Dear members, friends, welcome. I'm Ulia Stone. I'm with the historical society. I'm currently asserting president. And it's my pleasure to introduce uh Phil Caner who is our speaker tonight. And I'm hardly
needs any introduction. He's been with the historical society for many years and served as president. His research is extensive and when you open your handout you'll see how much he uses primary sources. So um almost everything he says
is supported by historic fact. I'll let you start. Sure. Um but before I do start there there is handouts if you haven't gotten one. Um might assist you in following along. Um, why not? Are there any extras?
Anybody else want somebody else come down? So, I'm Phil Kenner live at 12 River Street right here in Conway. Um, this general topic, uh, Elie's insurrection, Joseph Holly, has fascinated me for a
long time. I'm particularly drawn to those time periods when it was palpable to everybody that all things were possible. The 1780s were one such thing. 1774 is another. Um, and Joseph Holly in
particular, I've always been amazed at how he Northampton guy, a western mass guy, born and raised and died in Northampton. and how few of us know about him and what we do know, how little we know about him and just how central of a figure he was in American
history and in particular how his contemporaries viewed him um as brilliant and as an intellectual father of the American Revolution. Um, so I'm going to start with talking a little bit about Joseph Holly and regrettably I'm
just going to talk a little bit about his family tree, but it is amazing and it's it needs to be talked about. Um, he's the third Joseph Holly of Northampton. It's typical of continental research. The father, son, grandfather, great-grandfather, all name the same. Um
so Joseph Holly the first one um arrived in Northampton in 1674 was uh straight from Harvard was preacher, teacher, lawyer, judge, Indian trader died by being gored by his own ox in 1711.
Um, wow. His his Joseph Pauliey's wife, the first Joseph Paulie, our Joseph Pauliey's grandmother, died from suicide shortly after the 1704 Deerfield uh raid. Um, they gave birth to the
second Joseph Ali, our Joseph Paulie's father. Um um he 19 years town selectman, town clerk, principal trader, uh cattle drove to Boston, land speculator,
um a a useful and uh good man in the town of Northampton during the first great awakening. And without getting too much into colonial ecclesiastical history because probably I'm like the only one in the room that's interested in that.
Um but uh the the uh his father died of suicide in May 1734 in a very public cutting of his own throat. Um shortly after um he witnessed the first George
Whitfield Great awakening preachings um because he was so exceedingly concerned about the state of his own soul. He had scarcely any sleep at all for days and days beforehand. The coroner's inquest judged him
delirious. Um but he before he died he married Rebecca Stoddard. Rebecca Stoddard was the daughter of the Reverend Solomon Stoddard, the Pope of Northampton. 60 years uh 60 years the uh
the the minister of Northampton. Best friends with all the ministers that were part of the Salem Witch. Um um but he had had a conversion in shortly after the Deerfield raid where he changed from the standard Harvard Calvinist
Puritanism to something that became called Stoddard Stoddard the Stoddardian method which was uh he started baptizing babies. He started rejecting the doctrine of original sin which was a big deal back then. Um, and because in order to be baptized into the
church back then, um, in the classical Puritan way, you had to have a personal conversion experience. You had to be able to convince a board on the church that you were saved by that personal experience. So, babies, you couldn't get baptized. Um, um, Rebecca Stoddard,
uh, the Stoddards had 11, 12 kids. Rebecca Stoddard's brother was Israel Williams. Um other brother was Elijah uh was Ephraim. We'll get to them in a little bit. But Rebecca's daughter, the mom,
got to talk about the mom. Mom um mom was they said for a woman of the age she was exceptionally well educated. Um married the Joseph Holly at age 36, very late. Um had an aristocratic
spirit, had traits of eccentricity. Uh um they said whenever she left the house, she either said or did something that set the village tongues away. Um so
uh and the Joseph Holly and Rebecca's daughter had two boys, Joseph Holly and Elijah Holly. Um the what I wanted to get across about Rebecca's daughter is just how difficult a woman she appears in the pages of
history um when Elijah was the younger was the younger of the two sons um was in the military most of the time uh along with uh Israel so uh with with so is there
was Williams and his brother Ephraim Williams which was Rebecca Stoddard's sisters the their mother was Rebecca's father's sister. Um, Israel Williams was the monarch river god of Hamster County. Everybody in these parts hated them. Um,
and it's hard to explain. The area militia in the eve of the Revolutionary War for 40 years was under the command of Israel Williams of Hatfield. If you were in the militia, you were commanded by Israel or his cousin William Williams. If you needed to buy something in Deerfield, the item in question was
sold to you by the leading storekeeper, Elijah Williams. She ended up in court. The same Elijah was a justice of the peace when he attended the Sabbath service in Deerfield. Jonathan Ashley, the Williams brother-in-law, was the minister. You need a good bleeding. Brother Thomas Williams and
Deerfield was a medical man. In all matters political, they were always supporters of the monarchy. In their social instincts and business practices, they were hotty and positively unjust towards the masses of men. Um, we in these parts, you had to deal with them
every day. We didn't like them. But Efim Williams was the good Williams. Um, and he uh most famously was the leader of the bloody scout in the French Union
War in 1755. So he was a Deerfield selectman for years. the boundary stones that the on the seven mile line, one of which is visible right from Busack Road on the on that has him car his carved initials of
EW but um he was widely liked he's and when he died he donated his entire fortune to what became Williams College. Um he was widely liked he died during the Bloody Scout which was French and Indian War 1755. Um
uh it was the it was the after 9 years of the French and Indian War, they really geared up to kick the French out of uh everything but Canada. And so the idea was to go up the Hudson River Valley, uh go up Lake George, take take
Fort George, take Crown Point at the entrance to Lake Champlain, take Tyonderoga, push the prince all the way back. As right after right as they were around Lake George, they got word from their scouts that a large Indian ambush was right around there. Efron Williams
and his second in command, Elijah Holly, Joseph Holly's younger brother, um decided they were going to ambush the Indians. It didn't work out. Um they they suffered a horrendous defeat. Um and both Ephraim Williams and Elisha
Hall, they were killed. Uh, and Effort Williams is the only Massachusetts or colonial militia men that has his own memorial in Westminster African because he saved so many British soldiers that day. Um but mom dur when Elisha Holly Joseph
Holly our Joseph Holly's younger brother was uh um was home in the few years between he was he was wound he was the commander of Fort Massachusetts at the base of uh Mount Greylock 46 47 48 uh he was
wounded when the Indians stormed that and took it and took that fort and was previously wounded with shotgun blast uh to the Okay. So, he was home for a couple years. He falls in love. Um, mom finds out that he's in love. Mom decides
that the girl in question is not of a a worthy social status enough. Mom forbids him from dating him. He keeps he keeps going over there. So, mom follows him over one day, bursts into the house,
curses out the the girl's parents, drags him out by the ear. was 24 years old, wounded in the um Yeah. Uh um and within a year a scandal breaks
out. Uh a woman named by the name of Martha Root, who may or may not be buried in Howland Cemetery here in Conway. A woman by the name of Martha gave birth to twins, said Elisha was the was the father. Um and
uh he gets arrested for fornication. He gets sued civily by Martha Ruth's family and he get excommunicated from the Northampton church. Um, Joseph Holly come Joseph Holly has to negotiate
um, uh, needed to pay a penalty of 150, but but Joseph Holly um, in what he said was the worst thing he ever did. Um, uh, got him out of the excommunication by alleging that Martha Root was a woman of the town.
