The Barlow / Goff (Gawf) Connection

Compiled by Phil Goff - December 05, 2005

Edmund Gawf, Henry Goff and Lewis Goff all claimed NC as their birthplace, with Lewis also naming SC as his place of nativity. No Barlow has been identified in SC census records before 1810.

The Barlow family, with which the Goff/Gawf family has a Y-chromosome match, is closely associated with NC. As such, North Carolina is the logical place to look for the Barlow orphan who was taken in by the Goff family.

The 1790, 1800 and 1810 NC censuses were searched for every Goff and Barlow and variants.  Only Montgomery and Wake Counties counted both the Goff and Barlow surnames among their populations during this 20-year period. Of these, only Wake had a Goff and Barlow in the county at the same time:

1790

 

County

State

White Males 16>

White Males <16

Females

Slaves

Other

Total

Thos.

Barlow 37

Wake

NC

1

2

2

1

 

6

Wm.

Barlow 38

Wake

NC

1

4

3

 

 

8

Starling

Gawf 39

Wake

NC

1

2

5

 

 

8

William Barlow and Thomas Barlow were six households away from each other on the census enumerator’s schedule.

Thomas Barlow of Wake Co., North Carolina was born ca. 1761 in Isle of Wight, Virginia.  Y-chromosome DNA testing has shown that Edmund Gawf, Henry Goff and Lewis Goff are closely related to the Isle of Wight, Virginia Barlow family.

Thomas Barlow served in the Third Virginia [Edmond’s] Artillary Regiment during the Revolutionary War, receiving his discharge on 23 August 1780.

Thomas Barlow married Elizabeth and they lived in Brunswick Co., Virginia until about 1786.40   In 1787, Thomas Barlow purchased land in Wake Co., North Carolina.. In September 1794, Thomas Barlow bought more land in Wake County. 41   Beginning in 1797, Thomas Barlow started purchasing land in Edgefield Co., South Carolina. 42 The final ties to Wake Co. were cuts when in May 1800 Thomas Barlow sold Wake Co., North Carolina land to Christopher Spier and William Smith.43   Elizabeth died ca. 1800 and Thomas married 2) Mary.   Thomas Barlow died ca. 1813 in Laurens Co., Georgia.44

37

Thos. Barlow household, 1790 Wake Co., NC census, p. 253

38

Wm. Barlow household, 1790 Wake Co., NC census, p. 253

39

Starling Gawf household, 1790 Wake Co., NC census, p. 273

40

Thomas Barlow, Elizabeth Roscoe, and Mary, Barlow Genealogy, online 'Thomas Barlow, Isle of Wight Virginia', 04 December 2005

41

Wake County Court minutes Books 4 & 5 1797 to 1803

42

Thomas Barlow, Elizabeth Roscoe, and Mary, Barlow Genealogy, online 'Thomas Barlow, Isle of Wight Virginia', 04 December 2005

43

Wake County Court minutes Books 4 & 5 1797 to 1803

44

Thomas Barlow, Elizabeth Roscoe, and Mary, Barlow Genealogy, online 'Thomas Barlow, Isle of Wight Virginia', 04 December

While Thomas Barlow can safely be eliminated as the father of the Barlow orphan(s) the William Barlow and the Sterling Gawf families require further examination between 1790 and 1800.  
 
In September 1794, Thomas Barlow bought land in Wake County.
 
In 1799, William Barlow was dead.
 
In May 1800, Thomas Barlow sold land to Christopher Spier and William Smith.45
 
On 2 May 1800, Sterling Goff was listed among the debtors of the firm of Britian and Ellick Sanders, from the inventory of Britian Sanders.46
 
By the 1800 census, the Barlow family was gone from Wake Co., NC:
 

1800

 

County

State

Free White Males

Free White Females

Other Free Persons

Slaves

<10

10>15

16>25

26>44

45>

<10

10>15

16>25

26>44

45>

Hugh

Gawf 47

Wake

NC

 

 

1

 

1

1

 

1

 

1

 

5

Sterling

Gawf 48

Wake

NC

2

1

2

 

1

1

 

1

1

 

 

 

   
Details between 1800 and 1810 are also slim.
 
In May 1801, Hugh Goff sold land to John Rogers; and in May 1803, Sterling Gawf sold land to Allen Griffis. 49
 
By 1810, Sterling Gawf had moved to Montgomery Co., NC, therefore accounting for the only other North Carolina county to have had Goff and Barlow residents during the period 1790-1810:
 

1810

 

County

State

Free White Males

Free White Females

Other Free Per-sons

S

L

a

v

e

s

<10

10>15

16>25

26>44

45>

<10

10>15

16>25

26>44

45>

Ellison

Goff 50

Mont-

gomery

NC

 

 

 

1

 

1

 

1

 

 

 

 

Starling

Goff 51

Mont-gomery

NC

4

1

 

 

1

3

1

 

1

 

 

 

 
William Barlow and Sterling Gawf provide a tantalizing circumstantial fit with the orphan story.
 
Under this hypothesis, William Barlow fathered Edmund in 1794. When William died ca. 1799, Sterling Gawf took in Edmund and perhaps some siblings, including a brother. Edmund, now named Gawf, and a brother may be the free white males under age 10 in the Sterling Gawf household in 1800 Wake Co., NC. Henry Goff and Lewis Goff may be the sons of a brother of Edmund Gawf.
 
It is interesting to note that Sterling Gawf appears in various records as Gawf and Goff. The 1790 and 1800 censuses use Gawf while the surname changes to Goff in the 1810 census.
 
If there is any significance to this, this may explain why Edmund used the Gawf spelling and Henry and Lewis, being born ca. 1809 and 1811, used the Goff spelling. This is a highly speculative observation and, unfortunately, there is not enough data to determine if there was a clear name change.
 
45 Wake County Court minutes Books 4 and 5, 1797 to 1803
46 Frances Hollaway Waynne, Wake Co., NC, Abstracts of Wills, Inventories and Settlements of Estates, 1771-1802
47 Hugh Gawf household, 1800 Wake Co., NC census, Hillsborough, p. 809
48 Sterling Gawf household, 1800 Wake Co., NC census, Hillsborough, p. 764
49 Wake County Court minutes Books 4 & 5 1797 to 1803
50 Ellison Goff household, 1810 Montgomery Co., NC census, Capt. Green area, p. 567
51 Starling Goff household, 1810 Montgomery Co., NC census, Capt. Green area, p. 568

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