American History Underground

2012-01-18T20:42:00.001-08:00

There apparently weren't any heirs to their estate. Gertrude is the daughter of James b. 1854-d.1912 and Elizabeth Murrells-Goins. James (not be confused with his older brother James who was killed in the Civil War) is the youngest son of Michael and Virlinda Goins of Virginia. James first showed up in the Ohio Census as Roswell. Again, I think his parents may have used the older son's name as a middle name for Roswell or he just adopted it himself?

I was lucky that Elizabeth's brother lived with or near the family. He made it easy to get the maiden name. The Murrells seem like they were a family of barbers; Elizabeth and Charles' father was also a barber. James lived with the Murrells family in Pennsylvania. Charles came along with James, Elizabeth and Gertrude to Ohio in time to be counted in the 1900 Stark County, Ohio Census.

I found several articles in the Canton Repository about their social lives; everything from duck hunting, tea parties and the comings and goings of in-laws.

Oil City or Blizzard, Pennsylvania

Public Auction: Saturday March 17, 1956 at 10 a.m. at 222 Bissell Avenue, Oil City, Pa. Complete liquidation of personal property in the estates of Devoe Bassett and Gertrude Bassett, consisting all household goods and furniture, including many fine antiques such as marble top tables, stands, clocks, cut glass, china, love seat, side chairs, platform rockers etc. Ray Schrures, Auctioneer

"Gertrude was admitted to hospital 1956 January 3 p 2 Her obit is 1956 January 13 page 1 in the Blizzard. The funeral report was in the Derrick"

Mrs. Gertrude Goins Bassett 75, 222 Bissell Avenue died at 8:40 a.m. following two weeks of illness. She was born May 19, 1880 in Massillon, Ohio, a daughter Mrs Elizabeth Goins who survives in Oil City and late James Goins.

Mrs. Bassett was educated in the Massillon public schools and followed the seamstress trade until her marriage in 1916 to Devoe Bassett who died November 30, 1943. He was a local mail carrier here for a number. She had lived in Oil City since that time.

She is survived by several nieces and nephews, two Aunts Mrs. Laura M. Jackson and Mrs Anna N. Crane both of Chicago, Ill in addition to her mother. The body is in the Crawford funeral home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. Gertrude Bassett-- Funeral services for Mrs. Gertrude Goins Bassett who died Friday were conducted 11 a.m. yesterday in the Crawford Funeral Home.

Rev. C. F. Bryant pastor of the Brown A.M.E. Chapel officiated. During the service he read "The 90 Psalm" and hymns. "Father I stretch My Hands to Thee" and "I surrender at the Cross."

Interment was in Grove Hill Cemetery. Pallbearers were Arthur E. Bird, Walter W. Kleek, Edward J. Failer, John K. Roess, William Stack and H. W. Bullock.

Attendees services from out-of-town included Mrs. Aimee Nichols, Mrs. Julia Dalton of Pittsburgh and Mrs. Charles Shields, Mrs. Althetha Jordan and Helen Rawlins of Titusville.

2011-09-16T22:05:00.001-07:00

The Community Within

(see the link in the right hand side panel)

I had the pleasure of getting a copy of this from Prof. Sacks through the mail. On the front of the study was my grand great uncle's wife. I was so happy to find this information. Last year this was posted on Kenyon College's website

2010-10-09T23:06:00.001-07:00

3 May 1940 Columbus Dispatch

GOINS- James Guy, 533 Siebert Street. Beloved husband of Mrs. Josie Goins devoted brother of Adeline Logan, Mrs. Luella Hackley, Xenia, O, Mr. Augustus H. Goins, Xenia, O, and Elmer A. Goins, Buffalo, N. Y. , uncle of Edith Davis, Charles and Robert H. Irvine and Robert Henry Goins, Stanley McCollum and Nolan Logan, expired Wednesday. Funeral services will be conducted in the mortuary of Mrs. D. A. Whittaker & Son, Monday, 2 p.m. by Rev, Sandy F. Ray, Burial Greenlawn (Mt. Vernon papers please copy.)

(2 0f 2)

2010-09-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

This is my story about discovering my family history in Knox County, Ohio and people who helped me succeed. I am forever in the debt of the local main librarian, the two professors who put together "The Community Within" and my ancestors.

I went to the county of my great grandfather's birth and to the small library in that place to ask about the family. I was following up on clues I learned while doing research in California. When the group of family members I took along for the ride to the small town arrived, we took a tour of the family plot and spent time in the library looking through every piece of material they had in their collection. I should say that I wrote this library and asked if they had any information on the family. It was amazing that they found three obituaries for my great great grandfather. I am trying to understand a little bit about the day to day of their lives. While in the library, the wonderful person who works in the genealogy department came in while I was looking through the many many books about the people of this place. I didn't see much. She put a booklet in front of my person. It was yellow and had very handsomely dressed woman on the cover sitting next to a child. I didn't think too much of it and flipped through the pages looking for evidence of them being there. Before I arrived in the hamlet, I knew that that lived here because of my great great grandfather's purchased the place they called home and again the family plot in the cemetery. I couldn't find any information in the booklet so I put it down a little disappointed. The group of family members I arrived with put ourselves in my aunt's van and drove down the street to find the address of ancestor. Again I did some home or ground work prior to this trip. I knew his address after looking through city directories for late 1800s and early 1900s. I along with a few and current members of my family drove by and stopped in front of the building with the address I had come to know in legal documents. I couldn't believe that there was a building there. The house (in my eager eyes) looked old enough but it could have been rebuilt or built over. They were wowed! I think they started to believe the story I told them as the story began to unravel. Driving away from this information was difficult because after seeing that physical structure I wanted and needed to know more. I think the my traveling partners grew tired so driving away from this was in the cards.

I returned home to California and I had a surprise waiting in the post. The professor who had done a study of the blacks in the community sent me a copy of his work. It was the same work that the librarian placed on the table when I was in that place. The professor wrote a note explaining who was on the cover of his study. It was my great uncle Augustus' wife. I went all the way to Ohio, sat in the library, looked at this study, fail to realize who was on the cover and came all the way back to California just find out the name of the person on the cover. Whew!

Whether Augustus was on or off the stage, he was eldest son of my great great grandfather. Gus was born circa 1881. Uncle Gus, his father, my grandfather and several cousins share Henry as a middle name. My grandfather and I share my great great grandfather's full name.

Yesterday, I sent a query to Professor Sacks He is the same professor who I ten years ago sent a query via the Internet. He sent "Discovering African-American History" and told me to stay in contact.

I am still so overwhelmed by finding this information.

2010-08-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

Mount Vernon News 4 May, 1940

James Guy Goins, a former resident of Mount Vernon, died at his home at 533 Siebert street, Columbus, Wednesday. The son of the late Robert H. Goins of
Mount Vernon, he left this city about 30 years ago and had lived in Columbus ever since. Surviving are his wife (not named) , two sisters, Mrs. Adeline Logan of Columbus and Mrs. Luella Hackley of Xenia; two brothers, Augustus Goins of Xenia and Elmer A. Goins of Buffalo; several nieces and nephews in Columbus;
and relatives in Mount Vernon.

Goins was a member of the Shilo Baptist church and the Knight Templar lodge. The lodge will have charge of services a 2 p.m. Monday in Shilo Baptist church with Rev. Sand F. Ray officiating. Burial will be made in Green Lawn cemetery.

Columbus Dispatch 3/19/1941 Page 6A

GOINS--Miss Josie, 533 Siebert St. widow of the late Mr. James Guy Goins; sister of Mrs Ella Harris and Wade and Mrs. Maude Jackson. She was a member of Queen of Sheba Court of Calantha. Funeral services will be conducted Friday, 3 pm by Rev. Sandy F. Ray in the Mortuary of Mrs. D.A. Whitaker & Son where friends may call Thursday. Interment at Green Lawn.

2010-08-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

This is from Ancestry.com's Database of Ohio Marriages, 1803-1900. I believe I found it 10 May, 2003

GOINS, Robert H spouse BALAR (BALER), Mary Adaline 30 September, 1875

GOINS, Riley spouse PHILLIPS, Clarrisa 11 February, 1857

GOINS, John spouse COLLINS, Lucretia 6 January, 1870

GOINS, Walter spouse CHAMP, Estella (Stella) 1 December, 1892

GOINS, Wilber (or Wilbur) spouse GALLAGHER, Lorena M. 18 May, 1897

GOINS, John spouse UNION Lura (or Laura) S. 14 February, 1899

2010-07-28T22:30:00.001-07:00

The Newark Daily Advocate 6 October, 1893

Rigley* Goins, colored died at his home yesterday in West Newark of consumption, aged 55. Funeral tomorrow 10 o'clock a.m. Interment will be made in Ceder Hill Cemetery.