uh and then begged Martha Root for in in a letter for an ap for for apology um um for forgiveness. She used that letter that letter in court in civil court to get a better
settlement. Um uh so Joseph, our Joseph um u goes to Yale at the age of 16. um graduates from Yale in 1742. Uh signs on to be chaplain of the
mass regiment during the siege of Lewisburg 1745. But he was shocked at the absence of religious sentiment among the soldiers. Turned him from ministry to the desire to practice law. Goes to Sufffield, what's now Connecticut, was then Massachusetts to study law with
Phineas Lyman. Um within five or six years, Penny's Lyman's brother who had moved to Northampton had a daughter. Jose our Joseph Holly is smitten with her courts her for years. Mom doesn't like her
either. And uh mom says, "Okay, their family has the equ the the the requisite social status, but you can't marry her because her face looks too much like a toasting
iron. Um and so so I, you know, I knew when I read that that that was horrible. So, I tried to find out like just how horrible that was, like on the continuum of uh you know, Revolutionary War fireplace
implements, you know, just how ugly is a toasting and um I saw all of what Google listed and it's pretty ugly. Um so, so I I so so that but it didn't just
Paulie. He ended up um marrying her in 1750. Um and uh good good for him that the many of their love letters are um uh in uh at the Forbes Library. They're delightful to read. They really are. Um
they called each other dear child. They closed every letter. May May you always may you always remember to be fearful of God. Um which is interesting way to close your letters. Um how old was he when he was married? Um
so born in 17 close to 30. Um so um oh at at at that bloody scout also at that bloody scout in that same regiment was Abel Dingsmore as a
private. He was from Conway. Perez Bardwell then a private from Conway and Ruben Dickinson then a sergeant. He had just received a battle battlefield promotion from Amherst. We'll get to them in uh in Elie's insurrection, but it's important just to know that uh they
had an early connection with Joseph Holly through being witnesses to his brother's death. Um um so Joseph Holly becomes a lawyer, practices in Northampton, all through
Western Mass, is the first one to write rules of civil procedure for the courts um in Massachusetts in the country. is the first one to write rules for the conduct of judges, court rules in the c in the country. Um it has already
established a reputation um as being an an excellent lawyer. Um and um which brings me to the first thing in your handout, the Birkshere affair. And this is there's three reasons I want to
talk about this. Number one, it shows Joseph Paulie's um uh viewpoints on treason, which becomes important when we get to the insurrection. It's the thing that made him famous not just throughout Massachusetts, but when they reprinted
his letters u to newspapers about the Brookshire affair, he became famous all throughout the colonies. Thomas Jefferson took his reprinted when the Richmond papers reprinted his letters. Thomas Jefferson actually bound them and saved them. Um, and it shows just what a
brilliant what what a brilliant guy he was. Um, so the Birkshire. So I just want to get this over from the beginning because it's the study of a case at law. So we're going to go to law school for a little bit just to get we can do this. It's just a few minutes. Um um but
it the the the Birkshere affair grew out of the Stamp Act and the Stamp Act uh 1765 an act of parliament said all legal affairs all legal orders everything a legal piece of paper has to have the stamp
from the British crown. This was also the rise of Samuel Adams political base. He prevented any of the stamps from being offloaded from the ships in Boston Harbors, intimidated all the sailors in the boats, etc., etc. No stamps got off
the boat. There were no stamps. Um, you the law said you needed stamps. Of course, you had to pay for the stamps. You that that was the whole purpose of it. This was one of the first, if not the first attempt by the English crown, Great Britain, to directly raise revenue
through the in the colonies. Um they've been complaining about how much the colonies cost for years in the French and Indian War which was was really expensive. Um but we didn't pay for it. They did. Um so so British law required stamps and all legal documents. It first came to a
head its head in Lansboro in Birkshire County. Um so the the the absence of stamps was particularly hard for debtors. the debtors who were put in jail for owing a
debt um without the stamps you couldn't get a bond which doesn't co never cost very much but you needed a bond to get to enjoy the limits of the jailard. It was a continental concept where um the debtor or the prisoner would be would
generally be confined not to the jail but to the limits of the entire town and that way would be able to work for wages u and pay off their sins. Um, so at at a house raising November of ' 65, the residents of Lansboro decide they're not
going to allow they're not going to allow any more uh you know arrests for debt until a proper order, a proper writ or a proper execution is given with a stamp. Otherwise, the debtors are stuck in jail. Um, and it's not right because
they're arresting people without the stamp. So that same night, Sheriff visits the Lansboro V Village village tavern. And I was in Lansboro not that long ago. I think they still only have one tavern. Um but um but they they uh
they they happen upon one John Franklin. They have an execution. They arrest him. They see a Peter Curtis. They have another Rit. Neither Rit had a stamp. Immediately the cry goes out. The sheriffs are here. The sheriffs are here. Big riot. Well, a big melee. um
stone clubs um uh you know stones etc. But nobody was seriously hurt um but it was serious enough that the sheriffs retreated to Pittsfield um without their prisoners. So that was just the
beginning. Spring of ' 66 grand jury indictes 10 men involved in the precus uh of the past November. They come to trial in April. Of these 10, one of them, Seth Warren, had a lawyer. His name was Joseph Holly.
