William Gough

GOUGH, WALSH, KEPHART

Posted By: Diane (email)
Date: 2/24/2002 at 20:15:39

William Gough is one of the early settlers of Iowa, his residence dating from March, 1852, when he came to Jones county, and thence to Janesville, Bremer county, in October, 1853. His residence in Butler county dates from the fall of 1854, residing on section 4. Mr. Gough is a native of Gloucestershire, England, where he was born in 1817, residing there until thirty-five years of age.
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He is best known as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Gough entered the ministry as a local preacher when about twenty-seven years of age. He came to the United State in 1850, settling in Illinois, but transferred it to Jones county, Iowa, in 1852, and thence, as dictated by the conference, to Bremer and Butler counties. Mr. Gough was for many years an itinerant minister of his church, and enjoyed all the experiences incident to the life of a Methodist preacher on the frontier. A portion of his time has been devoted to farming. He entered a farm in Dayton township, north of Clarksville, about 1853.
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He was married in Pittsfield, Pike county, Illinois, in 1852, to Susanna Walsh, born in County Galway, Ireland, June 23, 1822. She came to the United States in 1848. Mrs. Gough has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since she was six years of age. She is a woman of great energy, excellent memory, of a poetical turn of mind, and for the advantages she had, of good literary attainments. She is a sister of Thomas Walsh, of this county.
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Mr. and Mrs. Gough have six children – Caroline A., now Mrs. Jacob Kephart; William C., George W., Joseph J., Thomas A. and Elizabeth J. They lost two children while living at Clarksville.
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Source: History of Butler and Bremer Counties, Iowa
Union Publishing Co., Springfield, IL, 1883
Pages 749-750