William French and the Westminster Massacre
William French lived on Old Ferry Road. He was born in 1753 and died in 1775, 8 days shy of his 22nd birthday. His early death arrived in a hail of gunfire at the Westminster courthouse. His body was struck by five bullets fired by his neighbors. How does a community get to the point where neighbor will shoot neighbor? The early days of Brattleborough were contentious. Some settlers were loyal to New York, some to New Hampshire, some liked British rule, and some despised it. In those first years, those loyal to New York and the King of England controlled town government. Land speculation was a driving influence along the Connecticut River. In 1764 the King’s Council gave control of all land west of the Connecticut River to the colony of New York. Under Massachusetts and New Hampshire oversight, settlers had been in the area since the 1720’s but now, forty years later, Great […]