The Newark Daily Advocate 7 October, 1893

The funeral of Ridgely* Goins, colored was postponed from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock p.m.

*Riley

2010-07-28T22:27:00.000-07:00

from the (Mount Vernon) Republican 9 October, 1917:

"Mr. Orin D. Goins died at his (also the home of Robert Goins--his uncle) home at 805 W. Gambier street at 9 'o clock Saturday morning after a week's illness of typhoid-pneumonia. The deceased, who was 48 years, 3 months and 26 sixdays of age, is survived by his wife and a son, Mr Herbert Goins of Detroit. Funeral services at the home at 1 o'clock Monday afternoon, the Rev. T. W. Woodson officiating and burial in Mound View cemetery."

He died a few days after his uncle Robert. He is the son of Riley and Clarissa Phillips-GOINS. There are many more members of this family in Mount Vernon, Ohio which remain in the library and office of vital records in Knox County.

2010-07-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

James Edward Goins service according to the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors records:

17th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry

Organized at Nashville, Tenn., December 12 to 21, 1863. Attached to Post of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Dept. of the Cumberland, to April, 1864. Post and District of Nashville, Tenn., Dept. of the Cumberland, to December, 1864. 1st Colored Brigade, District of the Etowah, Dept. of the Cumberland, to January, 1865. Post and District of Nashville, Tenn., Dept. of the Cumberland, to April, 1866.

SERVICE.-Duty at McMinnville and Murfreesboro, Tenn., till November, 1864. Battle of Nashville, Tenn.,December 15-16. Overton Hill December 16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17-27. Decatur December 28-30. Duty at Post of Nashville, Tenn., and in the Dept. of Tennessee till April, 1866. Mustered out April 25, 1866.

2010-07-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today, I received the death certificates which confirms John, William, Henry and Loyal are the children of Michael and Angeline Henderson Goins. Brothers William and John were restauranteurs. The four brothers were born in Mount Pleasant, Jefferson County, Ohio. Three of four brothers lived in Toledo at the same time. John briefly moved to Chicago and then back to Toledo. Henry moved to Cleveland. Henry was the informant on Loyal's death certificate.

Thursday, 22 June, 1916, 1-4-2:

"Toledo Daily Blade"
John S. Goins, 49, fell dead in his home, 1821 Canton street, Wednesday afternoon, with an attack of heart disease. Goins was one of the leaders of the Canton street district. He lived in the rear of a restaurant he has conducted for several years. Wednesday afternoon he finished a conversation with Detective Culver, promising to bring witnesses to a Southard avenue shooting, walked back into his living room and fell to the floor.

2010-07-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

from the Kalamazoo Gazette 28 April, 1933 p.16

Headline: Stewart B[enjamin] Goins, 80, Former Barber, Dies

Stewart B. Goins, 80, colored for many years a barber in this city, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Jennie Johnson, 222 Reed street, Thursday evening. He was born in Steubenville* and had been a resident of Kalamazoo for the last 44 years.

The deceased is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Johnson with whom he had resided for some time, and Mrs. Carrie Ford. South Bend; and a brother Walker Goins of Canton, O.*

* Stewart Benjamin actually wasn't born in Steubenville but he was enumerated during the 1880 Jefferson County, Ohio Census under GONES. I don't know which brother they mean but Walker had passed away prior to this obit and I believe John was the only brother who is alive close to 1930?

from the Kalamazoo Gazette 5 July, 1920 page 2

Mrs. Hattie E. Goins aged 59, died at 3 'o clock Friday afternoon at her home, 230 Reed street. She leaves her husband, Benjamin Goins and two daughters Mrs. David Johnson and Miss Carrie Goins. Funeral will be held from Allen M.E. church, Frank street , at 2 'o clock Tuesday afternoon. Burial in Riverside cemetery.

2010-07-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

The Enterprise of Belmont County, Ohio ca. September 1886

One of the best known colored men of this vicinity, Michael A Goins, died at the home of his son Walker,last Saturday, at the advanced age 80 years and two months. He was born in Albermale county, Virginia and came to Ohio over fifty years ago, residing most of the time since in the vicinity of Barnesville. He was married in 1835 to Mrs. Verlinda Payne, who ceded him to the better land by only a few months. During their married life they were blessed with fifteen children, thirteen of whom are still living. He united with the church about thirty years ago and has always been known as a consistent chirstian. His remains were interred in the Southern cemetery on Sunday afternoon.

2010-07-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

from Genealogybank.com

24 June, 1916 Cleveland Gazette--Xenia, Ohio

Wilberforce graduates Eighty-five:

President W. O. Thompson of Ohio State University delivered the commencement address and he walked with President Scarborough of Wilberforce, at the head of the academic procession which formed at the library and marched to Galloway hall, where the exercises were held.

Dr. Thompson's theme was "The responsibility of the Educated Man in a Democracy." He spoke of the European war, and preparedness talk in the United States, and used these as a lesson in showing the students the need of preparedness for the life struggle. He dwelt upon the fact that Germany had been preparing for war forty years, even keeping this always before their youth in the schools and universities.

Following his speech, President. Scarborough conferred degrees and delivered diplomas. One honorary degree was conferred by him. Hon. D. A. P. Murray who connected with the Library of Congress, Washington D.C. was given an honorary degree of LLD.

Dean Woodson and Dr. T. H. Jackson delivered diplomas to graduates of Payne seminary.

The following list of graduates who received diplomas and certificates. Classical-- Phyllis Clark, Albon L. Foster, Ruby A. Martin, Beatrice Mason, Harry Sheppard and Charles S. Spivy. Scientific--Phillip A. Burch, C. Clifton Clark, Roberta F. Kingman, R. Frances, Talbert. Theological Course--Eugene A. Adams, Powell H. Hill, Mansfield E. Jackson, Lewis A. McGhee and B. M. McLinn. Normal--Rubly L. Alexander, Mary C. Carter, Anna M. Dickerson, S. Beatrice Hall, Marian L. Hamilton, Edgar M. Helvey, Irene B. Logan, Nora E. Owens, Carol M. Smith, Mamie Smith, Carolyn R. Stevens, Virginia Thompson, Ella D. Washington, Luverne Waters, Gilbert Williams, Sylvia E. Woodard, Naomi B.Young. Household arts Theresia Bolden, Gladys Burton, Faustina Walker. Commercial--Helene Pryor, Mararee Donaldson, Chester A. Goens, LOYAL A. GOINS, Bertram T. Hamilton, Lottie B. Hargrave, Russell Jackson, Ruby A. King, Edith M. McGruder, Annabelle E. Pease, William O. Walker. Academic Course--William A. Carr, Clifford A. Epps, Mary Gee, Chester C. Horn, Isabel Howard, Olive Frances Johnson, Rosalia Donzetta Knox, Ottaway Morris, Mabel E. Phillips, Lloyd G. Smith, Jessie Lee Strudic, Virgil Talbert, Eva Jeanette Thompson, Grant T. A. Williams, Schuyler Millard Young. Carpentry--David A. Callendar, Morris Carter, William C. Jefferson, Hardin A. Spotts. English Theology--Martha J. Keys. Domestic Art--Rudy L. Alexander, Mary Anderson, Albertha Brooks, Mary C. Carter, Mary Cobb, Anna M. Dickerson, Marian L. Hamilton, Magnolia B. Lytle, Ruby A. Martin, Ida B. Mason, Virginia Mitchell, Angeline Odgen, Carol Smith, Carrie M. Smith, Nellie G. Sollars, Etta Stewart, Minnie Taylor, Ella D. Washington, Luverne Waters, Margaret Watkins, Hazel Williams, Norma Williams, Sylvia Woodard. Domestic Science--Irene B. Logan. Millinery--Mary Anderson, Theresia Bolden, Helen Clarke, S. Beatrice Hall, Virginia Mitchell, Nora Owens, Mamie Smith, Carolyn Stephens, Ruby Talbert. Printing--John Robinson. Shoemaking--George Powers, Millard Young.

2010-07-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

The Toledo Blade ca. 1930

State Examiners Pass Mrs. Barbara Dolder in Class of 288

She has been a resident of the United States only seven years--yet Mrs. Barbara Dolder, born and raised in Lucerne, Switzerland, is the only woman among 288 new lawyers certified Wednesday in Columbus as passing the June state bar examinations....

Other Toledoans who passed the passed the examinations Royal B. Bisner, Carl Christensen, Albert E. J. Dommann, Loyal GOINS and Frank G. Thompson.

