William Edmeston

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The patents of Robert and William Edmeston on the Central New York frontier, c. 1770.

Colonel William Edmeston was a British veteran of the French and Indian War. In 1763 under royal proclamation, he and his brother Lieutenant Robert Edmeston were each awarded 5000 acres (20 km²) in the colonies for their service in the 48th Regiment.

They attempted to establish their claims in what was then a disputed part of the New Hampshire Grants, now Vermont. However, in 1770 they decided to locate on the east bank of the Unadilla River in New York State just west of George Croghan's Otsego patent, in what is now the Town of Edmeston in Otsego County. They did this because of tax purposes. The transactions were facilitated by Percifer Carr, who had been a sergeant in the 48th regiment with Edmeston.

The brothers' properties became known as the Mount Edmeston Tracts. When the Edmeston brothers returned to England, Carr was employed as caretaker of their land.

Possible location of Edmestons' expansion into the 20 Townships west of the Unadilla, c. 1792

[edit] References

• James H. Pickering, New York in the Revolution: Cooper's Wyandotté Published in New York History, Vol. XLIX, No. 2 (April 1968)

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

History of Edmeston, New York