VT HCR035

Commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Westminster Massacre on March 13, 1775, which Vermonters have long considered the first bloodshed of the American Revolution

On March 13, 1775, 100 Whigs armed with staves occupied the Cumberland County courthouse to protest excessive lawsuits that were causing them to lose property to Tory neighbors through bankruptcy proceedings

Sheriff William Paterson's posse fired point-blank on the protesters, killing William French of Brattleboro and Daniel Houghton of Dummerston, and wounding several others

The following day, 400 armed local militia recaptured the courthouse, imprisoned New York officials, and permanently ended New York government in Cumberland County—nearly two years before Vermont declared independence on January 15, 1777

Directs the Secretary of State to send a copy of the resolution to the Westminster Historical Society