Um, plead not guilty, the charge of riot. They find him guilty anyway. They sentence him to a pay a fine of three pounds. Not that much. Pretty much a misdemeanor. Um, but Holly advises him to appeal to the superior court on the
grounds that first the writ was not stamped. The officer had no authority. The company was assembled together. They peaceibly. it wasn't a a riot and said it was just a trespass or really nothing. Um and third that you should consider the conditions within the
province um that the attorney general ought to have just decided to dismiss the charges. Um um so so it goes so it's it's in the docket for this for the for the appellet court. They fight they fight their case.
They make the same arguments. Um the the chief justice in charge in his so it's British justice. Then as now the judge the judge in their charge the jury tells the jury what
the in in the United States the jury determines the facts. The judge determines the law. In England it's almost the exact opposite way around. But the the the the judge instructs the jury what they what he thinks they should find as to the facts. So this is
British justice. The judge in uh charges to the jury that in the opinion of the court riot had occurred. Warren should be found guilty. The jury's charged in the late afternoon. They retire uh for the evening and in the morning it's going to be verdict and sentenced. At
night Holly has a brainstorm. He says he wants to change Warren's plea from not guilty to riot to guilty of high treason.
High treason is punishable by death. Um and he felt that with a new defense, Warren should either receive, you know, a dismissal or a dismissal and a new charge of treason. and he was confident that uh no jury would find him guilty of
treason because it was such a minor affair. But he felt that it meets the definition of treason. It was a riot as a result of confederacy in agreement. Um so the the judge tells the jury that it's sound doctrine and clear law, but
the jury still finds him guilty of riot sentences to pay the same small fine. So here's where the Birksier affair becomes a Bxier affair. It's the letters that Holly makes and writes to the to to to the newspaper. And that had never been
done before. Never had a lawyer um after the case was done publish defense, you know, a defense and an explanation of his position in court. And this is really significant because he for the first
time broaches subjects that have never been broached before. And you know he he states that the the the Warren could not have been guilty of any crime. that what it what the conditions in the province at the time of the Birkshire affair the
entire population of Massachusetts was outlawed in the sense that they were deprived of the benefit of law without crime or offense of their own because without the stamps you can't have the king couldn't have jurisdiction um the rits couldn't be issued and he argued
that at when positive laws the laws in books cease or are suspended Then the laws of nature must emerge and take place. So um which is common law um which is
uh um which implies that there is a power that is over and above that of parliament. And up until that point nobody had ever really said that that still to this day acts of parliament are absolute. Um so
um His published exploration of natural rights versus legal rights has this major effect and it creates one of the first intellectual frameworks sort of a scaffolding that allows especially wealthy and educated people to consider
the concept of independence separate from labels such as trader or outlaw. Um the the the court didn't think that they when they next met they disparred Holly. Um and which set off a whole fresh
news storm of controversy. Uh you know Holly wrote a bunch of other letters. You know if every man's mouth is to be sealed up and nothing can be said about a court then the trial is only as good as a Rish Inquisition. and he said he only knew of one tribunal
absolutely infallible and that is not the state of court. So um that's a question. Yeah. Did the defendant have the option to not do what his No. And and so that I thought that the whole was advising if I'm Warren I'm
sitting there saying wait a minute I'm just kid I just got fined three three pounds. Holy sh you know just high treason. Like are you kidding me? Um but does the historical record have anything about the defendant saying I don't want to do that or No. No. But
um so the what what this is so important um the the first person to to broach an argument like this was James Otis in 1761. Um, in that case it was the
general standing warrant, the famous every man's every man is king of his own castle argument. Um, and uh, the crown the crown issued general warrants which allowed any any crown official to enter any house and search for smuggled goods
without having to go to a judge for any specificity whatsoever. Otis famously contended that that warrant violated the natural principle of a man should be secure in his own house. that was 1761. He lost that argument and he didn't
really make it very coherently. Um, but it was Otis's case that John Adams referenced in 1821 as when the child independence was born and within 15 years i.e. 1776 had grown to manhood and declared himself free. But Holly in the
Burksier affair letters was credited at the time with taking Otis' idea to its logical extreme. Um, so because after Otis's 1761 courtroom defeat, the general warrant was only ever issued a
handful of times until 1767 when this Vampax stuff was going on when the Birkshire affair was going on and they became they began to issue in great numbers. So the indignities of these general warrants were fresh and new in the minds of Massachusetts. Um, so when
Holly published his letters and he he essentially justified the overthrow of parliamentary authority and he first contemplated the establishment of a legislature um with power that would be limited by a by fundamental laws incorporating
natural laws. In other words, by limited by a constitution. um and also for first brought up the concept of judicial review of legislation um which eventually became the fundamental concept that the courts ultimately determined the law. So that's
why it was like super important and I just now we're done with law school but I had to get but that's what put Holly on the map and um when you followed that story along his contemporaries were just in awe. This guy is brilliant. Um John
Adams in particular followed this avidly and at the end of it it uh determined that he has to meet Holly. He has to make his acquaintance. He'd been a lawyer for 15 years. Um he he finds out that Holly will be arguing
cases in Springfield in March of 78. Adam stops what he's doing and goes to Springfield to meet Holly and uh introduces himself to Holly and says, "Will you be my mentor? you're the first person I met that's smarter than
me and really um so uh which which you know which which he did and so when I found out that John and then when when when people were writing John Adams about their concerns about Elie's
insurrection in 172 um they John Adams replied I'm I'm not somebody's parked in the driveway right here You need to move your car. I am. Thanks. I'm sorry, Phil. I'm sorry. That's all right.
