Sunday November 17, 2019
2:00 pm
Free and open to the public

On Sunday, November 17 at 2:00 pm, Bennington Historical Society presents Shays’ Settlement in Vermont: A story of Revolt and Archaeology. 

In 1786 farmers in Western Massachusetts protested against the collection procedures for taxes and debts by the State Government. Their aim was a peaceful rebellion forcing the courts to close. Mostly farmers , many of whom fought in the Revolutionary War, they faced imprisonment or confiscation of their land if they could not pay the steadily rising taxes. Led by Daniel Shays, a veteran of Bunker Hill among other battles, these protesters were called Shayites or Regulators. In 1797. A force of 1500 Shayites attempted to take over the Federal Armory in Springfield, MA. Defeated many were taken prisoner or were killed. A few , including Shays, escaped to Vermont. Where they sort protection from Sheriff Galusha of Shaftesbury. He refused and they moved on to Sandgate, a wilderness, where they established a settlement close to the New York border.

A local rumor for years the settlement was rediscovered in 1997 and under study since 2013. Stephen Butz, teacher of Archaeology, Earth and Environmental Science at Cambridge Central School, leads students every year at the dig. He will talk about the archaeological investigation, and the influence Shays had on American Law. Maybe he knows if Shays and his followers actually hid out in Everett’s Cave on Mount Anthony.

All Historical Society programs are free and open to the public.