A Family Tree of the BARNUM/BARNHAM Family Worldwide
Prior to 1777 the area constituting the present-day state of Vermont was claimed by three British colonies. The Province of Massachusetts Bay claimed the land on the basis of the 1629 charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Province of New York claimed Vermont based on land granted to the Duke of York (later King James II) in 1664, and the Province of New Hampshire, whose western limits had never been determined, also claimed Vermont. On 18 January 1777 the area was constituted as New Connecticut, and on 2 June of that same year it became the Independent State of Vermont. It joined the Union as the 14th state on 4 March 1791.