2010-07-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

The Daily Banner October, 26, 1917 pg. 5

ROBERT HENRY GOINS

Mr. Robert Henry Goins, colored, died at his home 805 W. Gambier street at 1:15 p.m. of the clock Friday morning after an illness of nine days of pneumonia. Mr. Goins, who was 67 years, 10 months and 9 days of age, is survived by his wife Harriet Goins and six children, Mrs. Essie E. Irvine and Mr. A. H. Goins of this city, Miss Luella Goins of Howard, Mr. J. G. Goins of Columbus, Miss Adeline Goins of Sparta, Ill., and Mr. Elmer A. Goins of Sandusky. Two brothers, Messrs. B. G. Goins and Mr. John Goins of Sandusky survive. The deceased was a member of Vernon lodge, No. 43, F.& A. M., and of the higher bodies of colored Masonry in Newark and Columbus. Mr. Goins was born in Ohio, and he came from Barnesville to Mount Vernon in 1878, since which time he resided in this city......"

2010-07-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

Xenia Gazetter 5 December, 1954

AUGUSTUS H. GOINS; Augustus H. Goins 73, died Sunday at 8:15 a.m. at his home. He had been in failing health for three years. The eldest child of ROBERT H and MARY BALAR GOINS, he was born Mt. Vernon, O. , April 13, 1881 and was the first Negro graduate in 1900 in 26 years from Mt. Vernon High School. He had resided in Xenia for the last 35 years and until 1951 was employed in the maintenace department at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. After leaving WPAFB he established a rug-weaving business at his home. Mr. Goins was a member of AME Church and was a trustee of that church. His is survived by his widow Mrs. Cudellis Harris Goins; a step-daughter, Mrs. Emily Pitts Wood of Detroit; a foster daughter, Mrs Goldie Small, Boston, Mass; a sister Adaline L. Terrell of Columbus and a number of nieces and nephews. Three sisters and brothers proceeded in death.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at First AME
Church, Market and Columbus Sts. Rev. C.T. Ayers will officiate and
interment will be in Cherry Grove Cemetery.

2010-07-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

16 May 2006

Whew! I am going to try explain how this one unfolds.

Roswell GOINS, according to the 1860 Census for Belmont County, Ohio was six years old. In the 1870 Census for Kalamazoo County, Michigan, he is naturally sixteen because the U.S. census occurs every ten years.

Ross, as he is documented on Ancestry.com, is enumerated with his parents Michael and Verlinda GOINS, his brother Benjamin Stewart and his brother-in-law Gabriel GREEN who married Roswell's sister Emily GOINS. It is 1880 or there about and time for another U.S. Census. I find everyone mentioned above with the exception of Roswell.

I looked high, low and sometimes in between to find Roswell. I was so frustrated by this search that I moved on to the next set of GOINS family members. I followed some of the GOINS' as they made their way from Belmont County through Coshocton to Stark. I hit a nice deposit of GOINS' in Canton, Ohio. I am currently working to get as much information as I can from the resources that have identified the relatives in them. One of these resources had an abstract of an obituary for James R. GOINS "from" Pennsylvania. It never said "born" in Pennsylvania just "from". Well, the surname looked like it might work but the Pennsylvania part really made me seriously doubt any relation between what I had found and this person. Nevertheless I took a chance and ordered his obituary from Stark County. I get it. I read the information and I am disappointed. I put it to the side as it might be useful in the future. I focused in the other GOINS' in Stark County but something kept nagging me about this James R. GOINS.

Furthermore, I thought I misplaced the obituary so I ordered it a second time. I read it a second time and it reveals what it did the first time: nothing! So again I focus like a laser on the other GOINS' in Stark County.I am just now really getting good information like death certificates and obituaries which tells me who is related to whom and how.

While I am waiting (the information trickles in at a snails pace) I decided to do some reinforcement of the information I had a for a couple of years; for example, I wanted to find an obituary for great Uncle Gus in Ohio. The last ( written word) I know of him is his appearance in Luella HACKLEY's, his sister's, obituary in the Columbus Dispatch circa 1950. Apparently Gus was living close or in Xenia, Ohio with his sister as the obituary says; but obituaries can sometimes, as I have found out, leave more questions than provide answers. I was doing some searches on Gus and I found out that he has a draft card for World War I along with his cousin James Fred[erick] GOINS. Stay with me. Remember this stared out with the subject of James Roswell GOINS and my inability to find him. While I was doing multiple searches of great Uncle Gus, something on Ancestry.com suggested that Augustus [Gus] GOINS had some association with James R[oswell] GOINS.

This was close to an Ah-ha! moment. After I finished my exhaustive search on Gus( still no obit--update, I found it), I turned my attention to James R. GOINS. Yes, it is the same James R. GOINS whose obituary I ordered twice and put to the side because I felt he wasn't related. As it turns out, James R. GOINS is the same Roswell for which I have been looking. He is Robert's, Walker's, Riley's, Emily's, Benjamin Stewart's, and Michael's (the second one in the family) youngest brother and Augustus' youngest uncle. He was close to 6 in the 1860 Belmont County, Ohio Census. He was about 16 in the 1870 Kalamazoo County, Michigan Census. He is about 26 and listed as R. James GOINS in the 1880 Beaver County, Pennsylvania Census. His wife is Elizabeth and they have a very young daughter Gertrude. I found him with his family in the 1910 Stark County, Ohio census at or about the age of 56. It is the Roswell in the 1860 Census for Belmont County that I could or would think I would ever find. I had his obit in my possession all the while I was searching for him. So he went to Michigan with his parents between 1860 and 1870. He moved to Pennsylvania in time to be counted in the 1880 Beaver County census. He returns to Ohio as he is enumerated (that is what I have found so far) in the 1910 Census for Stark County.

In the Evening Independent, Monday, 23 December, 1912 page 1

"James R. GOINS. aged 59 years, died at his home, 104 West Main street, Saturday evening at 7 o'clock of congestion of the brain. He was survived by a widow and one daughter Gertrude who lives at home. The funeral will be held from the residence Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 o'clock. The Rev. Samuel Ward, rector of St. Timothy's church officiating. Interment will be made in the Massillon cemetery."

2010-07-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

I guess he was an ordained minister. This is from Ancestry.com It is Elwood Radcliff's World War I draft card (C) which gives the following information when he lived in Lockport, Niagara County, New York.

Permanent address: 123 South Street, Lockport, Niagara, NY
Age 40, DOB: 28 March, 1878; Native born; Present Occupation; Ordained Minister of the Gospel; Employers Name: Ennis Tyree of the A.M.E. Church, South Street, Lockport, Niagara.

Signed 12 September 1918, G Sheridan Bixby chairman of the Local Board Tioga County.

2010-06-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

From NewspaperArchive.com and Daily Advocate Friday 4 December, 1885

The following marriage licenses have been issued by the Probate Court since our last issue:

Jonas A. Costley and Laura Goings

2010-06-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

Walter was married to Estella CHAMP and he is the son of Civil War Veteran, Walker GOINS.

The Norwalk Reflector Herald: Thursday, 7 June 1951, page 8, column 3

Services for Walter Goins, 79, who died yesterday at Memorial Hospital, will be at 2.30 p.m. Saturday at the Orebaugh Chapel with the Rev. P. J. Garcia officiating. A native of Belmont County, Mr. Goins moved to this community years ago from Portsmouth, O. He was employed as a janitor at the City Loan & Savings Co., and he was a member of the Masonic lodge in Bellaire, O. Surviving him is his wife Nancy. Interment will be in Woodlawn Cemetery.

2010-05-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

I also I think I finally found Michael Goins in Jefferson County who is the son of Michael and Verlinda Payne Goins who migrated from Virginia. Michael Goins the son has been missing for quite sometime. I have been studying Family Labs records and I found "Stewart GONES" among the birth/death, marriage and census records and then I see a Mickle Goines, Mikel Goines (and a couple of more different spellings of Michael) married to Angeline Henderson. I had a feeling that this was Michael Goins who I have been looking for since I found him and his siblings, Riley, Walker, Emily, Edward, John and Robert along with their parents in the 1850 Muskingum Census for Ohio.
I looked at the 1880 Jefferson County, Ohio schedule and I see that someone read the document translated or mistranslated the surname from Goins to Gains. Just for good measure, the translation was much worse in the 1870 Jefferson County, Ohio Census. The family was enumerated as Jones instead of Goins.

Included in this 1880 Jefferson County, Ohio census are Michael and Angeline's children Jennie (b.1864), James E. (b.1866), John H (b.1868), William A (b. 1870), Henry H. (b.1872), George M. (b. 1873), Eva L. ( b. 1874), Lydia V. (b.1876), Elwood (b. 1878) and finally Alexander who was 4 months. In the 1870 Jefferson County, Ohio census there is a Mary T. Smith age twelve who I believe is the niece of Michael. Michael's sister Frances married Wesley Smith in Belmont County, Ohio 28 July, 1859.

