Phillip Goins, Choctaw
Evaded the Reservation
Prepared from research developed
By Della Ford Nash
Phillip Goins, a “three-quarters” Choctaw, was born in Mississippi about 1770 and was a resident of the Choctaw Nation in Mississippi, according to United States Citizenship Court records as transcribed in “The Journal of American Family Research,” Volume 3. For Phillip Goins to have been a “three-quarters” Choctaw, his father and his grandfather before him would have had to have married fullblood Choctaw women. This suggests that the grandfather Goins must have arrived in the Choctaw Nation around 1710.
“Goins” is not a word in the Choctaw language, nor is it found in the “Choctaw Lexicon” compiled by the Rev. Cyrus Byington. Since the “Goins” name is Caucasian and since blue-eyed individuals have turned up among the Choctaw descendants of Phillip Goins, it is suggested that he was of Melungeon descent.
Phillip Goins was married about 1795 to Oti, a full-blood Choctaw woman who was also born in Choctaw Nation. As the pressure of white settlers began to encroach upon the Indians in Mississippi, Phillip Goins reacted by moving to Opelousas, Louisiana. He was enumerated there in St. Landry Parish in the U. S. census of 1810 as the head of a household composed of “three free colored persons.” The enumerators in 1810 had very little latitude as to how they recorded nonwhites.
Apparently Phillip Goins retained his affiliation with the Choctaw tribe and commuted frequently to Mississippi on visits with the tribesmen, many of whom wandered into his area on hunting trips.
The Choctaw tribe lived for centuries in southeastern Mississippi. They had not given the Americans any resistance. Instead they had aligned themselves with the Americans in their battles. Several hundred of their braves fought with the Mississippians in the Creek War, according to “Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Nation” by Angie Debo. They fought with Gen. Andrew Jackson in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. They invited American missionaries to establish stations and schools in the Choctaw Nation and gave permission for the construction of the Natchez Trace across their land.
Americans had begun flooding into Natchez, Mississippi and the surrounding area even before the Revolutionary War. From the Spanish Archives, “The Genealogical Helper” extracted the names of 157 Americans who had arrived in 1789.
“Legajo 16” identified the individuals in a “Report on the tobacco growers at Natchez during the past year” dated March 2, 1790. The white population in Mississippi grew from less than 9,000 in 1800 to over 70,000 in 1830 and the pressure upon the Indians began to increase exponentially. Phillip Goins had foreseen the gathering storm for the Choctaws and preceded westward.
The Choctaws were the first tribe to succumb to the pressure of the encroaching white settlers. In 1830 they agreed to remove to Oklahoma and became known as one of the “Five Civilized Tribes.” Almost 7,000,000 acres were ceded to the Choctaws in southeastern Oklahoma, “south of the Canadian River, north of the Red River, from Ft. Smith west.” In Oklahoma the Choctaws were settled primarily in McCurtain, Pittsburg, Le Flore, Pushmataha and Choctaw Counties. Some remained in Mississippi in Neshoba County where a Choctaw reservation is maintained today. In 1990 about 4,000 of the county’s population of 24,000 are Choctaws. Adjoining Winston County also holds a high concentration of Choctaws.
William Armstrong undertook a Choctaw census in 1831 in Mississippi which showed a total of 19,554, according to “The Choctaws” by Jesse O. McKee and Jon A. Schlenker.
Of those 12,500 came to Oklahoma. The Creeks and Seminoles began arriving in Oklahoma in 1832. The Cherokees traversed the “Trail of Tears” in 1835. In 1837 6,070 Chickasaw and their slaves began moving from Chickasaw Bluffs [present site of Memphis, Tennessee] to their new capital at Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The territory the Chickasaws gave up was generally the northern 1/5 of Mississippi.
