MySource:Samples 59/McGoughs and McGues in the 1850 Census of the United States

Origin of the McGough / McGaugh Surname

• Variants of McGough and all-Ireland totals are shown as follows: Gaugh, 2; Goff, 69; Gough, 255; McGaugh, 7; McGeogh, 59; McGeough, 70; McGoff, 14; McGough, 181. Of these, I would say that Gaugh, Goff, and Gough are only rarely variations of McGough/McGeough. Origin, Pronunciation and Spelling of McGough/McGeough by Hugh McGough

See The McGaugh Family

Early McGough Family in America

• E. M. Sharp's Account of the McGough Family's Emigration to America, (Sharp retired as the pastor First Methodist Church of Aberdeen, Mississippi in 1945)

The McGoughs definitely came from County Down, North Ireland [in] 1771. What their histories prior to coming to America is not known. The family had long settled in County Down in villages along the base of the mountains. This information comes from a very old lady by the name of Mrs. Bridgett McCoy with whom I corresponded in 1950. Her home at the time was Dorsey Mullagrass, Culluhany Post Office, County Armagh, Ireland. She had lived for many years in the area of County Down in which the McGoughs had lived. She states: "I know there was an old race of people named McGough and other people who left Ireland near 200 years ago. Some of them worked in England and their home in Ireland was along the mountains close to Newry. There are some of the descendants still there, but I am the nearest friend, none of the young people seem to know anything about these older people.

Our oldest ancestor was Robert McGough, Sr., who with his wife--who is traditionally called Matilda Carson McGough -- left County Down in company with 40 others, neighbors and kinsmen by the name of Carson and McDowell. They sailed from the sea port of Newry on their way to Charleston, South Carolina. It was the year of 1771. After a stormy voyage that is said to have lasted three months, they finally landed at Charleston, more dead than alive. Some of this information comes from William Nelson, a grandson of John McGough who had lived with his grandfather and had heard him tell of his experiences many times. John McGough was of Green County, Georgia. In 1895, in William Nelson's old age he wrote a letter to a cousin of his describing what his grandfather had told him. He said in part:

"You asked me to give you information concerning grandfather John McGough. He was born in Ireland and came over to America with his father, mother, brothers, and sisters and other family relations, the Carsons and McDowells, 40 of them came over in the same ship and landed in Charleston, South Carolina close to 4 months voyage. Grandfather was only 10 years old then. They fled from Ireland because of British oppression and settled in South Carolina, I think it was in Abbeville District. I know he came from Abbeville to Georgia."

Some of the Carson family do seem to have settled first in Abbeville District, South Carolina. One set of them were in what is now Edgefield County, South Carolina. Another family, that of Thomas Carson, went on to Wilkes County, Georgia where Thomas died in 1790 leaving a will. [Greene and some other counties were later cut out of Wilkes, which is near Augusta, Georgia.] It was the grand daughter of Thomas that became the wife of the above John McGough. The McDowells settled also in Wilkes County as there were McDowells closely related to the Carsons and with whom the McGoughs seem to have had close relations with.

Robert McGough, Sr., however, for some reason now unknown to us, pushed his way up into Mecklenburg County, North Carolina where he purchased a tract of land in the Providence Presbyterian Church community, about 10 miles south of Charlotte. There he purchased land from Patrick Jack on Oct. 24. 1773. The following deed is on record at Charlotte, N.C. [Carole Scott has also seen the record of this deed while researching the Jack family.]

October 24, 1773, Patrick Jack of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and Robert McGough of the same county and Providence, for 60 pounds Proclamation money, conveys a tract of land on both sides of McCalpanes Creek, joining Robert Elliott and Samuel Jack and being where on Patrick Jack now dwells. Containing 150 acres.

This deed was witnessed by James Tate, Samuel Jack, and Edward Sharp and signed by Patrick Jack.

• E. M. Sharp retired as the pastor of the First Methodist Church of Aberdeen, Mississippi.

In the summer of 1947, one hundred years after the death of John and Elizabeth, Mr. E. M. Sharp and his father visited the place and the cemetery at White Plains and stood at the foot of those two patriots. The place was then owned by a Mr. Thompson who took special pains to show them all points of interest. The cemetery was located in the middle of a patch where he was growing peanuts. Some years ago the Daughters of the Revolution erected a monument on his grave. These words, "JOHN MCGOUGH, A North Carolina REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER" are engraved. About 30 other graves are in the plot. Buried there besides the McGough, are the Nelsons and Griers.

