By VDC staff
A direct descendant of Vermont founder Ethan Allen visited several historic Burlington landmarks Saturday as part of the state’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
Nelson Hitchcock of New York City, a verified direct descendant of Allen’s daughter Lucy, joined more than a dozen documented descendants of patriots who served in the War for American Independence for a tour of sites connected to Allen’s life and legacy, according to historian and Revolutionary War re-enactor Tom Hughes, one of the descendants (seen in photo at far right).
The July 25 event, sponsored by the Vermont Society Sons of the American Revolution, included visits to the Ethan Allen Tower, the Ethan Allen Homestead, and Allen’s burial monument in Greenmount Cemetery. The tour was held with the cooperation of the City of Burlington Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department and the Fort Ethan Allen Museum.
At the Fort Ethan Allen Museum, historian J. Kevin Graffagnino welcomed the group before participants traveled to the Ethan Allen Tower, which was built in 1905 by the Vermont Society Sons of the American Revolution. Visitors enjoyed panoramic views of the Burlington area from the historic stone tower.
The tour concluded at Ethan Allen’s gravesite in Greenmount Cemetery, where participants laid a wreath and offered a toast in honor of Vermont’s legendary Revolutionary War leader and founding father.
Lucy Caroline Allen Hitchcock was born during Allen’s first (and reportedly unhappy) marriage to Mary Brownson. She married Judge Samuel Hitchcock on May 26, 1789 in Montpelier at the age of 21. This union produced six children. From her line came Union Army General Ethan Allen Hitchcock, said by family lore to bear a strong resemblance to Ethan Allen, of whom no portraits remain.
For those unfamiliar with the story of the first among equals of Vermont’s founders, Ethan Allen (January 21, 1738 – February 12, 1789) was a farmer, writer, military officer, and politician, according to Wikipedia. He is best known for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War, and was also the brother of Ira Allen, founder of the University of Vermont, and the father of Fanny Allen, founder of the religious order that created Fanny Allen Hospital in Colchester.
Allen was born in rural Connecticut and had a frontier upbringing, but he also received an education that included some philosophical teachings. In the late 1760s, he became interested in the New Hampshire Grants, buying land there and becoming embroiled in the legal disputes surrounding the territory. Legal setbacks led to the formation of the Green Mountain Boys, whom Allen led in a campaign of intimidation and property destruction to drive New York settlers from the Grants.
He and the Patriot-aligned Green Mountain Boys seized the initiative early in the Revolutionary War and captured Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775. In September 1775, Allen led a failed attempt on Montreal which resulted in his capture by the British. He was imprisoned aboard ships of the Royal Navy, then paroled in New York City, and finally released in a prisoner exchange in 1778.
Upon his release, Allen returned to the New Hampshire Grants which had declared independence in 1777, and he resumed political activity in the territory, continuing resistance to New York’s attempts to assert control over the territory. Allen lobbied Congress for Vermont’s official state recognition, and he participated in controversial negotiations with the British over the possibility of Vermont becoming a separate British province.
On the eve of Vermont’s Battle of Bennington weekend, 7-time New York Times best seller list author and historian Eric Metaxas, author of Revolution, is scheduled to discuss Allen’s role in the taking of Fort Ticonderoga on the August 14 Chronicle Conversations on WVMT AM 620/FM 101.3 and wvmtradio.com.