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Odds and Ends |
Here is more McGough Miscellanea.
"Numerous pardons to Irish minstrels appear in State documents for the years 1601 and 1602, and their names—though little more is known of most of them—are a distinctly valuable addition to our musical history, the majority being unknown to Walker, Hardiman, Bunting, or Petrie. ...
"During the autumn and winter of the year 1602, Irish music was fashionable at the Court of Queen Elizabeth. Nay, more; the virgin Queen kept an Irish harper, Donal buidhe, in order to sooth her nerves. In the previously quoted letter from the Earl of Worcester to the Earl of Shrewsbury, dated September 19th, 1602, it is distinctly stated:--'Irish tunes are at this time most pleasing.' Some of these Irish tunes are in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (a manuscript dating from the first quarter of the seventeeth century), three of which are arranged by Dr. William Byrd, one of the greatest composers that ever England produced.
"On December 6th, 1602, pardon was granted to Edmund O'Gibney, of Mulrankin, County Wexford; and, on the 4th, to Shane ballagh M'Geough, of County Monaghan, harper, and to another harper, named Cormack MacGillecosgelie, of a Levitical family in the diocese of Clogher, erenachs of Derrybrusk."
Irish Music in the Seventeenth Century, 1601–1650, from A History of Irish Music by William H. Grattan Flood (chapter XVIII) on Library Ireland. See also: Irish Harpers in History, Ending with the Reign of Queen Elizabeth , which is chapter II from Captain Francis O'Neill's Irish Minstrels and Musicians, Chicago, Regan Printing House, 1913.
W. C. McGough (William Carson McGough) was an early settler of Eastland county in central Texas. He moved there from Georgia before the county was formed in 1858. The first community in the county was established before the Civil War and was named McGough Springs, Texas. An essay in support of filing a historical plaque at the old Alameda Cemetery in Eastland County records that W. C. McGaugh came from Georgia and camped at Blair’s Fort in the area, and that his first son, born at Blair's Fort on August 17, 1861, was the first white child born in the county.
Carolyn McGough Rowe tells me that W. C. McGough had four wives and twenty-three known children; that one of his descendants has shown that the claim, that W. C.'s oldest son was the first white child born in Eastland County, Texas, is wrong; and that his cattle brand was GUE in all capital letters. She also says that W. C. McGough was the son of Thomas Carson McGough (and Lana Kitchens), son of William McGough (and Nancy _____) who died in 1823 in Jones County, Georgia (after having amassed a fortune), and who was the third and youngest son of the Robert and Mary (or Sarah/Matilda) Carson McGough who emigrated from county Down to Charleston, South Carolina, about 1773 with about 40 other people, most of whom were relatives. William McGough was a younger brother of A Scots-Irish John McGough. For a short history of Eastland County and McGough Springs, Texas, see the Handbook of Texas Online. Some of the details in this paragraph were extracted from A Glimpse of the Past: Descendants of Robert McGough b. 1725 Northern Ireland, Carolyn McGough Rowe's comprehensive genealogy of this branch of the McGoughs.
The Battlesites and Massacres website has two relevant pages: W. C. McGough and Others Encounter Indians and W. C. McGough and Others Fights.
The Billy McGough who is described in Texas history as making salt at a saline springs near Eastland County, Texas, is doubtless this same William Carson McGough. The spring was about 20 miles northeast of Abilene and close to the northwestern part of Eastland County. "The spring was first discovered by whites in 1861, when three cattlemen—Cal Greer, William King, and Vol Simonds—who were returning from a cattle drive to the Concho River area to the west, found it while walking across country after losing their horses. After the announcement of the discovery, settlers in the region visited the spring to produce salt for their use. Among them were George Greer, George Hazelwood, and Billy McGough. McGough described the water as 'salty as brine, but bitter and muddy.' His men filled barrels with it to allow the water to settle and then boiled it in pots until only the salt was left." The story is told in the Handbook of Texas Online, a multidisciplinary encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture, which is published on the internet as a joint project of The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association. William Henry Ledbetter, a native of Mississippi, founded the Ledbetter Salt Works at the saline spring in 1862, which is described as on the Salt Fork of Hubbard Creek, about eight miles southwest of the site where Albany was later founded in Shackelford County.
The location of McGough Springs is described in two articles that have been published on the Internet under the title The Schmick Brothers of Eastland County. Three brothers, Peter Isaac (Ike) Schmick, Henry Slavern Schmick, and James K. Schmick, came to Texas from Arkansas in 1868, settled near Mansker Lake in the Alameda Community of Eastland County, before it was a county, and helped establish the town of Eastland, Texas. All three of the brothers had served in the Army of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Henry S. was the first sheriff of the county, from.1875 to 1879. Ike was the first elected county clerk, 1878 to 1883 or 1884. James K. was the third sheriff, 1882 to 1891:
"In 1886 and 1887 there was a severe drouth in this area. Sallie Alice would tell her children many time in years to come. There was no rain for over eleven months. The Leon River and all the creeks went dry. The only source of water for miles around was the Stanford hole, Ellison Springs and McGough Springs. The Stanfied hole was along the Leon River on the property owned by the Stanfied family. Everyone in the Alameda community got water here. The women would bring their dirty clothes and wash them here.The Ellison Springs was about seven miles south and the McGough Springs was about seven to eight miles west."
The story of the three Schmick brothers and their families was originally told in two articles from the book Gateway to the West: Eastland County History, published in 1989 by the Eastland County Book Committee. Both were written by Sallie Hutchinson, descendant of Casper Schmick and Mary (Polly) Mansker.
