New York sentenced these Vermont vigilantes to death – they ended up as Revolutionary War heroes

Ethan Allen’s Vigilante Militia Becomes Revolutionary Patriots

The Green Mountain Boys were land defenders with clubs and guns.

When King George III gave New York control of Vermont lands in 1764, settlers who’d already paid New Hampshire faced paying twice.

Ethan Allen wouldn’t stand for it.

In 1770, he formed his militia at Bennington’s Catamount Tavern and got to work burning New York buildings, stealing cattle, and flogging officials.

New York called them the “Bennington Mob” and wanted them dead. Yet these same outlaws later captured Fort Ticonderoga in a Revolutionary War victory.

The Ethan Allen Homestead in Vermont now tells this wild tale of vigilantes.

Land Grants Started a Nasty Ownership Fight

New Hampshire’s Governor Benning Wentworth began selling land grants in 1749 in areas both New Hampshire and New York claimed.

Folks who bought these grants built homes and started farms.

Things got worse in 1764 when King George III sided with New York, making all New Hampshire grants worthless.

New York then demanded settlers pay big fees to keep their land. Most families had plenty of land but little cash, so they couldn’t afford these new costs.

Court Loss Pushed Allen to Fight Back

Ethan Allen went to New York in 1770 to fight for settlers’ rights in court. He argued their case before the New York Supreme Court to protect land they’d worked hard to develop.

The court threw out his arguments and said all New Hampshire grants were invalid. Allen left that courtroom knowing the legal system wouldn’t help these frontier families.

The settlers faced losing everything unless they found another way to protect their homes.

Angry Settlers Met at a Tavern to Form a Fighting Group

The Catamount Tavern in Bennington became the center of resistance in 1770. Allen and upset settlers met there to create a fighting group that would stand up to New York.

They chose Allen as their leader with the title of colonel commandant. His brother Ira Allen joined, along with cousins Seth Warner and Remember Baker as company leaders.

The tavern, with a stuffed mountain lion on its sign, became their meeting place.

Armed Men Took Over the Countryside

The Green Mountain Boys quickly grew to several hundred members who patrolled the New Hampshire Grants area.

They stopped New York sheriffs from giving out eviction papers and chased away surveyors trying to mark land for New York settlers.

Members wore bits of evergreen in their hats to spot each other.

They became both the fighting force and unofficial government throughout the region. New York officials called them the “Bennington Mob” but couldn’t stop them.

Rough Methods Scared Away New York Settlers

Green Mountain Boys used fear and force to keep “Yorkers” out of their land. They burned cabins built by New York grant holders and drove off their livestock.

Anyone caught supporting New York got a beating with birch rods, painful but rarely deadly. Surveyors working for New York land dealers often woke up to find their tools broken and their work ruined.

These methods worked, few New York settlers stayed when faced with constant trouble.

Rewards Failed to Catch the Rebel Leaders

New York put out arrest warrants for Allen and other Green Mountain Boys leaders. The governor offered cash rewards for their capture.

They even passed a law that made the Green Mountain Boys outlaws who could be killed without trial if caught.

Allen and his officers got death sentences in New York courts without being there. These paper threats meant little since New York couldn’t send enough men.

Farmers Took Over a Courthouse to Stop Home Losses

Tensions exploded on March 13, 1775, when about 100 unarmed farmers took over the Westminster courthouse.

They wanted to stop a New York judge from handling real estate cases.

Sheriff William Patterson showed up with 60-70 armed men and ordered everyone to leave. The farmers refused, creating a standoff that lasted into the night.

This face-to-face clash moved the fight beyond property issues to direct resistance against government control.

Gunfire Left Two Men Dead at Westminster

The standoff turned deadly when Patterson’s men lost patience and stormed the courthouse. They fired into the crowd, killing William French with five gunshot wounds.

Daniel Houghton took bullets too and died nine days later. Patterson’s men locked seven protesters in the courthouse jail.

Word of the shooting spread fast through the countryside, with riders racing through the night to tell nearby towns about what people soon called the “Westminster Massacre.”

Hundreds of Armed Men Seized Control

The next morning, more than 500 armed men from surrounding towns rushed to Westminster. Green Mountain Boys took over the courthouse and arrested Sheriff Patterson and his men.

They freed the jailed protesters and held a quick trial for the New York officials. This show of force proved the Green Mountain Boys could gather quickly and had wide support.

They now controlled the entire region with New York’s power completely broken.

Fort Ticonderoga Fell to a Surprise Attack

Just weeks after the Westminster violence, the Revolutionary War began at Lexington and Concord. Allen heard about plans to capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British.

He gathered about 100 Green Mountain Boys and joined forces with Benedict Arnold, who arrived with orders from Connecticut.

On May 10, 1775, they sneaked into the fort at dawn and caught the British garrison sleeping. Without firing a shot, they captured the strategic fort and its valuable cannons.

This victory became the first successful offensive action by American forces.

Rebel Militia Became Official Continental Soldiers

The Continental Congress recognized the fighting skills of the Green Mountain Boys and brought them into the Continental Army in July 1775.

They became the Green Mountain Continental Rangers with Seth Warner as their colonel instead of Ethan Allen. This change turned a band of frontier vigilantes into legitimate soldiers fighting for American independence.

The men who once terrorized New York officials now served in the Northern Department of the Continental Army, defending the same territory against British forces instead of New York authorities.

Visiting Ethan Allen Homestead, Vermont

The Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington teaches you about the Green Mountain Boys militia that defended Vermont settlers from New York authorities in the 1770s.

Admission costs $15 for adults and $7 for kids 5-17. Arrive 30 minutes early to buy tickets and watch the intro film.

Vermont residents get free admission on June 23rd. The homestead runs guided tours only at 10:30am, 11:50am, 1:10pm, and 2:30pm from May through October.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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