WESTMINSTER-It's not a generally known fact of history unless you happen to be from southeastern Vermont, but a strong case can be made that the first armed conflict of the Revolutionary War did not take place at Lexington or Concord in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.
That first armed conflict was the Westminster Massacre, a historic milestone whose 250th anniversary will be marked by multiple events in town from Thursday, March 13, to Saturday, March 15.
Just three months after the nonviolent protest of the Boston Tea Party on Dec. 16, 1774, the last nonviolent protest of British rule over the American Colonies was held on March 13, 1775, at the courthouse in Westminster, the oldest town in Vermont.
A few hours later, the protestors were back at the courthouse - this time, armed and fueled by alcohol and anti-British rhetoric.
That night of March 13–14 would end up turning violent, with the first shots fired in anger and the first deaths of what would become the American Revolution.
A little over a month later, on April 19, the British would attempt to seize gunpowder from the Colonists, triggering the battles at Lexington and Concord and clearly marking the start of the Revolutionary War.
While there were two deaths at the Westminster Massacre, these battles around Boston led to 122 deaths, with many casualties on both sides and well over 200 wounded. There would be no turning back from war after that.
'History matters'
Lifelong resident and local historian Jessie Haas is one of the driving forces behind the events commemorating the massacre.
Haas authored the 2012 town history Westminster, Vermont, 1735–2000: Township Number One, for which the Westminster Historical Society won a League of Local Historical Societies and Museums Achievement Award for publications/oral history that year.
Haas is well aware of how the event is mostly ignored in history books, but also defends its ultimate importance in the events that led up to the Revolution.
"Why does the Massacre matter?" Haas writes. "History matters. It tells us who we are and where we came from, so it's crucial that the stories we tell about our past are accurate."
Did the Westminster Massacre ignite the American Revolution, Haas asks? "No. It could have, but Lexington and Concord intervened, changing everything. But Westminster was the first place where the people's struggle for their rights as British citizens met with lethal force from their own government. William French became the first martyr, Daniel Houghton the second. They deserve to be remembered."
A volatile situation over disputed lands
The events of that March day were written about by a number of people involved in the incident. Vermont, at that time known as the New Hampshire Grants, was territory claimed by both the colonies of New York and New Hampshire. Ownership of much of the land that would become Vermont had been disputed since the 1760s, notwithstanding its original theft from Abenaki and other Native peoples.
The residents of Vermont were mainly working-class farmers, living on land claimed by wealthy landowners in New York, called Yorkers. The Yorkers were moving to the disputed territory in Vermont to keep better track of their land holdings, often forcing the local farmers off their properties.
The action of the Yorkers led Ethan Allen and Remember Baker to form the Green Mountain Boys, an anti-Yorker militia, which focused on attacking and burning the homes of Yorkers in the New Hampshire Grants area.
That volatile situation - wealthy New York Loyalists arresting and evicting Vermont farmers from disputed lands, and in turn the Green Mountain Boys militia attacking the Yorker Loyalists, forcing them back to New York and burning their homes and farms - was happening in the Northeast for the decade prior to the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
The action of the Green Mountain Boys escalated the situation, and anti-British protests would not remain peaceful for long. New York officials retaliated by arresting and evicting the settlers in the Grants.
That is the background for the events at the Westminster Courthouse in 1775.
Tory Loyalists and Whig Patriots
Haas has probably done as much research on the events of the Massacre as anyone, studying the primary-source materials as much as possible.
"What did the people who were witnesses at the time think happened, and why? That's where I like to start," she said.
According to available original documents, the March 13 events at the Westminster Courthouse started with a "riotous and disorderly" - but nonetheless nonviolent - crowd of about 80 to 90 people protesting outside the courthouse against the actions of the Yorkers.
Locals presumed that a New York judge and several settlers from New York's arrival in the village would lead to legal action and the eviction of local settlers. The protest was an attempt to prevent the court from meeting with the New Yorkers.
Did both sides have weapons? "There's no trustworthy evidence either way," Haas said. "The Whigs said they did not have guns," at first, she said, noting that they would likely have left their guns at their nearby homes.
The protest itself was illegal, and "guns would have complicated" the situation, Haas said - a fact acknowledged in the records about other protests around New England at that time.
Many in the crowd identified as Whigs, protesting against the Tories, who tended to be Loyalists toward the British monarchy. The Whigs, on the other hand, tended to be more supportive of a parliamentary government, or even a constitutional monarchy.
Neither term - Whig nor Tory - was a clearly defined, organized political party at the time of the Revolution. While we often think of times in history in black-and-white terms, that is hardly the case. In much the same way that the nation is torn into various political factions currently, it was similar in Colonial times.