McGough Springs is no longer populated and is not shown on the Texas road atlas that I have. The latitude and longitude of these springs can be found in the Index of Landmarks & Vanished Communities for Eastland County, Texas: Latitude: 322053N; Longitude: 0984704W. On this website, there are links to digital maps that show the location of McGough Springs. The springs are 6 kilometers south of Eastland, Texas. Eastland is about 58 miles east of Abilene. Eastland is shown at Latitude: 322405N; Longitude: 0984902W. Mansker Lake is shown at: Latitude: 321919N; Longitude: 0983820W. Alameda Cemetery is at: Latitude: 322002N; Longitude: 0983846W. For zoomable maps of Eastland County, go to Texas County Highway Maps.
Marsha McGough of Seattle points out in an email of June 5, 2000, that McGough Springs is at least partly populated today:
"Your site now mentions McGough Springs and says that it is now uninhabited. That is not quite true. I visited McGough Springs in April 1999 and again in August 1999 for the McGough family reunion ... I found the Springs using the USGS map off the internet, and had no idea that I would still find a McGough living there! Woodrow Carson McGough still lives part-time at McGough Springs on William Carson McGough's original homestead—or on some of it, I should say. It seems to me he may have said he still has 400 of the original 1600 acres. The ranch grew bigger than that over time, but has since been split up. Woodrow McGough is the youngest of William Carson McGough's children. Yes, I did say that right. William Carson McGough was born in 1836, and his son Woodrow was born in 1919*. William Carson was 83 when Woodrow was born. Woodrow goes by the nickname 'Bill,' and when not at the ranch he lives with his wife in nearby Ranger, Texas. He's a very sharp and funny guy who has lots of memories of the stories his father used to tell. It is beautiful country at McGough Springs, and I have lots of pictures.
"I also brought back a copy of William Carson McGough's memoirs, along with lots of other historical documents, his ledgers, etc., all compiled by one of his granddaughters. ... He wrote at some length about the salt springs you talk about. His memoirs are very interesting reading—though gruesome at times. The killings of Indians, cattle thieves, etc. figure prominently in his stories."
*Carolyn McGough Rowe, in her prodigious work A Glimpse of the Past—Descendants of Robert McGough (b. 1725 Northern Ireland, at page 205, says Woodrow Carson McGough was born in Texas on September 17, 1917. She says "he is now living on the original McGough Springs homestead."
In the October, 1937, issue of the West Texas Historical Association Year Book, there is an article by William Carson McGough: Driving Cattle into Old Mexico in 1864: volume 13: 112.
Here is an entry from "Texas Ghost The Ghost Towns of Texas" by B. Wayne Caldwell:
"McGough Springs Eastland 170
"Was a trading center before 1861. Indian trouble drove the people out. In 1874 a P.O. opened. The town declined when the RR missed it. 3 miles S of Eastland."
William and Debbie McGough own and operate The Crown and the Thistle Books, P. O. Box 78, Albany, WI 53502, which specializes in out-of-print books. William McGough grew up in Colton, California. He is the grandson of Thomas Newton (Newt) McGough and Vivian Cox McGough, and the great-grandson of W. C. (Billy) McGough of McGough Springs in Eastland county, Texas.
See: McGoughs Who Moved to Texas by Brandie Via.
Ann McGeough Harney sent me an excerpt from the diary of a priest, Father (later Bishop) James Donnelly, whom the Irish hierarchy sent to the United States in 1851 to collect money for a proposed Catholic University of Ireland in Dublin. Father Donnelly had taught in the town of Monaghan, Ireland, in the newly opened St. Macartan's seminary from 1848 to 1851. He traveled in the eastern United States from 1851 until he was appointed professor of humanities in the Irish college in Paris in 1855. See Peadar Livingstone's The Monaghan Story at page 247. Father Donnelly's diary entry notes his visit to a McGeough married to an Edward Carbery in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Phoenixville is 10 to 12 miles southeast of Pottstown, on the road to Philadelphia.
The 1870 census of Chester county, Phoenixville district (Roll 1324 Book 1, Page 587b) lists a Mary Carbery, age 48, keeping house, with real estate worth $400, born in Ireland. Living with her, and quite possibly her grandmother, or even her mother, was Susan McGough, age 90, born in Ireland. Living with them were Annie McNamee, age 14, born in Pennsylvania, and Peter McNamee, age 11, born in Pennsylvania. The father and mother of all four persons in the household were of foreign birth—certainly Irish. In the 1880 census of Phoenixville, Peter McNamee, age 20, employed in an iron works, born in Pennsylvania to parents born in Ireland, is identified as a nephew of Mary Carbary, age 60, with whom he was living.
The 1850 census of Chester county, Pennsylvania, West Whiteland Township (roll 766, page 433b) lists Edward Carberry, age 63, a laborer, born in Ireland; his wife, Margaret, age 60, also born in Ireland. Neither Edward nor Margaret could read nor write. Their children living with them were all born in Ireland: Daniel, age 23, a laborer; Morris, age 19, a laborer; and Judith, age 12. West Whiteland township is a few miles south of Phoenixville.
Mary Carbry, age 27, born in Ireland, is shown by the 1850 census of Philadelphia (5th Ward, Spring Garden, roll 819, page 24) as living in the home of Henry M. Parrott, age 29, a shoemaker, born in Delaware, and his wife, Sarah, age 23, born in Pennsylvania. Mary may have been a daughter of Edward and Margaret Carberry who had left home for the big city.
The 1860 census of Chester county, Pennsylvania, Lower Uwchlan township, Tronville post office ? (roll 1094, book 1, page 513), shows a Norris Carberry, age 29, a farmer, with real estate worth $1200 and personal property worth $120, born in Ireland; wife Mary Carbery, age 35, born in Ireland; and four children born in Pennsylvania: Mary, age 7; Margaret, age 5; William, age 4; and James, age 2. Uwchlan township adjoins the township of West Whiteside to the immediate west, and is a few miles south by southwest of the borough of Phoenixville.
