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Coos County NHGenWeb is a free genealogical site about the history of the county. We hope you find helpful clues for your research of Coos county ancestors.

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County Coordinator: Norma Hass normahass01@gmail.com

COUNTY FORMATION

The county was originally a part of Grafton County when in November 1791 the inhabitants of Lancaster, Northumber-land, and Stratford, petitioned the State of New Hampshire for a new county. The petitioners requested to be "...separated from the said County of Grafton and made a new County by a line drawn from Connecticut River between the Towns of Concord alias Gunthwait and Littleton and on Eastward taking in the Towns of Conway, Eaton..." It was granted in 1803.

Coös County got it's name from the Coo-ash-auke Indians, whose name means "Dwellers in the pine tree country." The Indian word "Cohos" or "coo-ash" signifies pines. It was referred to as upper and lower Cohos.

The county seat is Lancaster.

"Coos county, formerly the northern part of Grafton county, was incorporated December 24, 1803. It contains twenty-six towns, the shire towns being Lancaster and Colebrook. Here are the loftiest mountains of New England, including the presidential range. The largest asset is the influx of summer tourists and boarders, though in the lowlands, along the rivers and streams is very fertile land. The county has an area of one million acres." 1916 History of New Hampshire, by E. S. Stackpole, volume2, page 58.