Thomas Chittenden was an American politician and statesman. He was the 1st Governor of Vermont in 1778-1789 and 1790-1797.
Background
Thomas Chittenden, the son of Ebenezer and Mary (Johnson) Chittenden, was born on January 06, 1730 in East Guilford, Connecticut, United States. He was the fourth in descent from William and Joanna (Sheaffe) Chittenden, who came from Cranbrook, Kent, England, and settled in Guilford in 1639.
Education
Chittenden received a common-school education.
Career
At the age of eighteen, Chittenden shipped on a West Indian merchant vessel, which was captured by the French. After several months of privation, he worked his way back to Connecticut, and gave up the sea. He settled in Salisbury, Connecticut, where he lived for the next twenty-five years. Here he became a man of affairs, holding various public offices and representing the town in the colonial Assembly. In 1774, having received a grant of land on the Winooski River, in Williston, Vermont, he removed his family thither.
Two years later he represented Williston at the Dorset convention, being, it is said, the only member who had ever sat in a legislative assembly before. His sagacity was soon recognized, and he took a prominent part in this and the succeeding conventions, the outcome of which was the formation of the State of Vermont. There had been a controversy of several years’ duration over the jurisdiction of that territory, as both New York and New Hampshire claimed control and the governors of both provinces made grants therein. The situation had become intolerable to the settlers, hence their declaration of independence and the establishment of the state.
At the convention of September 1776, Chittenden, with twelve others, was appointed to attend this convention at its next sitting, thus forming what was to become the Council of the State. The following January, Chittenden helped to draw up the “declaration for a new and separate state” and was asked, with others, to present the petition for recognition to the Continental Congress, which was unsuccessful.
Between 1777 and 1787, Chittenden and his family lived in Pownal, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and Arlington, before finally returning to his farm in Williston. Chittenden, who was president of the Council of Safety, helped Ira Allen draw up the constitution of Vermont, which was closely modeled on that of Pennsylvania; and, in the general election of March 1778, he was chosen first governor of the state, an office he held, with the exception of the year 1789-1790, until 1797. His level-headed attitude in a crisis, his ability to make a wise decision, his firm character, and his general disarming friendliness, made him one of the strongest men in the state, and enabled him to conduct successfully the affairs of the young government. He apparently rarely made a mistake in judging men.
In 1780-1783 he was closely associated with Ethan Allen and others, in the secret negotiations with General Haldimand, commander of the British forces in Canada. The intentions of these men have never been determined. Documentary evidence supports the idea that they were attempting to make the state a British province, but, on the other hand, there is also evidence to confirm the belief that they were merely attempting to force Congress to recognize the independence of the state. When, in 1781, rumor was rife regarding the negotiations, Chittenden wrote a letter to General Washington, which some have claimed as evidence for the loyalty of the Vermonter.
In 1785-1787, as an aftermath of the War, there was a crisis in Vermont affairs. Chittenden suffered a period of unpopularity, owing to which he lost the election of 1789; but the following year he took the chair again. In 1791 he saw the culmination of his efforts to procure the recognition of Vermont and her admission to the Union. He continued in the governor’s chair until 1797, when he resigned just a few weeks before his death.
In October 1749 Chittenden married Elizabeth, daughter of Lieutenant Janna and Elizabeth (Dudley) Meigs. By his wife he had ten children, of whom Martin became governor, and the other sons, Noah, Giles, and Truman, each sat in the Assembly and held various public offices. One of the daughters, Mary, became the wife of Governor Tonas Galusha.