# Goffstown, New Hampshire in the 1810s

> A river farming town of mills, meetinghouses, school districts, and wartime politics on the Piscataquog.

- Place: Goffstown, New Hampshire (43.020, -71.600)
- Years: 1810 to 1819
- Page: https://yorehistory.com/place/goffstown-new-hampshire/1810s
- Step into it (interactive): https://yorehistory.com/?step=Goffstown%2C%20New%20Hampshire%2C%20United%20States&at=43.0204,-71.6004&year=1815

## Looking around

You stand in a town still larger than its later map, running east to the Merrimack River[1] and west toward New Boston and Weare. The ground is uneven, with the Piscataquog valley below and higher land on either side[1]. Along the river and brooks are mill places: sawmills, gristmills, textile mills, carding machines, and a cotton factory[4] use water as power. Farms spread back from the intervale, where river-bottom land is easier to cultivate[1] than the elevations. At the Center stands the old meetinghouse completed in 1769[2], while in the west village a second house of worship, dedicated July 3, 1816[7], draws part of the Sabbath attendance. Roads matter because town meetings and highways had been central business since the first local meeting[2]. Schoolbooks are plain and moral: Primer, Testament, Spelling Book, English Reader, arithmetic, grammar, and Pope[6].

## Work: Water turns the work

The telling figure is 20 sawmills, seven grain mills, two textile mills, two carding machines, and a cotton factory in 1817[4]. Farming is still central because the river intervals are fertile and easier to cultivate[1].

## Faith: Two meetinghouses, one society

The old religious center is the meetinghouse completed in 1769[2], but western residents have a new one dedicated July 3, 1816[7]. The Religious Union Society incorporated in 1816[3] tries to support preaching across the divided town.

## Law & power: Town meeting governs

Local authority runs through town meeting: the first one in the township appointed a committee to lay out highways[2]. By the 1810s, voters are still deciding public matters directly, including how school-interest money should be divided[6].

## In the air: Revival and school money

The decade’s local arguments include religion and education: after years without a settled pastor, Abel Manning’s 1819 preaching was remembered as a powerful revival[3]. In the same year, factions disputed whether school money should follow property or families[6].

## Home & table: Books, wool, and flax

Children meet a narrow printed world of Primer, Testament, Spelling Book, English Reader, arithmetic, grammar, and Pope[6]. Older household work still points to wool and flax spun, woven, colored, and made into garments at home[2].

## Money: Cash is not everything

Local obligations could be mixed: an earlier ministerial salary was paid partly in corn and partly in labor[2]. A remembered bounty of $100 for wool and flax[2] shows how leaders tried to push local production.

## Who lived here: About two thousand residents

Goffstown is not a city but a town of about 2,000 people in 1810[5]. Its 1810s map is broader than the later town, because it still extends east to the Merrimack River[1].

## Roads & news: Roads carry everything

Roads are public business from the start: the first local meeting appointed men to lay out highways[2]. During the War of 1812, people here would have heard wider news through newspapers, militia calls, taverns, post riders, and travelers.

## Year by year

- **1810** (here): Goffstown counted about 2,000 residents in the federal census.[5]
- **1811** (here): Rev. David L. Morril was formally dismissed, leaving Goffstown without a settled minister until 1820.[3]
- **1812** (the country): War with Britain began, and people in Goffstown would have followed reports through newspapers, militia networks, taverns, post riders, and travelers.
- **1815** (here): Residents in western Goffstown moved to build a second house of worship.[7]
- **1816** (here): The west village meetinghouse was dedicated on July 3, and the Religious Union Society was incorporated on December 11.[3]
- **1816** (the world): The Year Without a Summer brought crop anxiety across northern New England after volcanic dust from Tambora disrupted weather worldwide.
- **1817** (here): Goffstown’s water-powered economy included 20 sawmills, seven grain mills, two textile mills, two carding machines, and a cotton factory.[4]
- **1819** (here): Abel Manning’s preaching stirred a powerful religious revival in Goffstown.[3]