Mr. E. M. Sharp states that in his efforts to trace the Sharp family, he went to Charlotte, North Carolina and searched the records for the Sharps. It was then that he discovered the McGough records. The two families seem to have had several intermarriages. John Sharp married Mary McGough. Marshall Sharp married Matilda McGough. Thomas McGough of Butts County married Nancy McClure whose mother was Mary Sharp, a daughter of Richard Sharp and grand daughter of Edward Sharp of Mecklenburg. Richard was a brother of John and James Sharp who is the ancestor of E. M. Sharp.

James Madison McGough / McGaugh

• James Madison McGough was the son of John McGough and Elizabeth Brooks, the grandson of Robert McGough Jr., and Agnes McWhorter, the great grandson of Robert McGough Sr., and Matilda Carson.
• James Madison McGough 1st married Mary Ann Rasberry (aka Polly Rasberry) she died (Bet. 1831-1832); 2nd married Nancy Childers.

James Madison McGough in the 1850 Census, Choctaw County, MS

James McGough, age 40, mechanic, real estate $120, born in Kentucky, farmer (M-432, roll 370, page 90, line 3). Indexed by Ancestry.com as McGaugh.

James Madison McGough was born in Christian county, Kentucky, in 1810, to John McGough and Elizabeth "Polly" Brooks; he died before the end of 1860, sometime after fathering his youngest child, Matilda, who was born in 1857. The widow, Nancy Childers McGough, and her children are listed in the 1860 census of Belle Fountain, Choctaw county, Mississippi.

John McGough, the father of James McGough, was the oldest son of Robert McGough and Agnes "Nancy" McWhorter, who moved their family from Alabama to Hopkinsville, Christian county, Kentucky, in about 1809, and back to Dallas county, Alabama, in about 1819.

James Madison McGough married Polly Rasberry in Bibb County, Alabama, on October 15 (or October 20), 1832 (Bibb County, book B, page 78; Early Marriages of Bibb County, Alabama).

James' oldest son, John McGough, was born in about 1832. See: Carolyn McGough Rowe, A Glimpse of the Past: Descendants of Robert McGough (b. 1725 northern Ireland (1988), page 140.

Polly Rasberry may have died shortly after the birth of her first child, John McGough. (The Polly Rasberry who married James McGough was Mary Ann (Polly) Rasberry who was born in 1814 to Thomas Madison Rasberry and his first wife, Caroline Alford, whom he married in Georgia in 1803 (Family Search).

Thomas Rasberry married his second wife, Ruth Spears, in Bibb County, Alabama, on November 22 (or 24), 1841.

The 1850 census of the parish of Union, Louisiana, lists Thomas Rasberry, age 65, born in Georgia, a farmer with real estate valued at $200; his wife, Ruth Rasberry, age 55, born in South Carolina; and a daughter, Sarah Rasberry, age 19, born in Alabama (M-432, roll 241, page 392, line 25).

John McGough vs Madison Rasberry

• Carolyn McGough Rowe, A Glimpse of the Past: Descendants of Robert McGough (b. 1725 northern Ireland (1988) page 78.

John McGough, the father of James Madison McGough, filed a slander suit against Madison Rasberry in the courts of Bibb County, Alabama, on April 21, 1835. "He won and was given land from Rasberry as settlement of the suit." (On April 2, 1835, Madison Rasberry had made a cash purchase of 40.37 acres at 1 SWSE, township 22N, range 13E, section 7, St. Stephen's Meridian, Chilton county, Alabama, through the Cahaba Land Office. Alabama Land Records on Ancestry.com.) The defendant in John McGough's slander suit was probably Polly Rasberry's older brother, Madison Rasberry. This Madison Rasberry had married Elizabeth Hubbard on February 12, 1830, in Bibb County, Alabama (Alabama Marriage Collection, 1800–1969 on Ancestry.com) and is listed in the 1840 census of Bibb County, Alabama, as between 20 and 30 years old, with a wife between 20 and 30 years old, a son under 5, and 3 daughters, 1 between 5 and 10, and 2 under five (roll 1, page 102, line 1). The 1850 census of E. C. River (East Side Cahaba River), Bibb County, Alabama, lists Madison Rasberry, age 41, born in Georgia, a farmer with real estate worth $800, living with his wife, Elizabeth, age 39, born in Georgia, who could not read and write, and 9 children, ranging in age from 18 to 3 months (M-432, roll 2, page 66, line 6). The slander suit was filed by John McGough about 2 1/2 years after his son, James, had married Polly Rasberry, and probably after Polly's death. In 1831 or 1832, Polly Rasberry McGough had given birth to John's grandson, also John McGough, who is the oldest child listed below in the 1850 census of this family. A family history of the Rasberrys says: "Madison Rasberry was a resident of the Jemison area for 42 years. He was also known as a heavy drinker, 'hellraiser', and he spent some time in jail for fighting." Madison "Major" Rasberry — Born Putnum County, Georgia — Lived in Chilton County, Alabama — My 2nd Great-Grandfather by Mitchelene Shaddix. (Chilton county is immediately east of Bibb and was formed originally as Baker county, partly out of Bibb County, Alabama on December 30, 1868.)]

