by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy
John Goffe and wife Hannah Sumner are amongst the earliest members of any Goff family in America. In his meticulously-researched book, Goffes/Goffs: Four Centuries of Their History and Yours, pp. 226-227, author John W. Goff notes that “on July 4, 1673, John Goffe makes his first appearance in the records of the Bay Colony as a juror at the inquest of Robert Clements in Portsmouth, and then again in September as a juror at the inquest of John Ellis in Boston.” In History of Bedford New Hampshire (1850), p. 306, it is reported that “John Goffe came over from England, with two brothers, 1662, or ’63.” John Goffe and Hannah Sumner married ca. 1678. Their firstborn child, John Goffe, was baptized July 1679.
A male Goff descendant with a solid paper trail to John Goffe and Hannah Sumner took a YSTR DNA test in 2009. However, without any other descendants of this genetic family testing, there were no matches.
In 2020, another Goff participant took at YSTR DNA and matched the John Goffe descendant. This participant had a brick wall at Delford Carpenter Goff b. 1833 PA d. 1917 MO. The GGFA sprang into action and identified Delford C. Goff’s parents as Arza Goff (b. 1809 NY d. 1877 IN) and Elvira Learned. The migration path tracking to New York hinted that Arza Goff was likely a descendant of John Goffe and Hannah Sumner. However, more evidence was needed.
Big Y 700 testing of new participants with varied lineages from John Goffe and Hannah Sumner will further clarify the precise connection. For now, there is enough new information to rename this genetic group as 1755 GOFF (US-NH) R-FTB75966. The year recognizes the shared ancestor of two of the participants. The change in location from NY to NH recognizes that NH is the more probable location of the most recent common ancestor of all three men.
An important final note. The Arza Goff b. 1809 NY descendant had no thought of a connection to one of the earliest Goff families in America. It is as important for those with short and brick-walled lineages should do Big Y 700 testing as those with deep well-documented lineages.
For more information, please check our DNA Surname Study pages or email me at dna@goff-gough.com. Each new participant helps to fill in the history of the Goff/Gough families.
Phillip Goff is the co-author, along with Roy L. Lockhart, of The Four Goff Brothers of Western Virginia. Since 2004, he has run the Goff/Gough Surname DNA Study, which today has about 500 participants.