Nathan Goff, Jr.
Nathan Goff, Jr. (9 February, 1843 – 24 April, 1920) briefly served as the twenty-eighth Secretary of the Navy during the first three months of 1881.
Life & Career
Nathan Goff was born in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia) on February 9, 1843. He the Northwestern Academy at Clarksburg, and subsequently Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Later he studied law at the University of the City of New York until the outbreak of the Civil War. As a native of the pro-Union Appalachian part of Virginia he defied his state's attempt at secession from the United States and enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 in the Third Regiment of Virginia Volunteer Infantry, later becoming a major in the Virginia Volunteer Cavalry.
Following the destruction of the Confederacy in 1865, Goff was admitted to the Bar and practiced law. He was elected to the West Virginia State House of Delegates in 1867 until becoming United States Attorney for West Virginia in 1868. He campaigned unsuccessfully as a Republican Congressional candidate in 1870 and 1874, and for Governor of West Virginia in 1876.
Goff was appointed Secretary of the Navy as a placeholder during the waning days of Rutherford B. Hayes's presidency after Richard W. Thompson resigned in December 1880. His stopgap duty at the Navy Department ended when James Garfield took office as President, and Goff returned to West Virginia, again acting as United States Attorney. He continued in this position until 1882, when he ran for Congressional office. This time he was successful, and served three terms in the House of Representatives from 1883 through 1889. He declined to seek reelection in 1888, instead making another unsuccessful run for Governor of West Virginia.
After departing Washington, Goff was appointed as a United States circuit judge for the fourth judicial circuit, serving from 1892 to 1913, when he was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate for the term commencing March 4, 1913. He did not immediately take his seat, preferring to remain on the bench for the remainder of the month. He ultimately served from 1 April, 1913 to March 3, 1919, declining to become a candidate for reelection in 1918. While Senator he was chairman of Committee on Conservation of Natural Resources and of the Committee on Industrial Expositions during the Sixty-fifth Congress.
Goff died in Clarksburg, West Virginia on 24 April, 1920.
See Also
Bibliography
- Davis, Leonard M., and James H. Henning (July 1951). "Nathan Goff—West Virginia Orator and Statesman." West Virginia History 12: pp. 299-337.
- Smith, G. Wayne (1959). Nathan Goff, Jr.: A Biography. With Some Account of Guy Despard Goff and Brazilla Carroll Reece. Charleston, WV: Education Foundation.
Papers
| Naval Appointments | ||
| Preceded by Richard W. Thompson |
Secretary of the Navy 7 Jan, 1881 – 4 Mar, 1881 |
Succeeded by William H. Hunt |
Footnotes
