The New Hampshire Grants or Benning Wentworth Grants were land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by the provincial governor of the New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The land grants, totaling about 135 (including 131 towns), were made on land claimed by New Hampshire west of the Connecticut River, but which properly belonged to the Province of New York. The resulting dispute led to the eventual establishment of the Vermont Republic, which later became the U.S. state of Vermont. Smaller version of Vermont county map (from PD image) File links The following pages link to this file: Vermont List of counties in Vermont Categories: United States government images | Vermont maps ... A land grant is a gift of land made by the government for projects such as roads, railroads, or especially academic institutions. ... Events While in debtors prison, John Cleland writes Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure). ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... See also New Hampshire Province of New Hampshire List of Colonial Governors of New Hampshire I am a doodlebug Categories: Lists of United States governors | Governors of New Hampshire ... The New Hampshire Colony was the product of several English land grants dating from 1623 to 1680, and for much of its colonial history was subject to the Massachusetts Colony and its leadership in Boston. ... Benning Wentworth (1696–1770) was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from (1741-1766). ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town In American English, a town is usually a municipal corporation that is smaller than a city but larger than a village. ... The Connecticut River as seen from the French King Bridge in western Massachusetts The Connecticut River is the largest river in New England, flowing south from the Connecticut Lakes in northern New Hampshire, along the border between New Hampshire and Vermont, through Western Massachusetts and central Connecticut into Long Island... The Province of New York was an English colony that existed roughly where the State of New York does now. ... Flag of Vermont Republic Vermont Republic was an independent republic that existed from 1777 until it became the state of Vermont—the 14th state of the United States of America—in 1791. ... A U.S. state is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia and Palmyra Atoll (an uninhabited incorporated unorganized territory), form the United States of America. ... State nickname: The Green Mountain State Other U.S. States Capital Montpelier Largest city Burlington Governor Jim Douglas (R) Senators Patrick Leahy (D) Jim Jeffords (I) Official language(s) None Area 24,923 km² (43th)  - Land 23,974 km²  - Water 949 km² (3. ...

Real estate

According to Wentworth, the border between New Hampshire and the New York was ambiguous, especially if he leaned on the dictate from Britain "that the northern boundary of Massachusetts be a similar curve line pursuing the course of the Merrimack River at three miles distance on the north side thereof, beginning at the Atlantic Ocean and ending at a point due north of a place called Pautucket Falls, and by a straight line drawn from thence west till it meets his Majesty's other governments." Wentworth took this to mean that New Hampshire's jurisdiction extended as far west as the jurisdiction of Massachusetts extended—in New Hampshire's case this meant a line 20 miles (32 km) east of the Hudson River. New York correctly stated that the letters Patent granted the Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of York and Albany) all of the lands west of the Connecticut River to Delaware Bay. State nickname: Bay State Official languages English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Governor Mitt Romney (R) Senators Edward Kennedy (D) John Kerry (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 44th 27,360 km² 25. ... The Merrimack River, formed by the confluence of the Pemigewasset River (left) and Winnipesaukee River (right) is shown on a map of the northeastern United States The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an earlier spelling that is sometimes still used) is a 110-mile-long (177-kilometer-long) river in... Pawtucket Falls is a waterfall on the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. ... View of the Hudson in the 1880s showing Jersey City The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk in Mahican, is a river running mainly through New York State but partly forming the boundary between the states of New York and New Jersey. ... Letters Patent by Queen Victoria creating the office of Governor-General of Australia Letters patent are a type of legal document which is an open letter issued by a monarch or government granting a right, monopoly, title, or status to someone or some entity such as a corporation. ... Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of York (14 March 1739- 17 September 1767) was the younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom, the second son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. ... Prince Andrew, the current Duke of York since 1986 Duke of York is also a small island in Papua-New Guinea, see Duke of York (island) The title Duke of York is a title of nobility usually given to the second son of the British monarch, unless the title is... Duke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on the youngers sons in the Scottish and later the British Royal Family, particularly in the Houses of Stuart and Hanover. ... The Connecticut River as seen from the French King Bridge in western Massachusetts The Connecticut River is the largest river in New England, flowing south from the Connecticut Lakes in northern New Hampshire, along the border between New Hampshire and Vermont, through Western Massachusetts and central Connecticut into Long Island... Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is a large esturarial inlet of the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Delaware River along the coast of the United States. ...