Nancy McGough, age 34, born in Georgia, could not read or write. [Second wife; Nancy Childers married James McGough on July 8, 1836, in Talledega, Alabama.]

John McGough, age 18, farmer, born in Alabama. [Probably the son of James McGough by his first wife, Polly Rasberry. At one time I thought that this might be the John McGough listed in the 1870 census of Maumelle township (Jonesboro Post Office), Craighead county, Arkansas, as age 39, born in Alabama. He served in the Civil War in Co H 30th Arkansas Infantry Regiment (CSA), where the records sometimes list him as Gehue (Jehue) McGoff (McGough).

Thomas McGough, age 14, born in Alabama. [Thomas Childers McGough enlisted in Company K, 15th Mississippi Infantry, CSA., on March 4, 1862. Rowe, page 141. See my page: McGough, McGeough, and McGue Soldiers in U.S. Civil War, 1861–1865 under Mississippi.]

James McGough, age 10, born in Alabama.

Mary McGough, age 8, born in Mississippi.

Andrew McGough, age 6, born in Mississippi.

George McGough, age 5, born in Mississippi.

Tabitha McGough, age 2, born in Mississippi.

Holland McGough, age 6 months, born in Mississippi.

Brother-in-law of James Madison McGough in the 1850 Census, Choctaw County, MS

Subdivision 23, Choctaw county, Mississippi, Pinkney (age 12), Madison (age 8), Rebecca (age 5) and Richard (age 3), are listed with their parents: Aley Rasbury, age 33, a farmer, born in Georgia (M-432, roll 370, page 92, line 42) (indexed by Ancestry.com as Alez Rasbury), and Joisey Rasbury (indexed by Ancestry.com as Jarsey), age 32, born in Alabama, who could not read and write. (Aly Rasberry married Joicy Barrett in Bibb County, Alabama, on January 4 (or 8), 1838. Early Marriages of Bibb County, Alabama. Alfrenza [Ali Aly Alez Alex] Rasberry was born about 1817. Alfrenza was blessed on 8 Jan 1838 in Bibb County, Alabama (Bibb County Records, book D, page 84). Alfrenza married Joyce Ann Barrett on 8 Jan 1838 in Bibb County, Alabama." (An older brother of Madison and Polly Rasberry (McGough), Green Rasberry, who had been born in 1806, had married Rebecca Maryanne Barrett, a sister of Joyce Ann (Joicy) Barrett, on October 7, 1827.) Alfrenza was a brother of Mary Ann "Polly" Rasberry McGough who married James Madison McGough.) Most probably, this other Polly Rasberry was the Joicy Barrett who had married Aly Rasberry, and who was the mother of Pinkney, Madison, Richard and Rebecca, (and Martha) — and not the Polly Rasberry who had married James Madison McGough. In the 1870 census of Choctaw county, Mississippi (township 20, range 10, Post Office: Bellefontaine), she is listed as Joyce Rasberry, age 52, at home, born in Alabama, who could read but not write (M-593, roll 725, page 432, line 33), in the home of Marquis Howell, age 30, born in Mississippi, and Martha Howell, age 30, born in Alabama. (Martha was probably another child of Aly Rasberry and Joicy Barrett.)]

Sister-in-law of James Madison McGough in the 1860 Census, Choctaw County, MS

The 1860 census of Choctaw county (township 20), Mississippi, lists a Polly Rasberry, age 40, born in Alabama, as the head of a household, house mistress, with real estate valued at $400, and personal property worth $348. Living with her were Madison Rasberry, age 19, a farm laborer born in Alabama; Rebecca Rasberry, age 15, born in Alabama; and Richard Rasberry, age 13, born in Mississippi. On the same property was Pinkney Rasberry, age 21, a farmer, born in Mississippi, with his wife, Elizabeth, age 19, born in Mississippi. (M-653, roll 579, page 0, line 14). Pinkney, Madison, Rebecca, and Richard were the children of this Polly Rasberry — so she was a different person than the Polly Rasberry who had married James Madison McGough in 1832.

The McGaughs' of Viginia, Middle Tennessee, Missouri

• The following McGaughs' from this family also resided in Choctaw County, Mississippi.

I. Edmond Mathew McGaugh and wife Mary Mollie Fry, moved from Middle Tennessee to Choctaw County, Mississippi circa 1864. Issue:

II. William Edward McGaugh and wife Beulah Orr. Issue:

III. Harvey Leonard McGaugh.

• See The McGaugh Family . . .