So, when when when um when John Adams wrote in response to people's concerns that I spent a whole winter in that area, in those towns, I've spent parts of two summers in that town. It was
really to be with Joseph Holly. Um I started to look at whether he had been to Conway. I'm the person that sort of proved that Samuel Adams came to Conway. Well, it because Joseph Holly was representing people from Conway at the time and um couldn't make
uh couldn't determine whether or not uh whether or not he was in Conway or not. But there's a couple of really good cases that that that uh that Holly had of people that would soon that if they weren't already in Conway, they would
would be in con in Conway in a few years. Timothy Childs uh was sued by Thomas Williams, the doctor from Deerfield. and uh for not paying his doctor's bill. Timothy Child's entire defense was the elixir and bolus on in
the patients in the plaintiff's account did me much harm and no good. Um so that's not much of a legal defense. He loves lost that case. Holly won it for Dr. Williams. Another case
was for Benjamin Leonard. Um, at around the same time, uh, Holly represented Benjamin Leonard. Leonard's wife had broken her leg. Um, and he engaged the student in the services of Mr. Cooper, who held himself out to be a bone fixer.
Uh, and, uh, he came over to Leonard's house, set the leg in splints, and poured rum over the leg for nine straight days. Um, needless to say, the leg did not get any better. Uh but it
did get better apparently on its own within a few months. But Benjamin left Leonard was so stressed out that his wife might lose her life um that he sued Cooper for the amount of 40. Uh his case was thrown out for the inability to
state a claim. So there was a couple of cases that I found uh going through the court records that Paulie represented Conway. Uh so um so we got to 1767 also ' 67 Conway the town of Conway was founded. Um also
Samuel Elely graduated from Yale himself. It was his second degree. 64 he graduated with a bachelor's degree. 67 he graduated with an ecclesiastical degree but he was retained by Summers Connecticut as their priest starting as their minister starting in ' 65.
Um when um Sam Adams met Joseph Hall, how did they get along? Um actually that that there I have a letter in the packet about that. Sam Adams also was really impressed with Holly. There is
um I think in the packet he asked him to be his mentor. I wonder I think it's like on page two or three the letter from Sam Adams to John Adams and Um what what happened right then is
um following the trajectory that Holly set out in the Birkshire affair letters, parliament uh the the state the legislature of the Massachusetts just declared that uh that
that uh it's the common law of England, a rule of common law of England that no countries but the ancient territorial realm which did not include the American colonies is constitutionally subject to the authority of England. So that was it
was a major step towards independence and it was just the the logical trajectory that Holly set out in the Birkshire affair. And the letter um from Sam Adams to John Adams is right after the royal governor publishes a long
letter saying that uh the house has incautiously applied the rule of the common law and that uh it's unsupportable under law. So Sam Adams is seeking guidance on strategy and he has this line that to tell you a secret if
there is a lawyer in the house of representatives in Major Holly's absence there's no one else whom I inclined to confide in. So um that's why I added that pretty highly. Yeah. and which is
you know again. So um you know and and the the next is so go to 1774 the um 1774 was this enormous year in in our history. It's when the royal governor Hutchson just
gets on a boat in the some middle of the summer goes back to England, leaves a general in charge, but it's basically waving the white flag. Um, and the uh uh we didn't really have a road map for what was going to come next.
Um, and but the we formed a a provincial congress. Um, they wanted Joseph Holly to be the head of it. He declined the the um one of the Holly had started advocating for the need for a continental congress for union of the
colonies and um he starts talking writing to John Adams a lot. The the the little bit that I included here is just Adams proposing some ideas about what to communicate to the Continental Congress. The delegation Massachusetts delegation to the Continental Congress um they
wanted Holly to leave it to lead it. Um Holly declined to even go and recommended John Adams go in his in hisstead. Um u so John Adams is writing uh has some ideas about what he should
communicate to the Continental Congress and I just like the way he closes his letter. He doesn't close letters like this to anybody else. But I beg your opinion as a very great favor. I I am with great esteem and regard your friend and serve. So, um, do you know why
Joseph Ali declined to go? So, uh, John Adams said that it was, uh, for fear of contracting smallox. Um, the, you know, and I'll get to this a little bit later on. Um, Joseph Holly
was afflicted during his life for huge periods of time um, with what his contemporaries call mild insanity. Um, we would call it clinical depression. Um, and and when episodes came out, he
was in his house, windows, curtains drawn for days, weeks, months, years on end. And um so but but uh but even once Continental Congress started every few months John
Adams was writing to Holly saying you would be so much better than this at this than I am. Um and and one of the letters that really fascinated me was John Adams trouble with the Southerners. um remarking how they're they're they're
they're more concerned with protecting their special category of property than they are with our liberty and independence. Um and the that uh you know that uh and he had great-au because they
felt that the Virginiaians were great, but the Carolinians, the Georgians, um many of their delegates were very quarrelome. Even after something would be decided and voted on, they would still just another bite of the apple, another bite of the apple, always bringing something. It was so hard to
get any business done because of their presence. and um he felt Holly would be better at dealing with those kinds of difficult personalities that he was. So um sorry, can I ask you a question? Sorry to backtrack a little bit, but both his father and his
grandmother took their lives. Yeah. Um so we get to 1777. um which is Samuel Samuel Elie by then he's living in Conway um and the battle of Bennington Bone's
coming down the the uh you know from from Canada the destination is Albany he's supposed to meet in a Pinsir movement how's supposed to bring his army up from New York City uh Barry St. regist supposed to come from west. They're supposed to all converge and
split the the rebellious heart of the the the revolution from the rest of the colonies. Um how does it leave New York? St. Regis doesn't make it very far. It's just Burggoyne. Burggoyne after what 800 miles in the wilderness, his supply
trains uh not in too good of a shape. He lo he's lost a whole lot of horses. the Hessian draons. They're only draons because they that means horse cow. Um they're out of horses. They hear
Bennington's got a whole lot of horses. Um so he sends General Bound with 2400 Hessins, British Indian allies uh to to Bennington towards Bennington. Um bad really bad weather.
um uh very very hot, very very rainy. And as he gets closer and closer to Bennington, there's more and more organized opposition. He stops about 5 miles outside of Bennington. We have the Battle of Bennington, which isn't in Bennington or Vermont. It's in New York.
