GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NY HISTORY AND LOOKUP (EXTINCT COUNTY, 1770-1777)

County History Books

*None Listed

Gloucester County, New York: A Genealogical Overview

Gloucester County was a short-lived, largely theoretical county created by the colonial Province of New York in a failed attempt to assert its jurisdiction over the fiercely disputed territory known as the New Hampshire Grants. Its history is not one of a functioning government but of a paper entity existing in the midst of a heated land dispute that ultimately led to the formation of the independent Vermont Republic. For genealogists, searching for “Gloucester County” records is often fruitless; the key is to understand the conflict and know which successor Vermont institutions hold the actual records of the settlers who lived there.

I. County Formation and Evolution

The story of Gloucester County is one of political maneuvering, settler resistance, and eventual dissolution with the birth of a new state.

  • 1770: County Formed: Gloucester County was established by the Province of New York on March 16, 1770, in tandem with Cumberland County to its south.
  • Parent Entity: It was created from the vast northern territory of Albany County. Any legal actions or land patents filed under New York authority in this region prior to 1770 would be found in Albany County records.
  • Dissolution and Successor Entities: New York’s authority was never fully accepted by the populace, who largely held land titles from New Hampshire. With the start of the American Revolution, settlers declared independence from both Great Britain and New York.
    • 1777: The territory was incorporated into the newly declared, independent Vermont Republic. This act effectively abolished Gloucester County.
    • 1781: The Vermont government organized its own counties. The territory that was formerly Gloucester County became the core of Orange County, Vermont. Later, parts were used to form Caledonia and Essex counties. Therefore, the primary successor entity for genealogical records is Orange County, Vermont.
  • Name Origin: The county was named for William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, a brother of King George III.
  • County Seat History: The designated county seat was Newbury (now in Vermont). The county government was barely functional, and court sessions were held sporadically in a tavern. A planned courthouse and jail at a site called Kingsland never materialized.

II. Settlement and Early History

The entire history of the county is defined by the conflict over land ownership.

  • The New Hampshire Grants: Beginning in the 1740s, New Hampshire’s colonial governor, Benning Wentworth, issued township grants for lands west of the Connecticut River, an area also claimed by New York. Settlers, mostly from Connecticut and Massachusetts, poured into the region, establishing towns under New Hampshire authority.
  • Conflict and the Green Mountain Boys: When New York attempted to enforce its claim by creating counties like Gloucester and invalidating New Hampshire’s grants, it was met with organized, and often armed, resistance. While the Green Mountain Boys under Ethan Allen were more active west of the mountains, settlers in the Gloucester County area also organized to resist New York officials and surveyors.
  • Revolutionary War: The settlers of the region overwhelmingly sided with the American cause, and the fight for independence from Great Britain became intertwined with their fight for independence from New York’s land claims.

III. Genealogical Records and Resources

Crucial Note: Researchers will find very few, if any, records titled “Gloucester County, New York.” The county existed for too short a time and with too little authority to generate a meaningful body of records. The following resources are where the actual information is held.

  • Primary Record Sources (Town and Successor County Records):
    • Vermont Town Clerks: The most important records of the inhabitants (land transactions between individuals, vital records, town meeting minutes) were kept at the town level under their original New Hampshire charters. These records are held by the respective Town Clerk’s offices in Vermont towns like Newbury, Bradford, and others.
    • Orange County, VT Clerk: As the primary legal successor, the Orange County Clerk’s Office in Chelsea, Vermont, holds the earliest Vermont-era court and land records for the region after 1781.
    • New York State Archives: A small number of documents relating to New York’s colonial-era patents, surveys, and high-level court cases concerning the territory may be housed at the New York State Archives in Albany. These represent New York’s claims, not the daily records of the settlers.
  • Vital Records:
    • There were no county-level birth, marriage, or death records. Any such records from this period are found in town records (held by Vermont town clerks) or in the registers of local churches and ministers.
  • Libraries and Societies:
    • Vermont Historical Society: Located in Barre, Vermont, this is the premier institution for researching the history of the New Hampshire Grants and early Vermont.
    • Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA): Located in Montpelier, this archive holds early Vermont state-level government records, court records, and probate files.
    • New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS): Located in Boston, MA, this society has extensive resources on the New England settlers who migrated to this region.
  • Bordering Jurisdictions (at the time of its 1770 creation):
    • Cumberland County, New York (south)
    • Albany County, New York (west)
    • Province of Quebec (north)
    • The Connecticut River (eastern border, disputed with New Hampshire)

Please share any resources you have and will do lookups or links to resources you are aware of. Thanks