John Joseph Gough and Susan McCloskey
John was the second son of Peter Gough and Letitia Naulty, and was born in Ireland in 1835. For a little over a year, beginning around 1860, he and his wife Susan McCloskey lived in Philadelphia, where he was listed both in the Philadelphia city directory at #2 Nonnater's Court and in the census.
We haven't yet located a marriage record for John and Susan, but they may well have married in the Hazleton area before moving to Philadelphia in 1860. It is possible that Susan was born in County Roscommon; one of the few McCloskeys in the Hazleton area is James McCloskey (born 1828) who said he was born in that county in his citizenship application file (Patrick and Bernard McHugh served as his witnesses).
John was in the tailoring business all his life. In 1860, he told census takers that his occupation was tailoring; his younger brother Richard served as his apprentice in the trade. By 1862, however, he had returned to Hazleton, where his daughter Mary was baptized at St. Gabriel’s. We don't yet know where his eldes son, Peter, was born. By 1870, John and Susan were prospering; according to the census, he owned about $6,000 in real estate and $2,500 in personal property. John died on 16 January 1876, and his widow Susan remained in Hazleton the rest of her life, living for many years at 16 N. Pine Street.
John and Susan had seven children in all. Their eldest son Peter and two of their daughters -- Susan and Catherine -- entered religious orders; Peter became a parish priest, and Susan and Catherine both entered the Order of the Sisters of Mercy. Mary, Michael, and Alice never married and apparently all stayed at home (at least, for the most part) with their widowed mother. Michael was listed in the 1895 Hazleton City Directory as a teacher at the Lattimore School; he later clerked at his brother John's store, according to the 1914 Hazleton City Directory. Only son John married and had children of his own.
John J. Gough (b. 1835, Ireland - d. 16 Jan 1876, Hazleton, Luzerne, PA)
m. in 1860, place unknown
Susan McCloskey (b. Apr 1837, Ireland - d. 31 Mar 1912, Hazleton, Luzerne, PA)
Children:
i. Fr. Peter J. Gough (b. Feb 1861, Philadelphia, PA - d. 16 Dec 1916, Pittston, Luzerne, PA)
ii. Mary E. Gough (b. Jul 1863, PA - between 1915/1916, Hazleton, Luzerne, PA)
iii. Susan J. Gough (Sr. Mary de Sales) (b. 1864, PA - d. 23 Mar 1886, Hazleton, Luzerne, PA)
iv. John J. Gough (b. Sep 1865, PA - d. 30 Jul 1932, Hazleton, Luzerne, PA); m. Anna McGeehan
v. Michael J. Gough (b. 1867, PA - d. 22 Jun 1915, Hazleton, Luzerne, PA)
vi. Alice G. Gough (b. Jun 1868, PA - d. after 1921)
vii. Catherine T. Gough (Sr. Angelina) (b. 1873, Hazleton, PA - d. after 1916)