Thomas Gorby ¹

  General Notes:

He married Elizabeth Allman. Elizabeth was born in Chester Co, PA. ABT. 1740. Elizabeth died in Ohio Co., WV.. (1936) Thomas Gorby, born about 1730 in Chester Co, PA, is the second son of Samuel and Mary (May) Gorby. He married Elizabeth Allman. Nothing is known of her family. In Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania there were, in those early days, families who used various spellings of a similar name. - Allmond, Almond, Allmon and Allman. In one family alone the first three spellings were used and the Allmans of the Gorby family may have come from these families.

From the Pennsylvania Archives we find Thomas Gorby on the tax list in Chester Co, PA in 1769; in 1783 in Rostraver Township, Westmoreland Co; in 1785 in Washington Township, Fayette Co; and in 1788 in Washington Co until 1798. From 1798 until 1802 he lived in Greene Co, having owned land in each of the last four named counties. After 1802, until the time of his death in 1814, he lived in Ohio Co, then VA, where he bought land and conducted a successful farming and milling business. So far the location of this farm and mill has not been found.

Thomas Gorby's will was made March 24, 1814 and filed during the May term of court, 1814, so he died sometime between those two dates. He was survived by his wife and nine grown children - six sons and three daughters. The will is on file in the Wheeling courthouse.

At the present time neither the date of death of his wife, nor the burial place of the two has been found. As was often the custom in those days, they may have been buried on their farm.

Thomas Gorby blazed a long trail through the forests and over the rough mountains of Pennsylvania down to Wheeling, and it took courage, force of character, and marvelous determination of both husband and wife to accomplish what they did. In spite of the hardships, maybe because of them, they lived to be near 84 or 85 years of age.

The descendants of Thomas and Elizabeth (Allman) Gorby settled chiefly in central and southern Ohio, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania.

Ref: GWG1 - The PA Census of 1800 lists Thomas with his sons Eli and Job as living in Findley Twp, Greene Co, PA.

Thomas married Elizabeth Allman. (Elizabeth Allman was born about 1740 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA and died on an unknown date in Ohio County, West Virginia, USA.)