2010-05-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

"He was born in Steubenville" didn't sound right when I read it. Now that I have a little time to look and listen closely, I am certain the Stewart and Hattie lived in Steubenville, Ohio at least during the 1880 Jefferson County census as there was a Steward and Hattie GONES listed in that schedule. "Steward's" profession is a barber in Steubenville and Kalamazoo and the ages between 1870, 1880 and 1899 (the Michigan State Census) line up perfectly. Just like his brother Rosswell, Stewart was listed in the 1870 Kalamazoo Census with their parents and in-laws but left before the 1880 Michigan Census. Roswell was listed in the 1880 Beaver County, Pennsylvania Census and Stewart in the Jefferson County, Ohio Census. Stewart returned to Michigan sometime before 1899 because he is listed in the Michigan State Census for that year.

I think I have an over-developed a case or sense of myopia when it comes to the mobility of ancestors; for example, since I found most of the Goins' in Barnesville, Zanesville, Canton and Kalamazoo, Michigan, I have limited myself to researching those places when in fact they moved to several places in and among Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

2010-03-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

Barnesville, 12 January, 1905

Mr. Jonah Daniels and Miss Eva Goins of this place were married at the home of the brides parents, Mr. and Mrs Walker Goins Sunday evening. The interesting ceremony was performed by W. F. Outland Esq., at seven o'clock, and witnessed by the relatives and a few special friends. Mr. Daniels is a worthy industrious young man, and an employee of Watts Mining Car Wheel Co. He had a nice little house built and at once took possession of the same. Miss Goins is a capable deserving young lady, efficient in domestic duties and will make a capable wife. The Enterprise extends a hearty congratulations.

2010-03-07T17:35:00.001-08:00

10 September 1896, Barnesville Enterprise

Mrs. Lizzie Evans (Francis Elizabeth Goins-Evans) wife of John Evans died at the home of her grandmother Julia Curry, south of town early Sunday morning, at the age of 33. The deceased has been an invalid for last seven months from consumption which was the cause of her death. Mrs Evans was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walker Goins, well known colored people of this place. While health and strength were given her she was useful, industrious woman, and did what she could for the happiness of her family. The deceased lives a husband and four children and many other relatives to mourn her loss. Funeral services were held Monday afternoon, conducted by the Rev. Knox of the A.M.E. church. The choir rendered a number of beautiful selections. A large number of handsome floral tributes rested upon the casket as an evidence of the thoughtfulness of friends. The remains were interred at the Southern Cemetery.

2010-02-12T17:40:00.001-08:00

It was a spectacular autumn day in the Piedmont of Virginia. The trees were all dressed in their finest reds, oranges and yellows. The day was warm and I was stunned by the beauty of hilly Virginia countryside. I was there in part to follow up on some abstracts that I found with the assistance of various resources on and offline. There was one record, my great great great grandfather's 1886 obituary in Ohio that pointed me in the direction of Charlottesville; and I wanted to know more. I am terrible at long distance research. I went and needed to go Central Virginia to orientate myself with the topography, the sounds, the smells and the crimson soil. I needed to do this so that I could and can better image/understand the people with whom I strongly believe I have kinship. I needed to understand the descriptions the records etched in my mind.

One of the first stops on my trip was the Albemarle Historical Society in Charlottesville. The historical society occupies the McIntyre Library and sits on 2nd and E. Jefferson Streets next to or around the corner from the Jefferson Madison Regional Library. The Jefferson Madison Regional Library resides at 201 E. Main Street. Both of these libraries are just down the street from the main square in Charlottesville. That part of Charlottesville displays some of it's historical past with wonderful restored brick buildings. One of those nicely refinished buildings is the Albemarle County courthouse; a library unto itself. I am sure that this building was restored because the brick housing along with the brick pavement is immaculate. Anyone doing family history or any other type research about the area is lucky because this area lends itself to being actually what it might have been like during a certain period in American history. In other words, someone gets a since of history in this place. Researchers are also lucky to have so many records with so much history within such a small area. To prove this point, there are even more records and history at the University of Virginia. It is just up the road a bit and they have some of the oldest records--thrid only, I believe to the State Archives in Richmond and William and Mary College-- about Virginia's history and and ultimately themes in the history of the United States and North America. I took full advantage of the surroundings. Though it may have been just a bit too much, I made it up to the little mountain upon which Monticello sits to see that small dome that faces the great green expanse of the west lawn. Visiting the cellar of Monticello is a history lesson waiting for any American ready to have their beliefs about the country and nation challenged.

It is really easy to get caught in bigger story of American history in that place. It was difficult to stay focused because the history is everywhere.

Still, the main reason I was in Charlottesville was to find any traces of my family in that place and the remaining traces are in vertical files and history text among several libraries in Virginia. Again I used the McIntyre Library or Albemarle Historical Society records, the Albemarle Courthouse records and made a trip the University of Virginia to get a better sense about this place and its people through records. There was so much to digest in a short span of time from a period that has long past. I was spread thin between the State Archives in Richmond, the University of Virginia and copious records at the Historical Society and Charlottesville's Courthouse .

I did do a little bit of homework before making that fateful trip from California to Virginia. One of the steps I took prior to arriving in Charlottesville was to write the Albemarle County History Society to request a 1995 copy of The Magazine of Albemarle County History; and they complied. This helped tremendously. I requested this particular edition because Mr. Ervin Jordan, Jr. penned one of most incredible articles I had ever (at that point) read about black people in antebellum America. The article, A Just and True Account. Two 1833 Parish Censuses of Free Blacks takes inventory of the lives of people with whom I strongly believe my great great great grandfather shares kinship . The Parishes of Fredericksville and St. Anne's are the focus of Mr. Jordan's( Charlottesville was included because it is in Albemarble county too) article as the State of Virginia required its counties to take censuses of any and all black people and or free people of color. What Virginia was trying to do was "persuade" Afro-Virginians to remove to Liberia. And one of the reasons Virginia wanted to decrease its black and freed people of color populations resides in the fact that the state was trying avoid rebellions like the ones inspired by Nat Turner and Gabriel Prosser, both in opposition of slavery.

According to Mr. Jordan only a few blacks (if any) and or free people of color in Albemarle County took the persuasion to leave the area seriously. My ancestor(s) was/were one of few who left Virginia. I found an abstract of my great great great parents 1835 marriage record in Ohio. A few years prior to my trip to Virginia, I found the abstract at the Mormon library in Salt Lake City. This lead me to look for any other records in that Ohio county and I found my great great great grandfather's obituary that told me to continue and look east. I believe my great great great grandfather was in his early to mid-twenties when he left the Commonwealth. I don't know if he left with family, friends or just others in the vicinity. The 1850 Ohio Census shows a high concentration of free people of color in Ohio who said or it was reported that they said, Virginia was from whence they came. Still many black and or free people of color refused to live their families and home(s). I understand. They, after-all, some of them, fought in the American Revolution and some of them earned the land they owned in Virginia through service. Why would they give it up? They like native Americans help forge what we know as the United States. Another reason I believe many black and free people of color refused to leave or even decided to leave--yes leave-- has to do with the size of their families; a good number of the families in Mr. Jordan article are huge. My surname listed in that famous 1833 Census, is one of most prolific in the area according to authors like Carter G. Woodson. I believe many remained in the vicinity despite the enormous pressure from the state because they formed tight knit families and sometimes these families ties crossed state, county, ethnic and legal lines; for example I have a lead on my great great great grandfather's grandmother in Louisa County which is Albemarle's neighbor to the east. Once again and at the same time, some black Virginians--as the 1840 and 1850 Ohio Censuses indicate--decided to try to establish homes west of the Ohio River. These cross-state ties were important to the people in those documents and it is important to me because a line--a very straight line-- can be drawn directly to place in which I was doing research.

While I was doing this tedious leg work, I could not help but notice some of the attributes about some of the families in the area. Mr. Jordon's article opened a whole new line of inquiry. He piqued my interest because I was never taught in official American history courses to question the official narrative. After reading The Magazine of Albemarle County History and comparing that with some records at the State Archives in Richmond, I noticed that many families were multi-ethnic families. When I say multi-ethnic, I include native Americans under that banner. I must say that the whole Jefferson-Sally Hemings affair was like tip of this historical iceberg. After reading Annette Gorden-Reed's, The Hemingses of Monticello, I learned how complicated families were in antebellum Virginia. Gordon-Reed delves into the genealogy and family history of Sally Hemings' mother Betty. She had extra-legal relationship with John Wayles that produced seven children.. And as if this couldn't not get any more complicated Sally Hemings, according Gordon-Reed was one of Martha Wayle's,( Thomas Jefferson's wife), seven half siblings.

