Norwich bulletin., 1921-09-10
ODD INCIDENTS IN AMERICAN
 HISTORY
THE PENNAM1TE AND YANKEE WAR

THE PENNAMITE AND YANKEE WAR
 The charter bounds of Connecticut ex- tended west to the Pacific ocean. This would have carried Connecticut over strip covering the northerni two-fifths of the present State of Pennsylvania Almost immediately after the grant of the charter Charles granted to his brother James the Dutch colony of New Netherlands, thus nterrupting the con tinuity of Connecticut. Rather than re sist the Kings brother, Connecticut agreed and ratified the Interruption. In 1881 a more serious interference took
 place. Charles granted to Penn tlN4 province of Pennsylvania; extending
 westward five degrees between the for
 tieth and forty third parallels of north
 latitude Under the final compromise
 of Penn's boundary dispute with Balti-
 more the northern line of Pensylvanian
 was moved southward to latitude 42 de-
 grees instead of 43 degrees; but it still
 absorbed five degrees in length of the
 Connecticut western belt.
 The territory taken from Connecticut by the Penn grant would be bounded southerly on the present map by straight line entering Pennsylvania about Stroudsbourg, just north of the Delaware Water Gap, and running west through Hazleton, Catawissa, Clearfield and New | Castle, taking in all the northern coal | iron and oil fields.
 It was a royal heritage, but the Penns made no attempts to settle it, and Con-
 necticut, until the middle of the eight
 ennth century, had no energy to spare
 from the task of winning her home terri
 tory out of. the fire, as it were, by hard
 blows and for small reeempense.
 F1Izt | 1760, and in 1753 a movement to col
 onize in the Wyoming NUnty was set
 on foot in Windham county. It spread | by degrees until the SuSquehanna Com
 pany was formed the next year, with
 uealy TOO members, of whom 63S were
 of Connecticut. Their agents made a
 treaty with the Five Nations July H. l754, by which they bought for s10,000
 a tract of land beginning at the forty first degree of latitude, the southerly
 boundary of Connecticut; thence running
 north, following the line of the Susque-
 hanna at a distance Of ten miles from 1t, to the present northern boundary oi Pennsylvania; thence 120 miles west thence south to the forty first degree and back to the point of beginning. In May 1755, the Connecticut General Assembly expressed it's acduiescence in the scheme if the King should approve it; and il
 approved also a. plan of Samuel Hazard
 of Philadelphia, for another colony tC
 be placed east of Pennsylvania and with
 in the chartered limits of Connecticut
 The court might have taken stronger
 ground than this; for, at the meeting O.
 commissioners from the various colonie:
 at Albany, in 1754, the representative
 of Pennsylvania being present, no op position was made to a resolution tha
 Connecticut and Massa chusetts, by char
 ter right, extended west to the Soul
 sea. The formation of the Susquehann; Company brought out objections iron Pennsylvania, but the company sent ou
 surveyors and plotted it's tract Settle ment was begun on the Delaware rive { in 1757, and in the Susquehana purchas in 1762. This was temporary settle ment, the settlers going home for tn winter.
 A permanent venture was made on mex
 year on the flats below Wilkesbarre bu it was destroyed by the Indians tn same year. In 1768 the company mark
 ed out five townships and sent out fort, settlers for the first, Kingston. Most 0 [ them, including the famous Capt Ze bulon Butler, had served in the Frenc and Indian war; and their first step wa g to build the Forty Fort. The Penns 2 after their usual policy, had refused t sell lands but had leased plots to a nun - Der Of men on condition of their defend ing the lands from the Connecticut claim e ants.
 The forty Connecticut men found thes l in possession when they arrived in Eel e fuary, and war of writs and arrest | followed for the remainder of the yea The Pennsylvania men had one too DOW erful argument, in the shape of a fou1 0 pounder gun, and they retained posses : sion at the end of the year Early y TITO the forty reappeared, captured th ; lfour-pounder, and secured possessio Il For a time in 1771 the Pennsylvani
 men returned put up fort of their ow g and engaged in a partisan warfare: b, = the number of the Connecticut men wa s rapidly increasing and they remaine - masters until the opening of the Revol, s tion, when they numbered some 5000 0 But for the Revolution the check ot q easioned by the Wyoming massacre, an n the appearance of popular goverl s. nlent in place of the Penns nothing cou il have prevented the establishment T. Connecticuts authority over all the T l. gions embraced in her western claims. l. The article of confederation went in r. force early in 17S1. One of their prov d sions empowered congress to appoil h courts of arbitration to decide disput d. between states as to boundaries. Pen, n sylVania at once availed herself and a ,e piled for court to decide the Wyorni1 1T dispute. Connecticut asked for time n order to get papers from England b SC congress overruled the motion and o ,r dered the court to meet at Trenton h November 1782. After forty one da, -h of argument, the court came to the una as irnous conclusion that Wyoming, or u ot Susquehanna district, belonged to Pen :" sylvania and not to Connecticut
 IS The unfortunate Wyoming settlers, d ro serted by their own state, and left IS the mercy of rival claimants, had a ha m time of it for years. The militia of t s. neighboring counties of Pennsylvan ss was mustered to enforce the writs Id Pennsylvania courts; the property of t a Connecticut men was destroyed, tn; he fences were cast down, and their righ ,a ignored, and Pennamite and Yankee W to began. It was not until 1799 that [ i. controversy came to an end by the pas r. age of an act which confirmed the ti V. of the actual settlers
 'r. (A1onday-President Monroe's Tour Id the East)