Local history indicates that Gaelic families in 1641 joined the Rebellion of the Catholic Confederacy and were defeated. Their lands in the Ulster region were confiscated and granted to English and Scottish settlers. During the resettlement County Roscommon was one of the counties set aside for those landowners disposed of their lands in the Ulster region. This county is relatively wet and unsuitable for agriculture. The region where the Goheen name is prominent is known for its iron production. The early Goheens in the colonies were blacksmiths. The Kilronan parish in the barony of Boyle contains iron and coal works and comprises about 14,200 acres. During the famine of the nineteenth century this region suffered disproportionately resulting in an 80% drop in population from 1841 to present day. This may explain the lack of Goheen surnames in the Ireland telephone directory.
A common view among some Goheen families is the name is derived from the Scotch clan, Colquhoun.2 The belief is the clan name evolved over a period of years through relocation, language differences, and/or errors in transcription. A genealogy of the Colquhoun family has been traced back 800 years with few missing descendants. Although many variations of the name exist, none have been found as Goheen or begin with the letter “G”.3
A theory of Welsh origin of the surname Goheen is a legend that I knew as I grew up. The first time that I had doubts of this theory was when I contacted a British genealogist who said that the only way this could be is if the Goheens were servants. His statement was based on the surname, Goheen.Investigation of bonded emigrants to the colonies gave no credit to this theory. In fact, all evidence seems to indicate that the original Goheen family had some wealth. However, the theory of a Welsh origin cannot be dismissed. Edward W. Goheen’s (from the Bucks County, Pennsylvania Goheens) descendents claim they are of Welsh origin4 as well as the Goheen family (from Nantmeal, Chester County) of Centre County, Pennsylvania. I am also plagued with a story my brother, Richard Goheen, related to me. He met a man on a business trip who had heard the name Goheen in Wales while stationed at an air force base during World War II. This man, name unknown, stated that a small town outside the base had many people with the name Goheen and that they had intermarried over the years. My brother who is disinterested in genealogy related this to me many years later and has forgotten the details. I have not been able to locate this town or anyone with the name Goheen in Wales. The surname Wynn is a Welsh corruption of Guiheen or its variations. (Some Welsh dialects did not pronounce the initial “G” and the name became known as Wynn. Sometime upon returning to Ireland from Wales the surname would be changed back to Guiheen.)5 Welsh migrations to and from Ireland occurred during normal family relocations into the southern part of Ireland. The county of Roscommon is in Northern Ireland. The particular areas where the Goheens are found adjoin the Ulster region of the plantations that were occupied by the Scots and English.
A theory of the Goheen surname being French originated with a family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania who migrated after the Revolution to Canada.6 Raymond Goheen has investigated variations of surnames that possibly could come from the French. The area south of Belgium, Alsace-Lorraine pronounced the French “i” as “ee”. The name Gohin is pronounced as Goheen. Raymond investigated other French surnames, “Goin”, “Gouin” in the Normandy region and “Going in the Lorraine region. If the name is Germanized it would become “Gohin, Godin”, “Guidin”. It is possible that the Goheens were French Huguenots and may have fled to Scotland and Ireland before migrating to the colonies. Most of the Huguenots retained their French surnames; Chaigheau, Champion, Fleury, Logier, Guerin, etc. when they migrated to Scotland or Ireland.7
John Pugh Goheen has traced the Goheen family to Richard Goheen who lived in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He has tied into French origins through Catherine Bessonet the daughter of John Bessonet and Sarah Dye. Her grandfather was a Huguenot, Charles de Bessonet, the son of Vicomte Claude de Bessonet, who fled persecution and came to the colonies about 1685.
Doris Goheen a descendant of Israel Goheen (Israel < Israel < Thomas < Thomas the who fled to Canada) of the Canadian Goheens received information from Francis Goheen Williams, her great aunt that the Goheens were French. My great aunt Francis Goheen Williams never told anyone the origin of our name until she was over ninety although she had known it all her life. When asked about it by cousin Raymond,... she said that she did and that her father, (my great grandfather, Israel Goheen Jr.) had told her that we were French and came from that part of France that was fought over by the France and Germans. Our ancestor had got in trouble with the king and had to leave the country.
