|
John Goffe (49)
was born in County Armagh, Ireland on 7 June 1769, a son of Joshua McGeough (59) and Susan Pierce (60). He married Jane
Gregston (50) about 1796. Jane was born about 1770, a daughter
of John Gregston (68) and Unknown Mckinney (69).
While still in Ireland, they had three children: William
(51), born 9 November 1797, Mercy (53) and Mary
Ann (52). It is not known when Mercy and Mary Ann were born.
Mary Ann died in Ireland before 1801.
John and Jane Goffe, with William and Mercy, left Ireland for
the United States on 1 June 1801 aboard the Good Ship Albicore.
Also on board were John's mother, Susan Pierce, who had divorced
his father and married a Mr. English, and a half brother and
half sister of John's. The Albicore, carrying a total of 466
persons, landed near Boston, Massachusetts on 28 July 1801, taking
58 days to make the trip.
There was a lot of sickness on board the Albicore during this
trip. Perhaps as a result of this, Mercy died at sea. She was
placed in a chest with sealed empty bottles to make it float,
and with her name on the lid and committed to the ocean. Upon
arriving in the United States, the family discovered from an
item in a newspaper that the chest containing Mercy had been
found at sea by some fishermen, who had it interred in a graveyard.
Shortly after arriving in the United States, John, Jane and William,
and the Wilkinsons, went north to the District of Maine (Maine
had not yet become a State). John Goffe bought a farm on the
west bank of the Penobscot River, near Frankfort, Hancock County,
where the family lived for the next sixteen years. John and Jane's
remaining children were all born there. They are: Frances
(54), born 23 July 1802; John
Eustace (55), born 29 Mar 1804; Joshua
Gregston (56), born 7 April 1806; Alexander
Lucius (46), born 8 January 1809; Kinney
Herbert (57), born 16 February 1811; and Philo
(58), born 9 June 1813.
During the War of 1812, British warships were anchored in the
vicinity of Frankfort, Maine. John Goffe, as a British national,
was required to register as an alien with the U.S. Government,
which he did on 31 August 1812. He may have felt, as a result
of the war, that living so near the coast was not safe. Whatever
the reason, in 1817 John, Jane and family moved west. They left
Maine on 1 October 1817, traveling by wagon, and arrived in the
vicinity of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 4 December 1817, a trip
of 65 days. They eventually went to live in Sewickly, northwest
of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River.
In February 1819, John Goffe went to Ireland to get a legacy
of 1000 pounds left to him by his father, who had died in September
1817. There were delays in obtaining the legacy-- apparently
some litigation was involved--and John did not return home until
September. John did, however, get the legacy. A receipt which
can now be found in the McGeough Bonds Papers at PRONI (the Public
Records Office of Northern Ireland) reads:
Received from Walter McGeough Esq acting Executor of the last
Will and Testament of his Father Joshua McGeough Esq deceased
the sum of one thousand one hundred and twenty five pounds nine
shillings and six pence sterling being the amount of the said
Joshua McGeoughs Bond and Warrant of Attorney for one thousand
pounds principal money payable to John Goffe and all Interest
due thereon and in full of all Demands whatsoever and I have
this day delivered up the said Bond and Warrant to be cancelled.
Dated in Dublin this 18th day of June 1819.
/s/ John Goffe
L1125, 9, 6
Present
Dan Brown
John Goffe died in Sewickly, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania,
on 11 May 1837, aged nearly 68 years. Jane Gregston died in Sewickly
19 January 1850, aged 80 years. It is not known where either
is buried.
[GOFF: JGGoffHistory,
WMReceipt18Jun1819, War1812List]
|
