Rebels in Vermont!: The St. Albans Raid

Lecture
J. Kevin Graffagnino, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan
“Rebels in Vermont!:  The St. Albans Raid" 
6:00pm (with 5:30 reception)

On October 19, 1864, twenty-two Confederate soldiers under the command of Bennett H. Young attacked the village of St. Albans, Vermont.  They robbed the banks in town, tried to set fire to the downtown commercial district, shot and killed one person, and then fled north to Canada with $227,000 in their saddlebags.  The St. Albans Raid sent shock waves throughout the North.  A fraction of the stolen money made its way back to St. Albans, but a series of Canadian trials ended in the dismissal of all charges against Young and his men.  Kevin Graffagnino's "Rebels in Vermont!" presentation details the events of the raid and also looks at the lives and careers of the Confederate participants, providing more of a Southern perspective than most Northern versions of the story.

J. Kevin Graffagnino is Director of the William L. Clements Library of early American history at the University of Michigan.  In a long career, Kevin has been an antiquarian book dealer, special collections curator, library administrator, and Executive Director of the Vermont and Kentucky state historical societies.  He holds two degrees from the University of Vermont and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.  Kevin's publications on early American history and bibliophilic topics include 17 books, the most recent of which is The Vermont Difference: Perspectives from the Green Mountain State (2014).