Bennington County Vermont GenWeb

Welcome to the Bennington County GenWeb site, which is part of the VTGenWeb Project. The VTGenWeb Project is an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project which endeavors to provide free genealogy web sites for genealogical research in the United States.

My name is Lynn Tooley and I am the county coordinator for the Bennington County GenWeb.

Please note: Though the information on this web page is believed to be correct, the possibility of error remains. Please notify Lynn should an error be found.

Bennington County is located in the southwestern corner of Vermont, communities in Bennington County include: Arlington, Bennington, Bondville, Dorset, Landgrove, Manchester, Peru, Pownal, Readsboro, Rupert, Sandgate, Shaftsbury, Stamford, Winhall and Woodford. The shire towns (county seats) are Bennington (the Southshire) and Manchester (the Northshire). Its largest town is Bennington.

History

Bennington created by the first general assembly on 17 March 1778, and is the oldest county in Vermont still in existence. Vermont was organized into two original counties, with Bennington in the west and Unity (a few days later renamed Cumberland) in the east. Rutland County was created On February 16, 1781, from Bennington County. On April 13 1781 Bennington gained the gore east of the town of Bromley (now Peru) from Windham and Windsor Counties.

From June 26, 1781 until February 23, 1782, Vermont attempted to annex part of New York east of the Hudson River (the so-called West Union); inhabitants in the area favored Vermont's township form of government, while Vermont hoped to gain bargaining power through expansion. New York did not lose control of the area. For almost seven months Bennington County overlapped part of Albany County, New York.

On February 27, 1787 Windham County gained the town of Stratton from Bennington County, On October 25, 1805 Rutland County gained from the county when the town of Mount Tabor gained from the town of Peru. The county gained from Rutland County when the town of Dorset gained a small area from the town of Mount Tabor on November 17, 1825.

Origin of County Name

Bennington County was named after Benning Wentworth (1696–1770), the colonial governor of New Hampshire (1741–1766).

County Clerk

Bennington County Clerk
207 South Street
Bennington, VT 05201
Phone: (802) 447-2700