JUDGE HALL'S CHARACTER.

665

deserved the empire of the world. Though we cannot expect to reach the transcendent height of his public honors and military glory, yet with respect to the exercise of his private and domestic virtues, we may in some measure be imitators of him. Let us, then, copy his bright example. Let us live and act as he advises, and in this way shall we more convincingly evidence our regard for his memory, than we should, were we daily to repair to his sepulchre, and bedew with tears of sincere regret, that stupendous monument of our country's salvation."

While attending the General Assembly, during their session at Montpelier, in the autumn of 1808, Judge Hall was seized with a violent catarrhal affection which assumed an incurable form, and caused his death on the 17th of May, 1809. In his "Descriptive Sketch" of Vermont, published in 1797, Dr. John A. Graham observes of Mr. Hall:-He "is one of the judges of the Supreme court, which office he fills in such a manner as to reflect honour, even on so important a station. His memory is so wonderfully tenacious, as to make him master of every subject he reads or hears, and to enable him to recapitulate them without the slightest hesitation or previous study." As a friend, Mr. Hall was constant, confiding, and generous. As a citizen, patriotic, public-spirited, and liberal. As a husband, obliging, affectionate, and gentle. He was ever ready to assist the poor in their misery, and the afflicted in their suffering. Nothing aroused more fully his resentment than the oppression of the weak by the strong.* His legal abilities were of a high order, and were well suited to the times in which, and the people among whom he lived. While on the bench, his opinions were prepared with deliberation, and his decisions were ever based in justice and right. His fund of anecdote was great, and a memory of surpassingly retentive powers enabled him to call up on any occasion, incidents illustrative of whatever topic might be under consideration. This remarkable faculty, com

* An instance of his readiness to espouse the cause of the oppressed was seen in the attempt which he made-at a meeting of the "church of Christ" in Westminster, held on the 27th of May, 1795-to defend Mrs. Bethiah Holton, a mem. ber of that church, against whom he thought an undue severity was being exercised, on account of her avowal of the belief "that all mankind will finally be restored to the Divine favor through the sufferings, death, and atonement of Christ." An account of the proceedings on this occasion, and a report of Judge Hall's remarks, were published in the "Farmer's Weekly Museum," on the 2d of June, and the 7th of July, 1795, and in the "Rural Magazine: or Vermont Repository," for June, 1795.

bined with an extensive experience of men and things, and an affable disposition, rendered his conversation not only agreeable but instructive. Though dying in the fifty-third year of his age, his life was an active one, and his personal and political influence was felt and acknowledged in the community in which he resided.*

THOMAS JOHNSON.

In the year 1762, Thomas Johnson, then in the twenty-first year of his age, removed from Hampstead, New Hampshire, to Newbury on the New Hampshire Grants. In the service of Col. Jacob Bayley he was entrusted with the care of that gentleman's lands, which were situated on the west side of the Connecticut, and were subsequently comprised within the limits of Newbury. The charter of Newbury was granted by Benning Wentworth, on the 18th of March, 1763, and in the same year Mr. Johnson became a resident of the town, and there purchased lands. At this time there was no road in any direction leading from Newbury, and bread-stuffs and all articles of furniture, agriculture, and consumption, were brought on horseback from the head waters of the Merrimac, or in boats from Charlestown, eighty miles below. The new settlement rapidly increased in population, and its rich acres were soon converted into well-cultivated farms. In the summer of 1775, Mr. Johnson, who then owned large tracts of land, and had become a successful merchant, built for the accommodation of himself and family, a large house, which is still standing, and which even at this day, is one of the best and most spacious dwellings in the town.

At the commencement of the Revolution, the inhabitants of Newbury, who were nearly all Whigs, held a town meeting,

* Journals Am. Cong., ed. 1823, i. 119, 238, 240. Sparks's Writings of Washington, iii. 270. Almon's Remembrancer, ii. 353: iii, 130: iv. 264, 317. House Documents of 26th Cong., 1st session, No. 58. Deming's Cat. of Vt. Officers, passim. Thomas's (Mass.) Spy, Dec. 18th, 1792, No. 1028. Farmers' Weekly Museum, or New Hampshire and Vermont Journal, Walpole, N.H., Sept. 3d, 1798. Farmers' Museum, or Literary Gazette, Walpole, N. H., August 18th and 25th, 1800. Graham's Vt., p. 111. Beckley's Hist. Vt., p. 124. Acts and Laws Vt. 1800, pp. 36-40. Ante, p. 453.

SERVICES OF THOMAS JOHNSON.

667

and in the most deliberate manner declared themselves independent of Great Britain, and entered the declaration in the records of the town. During the latter part of March and the early part of April, 1776, Mr. Johnson traced out on foot, through an unbroken wilderness and the melting snows of spring, a path for a military road from Newbury to St. John's. His journal of the survey was sent to General Washington. The object of this examination was to ascertain a practicable and short route for the invasion of Canada. Several other explorations of a similar character were made at this period, but circumstances never afterwards favored an expedition which was so strongly desired, so long contemplated, and once actually organized under La Fayette. In the year 1777, Mr. Johnson at that time holding a captain's commission, raised and took the command of a company, which served under General Lincoln, whose head-quarters were at Manchester. With this distinguished officer, Captain Johnson was for some time connected as aid-de-camp. In September of the same year, General Lincoln sent five hundred men, of whom Captain Johnson's company formed a part, to reconnoitre Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. The former post was taken, and the latter was besieged for several days.

