Cheer, Cheer for the Green Mountaineer

As we celebrate this summer the 250th anniversary of our nation, it is only fitting that we also honor the memory and accomplishments of Vermont’s own fighting militia — the Green Mountain Boys.

The Green Mountain Boys were originally organized to protect the property rights of settlers holding New Hampshire land grants against competing claims from New York. When those disputes turned bitter, the Boys defended what they believed was rightfully theirs with a determination that sometimes meant driving settlers from disputed lands, confiscating cattle, or burning buildings. Their methods could be rough, but without the Green Mountain Boys, we would not know the Vermont we know today.

When the American Revolution began, the Green Mountain Boys were among the first to answer the call. Under the leadership of Ethan Allen, and alongside Benedict Arnold, just a few hundred men captured Fort Ticonderoga. It was one of the first American victories of the Revolution and inspired countless others to lay down their scythes, leave their farms, and take up arms in the cause of liberty.

Although he was born more than 130 years after those events, Theron Boyd carried their stories as though he had lived them himself.

He could recite song after song and story after story of the Green Mountain Boys’ exploits, the battles won and the battles lost. He spoke of Ethan Allen’s imprisonment as if he had been there beside him. Wearing his Green Mountain Boys cap, he would sing along with the old ballads playing on the Victrola, every verse committed to memory.

The fortieth anniversary of winning back Theron’s farm is fast approaching, and I still think about the last day of that trial.

That morning, Theron would not get out of bed.

He was exhausted. He was traumatized. The courtroom drama had simply become too much for him. The day before, he had looked at the judges in their black robes and quietly repeated, over and over, “I’m a farmer. I’m not a lawyer.”

Theron Boyd and Chris Clark

There was no convincing him. I had all but given up. As I turned to leave his room, one last thought came to me. I began to recite the words of an old Green Mountain Boys ballad:

On our south came the Hessians, our land to police,


And arming for battle while canting of peace.


On our east came the British, the red-coated band,


To hang up our leaders and eat up our land…

Then I continued:

We owe no allegiance; we bow to no throne.


Our rule is the law, and the law is our own.


Our leaders themselves are our own fellow men,


Who can handle the sword, the scythe, or the pen.

Theron slept between two feather mattresses. Without saying a word, he pushed one aside, sat straight up — fully dressed beneath the covers — and belted out:

Then cheer, cheer for the Green Mountaineer!


Hurrah for Vermont, for the land which we till


Must have sons that defend her from valley and hill.


Our vow is recorded, our banner unfurled;


In the name of Vermont we defy all the world!


Then cheer, cheer for the Green Mountaineer!

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, looked at me, and said, “We better go.”

We drove to Woodstock like Ira and Ethan riding into battle.

The lawsuit sought to take half of Theron’s property. We came home with all of it. One hundred percent of the farm remained his, protected from development and secured for generations to come. What happened in that courtroom forty years ago still feels a little magical.

Theron was famous for saying, “The world runs on emotion and greed.” That day, emotion won.

Whenever I hear those old Vermont ballads, I think back to that morning. I can still see Theron throwing back the feather bed, singing at the top of his lungs, and marching out the door ready for one last fight.

Cheer, cheer for the Green Mountaineer.

Publisher’s Note: “Wisdom Stories” is an ongoing column featuring the life, times, and wisdom of Theron Boyd, a Quechee old timer in the 1970s, as told by an unlikely best friend, Chris Clark, a teenager at the time. If you have any ‘Theron’ stories you would like to contribute, contact the Quechee Times at editor@quecheetimes.com.