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Feyhl-Goff Lineage

This letter is an evolving document concerning the lineage of the Feyhl-Goff families, documented with official paperwork when possible, but also from oral history of elder members of the family. The document begins with the author of this letter and traces a line backwards in time to our furthest Goff relative known. Information for the first four generations is proved. The fifth and final Goff is where speculation is used to fill in gaps where no documents were available or have not been yet been found.

  1. Author of document: Laura Lee Feyhl Steinmetz , b. 12-2-56 Billings, MT, 4th of four daughters born to Kenneth Feyhl and Marion Boyd Feyhl
  2. Kenneth John Feyhl, b. 9-17-24, Long Beach, CA, 2nd child born to George H. Feyhl and Mamie Lorene Goff Feyhl
  3. Mamie (also called Mayme) Lorene Goff, b. 8-20-1900, Tecumseh, Neb., 3rd of four children born to John B. Goff and Olive (Ollie) Janet Searl Goff (first child died at age of 2 days), rest lived to old age. Married to George Harold Feyhl 8-29-1922, Billings, MT. Lived in central Wyoming their whole life after marriage. Towns associated with these families include Meeteetse, Cody, Fenton, and Rock Springs.
  4. John Burdett (Burdette) Goff, b. 6-25-1872, Nebraska (no town known yet). Married 12-13-1892, Tecumseh, Neb. Have license and newspaper account. Wife: Olive Janet (Janette) Searl (Searls). We believe the correct name is Searl by comparison with documents pertaining to other family members. She was born 7-18-1875, IL. Parents George A. and Rebecca Neely (Nealy) Fales Searl. John and Olive moved to Cody, WY, in 1915 until their deaths. They are buried there in the Riverside Cemetary. Side note: By coincidence, there is another John B. Goff of Cody, WY, no relation. Rather unusual for such a small town.
  5. The US census for 1910 shows John B. Goff in Nebraska, father (no name b. Penn.) mother, (no name, born. Ohio.) The Tecumseh "Chieftain" newspaper 1912 tax records show property owned by John B. Goff and his in-laws, the Searls.
  6. Tecumseh cemetery has the graves of George A. Searl, 3-31-1833 to 11-11-1903 and Rebecca Searl, 8-29-1838 to 4-20-1922.
  7. The "Chieftain" states tax records showing property owned by D.R. Goff in Lincoln precinct.
  8. The 1885 census for Neb., Johnson Co., Lincoln precinct has: Mary Goff, widow, age 47 (1838) b. Ohio, James Switzer, 19 (1866) b. OH, John Goff, 12 (1872), b. Neb, and Myrtle, 8 (1877), b. Neb. Note: On the tombstone of D.R. Goff, it says died June 1886. He does not show up on the 1885 census.
  9. The 1880 census, Johnson Co. Neb., has: Daniel Goff, 65 (1814-15), Mary, 42, (1838), John, 7, (1872), Myrtle, 3 (1877), Switzer, James 14, (1866), and Switzer, Rose, 12 (1868). Note: the mother of John B. on his death certificate is listed as Mary Schweitzer. My Dad's Mom said her name was Switzer, that she was a widow with four children, and she knew their names. Those names match the 1870 census for Mary Switzer and family.
  10. The 1870 census for Neb, Johnson Co. Spring Creek shows: D.R. Goff, 55, (1814-15) b. Penn, Rebecca, 70, (1800) b. Tenn., Alvinia, 10, (1860), and Joni, 8 (1862). Notice age of Rebecca compared to age of young girls. Same census and district: Mary Switzer, 32 (1838), b.OH, Allice May, 9, (1861)b.OH, Louella, 7 (1863)b. OH, James W., 5 (1865)b. OH, and Rose B., 3 (1867)b. Neb. These are the same names remembered by Grandmother Mayme Feyhl and told to my father. Side note: Mary Switzer was born a Rutter. Her parents and siblings show up on this same census.
  11. Rebecca Goff dies 7-30-1870, age 70 yr, 2 mo., 16 days. Tecumseh. Buried on land D.R. deeds to the town for a cemetery. First called Mt. Pleasant, it is now called Spring Creek, and lies a few miles from Tecumseh.
  12. 1860 census, Tecumseh, Neb. Gaff, Daniel, 46, (1814) b. Penn., and Rebecca, 57 (1803)?, b. Tenn.
  13. 1850 census, Mason Co. IL. Daniel Goff, 36, (1814), b. Penn., and Rebecca, 50 (1800), b. Tenn. and a female, either Bevnila or Bernisa, 18, (1832) b. IL. Have not researched any census before 1850 in IL to find further evidence of Daniel and Rebecca and this girl.
  14. Conclusions: We do not know the exact relationship between Daniel and Rebecca. Her tombstone reads: wife of D.R. Goff. This raises the questions; a) if Daniel fathered Bernisa, he was only 18 (certainly possible) and Rebecca was 32. b) In 1870, Rebecca would have been 70. Who mothered Alvinia and Joni? Rebecca would have been 60 and 62. Not too plausible. c) Why doesn't Daniel show up on the 1885 census if his stone says he died in June of 1886? d) Could Rebecca have been Daniel's mother and the D.R. on her stone is his father? She would have been 14 or 15 years old when she gave birth, not uncommon back then. e) An 1850 census found on the Goff web page has a Daniel Gaff, born 1838 in Penn. Parents John and mother Rebecca. This Daniel's age does not match up with any of the Nebraska census ages.
  15. Goals: to establish the relationship between Daniel and Rebecca, find proof of the marriage of Daniel and Mary Switzer, about 1870-71, after the death of Rebecca in July of that year (1870), find the parents of Daniel and their birthplaces as far back as we can go, determine the parents of Alvinia and Joni. Daniel would have been in his forties when they were born. Rebecca would have been in her sixties. If Rebecca was the mother of Daniel, was there a marriage inbetween the years 1860 and 1870, with the mother of those girls divorcing or having died between censuses?

