In all my research about Cheney land ownership in Vermont, I didn’t even think to look at the history of land ownership in New England. And doing so made me realize how little I learned and know about the history of Colonial America and the 18th century in New England.

For example, the New Hampshire Grants, which were the original grants of land in present-day Vermont made by then-Governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. These grants were made starting in 1741 and continued through 1766 (https://vermonthistoryexplorer.org/the-new-hampshire-grants). Grants include the towns of Neshobe (now Brandon), Rutland, and Tinmouth.

There was a wrinkle in Benning’s plan to extend the reach of New Hampshire, and that was the colony of New York and King George III. In 1764 the Lieutenant Governor of New York, Cadawallader Colden, reached out to the King for a decision on where the boundary between New York and New Hampshire was. The King said the Connecticut River, which is now the eastern border of Vermont. As a result, the European settlers who paid money for a New Hampshire grant were now asked to pay another purchase price to New York to keep their land ( http://Vermont Historical Society. “The 14th State.” Vermont History Explorer. Accessed August 11, 2023. https://vermonthistoryexplorer.org/the-14th-state). Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys came out of this dispute over paying additional moneys for land they had already purchased, running off anyone who came from New York to try and enforce the King’s decision.

The Colony of New York mapped out areas of Vermont and there are some detailed maps showing ownership. The approximate locations of the town of Brandon and Rutland Vermont are shown on one such map, below, circled in green, with Brandon being north of Rutland. They appear to be part of a Charlotte County which was a colonial county in New York created in 1772 and contained western Vermont. (Charlotte County was named after Princess Charlotte, the daughter of George III. In 1784, the name of the county was changed to Washington County, after George Washington. http://www.nygenweb.net/charlotte.htm)

While the colonies were fighting the war of independence, New Hampshire, New York, and the Vermont Republic were also squabbling over boundaries. In 1777, the Vermont Republic claimed the eastern part of Charlotte County (which is now part of Vermont) when the Vermont Constitution was signed. New York ignored Vermont’s claim.

Vermont was an independent state for 14 years before it became part of the United States in 1791. The both New York and New Hampshire blocked the Continental Congress from letting Vermont in as a U.S. state. During this time, Ethan Allen and his brother even toyed with the idea of rejoining the British by attaching Vermont to Quebec (https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/1790-deal-vermont-statehood-finally-emerged/). Finally, in 1790, New York accepted a deal with Vermont to exchange the land for $30,000 (just shy of a $1 million in 2023 dollars https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation), clearing the way for Vermont’s admittance into the United States.

I do not yet know how the New York and New Hampshire grants impacted the Cheneys’ 1780s purchase of land in what is now Brandon Vermont.