They were transported to an area just west of the Choctaws’ new homeland. Subsequently a portion of 67 Indian tribes were removed to Oklahoma. In Oklahoma the Choctaws were settled primarily in McCurtain, Pittsburg, Le Flore, Pushmataha and Choctaw Counties. Some remained in Mississippi in Neshoba County where a Choctaw reservation is maintained today. In 1990 about 4,000 of the county’s population of 24,000 are Choctaws. Adjoining Winston County also holds a high concentration of Choctaws. A Choctaw census taken in 1831 in Mississippi showed a total of 19,554. Of those 12,500 came to Oklahoma.
The American government showed a very devious nature in dealing with the Choctaw Nation. It signed 16 different treaties with the tribe and reneged shamefully on commitments it had no intention of keeping. Apparently it was concluded that it was easier to sweep the Indians westward than to exterminate them.
In the Treaty of Treaty Ground, Mississippi signed October 20, 1820 by Gen. Andrew Jackson and Chief Pushmataha the United States ceded land in southwest Arkansas, the southern half of Oklahoma as well as land in Texas and New Mexico [which belonged to Mexico.] The Choctaws gave away still more in the Treaty of Washington January 20, 1825. Chiefs Mushulatubbe, Pushmataha and Apuckshunnubbee undertook the journey to Washington to sign the agreement.
Apuckshunnubbee died on the way, and Pushmataha died in Washington in December 1824 before the treaty was signed. It seemed that the Indians suffered in every contact with the whites.
The treaty finalizing the Choctaw removal was signed September 28, 1830 at the council grounds on Dancing Rabbit Creek, Mississippi. This treaty specified that “no part of the land ceded to the Choctaw Nation shall ever be embraced in any territory or state.” It further provided for a Choctaw delegate in the U. S. Congress, but Congress never granted such representation. The Choctaws gave up 10,000,000 acres of prime Mississippi land in the bargain. To soothe the objections of the Indians who protested that the land being offered in the treaty was already occupied by the whites, Andrew Jackson assured the Choctaws that he would drive out the settlers. Arkansas Territory which was created in 1819 embraced the land that was being offered. Old Miller County, Arkansas Territory had been created in 1820 and by 1821 already had a “population of 999 and 84 slaves,” according to the March 3, 1821 edition of the “Arkansas Gazette.” The population of Old Miller County had increased to 2,500 in 1825. Very few of this first settlement of “sooners” were ever disturbed by Jackson’s promise.
The Americans used every means of duplicity to gain the upper hand. They freely distributed whiskey among the Indians, undermining their will to work and to produce. They distributed lavish bribes among the chieftains to gain their consent to the treaties and to influence them to “sell out” their people and their heritage. The Indians received nothing but misery for their passive resistance.
The Choctaws in Jasper and Newton Counties wrote a letter delineating their oppression to George S. Gaines, one of their few trusted friends in Washington:
“Our tribe has been woefully imposed upon of late. We have had our habitations torn down and burned; our fences destroyed, cattle turned into our fields and we ourselves have been scourged, manacled, fettered and otherwise personally abused, until by such treatment some of our best men have died. These are the acts of the persons who profess to be the agents of the Government to procure our removal to Arkansas and who cheat us out of all they can, by the use of fraud, duplicity and even violence.”
The treaty of 1830 specified that 7,000 Choctaws were to remain in east central Mississippi, but again the Americans weaseled out. The white citizens of Alabama and Mississippi maintained a constant clamor for their removal also. Sen. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was foremost among those determined to expel to remaining remnants of the Choctaws from Mississippi. He wrote, “It is an object of great importance that the Choctaws be completely removed and prevented from returning.”
American officials circulated reports about the generous conditions given to the Choctaws by the terms of the treaty, but many church officials objected to the bullying of the Indians.
Mary Elizabeth Young in “Redskins, Ruffleshirts and Rednecks” reported on the reaction of the missionary officials:
“The missionaries of the American Board, angry because the treaty granted no compensation for their expensive schools and mission stations, did not consider it generous in any respect. They regarded the extensive reserves given to Indian leaders as mere bribes. They deplored the scanty provision for emigrating tribesmen whose improvements were small. They bitterly resented the commissioners’ misrepresentation of the way in which the agreement had been negotiated.”