The Whigs tended to be upper-middle class, were in general skeptical of royal prerogatives, and would become the leaders in the upcoming Revolution against British rule. The Tories were often landed gentry, families who had benefited from land grants from the British monarchy, and their loyalty was toward the royal family.
Westminster was a town fairly evenly divided between Whigs favoring a revolt against Britain and Loyalist Tories. Brattleboro, on the other hand, was a Loyalists' stronghold and, in fact, both Brattleboro and Guilford wanted the New Hampshire Grants to be part of New York state. After the Revolution, many former Loyalists from the Brattleboro area would find it necessary to move to Canada, no longer feeling welcome in Vermont.
Haas said that that did not appear to happen in Westminster, where many families had members who were fierce Loyalists and others who were ardent revolutionaries. She said it seems that somehow, after the war, most Westminster families were able to put their previous differences behind them and live together amicably.
A massacre unfolds
Using all available original sources, Haas has developed what she feels is a fairly accurate timeline of those events in Westminster 250 years ago.
A New York judge and New York settlers arrived in the village, looking to make legal claims on disputed property in the area.
On March 13, a crowd of up to 90 area residents showed up at the courthouse to peacefully protest the arrival of the Yorkers and their attempts to remove the local settlers. It seems that most of these were Whigs opposed to British rule.
The crowd got larger and rowdier and forced its way into the courthouse. The local sheriff, William Paterson, ordered the crowd to leave the building. They refused. Paterson, feeling the need for more help, rode south to Brattleboro to recruit a posse from the large number of Loyalists there.
With an armed posse of up to 70 men, Paterson arrived back in Westminster about 9 p.m. They found that the crowd occupied both the court and the jail.
At some point in the evening, the Brattleboro posse went to a Tory tavern on the nearby Westminster Flats and consumed copious amounts of alcohol. For their part, the Whigs occupying the courthouse, where there was also a bar, drank all the alcohol available there.
After visiting the tavern, the posse returned to the courthouse and demanded that the occupiers leave. They refused, and Paterson told the posse members to fire into the building. The Whigs returned fire, wounding some in the posse.
The posse broke open the doors to the courthouse and fired into the crowd. William French was shot five times and died instantly. Accounts state that the Loyalist posse members also mistreated French's body.
Hand-to-hand combat ensued, injuring many people on both sides, including Daniel Houghton, who died nine days later from his wounds and mistreatment. Once the firing began, the occupiers quickly started leaving the courthouse for their homes.
The posse reclaimed control of the jail and courthouse for the rest of the night, arresting and jailing seven of the fleeing occupiers.
That this had morphed from a small, local event into a conflict of regional concern was proven when, the next day, a crowd of more than 500 armed patriots from militias in nearby towns and counties showed up in Westminster.
"There were three conventions held in the local region in the month prior" to the March 13 rebellion, Haas said. "The Whigs believed the courts were in the hands of the Tories. They felt that the courts were against them and were taking their lands. Revolution was on their minds."
The patriots surrounded the courthouse the next day and proceeded to arrest the judges, the sheriff, the clerk, and any other officials or Yorkers they can find. They freed the seven jailed locals, then several hundred of the men proceeded south to continue looking for and arresting Yorkers and Loyalists.
Several Yorkers would be jailed in Northampton, Massachusetts, and five would be charged with the murder of William French.
Captain Benjamin Bellows, from just across the river in Walpole, New Hampshire, commanded the militia from that state who showed up in Westminster. To prevent further violence, he had his men surround the courthouse. In short order, two patriots talked the Loyalists in the courthouse into surrendering, and they were taken into custody without incident.
A few weeks later, members of these same militias, including several men from Westminster, would fight against the British at Concord and Lexington.
The court case that sparked the original March 13 protest was never heard. The court was closed, and it was the last time a Yorker court convened in what would become the state of Vermont.
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Area historical societies will celebrate the 250th anniversary of that event. All will be welcome.
• Thursday, March 13: Gather at Greg Gay's farm at the corner of Sand Hill Road and Route 5 in Westminster at 3:30 p.m. and, weather permitting, march to the courthouse marker.
• Friday, March 14: The Westminster Museum's Massacre exhibit will open at 3 p.m.; there will be refreshments. Gather at 4 p.m. at the courthouse marker to celebrate the nonviolent retaking of the building.
Ray Boas of Walpole Historical Society will deliver remarks about Col. Benjamin Bellows, who, with his militia, prevented further bloodshed after William French's murder.
• Saturday, March 15: The museum will open at 6 p.m., and attendees will hear from Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun, D-Westminster, and others, and there will be more refreshments.
Around dusk, participants will walk over to the French/Houghton monument in the Old Cemetery for a candlelight vigil to coincide with the 250th anniversary of William French's burial, which also took place around dusk.
Singing and readings will conclude the tribute to two young men who died standing up for their rights.
This News item by Robert F. Smith was written for The Commons.