History of Goshen
The town of Goshen was incorporated on December 27, 1791, when the Act of Incorporation was finalized by the New Hampshire Senate. Goshen’s 22.5 square miles is comprised of land which was originally part of six surrounding towns: Sunapee, Newbury, Newport, Lempster, Unity and Washington.
Geography played an important part in the creation of our town. Most of the land that became the town of Goshen came from the towns of Wendell (present day Sunapee) and Fisherfield (present day Newbury). Inhabitants of this area were separated from the centers of their towns by Mount Sunapee, and the land in Fisherfield had not been settled by1768 when the first petition to incorporate was made. The reason given in this petition to form a new town states that the inhabitants of these areas were “living on a Tract of Land lying in the Remote corners of the Towns … which makes it Exceedingly Inconvenient [to attend] Town affairs [such] as Publick Town Meetings and Religious Societies.”
All the towns involved supported the formation of a new town except for Lempster. Their disapproval centered on losing valuable ministerial tax dollars. The objections were eventually overcome five years later through a petition made by Lempster resident William Story. This resulted in the 1791 Article of Incorporation statement that residents of Goshen who once belonged to Lempster would continue to pay ministerial taxes in support of Lempster’s clergyman. That practice continued for six years.
How did Goshen get its name? It is not known who suggested naming this new town Goshen, but it is believed that it came from the fact that early settlers of Lempster came from the town of Goshen, Connecticut.
Goshen’s first Town Meeting took place on March 8, 1792 at the home of John Wheeler. Of those attending there were twenty-seven voters (only men at that time) present. Votes were cast for New Hampshire Governor and Senators, and the election of Town Officers and five Highway Surveyors. Goshen’s first Town Officers were: Thomas Penniman, Moderator; Allen Willey, Clerk; Elijah Woodward, Luther Martin, Edward Dame, Selectmen; Amos Hall, Treasurer; Arthur Humphrey, Constable; and Ezekiel Chellis and Daniel Grindle, Tithingmen. Money was also voted for highways and deferring the expenses of Incorporation.
The first prominent settlers of the land that was now Goshen were Capt. Benjamin Rand, William Lang and Daniel Grindle in the area once known as Wendell (Sunapee today.) Information about the families of these men and other early Goshen settlers can be found under The People of Goshen.