The editor of the “Vicksburg Daily Sentinel” recorded the beginning of the exodus:
“They are going away! With a visible reluctance which nothing has overcome but the stern necessity they feel impelling them, they have looked their last on the graves of their sires–the scenes of their youth, and have taken up the slow toilsome march with their household goods among them to their new homes in a strange land. They leave names to many of our rivers, towns and counties, and so long as our State remains, the Choctaws who once owned most of her soil will be remembered.”
The horrors of the Choctaw migration were never publicized to the extent as were the Cherokee’s “trail of tears,” but they were just as devastating. From 1831 to 1834 forced marches of tribesmen, mostly on foot, in groups of 500 to 1,000 started out for Oklahoma, invariably in the fall and winter months.
The trip of 550 miles passed through unsettled country of dense forests, swamps, thick canebrakes and swollen rivers.
The suffering, caused by the mistakes and inefficiency of the War Department combined with one of the regions’ worst blizzards in history was indescribable.
Choctaw Agent William S. Colquhoun at Vicksburg, Mississippi wrote December 10, 1831 to Brigadier General George Gibson that a party of Choctaws had arrived there after marching 24 hours through sleet and snow. “Their situation is distressing and must get worse, they are often very naked and few moccasins are seen amongst them.”
A party of 2,500 Choctaws traveling by steamboat were disembarked at Arkansas Post and kept in open camps through the worst of the blizzard. Many had to remain for weeks awaiting horses which were being driven overland from Louisiana. Cholera broke out on a boatload of Indians nearing the Memphis transfer station, and many panic-stricken women and children refused to board another steamboat. They were ferried across the Mississippi and continued the journey on foot.
When he observed the Choctaws crossing the Mississippi at Memphis Alexis de Tocqueville wrote:
“In the whole scene there was an air of ruin and destruction, something which betrayed a final and irrevocable adieu; one couldn’t watch without feeling one’s heart wrung. The Indians were tranquil, but sombre and taciturn. There was one who could speak English and of whom I asked why the Choctaws were leaving their country. ‘To be free,’ he answered.”
Many hundreds fell victim to blizzards and cold weather and all manner of disease. Epidemics of smallpox, cholera, typhoid and “intermittent fever” devastated the tribe enroute route and in its early years in Oklahoma.
No physicians were among the Indians in the initial treks, but many churchpeople became aware of their suffering and volunteered to help. Teachers and preachers were sent. Dr. Alexander Talley, a Ph.D. and a Methodist missionary, accompanied the first Choctaw party moving westward. Soon the War Department elected to have doctors accompany them.
On the steamboat Reindeer in November 1832 Dr. John T. Fulton and a Dr. Rayburn, government agents, reported 12 deaths in three days in a party of 445 Choctaws due to cholera “for which they knew no effective treatment,” according to Indian Agent A. S. Langham. In a five-week period ending in September 1833, 600 died of fever alone, according to “Indian Removal” by Grant Foreman.
Cyrus Bennington who was a missionary among the Choctaws before the removal and who traveled to Indian Territory with them estimated that 6,000 died during the migration, according to “History of Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians” by H. B. Cushman. President Andrew Jackson had appointed Major Francis W. Armstrong “Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Choctaw Nation West of the Mississippi” and dispatched him to Ft. Smith, Arkansas Territory. He arrived at Ft. Smith just ahead of the first Choctaw contingent and had little time to prepare to assist the Indians, according to “Ft. Smith” by Edwin C. Bearss and A. M. Gibson.
Starvation was also a threat in the early years. The U. S. government reneged on supplying the steel plows they had contracted to supply to the tribe so that they could raise corn on their land. In June 1833 a 10-foot flood on the Arkansas River washed away all the mills, ferries and improvements that had been built along the river. Maj. Armstrong wrote, “The Choctaws are dying to an alarming extent. Near the agency there are 3,000 Indians, and within the hearing of a gun from this spot, 100 have died within five weeks.”
Phillip Goins spared his family the trauma of forcible ejection from their homeland and placed them in much better circumstances in Louisiana.
