News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1901-08-07
THE STOWE LAND CASE.
Brief History Of the Controversy Over the GIebe
and Society Lots Between Church and
State.

Editor News and Citizen -
The history of the controversy be-
tween the state of Vermont and the
Church of England forms a very in
teresting chapter in Vermont records
and in view OF the fact that there are
some of these lots located within this
county may prove interesting read
ing for the readers of your paper.
The glebe and Society lots we're set
aside by the English government, the
glebe for the Church of England and
the Society lots for the Society for
propagation of the gospel in foreign
parts, and were made in Vermont by
Benning Wentworth, Governor of
New Hampshire, while the territory
of Vermont was known as "The New
Hampshire Grants" In all 125
grants for townships within the terri
TORY of Vermont were made by Gov.
Wentworth, 80 of them being made
in the year 1861. In these charters
or grants, the township was divided
into 6S shares. Five hundred acres
were reserved tor the Governor, one
full share for the Society for the pro-
pogation of the gospel in foreign
parts, one share for a glebe for the
Church of England, one share for the
first settled minister and one share
for the benefit of schools. There is a
COPY of these charters or grants on
page 224, part End, of Thompson's
Vermont. Mansfield and Stowe seem
to be the only towns that we're char
tered in this way in Lamoille county.
Why these towns were laid out at
that time | do not know, but presume
Mansfield was chosen because it con
tanned the highest mountain in the
State and Stowe perhaps because
they thought it was the finest farm
ing territory in this part ofthe State.
On the 18th of Jan. 1777, Vermont
declared herself free and independ-
ent state. The Legislature of YER
mont met for the first time March u,
1878. A right for the first settled
minister was also reserved in the YER
mont grants. THE Glebe and So
ciety lots remained unclaimed and
uncultivated for many years" Dart
mouth college made an unsuccessful
attempt to have them devoted to the
use of that institution and proposed
to give Vermonters some educational
advantages in return"
This effort first called theattention
of the legislature to these lands.
"In 1887 an act was passed author
iZing the selectmen of the towns to
take them under their care for
seven years and to devote the in
come to the Improvement of the
same" but the law did notprove to be
effective. In 1894 an act was passed
authorizing the towns to use the in
come from the globes for religious
purposes and in 179S the Circuit
Court of the United States pronounc-
ed the act unconstitutional and void.
Finally in 1905 an act was passed to
devote the globes to the use ofschools.
In 1916 the Circuit Court decided
that the claim of the church to those
lands was void. 1.-The chief grounds
of the decision was that the original
take effect because there was no party
in existence to receive and that the
government of Vermont succeeding
to that of Great Britain might re-
sumo and Inappropriate reservations
at pleasure" The Rev. Carleton
Chase writing for the church says
"Since this decision we have aband.
oned all expectation of deriving any
benefit from these lands"
The history of the society lots is
quite different from the glebe lots.
The legislature seeing the lots left
wild passed an act devoting them to
the use of schools in 1894 and a
large part of them were taken I'D and
rented under this act, but few of
them weIe held under the leases from
the society. In May 1856 the society
declared it's readiness to make con-
veyance, in any safe and suitable
manner, of it's property in this State
for the benefit of the church. The
leading men in the church thought
the act of the legislature was uncon-
stitutional. The subject was brought
up in the convention in 1905 and the
result was resolution directing the
standing committee to take measures
for procuring a conveyance. 1t took
a long time to bring it about, but in
1917 the church "was authorized to
recover the lands and to give durable
leases, to assign such proportion of
the rents as they should think proper
to the support of a Bishop and the
remainder, after paying expenses to
use of the church in the Diocese, as
they should Judge to be for it's best
interest" To test the matter a suit
was brought against the town of New
Haven. The state paid part of the
expense of defending the town but the
decision was in favor of the church.
The first trial was in the Circuit
Court but it was carried to the q. s, |
Supreme Court. This was the famous
trial in which Daniel Webster was
counsel for the church, and the church
won, the court holding, among
other things that change of soyer. |
eighty did not invalidate the title Of
the society,"
The Rev. Carleton Chase, D. D., in