With all the records and Mr. Jordan's article, I seized upon the story of the West family. It is one most fascinating families in Central Virginia. Again, the West family was a multi-ethnic, multi-generational and multi-racial family that took on a life of its own in my research. The West family- at least the members of the family that were considered persons of color-- appear in Mr. Jordan's 1995 article because the State of Virginia in the 1830s specifically required counties to count the non-white population in every town and hamlet in order to push emigration; what is interesting about the West family is that Jane West's ( a woman of color) parents were in and created an extra-legal household. Jane's mother Nancy West and from all indications her father David Isaacs, were two people who dared to have a relationship across the entrenched color line. Although Mr, Jordan's article doesn't and couldn't note this detail, I learned about it later after reading Joshua Rothman's Notorious in the Neighborhood. It is also important to note that Nancy West's father Thomas West, a white man, had children or even may have set up a household with a black woman he used to own named Priscilla. Remember all of this is happening in antebellum Virginia.

Mr. Rothman, who again wrote Notorious in the Neighborhood believes Thomas West along with the two brothers David and Isiah Isaacs (who happened to be Jewish immigrants from Germany) were trading partners in Charlottesville. It is very reasonable that the Isaacs brothers were familiar with West family and certainly Mr. West's daughter Nancy. David Isaacs and Nancy's father know each other through business dealings. Isaacs is important to this story because again he created a household with Nancy West which wasn't apparent just looking at Mr. Jordan's work. Isaacs and Nancy West were ( for all intents and purposes) common law spouses without all the benefits and privileges that comes with that status. Nevertheless Isaacs and Ms.West set up house or houses in the area and it was one of the one of the most unusual and extra-legal households to appear in both the area and some records which Joshua Rothman illustrates in his book Notorious in the Neighborhood.

Notorious in the Neighborhood fills in the gray areas and details of the 1833 Census discovered at the University of Virginia by Mr. Jordan. Mr. Jordan specifically talks about Jane West, the daughter of David Issacs and Nancy West in his article. Until I read Mr. Rothman's book, my imagination took off to far away places when it came to trying to figure out how Jane West came to own property in Charlottesville at the time. Mr. Rothman again gave the answers to the questions dancing in my mind. According to Notorious Thomas West died and David. Isaacs was a signee or witness to Thomas West's last will and testament. In his will, I believe the story goes that Mr. West leaves real property--land in downtown Charlottesville--to his daughter Nancy. I believe Mr. Isaacs made it known before Thomas West's death, that he fancied Ms. West and surely Mr. West had some say in his daughter's domestic affairs. The Nancy West---David Isaccs arrangement takes on a quasi-marriage insofar as the laws disallowed households and marriages between people like themselves to exist in the open. These laws were remnants of colonial America and grew stronger and probably applied to a great number of people in a great number of cases.

Even though the weren't legally married, Nancy West and David Isaacs set up an extra-legal household. Notorious in the Neighborhood points out that Nancy West took up residency on land "she purchased with the money from her inheritance on lot number 46 near Charlottesville's southern boundary." Her partner Mr. Isaacs, according to Notorious had a house one block north and two blocks west on lot 36 ." The 1820 Census shows that " David Isaacs was the head of household with ten free people of color living with him in downtown Chalottesville. So they eventually combined households as she purchased property closer to his and dismissed what others might have thought. She also had enough property to run a business as a baker and rent space to others. It was quite an arrangement. They managed to have some sort of co-habitation arrangement which allowed him to be counted as head of household . " The map in the book does a great job of depicting how close they lived to each other. Notorious says they had seven children--Jane being the one that appears in Mr. Jordan's article--and they managed to make a family under the circumstances. Those circumstances resided more in the minds of individuals who would tried to enforce the strict color line. The color line was an unwritten law that required blacks and whites who might become couples and start families cease from co-habitation. They were playing the game they had to play to live as a couple under this ridiculous scheme. This story became even more interesting as West and Isaacs settled into their extra-legal arrangement and life in Charlottesville.

Mr. Rothman writes that there were economic jealousies that prompted someone to put Mr.Isaacs and Ms.West's domestic business in the unpaved streets of Charlottesville. The Charlottesville authorities convened a grand jury where, West and Isaacs were presented with the charge of "umbraging the decency of society and violating the laws of the land by cohabiting together in a state of illicit commerce as man and wife." According to Notorious in the Neighborhood a grand jury requested West and Isaacs prove they were not committing crimes against society. This was of course a heavy burden since Isaacs and West were a "mixed-raced" couple with seven children. How do you hide this in plan view?

West and Isaacs hired an attorney who stunned the court in Charlottesvile with the truth that in fact they had set up a household but "he questioned whether the state could prosecute on a fornication charge at common law." I am sure they could hardly deny, seven human beings running around the vicinity as free people of color, who looked like one or both their parents. The Charlottesvile court referred the case to the General Court in Richmond. According to Notorious, the court in Richmond ruled "that the State of Virginia could not prosecute Isaacs nor West and the court in Charlottesville followed the higher courts lead." This meant that the couple could return to their life as unusual in Charlottesville; as long as they lived their lives as couples as out of the public view.

Up ahead and the on the road in this relationship, their private lives entered the public domain again. This time, after they had been an unusual and well established couple, living in Charlottesville, Mr. Isaacs' nephew Hays Isaacs found himself in trouble. Some where between what was about to transpire and the life and subsequent death of David's brother Isiah, the former became the executor of his brother's will. This meant that David Isaacs was responsible for any financial trouble Hays Isaacs might get into. According to Notorious trouble for Hays Isaacs came before his inheritance did. He was in debt before he received his father Isiah's estate. This was a problem for David Isaacs because he was responsible for his nephews finances. It wasn't not only a problem for Isaacs but for his common but illegal wife Nancy.

The creditors came calling. They made demands of David Isaacs. More financial demands than Isaacs and West probably had as individuals and almost more than they had as an extra-legal couple. They had to be creative to fight off the creditors pursuit of Hays Isaacs, the son of David's dead brother Isiah. I believe West and Isaacs had to sell some of their assets--the ones they owned together-- to satisfy a small bit of the large appetite of the creditors. Someone noticed their coordination and sure enough the legal authorities came into the picture again. This time the law--or the people pretending to uphold it--questioned how Isaacs and West could jointly own what they owned without being married or at least co-habitation. The case was sent to the Grand Court in Richmond but they refused to press charges because the circumstances of the charges failed to prove that any law which seemed to be left up to the whim of person bringing the charge, was broken. In other works there was no actual evidence that West and Isaacs had sexual relations in public. That left the whole case on shaky ground at best. Once again the Grand Court of Richmond found no reason to punish the couple without fail-safe proof of breaking the accepted societal norms. The couple had to pay strict attention to how they conducted themselves in the company of others.

The West--Isaacs relationship was an interesting tour of American history and detour as I continue to follow the trail of my ancestors in Central Virginia. I think learned more about American history than I ever learned in two and a half decades in American schools. I can't wait to get back to Charlottesville and dive deeper into the records. I really enjoyed looking at those late 1700 to early 1800 documents in those huge portfolios at the Courthouse in Albemarle County. I haven't had the chance to properly scrub the records Louisa's County Courthouse

2010-02-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

A few day ago, I received a call my Aunt. She told me that a distant cousin had passed away in West Virginia. She told me his name and I told her that I was familiar with him. One of the tricks I use to help me research requires looking up obituaries online. And since his death was recent, I was sure to find a digital notice. I took all the information my Aunt relayed to me over the phone and went to work. With the push of few buttons. I found his obituary. It was the first time I had ever seen him. I learned that he was a Veteran of World War II and he received a purple heart for his courage. I did a just a little bit more research and found out why he received his purple heart. His obituary said that he was a member of "Red Ball Express." I also learned the names of the members of his immediate family. Obituaries are often gold mines of information.

2008-10-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

About two years ago I found an abstract of the death of H. Costly in the Washington Post. I really didn't know how to retrieve the death certificate in order to get an approximate date of the obituary. It was so complicated because Washington is the national city and I didn't know how it dealt with death records since it is a federal city.

Through sheer determination I secured the death record and wrote the Washington to request the obituary. After receiving the obituary I used the Internet to try to locate any remaining living relatives. I found one. She lived in Washington. I sent a letter explaining what I was doing and ask if she had any information. I didn't hear from her so I decided to call.

