FENIAN RAIDS
Attempted Canadian Invasion
North of here
1866 and 1870
After [the] Civil War, two attempts by Irish patriots to invade Canada and set up a free Irish republic were repulsed between Franklin and Cook's Corner. Fenians gathered in St. Albans, marched via Sheldon to the border but were stopped by Canadian arms and U.S. authorities.
From a historical perspective, I don't agree with the placement of this marker: until the Fenians reached the Quebec border at Franklin and attempted entry into Canada, there was no raid, just a bunch of Irishmen walking through the Vermont countryside (albeit a BIG bunch: in 1866 there were as many as 3,500, but only 400 in 1870). "North of here" means seven miles north of here if you consider only where the Fenians actually crossed the border; they weren't "repulsed" until they were six miles into Quebec. This marker more appropriately belongs in the vicinity of N 45° 0' 52.4664" W072° 54' 24.5448". But, the state's director of Historic Sites says the marker was placed in 1949, and there is no money to move it.
These were not the only Fenian raids. Numerous hits are returned if one googles "Fenian Raid," but this site appears to deal specifically with these two which originated in Vermont.