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Thomas Chittenden: Our First Vermont Governor
Thomas Chittenden: Our First Vermont Governor
By Sen. Bill Doyle
Thomas Chittenden, born in 1730 in East Guilford, Conn., had been a Justice of the Peace from 1765 to 1769 and was a member of the Connecticut Colonial Assembly. In 1774 he moved to Williston and bought large tracts of land. In 1777 he was a delegate to Vermont’s Constitutional Convention in Windsor. In the same year, he helped draft the Vermont Declaration of Independence.
He was elected governor in 1778 and reelected yearly until 1797 except for one year, 1789. At that time, the term for governor was one year. He is the longest serving governor in Vermont history, serving 18 terms.
Ethan Allen claimed that Chittenden was the only person “he had ever known he was sure to be right, even in the most complex cases, without being able to tell the reason why.”
One of Vermont’s leading historians, Walter Crocket, wrote the following: “Among the notable figures of that remarkable group of pioneer leaders who established the Commonwealth of Vermont, Thomas Chittenden ranks among the greatest of the wise master builders of the Green Mountain State. He was a plain, rugged individual without the learning of the schools, lacking the graces and culture of polite society, but he was a born leader of men.”
Perhaps Chittenden’s greatest achievement was his leadership in the long fight for Vermont to be admitted in the Union. This struggle lasted from 1777 to 1791. Vermont was claimed by both New York and New Hampshire. The Congress of the United States was unwilling to admit Vermont because of the opposition of these two important states.
Chittenden’s biographer, Frank Smallwood, wrote: “Chittenden provided a sense of continuity and stability to the state during the post war years until his death in 1797. Like President Washington, Chittenden played a critical role in maintaining public confidence in a new government experiment during a period of transition. The fact that he occupied the governor’s officer for such a long time provided the older frontier settlers with time to adjust to the changes and the reforms that were taking place.”
In his last message to the General Assembly, Chittenden said, “Suffer me then as a father, as a friend, and as a lover of this people, and as one whose vote cannot much longer be heard here, to instruct you in all your appointments, to have regard for none but those who maintain a good moral character - men of integrity, and distinguished for wisdom and abilities.”
One of the most eloquent of all the obituaries reporting his death appeared in the Vermont Gazette: “That Governor Chittenden was possessed by great talents and a keen discernment in affairs relative to men, no one can deny... his many and useful services to his country, to the State of Vermont, and the vicinity wherein he dwelt will long be remembered by a grateful public... nor were his private virtues less conspicuous; in times of scarcity and distress... his granary was open to all the needy. Such was the man, and such the citizen Vermont has lost. Superior to a prince, a great man has fallen.”
Senator Bill Doyle serves on the Senate Education Committee and Senate Economic Affairs Committee, and is the Senate Minority Leader. He teaches government history at Johnson State College. He can be reached at 186 Murray Road, Montpelier, VT 05602; e-mail wdoyle@leg.state.vt.us; or call 223-2851.
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