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Westmoreland County, Connecticut was a
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
established by the State of
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...
in October 1776, encompassing the present-day area of
Wyoming Valley The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal-mines. As a metropolitan ...
, in northeastern
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. Both colonies claimed this territory and the issue was further confused by the Six Nations selling the territory to both Connecticut in 1754 and again to Pennsylvania in 1768. The first of the Yankee-Pennamite Wars were fought in and around the County, from 1771 through 1775. In December 1782 a court of arbitration appointed by the
Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
met in Trenton, New Jersey, and made a unanimous decision in favor of Pennsylvania's claim. In compensation, Connecticut received equivalent territory of 3,300,000 acres named the
Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...
, in the future northeast of Ohio. Pennsylvania then refused to confirm the private land titles of the settlers, which caused the Second of the Yankee-Pennamite Wars. It briefly seceded to become the short-lived
State of Westmoreland The State of Westmoreland was a proposed self-proclaimed state that would have seceded from Pennsylvania in 1784, after the Congress of the Confederation had ruled that the territory belonged to Pennsylvania rather than Connecticut. History Y ...
in 1784. Connecticut finally ceded it to
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
in 1786 after Pennsylvania confirmed the land titles and Westmoreland County was renamed to
Luzerne County Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...
.http://www.colebrookhistoricalsociety.org/PDF%20Images/Westmoreland%20County%20Connecticut.pdf It has no relationship to the current
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Westmoreland County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 364,663. The county seat is Greensburg. Formed from, successively, Lancaster, Northumberland, and later Bedford co ...
, which is located on the western and opposite side of the state.


See also

*
Pennamite–Yankee War The Pennamite–Yankee Wars or Yankee–Pennamite Wars were a series of conflicts consisting of the First Pennamite War (1769–1770), the Second Pennamite War (1774), and the Third Pennamite War (1784), in which the Wyoming Valley along the North ...


References


Further reading

*Boyd, J. P. ''The Susquehannah Company, 1753-1803''. SL call number: F157 .W9 B69 1931*Henry, William (ed.). ''Documents Relating to the Connecticut Settlement in the Wyoming Valley.'' Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, Inc., 1990 SL call number: F157 .W9 D63 1990 v1, 2 *Joyce, Mary Hinchcliffe. ''Pioneer Days in the Wyoming Valley.'' Philadelphia: 1928 SL call number: F157 .W9 J89 *Smith, William. ''An Examination of the Connecticut Claim to Lands in Pennsylvania: With an Appendix, Containing Extracts and Copies Taken from Original Papers.'' Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1774 SL call number: Wells Collection F157 .W9 S55 *Stark, S. Judson. ''The Wyoming Valley: Probate Records...'' Wilkes-Barre, PA: Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, 1923 SL call number: F157 .W9 S72 *Warfle, Richard Thomas. ''Connecticut's Western Colony; the Susquehannah Affair.'' (Connecticut Bicentennial Series, #32). Hartford, CT: American Revolutionary Bicentennial Commission of Connecticut, 1979 SL call number: Conn Doc Am35 cb num 32 *Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. ''Wilkes-Barre (the "Diamond City"), Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.'' Wilkes-Barre, PA: The Committee on Souvenir and Program, 1906 SL call number: F159 .W6 W65 1906


External links


Connecticut's "Susquehannah Settlers"
Former counties of Connecticut Pre-statehood history of Connecticut Pre-statehood history of Pennsylvania {{Connecticut-geo-stub