stroke, never regaining consciousness, then passed away in his bed at the Ethan Alan homestead on the following day, February 12th, 1789. During that uncommon year, two citizens were brought before justice of the peace, Alan, after being proven that they stole food to eat. One man was apparently quite affluent. Colonel Alan expressed great chagrin at the thieves and noted scarcity could be no excuse for stealing. After ruling against the prisoners, their counsel countered that this warrant had not even been signed, and therefore the whole proceeding should have been legally nullified. According to grandson Dr. Burns, Alan took the summons, signed it, then said, now go to trial. Everybody knows I'm justice itself. Alan continued to live in South Hero for another decade. In 1790, South Hero was the most populated town in northern Vermont with over 1,000 inhabitants. Burlington only had 332 in the 1790 census. For almost a year, Ebenezer toured unsettled territories with a group led by his namesake, the loyalist Ebenezer Alan, who had also fought at the Battle of Bennington for the other side, the group, including Ira Alan, toured western New York and the Niagara regions. In February 1793, a British group of travelers led by Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, and his mistress stayed at Alan's house en route to New York. Followers of the royal family know that Prince Edward was King George III's fourth son, and he would become the father of Queen Victoria a few years hence since 1819. Alan ventured out to the Midwest in 1795 with Vermonters Charles Whitney and Robert Randall, as well as two Englanders, to buy 20 million acres of land on the Michigan Lower Peninsula. They created a stock company, and Whitney and Randall promised congressmen stock or cash for support of the plan. The scheme was exposed, Whitney and Randall were investigated by the U.S. House, and the plan fell apart. Despite Alan's keen interest, his family dissuaded him from moving out to the Michigan area. Within a few years, though, Alan would get into serious hot water and a dramatic international incident. According to Alan's grandson, Dr. Burns, in 1798 a suspect in Sheriff Ebenezer Alan's custody, John Gregg, drowned in Lake Champlain. However, the Vermont Assembly records state that the arrest was carried out by Deputy Sheriff John Allen from St. Albans. The Vermont Assembly record indicates that in 1798, a man they identify as John Allen, in his capacity as a Franklin County Deputy Sheriff, with a posse followed a suspect, John Griggs, aka Gregg, from the neighboring town of Alberg, Vermont, who had fled across the border into Canada. The Allen posse broke into his room arrested him, bound him, and put him on a sleigh to take him back to Vermont. Unfortunately, the sleigh went through the ice while in Alan's custody, Mr. Griggs drowned in Lake Champlain within the Vermont border. The Colonial Court of the King's Bench of Criminal Jurisdiction produced bills of indictment for Alan and his posse so that they could stand trial for murder in Canada. The indictment and extradition for Alan and his posse was delivered to Vermont Governor Isaac Tischner. A court of inquiry into the incident at Alberg found that Gregg's death was accidental. Governor Tischner's statement noted, quote, an occurrence of so serious and delicate nature, end quote. He conceded that Mr. Griggs was inconsiderately arrested and deceased within the territory of his Britannic Majesty. The statement went on to note that the unhappy affair had long given painful anxiety to the citizens of this state. Regardless of whether Ebenezer was involved in the small tight-knit island community which included Alberg, the drama, the investigation, the indictments, and the rumors must have carried a burden on everyone. There's more to this story, but one has to wonder if Ebenezer was involved in this traumatic incident and if that impacted what happened next. By 1800 Ebenezer and Lydia Allen's youngest daughters, Charlotte and Eunice, were 23 and 21. Allen moved to the boom town of Burlington and opened a public house at the head of the Wharf on South Wharf, which was the site of a bustling lumber shipping center. On this sand-borne fire map of the South Wharf is on the lower right of the image which is at the bottom of today's Maple Street. Water Street, which is now Battery Street, was adjacent to a cliff at the water's edge and lower Maple Street was then called Wharf Street. It was there that Ebenezer operated his tavern until his death. None of the buildings from that time exist today, although several brick and stone structures exist that were built in the 1820s. Allen got into some legal trouble and was apparently imprisoned after being sued in a civil suit by Sheriff Stephen Pearl in 1800 on unknown charges. The first courthouse in Burlington had been built in 1795 on what was then called Courthouse Square, located in what is now the center of City Hall Park. Pearl had large land holdings at about the same time as Allen and was also known to speculate. Allen family letters show Timothy Pearl, Stephen's brother, asked the Allen's, possibly including Ebenezer, to co-sign for financial transactions. According to genealogical records, Pearl was involved in a number of land trades and schemes, and not all of them ended well. Allen did make bail of $700 and a jury eventually ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Mr. Pearl. The defendant Colonel Allen paid $129 in damages. Colonel Ebenezer Allen passed away in March 1806. His remains were buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Burlington. Allen's wife, Lydia, returned to South Hero and lived with her son, Timothy, on Allen's point until her death in 1833 at 88 years old. Allen was remembered fondly by his Masonic temple and by his grandson as a Calvinistic fatalist and a Hamilton federalist with reliable virtues and a warm heart. He was a patriot, a commando, an emancipator, and a public servant during a tumultuous time in our past. Next month's third Sunday lecture series brings you Elise Gayet. Elise Gayet's book Discovering Black Vermont tells the story of three generations of free African Americans trying to build a life and community in northern Vermont in the years following statehood. By piecing together fragments of the history of free black Americans in Vermont, tax, real estate records, journals, diaries, and the like, the author recovers what is essentially a lost world, establishing a framework for using primary sources to document a forgotten past. The book is an invaluable resource for those conducting local history research and will serve as inspiration for high school and college students and their teachers. It was originally published in 2010 by the University of Vermont and the University Press of New England and it has been reprinted in 2020 by the Vermont Historical Society. We look forward to seeing you then.