Scuttled by Revolution: Vandalia and the Grand Ohio Company

Join the Trent House Association for a special talk by historian Jason Cherry on the early 1770s attempt to create a fourteenth American colony known as “Vandalia.” Cherry will explore the ambitions behind the proposed colony—championed by figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Wharton, George Mercer, and Captain William Trent—and explain how rising resistance and rebellion in the other colonies ultimately doomed the project.

In May 1769, Captain William Trent, the son of Trenton’s founder, traveled to London to join fellow members of the Grand Ohio Company in petitioning the British Crown for authorization to establish a new western colony. Years of negotiations with the Privy Council nearly brought “Vandalia” into existence before political upheaval in the American colonies ended the effort.

Cherry is the author of two books on Captain Trent:

• Pittsburgh’s Lost Outpost: Captain Trent’s Fort

• William Trent: Factor of Ambition

Copies of both titles will be available for purchase and signing before the talk. Guests will also have the rare opportunity to view Captain Trent’s 1772 silk waistcoat, tailored for his appearance before the Privy Council and now part of the Trent House collection.

The William Trent House Museum, a National Historic Landmark located within the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area and the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail, is dedicated to sharing the authentic history of the house, its site, and the people who lived and worked there. The Museum is owned by the City of Trenton and operated by the Trent House Association with support from donors; grants from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the New Jersey Cultural Trust, the New Jersey Historic Trust, the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission (with funding from the New Jersey Historical Commission); and the Bunbury Fund and New Jersey Arts & Culture Renewal Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation; as well as contributions from NJM Insurance Group and Orion General Contractors.