State of Westmoreland

The State of Westmoreland was a short-lived self proclaimed state that seceded from Pennsylvania.

At the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War, both Pennsylvania and Connecticut claimed ownership of the Wyoming Valley. The Congress of the Confederation was asked to decide on the legal owner. With the Decree of Trenton on December 30, 1782, the confederation government officially decided that the Wyoming Valley belonged to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania then ruled that the Connecticut settlers ("Yankees") were not citizens of the Commonwealth, could not vote, and were to give up their property claims.

In May 1784, the Connecticut settlers were force-marched away from the valley. In November, they returned with a greater force and captured and destroyed Fort Dickinson. With that victory, Captain John Franklin proposed that a new state separate from Connecticut and Pennsylvania be created, to be called Westmoreland.

To avoid further armed conflict the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania reversed its earlier decision and agreed that Yankee property claims prior to the Decree of Trenton should be honored. The Connecticut Yankees accepted the proposed compromise, part of which involved separating a sizable part of Northumberland County to create a new county. On September 23, 1786, the Pennsylvania General Assembly created Luzerne County, named for the French minister the Chevalier de la Luzerne.

This newly created county encompassed a large area; Lackawanna, Wyoming, Susquehanna, and part of Bradford County would all eventually be separated out as independent counties.

Note that the State of Westmoreland is completely unrelated to the current Westmoreland County located in southwestern Pennsylvania, which was created by an Act of the Assembly and approved by Governor of Pennsylvania Richard Penn on February 26, 1773.

ources

* [http://www.buckyogi.com/footnotes/natuz.htm#w] Footnotes to history
* [http://www.luzernecounty.org/living/history_of_luzerne_county] History of Luzerne County
* [http://www.co.westmoreland.pa.us/westmoreland/cwp/view.asp?a=1430&q=576537&westmorelandNav=%7c] History of Westmoreland County