William Goforth

William Goforth
New York County member of the New York State Assembly
In office 1784–1786
Personal details
Born	April 1, 1731 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	November 2, 1807 (aged 76) Columbia, Ohio
Resting place	Spring Grove Cemetery
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse(s)	Catharine Meeks
Children	William Goforth
Military service
Years of service	June 28, 1775 - July 6, 1776
Rank	Major
Unit	New York Line
Battles/wars	Invasion of Canada Battle of Three Rivers

William Goforth, also called Judge William Goforth and Major William Goforth, was a member of the Committee of One Hundred and Committee of Safety in New York City, an officer of the New York Line during the American Revolutionary War, and was a member of the New York State Assembly after the war. He was one of the earliest immigrants to the Cincinnati area, where he was named a judge and was elected to the territorial legislature.

Life in East

William Goforth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 1, 1731.^[1][2] He married Catharine Meeks in New York City on May 18, 1760.^[3] He was a member of the Committee of Safety and Committee of One Hundred early in the American Revolutionary War.^[4] He joined the 1st Regiment New York Line as a Captain on June 28, 1775 under Colonel Alexander McDougall, was a Major, 5th Regiment New York Line, June 26, 1776, and resigned July 6, 1776.^[5] He served in the Invasion of Canada and the Battle of Three Rivers.^[6][7]

Goforth was elected to the New York State Assembly for the 8th and 9th New York State Legislature, serving from 1784 to 1786.^[8]

Life in West

Goforth was among the earliest settlers in Southeast Ohio, when he settled at Columbia, now a neighborhood of Cincinnati, in the Northwest Territory in early 1789.^[7] On January 4, 1790, Governor Arthur St. Clair established Hamilton County and named Goforth one of three Judges of the Court of Common Pleas and Justices of the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace.^[9] He was elected one of the Hamilton County representatives in the Northwest Territory House of Representatives for the First Territorial Legislature, which met from September 16 to December 19, 1799 at Cincinnati,^[10] and from November 3 to December 9, 1800 at Chillicothe.^[11]

On March 3, 1801, the Congress passed 2 Stat. 112, titled “An Act giving a right of pre-emption to certain persons who have contracted with John Cleves Symmes, or his associates, for lands lying between the Miami rivers, in the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio” Section 4 of this act called for the President to appoint two commissioners to “ascertain the rights of persons claiming the benefits of this act.^[12] Goforth and John Reily were named by the President to be these commissioners.^[13]

In 1802, Goforth ran as a Democratic-Republican to be a delegate to the convention that would draft a constituion for the proposed state of Ohio. He was elected to the convention,^[14] which met from November 1 to November 29, 1802. He voted against ever allowing slavery in the state,^[15] and was in the minority in voting for suffrage and other civil rights for black people.^[16]

After Ohio became a state, an election was held for Ohio's at-large congressional district in 1803. Goforth finished in fifth place.^[17] Either Goforth, or his son, also William was a Presidential elector in 1804, voting for Thomas Jefferson.^[18]

Goforth died November 2, 1807 at Columbia.^[1] He was buried there, but re-interred at Spring Grove Cemetery. His tombstone reads: “Here rest the remains of Wm. Goforth who was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Apr. 1, 1731: Emigrated to Ohio in 1788: Assisted in forming her Constitution and was one of her first territorial judges: An officer in the Revolutionary War. He sacrificed everything for its success. He died Nov. 2, A.D. 1807 in the 76th year of his age.”^[2]

Notes

1. Anderson 1.
2. Find a grave.
3. Weeks, p. 23.
4. Milligan, p. 61.
5. DAR, p. 161.
6. Milligan, p. 62.
7. Anderson 2.
8. Hough, p. 162-163.
9. Smith, p. 162.
10. Gilkey, p. 131-133.
11. Gilkey, p. 136-139.
12. 2 Stat. 112
13. Falvey.
14. election results.
15. Convention, p. 111.
16. Convention, p. 116.
17. election results 1803.
18. Taylor & Taylor, p. 64.

References

• Hough, Franklin Benjamin, ed. (1858). The New York Civil List. Weed, Parsons and Co.
• "A new nation votes - Ohio 1803 U.S. House of Representatives". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. January 11, 2012.
• Taylor, William Alexander; Taylor, Aubrey Clarence (1899). Ohio statesmen and annals of progress: from the year 1788 to the year 1900 ... State of Ohio.
• Milligan, Fred J. (2003). Ohio's Founding Fathers. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse. pp. 61–65. ISBN 0595750397. OCLC 53472872.
• Anderson, Susan Chapin. "Interesting Ancestors of the Harlock & O'Grady Families - Major William Goforth". ancestry.com.
• "First Constitutional Convention, Convened November 1, 1802". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications V: 80–132. 1896.
• Anderson, Susan Chapin. "William Goforth & Catherine Meeks". ancestry.com.
• Ancestral Registry of the General Society Daughters of the Revolution, 1896. Philadelphia: The Bailey, Banks & Biddle Co. 1897. p. 161.
• Weeks, Lyman Horace, ed. (January 20, 1912). "DeGree". Genealogy: A journal of American Ancestry 1 (3).
• "Goforth and Reily appointed commissioners". Falvey Memorial Library.
• "A new nation votes - Ohio 1802 Constitutional Convention - Hamilton County". Tufts Digital Collections and Archives. January 11, 2012.
• "William Goforth (1731-1807)". find a grave.
• Smith, William Henry, ed. (1882). The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair 1. Robert Clarke & Company.
• Gilkey, Elliot Howard, ed. (1901). The Ohio Hundred Year Book: a Hand-book of the Public Men and Public Institutions of Ohio ... State of Ohio.