Lineage: Laura Feyhl Steinmetz>Kenneth John Feyhl>Mamie Lorene Goff>John B. Goff>Daniel R. Goff. I have perused some of the sites at the Goff website and am not discovering any Goffs that match yet. I have found only one other Goff family in Nebraska at the same time, in a town called Chevron, but do not know if they are kin. I appreciate your efforts in examining this document and trying to help in my quest. I will send a copy of this to George along with my family group sheets for clarification. Thank you,

Laura Steinmetz 443 S. 64th St. W., Billings, MT 59106, [email protected]


Genealogy for Daniel R. Goff as of July 28, 2005 by Laura Feyhl Steinmetz, Part 2


Thanks go to Kelsey Jones, Gwen Hobbs, Charles McCain, Winston Gadsby, Al Goff, Bob Goff, and Roger Gilbert in the quest for proven information concerning the ancestors and descendants of Daniel R. Goff. Much of this document, which corrects and adds to my previous report on this family, is attributed to the efforts of these Goff researchers.

  1. According to every census my family could find, Daniel R. Goff was born in Pennsylvania in 1814, no town listed. His wife in the early census records was listed only as Rebecca, from Tennessee. She was quite a bit older than he. I tried every resource I could to find any Daniel Goff with those criteria and found only one at the Tri-counties website hosted by Ms. Tice and others. After leaving messages of thanks at that site, I received messages from Gwen Hobbs and Kelsey Jones. They tied me to all of you in the search for proof of Daniel's family, pre-Nebraska. More about this later.

  2. Kelsey managed to find Daniel R. (DR) born 1814, PA, in the Cass Co. IL,1840 census with one male age 10-15, one male 20-30, one female age 5-10, one female 10-15, one female 15-20 and one female 30-40. The little boy would have been born 1826-1830, too young to be DR's son. The older male would be DR. Of the three girls, one born 1831-1835, one born 1826-1830, and one born 1821-25, one could be a daughter if DR was 17 when she was born. DR was too young to father the other two. The older woman would be Rebecca. These could be her children by a previous marriage, or one could be hers and DR's.