Wasn't really fought by very many Vermonters at all. It was New Hampshire and Massachusetts. But um but uh but a and all of Conway, all of the the towns in this area, you know, uh the Hessins are coming, the Hessian are coming. They
drop what they're doing. They run there and the within a few days they went from just a couple thousand soldiers in the area to 12,000 whatever. They were vastly outnumbered in the heels. And um and Elely goes
there and uh Elely uh and I've never heard of this anywhere else. He was not he didn't own enough land to be part of the Massachusetts militia. Um he went there just as a
volunteer and he was after the battle he was court marshal even though he wasn't part of the army but he was court marshal um for plunder for retaining valuable plunder and um he defended himself in
the trial and the the court published a transcript um immediately after the August 19th battle Bennington. Um, M. So, I'm sorry, Mr. Samuel Elely, the the preacher who was in the two bloody battles of Bennington
behaved with the greatest honor, valiantry, and courage in both actions, did when desire, appear before the court inquiry, and make a handsome defense relative to the plunder he had taken. as he said what he had taken was at the point of the sword as a volunteer for his groaning bleeding country and he
further said he supported himself and lived upon his own money while in camp was at no charge to his country and the court being fully satisfied with what he did and what he says they dismissed the charge and citizens of Wilmington Vermont also published something in the
same newspaper New London Gazette we all know that General Stark said that if he had 5,000 such men as Mr. Samuel Elely. He would drive for going in his army to the devils to the devil. I heard that they were told that they could split
the the booty, but you didn't you haven't read that. Uh, you know, there was a bunch of different units right there. And so, and when when you go some of them were much more professional than others. And the British defense, the Hessen defense was very geographically
widespread over a few miles. The center of it was called, it's called Hessen Hill. Most of the Hessins were there, but there was a whole bunch of significant garrisons established at what they thought were strong points. Um, General Stark did a very complicated
envelopment uh plan which worked. Um but uh yeah so one of the thing so the and I'm talking about this because it when we get to Illy's insurrection which is
soon uh it's it's kind of it's hard to comprehend why all these old continental soldiers grizzled war veterans would really listen to the preacher at the courthouse steps telling them what to do. And this is why because he had the
he had the bonafides um the street cred and um and when when he is at the courthouse steps and one of the things that the contemporary the 19th century historians they ridiculed him. They said he wasn't a serious guy because he used
the phrase we shall pay no more attention to judges than we do puppies. And so he was ridiculed for that. Um, but it turns out that that is a specific term of meaning to the continental soldiers. That puppy was
their name for the British uh field light field artillery piece that could be towed by four guys. Um, because once when you saw the flash, you do you drove you dove to the ground. The ball was coming. But by the time you heard the
sound, there was no more danger. It had already passed you. So you never had to pay attention to the bark of the British field artillery piece. So the continental soldiers called them puppies. Um so he got a bad rap on all that.
Um yeah. Um so I skipped ahead of the broken hints letter which was the other thing that which is 7 1774. Um John Joseph Holly to John as John Adams was was going down to the
Continental Congress. He wrote this amazing letter that John Adams would declare to be his most valuable possession. He would not give it up for all of the treasures of Harvard. Um, and you know, I I I reproduced it in the
packet, but it is a road map for the attaining of independence. It was the earliest attempt to do anything like that. the editors of the John Adams paper um you know called it uh the earliest most perceptive and you
know most remarkably forthright recognition of what must be done to gain independence is there an original that exists of that play um there is but it it's yeah there is there you can get it you can view it in the John Adams digital papers
collection is this No, that's the letter. Um, it is it should be it should be said should say broken hints before that. Yeah. Um, it's on that page in the middle of
it. August 1774, broken hints letter. So, it it it's a recipe for how to do it. Uh, and he was thinking brand strategy that that if you're going to do independence, what exactly does that
mean? You you you What are your what? This is our red line. No direct British revenue attempts from the colonies. Um, no parliamentary authority over the colonies.
Um, that it's essential that we f if we if we go to war now, we'll lose. We're not ready. We all of us have to arm and train our soldiers. Um we have to guarantee a good a supply of gunpowder
cell musket etc. We have we need to hold off and get ready. Um and we need to unify his colonies. We need to start saying what the cause of one needs to be the cause of all. And he just goes through a laundry list of everything.
And so when John Adams gets to Congress, he's showing this letter around and Patrick Henry um the famous orator from Virginia. He shows Patrick Henry the and he shouts so loud the whole room shuts up and he
shouts, "By God, I am of the mind of this man." And then everybody crowds around. a letter gets passed around and this broken hints letter is the road map for American independence. Joseph Holly wrote it in
1774 and nobody knows anything about it. So, um, yeah. Um, so skip ahead to 1780, the Massachusetts
Constitution. Um, Conway didn't like the Constitution. Neither did most other towns. Joseph Holly didn't like the Constitution. Um and it especially as compared to the other constitutions that were being developed right then Pennsylvania's in
1779 written by Benjamin Franklin um was much more democratic than our there was no property requirements for voting. Um there was uh he made it explicitly illegal in that in the in the in in the article one of the first Pennsylvania
constitution for any person to have more money than they reasonably need to take care of their family. Every all surplus must be given to the community. Um he he forbid the wearing of jewelry as ostentatious and against the the concept
of our of our happy revolution. Um far more democratic than what we came up with, which was, you know, huge requirements of wealth to hold office, um, to vote. Uh, the tenants at Conway Town meeting plummets as soon as they
pass it. Um, and most importantly, the Continental Soldiers up from 1776 um, onwards, every Continental Soldier was just a flatout mercenary. the the spirit of 76 came and went. Um from that point
forward it was professional soldiers and they were almost uniformly paid in IUS and um they kept done with their service. They have scraps of paper that says the government will pay them back. The time for repayment comes and goes um
and it's stalled and stalled and there the government is broke. Um, the new Massachusetts legislature that comes into being in 1780 is composed of a guy named Len Richards, a professor at UMass, did great work on this is is
composed huge majority of it um by speculators, by people that were actively buying soldiers IUS 40 50 cents on the dollar, sometimes 10 cents on the dollar. they get into the legislature, they pass
laws um laying taxes on the citizenry for at for for the for the full face value of all those IUs. Um and it literally and
so the soldiers um the the people at in in Elie's instruction 782 were all continental soldiers and all of them had the same experience. um you know they they uh they
um you know and and right away right away they're writing letters. They're they're protesting um you know I've been forced to accept my army paying notes. Nobody will accept them at face value. Now I because my family has to eat I had to alienate them
at one quarter part of their original value. And now I'm being taxed to redeem the notes at full par value. Is that just? Threearters of my money is going to the man who was sauntered at home during the war, enjoying the smiles of fortune, wallowing in affluence and
fattening in the sunshine of ease and prosperity that I made possible. If these securities are to be made good, let the hearty soldier such as self who has withstood the vicissitudes of the war receive what is no more than in fact is due. But they
didn't do that. Um they had a bunch of different plans. They kind they introduced legislation to print paper money. It never went anywhere. Um uh and so we get to we and by the way
