Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-04-06
MORE EARLY HISTORY.


NJ. Edifor.-C Col Haskins mistakes our posi-
ton when he asks in an article in your paper Of "A
recent date Was the present town Of Whiting
ham ever chartered or organized under the name
of Cumberland. and intiinates that We arr adyo-
eating the Affirmative Of that proposition We
have never claimed that nor has any one to our
knowledge, in the controversy about the history
of Nottingham But We have claimed, and still
do. that the Identical territory now Whitingham
has been called and recognized both by the author
tiles of New York, and the inhabitants Of the New
Hampshire Grants lnow Vermont. as Cumber-
land, since the date of the charter Of March T.
100 We have also claimed, and do now that
this charter, issued ON the petition Of Col Nathan
Whiting and his associates, was absolutely void.
and So considered al that time by all concern.
ed. An abstract from the record ia the Secretary
ui state 5 office at Albany, y y, shows that the.
renewed petition Of Col NathanW hitting and his six
associates IN January, 'tu as set forth Ia the char
Ter p tsrntcd to the town Of Nottingham hy Mr..
JnsJu, MAS FOR tract uf land ON the west side Of
/ Connecticut river and bordering ON Massachls-
I rtts bay. ami heretofore known as Cumberland
I township And the recorded survey Of the va
cant land prtitouei for, shows It To BE-, together
WIN other lands previously granted to other ON
I Gers, precisely the same territory now Whiting
ham And this territory, IN accordance. with the
prayer of that petition, was erected not charter
J ed. into a township called Whitingham.
And tAe survey Of the town as given in the char
I ter presented, starts at the southeast corner ON
IaiaN line, that had beel. established long be
The corner Of Cumberland, ' aud around the
/ township 10y degrees and measurements, making
/ SIX miles square, and bounding east on Halifax,
north on Wilmington, west on line 40 chains.
I or six miles, west Of and parallel with the west
/ line Of Halifax, and south On the north line OF
Massachusetts Bay. This, then, settles the uues-
/ tun that the exact territory now Whtingham was
/ then called Cumberland township
We will next consider the validity OF the charter
Of March ~, no our friend Haskins does not
mention the conditions on which the grant was
made that forms the basis of that charter. but
says that Il was chartered previous to l1SO by the
. inhabitants thereof ami Others who had the best
opportunity Of knuWlug its true name, can be es-
tiDlishci by the most irn-fragahle evidence" " But
he ignores the fact that this same irr,.fragabla ev
idruce proves the charter to he abortive. lie does
not pretend th- conditions of the grant were com
] Piled with, but makes a long argument, rs law
B ycrs know how, t. eyade the effect uf the non
compliance, But when the conditions Of grant
ur decree are imperative, as in this case, he is too
/ good lawyer To contend that noncompliance
/ with the express terms uf the document itself
] needs a revocation 10 make it void The uon-cOm
Piiancr. then, with the conditions Of the grant on
l which II Is claimed the charter was founded, must
] have been fatal to its validity.
We will next consider how the authorities OF
] the province OF New York and the inhabitants of
/ Vermont understood il irom 40 to l7sO, More
than year uttcr the date OF that charter that de
Clares tue township erected shall forever here
after be- continue aud remain,a and by the name OF
] lIhitUghdm forever hereafter be. called aud
/ known The authorities of New York ordered
the sheriff of the county OF Cumberland 10 take a
census OF the several towns in that county. And
ON oath In the month Of May, M as the town o
Cumberland, And Il has not been shown in tht
controversy about the history Of Nottingham, thai
New York, or any Of her officers ever alluded u
or recognized this town by the name OF Whiting
ham, between the date OF that charter in l11O anu
! the time the government of Vermont was estab
! lshed. II is very certain the people OF Vermont
/ recognized II as Cumberland In their convention
at Dorset in 100 and in the legislature in l770.
our friend Haskins asks, rs 1t "a reasonable sup
position that the loyal Governor of His Majesty
province of New York deliberately defed In,
| commands of his sovereign by the repeated viola
! ton Of the aforesaid royal proclamatiOnF' Il
may seem unreasonable TO sOme but recorded
historical facts conclusiyely show that he did I
all the same. Again he says, 1t is more rroba
be than otherwise that the inhabitants organized
their town under the New York charter Their,
is not a shade Of authority for any such assump
tion, for IL rley had organized a town under tina
orany other charter some record OF or alluson to
would have been made In the record of that meet
ing at which the organization was made, WI
have no right TO suppose they acted otherwis
than the record shows
Those ancient documents of the venerable Sila
Hamilton, valuable as they are, do not afford tn
slightest evidence that he knew of any charter a
the organization of the town, in which he took
prominent part, But rather tend to show tina
Whtingham was not the only name by which tina
township was known by the people of CumbeT
land county from 100 10 lISO.
We have endeavured 10 state our position In r.
latiun To the early history of the town of Whiting
ham 50 plain that II cannot well be misunderstood
and based them upon historical facts, as much a
space would allow, and II they can be met an
oNcflulpNh bN counter HISTORICAL VIII clltei
| fully acknowledge our error for the sole ObjeC
of a writer Of history should be To elicit the trut
in as concise a form as possible If the tow
of Whitngham was chartered, organized and de
yeloped under the auspices Of the government an
people of New York II Is time the people knew 4
We had supposed the early patriots and pioneer
that brayed the perils and endured the hardship
Of wilderness home, and that laid the founds
ton of an o-gaized town, and established the IL
situtions of civilized society in the town Of Viii
ingham, acted from entirely different motives
end Independent Of those aristocratic lnnd-gral
bers Of the Provinee VI New York. And the