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Importance of Land Records in Family Research
The availability of land attracted many immigrants to America and encouraged westward expansion. Land records are primarily used to learn where a person lived and when he or she lived there. They often reveal other family information as well, such as the name of a spouse, an heir, other relatives, or neighbors. You may learn a person’s previous residences, his occupation, if he had served in the military, if he was a naturalized citizen, and other clues for further research.

Vermont Boundary Changes
The area now Vermont was claimed by

- France based on the claim made by Samuel de Champlain in 1609

- Massachusetts based on a 1629 charter

- New York based on land grants to the Duke of York in 1664

- New Hampshire based on a royal decree in 1740 which eliminated Massachusetts claim.

In 1749, New Hampshire granted land for 129 towns in Vermont. Very little European settlement was done until 1763 when the French and Indian War ended with a British victory. Then many settlers from Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massachusetts went to the Vermont region.

A year later, in 1764, a royal decree gave New York jurisdiction over the land from Albany, New York to what is now the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. From 1765 to 1776, New York granted land for 107 townsin what is now Vermont.

New York declared that people who held land granted by New Hampshire no longer owned the land. Some people paid for their land to both New Hampshire and New York. Therefore in 1777, Vermont declared independence and put the land under its jurisdiction.

Look for land records of people buying land from the government of:

- New Hampshire at the New Hampshire State Archives(Provincial Period, 1630s – 1771). .

- New York at the Albany County, New York Land Office.

- Vermont at the Vermont State Archives

The towns remained the same, and the town records contain the land deeds (person to person) without regard to the political jurisdiction of the time.

First Land Owners in Vermont
Vermont’s first landholders were called proprietors. There are many proprietors’ records in the town records of each town. Most of these records are available at the Vermont Public Records Division, General Services Center. Vermont is a state-land state. After the Revolutionary War, the land was controlled and dispersed by the state government.

Some records of early land transactions are:

• Holbrook, Jay Mack, Vermont’s First Settlers. (Oxford, Massachusetts: Holbrook Research Institute, 1976), FHL book 974.3 R2h. This source is an alphabetized list of persons who received land grants in Vermont from 1763 to 1803. Each listing identifies the time and location of the property and the page number of the source in volume 2 of the State Papers of Vermont. See Public Records.

• Holbrook, Jay Mack, Vermont Land Grantees, 1749–1803. (Oxford, Massachusetts: Holbrook Research Institute, 1986), FHL fiche 6044861. This does not circulate to family history centers. This source contains a listing of the first 15,000 land grants by New Hampshire, 58 percent of which are in present-day Vermont. The remainder of the land became Vermont land charters. New York did not recognize the legality of the New Hampshire land grants, and New York issued its own land patents for much of the Vermont territory. This book lists the land grant townships with maps of the localities. It includes an alphabetical list of those persons who received the grants and shows the name, year, and source of the information.

• Sequestration, Confiscation, and Sale of Estates. State Papers of Vermont, v.6. Montpelier, Vermont: Secretary of State, 1941, FHL book 973.6 B4s v.6; film 1321236, item 4. This source includes an index. During the Revolutionary War, many residents would not sign an Oath of Allegiance to the rebel government. Their lands and property were confiscated, and by 1778 many fled to Canada. In 1783, after the war, many returned to Vermont, decided to sign the Oath of Allegiance, and petitioned to have their property returned. This 465-page source lists their names, claims, and value.

• Vermont. Secretary of State, New York Land Patents, 1688–1786: Covering Land Included in the State of Vermont, (Not Including Military Patents). State Papers of Vermont, v.7, (Montpelier, Vermont: Secretary of State, 1947), FHL book 974.3 B4s v.7. New York and New Hampshire both claimed disputed land now in Vermont. This volume shows names and dates and includes an index.

• Vermont. Secretary of State, Petitions for Grants of Land 1778–1881. State Papers of Vermont, v.5. Montpelier, (Vermont: Secretary of State, 1939), FHL book 974.3 B4s v.5. This source includes an index. Each petition describes the property, location, and the reason for the petition.

Before 1780
Before 1780 jurisdiction over land records was with the county.

1780 on
During the 1780s the town clerks were given jurisdiction over land records. You should consult records of the town clerks.

Finding Land Records through the Family History Library Catalog
Additional information on available land and property records can be found in the Family History Library Catalog by using a Place Search under: VERMONT- LAND AND PROPERTY VERMONT, [COUNTY]- LAND AND PROPERTY VERMONT, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- LAND AND PROPERTY

Web Sites
• Vermont Land Records has general information about land and also specific information about Vermont land, such as how the land was divided.