Thomas Chittenden: Vermont Governor

Thomas Chittenden was a farmer and land speculator and was born in East Guilford, Connecticut on January 6, 1730. He was an important figure in the founding of Vermont. He moved to Vermont in 1774 where he founded the town of Williston.

He married Elizabeth Meigs on October 4, 1749. They had six daughters and fours sons all of whom survived to be adults. His great-grandson, Lucius E. Chittenden, served in Lincoln's administration as the Register of the Treasury.

It was during the American Revolution that he was a member of a committee empowered to negotiate with the Continental Congress to allow Vermont to join the union. The Congress, of course, deferred the matter as not to upset the states of New York and New Hampshire who happened to have competing claims against Vermont. It wasn't until after Vermont began negotiating with the British commander in Canada, the New York and New Hampshire their territorial disputes.

A convention was held in Windsor in 1777. There, Vermont's first constitution was drafted and this established Vermont as an independent republic, the first republic in North America. It was during this republic that Thomas served as governor from 1778-1789 and 1790-1791.

Vermont entered the federal Union in 1791 as the fourteenth state. Thomas served as governor until 1797 when he died in office on August 25, 1797 at the age of sixty-seven. He was buried in Williston.

An engraved portrait of Thomas hangs outside the entrance to the Executive Chamber, the ceremonial office of the governor, at the Vermont State House at Montpelier. There is even a bronze sculpture of Thomas, which can be found on the grounds of the Vermont State House near the building's west entrance. In front of the Williston Central School you will find a statue of Thomas, which was erected in the 1990's. His epitaph concerning Vermont's founding reads, "Out of storm and manifold perils rose an enduring state, the home of freedom and unity."

RESOURCES:

http://www.virtualvermont.com/history/tchittenden.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Chittenden