(VERMONT) Smith William; and William Livingston Manuscript p

Sale 2420 - Lot 312

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(VERMONT.) Smith, William; and William Livingston. Manuscript petition to be granted a township in Vermont. Document Signed by Smith and Livingston, addressed to John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, as governor of New York. 2 pages on one sheet, 12 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches; moderate edge wear touching text. New York, 22 May 1771

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William Smith (1728-1793) and William Livingston (1723-1790), who had been co-editors of the periodical Independent Reflector, here request a grant 30,000 acres on the west bank of the Connecticut River between Thetford and Norwich for "themselves and others their associates." They state that the land was "not comprehended within any of the patents granted by the Province of New Hampshire," making New York's authority clear. They pledged themselves "desirous of improving and cultivating" the land, which they would incorporate as the Township of Newport-Pagnal (after the English birthplace of Smith's father). The grant was apparently never awarded. Smith became a loyalist and later served as chief justice of Quebec; Livingston became governor of New Jersey and signed the United States Constitution.