New Hampshire Grants

The New Hampshire Grants were land grants, including 131 towns, made between 1749 and 1764 by the governor of the Province of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth (they are thus also known as the Benning Wentworth Grants). The land grants, totalling about 135, 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 U.S. state of Vermont.

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.

Related Topics:
1762 - 1741 - 1764

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
New York - July 26 - 1764 - October 17 - Walker, Vermont - Waltham, Vermont

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~