{{Short description|American judge}} {{about|the Civil War major and U.S. representative|the Civil War general|Nathan Goff Jr. (general)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = | honorific_suffix = | image = Nathan Goff, Jr. - Brady-Handy.jpg | alt = | caption = | jr/sr = United States Senator | state = West Virginia | term_start = April 1, 1913 | term_end = March 3, 1919 | predecessor = Clarence Wayland Watson | successor = Davis Elkins | office1 = Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit | term_start1 = March 17, 1892 | term_end1 = March 31, 1913 | nominator1 = | appointer1 = Benjamin Harrison | predecessor1 = ''Seat established by 26 Stat. 826'' | successor1 = Charles Albert Woods | office2 = Judge of the United States Circuit Courts for the Fourth Circuit | term_start2 = March 17, 1892 | term_end2 = December 31, 1911 | nominator2 = | appointer2 = Benjamin Harrison | predecessor2 = ''Seat established by 26 Stat. 826'' | successor2 = ''Seat abolished'' | state3 = West Virginia | district3 = {{ushr|WV|1|1st}} | term_start3 = March 4, 1883 | term_end3 = March 3, 1889 | predecessor3 = Benjamin Wilson | successor3 = John O. Pendleton | office4 = 28th United States Secretary of the Navy | term_start4 = January 7, 1881 | term_end4 = March 4, 1881 | president4 = Rutherford B. Hayes | predecessor4 = Richard W. Thompson | successor4 = William H. Hunt | pronunciation = | birth_name = Nathan Goff Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1843|02|09}} | birth_place = Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia), U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1920|04|24|1843|02|09}} | death_place = Clarksburg, West Virginia, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = Odd Fellows Cemetery<br>Clarksburg, West Virginia | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = Republican | other_party = | height = | spouse = | partner = | relations = | children = Guy D. Goff | parents = | mother = | relatives = Louise Goff Reece (granddaughter) | education = | alma_mater = New York University School of Law (LLB) | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = <!--Embedded templates / Footnotes--> | footnotes = | branch = {{flagicon|United States|1861}} Union Army | service_years = 1861–around 1864 | unit = 3rd West Virginia Infantry Regiment<br/>4th West Virginia Cavalry Regiment | rank = 35px Major | battles = American Civil War }}
'''Nathan Goff Jr.''' (February 9, 1843 – April 23, 1920) was a United States representative from West Virginia, a Union Army officer, the 28th United States Secretary of the Navy during the administration of President Rutherford B. Hayes, a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and of the United States Circuit Courts for the Fourth Circuit and a United States senator from West Virginia.
==Early life and education==
Born on February 9, 1843, at his family's estate Waldomore in Clarksburg, Harrison County, Virginia (now West Virginia),<ref name="auto">{{FJC Bio|874|nid=1381316|name=Nathan Goff<!--(1843–1920)-->}}</ref> to Waldo Goff, who had five times won election to represent Harrison County in the Virginia House of Delegates. Goff attended the Northwestern Academy in Clarksburg and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.<ref name="auto1">{{CongBio|G000255|inline=yes}}</ref> He received a Bachelor of Laws in 1866 from New York University School of Law.<ref name="auto"/>
==American Civil War== Although his family owned several slaves, they favored the Union. During the American Civil War, Goff joined the Union Army in 1861; enlisting in the 3rd West Virginia Infantry Regiment.<ref name="auto1"/> He later became a major in the 4th West Virginia Cavalry Regiment.<ref name="auto1"/>
==Postwar career== Goff became editor of the ''Clarksburg Telegraph'' beginning in 1866.<ref name="auto"/> Admitted to the bar, he began his private legal practice in Clarksburg from 1866 to 1867.<ref name="auto"/> He won election to the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1867 to 1868.<ref name="auto"/>
Goff then became the United States Attorney for the District of West Virginia from 1868 to 1881, and from 1881 to 1882.<ref name="auto"/> He served as the 28th United States Secretary of the Navy in 1881.<ref name="auto"/>
However, Goff failed to win election to Congress as a Republican candidate in 1870 and 1874.<ref name="auto1"/> He was also the Republican candidate for Governor of West Virginia in 1876 and 1888, but voters instead elected the Democrat.<ref name="auto1"/>
== United States representative ==
Goff was elected as a Republican from West Virginia's 1st congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 48th, 49th and 50th United States Congresses, serving from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1889.<ref name="auto1"/> He was not a candidate for renomination.<ref name="auto1"/> Following his departure from Congress, Goff resumed private practice in Clarksburg from 1889 to 1892.<ref name="auto"/>
==Federal judicial service==
Goff was nominated by President Benjamin Harrison on December 16, 1891, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Fourth Circuit, to a new joint seat authorized by 26 Stat. 826.<ref name="auto"/> He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 17, 1892, and received his commission the same day.<ref name="auto"/> On December 31, 1911, the Circuit Courts were abolished and he thereafter served only on the Court of Appeals.<ref name="auto"/> His service terminated on March 31, 1913, due to his resignation.<ref name="auto"/>
== United States senator ==
In 1913, Goff was nominated for the United States Senate by state delegate Roy Earl Parrish. He was elected by the state legislature over Democrat Clarence W. Watson, receiving 60 votes to Watson's 43.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1913-02-21 |title=Judge Goff is Elected United States Senator |pages=1 |work=The Fairmont West Virginian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fairmont-west-virginian-judge-goff-i/128430831/ |access-date=2023-07-21}}</ref> Though his Senate term commenced March 4, 1913, he did not immediately take his seat, preferring to remain on the federal bench, and served from April 1, 1913, to March 3, 1919.<ref name="auto1"/> He was not a candidate for reelection in 1918, the first time under the Seventeenth Amendment that the seat was filled by popular vote.<ref name="auto1"/> He was Chairman of the Committee on Conservation of Natural Resources for the 65th United States Congress and Chairman of the Committee on Industrial Expositions for the 65th United States Congress.<ref name="auto1"/>
==Death==
Goff died on April 23, 1920, in Clarksburg.<ref name="auto"/> He was interred in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Clarksburg.<ref name="auto1"/> He was the last surviving member of the Hayes Cabinet.
