This area originally lay wholly within the Town of Norwich and consisted of a tract of land in the heart of Mohegan Indian territory. Josiah Read is believed to have been the earliest white settler, having purchased a mile-long tract from the Indians in 1687. In 1718, sixteen petitioners were granted the right to establish the North East Society, the third ecclesiastical society in Norwich, for their worship of God. The Newent Ecclesiastical Society was founded in 1723, with the Reverend Daniel Kirkland as its first settled minister. The name Newent is believed to have been used because many settlers came from Newent, England. In 1786, the Newent Ecclesiastical Society was incorporated as the Town of Lisbon, probably so named because early inhabitants engaged in commercial shipping with Lisbon, Portugal.