the con that constitution Conway go to null um the the initially it was they they started discussing it in October of 79. John Adams writes it. He submits it. 3 days later he's on a boat to France where he stays in France Holland in
England for the next 8 years. Um uh and the there was really Joseph Paulie had this great relationship with John Adams. Nobody else nobody else really was listening to him. He was he objected
to their failure to use the word free man in everything like Pennsylvania had done there. He saw it as correctly protect trying to protect the institution of slavery even though the preamble that John Adams wrote that all men are created equal would eventually be used by the highest court in
Massachusetts in 83 to outlaw slavery. But um the the uh um the but and and what happened is right after that that first meeting where all the delegates from the state
from the towns where 400 were were there. Um they the the the convention decides it needs a lot more work. The delegates go home and then we have the worst what may have been the worst history the worst winter in the history of New England. Um the only winter that
New York Harbor froze solid um Boston Harbor froze solid. You couldn't get to Boston um from here from Western Mass. So they took advantage of that to start meeting again in February when only 30ome towns were present out of the
300 towns in Massachusetts. And Samuel Adams as the clerk of that convention manufactured ways to turn previous no votes into yes votes. Um and Um that's basically how we have a state constitution now. It's pretty much still
the one that we have and it was obtained by the uh you know even the proponents of it felt that it was a noble effort obtained by ignoble ignoble means. M so um but
uh yeah and at so so the the elections of 1780 Holly you didn't you didn't run for office then you were just elected it was bad form to even declare yourself interested or a candidate um Holly is elected senate uh to the state senate he
refuses his senate seat he wrote this marvelous letter a 20page letter the originals at Forbes um setting forth all of his objections to it. Um, but the protest and the the problems about that constitution led directly to
the elite insurrection. So, um, and basically the soldiers complaints never really stopped. They just intensified. Um, they they get to it gets to the point where they're starting to have county conventions. All the towns are meeting. All the towns are meeting in
especially in so Hampshire County, we are part of Hampshire. Hampshire County at the time before Birkshire County was set up in 1761. Hampshire County was what is now Hampton, Hampshire, Franklin, and Birkshire. Um so from the
Connecticut straight line to state line to New Hampshire, Vermont state line and to the New York. Um and so big big big area. Um so they're having these county conventions. They're writing as a group petitions to
the general court, the legislature saying, you know, don't we need relief. This it's not it's not doable. FE February 4 and we're we're Conway is at town at the town meetings that are occurring every couple of weeks. um
nominates Samuel Elely and Abel Dinsour and a couple others to repeatedly represent them at these county conventions. The one in February, Elely is arrested um after demanding that the convention votes to close the courts. Um and uh
he's arrested for treasonable practices. The judge handling the case is Joseph Holly. Um and Joseph Holly um decides that the offense is not
serious enough to warrant the charge treatment and he dismisses the case. Um March 29th, April April, there's uh yeah, there there's additional
um additional county conventions. April, they start to gather. Large amounts of soldiers start to gather in front of the northampton courthouse. April 11th, the Conway Town mob Conway
Town meeting votes um everybody present to to adjourn the meeting and immediately reassemble on the steps of the courthouse in Northampton. Um 48 people signed it. I have the list of everybody If you think
you might be related to them, I have a lot of information. The the uh uh uh pro protests are going are going I'm kind of I've done other talks on these insurrection. They it was a major major
deal. War almost broke out. um the militi militia that were that was called out by the government routinely switched over to the to the mob. Uh uh and they had to call out
continental s line soldiers from the continental army. Um and uh there were several days es uh especially once it got to June um where 1500 men uh in arms with artillery pieces are in front of
the Northampton quarters uh lively set to u severe injuries um uh and uh and Elie is u after they did get into the courthouse did disturb the report.
Ele was in first arrested for sedition. Sounds a little familiar to the January 6th people. Um um he was convicted on May 6th. Um were where as many as 3,000
people were there to try to rescue him. uh strong amount strong number of continental army field artillery calvary the whole thing kept him uh in in irons. They took him down to Springfield, much bigger, much much easier jail, uh much
safer jail, bigger, further away from the seat of the rebellion, which numerous authors located as conduct. Um June 12th, and I have this in uh in the packet. I I love
um I'm sorry, July June June 12th. Yeah. June June 12th. So, I love this because it is an actual eyewitness account of the breaking of Samuel Elie out of jail. And it's just when you go when you do this kind of work and you spend all this time in
libraries, you rarely get like a really good eyewitness account, a participant in it that writes neutrally. Um, and uh, in this case, this Daniel Steins, a good Deerfield boy, probably 16, 17 years old
at the time of this. He's writing this when he's in his 70s. Um, reminisces in the Franklin Gazette. Um, and you know, he just talks about how uh, liberators, as they called themselves, they crossed the upper ferry, they halted as they entered the
main street. They examined their musketss to be certain that all was in order. They made towards the jail too deep when they found Captain Thomas Dwight who had collected a small company of boys, youth law students, clerks parading single file with shouldered musketss on the opposite side of the
street in front of the jail. Still as mice, leaving ample space for the liberators who scarcely dame to notice the feather bed collection under the command of Captain Dwight. A few sturdy liberators dismounted and with axes in hand rushed into the jail house without opposition or even a question. Why do
you do so? They hastened to the narrow passage which led to the jail door against which the axes were hurled in rapid succession. The massive oak and iron bolted doors gave way and the walls resounded with Elie, you are free. Um with joyful acclamation, Elie
rushes into the arms of his deliverers. He springs for the street door, gives a few hearty shakes of the hand, mounts a spare horse, is presented with a large wooden bottle drawn from the saddle bag, and in true farmer style, drew forth the
cobtopple, wiped the bum hole with, and I never heard the term bung hole. You that except for uh what was the cartoon? Uh beus and bunn used to say they used to say bum. So the bung wiped the bung hole with the palm of his hand and took a delicious swig of something which
appeared palatable. The presumption is that it was something alcoholic. When parson Illy had taken quantum sufficit. You're the Latin expert Lord. Quantum sufficit. How do you spell
sufficient quantity? Yeah. Of the good elixir the command was given. All ready. Then right about face. Then march. And off they rode northward to the places from whence they became. That's just I love that. Sorry. Um um um but that's really when the
insurrection really began because the covenant army's troops they tried to intercept him as he came to Conway and for four straight days. Um so during this time Holly is writing dispatches every few days to the Boston governor letting
him knows what's going on. He's completely freaked out. Um they think war is going to break out. They think the revolution might be over. Um that we might have to you Britain might decide to keep fighting. Um and uh you know so
so and the the governor responds by first thing of course suspends the right of habius corpus. Uh so you can't petition the government for wrongs. Second thing is he declares a bounty on the head of three active duty
continental soldiers. Um, two of whom were from Conway. Uh, Captain Abel Dinsour, Lieutenant Perez Barwell. The third, Lieutenant Paul King's brother, John King, is buried in Conway. Um,
um, and uh, Colonel Porter, the high sheriff, was the commanding officer of the Massachusetts line. Just a couple years before that, Abel Dinsmore was his captain. Perez Barbo as his lieutenant.
