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Presbyterian Historical Society

Goshen, First Presbyterian Church

According to The First Presbyterian Church Goshen, New York 1720-1895 by Robert Bruce Clark, First Presbyterian Church Goshen was organized in 1720, six years after Goshen township was established. It was the first church organized in Orange County, New York, built on land deeded for a church and public use. Construction began on the site in 1797. The original site was left vacant and a new building erected in 1810, followed by a second in 1852, which remains in use by the congregation today. According to a session minutes entry in 1818, session records from the 1780s are missing.

Records deposited with the society include:

  • First Presbyterian Church, Goshen, New York, marriage records, 1849-1885 (Call number: V MI 46 G676fm)
  • First Presbyterian Church, Goshen, New York, membership records, 1870-1904 (Call number: V MI 46 G676fme)
  • First Presbyterian Church, Goshen, New York, registers, 1767-1851, 1903-1922 (Call number: V MI 46 G676fr)
  • First Presbyterian Church, Goshen, New York, registry of baptisms, 1870-1941 (Call number: V MI 46 G676frb)
  • First Presbyterian Church, Goshen, New York, session records, 1794-1925 (Call number: V MI 46 G676fs)

Also available on microfilm:

  • First Presbyterian Church (Goshen, N.Y.). Records, 1767- 1925, microform. (Call number: MFPOS 598 r. 1)

If you are interested in borrowing the microfilm, please have the interlibrary loan (ILL) librarian at your local public or academic library contact us directly to submit the request on your behalf. We accept ILL requests by letter, email and fax. We loan a maximum of three reels per request for a four-week loan period. We charge a fee of $20.00 per reel, plus $5.00 for shipping. This material will be held on reserve for you and may only be used within the borrowing library. Please provide your ILL librarian with the catalog information provided above when making your request. Please tell the ILL librarian that requests cannot come from OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, Inc.) because we are not listed as a borrowing institution.

An additional resource for genealogical information in our holdings is:

  • Coleman, Charles C, compiler. The Early Records of the First Presbyterian Church at Goshen, New York: From 1767 to 1885 (Goshen, New York: Democrat Printing, c. 1934). (Call number: BX9211.N70924 F506 1934)

Non-genealogical records include: postcards of the church (Call number: RG 428); a historical sketch (Call number: MS411); congregational vertical file (Call number: RG 425).

Sources:

Clark, Robert Bruce. The First Presbyterian Church Goshen, New York 1720-1895. (New York: Anson D.F. Randolph and Company, 1895). (Call number: BX 9211.N70924 F506 1895)

Seese, Mildred Parker. A Tower of the Lord in the Land of Goshen. (Goshen, New York: Bookmill on Windy Hill, 1945). (Call number: BX9211.N70924 F506 1945)