John Goffe, Jr., Edward Lingfield, and Joseph Kidder are ascribed the honor of having been the first white settlers within the limits of the present town of Manchester. They located in 1722 and erected habitations on Cohas Brook. (The History of Hillsborough County, NH. (1885)

The town of Manchester, embacing portions of the towns of Londonderry and Chester and a tract of land lying on the Merrimack River, belonging to Masonian prorietors, called "Harrytown," was chartered September 3, 1751, under the name of "Derryfield." This name is aid to have been derived from the fact that the people of Londonderry had beem accustomed to pasture their cattle withinits limits. As originally incorporated, the town was wholly on the east side of the Merrimack. In 1795, by an act of the Legislature, a gore of land was annexed to the north side of the town, being a portion of "Harrytown," and was intended to be included in the original incorporation. June 13, 1810, the name of the town was changed to Manchester, it is said, as a compliment to Hon. Samuel Blodgett, who constructed a canal arounf Amoskeag Falls and who often asserted that the place some day would be the Manchester of America.(The History of Hillsborough County, NH. (1885)

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