A little known fact about Clarendon is that what is now Chippenhook and Clarendon Springs was once part of the town of Kelso under a NY Patent. Note that by Clarendon Springs, we refer to the village area. The very northern tier of what is now Clarendon was part of Socialborough under the NY Patents. Clarendon was very much contested ground in its early days of settlement:
1) What is now Clarendon was chartered under the NH Grants in 1761. NH had claimed all of
Vermont as part of its territory and between 1749 and 1764 chartered 131
towns in what subsequently became Vermont.
2) What is now Clarendon was claimed under the Lydius Grant of 1732 (and confirmed by Gov. Shirley of Massachusetts in 1744). That grant claimed all of the land running 24 miles to either side of Otter Creek for its entire length. Durham was created under the Lydius Grant and then again in 1772 under a NY Patent. Neither NY or NH recognized the Lydius Grant as valid which cast a shadow on any property bought under it, hence warranting recognition under a NY Patent. In rough terms Durham covered most of Clarendon excluding the western part (Chippenhook & Clarendon Springs) and what is now the North Clarendon Village area, extending west over Otter Creek and across the northern tier of Clarendon. That northern part of Clarendon was part of the town of Socialborough under a NY Patent. The Chippenhook & Clarendon Springs part of Clarendon was part of the town of Kelso under a NY patent.
3) What is now Vermont was granted to NY by a 1764 decision by King George III settling a long running dispute between NY & NH. NY said their eastern border was the Connecticut River. NH said their western border roughly followed the same line northward previously established between NY & MA.
Despite the 1764 ruling by King George III giving Vermont to NY, the majority of the early settlers bought their property under the NH Grants and as such favored being part of NH. That gave rise to Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. The ensuing conflict ended with the creation of an independent Vermont in 1777 not part of NY or NH. Even then NY continued to claim VT as theirs until 1790, but NY did not have any control and VT functioned as an independent republic until admitted as the 14th state in 1791. The towns chartered by NH prevailed over the NY Patents.
Below is the petition by a group of investors in 1767 asking New York to create the town of Kelso. It follows a fairly standard presentation & verbiage creating towns in what is now VT under NY Patents.
At the bottom are two maps. The 1st map is from 1767. It is a hybrid in that it shows Socialborough from its NY Patent but then labels what was Durham as Clarendon. To the west of what is shown as Clarendon was Kelso. Being NY hadn't patented Durham yet at the time of this map being created, not labeling it Durham possibly was so as not to add any credence to the Lydius Grant that first created Durham.
The 2nd map is from 1771 which identifies individual lots in Socialborough. On it you can see a line indicating the boundary between present day Rutland Town and Clarendon. The Clarendon part is the North Clarendon part of town. Note that the measurements are in chains; one chain being equal to 66'. At the very bottom there is a diagram in which you can see Kelso.
Clarendon's early settlement land controversies can be read about in greater detail in the Land Grants and Confiscation entry in this collection.
The cover photo is of the ruins of the Kelso Abbey in Scotland which was founded in 1128. Whether our Kelso derived from that Kelso or some other is not known.