Someone, perhaps a care-giver, answered the phone and said she would give her the message. I didn't hear from her. I wondered if I had crossed some sort line? I was hoping that she could help me fill in some of the questions I have about that part of the family which moved from Ohio to Maryland.

That was about two years ago. Today, 19 October, 2008, I received a call from one of the relatives of the woman I wanted to speak with in Washington. I was so excited and learned that two years of patience paid off. They say they have information they want to share and I am so excited.

2007-10-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

On 23 September, 2007 I made my second trip to Belmont County, Ohio. I was particularly interested in Barnesville's Southern Cemetery. Prior to visiting it the first time I spent an inordinate amount of time looking at maps online. When I arrived on my trip two years ago, I failed to find the headstone of my great great uncle Walker who served as a U.S Colored Troop in the 17 regiment CO. D.

Barnesville is better than a 90 mile drive from Columbus; luckily the traffic was on the light side because it was Sunday. I wish I had gone out earilier in the week so I could have visited the place with all the old county books stacked to the ceiling. The books--as I understand it--are being saved from the rubbish heap. I really wanted to go through those books for any sign of my family in Barnesville. It was Sunday so that was out.

Nevertheless I arrived in Barnesville with a feeling of goodness because I know that my family lived here. I drove in on 800 which runs north and south along I-70 and I noticed all pumpkins for sale on the side of the road. This was the first time I had ever seen one person on my way to the center of town. Entering the town was difficult. It was difficult because there was a pumpkin festival going on. It was sort of a nice surprise except the traffic. A street or two were blocked off and the centrally located ones were full of park cars. I finally made it past the traffic and on into the Southern Cemetery. I parked the car and stated walking the grounds looking for Walker Goins' headstone. I had to remember that he was in the military which meant his headstone should be a military headstone.

When I entered the cemetery, I drove the path leading to its eastern edge. I was so far from his grave. I walked and came across names like Harper, who have become familiar as I learned some of Barnesville's and Belmont's history. I looked at their headstones and their names and thought perhaps Walker was buried close. I walked away from this part of the cemetery to the north and west. I came across graves of the CHAMPS who I know the GOINS' family married into so I thought I might be close. I read the headstones but the names didn't ring a bell. However in back of the headstones for the CHAMPS I finally found Walker's grave. I am so glad that I had chance to take a picture because it looks like it is about fall over on its face. It took two years and two attempts to find his grave. I still have to visit the place with all the old books. So another trip to Belmont County, Ohio is in order.

2007-05-31T00:25:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while a few pieces of (the puzzle) mail arrive in the post which add to the voluminous records I have on and about my family's history. On 18th May, 2007, I received a note and copy of a 1901 article from a librarian in Ohio who found a performace that included my great great Uncle Augustus. This is the first time in this forum that I have decided to mention my great great Uncle Augustus. I find it particularly entertaining that he was a stage actor and no one in my family knew about him. When I began this genealogical adventure, finding out about his participation in the world of entertainment was a shock. That is an understatement! I think I laughed and slapped my knee a couple times just because it was difficult to fathom. Nevertheless it was true as the old city directories listed great great Uncle Augustus (Gus) as a showman. I still really didn't believe he preformed on stage until I received photographs from a professor at Kenyon College in Ohio.

from the Daily Banner 29 July, 1901:

"The organ club of Wayman chapel, will give an entertainment in Kirk hall Tuesday night at which the following program will be rendered:

Gus Ralls and his famous one man band assisted by Fred White, Gus Goins , and George Jackson.

Vocal solo, Church of Millionaires--Miss Gertrude Frye.

Quartette, At the Front--Misses Ethel Bray, Grace Rouse, Messrs Henry Gore, Gus Ralls.

Vocal Solo--It Might Have Been--Miss Viola Symons.

Vocal Solo--Under the Deep Blue Sea--Mr. Henry Gore.

Vocal Solo--Believe--Mrs. Ben McGee.

Drill-Mr. Leon Hammond--drill master.

Awarding prizes.
Program begins 8:15.
Refreshments."

2007-05-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

In my continued diligence searching (from quite a distance) for the GOINS/GOING connection in and between Albemarle and Louisa Counties in Virginia, I wrote the Louisa County Historical Society to ask about Agnes of Louisa who has been suggested to be Michael of Albemarle's grandmother. I believe I found this on the Louisa Historical Society page:

Goin, Agnes --- Legal Note 11/2/32 11/2/33 11/2/34
Goin, Amis --- Legal Note 11/1/42 11/1/44
Going, Becky Ailstock --- V26:43
Going, James --- V26:43
Going, Jenny --- V26:43
Going, Jesse --- V26:43
Going, Moses --- V22:14
Going, Moses --- Census 5/1/20
Going, Sherwood --- Rev. Soldier 8/32
Goings, Moses --- V26:48

I received this reply from the Louisa Historical Society:

"The references in Vol 11 are from abstracts of a law order records

Vol 26- from an article "Last Will & Testament of Michael Ailstock"

Michael Jr. was head of a household of four free"blacks" in the Commonwealth Census of 1782 for Louisa, which counted women and children. In 1799 he made surety in Albemarle for Jenny and Becky Ailstock, which young ladies married the Going brothers, Jesse and James respectively, in December of that year. As no other father is named on the record, the best guess is that these were daughters of Michael Jr. born before 1782.

Vol 26, p 48 "Michael sold his farm (which was an economically marginal operation) to Moses Goings."

Where to go with this information I don't know? There looks like some sort of connection. The Michael GOIN/GOINGS I am looking for has an "A" as a middlename. I am really guessing when I say that the middlename could have been Ailstock? It looks like the GOINS/GOING family and the Ailstocks of Louisa County family became united through marriage and moved to Albemarle County as the wives and their husbands show up in records for Albemarle. One of the men in the family was Michael Ailstock. He was the grandfather of Betsy and Jenny Ailstock. Could Michael GOINS/GOING possibly received his name from this person? There was a Michael, Jr. and so I am guessing they wanted to keep the name going in the family.

2007-05-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

The Brick Wall. Everyone who spends time gathering records about his or her family hits the brick wall. My brick wall is connecting my great great great grandfather Michael with the GOINS/GOING family which is prolific in Virginia-by the way spelling doesn't count in most records. I believe I found one record of him in Albemarle County, Virginia circa 1828. It says he is 23 years old when he swore he was Michael Goins. This age corresponds with later censuses, the year, 1805, of his birth and his obituary. The Order Books gives a description of each man with whom Micheal shares the GOINS/GOING surname. After writing to individuals in Virginia whom have knowledge and access to this and other records and consulting Paul Heinegg's "Free African Americans in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware, which is an incredible reference of at least two volumes of black and free people of color family histories , I believe my great great great grandfather is "Michael" found in the 1828 Order Book. This individual says that when these kind of "censuses" are taken and people with the same surname are on the same or next page it usually indicates some sort of kinship.

Michael's name is among the names of Henderson, John, Thomas and Fountain GOINS/GOING. Michael was there on the day that these "free men of color" were "counted". Perhaps he was just there? Perhaps one or all of them is his brother, cousin or uncle? The person in Virginia with who I corresponded suggested that Agnes of Louisa County, Virginia is Michael's grandmother. If Agnes of Louisa County--Louisa and Albemarle Counites sit next to each other-- is his grandmother which of her children are Michael's parents? I guess I have to work with these assumptions until I put my hands on more evidence. This is my brick wall.

2007-05-12T22:57:00.000-07:00

It is the 150th Anniversary of the Dred Scott decision. Dred Scott sued for the right to own his own person. The decision made by the United States Supreme Court in 1857 said that people of African descent could never become citizens; Dred Scott must remain a slave. Only after the 14th Amendment and a Civil War did that change.

2007-04-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

Charlottesville, Virginia ca 2003:

I sifted through Order Books, Law Orders, Chancery Orders and Will books at the Albemarle Courthouse to confirm some of the information I had prior to my trip. I also had to follow-up on a contact I made with "Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness." This individual happen to be in the Albemarle Historical Society when I dashed in to ask questions. She didn't believe that I was the person on the other end of her replies nor did believe my eyes and that she was talking to me. It was great to meet her.

The Albemarle Historical Society has a set-up vertical file of surnames; and they did have Goins/Goings/Gowens in filing cabinets. I sat down and ran through the various news clippings and I had to laugh--to myself-- because I was nervous as I came across an article on someone," an African American who shared my first and surname, built and built a house in Charlottesville circa 1845.