Wentworth made the first grant, Bennington, a township west of the Connecticut River, on January 3, 1749. Cautioned by New York to cease and desist, Wentworth promised to await the judgment of the king, and refrain from making more grants in the claimed territory until it was rendered, but in November 1753, New York reported that he had continued to grant land in the disputed area. Grants briefly ceased in 1754, because of the French and Indian War, but in 1755 and 1757, Wentworth had a survey made 60 miles (97 km) up the Connecticut River, and 108 grants were made, extending to the line 20 miles east of the Hudson, and north to the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. Bennington, Vermont The Bennington Battle Monument. ... January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events While in debtors prison, John Cleland writes Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure). ... Cease-and-desist is a legal term meaning essentially stop: It is used in demands for a person or organization to stop doing something (to cease and desist from doing it). ... 1753 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The French and Indian War is the American name for the decisive nine-year conflict (1754-1763) in North America between the Kingdom of Great Britain and France, which was one of the theatres of the Seven Years War. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1757 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Landsat photo Lake Champlain, named for the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who encountered it 1609, is a large lake in North America, mostly within the borders of the United States (states of Vermont and New York) but partially situated across the US-Canada border in Quebec. ...

Arrangement

The grants were usually six miles square or 15.5 km² (the standard size of a U.S. survey township, although the Public Land Survey System is not used in Vermont) and cost the grantee(s) £20. The grants were then subdivided amongst the proprietors, and six of the lots were set aside—one for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (a missionary organization of the Church of England), one for the Church of England itself, one for the first clergyman to settle in the township, one for a school, and two for Wentworth himself. The permanent annual tax on each grant, called a quitrent, was one shilling, paid directly to the king. In the American Public Land Survey System, a township refers to a unit of land, that is nominally six miles (9. ... This General Land Office map shows the theoretical sectioning of a standard survey township. ... Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was a missionary organization of the Church of England. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... The shilling (or informally: bob) was a British coin first issued in 1548 for Henry VIII, although arguably the testoon issued about 1487 for Henry VII was the first shilling. ...

Royal adjudication

In September 1762, New York caught New Hampshire surveyors working on the east side of Champlain, provoking the former state's government to reiterate its claim to the area, citing both its own patent and the New Hampshire letters patent of 1741. In March 1764, Wentworth released a statement to the effect that the resolution of jurisdictional dispute required a royal verdict, which he was certain would be made in his favor. Meanwhile, he encouraged his grantees to settle in to the land and to cultivate and develop the land. 1762 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... // Events April 10 - Austrian army attack troops of Frederick the Great at Mollwitz August 10 - Raja of Travancore defeats Dutch East India Company naval expedition at Battle of Colachel December 19 - Vitus Bering dies in his expedition east of Siberia December 25 - Anders Celsius develops his own thermometer scale Celsius... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

New York went to the British authorities, requesting a confirmation of their original grant, and the crown resolved the border dispute between New York and New Hampshire in favor of New York. The royal order of July 26, 1764, in response to New York's petition, affirmed that "the Western bank of the Connecticut, from where it enters the province of Massachusetts Bay as far north as the 45th degree of northern latitude, to be the boundary line between the said two provinces of New Hampshire and New York." Wentworth issued his final two grants on October 17 of that year: Walker, Vermont and Waltham, Vermont. July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... Waltham, Vermont Waltham is a town located in Addison County, Vermont. ...

Invalidation

New York interpreted the decision as invalidating Wentworth's grants entirely—to the great dismay of area residents—and subsequently divided the territory into four counties, Albany, Charlotte, Cumberland and Gloucester. New York required that grantees surrender their charters, and in many cases buy their lands back from New York at greatly increased prices. Those who would not pay lost legal title to their lands, which New York reassigned them to others. The people who would later become Vermonters petitioned the governor of New York to confirm the New Hampshire Grants, he complied in part by declaring that no other grants should be made until the King's wishes were known. Land not previously granted by New Hampshire was considered open for distribution by New York's government. Albany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, generally located in the vicinity of Albany, New York, the capital of New York State. ... Cumberland County, New York was a former county in the Province of New York that became part of the state of Vermont. ... Gloucester County, New York is a former county in New York that became part of the state of Vermont. ... Title is a legal term for an owners interest in a piece of property. ...

