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Biography
Ira (called Goff) was murdered by Mack and Arthur Whisman in Wolfe County on April 11, 1909. According to family sources, he was murdered for dating a married woman near his home in Wolfe County.
Newspaper indictments charged Mack Whisman and Mort Bailey for the murder. Arthur may have only been an accomplice or witness.
On August 1, 1910, Jerome "Rome" Spencer was given Guardianship over his children.
Sources
- https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9CH-YM3 (1900 Census Record and Image)
- https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F49N-3SF (Name on Marriage License of son Valentine)
- https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8265260/goff_profitt/ (Newspaper article on murder)
- https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8265195/goff_profitt/ (Newspaper article on murder)
- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063242/1909-05-20/ed-1/seq-1/ (Newspaper article on murderers of Ira)
- https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99DK-KP6T?mode=g&i=21&cc=1875188 (Guardianship of his children given to Jerome Spencer)
Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=139456701&PIpi=113812135
Grave Marker reads:
"God Gave, He took, He will Restore. He doeth all things well"
Notes
The Wolfe County Courthouse is located in Campton, Kentucky. Records were lost in courthouse fires in 1886 and 1913.
Most of the 1890 census population schedules were badly damaged by a fire in the Commerce Department Building in January 1921.
Therefore, no Census Records exist of Ira in 1890.
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/spring/1890-census-1.html
I have been unable to find any record of Ira in the 1870 or 1880 Census.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:375P-ML5 depicts Ira as the Son of William Morgan.
However, there is no definitive record linking Ira Goff to William Morgan.
In fact, there is no record of Ira Goff in any of the Census Records until 1900, when he already has a family. Therefore, there needs to be research to confirm his lineage.
Further Reading
Newspaper Articles chronicling the murder of Ira Goff can be found here:
Further stories presumably exist, and research is ongoing to the details of the homicide.
He is possibly mentioned in thousands of unsorted pages of Wolfe County, Kentucky Probate records. Further research needs done to verify his history in these records. The general page with the images can be found here:
https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/710468?availability=Family%20History%20Library
