David Goff (1740 - 1793)

Born 1740 in Cape May, Cape May, New Jersey, British Colonial America

Descendants

Died 5 Feb 1793 at about age 53 in West Creek, Cape May, New Jersey, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Albert Taylor [send private message]

Biography

According to:

HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA BY AUGUST JACOB REIFDEL

William Goff | Cape May Connections

Posted byJEMNovember 6, 2021Posted inImmigration, Quakers, Scots-Irish | :Ulster ScotsTags:1770s, Family Name | Goff

William Goff, a native of Ireland, who came to America during the colonial days preceding the Revolution, and during the war was employed by the government as a ship carpenter. Shortly after coming to this county, he married Prudence Passenger, a courageous colonial maid… John Goff [his son] was born in New Jersey previous to the time his family located to Hamilton County.

Nearby, near the Tuckahoe River to the northwest, lived the Goff Family. In fact, both a John Goff and Isaac Vangilder witnessed a will that was probated in 1796 in County of Cape May, suggesting they were neighbor or relatives. Additional connections are suggested by the surnames of married couples. David Vangilder married Ann Shaw in 1795. Both Hannah Goff (1770) and Nathan Goff (1780), also married a Shaw, Thomas and Mary respectively.

Cape May, New Jersey

John Goff is the earliest recorded Goff in the County of Cape May (ear-mark in 1710) and it is likely that he immigrated with other families from Long Island and New England to Cape May. The Quaker families settled primarily the Upper Township area where the Goffs and the Van Gilders lived. A Friend’s Meeting House was established in Tuckahoe. Over the course of the 1700s, Quakerism declined and was replaced by Methodism.

The Goff family was one of the early converts to Methodism, converting in the 1770s; by the late 1790s, at least two Goffs were Methodist Ministers. In Ohio, John Goff, the son of William Goff, was an active Methodist, as well. (Source 1; Source 2; Source 3; Source 4)

The Biographical, Genealogical and Descriptive History of the First Congressional District of New Jersey details the family of David Goff, naming five sons, one of whom was “William, who went west”. In 1793, David Goff, Sr. will was presented for probate, and it details land given to him by an old mill and his brothers William, John, and David.

It is as likely possible that William was the “William who went west” and/or William arrived from Ireland to join the Goffs in Cape May, as a relative from the old country.

Name • • David Goff Sex • • Male Birth • • 1740 Cape May, Cape May, New Jersey, British Colonial America Christening Death • • 5 Feb 1793 West Creek, Cape May, New Jersey, United States Burial

Sources

• https://findingyellowbricks.com/2021/11/06/william-goff-cape-may-connections/
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHHW-4QN
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KHTD-HCD