Children born to Phillip Goins and Oti Goins include:
Jeremiah Goins born in 1798
It is assumed that additional children were born to Phillip Goins and Oti Goins. Suggested as a daughter is “Jenny Goen” who was born about 1795. She was married in St. Landry Parish March 12, 1814 to Jordan Perkins, according to the research of Leila Raye Perkins Smith, a descendant of Corrigan, Texas. She wrote January 25, 1990, “We have been told that we have a lot of Indian blood. In some census enumerations my ancestors were recorded as “Indian;” on others they were shown as “white.” Most of the men in my family are dark with blue eyes and straight black hair.”
“Patrick Goin,” a Choctaw Indian was appointed as a scout for a survey party seeking a railroad route from San Antonio to El Paso, Texas March 18, 1849. Robert S. Neighbors, Indian agent made the appointment in San Antonio.
“Anna Goins, Choctaw” who was born about 1790 was married about 1810 in St. Landry Parish to Thomas Nash, as his second wife, according to a descendant, Della Ford Nash of Oklahoma City. Thomas Nash was born in 1754 in Chowan County, North Carolina. He was in Mississippi Territory by 1780 where he operated an Indian trading post. In 1815 they lived in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. In 1826 they were in Atascosita District, Tejas y Coahuila. They were enumerated in the 1830 and 1850 census back in Natchitoches Parish.
Thomas Nash was enumerated as “age 97” and Anna Goins Nash was reported as “age 77.” It is interesting to note that Thomas Nash, Jr, who was born in 1785 to Thomas Nash and his first wife, Emily Slater Nash was married to Sarah “Sally” Drake. Also, Phillip Goins [Jr?] was married January 2, 1815 to Keziah Nash who was born to Thomas Nash and Emily Slater Nash in Mississippi in 1789.
Children born to Thomas Nash and Anna Goins Nash included James Nash who was born in 1813 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
Land was taken from Rapides Parish to form St. Landry Parish when it was created in 1807. James Nash was married in 1834 to Mary Perkins. He died prior to the 1850 census, but Mary Perkins Nash appeared in Rapides Parish in the enumerations of 1850 and 1860. Emanuel Nash, their fourth child, was born in Rapides Parish in 1842. He was married about 1898 to Sena Goins/Goynes, his third wife. Eight children were born to them, according to Della Ford Nash.
Their descendants removed to Oklahoma, perhaps to affiliate with the Choctaw tribe when the U.S. government began to make payments to the Indians.
(To be continued in July Issue)
Phillip Goins, Choctaw
Evanded the Reservation
Prepared from research developed
By Della Ford Nash
(Continued from June issue)
Jeremiah Goins, son of Phillip Goins and Oti Goins, was born in Choctaw Nation [Mississippi] in 1798. He was probably the third “free colored person” enumerated in the 1810 census of his father’s household in St. Landry Parish. He was married about 1820 to Sarafina Drake, probably age 14. They continued to live in Louisiana until 1834 when they emigrated to Coahuila y Tejas where they became citizens of Spain.
They settled in Bevil Municipal District, named for John R. Bevil, located between the Neches and Sabine Rivers in what was later Newton and Jasper Counties. Bevil Fort was located at a bend in the Neches River just south of present-day Zavala, Texas. There were 23 municipal districts in Texas at the time of the Declaration of Independence. On March 17, 1836, two weeks afterward, each became one of the original 23 Texas counties.
The household of Jeremiah Goins was enumerated in the Spanish census of Bevil District in 1835. The census was compiled by Marion Day Mullins and published by the National Genealogical Society as
“First Census of Texas 1829-1836.” They were recorded as:
“Goin, Jerry 37, farmer
Drake, Sarafina 28, wife
Goin, Henry 13
Ransom 11
Eveline 9
Sybrant 7
Caroline 5
Robert 3
James 1”
Fortunately for genealogists, it was the custom of Spanish enumerators to record married women by their maiden names.