The Clogher Record Album, published in 1975 by the Clogher Historical Society, says at page 109 that Father Donnelly was selected in 1851 by the Irish bishops to collect funds in America for the Catholic University of Ireland, which was founded in 1851 as an alternative to the nondenominational Queen’s College which had been opened in 1845. The Catholic University officially opened in 1854 in Dublin. It is now known as University College Dublin (UCD). Here is Father Donnelly’s diary entry as set out in the Clogher Record Album (1975) at page 121:
"Sa 12 [Nov 1853] Sang 2 hours. Off Phoenixville, Pa., 28 miles.
" Su 13 Collected 225 dls cash. Met Edward Carbery and Mrs. Carbery (alias McGeough). Long chat with them. Carbery was carman long ago and carried goods for father. Saw Bogue, butcher from Fivemiletown. 3 games of chess."
Bishop Charles McNally of the diocese of Clogher decided in 1850 to make the town of Monaghan his episcopal seat and set about building St. Macartan's Cathedral there. Father James Donnelly became bishop of Clogher diocese on February 26, 1865, and lived to see the dedication of the Cathedral in Monaghan town on August 21, 1892. The Monaghan Story, pages 252–5.
Father Donnelly attached to his diary a list of Irish priests in the US, showing their native parish and location in 1853. One entry was: "Albany, NY Diocese: ... McGeough. Aughnamullen East. Schenectady."
Visit the Patrick Kavanagh website for background this this famous Irish poet. See also my section on Inishkeen (Catholic parish of Inniskeen) on my web page McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in the Civil Parish of Donaghmoyne and the Barony of Farney.
For a sample of the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh (1904–1967), go to The Irish Poetry Page maintained by the Department of Linguistic Data Processing, University of Cologne, Germany. Here is one of his poems that I like, from Patrick Kavanagh—Collected Poems (W. W. Norton Co. 1964), page 136:
Epic
I have lived in important places, times
When great events were decided, who owned
That half a rood of rock, a no-man's land
Surrounded by our pitchfork-armed claims.
I heard the Duffys shouting 'Damn your soul!'
And old McCabe stripped to the waist, seen
Step the plot defying blue cast-steel—
'Here is the march along these iron stones.'
That was the year of the Munich bother. Which
Was more important? I inclined
To lose my faith in Ballyrush and Gortin
Till Homer's ghost came whispering to my mind.
He said: I made the Iliad from such
A local row. Gods make their own importance.
Michelle McGoff in her now-inactive web page on The Green Fool, the autobiography of the poet Patrick Kavanagh, published in 1938, points out several references to McGeoghs and McGeoughs with whom Kavanagh grew up in the parish of Inishkeen, county Monaghan. Here are excerpts from Michelle McGoff's page (with some re-arrangement):
"The Green Fool
"At Kenny's Bookshop in Galway, I asked the clerk if she could help me find any literature pertaining to County Monaghan. She immediately asked me if I had ever read anything by Patrick Kavanagh. I told her I hadn't and she insisted I read The Green Fool, as she put it 'to really find out exactly what it was like living in County Monaghan.'
"I've since read the book and feel closer to my County Monaghan ancestors than I did before. One great surprise in reading it was the discovery of a McGeogh that Kavanagh knew growing up. He thought enough of to write about him in this— his autobiography.
"Below are excerpts from chapters three, eight, and seventeen in the Green Fool where McGeogh is mentioned. [I added page references to the Penguin Books paper-back edition.]
Excerpt from Chapter 3: Schooldays [pages 35–7]
'On the Thursday evening preceding the first Friday of each month two girls, a boy and myself, left school a half-hour early. We were carrying out a religious practice known as making the Nine Fridays. The saint who initiated this devotion was promised by Christ Himself that whoever made the Nine Fridays should not die unrepentant. That was a very big promise. ...
'Among the other who were making the Fridays were Mary O'Hare, who had a by-child, Rose Hanlon, who was married five years and had no children, John Moran who suffered from deafness, and many more who were afflicted in some way.
'It wouldn't be fair to say that there wasn't a lot of genuine piety among the chapel-going crowd; but the good people aren't picturesque enough to imprint themselves on a young boy's memory. I have little memory for anything save the quaint and the bizarre.
'Out of all our Nine Fridays I have only one thrilling experience to tell.
'Not far from the school, as we were heading for the chapel, we came upon a man sitting on the grass margin eating beans. His trousers were torn and it looked as though he had fallen through a thorn hedge. He was a stout round-headed man of forty or so.
'"Would ye have e'er a pin about ye?' he inquired.
'We gave him several pins with which he fixed his immodest trousers. Then he rose and accompanied us along the road. He gave us beans and explained how he had fallen into McGeogh's garden.
'When Larry left us to run home with his school-bag, the man with the torn trousers did ...
'I suppose he only earned a year in gaol. We didn't tell of the affair to any stranger.
'When Larry came back I told him.
'We made a great laugh about the business.
'I remembered it, and that proves the rightness of the people's saying:
'"The bad thing is aisy remembered."
[At the end of the chapter, Kavanagh says: "By the grace of God the experience of sexual perversion passed us by as an idle wind.].
Excerpt from Chapter 8: At the Shrine of Luck [pages 67–9]
'"No matter, Pat, I'll come back to the gamble,"' the servant boy's last words were as he left our district.
'The gambling craze was in my blood, too. For years I spent every Sunday from Mass time till dark watching the spinning coins.
'All over the country it was the same—toss schools at every cross-road. ...
'I went home and had my tea.
