Westminster Massacre 250th Anniversary – Westminster Historical Society

250th Anniversary Commemoration of the Westminster Massacre, March 13-15, 2025

Update, March 20, 2025. Fact8 Community Television has posted three videos of the Westminster Massacre Commemoration:
– Day 1 – (27 minutes).
– Day 2 – (48 minutes).
– Day 3 – (23 minutes).
Update, March 16, 2025. Our unusual, three-day commemoration of the 1775 Westminster Massacre was well attended and appreciated. People were patient as a tiny historical society did their best at what historical societies should do.
Approximate attendance:
65 on Thursday, the anniversary of the woodpile staves and the shooting;
62 on Friday, the peaceful retaking of the Courthouse;
40 on Saturday, the big funeral of William French.
We had a dozen descendants of participants from as far as Pennsylvania.

See the Brattleboro Reformer’s video of our March 13, 2025 commemoration of the Westminster Massacre. About 65 people retraced the 3/4-mile walk to the Westminster Courthouse site as we remembered the fateful events of 250 years ago.

Our Special Spring 2025 “Massacre” edition of the Westminster Historical Society’s Post-boy newsletter has everything you wanted to know about the “Westminster Massacre” and then some!

The Westminster (VT) Historical Society presented three events to commemorate the 1775 “Westminster Massacre” and the drama of March 13, 14, and 15, now 250 years ago. Each was at the appropriate time of day.

Thursday March 13. Historic ¾-mile walk from Capt. Azariah Wright’s house site to the Courthouse site. Visitors should arrive 3:30-3:45 at the Wright house site, (4585 US Rte 5 by Sand Hill Rd). Convenient parking is limited. You can park in Westminster Village and catch a van ride to the start of the walk. At the Courthouse marker, Jessie Haas, WHS president and award-winning author, will recall that tragic day when 21-year-old William French was needlessly killed.

Friday, March 14. The WHS Museum in the Town Hall, 3651 U.S. Route 5, opens at 3:00. At 4:00, we’ll have the speaking event by the Courthouse marker on Shattuck Road. Laura Trieschmann from the “Vermont 250^th Anniversary Commission” will speak. Ray Boas of the Walpole Historical Society will tell about Col. Bellows and the key role of the Walpole Militia that day when British control was ousted from the region. Afterwards, the WHS Museum is open with refreshments.

Saturday, March 15. The day of William French’s well-attended burial. The WHS Museum will open at 6:00. The candlelight vigil by his monument in the Cemetery starts at 7:00, dusk (candles provided).

Introduction by Jessie Haas.
Letter from U.S. Rep. Becca Balint.
Westminster Representative Michelle Bos-Lun speaks.
Description of William French’s burial.
His epitaph and moment of silence.
Back to museum for reception. Refreshments available. A good time to learn more.

If you are a descendant of a Massacre participant, please be sure to sign the Descendant Guestbook and list your ancestor.

Documents and images related to the Courthouse and Westminster Massacre

History of Eastern Vermont by Benjamin H. Hall, 1858, with many details about early Westminster, including the Massacre. This is a cleaned up version the Google Books PDF.
- The acknowledgements of William C. Bradley and Larkin Mead, Jr. are on page vii of the Preface.
- The Westminster (Cumberland County) Courthouse image with details of its construction are on page 185;
- The Westminster Massacre is all of Chapter IX on page 209.
- Appendix I (letter I) on page 746 lists B. Hall’s sources for the Westminster Massacre.
- Ira Allen’s quote, “O! Horrid scene!” is on page 750 as part of Miscellaneous Remarks on the Proceedings of New York State against the State of Vermont, &c., 1777
The Colonial Magazine (Nov. 1895) article, “Lexington and Concord,” with various “firsts” of the American Revolution starting with the Battle of Golden Hill. It’s the lead article of that issue and found on page 123 of the bound volume on Google Books. On page 124, it is noted that the “Westminster Massacre” has also been called “the first blood of the momentous conflict that gave birth to a nation.”
Original authorization for the construction of the Westminster Courthouse, signed by the three supervisors as described on page 183 of Hall’s History of Eastern Vermont.
Article about Courthouse marker dedication, Windham County Reformer, Sept.19, 1902, front page, lead article.
“Historic Westminster” article from the March 14, 1895 Bellows Falls Times. It mentions that the Courthouse chimney foundation was still visible.
On Historic Ground, 1902 marker dedication souvenir pamphlet with complete program and lengthy speech by Alfred S. Hall. 35 pages. Available on Google Books.