Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Gougar, John 1810 - 
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Author: Portrait & Biographical Album, 1890

JOHN GOUGAR. 

This aged veteran, who has passed the eightieth year of his age, has been a 
resident of New Lenox Township since 1830. He has seen much of pioneer life, 
contributed his full quota to the development of the agricultural resources of 
this section, and is now in the enjoyment of a competence, being able to look 
back upon a well spent life, and feeling that his labors have not been in 
vain. During his Iong residence in Will County he has gathered around him 
hosts of friends, who have long recognized his sterling qualities, and whose 
confidence and esteem he enjoys in a marked degree. The biographer finds him 
pleasantly situated in a beautiful home, amidst all the comforts and many of 
the luxuries of life. The immediate progenitors of Mr. Gougar were William and 
Catherine (Abel) Gougar, natives of Pennsylvania, and the father born in Berks 
County. They were reared and married in the Keystone State, but in 1818 
removed to Ohio, and lived eight years in Pickaway County. Thence they removed 
to Vermillion County, Ind., and from there, in June, 1831, to Illinois, 
settling on section 18, in what is now New Lenox Township. The father tilled 
the soil successfully, and constructed a good homestead from a tract of wild 
land, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying March 31, 1861. The 
mother died January 6, 1854. To the parents of our subject there was born a 
family of eleven children, nine sons and two daughters, eight of whom are 
living. John, our subject, was the eldest of the family, and was born in 
Northumberland County, Pa., March 20, 1810; he accompanied the family in their 
removals to Ohio and Indiana, and attained to manhood on a farm in Vermillion 
County, where he sojourned until the fall of 1830. He then came to what was 
then Cook, but is now Will County, Ill., and settled on section 18, New Lenox 
Township, of which he has since been a resident. He thus bears the distinction 
of being one of the oldest living settlers of this county. Mr. Gougar remained 
a bachelor until a man of thirty-nine years, and then he met his fate in the 
person of Miss Mary Ann Miller, to whom he was married in Joliet, January 2, 
1849. Mrs. Gougar was born May 21, 1813, near Shippensburg, Pa., and was the 
daughter of Jacob and Mary (Boots), Miller, likewise natives of the Keystone 
State, in the eastern part of which they spent the closing years of their 
lives. They were the parents of nine children, two of whom are living. Our 
subject and his wife commenced their wedded life together at the home which 
they now own and occupy. Of their union there has been born one child only, a 
son, Lewis F., November 15, 1852. He has spent his entire life at the old 
farm, and for many years past has had the chief management of it, relieving 
his parents from many cares. He was given a good education in the schools of 
New Lenox Township and at Englewood, Ill. For several years he has been a 
School Director in his district, and also served as Overseer of Highways. Both 
parents and son are regular attendants of the Episcopal Church. John Gougar 
cast his first Presidential vote for Van Buren, and from that day to this has 
continued a stanch supporter of the Democratic party. He served in the Black 
Hawk War, being a member of a company of mounted volunteers, under the command 
of Capt. Holden Scission, and had three brothers—Williams, Nicholas and Daniel—
who served in the same company, all being mustered into service in August, 
1832. During the early days the post-office was at the house of Mr. Gougar, 
Cornelius Van Horn acting as Postmaster, and constituted one of the stations 
between Danville and Chicago. Mr. Gougar served on the petit jury in Chicago, 
walking the entire distance. In 1830 he went to mill with an ox-team to a 
place near Ottawa. He hauled his grain and other produce to Chicago, also 
drove his live-stock there to market. Upon one occasion, during the Black Hawk 
War, he in company with David Magnet, sought safety in a cave north of Joliet, 
where they remained undisturbed until the danger was past. Near the residence 
of Mr. Gougar is an old Indian burying ground. During the early days the 
pioneers endured untold hardship, and but few survived to tell the tale. The 
subject of this notice is looked upon as one of the old landmarks, whose 
career has been one of more than ordinary interest. He traces his ancestry to 
Germany, and the family was first represented in America probably during the 
Colonial days. Mr. Gougar has in his possession a German Bible, which was 
printed about 1600, and which is carefully preserved as an invaluable relic. 
He has made for himself a good record, and his name will be held in kindly 
remembrance long after he has been gathered to his fathers. Two of his 
brothers, who have also been men of note in their community, are represented 
elsewhere in this volume. 

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890

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