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Luke Knowlton (November 4, 1738 – December 12, 1810) was a political leader of colonial Vermont, the Vermont Republic, and the state of Vermont. He served as a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, a member of the Governor’s Council, and a member of the Vermont House of Representatives. ==Biography== Knowlton was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts on November 4, 1738, the son of Deacon Ezekiel Knowlton (1707-1774) and Susannah Morgan Knowlton (1708-1794). He was educated locally and became a farmer. Knowlton served in the French and Indian War as a private in a Massachusetts militia regiment, and performed duty at Fort Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga in New York, and Fort Number 4 in New Hampshire. In 1772 his family relocated to Newfane, Vermont, a new settlement which at the time contained fewer than 20 families, and he was soon appointed a justice of the peace. He was chosen as Newfane's first town clerk when the town was organized in 1774, and he served from 1774 to 1783, and again from 1784 to 1789. Knowlton had been a Loyalist in the years leading up to the American Revolution, and had received from the British government a land grant in Sherbrooke, Quebec, but upon moving to Vermont he aligned himself with the Patriot cause. In 1782 Knowlton was accused of Loyalist sympathies, and moved to Canada to avoid arrest, returning to Newfane a year later. In 1784 he was again accused of harboring British sympathies, and was taken from his home by force. He was released in Massachusetts, and returned to Newfane just as a detachment of militia led by Stephen R. Bradley was preparing to pursue his abductors and free him. During Vermont's early years, the colonial governments of New Hampshire and New York disputed jurisdiction over Vermont, including the right to sell land grants. Vermont formed its own government, which recognized land titles previously purchased from New Hampshire. After the Revolution, Vermont's independent government worked to obtain statehood, while New York attempted to exert control over Vermont. Knowlton was sent to the Congress of the Confederation as an emissary of Vermont residents who held New York land grants, but became a convert to the cause of Vermont statehood. As a condition of Vermont's entry into the Union in 1791, Vermont paid New York $30,000 to settle claims by holders of land grants purchased from New York, and Knowlton received approximately $250 as compensation for the New York title to his Newfane land. Knowlton served in the Vermont House of Representatives in 1784, 1785, 1788, 1789, 1792, 1805, and 1806, and was a member of Vermont's Governor's Council from 1789 to 1800. In 1786 Knowlton was appointed a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, but his position was eliminated later that year when the size of the court was reduced. He served as Judge of the Windham County Court from 1787 to 1793. In 1786 Knowlton was one of the recipients of the charter for the town of Danville. In 1791 Knowlton received from Vermont's government a 10,000 acre land grant (Knowlton's Gore) in Franklin County, which he later sold to Joseph Baker, who founded the town of Bakersfield. He continued to reside in Newfane until his death on December 12, 1810. He was buried at Newfane Hill Cemetery in Newfane. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Luke Knowlton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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