==Family==
Goff was the father of West Virginia United States Senator Guy D. Goff and grandfather of United States Representative from Tennessee Louise Goff Reece.<ref name="auto1"/>
==Home==
Goff's home at Clarksburg, the Nathan Goff Jr. House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It was delisted in 1994, after demolition in 1993.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
==Namesake==
The World War II destroyer {{USS|Goff|DD-247|6}} was named in his honor.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * {{Bioguide}} {{CongBio|G000255}} * {{FJC Bio|874|nid=1381316|name=Nathan Goff<!--(1843–1920)-->}} * {{cite book | last=McKinney | first=Gordon | title=Southern mountain Republicans, 1865-1900 : politics and the Appalachian community | publisher=University of North Carolina Press | location=Chapel Hill | year=1978 | isbn=0-8078-1300-1 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/southernmountain0000mcki }} * {{cite web | last=Smith | first=G. Wayne | url=http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh14-1.html |title=Nathan Goff, Jr., In the Civil War* | year=1953|access-date=4 July 2017}}
==External links== The West Virginia & Regional History Center at West Virginia University houses the papers of Nathan Goff Jr. in three collections, [https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/repositories/2/resources/2618 A&M 213], [https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/repositories/2/resources/4003 A&M 953], and [https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/repositories/2/resources/5658 A&M 1940] {{Portal|American Civil War}} * [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g6/goff.htm ''USS Goff'' (DD-247), ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050410064207/http://history.navy.mil/danfs/g6/goff.htm |date=2005-04-10 }} Naval Historical Center. Accessed March 24, 2024.
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=John J. Jacob}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Republican nominee for Governor of West Virginia}}|years=1876}} {{s-aft|after=George Cookman Sturgiss}} {{s-bef|before=Edwin Maxwell}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Republican nominee for Governor of West Virginia}}|years=1888}} {{s-aft|after=Thomas Davis}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Richard W. Thompson}} {{s-ttl|title=28th United States Secretary of the Navy|years=1881}} {{s-aft|after=William H. Hunt}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{s-bef|before=Benjamin Wilson}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|United States Representative from West Virginia's 1st congressional district}}|years=1883–1889}} {{s-aft|after=John O. Pendleton}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|rows=2|before=Seat established by 26 Stat. 826}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States Circuit Courts for the Fourth Circuit}}|years=1892–1911}} {{s-aft|after=Seat abolished}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit}}|years=1892–1913}} {{s-aft|after=Charles Albert Woods}} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{s-bef|before=Clarence Wayland Watson}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Senator (Class 2) from West Virginia|years=1913–1919|alongside=William E. Chilton, Howard Sutherland}} {{s-aft|after=Davis Elkins}} {{s-end}}
{{USSecNavy}} {{USSenWV}} {{WestVirginiaUSRepresentatives}} {{Hayes cabinet}} {{USCongRep-start | congresses= 48th–50th and 63rd–65th United States Congress | state= West Virginia}} {{USCongRep/WV/48}} {{USCongRep/WV/49}} {{USCongRep/WV/50}} {{USCongRep/Line}} {{USCongRep/WV/63}} {{USCongRep/WV/64}} {{USCongRep/WV/65}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goff, Nathan, Jr.}} Category:1843 births Category:1920 deaths Category:Politicians from Clarksburg, West Virginia Category:United States secretaries of the navy Category:Hayes administration cabinet members Category:Republican Party United States representatives from West Virginia Category:Republican Party United States senators from West Virginia Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Category:United States attorneys for the District of West Virginia Category:United States federal judges appointed by Benjamin Harrison Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:West Virginia lawyers Category:People of West Virginia in the American Civil War Category:Southern Unionists in the American Civil War Category:Military personnel from Clarksburg, West Virginia Category:Union army officers Category:Lawyers from Clarksburg, West Virginia Category:20th-century West Virginia politicians Category:20th-century United States senators Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:19th-century members of the West Virginia Legislature