In 1770, the New York Supreme Court advanced New York's case by declaring all of Wentworth's grants invalid. This infuriated residents of the area, including Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, leading to the establishment of the self-declared Vermont Republic and general rebellion against the New York government. 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... New York County Supreme Court building at 60 Centre Street, from across Foley Square The Supreme Court of the State of New York is one of several New York State trial courts in which cases originate. ... An engraving depicting Ethan Allen demanding the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga Ethan Allen (January 10, 1738 – February 12, 1789) was an early American revolutionary and guerrilla leader during the era of the Vermont Republic and the New Hampshire Grants. ... Flag of the Green Mountain Boys The Green Mountain Boys were a paramilitary group organized in Western Vermont in the decade prior to the American Revolutionary War. ... Flag of Vermont Republic Vermont Republic was an independent republic that existed from 1777 until it became the state of Vermont—the 14th state of the United States of America—in 1791. ...

Outcome

Following the American Revolutionary War, during which period and beyond the people of the Green Mountain State had been self-governing (having written their own constitution and settled into the habit of sovereignty), it became clear to the Continental Congress (et al.) that the region of the New Hampshire Grants should become a state. The idea was pursued at several stages, ending in failure for one reason or another until 1790, when New York consented to the admission of Vermont into the Union, ceded control of the New Hampshire Grants to Vermont and stated the New York-Vermont boundary should be the western edge of the New Hampshire Grants and the mid-channel of Lake Champlain. (The Vermont-New Hampshire boundary is still the western bank of the Connecticut River.) Combatants American Patriots, France, allies British Empire, allies Commanders George Washington Comte de Rochambeau Nathanael Greene William Howe Henry Clinton Charles Cornwallis Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties {{{casualties1}}} {{{casualties2}}} The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known, especially internationally, as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between... Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme authority over a geographic region, group of people or oneself. ... The Continental Congress was the legislature of the Thirteen Colonies and later of the United States from 1774 to 1789, a period that included the American Revolutionary War and the Articles of Confederation. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... This is a list of U.S. states by order of admission into the Union. ... ...

Vermont voters ratified the United States Constitution on January 6, 1791 and the U.S. Congress passed the resolution admitting Vermont into the Union on February 18. On March 4 of the same year, the New Hampshire Grants, as Vermont, became the 14th state, the first state admitted to the Union after the original 13 colonies. The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1791 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Congress in Joint Session. ... February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... March 4 is the 63rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (64th in leap years). ... Betsy Ross purportedly sewed the first American flag with 13 stars and 13 stripes representing each of the 13 colonies. ...

In order to prevent further legal to-dos, the government of Vermont paid the government of New York $30,000 (New York had sought $600,000) in compensation for that state's diminished territorial reach.

It is also worth noting that while Wentworth's land sales were underway through several decades of the mid-18th century, New York had simultaneously been issuing land patents in the same area. However, in contrast to the New Hampshire grants, the New York patents were generally (a) irregularly shaped and (b) issued to wealthy landowners. The New Hampshire grants were "town-sized," and generally settled by middle-class farmers, setting the stage for Vermont's populist uprising of the Revolutionary era. So, in general, after statehood, the New York boundaries were ignored in favor of the New Hampshire boundaries and designations. Some of these New York patents are now referred to as paper towns, because they existed only on paper. The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... The American Revolution is the series of events, ideas, and changes that resulted in the political separation of thirteen colonies in North America from the British Empire and the creation of the United States of America. ...

Sources

• Robinson, Rowland (1892). Vermont: A Study of Independence, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company (American Commonwealths Series). (No ISBN).
• Thompson, Charles Miner (1942). Independent Vermont, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. (No ISBN).
• Van de Water, Frederic (1941). The Reluctant Republic: Vermont 1724-1791, New York: The John Day Company. (No ISBN).

1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

See also

• List of towns in Vermont

The state of Vermont has 251 towns. ...

External links

• The Problem of the New Hampshire Grants
• Virtual Vermont: Benning Wentworth
• Vermont Genealogy Resources
  • New Hampshire Grants
  • New York Patents
  • Map of Vermont Towns with Grant States and Dates
• FindLaw: Vermont vs. New Hampshire 289 U.S. 593 (1933)