## What the sources say

- In the 1810s Goffstown still extended east to the Merrimack River; Hooksett was not cut off until July 2, 1822, and the eastern section was not annexed to Manchester until July 1, 1853. (from the sources)[1]
- The town surface was described as uneven, with the valley of the Piscataquog River and high elevations on either side. (from the sources)[1]
- The intervals along the Piscataquog were called fertile and easy to cultivate, while the higher land was harder to work but still productive. (from the sources)[1]
- The Piscataquog River entered Goffstown from the west and flowed through the town toward the Merrimack at Manchester. (from the sources)[1]
- A later town description says that in 1817 Goffstown had 20 sawmills, seven grain mills, two textile mills, two carding machines, and a cotton factory. (from the sources)[4]
- Goffstown’s 1810 population is given in historical census tables as about 2,000 people. (from the sources)[5]
- The first local town meeting in the township was held on August 28, 1750, and one of its acts was to appoint a committee to lay out highways. (from the sources)[2]
- The old meetinghouse at the Center was completed for use in 1769 and remained there through the 1810s. (from the sources)[2]
- Residents in western Goffstown moved in 1815 to build a second house of worship, which was completed in 1816 and dedicated July 3, 1816. (from the sources)[7]
- In 1816 the Religious Union Society in Goffstown was incorporated for supporting the Gospel, with signers from the East and West meetinghouses. (from the sources)[3]
- After Rev. David L. Morril’s dismissal in 1811, Goffstown had no settled minister until 1820, though money was still appropriated for preaching. (from the sources)[3]
- Rev. Abel Manning preached in Goffstown for several months in 1819, and church records remembered his preaching as producing a powerful revival. (from the sources)[3]
- The town history lists the New England Primer, the Testament, the Spelling Book, the English Reader, Pike’s Arithmetic, Lindley Murray’s Grammar, and Pope’s Essay on Man as schoolbooks. (from the sources)[6]
- In 1819 Goffstown voters disputed how school-interest money should be divided, and the side favoring distribution by number of families in a district prevailed. (from the sources)[6]
- In 1770 Goffstown’s first settled minister was promised a salary partly paid in corn and partly in labor, showing how local obligations could still be reckoned in produce and work rather than cash. (from the sources)[2]
- Samuel Blodget, an early Goffstown resident and judge, offered a $100 bounty to encourage the growth of wool and flax in town. (from the sources)[2]
- The town history says that in earlier Goffstown clothing was commonly domestically manufactured from wool and flax, with spinning wheels and looms in houses. (from the sources)[2]
- No online source opened here gives a detailed street-by-street description of Goffstown village buildings in the 1810s. (not known)
- No local price list for ordinary Goffstown store goods in the 1810s was found in the sources opened here. (not known)
- During the War of 1812, New Hampshire towns such as Goffstown would have heard war news through newspapers, militia calls, taverns, post riders, and travelers, though the opened local sources do not detail Goffstown’s wartime daily experience. (inferred)

## Sources

1. History of the Town of Goffstown, NH: Chapter I, Physical Features. NH-RAB Roots. https://www.nh-roots.com/hillsborough/goffstown/book/chap1.html
2. History of the Town of Goffstown, NH: Chapter XL. NH-RAB Roots. https://www.nh-roots.com/hillsborough/goffstown/book/chap40.html
3. History of the Town of Goffstown, NH: Chapter XXXIII. NH-RAB Roots. https://www.nh-roots.com/hillsborough/goffstown/book/chap33.html
4. History and Description of New England: New Hampshire, 1859. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/History_and_description_of_New_England._New_Hampshire_%28IA_historydescripti00cool%29.pdf
5. Goffstown, New Hampshire: Historical Population Table. WikiZero. https://www.wikizero.net/wiki/en/Goffstown%2C_New_Hampshire
6. History of the Town of Goffstown, NH: Chapter XXII. NH-RAB Roots. https://www.nh-roots.com/hillsborough/goffstown/book/chap22.html
7. History of the Town of Goffstown, NH: Chapter XXXII. NH-RAB Roots. https://www.nh-roots.com/hillsborough/goffstown/book/chap32.html

## The same place in other decades

- [Goffs Town in the 1760s](https://yorehistory.com/place/goffstown-new-hampshire/1760s/md)

## Nearby, about the same time

- [New Boston, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire in the 1820s](https://yorehistory.com/place/new-boston-hillsborough-county-new-hampshire/1820s/md) (9 km)
- [Plymouth in the 1840s](https://yorehistory.com/place/plymouth-plymouth-county-massachusetts/1840s/md) (141 km)
- [Pittstown, Rensselaer County, New York in the 1830s](https://yorehistory.com/place/pittstown-rensselaer-county-new-york/1830s/md) (155 km)

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Researched by Yore's AI historian (gpt-5.5) on 2026-10-12 from the sources listed. It is about the place and the time, not about any person. Statements marked "inferred" are conclusions, not records. Cite as: Yore, "Goffstown, New Hampshire in the 1810s", https://yorehistory.com/place/goffstown-new-hampshire/1810s