From Virginia Through the Southwest:Information about Nancy Goforth
Nancy Goforth (b. 1797)
Notes for Nancy Goforth:
Nancy Goforth b. 1797, John R. Goforth b. 1804, and Absolom Goforth b. 1804, are brothers and sister according to Martha Ellen Goforth daughter of Absolom Goforth of Washington Co. Tennessee.Relatives say that Absolom told his children that his father (unnamed) went off to fight in the War of 1812, or at any rate the father left and left these children and their mother in desolate condition.Nancy was bound out in 1810 to the family of a Daniel Bayless. So by May 1810 the father is out of the picture.Absolom was bound out to John and Ann Tucker McGinnis, May 1813 (Washington Co. TN Court Records).No record found of John R. being bound out and it is uncertain who reared him.Martha Ellen said her father (Absolom) told them that his mother eventually remarried and moved away, he didn't see his mother after she moved. Also mentioned some surnames she thought Absolom's mother married; Koonts or Koonce.
From Shirley Linse, niece of Martha Ellen Goforth (1861-1957), February 2000
CONFLICTING INFORMATION:
Nancy Goforth and brother John R. have been listed in some Goforth genealogy books as children ofZachariah Goforth the Revolutionary War vet.Absolom Goforth (their brother)has been listed as a grandson of Zachariah by his son Absolom Goforth (1775). Neither Zachariah Goforth (1758-1842) or his son Absolom (1775-1855) died by 1810, nor were any of their children bound out. They could not be parents of Nancy, John R. or Absolom Goforth.
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GOFORTH SIBLINGS BOUND OUT- WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE COURT RECORDS:
Thursday May 10, 1810- NANCY GOFORTH a minor bound unto DANIEL BAYLES untill she arrive to the age of eighteen years--
(Daniel Bayles died in 1856 in Washington Co. TN with Nancy's brother, Absolom Goforth, signing his will as a witness. Nancy Goforth married George Bayles in 1817 in Washington Co. TN.)
May 1813- ABSOLEM GOFORTH a minor bound unto John McGinnis (wife is Ann Tucker) untill he arrives to the age of twenty one years--
Note: Nancy and Absolom's brother, John R. Goforth (b. 1804), not mentioned in court records.
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Nancy Goforth married George Lucas Bayless on March 13, 1817 in Washington Co. Tennessee, and he is believed to be the brother of Daniel Bayless, to whom Nancy was bound out after her father died. George Bayless served in the War of 1812.He later married Martha Montgomery (no children).
Information on George provided through Lois from Bobby Bayless of Amarillo, Texas
May 21, 1856- Absolom Goforth (brother of Nancy Goforth) signed as a witness to the will of Daniel Bayless (Nancy Goforth's former guardian and brother-in-law) in Washington Co.Tennessee.The will was sworn to in court by Absolom Goforth in June 1856 and in the July 1857 court session.