At the time of the article--September 2002--, they were trying to save the house but I didn't have time to catch the air leaving my lungs to think about visiting the address to see if it was still standing. There were at least three articles on the subject; and I haven't determined if he is related. Yes, I made sure that I have copies. That would have opened a few more doors of inquiry which I didn't have time to walk through. It was an angle and it sold a historical map of Albemarle; I also bought it because I was looking for the area named in tax & property records. I must confess that I made a side trips to the University of Virginia and Monticello.

The visit to Monticello came from the story of Sally Hemings and an interest I had after seeing "Scientific American Frontiers." This particular episode "Unearthing Secret America" dealt with the seemingly high interest about the lives of slaves at Monticello. I wanted to see if the tour guide mentioned Sally Hemings and her children. They did. I wonder if my great great great grandfather Michael, who was the same age or one year older (perhaps younger) than Madison Hemings, ever crossed paths in Albemarle County? In a 1833 Census commissioned by a "select committee" in the Virginia legislature for the purpose of a census of all black and free people of color which was extraordinary because Virginia like most other states had been keeping records and track of colored people. I believe this census fell under the auspices of the American Colonization Society. The names were collected in order to deport black American people to Liberia. I don't know if this caused the black and free people color to move out of the State of Virginia but my great great great grandparents left. I listened and asked fair and nice questions. Theses questions just crossed my mind as I remember reading a couple of books on the subject matter just to prepare myself.

Richmond

I would highly recommend the State Library of Virginia. It is state of the art while it (from seeing it with a very limited view) keeps its records in good order of an era when Order Books were extremely common. I must also say that I supplemented my visit (prior to it) with books about the sometimes hush-hushed history of Albemarle and Henrico Counties.

D.C. and Northern Virginia

Since I was in the neighborhood, I went to National Archives in Washington. It is the repository of the American history which keeps me up late nights. If I had one bad experience on this trip, it was trying to get in and get to information. They would not let me bring in a notebook which had photographs in them. It wasn't that I was denied but I had to leave my notebook outside; it was just like going through airport security. The feds are serious; well, they did just put a revitalized version of the Declaration of Independence out for public viewing. There are a few documents in Virginia which call into question the very essence of that document in Washington. They sit on the other side of the wall that houses documents like pension records. I guess they want(ed) to be extra careful.

2007-04-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

Last night I was online googling--using google-- searching for information about Walker and James' regimental history as Colored Troops in the United States military. It seemed like I looked at--well, at least type a multitude- of titles trying to find out more about their serivce. I have their penisons--James' pension is really brief because he was killed-- which tells me little about the actual battles in which they participated. Even though Walker's pension is ninety-eight pages long, it was mostly about his lawyer filing the claim for the pensions, Walker's medical history and getting witnesses to swear that Walker was Walker GOINS, that he was in the Civil War and they knew him. It seemed like a never ending process just like the genelogical experience. One thing leads to another. One name leads to another; there are so many questions and ancestors and so little time.

While I was looking (typing) these titles into the google machine, I came up with some interesting titles and read some of the journals and a few pages of the books they have digitized. I think that is one of the greatest uses of the Internet. I read a few pages from a journal which gave me the lowdown on the "Black Laws" of Ohio. They seemed as restrictive as some of the Southern States. I didn't know that black and people of color could not go to school in Ohio prior to the Civil War? But they found ways around it. There was also that rule which disallowed black and people of color to testify against a white person in a court of law. I thought Ohio was a little more "liberal" but I guess I was under the wrong impression? But then again, I remember reading Howard Zinn's "The People's History of the United States" and a quote stands out from a newspaper in Zanesville. It was about the treatment of blacks as they prepared to go off to battle. I am still looking for the article in that very newspaper.

I am looking for more information about Walker and James' tour of duty in the Civil War for a few reasons. First I want to add more detail to what I already tried to write. Secondly, I think I am starting to enjoy learning more about Civil War. I especially like learning about how the railroads were used as weapons and both sides played spied games with each and of course against each other. I wonder what, if any role Walker and his brother played on the Tennessee front? I believe Walker's regiment had to guard and James was a laborer on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. It was ironic that the two major cities on this rail line were in Kentucky, a border state and Tennessee a Confederate State. From what little I read, it seems like it was popular train to catch. Lastly, I want leave a record in time so that my family will have the opportunity to know that they had a relative who fought for us, so that we might be free.

After reading Walker's pension, I did catch the name Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Stone River. I will have to do more research to find out what happen when he was there.

2007-04-17T23:44:00.000-07:00

from the Massillon Independent ca. 1900

Strong Protest

"Massillon Colored People Adopt Resolutions: Want Law Upheld"

They Declare that Outrages Perpertrated at Palmetto Georgia and have a Debasing Effect on Nation

The colored people of Massillon, probably for the first time in the history of the town, have been aroused to a definite consciousness of the wrongs being done their race in the South, and the result is the adoptation of the following resolutions.

"Resolved, That we abhor crimes of every description: that we have no sympathy for criminals of any race or nationality [and] that honor and virtue should have the fullest protection; and we hearby pledge ourselves to do everything in our power to sustain the law, lessen crime and elevate mankind in general and more particularly the race variety which are identified.

Be it futher resolved, That we view with alarm the practice that prevails in some sections of our country, the most recent example of which occurried at Palmetto Georgia, a few days ago, of men accussed of crime being put to death without a trial and in a manner too horrible and barbarous to think of, because such practices have a debasing and frutalizing effect upon the people, arouse bitter strife between two peoples that are destined to dwell together, do our country great harm by injuring its standing as the foremost civilized nation, and because the laws of man and God are outraged by such inhuman methods of punishing offenders, real or alleged. We believe that the strong arm of the law is adequate to punish all criminals.

Therefore, in the name of humanity, in the name of the down-trodden people, in the name of our beloved country, whose name is being sullied in the name of a just God we protest against these wrongs."

The resolutions bear the signatures of Rev. J.E. Little, pastor of the A.M.E. Zion church, Joseph Clemens, G.N. Porter, John Fields, Charles Peters, Roy Lacy, Arthur Jackson, William Bell, Albert Jackson, JAMES GOINS, Charles Robinson, Robert Emery, Alex Simms. The only persons who refused to sign were John Emery and Charles Weber."

2007-04-11T03:41:00.000-07:00

I wrote this out of the need to try to understand the Civil War, the role of African Americans in the Civil War and American history. After six years of genealogy, I accidently came across the Civil War pensions of two of my great great grandfather's brothers. Finding these records forever changed how I look at this great conflict and how union survived.

During the waning muggy hours, seconds and moments of August eighteen and sixty-four, two colored men from Belmont County, Ohio joined the Union Army. They joined because colored men were finally allowed to join after Abraham Lincoln and his generals found out that these colored gentlemen could help swing victory in the direction of the Union. Walker and his brother James Edward Goins, "officially" volunteered with the Union Army of the United States of America because they knew the stakes were exceedingly high; and yet the feeling of going off to fight in a Civil War-- any war in the United States as a matter of fact-- must have been the most frightening prospect for a colored man in this country during a period when colored men had few if any civil, social rights and or protections enumerated the United States Constitution.

According to the eighteen and sixty Belmont County, Ohio census, Walker was twenty-one. He humbly began his military career in the fifth regiment of Ohio and finished his duty in the 101st U.S. Federal troops. James who lived with his parents Michael and Verlinda Goins was, according to another sheet in the Belmont County, Ohio census, fourteen years old. He served in the seventeenth regiment of and from the Buckeye State. These brothers, born in Ohio, Walker circa eighteen and thirty-eight and the younger James Edward, circa eighteen and forty-six took on this duty and fought on the front lines of Tennessee. Although the War of the Rebellion officially began with canon balls flying in and over Fort Sumter in South Carolina, the first major battle took place in Virginia at "First Manassass or First Bull Run in the seventh month and twenty-first day of eighteen and sixty.

The Confederate Army won that first battle at Manassass. They also lost many battles. The Union Army took many causalities as well. It looked like draw in the early stages of the conflict. It was a bloody battle right down to the last shot. Each side had to figure a way to out maneuver the opponent in the tug of Civil War. One method the Union planned to use to out maneuver its Southern counterpart involved enlisting the services of colored people who might become troops. It is as though Abraham Lincoln and his generals used the same move Lord Dunmore, who was the British governor of Virginia during her colonlial period, used when the upstart Americans decided to declare themselves independent of the crown in the late seventeen hundreds.

Walker and James were two of a multitude of colored volunteers who made the sacrifice of life, limb and family during America's hour internal restlessness. The eldest of these two brothers took Mary Jackson Curry as his wife before leaving and their home in Barnesville. James, the younger of the two brothers, was about to turn eighteen. This is the ripe old age of young men when military units try to increase, almost swell its ranks with soldiers. According to his pension, Walker married Mary Jackson-Curry " in the year of Our Lord eighteen and fifty-nine." The nuptials, again according to Walker's pension, took place in the fair county of Belmont. The same county where Walker and James' parents Michael and Verlinda, married in during the late spring of eighteen and thirty-five. Michael and Verlinda, former Virginians resided, in this county which sits next to the vulernable Ohio River.

