Goshen


M. W. Gray House

Photo by Carol A. Hanny

A house and barn owned by M. W. Gray, at the corners of the present Rt. 4 an 63, the Goshen history tells
of the freight business.
There is a room in the basement that was undetectable.  A "closet" under the stairway, with
a trap door to an enclosed room in the basement, the only way in was to enter from above.
Also known as the David Thompson House.
GPS  N  41 49 50 / W 73 13 30



Trap door from the top


Trap door from the basement




Whist Pond Manor

-from "Mysteries and Histories of Goshen", June 21, 1938, by Mrs. Lora Ives, Handwritten manuscript

"At my father's place, known as Whist Pond Manor...The Manor house was built in 1772 by Nathaniel Parmelee.  It contained a secret chamber by the
great stone chimney, to which access was easy from the downstairs closet, under the stairs in the front hall, by moving a board in the ceiling, also by
a movable panel in a shallow closet upstairs, and by a loose board in the attic floor.  The chimney kept the room warm in the winter and it is supposed
to have been used to secret English refugees in Colonial days, also for runaway slaves during and before the Civil War"

Also known as Parmalee Manor.  "The land owned by the brothers Nathaniel and Theodore Parmalee on the north and east sides of Whist Pond was so
extensive it was called Parmalee's Manor, now "The Manor".  (Place Names)


There is also a cemetery, off Whist Pond Road, called the Annie Hill Cemetery.  The Prince family is buried there.
Another name associated with it is Vina Hill.  Listed as a Black/Indian cemetery 1896. 



Bald Ledge / Sterlings

-from "Mysteries and Histories of Goshen", June 21, 1938, by Mrs. Lora Ives, Handwritten manuscript

"The place called Bald Ledge where the Sterlings lived for several years at the north end of the street, is said to have a similar room."
(like Whist Pond Manor)

Blackland Road
Off Hageman-Shean Road, any connection?
Was also called Hazard Road.
South of North Pond,  (Place Names p. 186)

Jake Road
Named after a black man who lived there, area was a reservation.  There is also Jake's or Jacob's Brook after Jacob Prince.

Slave Drive?
Dog Pond Road, labeled on an old map as Slave Drive.   No one at the Historical Society knows anything about.





Taylor House
No information, someone just mentioned.

Stanley  House
Torrington Road.
I was told there were hidden rooms to hide the slaves and two trap doors.

And I was told that Nathaniel Stanley owned a slave, Toby.

I was also told about a "slave house", just a foundation left now, on Route 63, south of the rotary.

A house on Route 63. south of the fairgrounds, supposedly had a hidden room in the basement.
(oral tradition)

 Another house on the corner of Route 4 and Beech Hill Road had trap doors.

There may be some slaves buried in the cemetery by the Post Office.