The area that became Sherburne, part of the Chenango River valley, was originally inhabited by the Oneida people, until the late 1780s when the state of New York purchased the land from them.

[4] Most of the earliest inhabitants and settlers of Sherburne were originally from the town of Kent, Litchfield County, Connecticut.

It was at that point that they resolved to move again as a body to the Chenango Valley, which had just begun to open lands in the Twenty Townships.

On their arrival they found that a family consisting of five men, one woman and some small children from Paris in Oneida County had squatted a few hours previously on Handsome Brook, and were occupying a bark cabin.

There they found hospitable welcome through the night and in the morning were regaled by their hostess with new bread and beer, both her own making.

[8] The exploratory party returned to Duanesburgh with a good report sometime prior to October 9, 1791, for on that date, James Raymond married Melissa Burritt, the second daughter and child of Rev.

[10] In the summer of 1792, the exploratory party returned, which was mainly composed of the original proprietors, and settled in a cabin near Handsome Brook.

And it was not confined alone to the proprietors and their families, most of whom arrived that time, but many of their friends and neighbors from Duanesburgh joined with them.

The opening of the Chenango Canal in 1837 between Utica and Binghamton, which ran right down the middle of Sherburne, greatly reduced the cost and time of receiving goods and supplies.

During the Civil War, Union soldiers set up camp on the banks of the canal, on what is now the home of Westlake Village.