Farming on Harris Hill

Researched and Written By: Don Goss Harry Goss arrived on Harris Hill with the quiet confidence of a man who already knew the land, the seasons, and the rhythm of farm life. Farming wasn’t simply his trade; it was his calling. As the original text puts it, he believed it to be “one of life’s …

This is the Place

Researched and Written by: Don Goss The house had stood on Harris Hill long before the Goss family ever saw it, known to everyone in the area as the Nelson Haskell place. Built around 1870, it carried the confidence of a home raised by capable hands—solid lines, thoughtful planning, and woodwork that glowed warmly even …

Follow the Dream

Researched and Written By: Don Goss Harry Adrian Goss arrived in Greene, Maine, not as a pioneer or a stranger, but as a young man carried forward by the long, steady current of his family’s journey. In 1890, the Goss family—James and Sarah, their son Elmore, their daughters Idy and Alida, and young Harry—left the …

The Ross Family: From the Highlands of Scotland to the Banks of the Little Androscoggin

Researched and Written By: Don Goss The name Ross carries with it a lineage rooted deep in the ancient soil of Scotland. Its origins lie with Clan Ross, whose homeland stretched across the northern and eastern reaches of the country, bordered by the North Sea and the broad sweep of the Moray Firth. In earlier …

From the Isles of Shoals to the Maine Frontier

Researched and Written By: Don Goss The history of the Goss family begins on the wind‑swept shores of seventeenth‑century New England, where the Atlantic shaped both the fortunes and the character of those who lived by it. Among them was Richard Goss, born in Marblehead around 1662 or 1663, a man whose life bridged two …

Famous Goss Family Leaders

Researched and Written By: Don Goss Before turning to the branch of the family known in this work as the Danville Goss Connection, it is helpful to look at several notable Goss families who lived in early New England. Whether or not they are directly related to the Danville line, their stories form an important …

The Goss Family

Researched and Written By: Don Goss The name Goss is old—older than memory in some places—and it has wandered across continents the way rivers wander across a map. You can find it in many countries, carried by families who share no blood with one another, each with their own tale of how the name first …

Chief Polin, Stephen Manchester, and the Goss Family: A Frontier Legacy

Researched and Written By: Don Goss Chief Poland, also referred to as Polin, was a distinguished Native American leader in the mid-eighteenth century. He held the position of King within the Rockemekas lineage of the Abenaki tribe. Similar to many Native Americans of the region, he traveled throughout southwestern Maine and was regarded by settlers …