Goff Family History - Part 1

Harriet Smith Goff

Introduction

This history on Harriet Smith Goff was written by her two granddaughters Geneva Ainsworth Bagley and Sylvia Ainsworth Evans and a daughter of Geneva, EvaLynn Bagley Casperson.

Narrative

Harriet Smith Goff was born 22 October 1834 in Lancastershire, England, a daughter of Thomas Smith and Rebecca Miller.

Grandmother Goff married Thomas Goff, son of Isaac Goff and Mary Ann Naylor, 11 May 1856. Thomas Goff was born in Long Whatton, Leicestershire, England. Grandmother Goff was baptized a member of the Latter-day Saints Church in 1863.

Grandmother Goff owned and operated a glove factory in England and employed 22 girls. She did the fancy work on the back of the gloves. Through doing this work she was able to save and pay for the emigration of herself, her husband and children.

She often had the Mormon missionaries stay at her home while in England and was truly converted. Harriet Goff Ainsworth, daughter of Grandmother Goff, often told her children that, when Grandmother Goff thought of her mother, the picture was of her standing on the dock waving goodbye to her and wiping the tears away with her apron. Grandmother Goff’s mother had followed her to the dock begging and pleading with her not to go to America. Although she missed her parents, she never wanted to go back to live in England. She wanted to stay her in the land of Zion.

She and her husband, with their four children Heber, Mary Ann, Ruth and Naomi, crossed the ocean on the ship The American Congress. The voyage took six weeks. It was a sailing vessel and sometimes they would make two days’ time of good sailing and then they would drift back and lose the distance of the two good days of sailing.

She and her husband, with their children, cam across the plains with Captain Joseph S. Rawlins’ ox train. They arrived in Great Salt Lake City on 1 October 1866. She had to walk every step of the way across the plains. No one was allowed to ride who was able to walk. Grandfather Goff was ill and had to ride in the wagon all the way here. Grandmother spoke well of Captain Rawlins – she said he certainly was a good leader. He gave instructions and the people followed them. She said there was only one time she disobeyed and that was when they buried a nineteen-year-old girl. Captain Rawlins said not to look back, but Grandmother did and said she certainly was sorry she had, for the wolves were digging at the girl’s grave.

They weren’t bothered much with Indians, although they kept a constant watch. Captain Rawlins gave them instructions as to what to do in the event that they were attacked and Grandmother said they were in constant fear of an attack all the way to Utah. They were frightened one evening when they were about to stop and camp for the night. The scouts came hurrying back and informed them that Indians were up ahead. Captain Rawlins gave them bacon, sugar, salt and bread dough. When they rode away, the squaw had placed the dough on her head; that was the way they carried it.

Grandmother said the most unforgettable experience that she had was during the North Platte River crossing. She said she was afraid they all would drown with the lunging of the oxen. One of her children fell in the water and the child was saved by an expert swimmer. She said the river was a rolling mass of water and mud. While walking across the plains she would gather wood in her apron for the campfire at night and, if there was no wood, she would gather buffalo chips.

Her first home here was a dugout on the banks of the Jordan River, just due west of Midvale, where the West Jordan Flour Mill is located now. She lived there until her husband could go to the canyons and obtain logs to build her a two-room log cabin. The cabin at first had a dirt roof and dirt floor. Her first baby after arriving here in Utah was born on the dirt floor on some old bedding in the corner of her log house. Her first light was an old cloth soaked in grease or lard, and a box of matches had to last a year.

Grandfather Goff homesteaded 92 acres of land just one-half mile south of Midvale; and in 1880, the railroad bought a right-of-way through this land. With this money he built his wife a new home. This home still stands about two blocks due east of the Fur Breeder’s Association on South Main in Midvale. Her grandson, Joseph Ainsworth, lives there.

Grandmother Goff was a hardworking lady. She cared for her children and worked in the fields. When she first came here, she would glean wheat all day and take it to the mill and have it ground into flour and then set bread the same evening. She would do this as long as there was a head of wheat left in the fields.

They often were visited by the Indians. They would come into her home and stay a long time sharpening their knives and would ask for food. She would sometimes be there alone with the children when the Indians came.

Her husband passed away when he was 54 years old. Most of their children were married, all but three. Uncle Isaac didn’t marry and he stayed and cared for his mother until she died. Her daughter Harriet Goff married Benjamin Ainsworth one year after the death of her father.

Grandmother Goff’s education was very limited. When her husband passed away she couldn’t read or write; but she took the children’s first, second and third readers and taught herself. Grandmother Goff could read “like a lawyer” according to her daughter, Harriet Goff Ainsworth. She always read aloud. Grandmother Ainsworth was very proud of her mother and said that her mother would sit on the highest throne in Heaven because she certainly had earned her way there.

Grandmother Harriet Smith Goff passed away on 11 December 1912 at the age of 78 and was buried at the Sandy City Cemetery.

Thomas Goff and Harriet Smith Goff had fourteen children. They were:

• Heber
• Mary Ann
• Henry
• Ruth
• William
• Emma
• Naomi
• Joseph
• Tamer
• Harriet Alice
• Rachael
• Sarah
• Jane Ann
• Thomas

Editor's Notes

This document is the most recent of many editions.

1. Kory L. Ainsworth transcribed and edited parts 1 and 2 of this document on 18 August 2001. He edited part 3 on 27 November 2001. He added and edited part 4 on 16 December 2001.
2. The source document for parts 1 and 2 was a typed transcript created many years ago by his mother, L. Jane (Goff) Ainsworth, a Goff descendent.
3. The source document for part 4 was a typed transcript created about 1990 by Cindy (Jensen) Goff, daughter-in-law of Ielo and Grace Goff, married to Michael.

This edition contains many corrections of spelling and grammar from the original documents, but great effort has been made to maintain the content and context of the original narrative.

Gallery

Goff Children