There is no record of military service on the part of Jeremiah Goins in the Texas Revolution which was to erupt in the following spring. However, Gen. Sam Houston had exempted Melungeon William Goyen of Nacogdoches from military service so he could be a liaison and an interpreter with the Texas Indians to keep them on friendly terms with the Anglos.
Dawes Commission records show that Jeremiah Goins had also acted as an interpreter, and it possible that he had rendered such a service for Texas in its struggle for independence.
In a small, aging book in the office of the County Clerk of Jefferson County are found the names and the dates of arrival in Texas of the population of the Beaumont area in 1838 who applied for land grants. It was written with pen and ink primarily in the handwriting of Col. Henry Millard, one of the heroes of the Battle of San Jacinto. Col. Millard, one of Gen. Houston’s staff, named the town of Beaumont and the county of Jefferson for his brother-in-law Jefferson Beaumont of Natchez.
In 1838 Jeremiah Goins made an application to the Board of Land Commissioners of Jefferson County, Texas for a land grant which was accepted and forwarded to the State Land Office in Austin where the originals on crisp, yellowing old paper may be found today. The application read:
“I do solemnly swear that I was a resident of Texas at the date of the Declaration of Independence, that I did not leave the country during the campaign of the spring of 1836 to avoid a participation in the struggle, that I did not refuse to participate in the war and that I did not aid or assist the enemy, that I have not previously received a title to my quantity of land and that I conceive myself justly entitled under the constitution and laws to the quantity of land for which I now apply.
Jeremiah [X] Going”
Anglo citizens were entitled to “a league and a labor,” 4,605 acres, if they could sign the above oath. Free Negros, mulattos, Melungeons and Indians were generally passed over.
Jeremiah Goins may have received his land grant and sold his patent. In any event, when he appeared in Limestone County, Texas in 1850, he was not recorded as a land owner.
In 1896, David Reynolds, 78 years old and a resident of Atascosa County, Texas gave an affidavit to the Dawes Commission, “I was present when he [Jeremiah Goins] proved himself by white men and Indians that he was a Choctaw Indian at Nacogdoches County in 1848 in the latter part of August.”
On October 16, 1850 his household was enumerated in Limestone County in the federal census, page 759 as Household 163-163:
“Goins, Jeremiah 58, born in Mississippi, farmer,
illiterate, mulatto
Charity 58, born in Louisiana
Ransom 24, born in Louisiana
Sebern 22, born in Louisiana
Caroline 20, born in Louisiana
Robert 19, born in Louisiana
James 16, born in Texas
Robert 14, born in Texas
Reuben 13, born in Texas
Adaline 15, born in Texas
Emily 9, born in Texas
Jeremiah 5, born in Texas
Mary 2, born in Texas”
In an adjoining household, No. 164-164, was enumerated the family of Henry Goins, son of Jeremiah Goins.
From the two census returns, it is believed that Sarafina Drake Goins was the first wife of Jeremiah Goins and Charity Goins was his second. It is suggested that Sarafina Drake Goins was the mother of Henry Goins, Ransom Goins, Evaline Goins, Seaborn Goins, Caroline Goins, Robert Goins, James Goins and Adeline Goins. It is believed that Charity Goins was the mother of the second Robert Goins, Reuben Goins, Emily Goins, Jeremiah Goins and Mary Goins. The second Robert Goins and Reuben Goins may have been foster children of Jeremiah Goins. It is believed that Emily Goins, Jeremiah Goins and Mary Goins were the children of Jeremiah Goins and Charity Goins.
Jeremiah Goins was a resident of San Saba County, Texas May 21, 1857 when his daughter Adeline Goins was married to Lewis A. Mulkey.
Jeremiah Goins does not appear as the head of a household in the index of the 1860 census of Texas compiled by Accelerated Indexing Systems. “Jerry Goins, Sr.” was enumerated as the head of a household in the 1870 census of Atascosa County, page 171, living near Pleasanton, Texas. Other Goins households in the 1870 census of Atascosa County included R. G. Goins, page 171; Ransom Goins, page 194; Sarah Goins, page 202; Rayborn Goins, page 204; Hardinia Goins, page 199; James Goins, page 204 and Josephine Goins, page 194.