In order to establish the origin of the Goheen surname, their immigration to the colonies should be proven, The records of arrivals from England are scarce. If a person came from England to the colonies, they were not required to go through an English port and pledge allegiance to the crown of England. Therefore, they are not on these lists and besides, many passenger lists for this early period have been lost. An alternative method to formulate a theory of the Goheen origin is to follow the surname found in Ireland the mid-1800’s to an earlier time. Travel was common from Ireland to Scotland and depended upon the economics of the area as to where a family would move. It was common for a family to live in one location for one to three generations and then move again often to the place they originally lived. If the Goheens had moved to other areas for several generations one might assume the name would be found in these various locations. The Goheen surname was located in a very small area of County Roscommon, Ireland. Did they not move because their main occupation was with the iron industry and they were economically secure? When was the corruption of the surname to Goheen?
I have based my theory upon the evidence I have found of Goheen families living in Ireland. They are living in a region with surnames derived from Gaoithin. The fact that they lived in an iron-producing region and the first known Goheens in the colonies were blacksmiths adds credence to this theory. The development of surnames and corruption of names because of language, migrations to other areas and the disinterest in having a surname has made the search of the Goheen origin less than exact. I have formulated a theory of the origin of Goheen based the Irish name Maolghaoithe (Chief of the wind). The Anglicized form of Gaoithin (Maolghaoithe’s second son) is Guihan, Guihin, Guihen and Guiheen.8 These surnames are found together in Roscommon tend to confirm a relationship. (see Maolghaoithe) A local parish priest of Roscommon has stated that Guihan and Wynn (Wynn is a Welsh corruption of Guihan) are considered to be the same.9 It is reported that two brothers are living there now, one using Guihan and the other using Wynn. Historically, during periods of emigration, most of Roscommon inhabitants were forced to change their “too-Irish” surnames before being allowed to depart for new lives overseas.
Endnotes – Origin of Name Goheen
1 General Valuation of Ireland, Index of Union Boyle, County of Roscommon, pages 1–103; Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, (FHL) microfilm 844992. A Return of the Parish Boyle, pages 337—351; FHL microfilm 101781.
2 Robert Francis Goheen of Princeton, New Jersey. The general view of his fathers generation is that the Goheen name is derived from the Colquhoun clan. The present generation has an open mind on the issue.
3 Orval O. Calhoun, 800 Years of Colquhoun, Colhoun, Calhoun, and Cahoon, Family History in Ireland, Scotland, England, United States of America, Australia and Canada, (Gateway Press, Inc, Baltimore, 1976), Library of Congress, Washington DC.
4 Portrait and Biographical Album of Lenawee County, Michigan, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Michigan, and of the presidents of the United States, (Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1888), pages 287, 288: Library of Congress, Washington DC. John Goheen, the grandson of Edward, wrote this biography.
5 Origins of Guihan, Guiheen, Name Wynn, Wynne, etc., <http://members. ozemail.com.au/~brianfw/scotia/wynnor4.htm> 28 February 2002.
6 Raymond W. Goheen, The Name Goheen, What’s in a name?, In this case nearly 4000 years. Paper presented for the Eleventh Annual Goheen Reunion in Ontario by Secretary-Historian Raymond W. Goheen of Newcastle, Ontario, Canada.
7 Robert E. Matheson, Appendix to the Twenty-ninth Report of the Registration General of Marriages, Births, and Deaths in Ireland, Special Report on Surnames in Ireland with notes as to numerical Strength, Derivation, Ethnology, and Distribution (Alexander Thom and Co. printed for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1892), page 24; FHL microfilm 47699.
8 Origins of Guihan, Guiheen, Name Wynn, Wynne, etc., <http://members. ozemail.com.au/~brianfw/scotia/wynnor4.htm> 28 February 2002
9 Rootsweb Message Board Message: Boards >Localities >United Kingdom and Ireland >Scotland >Midlothian(Edinburgh) >General. Date 25 May 2000, Author, Brian Wynn, Subject, Wynn(e)s Who Were Once Guihans. Date 19 November 2001, Subject: Guihan/Guihen surnames in Co. Leitrim.
10 Robert E. Matheson, Appendix to the Twenty-ninth Report of the Registration General of Marriages, Births, and Deaths in Ireland, Special Report on Surnames in Ireland with notes as to numerical Strength, Derivation, Ethnology, and Distribution (Alexander Thom and Co. printed for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1892), page 15; FHL microfilm 47699.
