Goshen County is located in the southeast corner of Wyoming and has within it towns named "Lagrange" and "Yoder." To an Amish or Mennonite person this would appear very interesting, for "Goshen"
Goshen County is located in the southeast corner of Wyoming and has within it towns named "Lagrange" and "Yoder." To an Amish or Mennonite person this would appear very interesting, for "Goshen" is a town in Indiana and the hub of a large Mennonite settlement, "LaGrange" is the name of an adjoining Indiana county which contains the third largest concentration of Amish in America, and "Yoder" is the second most common Amish surname. Surely this Wyoming county would seem to have real Amish or Mennonite roots.
The origin of the name "Goshen County" does not, however, trace back to Goshen, IN. It is thought to have derived from an early trapper named "Goshe." By 1846 the name "Goshe's Hole" was applied to a rich irrigated farming area. By 1888 it appeared on the map as Goshen Hole. Since "Goshen" is a biblical name, it would appear that someone changed "Goshe" to "Goshen". 1
The town name "LaGrange" also does not originate from Indiana. It was named after an early homesteader, Caleb LaGrange. 2
Last but not least is the town named "Yoder." It does, indeed, have an Amish connection. It is about a mile west of US Highway 85 and 12 miles west of the Nebraska state line. Its beginning is closely linked with the Philip J. Yoder family.
Philip Yoder was born in 1836 at Shanesville, Ohio. He was the son of Jacob D. and Barbara (Miller) Yoder, who are listed as "Amish" in both the Christian Fisher genealogy (No.6651) and the Barbara Hochstedler genealogy (No.4881). In 1861 Philip married Cinderella Hattery at Shanesville. The Barbara Hochstedler genealogy lists them as "Mennonite" which they may have been when married, but they did not remain so until death. Their first child, Benjamin, was born at Shanesville in 1863. Shortly thereafter they moved to Iowa where their second child, Amanda, was born in 1865 at Swedesburg in Henry County. Five more children were born in Iowa: Jesse (1869), Oscar (?), Clara (1873), Ida May (1876), and Sadie (1882).
In the fall of 1881, Philip and his oldest son, Benjamin F. or "Frank" as he was called, went to Wyoming. Frank spent the winter there, while Philip returned to Iowa. The following spring, Philip brought his family to Wyoming: three sons and four daughters with a fifth daughter, Nina, being born there three years later. 3
The Philip Yoder family settled in Goshen Co. on a ranch along Bear Creek. Philip prospered in raising cattle and horses. His Amish and Mennonite heritage was discarded. In late 1905, after an absence of 42 years, Philip and his wife traveled back to their native Ohio to visit. Mrs. Yoder suddenly took ill and died in the community where she had been born. Her obituary appeared in the Amish-Mennonite newspaper, "The Budget", published at Sugarcreek, Ohio in the Jan. 11, 1906 issue. Her remains were returned to Cheyenne, WY. for internment. Four years later, Philip J. Yoder died on July 28, 1910.
During Philip Yoder's lifetime, no town named "Yoder" had existed. In 1921 the Union Pacific railroad laid track from Gering, Nebraska to South Torrington, Wyoming, the county seat of Goshen, Co. The tracks passed several miles east of the Yoder ranch. Jesse Yoder, Philip's son, organised a Goshen Townsite Development Company to build a new town beside the railroad. The buildings from two tiny crossroad settlements, Springer and Lacy Corners, were moved to the new towns