Editing Westford, Vermont (section)

==History==
The area that is today described as Westford, Vermont originally fell within the traditional territories of the [[Sokoki]], [[Missisquoi tribe|Missisquoi]], and [[Cowasuck]] bands of the Western [[Abenaki]] tribes. Newly introduced infectious diseases and attacks by English settlers greatly impacted native populations and prompted their emigration to Quebec by the 1670s, opening the land for settlement by European immigrants. The original charter for the Town of Westford was granted at a cost of {{GBPConvert|2000|ct|year=1763|r=0|showdate=no}} by [[Province of New Hampshire|New Hampshire]]'s provisional governor [[Benning Wentworth]] on June 8, 1763, as part of a series of what came to be known as [[New Hampshire Grants]].{{Refn|group=nb|Other New Hampshire Grants dated June 8, 1763, include [[Berlin, Vermont|Berlin]], [[Mansfield, Vermont|Mansfield]], [[Middlesex, Vermont|Midlesex]]{{sic}}, [[Milton, Vermont|Milton]], [[Stowe, Vermont|Stow]]{{sic}}, [[Underhill, Vermont|Underhill]], and [[Worcester, Vermont|Worster]]{{sic}}.<ref name=swift/>{{rp|571–575}} The set of grants including Westford, Underhill, [[Jericho, Vermont|Jericho]], and [[Huntington, Vermont|Huntington]] would come to be known as the [[Ethan Allen#Onion River Company|Onion River Company]] Grants.<ref name=swift/>{{rp|187}}}} According to Wentworth's grant, six lots were set aside (3 for religious use, 1 for the town's school, and 2 for Wentworth himself) and the remainder of the land was subdivided among the founding residents. Although officially granted simultaneously with [[Underhill, Vermont|Underhill]] and [[Mansfield, Vermont|Mansfield]], the description of Westford's territory is recognized as having been set down earlier due to the fact that their territorial boundaries are defined in relation to Westford's.<ref name=swift>Swift, Esther Munroe. ''Vermont Place Names: Footprints of History''. Stephen Greene Press. Pp.189–191. 1977. {{ISBN|0-8289-0291-7}}</ref>{{rp|189}} From their founding, both Westford and Underhill shared many of the same grantees, and settlement between the two towns occurred in concert with families such as the Macombers living in Westford but conducting business on Underhill's Mount Macomber.<ref name=swift/>{{rp|190}}

Governor Wentworth's land grants in the area that is today Vermont were considered controversial at the time and since the early 1750s [[Province of New York|New York]], which also laid claim to the area, had challenged the validity of town charters granted by Wentworth. Between 1764 and 1770, in a series of legal decisions handed down by England's [[Board of Trade]] and the [[New York Supreme Court|New York Supreme Court of Judicature]], New York was found to be the proper jurisdictional body for the area and Wentworth's charters were invalidated. New York immediately began redistricting the area by [[land patent]], putting Westford within the now-extinct [[Charlotte County, Province of New York|Charlotte County]] (formed 1772), and requiring residents to repurchase their land from New York in order to retain [[title (property)|legal title]]. The residents of Westford (together with residents of the other New Hampshire Grant towns) protested this ruling and petitioned New York for the confirmation of Wentworth's town grants. In response New York declared that it would halt further subdivision of settled areas until clarification of [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]]'s intent was made clear. Before such clarification could be made, the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775) interrupted matters and shortly afterward in 1777, Vermont seceded from New York and England to form the [[Republic of Vermont]]. New York's redistricting was forgotten and Westford solidified its position as a town within Vermont's western [[Bennington County|County of Bennington]] (founded in 1779, and later splitting the area containing Westford into [[Rutland County, Vermont|Rutland]] in 1781, [[Addison County, Vermont|Addison]] in 1785, and ultimately [[Chittenden County, Vermont|Chittenden County]] in 1787). Westford would remain part of Chittenden County during the state's 1791 entrance to the United States as its 14th state and through to the present.

{| class="wikitable collapsible autocollapse"
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!Historical administrative designations
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!Year!!Country/Land!!State/Province!!County!!Town
|-
|Pre-1763||Western Abenaki lands||–||–||–
|-
|1763||UK||New Hampshire‡||–||Westford
|-
|1770||UK||New York||–||Westford‡
|-
|1772||UK||New York||Charlotte||Westford‡
|-
|1775||USA||New York||Charlotte||Westford‡
|-
|1777||Vermont||–||–||Westford
|-
|1779||Vermont||–||Bennington||Westford
|-
|1781||Vermont||–||Rutland||Westford
|-
|1785||Vermont||–||Addison||Westford
|-
|1787||Vermont||–||Chittenden||Westford
|-
|1791||USA||Vermont||Chittenden||Westford
|}
|-
|‡ Legally dubious designation
|}