CONTENTS. Genealogy of the Family - The staid Habits of the Puritans con- tinued during his Childhood and Youth - Diligent and systematic Pursuit of his collegiate Studies-Appointed Lieutenant in the revolutionary Army-Some of his juvenile poetic Productions - Letters to some of his Classmates, written while in the Army, and when pursuing his legal Studies Admitted to the Bar in Secret Negotiations with the British Authorities in Canada - Ex- tract from the "Life of Brant," containing a Charge of Criminal- ity against the Leading Men in Vermont- Vindication of those Occasion and beneficial Operation of the Quieting Act-Mr. Chip- man unsuccessful in his Farming and other Business-Resolu- tion of the Legislature, by which certain Measures proposed for the Relief of the People calculated only to increase and prolong their Sufferings, were postponed and defeated-Elected Assistant b Letter from Nathaniel Chipman to Alexander Hamilton, occasioned by certain Proceedings of the Democratic Society of the County LIFE OF NATHANIEL CHIPMAN. CHAPTER I. Genealogy of the Family - The staid Habits of the Puritans continued during his Childhood and Youth — Diligent and systematic Pursuit of his collegiate Studies-Appointed Lieutenant in the revolutionary Army-Some of his juvenile poetic Productions-Letters to some of his Classmates, written while in the Army, and when pursuing his legal Studies Admitted to the Bar in Connecticut and commenced Practice in Vermont - His standing at the Bar. THE Common ancestor of all those bearing the name of Chipman, in North America, was John Chipman, born in Barnstable, in England, in the year 1614. He emigrated to America in the year 1630, at the age of sixteen, and married a daughter of John Howland, one of the pilgrims, who in 1620 landed from the Mayflower upon the Plymouth rock. He settled on a farm in Barnstable, on which his descendants have ever since resided. He was admitted a freeman by vote of the town in December, 1662. His second son, Samuel Chipman, was born in Barnstable, August 15th, 1661. He married Sarah Cobb, and had ten children, one of which was John Chipman, born in Barnstable in 1691, graduated at Har vard College in 1711, ordained minister in Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1715, and died in 1775, aged 84. He had fifteen children; their descendants are very numerous in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, among whom is Ward Chipman, one of the commissioners under the treaty of Ghent for settling the North-eastern boundary. The eldest of the ten children of Samuel Chipman was Thomas, born in Barnstable, November 17th, 1687. He settled in Groton, Connecticut, and had five sons, Thomas, John, Amos, Samuel and Jonathan. In the year 1740, he removed with his five sons to Salisbury, Connecticut. In the year 1741, the town of Salisbury was organized, and he was the first representative. When the county of Litchfield was organized, he was appointed a judge of the county court, but died before the first term. His son Samuel, father of the subject of this memoir, married Hannah Austin, of Suffield, Connecticut. The family records having been lost, the following is all that is known of her family. Her father was a physician; himself and the father of the late Apollos Austin, of Orwell, Vermont, were cousins. The late Seth Austin, of Tunbridge, Vermont, the late Aaron Austin, of New Hartford, Connecticut, the late Daniel Austin, merchant in New York, and the late Eliphalet Austin, of the state of Ohio, were her nephews. And I learned from the late Benjamin Austin, of Boston, that himself and the Austins in Suffield, were of the same stock. Samuel and Hannah Chipman had six sons, Nathaniel, the subject of this memoir, who was born the 15th of November, 1752, Lemuel, Darius, Cyrus, Samuel and Daniel. The five eldest brothers died at the following ages, to wit: Nathaniel, 90; Lemuel, 76; Darius, 76; Cyrus, 77, and Samuel, 76. Their father, Samuel Chipman, and his two brothers, Thomas and Jonathan, all died in the ninety-first year of their age. To delineate the character of Nathaniel Chipman, and clearly to account for the early discipline, acuteness, strength and comprehension of his mind, for which in after life he was so distinguished, it seems necessary to advert to the times in which he spent his childhood and youth. The staid habits of the puritans were continued with little adulteration to the commencement of the revolutionary war. Everything with them was orderly and systematic. In comparison with the religious character of their descendants, their religion was more intellectual. Great stress was laid on orthodoxy. -on a clear understanding and steadfast faith in the great doctrines of the Gospel, and less on the vividness of their religious affections. As their religious affections were less vivid, they were more uniform, more habitual, and thus became actuating motives, and settled religious principles by which they were governed in all the concerns of life. Public worship was punctually attended on the Sabbath, but with them this was scarcely more of a religious exercise than the government of their families, the education of their children, industry in their several callings, honesty in their dealings, submission to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, and the performance of all their moral duties. True, other sects consider all |