'"Ye lost as usual?" my mother said. As usual she was right. No matter how well I did the detective-story sang-froid she could tell if my pocket was empty.
'I managed to forage out a penny from a pocket in the house wardrobe—five nails stuck in the wall was the wardrobe. When I returned to the toss-pit, there were many new faces among the crowd and old MacGeogh was there with his greyhound Spot.
'"Here, young fella," he said to me, "I'll bet ye a penny he harps the ha'pennies."
':Done with ye," I said. "I'll be a sport."
The coins fell two heads and two heads again and again till I had a shilling won. I was right about my luck changing.
'"Ye'll rob me," MacGeough said.
'"Sure yer rotten with money," I said, "ye won't miss it."
'He laughed; he liked people to say he had plenty of money: he wasn't a poor-mouth. Luck is a king and Luck is a beggar.
Excerpt from Chapter 17: Serving My Time [pages 131–2]
'A cobbler's shop is a garden of philosophy. On wet days our house was filled with all the seers and savants of the neighbourhood. On the very wettest day would come MacGeogh to get a tip on his boot. MacGeogh was a tidy, well-preserved man of seventy; he had never married. Each time he came he retold for us the stories of his many law cases. And what he said to the judge.
'"Me lord, sir," says I to the Master of the Rolls, "I have no schoolin' but I can tell the truth." "Do ye know, MacGeogh," says the Master of the Rolls to me. "Do ye know, MacGeogh," says he, "ye ought to be in my place."
'"Didn't Connor beat you?" I said.
'"Bate be damned," MacGeogh growled. "Do ye know me sweet fella, Connor didn't bate us, we bet ourselves." He looked at the boot I was repairing. "Rise me well on the outside of that brogue,"' he said.
'MacGeogh was a vain old man. He had hardly ever lost a lawsuit. His talk had quality which the written version of his stories lacks.
'"Where did ye get all the money, MacGeogh?" says his lordship to me. "Me lord, sir," says I, "I earned it with the sweat of me back." "Yer a nailer, MacGeogh," says his lordship. "I dismiss the case against MacGeogh with full costs." "Did ye put a good lift on the outside of that heel?"
'"I'm making a first-class job of it," I said. "I'll put you straight on your feet."
'"As for Connor," MacGeogh said, reverting to the lost lawsuit, "we bet ourselves. Me own engineer told the judge that I didn't lave an ample fence after me when I cut the march-ditch. Huh, himself and his ample. I wasn't much of a scholar but I knew what ample meant."'
* * *
In A Life Chronicle,
"Kavanagh mentions his neighbors, one named Paddy McGeogh (circa 1912):
'Along that main road in one direction, until it reached the village of Inniskeen and Phil Magee's pub and grocery, were families, some owning a patch of land, other day labourers—past Harry Robinsons the postman, past Willie Hughes, past Paris Row and just beyond the village—the Catholic Church. In the opposite direction lived Nicholas Kerney, Paddy McGeogh and his Mother, Paddy Meegan, Johnnie Caffrey with his own distinguishing bog, then McEnteggarts until less than half a mile away at the crossroads was the local Kednaminsha school which we all attended.'
"Additionally, there is a reference to the Kavanagh family fighting with the Cassidy family over land. It was lost to the Cassidy's in 1846. Patrick's father, James Kavanagh, managed to convince the court he had squatters rights. Patrick Kavanagh reflects
'I have heard the story recounted in the house many times as a child but there always seemed to be some crucial bit deliberately omitted to prevent the feud being passed down to our generation. It is very likely that when father mentioned raising the roof to two stories that Cassidy brought him to court and lost. This would account for that part of the story which I remember, that the house was raised to two storeys in ten days. It was such an epic that the names of the masons, Deery & Finn together with their helper Paddy McGeogh have been repeated so often as heroes that they are remembered by me.'
[These last quotations may be from a limited-edition biography of Patrick Kavanagh that was produced in New York by his brother Peter Kavanagh. Some 1,000 copies of "Patrick Kavanagh—A Life Chronicle", which was sponsored by retired Dublin businessman Michael O'Reilly, were available in Ireland and a lesser number in America. I didn't find the quotations in The Green Fool.]
There are brief biographies of Patrick Kavanagh and his brother Peter in The Monaghan Story by Peadar Livingstone, at pages 637–8. For more on Patrick Kavanagh, go to Patrick Kavanagh's Worlds: Mine and not Mine.
Since Michelle McGoff closed her website, she has moved to Ireland, married, become Michelle McGoff-McCann, and published a good book that also mentions several McGeoughs in county Monaghan: Melancholy Madness—A Coroner's Casebook (Mercier Press 2003).
Michelle McGoff, in her now-inactive IrishMcGoff.com website, set out the story of Geough Mor (Big McGeough) in an excerpt from Along the Black Pig's Dyke: Folklore from Monaghan and South Armagh by Brian Sherry & Raymond McHugh, Castleblayney Community Enterprises Ltd. [1993]. McGeough lived in the townland of Drummacavoy (Drumcavoy), which is number 30 on the map published on the internet under the title Townland Boundaries in Roman Catholic Parish of Inishkeen, County Monaghan. (The Catholic Parish is spelled Inniskeen. The partly overlapping civil parish is called Inishkeen.) Also mentioned in the story is the townland of Kiltybegs, number 47 on the same map; Ballakelly (Ballykelly), number 5; and Drumcattan (Drumcatton), number 24. Ballakelly is in the civil parish of Inishkeen, but Drummacavoy, Kiltybegs and Drumcattan are in the civil parish of Donaghmoyne. For more on the differences between civil and Catholic parishes in county Monaghan, see McGough Origins in Ireland: Random Ramblings, Rumblings, and Ruminations under Civil and Catholic Parishes.