  3. Kelsey then finds DR in Mason CO. IL, 1850, with wife Rebecca b. 5-14-1800 in Tennessee. This is our first proof of her birth date. A family member of mine had found in this census DR, age 36, b. PA, Rebecca, age 50, b. Tenn. and female named Bevnila, age 18 , b. 1832 in IL. In a later email Kelsey reports finding a child of DR and Rebecca, Bernice, b. 1832-34 in IL. She married Hudson Ayers, b. 1825 OH.

  4. Moving towards the present, I found DR and Rebecca in Tecumseh, NB, in 1860. DR is listed as Daniel Gaff, 46, and Rebecca, 57. They have the same birth places. Kelsey adds that daughter Bernice is found nearby with husband and two children. I have church records that state DR was a Baptist minister. I think I remember seeing in one of your emails or at one of the websites that Solomon or one of the other elders was a Baptist.

  5. 1870 census, Johnson Co., NB (Tecumseh),lists DR Goff, 55, Rebecca, 70, Alvinia, 10 (1860) IL, and Jane or Joni, 8 (1862) IL . These aren't likely to be the children of this couple, as they were getting old, esp. Rebecca. Perhaps something had happened to Bernice and they took in the two girls. Kelsey finds the name to be Jane for the younger. Also in this census are the Rutter families; Thomas and his wife Elizer and 3 children, J.L. Rutter, his wife Mary and one child (unclear info on child), William Rutter and wife Amanda and five children, and most important, Mary Rutter Switzer, widow of John Switzer, mother of 2 boys and 2 girls. Mary Switzer becomes DR's second wife. Dad's grandma told him the name was originally Schweitzer. I am guessing Thomas is Mary's father and the others are her siblings. I have all the names and dates on all these Rutters, but did not include them here.


  6. Somewhere between 1870 and 1871, DR and Mary Switzer marry. Rebecca died 7-30-1870 and is buried in the Spring Creek Cemetery near Tecumseh. DR deeded some acreage to the town for this cemetery. There is a child, no name, Goff, buried there also. So, in 1880 we have DR, 65, Mary, 42, John B., 7, Myrtle, 3, James Switzer, 14, and Rose Switzer, 12. DR and Mary have had two children of their own.

  7. In Tecumseh in 1885, Mary is listed as a widow, 47, with James Switzer, 19, John Goff, 12, Myrtle, 8, and it shows Mary's mother being born in Penn. Daniel is not enumerated on this census. His tombstone next to Rebecca's says June, 1886. Why didn't he show up on the census? Maybe the stone, a fancy tall obelisk, was erected by townsfolk and dedicated in June 1886. Pure conjecture. I have photos of these two stones.

  8. I have DR alive and listed on a tax list in 1874, but died before his 71st birthday in 1885.

  9. DR and Mary's boy John Burdette was born 6-25-1872, NB, probably Tecumseh. (Would like proof of this, know it from oral history only). He married Olive Janet Searl 12-13-1892 in Tecumseh. She was born 7-18-1875 in IL, daughter of George A. and Rebecca Neely Fales Searl. John and Olive moved to Cody, WY in 1915. They had three children: Arthur, 1894, Mamie Lorene, 1900, and Mary Evalee, 1907. An issue of the Tecumseh Chieftan, from May 20, 1893, lists a son born to John B. Goff, lived 2 days, born May 12, 1893. This may be the unnamed baby in the Spring Creek Cemetery. John died 10-24-1930 in Cody. Ollie died 3-17-1950 in Cody, where they are both buried. I have extensive research and data on these other lines, not noted here.

  10. Following my direct line, my grandmother Mamie Lorene married George Harold Feyhl in Billings, MT, 8-29-1922. George was born 4-20-1890, in Burlington, IA. I have the Feyhl lineage back to the 1500's, all centered around the town of Esslingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. Mamie (we all called her Mayme) and George had three children: Helen, 1923, Kenneth John, 1924, and Donald, 1928. They are all still living.

  11. My father, Ken Feyhl, married Laura Marion Boyd, May 27, 1946. They have four daughters, Helen, 1947, Annette, 1949, Josephine, 1951, and me, Laura, 1956.

    I have left out a lot of minutiae and provided to you just the direct lineage of Daniel to me. The next part of this document will cover what you all have found since I contacted the Tri-county website concerning the parents of DR.

