Burlington May 10 58

Page 1

Dear sir

Mr Kinney wishes to take a cast of the skull of Ethan Allen, if it shall be found in such condition as to admit of it. I think this a matter of a good deal of interest, & hope you will approve the suggestion.

Mr Kinney has heard that the coffin was deposited in a stone vault. If so, it is possible the of the body may remain unchanged & it would be a very interesting thing to observe whether the fact is so. I am obliged to go

go to Montpelier tomorrow, but I do not know that my presence here is of any importance.

In thinking the matter over, I am inclined to believe that the Act of the Leg. directing the erection of the monument supersedes the necessity of any action by the selectmen, & therefore we need not trouble them further on the subject --

Yours trulyG P Marsh

J N Pomeroy Esq

References in this letter:

Ethan Allen, (1737/38-1789), is considered, with Ira Allen and Thomas Chittenden, one of the founding fathers of the state of Vermont. As a commander of the Green Mountain Boys, a local militia, outlawed in New York, Allen was a considerable force in the defense of the newly formed state against the British.

The lawyer, John Norton Pomeroy, (1792-1881) was a lawyer and prominent resident of Burlington, Vermont. He held several position in Vermont state government and was named chairman of the Statuary Committee to oversee the construction of the monument placed over the grave of Ethan Allen in Green Mount Cemetery in Burlington.