Individual Details

Her first name has been recorded as Delila, Deliah, and Deliliah. Also, some researchers are indicating her first name is Mary. In the early to mid 1950's her granddaughter, Margaret, has the middle name of Delilah which will be used by this writer until it can be documented otherwise.
From the writings of Marlene Kettley an extensive McGoon researcher: "...born near Marietta, Ohio; [note: this conflicts with the Ontario County, New York reference] of a French Canadian family. Her husband [note: some report she was married to an IVES, others to a KIBBY, others to both] and baby died during the great cholera epidemic [note: an epidemic which reached North America was between 1832-1834 which would make Delilah 13-15]. Their names are not now known [June 2015]. Her people were well-to-do-farmers in Ohio..... She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and of the Reorganization. She would knit socks and walk eight miles to sell them to help build the Temple at Kirtland, Ohio. After the birth of her son, John, [Note: this statement is not understood unless it was a John IVES; John McGoon was born in Iowa in 1869 and there is no record of her traveling after then] her mind became affected but after traveling for several years become normal and she lived for many years. She had brown eyes and black hair and was five feet four inches tall...... Delilah was a Christian woman. As she lived so she died. She is buried beside her second husband, David, near Bucklin, Iowa."
In the 1850 Census she is living with David and her children in Lyndon, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin and they are farmers.
In the 1860 Census she is living with David and seven children in Paint Creek, Allamakee County, Iowa and they are farmers. Also in 1860, Delilah and husband David are named in estate record of Delilah's father, Levi Francis, in Lake County, Ohio, and are 'supposed to live in Iowa.'
She was baptized into the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) on 22 May 1865 at Paint Creek, Allamakee County, Iowa by D.M. Gamit (Gamet). The church has her birth date as 2 March but records two different years, 1814 and 1819.
The 1870 Census has her living in Linton Township, Allamakee County, Iowa with her husband David and three sons Prelate, John, and William and daughter Abigail.
The 1880 Census has her living in Linton Township, Allamakee County, Iowa with her husband David and two sons John and William. She is 61 years old, a housekeeper, has asthma, was born in New York.
The RLDS Saints Herald records this obituary: " McGoon. -Near Volney, Alamakee county, Iowa, after an illness of six months of heart disease, Sr. Delilah McGoon. She was born in York State, in 1819; baptized into the Reorganization in 1865, by Elder David M. Gamet; she fell asleep in Jesus, January 12th, 1881, strong in the faith and hope of a part in the first resurrection. She was kind and loving to all; and her husband, eight children and twenty grandchildren mourn her absence."
All indications and family history information have her buried in Sixteen Cemetery, Linton Township, Allamakee County, Iowa. Will Nelson McGoon wrote: "David's wife Delilah died in 1880 and was buried in the family plot in the Old Sixteen cemetery." The caretakers at Sixteen do not have a record of her burial and there is no headstone in 2002 but this does not preclude her burial there. There is a space between David Henry McGoon's headstone and their grandson's headstone giving the possibility that is where she is buried. The plot map indicates two burial spaces between David and grandson.
Another account which comes from the files of William (Will) Nelson McGoon who did a lot of research and kept in contact with many McGoon descendants into the 1970's, all initiated through the memories of his father William Henry McGoon, a son of David Henry McGoon and Delilah. In January 1970, Will writes, "Delilah Francis was also of Indian descent, of the Iroquois tribe. Delilah Francis was kin of the Francis and Perry families of Rhode Island. Oliver Hazard Perry and his son James were cousins of Delilah. Delilah's mother was a Perry. Oliver Hazaard Perry was the famous Naval Officer who won the Battle of Lake Erie in War of 1812. David H. McGoon had a brother named Lewis, who signed his name Magoon."

Sources: 1] Early Members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Volume IV L-P, Compiled By Susan Easton Black, Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993. 2] The Saints Herald publication, Roll #194, Volume 28, Page 80, Year 1881. 3] Early RLDS Reorganization Minutes, 1852-1871, Book A, Page 549. 5] Lyndon Township, Sheboygan Co, WI Census taken 4 Sep 1850. 6] Linton Township, Allamakee Co, Iowa Page 15, Census taken 1 Jun 1880. 7] Linton Township, Allamakee Co, Iowa Page 10 Census taken 13 August 1870. 8] Paint Creek Township, Allamakee Co, Iowa Page 213 (ancestry.com page 287) taken on 3 August 1860, etc.

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Birth	2 Mar 1819	Phelps, Ontario County, New York
Marriage	26 Jul 1840	Painesville, Lake County, Ohio - David Henry MCGOON
Death	12 Jan 1881	Volney, Allamakee County, Iowa
Marriage		Unknown IVES

Spouse	David Henry MCGOON (1813 - 1891)
Child	David Delewis MCGOON (1842 - 1918)
Child	Sarah Ann MCGOON (1844 - 1917)
Child	George Robert MCGOON (1845 - 1869)
Child	Joseph Francis MCGOON (1848 - 1913)
Child	Prelette P. MCGOON (1850 - 1924)
Child	Simeon Levi MCGOON (1852 - 1940)
Child	Delilah Almira MCGOON (1854 - 1859)
Child	Martha Jane MCGOON (1855 - 1860)
Child	John Bray MCGOON (1859 - 1930)
Child	Abigail "Abbie" Celestia MCGOON (1863 - 1943)
Child	William Henry MCGOON (1865 - 1935)

Spouse	Unknown IVES ( - 1840)
Child	Unknown IVES ( - 1840)

Father	Levi FRANCIS (1783 - 1860)
Mother	Abigail MARBLE (1787 - 1872)
Sibling	Harriet FRANCIS (1809 - )
Sibling	Lucy FRANCIS (1822 - )
Sibling	John (Jonathan) Chester FRANCIS (1825 - 1899)

Notes