Nathan Goff , Jr . Nathan Goff , Jr . ( February 9 , 1843April 24 , 1920 ) was a member of the United States Congress from West Virginia , who also served briefly as United States Secretary of the Navy during the Rutherford B . Hayes administration , and as a United States federal judge . Biography . Goff was born at The Waldomore in Clarksburg , Harrison County , Virginia ( now West Virginia ) on February 9 , 1843 . He attended the Northwestern Academy in Clarksburg and Georgetown University in Washington , D . C . , then received a law degree from the City University of New York . When the Civil War broke out in 1861 , Goff enlisted in the Union Army as part of the Third Regiment of Virginia Volunteer Infantry , later becoming a major in the [ West ] Virginia Volunteer Cavalry . In 1865 , Goff was admitted to the bar and established a legal practice , while also becoming prominent in West Virginia politics as a Republican . He served in the State House of Delegates from 1867 - 1868 . In 1868 he became United States Attorney for West Virginia , a position he held until 1881 when President Hayes appointed him Secretary of the Navy , to succeed Richard W . Thompson of Indiana . Goff held the position just under two months , from January 7 , 1881 until Hayes ' term ended on March 4 . After leaving the Navy Department , Goff was again named as U . S . Attorney for West Virginia . He held this post until 1882 , when he was elected as a Republican to Congress on his third run for that seat ( the other runs were in 1870 and 1874 ) . He had also run for Governor of West Virginia in 1876 . Goff served in the House of Representatives from March 4 , 1883 through March 4 , 1889 , as a member of the 48th - 50th Congresses . He was not a candidate for renomination in 1888 , choosing instead to make another run for governor . That was a hard - fought contest , and when the original tally came in Goff had won , but the election was too close and Aretas B . Fleming contested the election . After multiple vote recounts and a point where four men took the oath of office claiming they had the rights to the governorship , the matter was given to the state legislature for resolution . The heavily Democratic legislature declared the Democrat Party Candidate ( Aretas B . Fleming ) the victor . In later years Goff would say that the governorship was a graveyard position and that most men in that position fade away into obscurity . On December 16 , 1891 , Goff was nominated by President Benjamin Harrison to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit , created by 26 Stat . 826 . He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 17 , 1892 , and received commission the same day . Goff was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1912 . He did not immediately take his seat when the Senate convened on March 4 , 1913 , preferring to remain on the bench until March 31 , 1913 . He served in the Senate from April 1 to March 4 , 1919 , choosing not to run for re - election in 1918 . Goff died in Clarksburg , West Virginia on April 23 ( or 24 ; published biographies contain both dates ) , 1920 and was interred in the Odd Fellows Cemetery . He was the last surviving member of the Hayes Cabinet . Goff established something of a political dynasty , with several family members also serving in Congress . His son Guy Despard Goff ( 1866 – 1933 ) served in the U . S . Senate as a Republican from 1925 - 1931 . Louise Goff Reece , daughter of Guy Goff , served in the House of Representatives as a Republican from 1961 - 1963 . His home at Clarksburg , the Nathan Goff , Jr . House , was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 . It was delisted in 1994 , after demolition in 1993 . Namesake . The World War II destroyer " USS Goff " ( DD - 247 ) was named in his honor .