Nathan Goff Jr.

Biography

Goff was born at the Waldomore in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on February 9, 1843, the son of Waldo Potter Goff and the former Harriet Louise Moore. He attended Northwestern Academy in Clarksburg and went to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.. He received a law degree from City University of New York.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Goff enlisted in the Union Army as part of the Third Regiment of Virginia Volunteer Infantry, later becoming a major in the [West] Virginia Volunteer Cavalry. (Note - He is not to be confused with another Union Army officer named Nathan Goff Jr. who was born in Warren, Rhode Island, served as colonel of the 37th United States Colored Troops Regiment and was breveted to the rank of brigadier general at the end of the war.)

On November 7, 1865, Goff married Laura Ellen Despard (1842–1918), and they had two sons, Guy D. Goff and Dr. Weldo P. Goff.

In 1865, Goff was admitted to the bar and established a legal practice, while also becoming prominent in West Virginia politics as a Republican. He served in the State House of Delegates from 1867 to 1868. In 1868 he became United States Attorney for West Virginia, a position he held until 1881. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 1870 and 1874 and for Governor of West Virginia in 1876. Late in his term as President, Rutherford B. Hayes appointed him Secretary of the Navy after the resignation of Richard W. Thompson from Indiana. Goff held the position from January 7, 1881, until March 4, 1881.

Goff was again named as U.S. Attorney for West Virginia until 1882, when he was elected as a Republican to Congress on his third run for that seat (the other runs were in 1870 and 1874). He had also run for Governor of West Virginia in 1876.

Goff served in the House of Representatives from March 4, 1883, through March 3, 1889, as a member of the 48th-50th Congresses. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1888, choosing instead to make another run for governor. That was a hard-fought contest, and when the original tally came in Goff had won, but the election was too close and Aretas B. Fleming contested the election. After multiple vote recounts and a point where four men took the oath of office claiming they had the rights to the governorship, the matter was given to the state legislature for resolution. The heavily Democratic legislature declared the Democratic Party Candidate (Aretas B. Fleming) the victor. In later years Goff would say that the governorship was a graveyard position and that most men in that position fade away into obscurity.

On December 16, 1891, Goff was nominated by President Benjamin Harrison to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, created by 26 Stat. 826. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 17, 1892, and received commission the same day. Goff was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1912. He did not immediately take his seat when the Senate convened on March 4, 1913, preferring to remain on the bench until March 31, 1913. He served in the Senate from April 1 to March 4, 1919, choosing not to run for re-election in 1918.

Goff died in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on April 24, 1920, at aged 77, and was interred next to his wife in the Odd Fellows Cemetery. Upon his death, Goff was the last surviving member of President Rutherford B. Hayes' cabinet.

Goff established something of a political dynasty, with several family members also serving in Congress. His son Guy D. Goff (1866–1933) served in the U.S. Senate as a Republican from 1925 to 1931. Louise Goff Reece, daughter of Guy Goff, served in the House of Representatives as a Republican from 1961 to 1963.

His home at Clarksburg, the Nathan Goff Jr. House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It was delisted in 1994, after demolition in 1993.

Namesake

The World War II destroyer USS Goff was named in his honor.