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Letter to Commanding Officer in Gilford from Colrain's Colonel Hugh McClellan regarding land disputes in New York

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Vermont was first settled in 1724 by people from Massachusetts. Soon after, both New York and New Hampshire claimed the region. On July 2, 1764, the Privy Council in England approved an order setting the boundary between New York and New Hampshire at the Connecticut River which gave New York the Vermont land. The people of Vermont organized militia and were determined to maintain their independence. In 1777, Vermonters officially declared themselves independent and claimed the land to the Hudson River and along the western shore of Lake Champlain. Congress passed an act in 1781 that required Vermont to relinquish this claim. However, the Vermonters were persistent and in 1790, New York agreed to recognize Vermont as a separate state. This letter concerns the squabbles between Vermonters and New Yorkers and asks for cooler heads to prevail and for the actions to cease.

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