At 04:34 PM 5/31/02 -0400, Tim Frank wrote:

>
>Does anyone know what state would have claimed the area around Wilkes-Barre,
>PA at the time of the revolution?
>
Tim:
The area around modern Wilkes-Barre, comprising various small settlements
such as Forty Fort, Wintermoot's Fort and others, was claimed by both
Pennslyvania and Connecticut, and was subject to some unrest during the
"Yankee-Pennamite Wars" prior to the American Revolution. Certain
Connecticut militia units actually garrisoned some of these posts in the
Wyoming Valley. Col. Zebulon Butler, who lead the Patriot's defense during
the attack, was a New Englander. Part of the motivation of the "Wyoming
Massacre" raid is that the Senecas were displeased by Anglo/European
encroachment on their territory.

A search on "Yankee-Pennamite" yields several sites with background info,
like this one: http://www.rootsweb.com/~paluzern/patk/kingston.htm

Note that this general area was defined as Northumberland Co, PA at the
time of the Revolution.

regards,
Greg


Greg Ketcham
webmaster,
"Drums Along The Mohawk: the American Revolution on the New York Frontier"
http://www.nyhistory.net/~drums