It is now time to turn to my research on Solomon and Olive (Scott) Goss, my 4th great grandparents, who lived their lives during major conflicts like the American Revolution, the Wyoming Massacre and the Connecticut and Pennsylvania land wars. Life was probably good when they were young children but once their parents decided to move to the Wyoming Valley near the Susquehanna River in about 1769, things got very interesting and probably difficult? Connecticut claimed the area and Pennsylvania was not happy. Then about 23 years later Solomon left Pennsylvania around 1792-1793 and headed for Ohio which was virgin lands.
Wyoming Valley!
The marriage date for Solomon and Olive’s marriage is given as 25 June 1776. Unfortunately and even with a lot of searching I have not found a primary source for this marriage and a location. I have tried vital and church records for Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. I have studied every possible piece of history about the Wyoming Valley area. I would call it a comprehensive search but not necessarily exhaustive. I visited the Wilkes-Barre area, Connecticut and Massachusetts investigating their resources but nothing has come up on this marriage.
So I have placed their marriage in Plymouth, now Pennsylvania, across the river from Wilkes-Barre based on their parents land holdings at the time and land records for Solomon Goss.* I refer you to the map above (Microsoft Streets & Trips). Click on the map and it should open up into a bigger screen, just remember to hit the back button to return to this blog.
I will discuss Solomon and Olive’s earlier years in more detail in the future and their origins, so this topic of their marriage will be revisited. If anyone has any primary or even a secondary source (church, bible) for this marriage and a location please leave a comment.
The Second Continental Congress voted in favor of independence on July 2, 1776, so they married just days before this momentous event. Here is a link to a timeline about the American Revolution.
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/revwartimeline.htm
Try this link for the conflict over the land between Connecticut and Pennsylvania as a start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennamite-Yankee_War
Wyoming Massacre: http://www.colcohist-gensoc.org/Essays/wyomingmassacre.htm
The Susquehanna River - Wilkes-Barre 2008
Solomon and Olive had a family of seven (7) children.
1. Elizabeth Goss was born 9 December either 1777 or 1778 in the Wyoming Valley probably in Plymouth. She married Andrew Lake on 17 May 1798 (1797?) in Washington County, Ohio and raised a large family. Andrew and Elizabeth are buried in the Rainbow Cemetery in Washington County, Ohio.
2. Noah Goss was born 24 June 1782 probably in the Wyoming Valley (Plymouth). As far as I am aware Noah never married. Noah died the 18th of July 1833 and is buried next to his sister Lydia in the Green Valley Cemetery in Knox County, Ohio.
3. Mary Goss was born 4 March 1785 probably in the Wyoming Valley (Plymouth). Mary didn’t marry but she followed her brother Solomon Goss (Jr.) to Hardin County, Ohio and then to Iowa and is buried probably in Henry County, Iowa. She died before the 13th of April 1859 in Mt. Pleasant, Henry Co., Iowa.
4. Solomon Goss was born about 5 May 1788 probably in the Wyoming Valley (Plymouth) in Pennsylvania. He married Mary (Polly) Coburn Devol on 19 November 1812 in Washington County, Ohio. They lived on his father’s land till about 1832 when Solomon sold it an migrated to Hardin County, Ohio settling near Peter Spracklin the father of his brother-in-law John Andrews Spracklin who married his sister Lydia. For ease of identification I usually refer to him as “Jr.” Solomon Goss (Jr.) died 1 November 1864 in Oskaloosa, Mahaska Co., Iowa (death provided by an online source). Back in 2003 I traveled to Iowa. I did not blog about that trip so I will share in future posts.
5. Daniel Goss was born 23 September 1790 per his tombstone. He died 18 November 1868 in Belpre, Washington County, Ohio. He married Lydia Ackley on 13 August 1813 in Washington County. He is buried in the Rockland Cemetery in Belpre, Washington County, Ohio. Lydia Goss is listed in the death records of Washington County as passing on the 20th of October 1873 in Belpre, Washington County, Ohio. I do not know where she is buried?
6. Levi Goss or rather the Rev. Levi Goss was born 22 October 1793 maybe in the Wyoming Valley or somewhere on route with his parents to Ohio. He married Sophia Rummerfield (no record yet found) probably in northern New York state and he died on 31 March 1872 in Medina Township, Lenawee County, Michigan. He is buried with his family and wife in the Goss Cemetery west of Morenci, Michigan. I visited Levi on a earlier trip to Ohio in 2007 and I will share what I found in later posts.
Levi is the great-grandfather of Flora Montanye Osborn. Flora contributed to the research on the Goss family back in the 1920′s to the 1940′s. She was a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) and Mayflower. She corresponded with Paul H. Goss who wrote many manuscripts and articles on the Goss Family. In the future, I will write about these two individuals and their contributions to the body of knowledge of the Goss family.
7. Lydia Goss was born 8 June 1796 probably either in what was eventually called Cincinnati or maybe in what became Dayton, Ohio? The history books of the Montgomery County area state that another male child was the first-born in Dayton? One of Lydia’s children’s obituaries told the story that Lydia was the first child born in Dayton! More on this in a later post. Lydia married John Andrews Spracklin on the 19th of July 1819 in Washington County, Ohio. She and John are buried with Noah and Ida in the Green Valley Cemetery in Knox County very close to the land that was bequeathed in a deed in 1815 to Lydia by her father Solomon Goss. Lydia and John A. Spracklin are my 3rd great grandparents and this is my link to the Goss family through her father Solomon.
8. David Goss was born probably sometime in the late 1790′s in Washington County but so far no record has been found of his birth or his death which might be about 1810 in Fearing Township, Washington County, Ohio? I will discuss David a little more in a future post. Not much is known about David but he is usually confused with his brother Daniel.
NOTES: Susquehannah was spelled with an “h” at the end in the beginning and then it was later dropped.
The Wyoming Valley is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania and I found this online series of maps that might help to show it in more detail: http://www.mapcenter.org/community/wv-model.html My map above is not as detailed and I am focusing more on the area that was specific to the Goss, Scott and allied families.
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Sources: Here are the general categories of the sources used: Washington County, Ohio vital records, Washington County Cemetery Records, cemetery visits, tombstone photographs, the manuscripts and articles of Paul H. Goss and Flora Montanye Osborn, DAR Applications, compiled indexes, estate files, county history books, deeds, tax lists, U.S. Federal Census, family histories and more. Each child and their family will be discussed in more detail in future posts with sources.
*If you have ancestry in this area of Pennsylvania that has been discussed in this post, you will need to study the writings and books of Donna Bingham Munger. Her Connecticut’s Pennsylvania “Colony” 1754-1810 Volumes: Proprietors, Settlers and Claimants are a must. This link to Amazon has them for sale. However, you should be able to find copies in your local large library, archive or genealogical society. Donna, my friend, took many sources and created a detailed index of the land records for the area. I have seen some of these sources and they are not easy to read. This three volume set can be of great help to researchers .
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