They were Anglicans and had fled Roxbury, Connecticut, because of the oppressive requirements of the established Congregational church.

At a Proprietor's meeting in 1764, the town voted to give 50 acres (20 hectares) of land to any man who would set up a gristmill in what is now East Arlington.

This offer was accepted by Remember Baker (first cousin of Ethan Allen), who built a grist and sawmill.

In the years leading up to the American Revolution, both New York and New Hampshire laid claim to lands comprising current-day Vermont.

Arlington was, for the most part, settled by Anglicans from Roxbury, Newtown, and Milford, Connecticut, with ownership rights derived from the New Hampshire Grants.

Among other things, the residents of Arlington relied on the militancy of Ethan Allen to discourage those touting New York grants.

Several members of the Green Mountain Boys lived in Arlington before the American Revolution, including Thomas Chittenden, Seth Warner and Remember Baker, who was the first town clerk.

[4] During the American Revolutionary War, the Patriot soldiers of the Green Mountain Boys rallied against Loyalist opposition in the town.

In 1777, Adams' men saw action, fighting for British General John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga in the Province of New York and were soundly defeated.