As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I thought I’d talk about the beginning of the Cambridge District (today the towns of Jackson, White Creek, and Cambridge).
I always start by stating I’m a raconteur not an historian. While I try to be as historically accurate as possible, it’s the stories that I find bring history to life.
Here I’m going to talk about 1761 to 1791.
The French and Indian War
For eight years the British and the French fought over control of North American territory and resources. In the Treaty of Paris France ceded its North American territories to Britain and Spain.
But people who lived here didn’t really care about which European nation owned the land.
Patents (Land Grants)
Governors of the colonies began submitting land petition to the British government. These patents offered free land to English-speaking colonists if they would move to the recently acquired territories
The Cambridge Patent was signed by King George III on 21-Jul-1761. This granted 30,000 acres to 30 families who would settle the land between the Hoosick River and the Battenkill (the Native American name for the river is either Dionoondehowee or Ondawa).
King George III (the “crazy” king portrayed in the play Hamilton) wanted to honor his father who had died in 1760.Before ascending to the throne, King George II was Duke of Cambridge. That’s likely how our patent was named the Cambridge Patent.
Boundaries, or lack thereof
The wording of the patents sounds very definitive, but the issue was the boundary between New Hampshire and New York.
Rivers were a clear line to use. The Connecticut River and the Hudson River look like obvious choices, but what about the land in between?
New Hampshire claimed the land westward to the Hudson while New York claimed the land eastward to the Connecticut River. The territory we call Vermont today was claimed by both NH and NY as well as by the “vermonters” who lived there.
But what’s worse is that the Cambridge District, which we have always considered to be part of New York, lay on the east side of the Hudson River. Once Governor Wentworth of NH heard of New York getting the Cambridge Patent, he set out to get 129 patents across NH, VT, and NY, patents that often clashed with patents issued to NY.
1770, Settlers Start Arriving
Although the Cambridge Patent was issued in 1761, few if any settlers began arriving until 1770. Likely they feared the French and Indians who lived nearby might not care which side had won the war.
The original six land speculators (Isaac Sawyer, Edmond Wells, Jacob Lansing, Alexander Colden, William Smith, and Goldsboro Banyer) had sub-divided the Patent land into thirty 100-acre lots. None of the original families settled here, and only 4 of the land speculators did (Sawyer, Wells, Lansing, and Banyer).
Town Meetings and Secession
In May 1773 the community held its first town meeting. The hand-written minutes back to this date are in the Book of Records, located in our Village Archives.
Thomas Morrison was moderator of the first meeting. He lived on Lot #9 in the Cambridge District. I believe this included the land where our traffic light is today. His son is the first recorded birth in our District.
The second meeting was held the next year, May 1774.
The third meeting was held in May 1775 with Simeon Covell elected our first Supervisor. Covell was from the southern portion of the District, what is today the hamlet of White Creek.
As soon as he was elected, Covell put forth a motion for White Creek to secede from the Cambridge District. I can’t find any record of a vote, but it’s clear that White Creek remained part of our District.
Albany County
Albany county stretched all the way to the Canadian border on the north. Thus, the Cambridge District was included.
By 1772, Albany County had grown and needed to be subdivided. The northern portion was split off into Charlotte County, named after King George III’s wife. The Battenkill was chosen as the dividing line, so the Cambridge District remained in Albany County.
Battle of Bennington
The British devised the Three-Prong Approach to attack Albany thus splitting the colonies into two pieces.
- General Howe headed north from NYC but soon tired of the adventure and turned his attention southward toward Philadelphia.
- Colonel St Leger came from the west but was thwarted at Fort Stanwix near Rome, NY
- General Burgoyne came southward out of Montreal
“Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne retook Fort Ticonderoga then won major battles at Hubbardton and Fort Anne. He was on his way to Saratoga and a major British victory.
Then the Cambridge District stepped in and saved the day.
[here’s where I wend a storyline with facts. Focus on the story not the facts]
Burgoyne was ready to fight in Old Saratoga (today Schuylerville) but needed more ammunition. He sent Col Baum and 800 Hessian soldiers to capture the colonial supplies in Bennington.
American General John Stark had his main militia force in Bennington but had sent Col Seth Warner and his Green Mountain Boys north to Manchester just in case that’s where the British would strike next.
In Aug 1777 residents of the Cambridge District could hear and see Col Baum’s troops heading our way. John Weir hopped on his horse and rode to Bennington to warn General Stark. Probably shouting “the British are coming, the British are coming”, Weir is often called the Paul Revere of the Battle of Bennington.
Forewarned, Stark sent word to Warner in Manchester to return post haste. Stark headed westward to confront Baum near Walloomsac. On 14-Aug, Stark lost a skirmish with Baum.
The next day was heavy rain. Muskets couldn’t fire in the wet so no fighting occurred. By this time Col Warner arrived and Baum noted he was greatly outnumbered. Baum sent a messenger to Burgoyne in Saratoga asking for reinforcements.
