Westmoreland County, Connecticut was a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

established by the State of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

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 ar ...

, in northeastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. 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 legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

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, 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 in 1784. Connecticut finally ceded it to

in 1786 after Pennsylvania confirmed the land titles and Westmoreland County was renamed to

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

. It has no relationship to the current

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Westmoreland County is a county in the state of Pennsylvania, United States, in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census the population was 354,663. The county seat is Greensburg and the most populous community is ...

, which is located on the western and opposite side of the state.

References

*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

See also

References

Further reading

External links