Clinton County Historical Association
Much has been written about William Gilliland, the pioneer settler of Willsborough, who was born in Ireland in 1734, migrated to America in 1754, then worked in a New York mercantile house from then until c1760. One historian wrote Will joined the British army in 1754 and was discharged at Philadelphia in 1758. However, four other men in the colonies were concurrently named William Gilliland, was it a case of mistaken identity?
In 1759, Will married young Elizabeth Phagan, an orphan with some inheritance. He shortly had a store of his own selling goods from Ireland and England and became quite successful, but still dreamt of purchasing property in northern New York. In 1763 he travelled north to visit Sir William Johnson, who was in charge of where eligible war veterans could obtain lands, then Will continued on north to scout the area.
Back home, Will located veterans, not interested in property, who would be willing to allow him to act as their agent to obtain a parcel. Once done, they would, for a small fee, transfer it to him. In that manner, Will amassed about 50,000 acres on Lake Champlain. Will had apparently never sought a parcel in his own name, perhaps he had not been in the army.
Will sold his New York holdings in early 1765, advertised for tenants to travel with him, hired craftsmen, obtained supplies and stock and arranged transportation. Leaving family behind, he relocated north to found a settlement at the falls of the Bouquet River he named Milltown, a small part of the much larger area of Willsborough.
In the summer of 1766, Will returned to New York for his family and returned north with them. An accident on the Hudson River overturned one of his boats and tragically, his eldest daughter perished. He and Elizabeth had four more children but the difficult birth of a sixth resulted in her death at 31. Unable to handle a young family, Will sent his older children to Montreal c1772. Before their eventual return to family, his oldest daughters had spent four years at a convent and son with friends for eleven years.
At the 1775 start of the Revolution there were about 40 families in Willsborough, two at the Salmon River, one at the Saranac and two near the Chazy. These were the roughly 100 New York citizens north of Fort Ticonderoga. During 1765 to 1775, necessary trading had largely been conducted with fellow British citizens, four hours north, toward Montreal at a 6,000-person market as opposed to south to Ticonderoga, a market of a few hundred.
1775 was a tumultuous year for Gilliland. Will had mediated the argument between Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen over who would lead the attack on Fort Ticonderoga, with Arnold signed a Declaration of Principals, had a bounty placed on him of 500 pounds by the Governor of Canada, formed a militia in Willsborough, avoided a sheriff attempting to capture him for the bounty, and at a Town meeting gave men an equal vote. Many of these acts should have established his loyalty to rebellion and democracy.
By June 1776, the Canadian invasion had ended in failure and the Champlain Valley had started to empty of settlers. Those remaining were soon aware of ship building by the British at Fort St John and American building at Skeensborough. Settlers told Ticonderoga officials of British efforts while others told the British of American efforts. Early 1776 allegiances were roughly split 60% Loyalists versus 40% for separation.
Later in 1776, some of Arnold’s fleet raided Gilliland’s properties taking away crops, food stuffs and anything of use. He was incensed and wrote Arnold asking for justice but received no reply. He then sent an angry letter to General Gates at Ticonderoga. Upon hearing of that Arnold labelled Gilliland a traitor. After the October Battle of Valcour Gilliland and his family were sent south and the last of the settlers left the Valley.
Arnold’s label of Will as a traitor made it impossible for him to be trusted by patriots. It was ironic, that after having accused Will, Arnold himself became a traitor in 1780 and almost delivered the American fortress at West Point to the British.
Once the Revolution ended in 1783, Will returned to visit his lands in the summer of 1784 and found utter devastation. Both sides had burned any buildings left untouched by the other, left fields to return to nature, and taken all his mill and farm equipment.
After eight years in Albany, without much income, Will’s finances were in shambles. He spent considerable time attempting to pay off his debts and in recovering monies owed him. But, questions of his patriotism were to last for the rest of his life, may have influenced court decisions, his ability
to get repaid for monies owed and made other’s more willing to take his lands rather than purchase.
Wisely, Will had transferred significant lands to his children and to relatives, but his debts had become so vast he was sentenced to debtors prison in New York City from 1786 to 1791. By the 1790’s, his children had become of age, daughters married, and they and his son were able to assist in business.
After release, Will had slowly become confused and was said to begin to wander about his old properties still acting as the lord of the manor. In the winter of 1793, he travelled across the lake ice to visit his Vermont friend, Platt Rogers. On his way home, he got lost in a snow storm and perished on the side of a mountain ,where his family found his body the next day.
Thus ended the life of one of the north country’s most meaningful citizens, pioneer settler, frontier dreamer, and patriot whose wealth, reputation and property suffered immeasurably during the American Revolution.
-This month’s Clinton County Historical Assocation Heritage Corner column was written by David C. Glenn