Um so and that was after George Washington segregated the lodging and the eating rec the eats and sleeps of officers from enlisted men. So you were in you you you were with your fellow officers exclusively the whole time. Um
so they would have known each other really well. Um and uh and now they're each leading 1,00500 2,000 armed men. Um and the position of the government a
porter is um give us Elie. Um they said no. Uh and the and whether or not Porter broke the faith broker during a parley Porter had
Barswell, Dinsmore, and King seized and placed in jail and said, "You can't get out until you get us." um that caused uh the riots to intensify, the fight, hand to hand fighting to intensify. Nobody ended up getting killed, but there are a
lot of serious injuries. Uh and um uh and along comes Ruben Dickinson with a thousand men from Amherst held. And Ruben Dickinson would be very active in Shayes as well. So so was Dave. was
born. But the uh uh Dickinson's brother was Nathaniel Dickinson, the great greatgrandfather of the poet that we all like. What was the principle that the folks were all disagreeing with each other on?
So the principle was uh can you redress your grievances through protest or must grievances re be redressed through the ballot box? Um and you know but and the the actual
arguments were the same as what you hear now. You hear you know uh you know you hear now people protesting people saying well if you don't like this country just leave it. Um it was the same exact thing then that you know that and they were saying well why is it why there is why
is why is your perception so black and white why why can't we just have modifications to our constitution why can't we have alterations to the law to make the laws more equitable um and so it's it was really the same arguments
that go on now u the so was representing the you have a right to protest. Yeah. That that and that you've ignored us for so long. What else? This what else are we going to do? You keep saying you're going to do something.
It's been 2 years. There's nothing done. We're broke. We're starving. They just had a court session where 240 cases. 239 of them were for debt. 238 of them were for continental soldiers in debt. Um all because their IUs were worthless. They
were paid nothing. and they're getting taxed to repay to speculators 100% at face value is nuts. Um, of course they're going to riot. We're lucky to have made it out of that situation, honestly. Um, and Holly is one of the
reasons why we did because um, and I Holly wrote five or six letters to the governor. I included the last letter that he wrote, June 24th, in the packet because it ended up being really the last letter that he wrote to the government of the state of Massachusetts
in his life. Um, but and and it's because he had heard that Boston, Sam Adams in particular, wanted to was make sending emissaries to George Washington to say, "Can you send your whole army out? Conquer Western Mass. You know,
teach them a lesson. We can't have this." Um, and so Holly was really freaked out that that a they wouldn't submit that that the the old soldiers in Western would not submit and we would
have a flatout war. Um, and um and and B that doesn't know if America can survive it. And so he he urges that a committee the of the wisest, most sensible, most
patient legislators come out to Western Mass and um and explain to the people why what their taxes are being used for, why it's why the difficulties exist that that that that are current. And um so in
as soon as you know and so I included that 20 that June 24th letter in the packet um and first of all it reveals that Paulie knows Abel Dinsmore um from Con. Second of all, um
um it, you know, it it shows that um you know, he's talking about how many of the people in the the proportion is two he he he says he knows that the proportion is twothirds of the people in all these towns that are in favor of the protesters and uh we'll fight the
government. um and um you know and and that that he agrees with them that they're that their grievances are correct, you know, that that they're valid, that you can't just respond to it with brute force. It's not
going to work. Um so, um and he declares that the people of the highlands of this country are I'm going to mangle this. You can help me out. Furbum genus
hominum. So um Barb the proprietor of the econ in a great she answers all the Latin questions in Jeopardy right she she says that that means seething mad group of people. So I thought that that should be the slo the slogan or
conway but say it again please fervidom genus homonym but what does it mean again? Seething mad group of people. Yeah, I like that too. So, so he's he's saying send a
committee out, go to all the towns, deal deal with this by talking to them. You know, we because what happened was they couldn't after a few days they could Elie took off and um uh Dickinson, Lieutenant Dick with all the Ammeris men
was persuaded to go into the jail and interview and and they they were treating Dinsmore and his companions well. Um, Porter went in there, agreed to release everybody. Everybody pretty much went home. Um, and it things
settled down enough to send the committee out. And that's where, um, that's where Samuel Adams comes to Conway. So, I included the original letter that he wrote while in Conway. Is Holly Mass named after Holly? It is.
