by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A January 2023 GGFA Facebook query noted that the book, Esmont, Virginia: A Community Carved From the Earth and Sustained by Story, is dedicated to Lucille (Purvis) Goff. She is described as “Esmont’s leading lady.” The poster was curious about the […]
Photographer of Sitting Bull and George A. Custer
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A November 2, 2021 GGFA Facebook post featured a studio portrait of a Native American woman and child ca. 1880-1900 from the Bud Lake and Randy Brewer Crow Indian Photograph Collection, Montana Historical Society. The photographer was “O.S. Goff, Fort Custer, […]
Faulty Connection
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A longstanding misidentification of the parents of Edward Goff (c1803 VA) of Pike County, KY, US has hampered the research into his true lineage. Background: Online family trees offer valuable clues in building one’s lineage. The downside is that errant conclusions […]
Watching the Trees Grow
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A Chinese proverb says that “People from the past plant the tree, so we could hide in its shade.” Trees require nutrients from the soil, rain from the sky and light from the sun in order to grow. In the same […]
Philip Goff, Galileo’s Error
Penguin Random House UK, 2019 Reviewed by Norman E. Gough, S. Staffordshire, UK The author is neither the Phillip Goff of GGFA fame nor the Mayor of Auckland. It is Philip Goff, son of Marie and Tony Goff, who is a British philosopher and Associate Professor at Durham University, UK.1 […]
Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion
Hutchison Heinemann, London, 2022, pp 463 Reviewed by Norman E. Gough, South Staffordshire, UK There is a certain irony that this novel dealing with the aftermath of the execution of Charles I was released on 1 September, shortly before the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of Charles […]
Anthony Goff Family of Rehoboth has YSTR Clues, Big Y 700 Will Offer Answers
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy The genetic family charts on the GGFA website hold important clues. Sometimes these charts, which are based on YSNPs and YSTRs, agree with the paper trail. The charts can also point the way to break down a brick wall. Background: On […]
Were Reports of Goff’s Death Exaggerated?
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy In 1873 in Milledgeville, GA, USA, a dispute between neighbors led to gunfire. In the aftermath, a 62-year-old Goff female was left critically injured. The news went viral, in an 18th century kind of way. The shooting victim’s father-in-law, Asa Goff […]
Early Goffe Entries in the Norfolk (UK) Record Office
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy This is the last of a ten-part series on early Goffe families in England. The Norfolk Record Office (“NRO”) maintains a database of online historical records. In Norfolk, like elsewhere in the south and east of England, Goffe is the earliest […]
My Experiences With WikiTree
I was WikiTree’s top Goff contributor for the year 2021 but I’m not all that enthusiastic about this site. I thought WikiTree would be the perfect place to post my family information and pictures, particularly my two Goff lines, on a public site where a paid subscription was not required. […]