Jonas Galusha (February 11, 1753September 24, 1834) was the sixth and eighth

governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

for two terms in the early 19th century.

Biography

Galusha, born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

in the

Colony of Connecticut The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

, moved with his siblings and his parents, Jacob and Lydia Huntington Galusha, to

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

in 1769. In 1775, his family then moved to Shaftsbury. Galusha's father, Jacob, was a farmer and a blacksmith. Though their educations were limited and from the common schools, he and his brothers were leading men in the town and to some extent in the state. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

his brother David was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in the

Green Mountain Boys The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which late ...

, and Galusha was a captain, fighting in the

Battle of Bennington The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, part of the Saratoga campaign, that took place on August 16, 1777, on a farm owned by John Green in Walloomsac, New York, about from its namesake, Bennington, Vermont. A r ...

on August 16, 1777. In 1778, Galusha married Mary Chittenden, daughter of

Thomas Chittenden Thomas Chittenden (January 6, 1730August 25, 1797) was an American politician from Vermont, who was a leader of the territory for nearly two decades. Chittenden was the first and third governor of the state of Vermont, serving from 1778 to 1789 ...

, Governor of the independent

Republic of Vermont The Vermont Republic (French: ''République du Vermont''), officially known at the time as the State of Vermont (French: ''État du Vermont''), was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The s ...

. The couple had nine children. Their son, Truman Galusha (The Truman Galusha House), also married into the Chittenden family, and moved his family to Jericho, VT, near Burlington. His home there is also listed on the National Register. Another son,

Elon Galusha Elon Galusha (June 18, 1790 – January 6, 1856) was a lawyer and Baptist preacher who was active in reform activities of the early 19th century in New York. He was the son of Jonas Galusha, the 6th and 8th governor of Vermont Vermont () ...

was a well-known Baptist clergyman, and famous abolitionist.

Career

A farmer and an innkeeper, Galusha was elected Sheriff of

Bennington County Bennington County is a county in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,347. The shire towns (county seats) are jointly Bennington ("The Southshire") and Manchester ("The Northshire"), and the largest municipal ...

, and served in that capacity through annual elections from 1781 to 1787. In 1792 he was a member of the first

Council of Censors A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

after admission to the Union. (The Council of Censors met every seven years to review statutes passed by the

Vermont General Assembly The Vermont General Assembly is the legislative body of the state of Vermont, in the United States. The Legislature is formally known as the "General Assembly," but the style of "Legislature" is commonly used, including by the body itself. The G ...

and ensure their constitutionality.) From 1793 to 1798 through successive elections, he was a member of the Governor's Council (a group of 12 men with powers which made it nearly equivalent to a co-ordinate branch of the legislature. During that time, his wife, Mary, died in 1794; and he subsequently married Martha "Patty" Sammons, who died in 1797. His third wife was Abigail Ward, who died in 1809. Galusha was a county Assistant Judge from 1795 to 1798, and Judge from 1800 to 1806. He was a Judge of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The Court ...

in 1807 and in 1808. He married Abigail Ward in June 1808 and she died the following year. In 1808, he served as a presidential elector for the

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

candidacy of

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

. The following year, Galusha was elected

Governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

, serving until 1813. He was both the predecessor and the successor of the Federalist Martin Chittenden, brother of Galusha's first wife, Mary Chittenden. During his governorship, he encouraged war with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1812. In 1814 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Galusha served another term as

, elected year by year from 1815 to 1820. He was a presidential elector in the 1820 and 1824 elections. Jonas Galusha was the namesake of Galusha Aaron Grow, a Congressman from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Grow's aunt, who resided in Vermont, was asked to choose his name at his birth, and she selected "Galusha" because she admired Jonas Galusha, and "Aaron" because it was the name of her husband.

Death

Galusha's fourth wife, Abigail "Nabby" Atwater Beach Galusha died in 1831. He died in Shaftsbury in 1834. He was active in the Baptist Church. He is interred at the Center Shaftsbury Cemetery, Shaftsbury, Center Shaftsbury, Bennington County, Vermont.

The Gov. Galusha Homestead

The imposing home known as The Gov. Galusha Homestead on Rt.7A in Center Shaftsbury, Vermont, is famous as one of Vermont's architectural treasures. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The magnificent Palladian window over the front entrance, and many other details are the result of design by Lavius Fillmore, the famous colonial architect from Connecticut who also designed some of Vermont's finest churches in Bennington and Middlebury. The house is also well known for several beautifully-preserved early wall paintings, rare examples of the colonial practice of using murals to imitate wallpaper, which was often unavailable in early Vermont. They are featured in a book called ''Early Vermont Wall Paintings'' by R. L. McGrath: In 2010, the homestead and its farmland were protected by covenants between Galusha descendants and the Vermont Land Trust.

References

External links

Jonas Galusha: A Memoir
by Pliny H. White (1866)
Vermont Historical Society
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Galusha, Jonas Governors of Vermont Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court 1753 births 1834 deaths People from Shaftsbury, Vermont Vermont militiamen in the American Revolution Vermont Democratic-Republicans Vermont state court judges Vermont sheriffs Burials in Vermont Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States Chittenden family 18th-century American politicians 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges