The New Hampshire Grants

By the mid 1700s, New England was crowded. Farmers in Connecticut and Massachusetts had used up the good soil. They wanted more land for themselves and their children. They started to move to the land that is now part of Vermont.

Benning Wentworth was the Governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. He wanted the land west of the Connecticut River to be part of his colony. He granted(officially give areas of land) this land to groups of settlers to start towns. These towns were called the New Hampshire Grants.

In 1749, Wentworth chartered(gave a paper that said who owned the land) the first town which he named Bennington, after himself. Some of the settlers bought land to start new farms. After cutting down trees, they could plant crops like corn on their farms. Other people, like Ethan Allen, wanted to sell their land to make money.

Governor Wentworth started 129 towns. But there was a problem. New York also thought that it owned the land north of Massachusetts and east to the Connecticut River. Both colonies wanted to start towns on the same land.