Thomas Chittenden

This article is about the first Governor of Vermont. For the U.S. Representative from New York, see Thomas C. Chittenden.

Thomas Chittenden
Official state portrait of Governor Thomas Chittenden

1st Governor of Vermont
In office March 4, 1791 – August 25, 1797
Lieutenant	Paul Brigham
Preceded by	Himself as Governor of the Vermont Republic
Succeeded by	Paul Brigham
1st & 3rd Governor of the Vermont Republic
In office 1790 – March 4, 1791
Lieutenant	Peter Olcott
Preceded by	Moses Robinson
Succeeded by	Himself as Governor of the State of Vermont
In office 1778–1789
Lieutenant	Joseph Marsh
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Moses Robinson
Personal details
Born	(1730-01-06)January 6, 1730 East Guilford, Connecticut
Died	August 25, 1797(1797-08-25) (aged 67) Williston, Vermont
Political party	None
Signature

Thomas Chittenden (January 6, 1730 – August 25, 1797) was the first governor of the state of Vermont, serving from 1778 to 1789, when Vermont was a largely unrecognized independent state, called the Vermont Republic and again after a year out of office from 1790 until his death. During his first term after his return to office, Vermont was admitted to the Union as the 14th state.

Early life

Chittenden was born in East Guilford, Connecticut on January 6, 1730 and married Elizabeth Meigs on October 4, 1749, in Salisbury, Connecticut. The couple had four sons and six daughters while they were living in Connecticut. All the children survived to adulthood. He was justice of the peace in Salisbury and a member of the Colonial Assembly from 1765 to 1769. He served in Connecticut's 14th Regiment from 1767 to 1773, rising to the rank of Colonel.^[1] He was descended from Thomas Chittenden (1635 - 1683), who was born in Cranbrook, Kent, England and settled in the Connecticut Colony.^[2]

Career

Chittenden moved to the New Hampshire Grants, now Vermont, in 1774, where he was the first settler in the town of Williston. In 1777, a convention was held in Windsor, which drafted Vermont's first constitution, establishing Vermont as an independent republic.^[3] During the American Revolution, Chittenden was a member of a committee empowered to negotiate with the Continental Congress to allow Vermont to join the Union. The Congress deferred the matter in order to not antagonize the states of New York and New Hampshire, which had competing claims against Vermont. During the period of the Vermont Republic, Chittenden served as governor from 1778 to 1789 and 1790 to 1791, and was one of the participants in a series of delicate negotiations with British authorities in Quebec over the possibility of establishing Vermont as a British Province.

After Vermont entered the federal Union in 1791 as the fourteenth state, Chittenden continued to serve as governor until 1797. He died in office.^[4]

Death and legacy

Chittenden died in Williston on August 25, 1797 and is interred at Thomas Chittenden Cemetery, Williston, Chittenden County, Vermont. Citing Vermont's tumultuous founding, his epitaph reads "Out of storm and manifold perils rose an enduring state, the home of freedom and unity."

An engraved portrait of Chittenden can be found just outside the entrance to the Executive Chamber, the ceremonial office of the governor, at the Vermont State House at Montpelier. A bronze sculpture of Chittenden can also be found on the grounds of the Vermont State House near the building's west entrance. In the 1990s a statue of him was erected in front of the Williston Central School. His son Martin was Governor and several sons were active in Vermont politics and the state militia.^[5] His great-grandson, Lucius E. Chittenden, served as Register of the Treasury in the Lincoln administration. The town of Chittenden in Rutland County is named for him.

References

↑ "Thomas Chittenden". National Governors Association. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
↑ "Thomas Chittenden". Geni. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
↑ "Thomas Chittenden". Find A Grave. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
↑ "Thomas Chittenden". National Governors Association. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
↑ "Thomas Chittenden". Find A Grave. Retrieved 24 October 2012.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Office established	Governor of Vermont 1791–1797	Succeeded by Paul Brigham

Governors of Vermont

Vermont Republic (1777–91)	Chittenden Robinson Chittenden

State of Vermont (since 1791)	Chittenden Brigham Tichenor I. Smith Tichenor Galusha M. Chittenden Galusha Skinner Van Ness Butler Crafts Palmer Jennison Paine Mattocks Slade Eaton Coolidge Williams E. Fairbanks Robinson Royce Fletcher Hall E. Fairbanks Holbrook G. Smith P. Dillingham Page Washburn Hendee Stewart Converse Peck H. Fairbanks R. Proctor Sr. Farnham Barstow Pingree Ormsbee W.P. Dillingham Page Fuller Woodbury Grout E. Smith Stickney McCullough Bell F. Proctor Prouty Mead Fletcher Gates Graham Clement Hartness R. Proctor Jr. Billings Weeks Wilson C. Smith Aiken Wills M. Proctor Gibson Arthur Emerson Johnson Stafford Keyser Hoff Davis Salmon Snelling Kunin Snelling Dean Douglas Shumlin

Italics indicate acting governor

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 40927967 LCCN: n88115536

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