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 […]
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 […]
An Irish Goff Family in Rhode Island, USA
by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy A Goff family from Ireland that settled in Rhode Island, USA in the mid-19th century faces challenges in tracing their Irish ancestry due to the loss of many Irish records of genealogical value. Using a combination of traditional records and genetic […]
Blast From the Past Monday | GGFA Quarterly Newsletter, Fall 1996
A Venerable Pioneer Is Wm. Goff of Sugar Grove William Goff [1822-1914] spent his youth and early manhood among conditions which are always found in a frontier district. His educational privileges were extremely meagre, and he earned his first money when 12 years of age by riding horses, tramping out […]
Rev. Abner Goff (1782-1857)
One of my most cherished church records is a tribute to my 3rd great grandfather, Rev. Abner Goff published in the Minutes of the Ohio Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1857, the year of his death. Born in 1782 in Vermont, the Goff family came to Ohio […]
From a Goff Family Summer Home to a Sonoma Winery
(Is a Goff family ghost still there?) On a trip to California in June 2013, we visited the Chateau St. Jean Vineyards in quiet, scenic Kenwood, located in the Sonoma valley. While we are familiar with some of their wines, we wanted to see Chateau St. Jean because of its […]