Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1871-09-20
Miscellany
Vermont Never had a Slave.
0 Me Editor Of ne Tri5une

! o The EdifoT Of me Tribune:
SrE: Col. Harrington, the Acting Su-
Perintendent Of the Census, in pokiag
about among his figures, has discovered
an important historical! factor rather.
an important fact that oorreeis an outrage
Gus historical blunder. This blunder has
been nursed, and fed, and kept warm by
statisticians. historians, essayists, newspa-
per writers and public speakers for more
than three quarters Of century, notwith-
standing it involved the fair name of one
of the purest of the sisterhood of States.
The error, which has outlived the system
which brought it into existence, places
Slavery in the rugged hills Of Vermont /!
Col. Harrington, jealous of the fair name
Of his native State and Of the country Of
his birth, took it into his head that he
would look into the fact, acknowledged as
such from one end of the country to the
other, of the existence of Slavery in that
old Commonwealth, and be succeeded in
pulling from dusky cobwebs of ages, the
truth, which is, that Vermont never own
ed slave tina: there was never a slave
owned within her borders, and that she
has suffered the odium through the care
essness Of some blundering arithmetic man
of the eighteenth century As the reader
well knows, the first census of the United
States was taken 10 1880, and one has
been taken every succeeding ten years
down to the present time. After conver-
sation with Col Harrington, | went in
search Of copies Of the first census, which
found almost as scarce as slaves In Ner-
mont. Mr. Spotford, however, the universal
refuge for all belogged inquiries, readily
supplied the copy sought, reminding me
that it was the only one in the Congress
Library, and that he did not know of
another in existeuce. The copy produced
is most primitive in appearance. 1t is a
pamphlet of 56 pages, of the size of a
school primer probably 7 inches by l-3
; wide), and bears the following on its title
pages "Returu Of the Whole Number of
n Persons within the Several Districts Of
the United States According to an Act
J, providing for the enumeration Of the in
habitants of the Unied States, passed
March the first, 1890. Philadelphia
printed by Chlds and Swain, 179l." The
paper is rough, Of a light brown color,
the letter-press is in ong-primer or small
!, plea type, with the eccentric shaped "s'
and other letters common in that day
/. and the edges are stained yellow. From
= the tables 1t appears that South Carolin'
was slow in sending in her returns for the
IS book was printed leaving blanks for the
figures in her case, which were subsequent
y ly supplied with pen and ink. The vol
ume was the property of Oliver Wolcott
Connecticut, who succeeded Alexande
Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury
Q and it bears his autograph as well as tina
of Thomas j Jefferson, then Secretary o
IS State, who certified to the accuracy o
this census in the following words.
Truly stated from the original return
.; deposited in the Office of the Secretary o
State.
- October "a, 1871. Tho. JEFFERSON.
He knew as little of that which he Ger
tilted as many of our later governmen
t, officers, for neither ere tie returns ac
curate nor was the transcript certified
IL correct one. The plan of the Fl st censu
was to give the population of the Unlte'
States by towns and counties, togethe
y with the sex, age, and color, by eac
" State and county The towns are given al
phabeticaly in table containing live col
,s umns or subdivisions, showing IN eac
r. town the following facts In the first col
$, umn, .Free white males of 10 years an
r. upward, including heads of families !:
II the econd scoumn is headed "Free whit
Mt males under l6 years :" the third colum
contains, s.Frce white females, includln
VI heads of families )" the fourth, "All othe
= free persons :" the fifth has the numbe
of "slaves," and the sixth, the 'total.
Page Ii of the census contains the taol
u of Vermont in which Bennington count
If is credited with Is slaves. These al
IN disturbed to the following towns; AIRING
IN ton has /; Bennington, 8, Mancheste
at 8; pownal, ] Salisbury, ; Winhal
y, =, |; and in each place they are placed
L. the column headed "saves." Thus I'll
to record was made, and thus it has bee
'k coatinued for eighty years.
~ !. | returned to the Census office, an
nd was shown the original returns for tt
H. State of Vermont, iu columns, by tow
n and by courties. The returns we're co
u tanned in greasy, worn and faded ro
or worm-eaten in places, and measuring