Editing Bennington County, Vermont (section)

==History==
Bennington is the oldest county in Vermont still in existence, created by the first general assembly on March 17, 1778.<ref>[http://www.historicvermont.org/sites/html/history.html Vermont History Timeline] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911184311/http://www.historicvermont.org/sites/html/history.html|date=September 11, 2011}}</ref> Vermont was organized into two original counties, with Bennington in the west and Unity (a few days later renamed [[Cumberland County, Republic of Vermont|Cumberland]]) in the east.<ref>Vt. State Papers, 12:43–44.</ref> On February 16, 1781 [[Rutland County, Vermont|Rutland County]] was created from Bennington County.<ref>Vermont State Papers, 13:5–6.</ref> On April 13, 1781, Bennington gained the [[Gore (surveying)|gore]] east of the town of Bromley (now [[Peru, Vermont|Peru]]) from [[Windham County, Vermont|Windham]] and [[Windsor County, Vermont|Windsor]] Counties, now known as [[Landgrove]].<ref>Vt. State Papers, 13:19.</ref>

From June 26, 1781, until February 23, 1782, Vermont attempted to annex part of New York east of the Hudson River (the so-called West Union); inhabitants in the area favored Vermont's township form of government, while Vermont hoped to gain bargaining power through expansion.<ref>Vt. State Papers, 13:45–46; Newton, 83–87; Williamson, C., 101–102.</ref> New York did not lose control of the area. For almost seven months Bennington County overlapped part of [[Albany County, New York]].<ref>Vt. State Papers, 3, pt. 2: 67–68.</ref>

On February 27, 1787, Windham County gained the town of [[Stratton, Vermont|Stratton]] from Bennington County,<ref>Vt. State Papers, 14:173–175.</ref> On October 25, 1805, Rutland County gained from the county when the town of [[Mount Tabor, Vermont|Mount Tabor]] gained from the town of Peru.<ref>McCarty, "Evolution," 134; Vt. Laws 1805, ch. 15/pp. 19–20.</ref> The county gained from Rutland County when the town of [[Dorset, Vermont|Dorset]] gained a small area from the town of Mount Tabor on November 17, 1825.<ref>McCarty, "Evolution," 140; Vt. Laws 1825, no 18/p. 25; Vt. Laws 1832, no. 25/p. 25.</ref>