Michael and Verlinda, it seems, grew restless knowing that they and their younger children were near--too close for comfort anyway-- the Civil War's front. They were so restless they moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan sometime after 1861 with their daughter Emily, their grandchildren and her husband Gabriel Green. The certain internal and Civil restlessness in America pulled and tugged at the hearts of families on both sides of the War. It pulled, tugged and tore families asunder as if it seemed the Civil War was a storm cloud covering every square inch of the United States without plans to move.

Walker left his bride, Mary of seven years or so in Barnesville where most of his and James' brothers and sisters lived as well. The Goins family , according to the eighteen and sixty Belmont County, Ohio census, identifies the household of Michael and Verlinda Goins, Walker and James' parents. This household included Michael (the younger), Emily ( perhaps the twin of James Edward ?) James Edward, John, Robert, Stewart and Roswell. One brother, Riley, the eldest known brother of these Colored Civil War Veterans, according to the 1860 Muskingum County, Ohio census, lived with his wife Clarissa and their children in that county. The Goins family lived far, wide and beyond the State of Ohio. Again the elder Goins', Michael and Verlinda, as old as they were--in their sixties--, migrated to Michigan with their two youngest sons Stewart and Roswell sometime before or during the conflict

Although some of the Goins' left the potential war front of Ohio for the relative safety of Michigan, Mary and her children remained at least and until hopefully Walker and James returned from their tedious and tremendous task of fighting the Confederate Army. The Union Army won the Civil War and Walker discharged from his most honorable and courageous civic duty in April, eighteen and sxity-five. He returned home to his bride Mary and the his remaining siblings. He came back home alone. James, the younger of the two brothers unfortunately met his death in the course of battle according to his ever so brief pension file. He died in a Nashville, Tennessee hospital. The records from the National Archives says, this "Private of Captain Geo. H.Haywood of Company C ( I believe it is C--I can't read the hand writing), of the seventeenth the United States Infantry Volunteers, who enrolled the sixth day of December, in the State of Ohio as a recruit and mustered into the service the sixth day of December 1864 at Barnesville...died in Wilson Hospital on the twenty-second day of June, eighteen and sixty-five." I am far from knowing how Walker must have felt. Perhaps it was a most joyous occasion to see his wife and the rest of his family. Nevertheless, some part of him remained in Tennessee on one of those bloody battlefields. That specific part came in the shape and form of his younger brother James; he must have been important to Walker because he named one of his children James and still another Edward, James' middle name. James was perhaps so important to Walker, that the name remained in the Goins family for a few generations.

2006-08-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

The year eighteen hundred was a fateful one for American slavery. It was then that John Brown was
born, that Gabriel's[Prosser]revolt occurred
and that [Denmark] Vesey purchased the ownership of his own body and it was then too, October 2, that Nat Turner was born." ¹ All of these portentous events, Prosser's August 1800 revolt, Vesey's consciousness of the 1808 slave rebellion in Haiti and Turner's insurrection, nearly thirty years to the date of Gabriel's revolt to overthrow the American institution of slavery, in one way or another, set in motion a series of reactions in the state of Virginia and perhaps in all post colonial America. These reactions, specifically to quell the growth of anguish in the white community in Virginia, compelled the government, a "select committee"² of that state to legislate the establishment of "colonization boards" to repatriate Africans, those who were the descendants of the survivors of the perilous Middle Passage, those with possible multi-ethnic identities or backgrounds and their children, back to the west coast of the African continent. The state of Virginia saw fit, even though a good number of its' black and perhaps most colored people were already bound by the institution of slavery or some form of servitude, authorized a count of "free black and mulattos" within its' boundaries. This "select committee", according to Louis P.Mashur , even considered "acquiring the state of Texas ( or what then was Texas ) and making it an independent black state."³ Just in case this still left any room for movement by "free black and mulattos" in their supervised freedom, Virginia, or the "select committee"⁴, turned the screw just a bit tighter. Specifically, "a police bill [also] passed further erod[ing] the rights of ["free blacks and mulattos"] by denying them trial juries and allowing for their sale and transportation if convicted of a crime⁵ .

In A Just and True Account, Two 1833 Parish Censuses of Albemarle County Free Blacks, Mr. Ervin L. Jordan Jr. writes that "in accordance with the act by the [Virginia] state legislature, the Albemarle County Court ordered the commissioners to report a complete list of all Free negroes or mulattos in their respective districts."⁶. Albemarle County was just one of Virginia's counties to follow this decree; it wasn't the first time nor the last that this happened in Virginia and the United States. The repercussion and or implication, to say the least, of such an exploit is far reaching. It, by far, provides an "unofficial" Census of "free blacks and mulattos" in Virginia. The registration of these particular individuals in the early to mid-eighteen hundreds, despite the defacto mandate that the federal census schedules only enumerate white males, gave, even though the objective was deportation, a better sketch of the lives of people of color compared to their counterparts, namely white Virginians. Mr. Jordan, in The History Magazine of Albemarle County, illustrates this with great importance. He says, "these censuses are in several ways more detailed than the federal censuses [of 1830]." In fact, Virginia's action or reaction to slave rebellions left a record in time which perhaps set the model for census taking in federal schedules. A True and Just Account states that "they [those charged with the task] record[ed] names, gender, families, occupations, length of county residence, places of residence, if before or after the first day of March ,1833 "⁷ All the questions asked of "black and mulatto" Virginians only appears in all federal census schedules after 1850.

This 1833 document, housed at the University of Virginia and written about by Mr. Jordan in 1995, has many consequences. One of the consequences is evidence of which "free black and mulattos" stayed in Albemarle County and which ones left. This allows some genealogist to trace their ancestors at least to that specific record and time. It also illustrates black migration patterns within the United States; for example some black and mulattos" who registered in this Albemarle County "census", choose to stay home in Virginia, while on the other hand, some "free black and mulatto" Virginians took, or were perhaps compelled to take, even after resisting the threat of systematic deportation back to Africa, a chance on migrating to other areas in the United States.

There were many events going on the United States during this era. The nearly forty year old country, in 1803, made the Lousana Purchase. Prior to doubling the size of the country, the United States government sent surveyors to the Northwest Terroritory. The Mississippi and Ohio River valleys were mostly unsettled by citizens in what is known as the United States. Some black and mulatto Virginians went or were forced to go south. Some went west to the Northwest Terroritories and still others stayed home in Virginia. The rivers served as barriers and a means of travel and escape. The Ohio River, which borders West Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois and the southern and western part of Ohio was one likely the route some of these individuals, after the legislation of unwieldy Virginia laws, choose to take.

Indeed, "people such as Jane West [who] owned...property"⁸ in Albemarle County kept themselves planted on Virginia soil while others like Michael A. Goins of the same county picked themselves (along with their families )up and left. Mr. Goins, according to his 1886 obituary from Belmont County, Ohio, was born in Albemarle County circa 1806. He entered the Northwest Territory (then named Ohio), according to his marriage license in Belmont County, circa 1835. Furthermore, the first census that Mr. Goins appears in says that his home state was Virginia. The 1850 Muskingum County, Ohio Census includes his wife Verlinda Payne Goins and their thirteen children. Again, this Census schedule says that Mr. Goins and his wife were Virginians of color living in Ohio. Looking through the annals of time, even though this article only cites a few reasons and examples of why and how black and people of color, whether they were free or under the heavy weight of slavery, moved, migrated and sometimes disappeared from many and all records in the United States.

¹ A Chapter from Herbert Aptheker's Master's thesis completed at Columbia Univestity circa 1937 and in Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory edited by Kenneth S. Greenberg
² An essay, "Nat Turner and Sectional Crisis" by Louis P. Masur in Chapter nine in Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory edited by KennethS. Greenberg
³ Ibid., 2
⁴ Ibid., 2
⁵ Ibid, 2
⁶ A Just and True Account, Two 1833 Parish Censuses of Albemarle County Free BlacksThe Magazine Of Albemarle History volume fifty-three, 1995
⁷ Ibid.,5
⁸ Ibid.,5

2006-08-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

This may fall outside the boundries of academia but I will try it. I have been attempting genealogy for the past six years. The results have been mixed and suprising. Everything I learned and loved learning about American history serves as a guide. American history taught in school was a means to navigate the educational system. I survived and turned my attention toward the history of my family to expound on those lessons.