Rowland Gooch's family in Louisa County is one the earliest Gooch families to be chronicled by genealogists. His family is often confused with many other Gooch families, especially that of John of Caroline County and Granville County. The confusion is natural, as the names “Gideon,” “Rowland,” and “John” are used by both families. Since the Caroline County records are for the most part lost, many researchers of the Caroline branch are quick to try and use the records of nearby Louisa County to identify their ancestors; however, there is no evidence that any of the Caroline County Gooches ever resided in Louisa. Therefore, it is important to both branches to try and record a clear account of Rowland and his sons. Rowland and several of his sons leave wills, which along with other records in that county, such as tax lists, provide us with a rich source of public records to define this family.
Early family historians have claim Rowland married the famous Unity West [ref: Singleton, Evelena; "Gooch Genealogy & Allied Families" unpublished (1943)]. This is not a fact and in fact is clearly false. Singleton is the earliest to write down this connection, but the origin of her information is unclear as she never quoted her sources. Unity West (died 1753) the daughter of Nathaniel West (died 1747) of West Point married William Dandridge of Elsing Green. The only other Unity West was Unity Croshaw the daughter of Major Joseph of Poplar Neck. Unity Crowshaw married Col. John West and died sometime after 1664. Neither of these women could have been or were likely to have been wives of a Backcountry farmer at the end of the Eighteenth Century. However, Rowland's will names his wife as “Unity” and beyond her first name we know nothing of her history or family connections. Research in this family suggest that their fourth child, John, had the middle name of Logan [ref: Dark, M.B.; Notes (1992)] which may be Unity's maiden name. The third son is named Claiborne, which may also be Unity's maiden name.
There are numerous early source for history on the Gooch family of Louisa County. The first being the will of Rowland Gooch of Louisa who dies in 1794; his estate is probated on the 08th of December of that year. The will mentions his wife Unity, sons: John, Pumphret, Rowland Jr., Gideon, Liner and Claiborne, as well as an unmarried daughter Elizabeth. The second significant will is that of William Gooch who dies before Rowland Sr., leaving a will probated in 1780 that mentions his father Rowland, wife Lavinah and three minor daughters: Mary, Jemima, and Sally. These wills are further supplemented with the Douglas Register of births and marriages in Louisa and environs. The Douglas Register is further supplemented by Louisa marriage bonds. Much of the information gathered on the children of Rowland has been researched in detail by Maxine Ball Dark of Hardy, Arkansas. She has used wills in both Virginia and Kentucky, Census records, tax lists and deeds as basis of her findings. Her work corroborates those original records that I have reviewed such as the Louisa County wills, tax records, and Douglas Register. The children of Rowland and Unity Gooch of Louisa are listed in the below matrix: Note: birth dates estimated from Louisa County tax lists. All white men were polled on their 16th birthday. Death year are determined by date that the will was proven. © 1999 mahard@jps.net