Here is an excerpt from Michelle McGoff's web page:
"Here's a true story of the Fenian times [in the 1860s]. A man named Geough Mor was out drilling one night at Ballykelly and he lived at Drumcavoy in a place called Glan. He took a short cut coming home and coming through Kiltybegs, he encountered Filgate who was then the owner of that estate. He was a noted tyrant. He ordered him to return but he refused and Filgate who was in possession of a gun, threatened to shoot him but Geough who was unarmed closed in with him and disarmed him and broke the gun and went his way. So Filgate who was a man of authority in the county gathered all the yeomen he had under his command and proceeded to arrest the 'Geough', but the 'Geough' armed with only a pitch fork and in his shirt and trousers, took up position inside his cabin and defended himself heroically against the strongly armed yeomen.
"It was a Sunday and the people coming from mass at Drumcatton got the men of 'Geough Mor' (meaning big McGeough) and told them of what was happening, they came to the aid of the besieged and dispersed the yeos. He was arrested later and brought before the court at Blayney. Before the trial Filgate remarked to the prisoner to take a good look round the court as it would be his last look. The prisoner replied that there was a higher authority here than you. The judge was struck by the boldness of the reply and dealt leniently with the prisoner."
(IFCS. MS. VOL 933)
The list of casualties at the Battle of the Little Big Horn of June 25, 1876, includes a Private Peter McGue, who was killed. See also: Custer's Last Stand, 1876, Dead and Wounded and First Account of the Custer Massacre from the Extra edition of the Tribune of Bismark, Dakota Territory, of July 6, 1876. McGue was a member of company L of the 7th Calvary. This was Pvt Peter McGue who enlisted in the US Army in Troy, New York, on December 23, 1872, and who is buried on the Little Big Horn Battlefield.
This was Peter McGough who, in 1870, was 23 years old and living with his mother, Susan McGough, and brothers and sister—according to the 1870 census of Moriah, Essex county, New York. Peter was born at Port Henry, New York, which is also in Essex county, on Lake Champlain, and about 5 miles east of Moriah. Peter's reported place of enlistment, Troy, New York, is about 50 miles south of Moriah. Peter is listed in the 1850 census of Chazy, Clinton county, New York, as Peter McGoff, with his twin brother, James McGoff, both 3 years old and born in New York, the sons of James McGoff, age 32, and Betsy McGoff, age 37, both born in Ireland.
The website of Little Bighorn Associates lists among the Men with the Seventh Cavalry at the Time of the Battle:
Name: McGue, Peter
Birth: July 1847, Port Henry, New York
Prior Occupation: Laborer
7th Enlistment: December 23, 1872
Rank/Company: Private, L Company
Role During Battle: Killed with Custer's Column
Death: June 25, 1876, Little Big Horn Battlefield, Montana
Burial: Last Stand Hill, Little Big Horn Battlefield, Montana.
In other lists of casualties, Private Peter McGue is listed as a member of Company L (under 1st Sergeant James Butler) which was commanded by 1st Lieutenant James Calhoun, with 1st Lieutenant James E. Porter and 2nd Lieutenant John Jordan Crittenden, both listed as second-in-command, all of whom were killed. At the Little Big Horn battle, June 25–26, 1876. See also: Walter Camp's Notes on the Custer Fight, edited by Kenneth Hammer: Muster Rolls of 7th U.S. Cavalry, June 25, 1876.
Charles McGough, age 30, listed with his family in the 1880 census of Moriah, Essex county, New York, is the younger brother of Peter McGough/McGue. James McGue, who lived nearby and who is listed as age 30, born in Ireland (?), and living with his mother, Majie (Maggie?) McGough, and with his sister Annie McGue, may be the twin brother of Peter McGough/McGue; but his sister, Annie, who is shown as age 25, should have been shown as age 37 and his mother, who is shown as age 65, should have been shown as 67, according to earlier censuses.
Also killed at Little Big Horn was Myles Keogh, an Irish-born officer and a veteran of the Civil War who "captured the popular imagination as the rider of 'Comanche,' the celebrated equine survivor of the fight. ... Evidence suggests he was the particularly heroic officer described in Native American accounts."
Silouette of MacGough, Full Figure is a 1998 oil-on-linen painting by David McDermott and Peter McGough, Dublin-based artists. The download of the painting is slow, but the name "MacGough" is part of the painting.
In A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1887) by Samuel Lewis, volume II, page 439, under the heading Newton-Hamilton, barony of Upper Fews, Armagh, is this entry: "... and a school built on his own estate is supported by W. McGeough Bond, Esq." Listed as subscribers to the large-paper edition of the book are Miss Eliza McGeough (#20), Drumsill House, Armagh, and Walter McGeough Bond, Esq. (#31), Argory, county Armagh. Walter and Elizabeth were brother and sister. See McGeough Bonds in County Armagh, above. Eliza McGeough is probably the Elizabeth M'Geough of Armagh who, in 1876, owned 15 acres in county Down. See County Down Land Deeds in 1876 on Raymond's County Down Website. In Griffith's Valuation, Eliza's name is spelled McGeogh. In my table, McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in Ireland in the 1820–30s and 1850–60s: By County, Parish, and Townland, I have indexed McGeough Bond under M, although the rest of the world might index it under B. See lines 20 and 31.
In 1740, John McGough subscribed to the publication of A Letter of genteel and moral advice to a Young Lady. "To this are subjoined three poems, entitled I. The Month of May ... II. The Wish ... III. Rural felicity compar'd to public life, 1740, Wilkes, Wetenhall. Dublin Subject: prose Viewing records 175698–175698 of 1526399." This is from Biography Database 1680–1830, a collection of biographical records from the national, town, and trade directories of the UK and the US.
