Biographical Sketches of Early Gooch Emigrants and Early Gooch family history, Section 2

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Gooches of Hanover Co., Virginia

The records of Hanover County, Virginia probably held many of the crucial records that might help us to establish links between several of the Gooch families. Unfortunately, only a fragment of the records of Hanover survive today. Enough remains that at least two Gooch families can be identified as having early origins in the region; however, their precise connection to the Gooches found in nearby Louisa or in the early settlement of York, New Kent, King William, and King & Queen counties is still undocument and generally prey to speculations by generations of family historians. The attmept here is to document these two families with the known facts.
To makes matters as complicated as possible, fate has given us two men by the name of William Gooch who can trace their origins back to early 18th century Hanover County, Virginia. Both men were of the same generation, or at least adults during their time of residency in that region. Because of this reason, researchers should be very careful on how they identify and interpret the existing documents. This line is not my direct line, most of my information comes from several good researchers who have kindly shared their work with me. These researchers are Mrs. Virginia Watson of Tennessee and Mr. Neville Gooch of Kentucky.

William Gooch of Caswell Co., NC


William Gooch of Caswell County, North Caroline left a paper trail back to Hanover County, Virginia that has been traced by Mrs. Virginia Watson. In addition to Mrs. Watson's work, there is a reference to William Gooch and his lineage in a brief family and personal history of the Methodist Minister Rev. William Buckner Sneed, as found abstracted in the "Family Puzzler", No 74, pg 1-5. The original document by Rev. Sneed has not been located by me, though it was on loan for many years to Georgia College at Milledgville. William Gooch is believed to have been born about 1714; Virginia Watson has noticed that he often used "W" as a middle initial in public documents. Virginia Watson places William in St. Martin's Parish, Hanover Co., VA around 1735. The clearest records identifying William are in NC where in 1764 he sold his land in Granville County, NC and purchased land along the South Fork of Country Line Creek in Caswell County, NC. William acquired over 1500 acres in Caswell and left a will in 1802. Many of his children relocated to Tennessee, settling in Williamson, Davidson, and Rutherford counties.
William Gooch is said to have married first Keziah Ann Hart, the daughter of Thomas and Susan (Rice) Hart; the couple had issue (based on secondary sources sent to me):
William Gooch is said to have married secondly Frances Rice (died 1816), the daughter of John & Lettisha Rice and had issue (based on secondary sources sent to me):

William Gooch of Albemarle Co., VA


We have a great deal of good research on William Gooch of Albemarle due to two sources. First is the unpublished work of Frances Gooch (c1876-1968) of Louisville, KY. Secondly is the published work by Rev. Edgar Woods titled "History of Albemarle County in Virginia" (1900, Bridgewater, VA). The naming patterns among William's children of Ursula and Claiborne, suggest a relationship to William & Ursula (Claiborne) Gough; married by 1705. Uses of the names Dabney, Claiborne, and Moore also suggest ties to these families who lived along the Pamunkey River; however, beyond the naming patterns there are no known records that connect William to an early generation and certainly these connections could also have come from his wife and daughter -in-laws. Frances Gooch suggests that William Gooch was born about 1717 and is the man who sold land in St. Martin's Parish, Hanover in 1743 to Benjamin Spencer. She notes that his wife Elizabeth, who signs away her dower share of the property to Spencer, helps distinguish William from the other William Gooch also found in St. Martin's parish that later settled in Caswell County. William and Elizabeth Gooch remove to Albemarle County, having purchased land in the far western part of that area called "Blue Mountian" and appears to have been involved in copper mining. He eventually settles in the community of Everttsville in Albemarle and his last deed is found in 1762. A letter from his daughter Elizabeth Gooch Crease survives and is dated the 20th of July 1803 from Springfield, Hampshire Co., VA (now West Virginia). Both of William's sons, William Gooch of Albemare (died 1796) and Thomas Gooch of Shelby Co., KY (died 1815) left detailed records of their families. The Crease letter along with the records of William's children in Albemarle help establish the following family group:
  • William Gooch
    born circa 1739; died 1796, left will
    born Hanover Co., VA; died Albemarle Co., VA
    married: Lucy Fleming,
    no record of marriage, circa 1760
    children: Philip (m1: Elizabeth Barnett, m2ndly: Frances Phillip); Jesse (m: Elizabet Owsley); Martha (m: Wm. Thurmand; Elizabeth (m: Nathan Dedman); Matthew Moore; William (m: Mildred Adkinson); Susan; Dabney Claiborne (m: Elizabeth irvin); Mary (m: William Moore); Nicholas L. (m: Judith Nash); Thomas W. (m: Nancy Irvin); Sampson