  12. I initially found a census page with a Solomon Goff, Bradford Co., PA, who had a son the right age to be DR. Enumerated on this page which is the 1820 census for Wells, is one male, 0-10, one male 16-18, one male 27-45, one female 0-10, two females 11-16, one female 27-45. Occupation not listed. No names are listed other than head of household.

  13. Information starts to come in to me from Kelsey Jones and Gwen Hobbs as they try to find proof of parentage of DR to Solomon. Kelsey confirms a son Daniel to Solomon on an 1820 pension deposition. They tell me Solomon is married to Huldah, last name unknown. An 1880 census enumeration has Daniel stating his parents were born in CT. You Goff researchers are fully aware of records connecting many Goffs to CT and find a baptismal record for Huldah in CT, so we are all assuming she was born there. (Would like to have proof of birth of Solomon and Huldah, dates and places, and last name of Huldah).


  14. In between my looking at the Tri-counties sites, various census records, etc. I find a Bethuel Goff and copious amounts of information on him and his ancestors, (parents Aaron Goff and Jemima Kilborn). I wonder if he can be a brother to Solomon, leading me to all the grandparents. Kelsey sends me an email address for Winston Gadsby of Virginia, who has done research on the Goffs, and all the info on Bethuel and his line. I am thinking Bethuel is a brother because I know now that Solomon moved to be near two married daughters in Medina Co. OH and see that Bethuel has moved there also. DR leaves about 1831 or so.

  15. Kelsey finds and sends a partial list of some of the children of Solomon and Huldah. From this email I find the marriage date of DR to Rebecca Hickey, 10-11-1837, Morgan Co. IL. We had the county as Mason; no wonder I could never find this marriage record. Nor did we ever have Rebecca's last name. If she was a widow this might be her married name. We also get her birth date for the first time: 5-14-1800, Tennessee. (Would like to know her maiden name and hometown.)


  16. Gwen redirects the line when some dates don't match up and surmises that Solomon is the brother of Bethuel's dad, Aaron. This makes Bethuel and all his siblings cousins to DR and his siblings. She says there is a Solomon who was the father of Solomon and the brother of Aaron, but no one seems to have researched this line. But if we have all the history on Aaron and his ancestors, we have the same for Solomon Sr. We just need proof. Kelsey continues to find more about DR's siblings and their families.
  17. Gwen sends along the names of several families who moved out of Wells and over to Ohio. She, Kelsey, several of the others and I have all found all the pension records requested by DR's father from Penn. and after he moved to OH. He was a Revolutionary soldier whom it appears was dirt poor most of his life. Gwen feels Solomon and Huldah may have been one of the earliest families to reach Homer, OH.

  18. At the Tri-counties site, there is extensive history to be copied on Solomon Jr. and Huldah. There is a very good time line of their lives from birth to moving to Ohio. From all the pension records are gleaned the names of all their children and all the children's birthdates. There is second generation information for Solomon's first, third and fourth children. There is the info on Bethuel and all his kin.


  19. I hear from Ron and Diane Reid, who send a nice page on Solomon and Huldah, his brother Aaron, and how they are the children of Elisha. In turn, Elisha is the son of Aaron, who is the son of Aaron, who is the son of Phillip Goffe. There is lots of info on DR's uncle Aaron and Jemima and their family. I track back on these pages and see there is much to be copied about all those grandparents if indeed they are the correct line. Phillip came from England and had an E on the end of his name.

  20. I heard from Charles McCain who tried to find the right connections for me, but none seemed to be the correct people. Like he said to me, collectively we may all solve this puzzle. I did join the Goff/Gough Society for a year to see if anyone there had already done all this leg work, but haven't made a lot of headway there yet. I would like to have the death date and place for Solomon and Huldah.


  21. So, this is as far as I have come with the help of you all. I hope my information about DR and his later life were of some interest. My hope is that by sharing this information through the Goff/Gough newsletter, someone will recognize a common relative and get in touch. I may be contacted at [email protected]. There is one last side note: In Tecumseh, the Goffs and the Ide families were connected somehow. Dad has spoken of Aunt Emma Ide. I will look into this for future correspondence.

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