In a letter to his wife, dated the 12th of September, 1777, in camp, near Mount Independence, Captain Johnson observed:"I have had little sleep these three nights, for the roaring of cannon and the cracking of guns are continually in our ears. I must say that I felt ugly when I first heard the firing. I have had but few chances of firing my gun at the enemy. When I fired the first time, they gave me three for one. The cannonballs and the grape-shot rattle like hail-stones, but they don't kill men. I don't feel any more concerned here, than I did at home in my business." Of the prisoners taken at Crown Point during this expedition, one hundred were placed in the charge of Captain Johnson, who conducted them to Charlestown, New Hampshire, where he delivered them to a continental officer, who led them into country quarters. Captain Johnson then returned to Newbury, where he was actively employed for the next four years in improving his estate. During this period he was honored by the Assembly of New York with a lieutenant-colonel's commission in the militia. On account of his participation in the transactions at Ticonderoga, Colonel Johnson was narrowly watched by the British, who sought to take him.

The method of his capture on the morning of the 8th of March, 1781, while at Peacham, and the treatment he received during his detention in Canada, have been already detailed.* On the 5th of October following, he was released on parole of honor, having first pledged his faith to General Haldimand in a written agreement, that, until he should be "legally exchanged," he would "not do or say anything contrary to his Majesty's interest or government," and would "repair to whatever place his Excellency or any other, his Majesty's commander-in-chief in America," should designate. This parole was the cause of great trouble and anxiety to him during the year 1782. He sometimes received visits from spies, with whom, on account of his peculiar relations with the enemy, he was obliged to hold communication. A knowledge of an intercourse of this nature subjected him to suspicion as a traitor, and rendered his situation very unpleasant. To free himself from an imputation so galling to his honor and patriotism, he communicated to General Washington all the information he had obtained during his captivity, concerning the designs of the British; detailed to him the measures he had taken to gain his liberty; revealed to him his motives for adopting the course he had pursued since his return from Canada; enclosed him a copy of the agreement he had made with General Haldimand; and prayed that some means might be taken to effect his exchange, and restore him to perfect freedom.

Furnished with letters of introduction from the Hon. Meshech Weare, President of New Hampshire, and Nathaniel Peabody, a respected citizen of that state, Colonel Johnson visited General Washington in the latter part of the year 1782. The result of this interview is not known. It is certain, however, that the conduct of Colonel Johnson met with the full approbation of General Washington. Fearing that he should be recalled to Canada, Colonel Johnson absented himself from home, and did not return until after the 20th of January, 1783, the date of the declaration of peace. On one occasion, and while subjected to his parole, he was informed that the British had laid a plan to capture his friend and neighbor, Gen. Jacob Bayley. At the risk of his own life and liberty, he forewarned the General of his danger, and enabled him to escape it. Among the gentlemen with whom he was in correspondence, and for whom he

* See ante, pp. 404-408.

procured intelligence concerning the British, was Capt. Ebenezer Webster, of Salisbury, New Hampshire, the father of Daniel Webster, who in the year 1782 commanded the militia raised for the protection of the northern frontiers, and was stationed for a time at Newbury.

The patriotism of Colonel Johnson, though subjected to many severe trials, was ever pure and perfect, and his worth and integrity were undoubted. He possessed the entire confidence of his fellow-townsmen, and represented them in the General Assembly of Vermont, during the years 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1795, 1797, 1799, 1800, and 1801. He was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on the 22d of March, 1732, O. S., and died at Newbury on the 4th of January, 1819, at the age of seventy-seven years. His father was John Johnson, who was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on the 15th of November, 1711. His great-great-grandfather was William Johnson, who in the year 1634 or 1635 was one of the founders and proprietors of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and who emigrated from Herne Hill, in the county of Kent, England. Edward Johnson, a brother of William, was a proprietor and founder of Woburn, Massachusetts, and was the author of a quaint history of the colony, which has now become a rare work.*

JOSEPH KELLOGG.

WHEN the town of Deerfield was destroyed by the Indians, on the 29th of February, 1703, Joseph Kellogg, then a lad of twelve, with his brother Martin Jr., and his sisters Joanna and Rebecca, was taken captive and carried to Canada. Here he remained with the Indians a year, and was then delivered to the French, with whom he spent the ten years succeeding. During this time he travelled with traders, and by participating in their negotiations, not only acquired the French language, but the tongues of all the tribes of Indians with which the French were engaged in traffic. Of the dialect of the Mohawks his knowledge was especially thorough. In this manner, to use

* MSS. in the possession of the Johnson family. Powers's Hist. Sketches of the Coos Country, pp. 48, 180, 181, 194-221. Deming's Cat. of Vt. Officers, passim. Graham's Descriptive Sketch of Vt., p. 149.