In 1736, William McGeough subscribed to The Life of William Bedell, DD, Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland (Second edition), 1736, Burnet, Gilbert. Dublin Subject: biography. Viewing records 133421–133421 of 1526399. See the Ancestry Library at Ancestry.com.
James P. McGeough of Glenmount, county Monaghan, is on the roster of members of the Clogher Historical Society from 1966 through 1982.
To view these records, go to the Public Record Office of the National Archives of the United Kingdom. Under their online catalogue, go "Search Documents" and enter McGough (or McGeogh or McGeough). All records are on deposit at the Public Record Office in Kew and open unless otherwise indicated.
Rear Admiral I. L. M. McGeogh—Records of the Board of Trade and of successor and related bodies. Class Title: Board of Trade: Committee of Inquiry into Shipping: Papers. Piece Title: Rear Admiral I. L. M. McGeogh. Header Title: Miscellaneous Correspondence. 1967.
T. McGeough—Records of the Board of Trade and of successor and related bodies. Class Title: Board of Trade and successors: Foreshores: Registered Files and Miscellaneous Records. Piece Title: Ballyferris: T McGeough. Header Title: Down. 1939-1947.
James McGough—Records of Justices of Assize, Gaol Delivery, Oyer and Terminer, and Nisi Prius. Class Title: Assizes: Northern Circuit: Criminal Depositions and Case Papers. Piece Title: Murder: McGough, James. 1929.
Jerimiah McGough—Records of the Central Criminal Court. Class Title: Central Criminal Court: Depositions. Piece Title: Defendant: O'Leary, Jerimiah McGough, Mathew Michael Cyril. Charge: Contravention of The Official Secrets Act 1911. Session: 1925 Feb. Retained by Department under section 3(4) of the Public Record Act 1958.
Michael S. McGough—Records created or inherited by the Department of Energy. Class Title: Hinkley Point C Inquiry: Records. Piece Title Morency, Kenneth R and McGough, Michael S. Header Title: Supporting Documents. 1988-1990.
Elizabeth McGough—Records of the Supreme Court of Judicature and related courts. Class Title: Court of Probate and Supreme Court of Judicature, High Court of Justice, Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division: Principal Probate Registry: Contentious Probate Case Files and Papers. Piece Title: Testator: McGough, Elizabeth. 1905.
Bernard McGough—Title Records of the Supreme Court of Judicature and related courts. Class Title: Supreme Court of Judicature: Official Solicitor: Bail Applications. I: McGough, Bernard Michael. 1980. Closed. Open Date 01/01/2011.
A. McGough—Records created or inherited by the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, and of related and successor bodies. Class Title: Ministry of Pensions and successors: Selected First World War Pensions Award Files. Piece Title: Name: McGough A. Nature of Disability: G.S.W. 1916-1923.
Vincent McGough—Records created or inherited by the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, and of related and successor bodies. Class Title: Ministry of Pensions and successors: Selected First World War Pensions Award Files. Piece Title: Name: McGOUGH Vincent. Nature of Disability: Psychasthenia. Header Title: Navy Pensions.
For a collection of McGough/McGeough seaman's certificates on file at Kew, see McGough Seamen—Ellis Island on this website.
Here are deaths of McGough coal miners recorded on the website of the Durham Mining Museum:
John McGough, January 18, 1899, aged 33. "Coke Filler, Crushed between a full truck of coke and a side of a wall where a gangway way crosses the line. He died the same night." Hamsteels Collier, location: near Esh Winning, 5½ miles [9 km] west of Durham, England.
Patrick McGough, October 16, 1918, aged 32, concussion of the brain following injury to the skull accidentally caused on the 16th October 1918 by being struck by a binding wheel in the East Hutton seam, Harton colliery, Buried: Harton Cemetery, South Shields
Thomas McGough, April 2, 1924, aged 64. Shifter, killed by a fall of stone. Seaham Colliery, also known as The Nack, New Seaham Colliery , Nicky Nack. Located at Seaham, 5 miles [8 km] south of Sunderland, near Durham, England.
William McGough, February 16, 1909, aged 31. "Killed in the 1909 explosion (cause of ignition uncertain), address: 7 Delacour Street, Stanley." West Stanley Colliery, also known as Burns Pit, 7½ miles [12 km] north-northwest of Durham, England. This explosion, which occurred in the workings of the West Stanley Colliery, in the County of Durham, at about 3.45 p.m. on Tuesday, February, 16, 1909, took 168 lives.
There were two coal miners called Hugh McGough, ages 33 and 43, respectively, living in Marissa township, St. Claire county, Illinois, in 1910. They were brothers who had married sisters in Fredonia, Caldwell county, Kentucky, and moved with their families to Marissa in about 1904. The baptismal names of the two brothers were John William McGough and Hugh Byrd McGough, born to Larkin Washington McGough and Nancy Jane Hillyard in Fredonia, Caldwell county, Kentucky, in 1866 and 1876 respectively. See my page: Hugh McGoughs in History under [1866] and [1876].
Ryan W. McGough is listed as a miner in Lilly, Cambria county, Pennsylvania, in the 1896 Johnstown City and Cambria County Directory.
Silas McGough is listed as a miner residing in Lloydsville in the 1896 Johnstown City and Cambria County Directory—Reade Township.
Bernard McGough, age 40, born in Ireland, was a coke drawer in the Lintz Colliery in Durham, England, in about 1851 (civil parish: Tanfield; ecclesiastical parish: Burnopfield). His son, Thomas McGough, age 15, born in Durham Tanfield, was a coal miner.
