Capt. Samuel Gould

Captain Samuel Gould was born in Caldwell on July 20th, 1764 to Stephen and Rachel Spier Gould. He is the grandson of John Gould, one of the first settlers of the Horseneck area of Essex County.

He served in the Revolutionary War along with his uncles, Joseph and John, and his brother Josiah, as well as, his great-uncle Thomas and cousins Joseph, Timothy, Robert and William Gould.

Records regarding Samuel Gould are scarce. He married Elizabeth Courter of Caldwell after the War and they had at least four children. After her death, he married Ellen or Eleanor Jacobus who is also from Caldwell. They had five more children. [Rootsweb and Will of Samuel Gould]

Samuel was active in the Church, serving as Deacon for the Congregation at one time. [A Puritan Heritage, p.140]

We know from Samuel's Will that he was a successful landowner in the area. He left his land holdings in the Great Swamp to his son Stephen and his wife Sarah. He also remembered in his Will his sons Richard and Cornelius and his daughters Anney, the wife of Aaron Baldwin and Salley, the wife of John Jacobus. He refers to his mother as Rachel Williams, indicating that she must have remarried after his father's death.

When Samuel wrote his Will in 1818, it appears that he was in the process of freeing a slave known as Tom. At the turn of the 19th century, slaves were still common in the Caldwell area. In 1793, when the Congregation in Horseneck built a new meeting house, they set aside sections of the upper gallery for slaves to attend services. The Gradual Abolition Act was passed in New Jersey in 1804, beginning the freeing of slaves. [A Puritan Heritage, pp. 112-113]

Samuel Gould passed away in his 58th year on October 4, 1822. His obituary in The Sentinel of Freedom noted, "In the death of Mr. Gould society has lost a most valuable member, the church a distinguished ornament, and the family connection a most endearing friend." [Gould- Samuel- Centinel of Freedom, Newark 4 Sep 1821 Vol XXV Issue 52 p. 3]

Captain Gould was laid to rest in the Old Burying Ground. His mother, Rachel Williams, was buried in the Old Burying Ground in March 1824 at 83 years of age. His wife, Ellen Jacobus Gould shares his tombstone. She died at 72 yrs old, on 28 May 1832. [A Puritan Heritage, p. 459, 460, 465]