  • Elizabeth Gooch
    born unknown; died after 1802
    unknown; died West Virginia?
    married: Mr. Crease

  • Ursula Gooch
    fate unknown

  • Sarah Gooch
    born c1742; died unknown
    born unknown; died Stokes Co., NC
    married: David Crew, son of William & Hannah (Sanders) C.
    blockquotes>married on 10 May 1764
    children: Jonathan Crew; David Crew; Jesse Crew; William Crew; Elizabeth Crew; Hiram Crew; Sarah Crew; Jesse Crew; Hannah Crew; Ursula Crew; Joseph Crew; Phebe Crew; Nancy Crew; Benjamin Crew

  • Thomas Gooch
    born circa 1750; died 1815
    born unknown; died Shelby Co., KY
    married: Lucy Grubbs

  • Claiborne P. Gooch
    no further known

Gooches of Caroline Co., Virginia

Caroline County, Virginia was the residence for several Gooch families in the 18th century. Since little more than the Court Order Book survives today, it is diffult to positively identify the people's who names survive and even more diffult to establish their kinship with other Gooch families. Caroline County has a shared history with both Essex and King & Queen Counties in Virginia; both counties which hold evidence of Gooch (and Claiborne) family among the surviving records. The equally poor extant records for King & Queen furthers the difficulty of sorting out the various individuals and establishing their kinship to each other. At this time, the most that can be said about the Gooch family in Caroline county is that they resided there and that their naming patterns do reflect kinship with families in Louisa and King & Queen Counties.
The primary family that can be identified as having originated from Caroline County, Virginia is that of John Gooch (c1705-1793) of Granville County, North Carolina. Evidence of John's residency is found in his will of 1793, in which he leaves land in Caroline County to his son Gideon Gooch. In addition to this, his son Gideon takes and oath in Caroline County concerning a bond between John Gooch and his son James Terry of Granville County. Deeds in Amelia County, Virginia also indicate that John Gooch's son Joseph Gooch came from Caroline County to Amelia County in the 1760s.
The Caroline County Order Book is the primary source of early county information, since most of the records were lost in fire and in war. The Order Book establishes that there were at least the following Gooch men in that county during the 18th century:

  • John Gough
    This name is found in the Order Book for 1732, 1735, and 1746; it is probably interchangable with John Gooch. Entries in the Order Book for 1737 indicates that there was a John Sr. and John Jr. "Gough"; both who witnessed a deed in thtat year

  • John Gooch
    This name is found in the Order Book for 1750, 1755, 1765. Note that the presence of the name in 1765 indicates there were at least three John Gooches in Caroline in the 18th century, since we have probates for one in 1746/7 and another of 1762, and yet evidence of another in 1765. Since naming patterns in Virginia do not favor father an sons sharing first names, the appearance of these men might indicate other relationships such as grandfather and uncles.

  • John Gooch
    died in 1746/7 and Winifred Gooch appeared as administrix to the estate. John Sneed is appointed to do the inventory of the estate.

  • John Gooch
    died in 1762 and left a will, nothing further known.

  • Henry Gooch
    died in 1768 and Martha Gooch serves as executrix. Henry is certainly a name that reflects back to Lt. Col. Henry Gooch and to Jane Jones Gooch's son Henry

  • James Gough
    named as a tavern owner in 1764-8; probate records concerning his wife Mary in 1764. No other heirs named

  • James Gouge
    A different man than the James named above. There were several court cases concerning the children of James, namely John and Ann Gouge. The orphan John, son of James, is often mistaken for John Gooch of Granville who was already an adult, married and having children by the time these orphaned minors of James Gouge are named in records. The Gouge family appears to have lived in Port Royal where they later made public service claims for property lost during the Revolution. It is quite possible that this is a completely different name from "Gooch" or "Gough".

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