John McGough. "John McGoff (misspelled—should be McGough) died August 3, 1911 from 'crushed through the abdominal region by a fall of slate in Snow Hill Mine.'" Coal Miners Memorial, Snow Hill Mine, Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
There is a McGough New Slope Mine in Walker county, Alabama. Latitude: 33.94722. Longitude: 87.52083. See: Brainy Geography—Alabama Mines.
Names of Mining Victims in Great Britain contains these McGoughs:
1895–1899 John McGough (death)
1900–1904 Peter McGough (death)
1905–1909 James McGough (injured)
John McGough (injured)
Thomas McGough (injured)
William McGough (death)
1910–1914 Thomas McGough (or Gough) (injured)
1920–1924 Thomas McGough (death)
1960–1969 Leonard McGough (injured)
Pennsylvania Mine Accidents 1869–1916: SURNAMES Mcm-Mer lists these names:
McGOUDH, CLEM 1910 JAN 25 (age) 36, PORTAGE No.2 N 498 60b
McGOUGH, CELESTINE 1907 MAR (age) 27, 22 PENNSYLVANIA No.3 N 453 60b
McGOUGH, JOHN 1911 AUG 3 (age) 60, SNOW HILL F 798 60b
Peter McGough was one of 32 coal miners killed on June 16, 1890, by an explosion and fire at Hill Farm Mines, Dunbar, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, on page 1 of the New York Times of June 17, 1890. Headline: HELD BY FLAME AND FLOOD; NO HOPE OF RESCUING THIRTY-TWO ENTOMBED MINERS. ALL THE MEN IN A SHAFT AT DUNBAR, PENN., OUT OFF -- YOUNG HAYS'S LUCKLESS BRAVERY.
There is a McGeough Park in Haggardstown, Dundalk, county Louth, Ireland. For pictures, see Clubrooms on Geraldines GFC 1904–2006. The park is the home facility of the Geraldines GFC, a Louth, Ireland, soccer club, founded in 1904, which is the second oldest soccer club in Louth. In Gaelic, their home facility is known as Pairc Seamus Mhic Eochaidh or Pairc Sheamais Mhic Eochaidh.
The Morris L. "Mac" McGough Arena is part of the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher, North Carolina, the fair grounds of the North Carolina Mountain State Fair. "A major portion of the new I-26 from the Madison County Line to I-240 in Asheville will be named the Morris L. 'Mac' McGough Freeway, in honor of the legendary North Carolina civic and economic development leader." I-26 in North Carolina. See Resolution Requesting Designation of the Section of Interstate 26 in Buncombe County as the Morris L. McGough Freeway by the Board of Commissioners of the County of Buncombe. The Morris L. McGough Freeway was dedicated on Wednesday, July 17, 2002. A transcript of the dedication ceremony has been published on the Internet.
The obituary of Clarence Eugene Brodnax, a native of Morehouse parish, Louisiana, and a resident of Daphne, Alabama, who died at age 92 on June 14, 2000, says that he was survived by one brother, Morris L. McGough of Asheville, North Carolina. See the Mobile Register of June 16, 2000. Carolyn McGough Rowe's book, A Glimpse of the Past: Descendants of Robert McGough (b 1725 Northern Ireland), says at page 178 that the second wife of William Lee "Willie" McGough was Leliah Meeks Brodnax. The first child of this second marriage was born on May 30, 1912. The fifth child, Morris, was born on January 19, 1922. (Judy Sulephan, a descendant of Willie Lee McGough and Leliah Meeks Brodnax, informs me by email of April 16, 2002, that they had seven children, and Morris was the fifth child of this union.) Morris married Betty Koephae. This is the Morris L. "Mac" McGough after whom McGough Arena was named. Clarence Eugene Brodnax was a child of the first marriage of Leliah Meeks Brodnax McGough, and a half brother of Morris. Morris father, William Lee "Willie" McGough, was born in Union parish, Louisiana, on April 2, 1875, and died in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, which adjoins Union parish to the east, on October 8, 1948. He was the son of Robert A. McGough and Selma A. Kennedy. Robert A. McGough was the oldest child of Josephus McGough and Mary Ann Taylor. Josephus McGough was the fifth child and third son of Robert Joseph McGough and Nancy Mary P. Johnson. Robert Joseph McGough was the youngest child and third son of Robert McGough and Agnes "Nancy" McWhorter. The father, Robert McGough, was the third child and second son of Robert McGough and Matilda Carson who emigrated to Charleston, South Carolina, from county Down, in 1773, and the brother of the John McGough who is featured in my page: A Scots-Irish John McGough—A Seattle Connection; Emigration of Presbyterian McGoughs in 1773.
McGough Construction of St. Paul, Minnesota, is a five-generation building company that has developed into a large multi-service company. Here is an excerpt from the McGough company history:
"McGough has a rich construction history dating back to mid-nineteenth century Ireland. Five successive generations of McGoughs have been in the construction business. The family emigrated to America in the late 1800s, bringing with them a tradition of quality and craftsmanship. The present Twin Cities-based firm was incorporated in 1956 by Peter McGough and his six sons. Today, three of the six sons are still active in the business, providing experience, guidance and direction as the company continues to evolve."
For information on the founders of this company, see the entry for James Bernard McGough on my page: McGoughs and McGues in the 1900 Census of the United States, under Minnesota—Swift county—Benson.
McGeoughs.com is an Internet liquor store located in Carrickaneena, Mountpleasant, Dundalk, county Louth, Ireland. Their distribution center is in Jonesboro, county Armagh. They offer free delivery in Newry and Dundalk. The website was launched in December, 2002. "While our URL may be new, our reputation is not. McGeough's have been in the community for over 70 years. Our family was born here, grown up, married, and now have children attending the local schools."
