Place:Goshen (town), Orange, New York, United States

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Goshen is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 13,687 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the Biblical Land of Goshen. It contains a village also called Goshen, which is the county seat of Orange County. The town is centrally located in the county.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

European settlement began around 1714, although plans for this were made beginning about 1654. The town was established in 1788, after the American Revolutionary War and New York becoming a state. As population increased in the area, in 1830, part of Goshen was divided off to form the new Town of Hamptonburgh. In 1845, another part was used to form the Town of Chester.

When the French and Indian War began in 1756, the men of Goshen took up arms. The old Journal of the Assembly relates the services of Captain George DeKay as an express between Goshen and Minisink. It mentions as his guards Peter Carter, David Benjamin, Philip Reid, and Francis Armstrong. It tells also that Colonel Vincent Mathews was paid two pounds to furnish guides to regulars posted at Goshen from October 1757, to February 1758. Colonels Clinton and DeKay fortified block houses for the settlers' defense. Samuel Gale was paid 56 pounds to furnish provisions to troops on the frontiers near Goshen. Colonel Benj. Tusten, Captain Daniel Case, and Captain J. Bull were reimbursed for their expenses in building block houses Nos. 1 and 2 on the western frontier in January 1757.

In 1763, Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Golden appealed to the General Assembly for troops to relieve the militia on the borders of Orange and Ulster counties, an area infiltrated by the enemy. At this time the Town of Goshen extended from the Hudson River to the New Jersey border. In 1764 a bill was passed dividing the precinct of Goshen into two precincts, to be called Goshen and Cornwall. After this division, Cornwall embraced the present towns of Cornwall, Monroe and Blooming Grove, while Goshen included the present town of Warwick.

Revolutionary fervor built in the years before war broke out in the late eighteenth century. On June 8, 1775, over 360 men signed the Revolutionary pledge at Goshen, headed by Henry Wisner at the top of the list. Once General George Washington, riding eastward on the Florida road toward his headquarters at Newburgh, stopped with his staff to chat with local children at the old school house near the stone quarry.

The battle of Minisink took place on July 22, 1779. The Goshen regiment, under Colonel Tusten, was nearly destroyed by an estimated 500 Indians and Tories commanded by Joseph Brant (Mohawk), also known as Thayendanegea, the Scourge. He held a colonel's commission from George III. The Goshen regiment marched against Brant's forces to avenge a raid made by Brant upon the settlers near Minisink on July 20. They were joined by a small reinforcement, under Colonel Hathorn, of the Warwick regiment, and the latter assumed command. While marching along the west bank of the Delaware River, they discovered the Indians about three quarters of a mile away, and Colonel Hathorn chased them. Brant took advantage of the woods and moved to the rear of the attacking party. His forces completely routed the small colonial force that opposed them. The colonists had little ammunition and some fled; more men were killed in that stage than in battle. Colonel Tusten, a surgeon, dressed his men's wounds and stayed on the field until he became a casualty. Of the 80 Goshen men in the engagement, 44 were killed outright and numerous others died later of their wounds.^[1]

Colonel Benjamin Tusten, who was a physician and surgeon by profession, came originally from Southold, L. I., in 1746, at the age of three years. His parents located on the banks of the Otterkill on the patent granted to Elizabeth Denn. His father, Benjamin Tusten, was appointed one of the judges of the courts of the county and also a colonel in the Orange County regiment of militia. The son, Benjamin, was sent to an academy at Jamaica, Long Island. At age nineteen, he returned to Goshen to study medicine with Doctor Thomas Wiskham. He later studied further in Newark, New Jersey, and New York City., returning in 1769 to practice medicine in Goshen, where two other physicians, Doctor John Gale and Doctor Pierson, had already located. He was very successful and was widely known as a surgeon. He married Miss Brown, by whom he had two sons and three daughters. In 1777 he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Goshen regiment of militia under General Allison, and in 1778 was appointed surrogate of Orange County, which office he held when he lost his life at Minisink.

Captain John Wood, of Colonel Tusten's regiment, was captured in the battle of Minisink. Brant spared his life, reportedly because he saw Wood give a Masonic sign and was himself a Mason. Wood was taken captive and transported to a Mohawk village in Upper Canada. He left a journal of events that discussed the life and character of Brant.

19th century

On July 22, 1822, the village of Goshen erected a monument to the dead of the Minisink battle. The remains of those men were gathered from the battlefield for burial in a mass grave marked by the monument. On July 22, 1862, a more elaborate monument was dedicated to these men. The funds were bequeathed in the will of Dr. Merritt H. Cash, of Minisink.^[1]

The current county courthouse in Goshen was constructed in 1841 and reflects the Greek Revival style in architecture. This is prevalent among buildings of a similar age in the Town and was popular for many county courthouses.

Goshen's First Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1720. In the colonial era, public hangings were conducted at the tree located just outside the church The church's steeple, more than 8 stories tall, towers over the historic center of the town. As late as 1890, the church continued to be the tallest structure in the county, visible from miles away. The church connects to a series of tunnels under the town. No one knows their original purpose. (A drone video of the church can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=307&v=lta0TM4ZqAw.)

Horse racing was popular in Goshen and other towns. Competitors raced horses on the roads from 1783, at the end of the Revolution. What is now known as Goshen Historic Track opened in 1838 and is the oldest half-mile track in the world. It is also "the oldest continuously operated horse racing track in the country" and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. This region was important in the development of harness racing, and owners bred horses to excel in this sport. On June 24, 1873 President Ulysses S. Grant visited the town, staying in a local house and watching racing from a barn on the property.

After the Civil War began, Goshen was the site for Camp Wickham, which held volunteers raised in Goshen in the summer of 1862. The 124th Regiment of Volunteers was mustered into federal service in Goshen on September 5, 1862, serving nearly three years. They mustered out at Washington's Headquarters in Newburgh, New York on June 14, 1865. The soldiers of this regiment fought in the Appomattox Campaign, and were present at the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.

20th century to present

Notable natives and residents include General Martin Dempsey (born 1952), the former Army Chief of Staff, and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In 2007, Michael Kohn, an 18-year-old Goshen Volunteer firefighter, started a fire that destroyed a house at 113 Webster Ave. Kohn pleaded guilty to arson, admitting also to starting fires in another house, a barn and a vehicle within a short period. He said that he had been struggling with depression. He was sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison.

In 2014, Devin Giordano and Jennifer Molyneaux murdered 81-year-old Helen Mills in her Goshen home, after breaking in to steal money for drugs. The pair pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2015, and Giordano pleaded guilty to other counts, including arson and robbery. Giordano was sentenced to 20 years to life for the murder.

On May 29, 2021, Lego opened a Legoland theme park in Goshen, which is 60 miles north of New York City. The park opened on May 29, 2021, with protocols for protection from the Covid 19 pandemic. It was the first major theme park to open in the Northeast in 40 years.

Research Tips

External Links

• Outstanding guide to Goshen family history and genealogy resources (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Birth, marriage, and death records, town histories, cemeteries, churches, newspapers, libraries, and genealogical societies.