So are many, many Holly streets, many Holly elementary schools. Um yeah. Um so the the letter that that he wrote here, so the committee that they sent out was Samuel Adams, Nathaniel Gorum, Ardum Ford. Um
three of the most well-known uh legislators in the town. And there was one Nathaniel Gorm. He was a speculator. He refused to serve in the army. uh men his mentor was Elbert Jerry but
during the eight there's a quote from him that I love I got to give it uh 1788 during the debate over the US constitution um he made an argument [Applause]
um yeah um so he made an argument when he So he he was observing that the constitution did not forbid a permanent standing federal army which means that we were going to you know generals can't general without an army. So we that we
were going to have a permanent standing army in the United States. He was opposed to that. So he made the argument that the establishment of a permanent standing i.e. erect army is the same as a standing or erect
penis which is never a recipe for legislative success but uh um so but but he said because it's an excellent assurance of domestic tranquility but a dangerous temptation of foreign adventure. So yeah, um that's not anymore. But um he was a land
speculator. Um yeah, he uh he would end up going broke from buying way too much land that he didn't really have money to pay. Where was that quote from? That quote is from Samuel Morrison, Oxford History of
the American People, Volume 1, page 398. [Applause] Um, who said? Nathaniel Gorum. G O R H A. The uh so Artemis Ward was a general uh
early on from 75 on in the Continental Army. Lawyer, judge. um became very close to General George Washington uh when when he came through
Northampton, he was left dismayed by the heckling that greeted him because they came from Boston in a fancy new coach and somebody somebody yelled out, "Solders blood makes great varnish. Uh but they come to Conway uh and uh and
we wouldn't they chair the town meeting and we wouldn't talk to them. We knew that they were there to find identify the ring leaders, try to find someone responsible and maybe throw them in jail. So we told them we would only talk to them in a county convention. So the letter is him actually writing to
Ashefield saying u Conway will only talk confer with us in a county convention and we have no objection uh to to tarrying in the county for a week or so for that purpose. So um he was such a
politician it really wasn't true. Um he very much had an objection. So I uh he wrote to I included a a letter from a page from his bio from his early biography where it see it coates like
all the letters to Sam Adams that he's writing and at the time and he's writing that he's being made to go to one of these pestilential county conventions uh and that um that the religious and
political settlement that we made in the in our constitution of 1780 is not democratic enough in the opinions of these geniuses from western mass. Um so yeah says one thing to your face and another thing to typical
typical um so um and then uh the oops as for Samuel Elely um he scadaddles out from chair porter brisk goes straight to
Vermont Vermont in July just declared itself of 172 justified himself to be an independent republic. It's lasted 6 years. Um Samuel Elely immediately parks himself in the Wilmington town green and starts loudly protesting the Vermont
government saying the new act that you the first act that they did was to tax people. The new act taxing farmers directly for their land is a damnable act. Uh you know I have a I have a constitution in my pocket. He waves the Bible. It's better than the one you had,
etc., sex. So they arrest him. They charge him um they charge him with impious conduct. Um and they have their very first criminal trial in Vermont, September 1782 in the Republic of
Vermont. He's convicted. He's sentenced to be banished. They take him to the border with Massachusetts. Guess who's wait guess who's waiting for him? Sheriff Porter. Sheriff Porter conveys him directly to the Boston jail um far beyond the reach
of his friends in Western Mass. Um and uh in in March he petitions the governor Hancock for his release. It could it I included this in because his petition gives an idea of his fluid use of
language you know um I am alive and that is all as I am full of boils and putrified soores all over my body they make me stink alive besides having some of my feet froze makes it difficult to walk um you know
PS I am so raw that I have not been able to wear any breaches for above a month just Um um and they say, you know, if you can find someone to post the bond of £1,000, which uh we'll let you out and they did.
His brother Abner was a wealthy merchant. He pretended to be from a great wealthy family in uh Lime Connecticut. Um and they posted the bond. Um and then so the sort of the last pages, the last that we hear. So Samuel Lee continues to protest. He he
released from jail. He goes up to Maine. He protested against the owner of almost all the land in Maine which was the former general Henry Knox. Uh his wife Lucy Knox inherited the Waldo patent the largest single uh royal land holding in
all the colonies. Um is that the Knox that was from uh the Revolutionary War that brought through? Exactly. Exactly. and and uh and people were just going out there and settling, building houses, no no surveys, no deed on. And um Knox
gets a hold of it and decides to send all these agents out to make people pay for their land. Wasn't going well. It was a lot of Samuel Adam Samuel Elie was right in the middle of all that. Um we get all the way up to 179697. Knox gets a warrant for Samuel
Elie's arrest again. Um uh Elie is warned by a friendly local sheriff. Elie flees westward. Um and uh but before he does, he submits a petition to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. And just the title um I love last
petition of an innocent man, a plaintiff worm involved in one continual round of distress, miseries, and torture. or a man persecuted in the bowels of a free republic by a systematic ponta of luxurious sons, patenty land jobs and
voluuptuous jad had away with a pen. So, um, but that's that's the last we heard him. Can No, I could not. There's all these biographies that say he died long before 1797, but he did. He
submitted a petition to um so where he ended up, nobody knows. I don't know. I I really spent a lot of time trying to find out. Um, did you find out west? Is that what he said? Well, the relative of his founded the town of Elely,
Minnesota, which is the biggest port on Lake Superior, the big iron port. Um, Joseph Holly, I included something in the in the packet. Um, because Joseph Holly, see, he abs he
would absent himself regularly. 1776 to 1780 shut in shows up two more years 80 to 82 and then 82 to 88 shortly before he died in 88 he writes a long broadside against the US Constitution. Um and then
he passes away with his wife Mercy taking care of him in the dark curtains drawn. Um, so he he writes he writes uh in and this was just found 30 or 40 years ago in at a book sale. Um he owned
a copy of Cicero's orations in Latin and somebody bought it and they found in the margin um uh he he he said I am lost as to all matters which are deemed matters of judgment, my memory extremely broken, embarrassed about religion, all courage, spirit,
motive or spring of action or whatsoever it was which formerly animated me and which now keep the world alive and in motion absolutely extinguished. Oh, pideous case. No more prospect of being restored to my former state of enjoyment, capacity for business, and
other action than when a limb of the body is amputated that another will grow out in itstead. So, that's his description of his own mental health. To me, that's clinical depression. I'm not a doctor. Um but uh but that's so and
and to me it's you know when I was down in New York a few weeks ago visiting my son I saw graffiti on the side of a building large piece of graffiti and it said um America why do you always forget about your broken people just thought
you know that might answer the question about why we've forgotten about Joseph Holly. Um so that's my closing thought. Uh, and I just think the guy deserves to be remembered. He really does. He was a giant. His his colleagues, his his
contemporaries thought he was the man. Um, and nothing people in Northampton don't know about him. He left every penny to the city of Northampton um to build schools. There's a North There's a Holy Elementary School. People there don't
know about Joseph Holly. Um, so it's just stunning. So that's on a mission to let people know about this policy. [Applause]