On the National Register of Historic Places for Middlesex County, New Jersey, is the Edward S. Kearney House (added 1979 - Building - #79001504), also known as McGough's Tavern and Cosmopolitan Hotel, East Brunswick. Period of Significance: 1850–1874, 1875–1899. Historic Function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic. Historic Sub-function: Hotel, Restaurant, Single Dwelling.
There is a McGough Road in Maple Park, Illinois. Maple Park is in Kane County, west of Chicago. The 1918 Farmer's Directory for Kane County, Illinois says that John McGough, of Maple Park, became a resident of Kane County, Illinois, in 1860, and at first I thought that he was a possible source of the name. See "Kane County" on my web page: John and Peter McGough—Two Brothers in Jo Daviess County, Illinois.
Here is a response of February 28, 2002, to an inquiry I posted on the McGough Family Genealogy Forum:
Hugh,
McGough Road is named for my Great Great Grandfather.
His name was James McGough (D.1907) and he was married to Mary E. Walker (D.1918). They owned a farm on McGough Road.
They had 5 children. One of which was my Great Grandfather James Harrison McGough (1873-1962). He was a bootlegger during the depression! He married Elizabeth Neil (1889-1913), & they had 2 children, twin boys Harry (b. 1912) & Donald (1912 - 1992). Donald was my grandfather.
There is a McGough Family cemetery just off of McGough Road. Have you actually been to the area?
Hope this answers your question.
Gretchen Lent
Naperville, IL
Click here for a picture of the McGough Road Barn.
There is a McGough Parkway on Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The parkway is probably named after Brigadier General Edward McGough III, who was decorated as a P-38 pilot and Squadron commander in Europe in 1944–45. General McGough's Squadron was in the 474th Fighter Group which was stationed at Nellis AFB.
A small stream flowing into Clear Lake in Lake County, California, has sometimes mistakenly been called McGough Slough. It was referrred to as McGough's Slough by the California Court of Appeals in In re Spiers (1939) 32 CA2d 124. The true name, however, is McGaugh Slough. "McGaugh Slough [Lake]: stream flows 4.25 miles to a marsh along Clear Lake 3.25 miles east-southeast of Lakeport ... " Durham's Place Names of the California, page 194.
There is a McGough Boulevard in Florence, Alabama, and a McGough Court and a McGough Drive in Mobile, Alabama. There is a McGough Mews in the Old Sinfin section of Derby, England. There is a McGough Road in Luverne, Alabama, and Jenkinsburg, Alabama. There is a McGough Street in Hobart, Tasmania and Glenorchy, Tasmania. Glenorchy is a northern suburb of Hobart, so there is probably one McGough Street that lies in both Hobart and Glenorchy. The street may have been named after J. L. McGough who was a Justice of the Peace in Hobart in 1921 and 1922. There is a McGough Street (formerly Queen Street) in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, England. There is a McGough Way in Trafford, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.
Michelle McGoff, in her now inactive website, described McGough Falls, also known as Smoky Hollow Falls, near the original homestead of the John McGough family in Jamesville, New York, a few miles south of Syracuse. See McGoughs, McGeoughs, and McGeoghs in the Civil Parish of Donaghmoyne and the Barony of Farney under Knockreagh Lower.
There is a McGough Pond in Crenshaw County, Alabama, at latitude 31.904722 N and longitude 86.435000 W.
My original description of McGough's Flats was: "There are wetlands known as McGough's Flat in Ballina Shire in the Ballina Island area near Penrith NSW, Australia." Here is a helpful clarification of that description sent to me on October 11, 2011, by John Bonsith, one of the publisher's of the excellent website that is based in Coogee in the eastern beaches of Sydney, NSW Australia: Caer Australia: Celtic Traditions, Myth and History.
"McGough's Flat is to the north of Ballina, and close to Byron Bay, the most easterly point of Australia. The location is on the far north coast of New South Wales. Nearby locations are Twed Heads, Lismore and Glen Innes, so you get an idea of the colonial settlement background from those names :)
"Penrith, to which you refer, being noted on the water management document linked, is in fact a far outer western suburb of Sydney and not close at all."
The McGough Home in Bozeman, Montana, is on the list of worthwhile sites on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Fough East. Christa and James McGeough run a bed and breakfast in Connemara, only a four-minute stroll from Oughterard's friendly pubs, restaurants, shops and services, and within walking distance of Lough Corrib. Sheryl Bansfield stayed at Fough East in July of 1999 and sent me this report: "Fough East was excellent—very clean and good food—wish we could of stayed a little longer." (Eamonn McGeough operates a butcher shop on Lake Road, Oughterard, Galway.)
Carol McGough owns the James House, a Queen Anne-style home built in 1889, in Port Townsend, Washington. She is an occupational therapist and runs the house as a bed-and-breakfast. The house is featured in the June, 1999, issue of Victorian Homes. See: The James House Bed and Breakfast.
"McGough & Andrewartha" are listed as shop keepers in New Norfolk, Tasmania, in 1900. Tasmanian Shopkeepers and Owners 1900 (Index taken from Wises Trade Directory 1900). They are also indexed as Andrewartha & McGough. Alexander McGough & Alfred James Andrewartha filed for bankruptcy on April 31,1909. (Miss C. McGough and Miss E. McGough, both of whom lived on Liverpool Street, Hobart, Tasmania, are among the season ticket holders for theTasmanian Exhibition of 1894–1895. See Miss C. McGough, Tasmanian Exhibition, 1894-5, Season Ticket Holder No. 52 (Photograph) and Miss E. McGough, Tasmanian Exhibition, 1894-5, Season Ticket Holder No. 165 (Photograph).) There were many McGoughs in Tasmania in the 19th century. See: Tasmanian Archives Online database published by the Archives Office of Tasmania.)
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