The reinforcements were delayed as travel was slow pulling cannons and wagons through the muddy wilderness. But by 16-Aug the reinforcements were approaching Walloomsac, hoping to swell the number of Baum’s troops to overtake Stark and Warner.
But the Cambridge District had other ideas.
William Gilmore was a farmer in Post Corners (just west of White Creek hamlet). He was working in the field, and his two sons could hear the gunfire from over the hill in Walloomsac. Gilmore said “we are Quakers, a peace-loving people, we have nothing to fear”.
Finally, his sons convinced him that something must be done. Gilmore, his sons, and a few fellow farmers grabbed their axes and headed to the bridge over the Little White Creek. They smashed the bridge, completing its destruction just as the reinforcements appeared, on their way to the battle.
Gilmore and his band were fired upon but not injured. The reinforcements had to repair the bridge to get their cannons and wagons across. This delay gave Stark and Warner enough time to complete the victory over Baum.
Burgoyne did not get his needed munitions and supplies. He was defeated by Benedict Arnold’s mastery. The Battle of Saratoga was the Turning Point of the Revolution … thanks somewhat to the Cambridge District.
Cambridge District moves to Vermont
Representatives of the districts in Albany and Charlotte counties held the Union Convention in Cambridge on May 9, 1781 to decide their allegiance. Those faithful to New York ignored the convention, so the secessionists had their way at the convention.
They produced the Articles of Union, signed by the Cambridge representatives, which resolved that they were no longer part of New York State, but rather under the jurisdiction of the Vermont Republic.
On June 16, 1781 Cambridge District residents Phineas Whiteside and Joseph Caldwell took seats in the Vermont Legislature.
One year later, on March 1, 1782, a second convention was held in Cambridge, at which time a petition was sent to New York State asking to restore the districts to their former status in the state.
Cambridge District moves to Washington County
Following the Revolutionary War the new American government renamed the territories but did not initially adjust any boundaries, leaving us in Albany County.
In 1784 Charlotte County was renamed Washington County in honor of the great general.
In 1788 the district was declared the Town of Cambridge, still encompassing all of Jackson, White Creek, and Cambridge.
The population of the Cambridge Valley grew rapidly following the war. The first national census in 1790 lists Cambridge under Albany County with a population was 4,996, of whom 45 were slaves.
By the 1800 census the population of Cambridge had risen to 6,108 (22% growth). By comparison, in the 150 years following the Civil War (1860-2010) our population changed by 10 people!
With the growing population it was again necessary to adjust boundaries, though these lines drawn on a map by governments often meant little to the residents.
In 1791 Albany County was split again.
The Town of Cambridge, whose business and social relations were closely tied to Lansingburgh, desired to be part of the new county of Rensselaer to the south.
However, Salem, which had considerable influence in Albany, desired the county line to be placed as far south as possible.
As a result, the Hoosick River (not the Battenkill) was chosen as the dividing line between Washington and Rensselaer counties, moving Cambridge into Washington County
Oh yes, Vermont the 14th state
I mentioned that Cambridge voted in 1781 to leave NY and become part of VT. Here’s more of the story.
On 15-Jan-1777, representatives of the New Hampshire Grants convened in Westminster and declared their land to be independent, the Vermont Republic.
On 4-Jul-1777 the Constitution of Vermont was drafted. This was the first written constitution in North America to provide for the abolition of slavery (for adults), suffrage for men who did not own land, and public schools.
In the 1780s Vermont leaders met with the British governor of Quebec over the possibility of Vermont becoming a British province. Perhaps this is why the 1781 convention in Cambridge voted to leave NY and join VT.
From 1780 to 1783, representatives from Vermont Republic negotiated for a separate peace and possible return to British rule, raising accusations of treason. They likely felt this tactic reduced the chances of British invasion of Vermont. This is another possibility why the 1781 convention in Cambridge voted to leave NY and join VT.
The Vermont Republic was initially denied recognition as the 14th colony by the Continental Congress, due to objections by New York
The 1783 Treaty of Paris with the British recognized Vermont’s territory as part of the United States, though Vermont did not recognize the authority of the United States.
Congress approved invasion of Vermont in 1783 to force it to submit to New York rule, but this was scuttled by George Washington, who favored recognition as a state to fighting the Green Mountain Boys who had helped the United States defeat the British.
In 1787, Alexander Hamilton proposed in the New York legislature that the state endorse admission of the free state of Vermont to counterbalance the anticipated admission of Kentucky as a slave state.
In 1789, Congress recognized Vermont but its statehood remained an issue until 1790 when New York voted to admit Vermont in return for a $30,000 payment to resolve the land boundary dispute.
In 1791, Vermont joined the federal Union as the fourteenth state. Kentucky was admitted to the Union the following year.