William Goforth (1731–1807), also called Judge William Goforth and Major William Goforth, was a member of the Committee of One Hundred and Committee of Safety in New York City, an officer of the New York Line during the American Revolutionary War, and was a member of the New York State Assembly after the war. He was one of the earliest immigrants to the Cincinnati area, where he was named a judge and was elected to the territorial legislature.

Life in East

William Goforth was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, on April 1, 1731. He married Catharine Meeks in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on May 18, 1760. He was a member of the Committee of Safety and Committee of One Hundred early in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He joined the 1st Regiment

New York Line The New York Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term "New York Line" referred to the quota of numbered infantry regiments assigned to New York at various times by the Continental Congress. These, together with similar contingen ...

as a Captain on June 28, 1775, under Colonel

Alexander McDougall Alexander McDougall (1732 9 June 1786) was a Scottish-born American seaman, merchant, a Sons of Liberty leader from New York City before and during the American Revolution, and a military leader during the Revolutionary War. He served as a m ...

, was a Major, 5th Regiment New York Line, June 26, 1776, and resigned July 6, 1776. He served in the Invasion of Canada and the Battle of Three Rivers. Goforth was elected to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

for the

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

and 9th New York State Legislature, serving from 1784 to 1786.

Life in West

Goforth was among the earliest settlers in Southwest Ohio, when he settled at Columbia, now a neighborhood of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

in early 1789. On January 4, 1790, Governor Arthur St. Clair established Hamilton County and named Goforth one of three Judges of the Court of Common Pleas and Justices of the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace. Like other Democratic-Republicans in Ohio, statehood became important to William Goforth. To that end, he along with Thomas Goudy, David Zeigler, Robert McClure, Aaron Caldwell, William McMillan and Robert Benham formed a Committee of Correspondence in 1797 to share this desire with other counties in the Northwest Territory. He was elected one of the Hamilton County representatives in the

Northwest Territory House of Representatives The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

for the First Territorial Legislature, which met from September 16 to December 19, 1799, at Cincinnati, and from November 3 to December 9, 1800, at Chillicothe. On March 3, 1801, the Congress passed , titled "An Act giving a right of pre-emption to certain persons who have contracted with

John Cleves Symmes John Cleves Symmes (July 21, 1742February 26, 1814) was a delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey, and later a pioneer in the Northwest Territory. He was also the father-in-law of President William Henry Harrison and, thereby, th ...

, or his associates, for lands lying between the Miami rivers, in the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio" Section 4 of this act called for the President to appoint two commissioners to "ascertain the rights of persons claiming the benefits of this act. Goforth and

John Reily John Reily (1763-1850) was a soldier in the American Revolution who later held a number of civic positions including helping draft the Ohio State Constitution. Reily Township in Butler County, Ohio is named for him. Biography John Reily was born ...

were named by the President to be these commissioners. In 1802, Goforth ran as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to be a delegate to the convention that would draft a constitution for the proposed state of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He was elected to the convention, which met from November 1 to November 29, 1802. He voted against ever allowing slavery in the state, and was in the minority in voting for suffrage and other civil rights for black people. After Ohio became a state, an election was held for Ohio's at-large congressional district in 1803. Goforth finished in fifth place. Either Goforth, or his son, also

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

was a

Presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

in 1804, voting for

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

. Goforth died November 2, 1807 at Columbia. He was buried there, but re-interred at

Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham L ...

. His tombstone reads: "Here rest the remains of Wm. Goforth who was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Apr. 1, 1731: Emigrated to Ohio in 1788: Assisted in forming her Constitution and was one of her first territorial judges: An officer in the Revolutionary War. He sacrificed everything for its success. He died Nov. 2, A.D. 1807 in the 76th year of his age."

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goforth, William 1731 births 1807 deaths Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery Continental Army officers from New York (state) Members of the New York State Assembly Members of the Northwest Territory House of Representatives Ohio Constitutional Convention (1802) Ohio Democratic-Republicans Politicians from Cincinnati Politicians from New York City