“Jeremiah Goens of Hays County, Texas” received a deed from Robert Mays of Hays County to 535 acres lying in Hays and Burnet Counties, according to Travis County, Texas Deed Book L, page 419.
It is believed that Jeremiah Goins and Charity Goins removed to San Antonio, Texas about 1873. “Jerry” Goins received a deed to Lots 37, 38, 39 and 40 in San Antonio from Juan Jose Flores September 18, 1873 for $1,500, according to Bexar County Deed Book 1, page 116.
Jeremiah Goins appeared as the head of a household in the 1880 census of Bexar County, Enumeration District 22, page 17 on June 11, 1880:
“Goins, Johan 80, born in MS, father born in MS, mother born in MS, mulatto, farmer Charity 70, born in MS, father born in MS, mother born in MS, wife Morris, Lisie 16, born in TX, father born in TX, mother born in TX, niece”
The household of Lewis A. Mulkey, his son-in-law, was also enumerated nearby June 10, 1880 in Enumeration District 22, page 16. Charity Goins died May 31, 1881 at Pleasanton, Texas and was buried in San Jose Cemetery near San Antonio “on property which they owned,” according to Howard Goins.
Jeremiah Goins died August 18, 1883, according to Howard Goins, however “Jeremiah Goins, Sr.” [probably his estate] received a deed February 12, 1884 to 160 acres in Survey 14, located on Atascosa Creek 19 miles southeast of San Antonio for $140 from Lewis A. Mulkey and Adeline Goins Mulkey, his daughter, according to Bexar County Deed Book 33, page 149.
The will of Jeremiah Goins, written November 2, 1882 and was filed for probate August 14, 1883 and was recorded in Bexar County Probate Book J, pages 176-178. The document has been transferred to the archives of the Bexar County Clerk’s office.
A deed and a release dated June 30, 1886 signed by Jeremiah Goins, Jr. “son of Jerry Goins” and Alice Goins, his wife, recorded in Bexar County Deed Book 48, page 380 mentions that “my mother and father are buried here.” Consideration of the 160 acres of land was $800. Apparently this was the land purchased from the Mulkeys in 1884. This burial ground in 1992 was known as Oakley Cemetery. The descendants of Jeremiah Goins and Sarafina Goins gathered there June 27, 1992 for a family reunion.
Early day range men in Texas classified three kinds of soil in the state–Bowie soil which would support 20 cows to the acre, Travis soil which would support 10 cows to the acre and Gowen soil which would support only five cows per acre. It is speculated that since Jeremiah Goins was the only member of the family contemporary with Travis and Bowie in Texas, Gowen soil was named for him. [Col. William Barrett Travis and Col. Jim Bowie died in the Battle of the Alamo.]
On September 9, 1896 evidence was introduced in United States Citizenship Court in Indian Territory that the names of Henry Goins, William Goins and James Goins together with their children [unnamed] appeared on the 1874 census roll of Kiamitia County, Indian Territory. An application was made for the enrollment as Choctaws by blood “Robert Goins and 99 others, all claiming to be children and grandchildren of Jeremiah Goins, a half-blood Choctaw and a recognized member of the Choctaw Nation in Mississippi” was filed with the Dawes Commission and evidence in support thereof, consisting of numerous affidavits, submitted. The record shows:
“Jeremiah Goins was a mixed-blood Choctaw, possessing somewhere between one-half and seven-eighths Choctaw blood; that his father was Philip Goins, his mother Oti. Philip Goins was about three-quarters Choctaw, while Oti was a full blood. Jeremiah Goins and his family were members of the Choctaw Nation in Mississippi. The record shows that he was one of the frontiersmen alternating between the Choctaw Nation and Texas; that he was always acknowledged by those who knew him to be a Choctaw Indian; that he acted as an interpreter in proceedings in which Choctaws appeared.”
The Dawes Commission on December 1, 1896 denied the request of the applicants stating that “a Choctaw Indian, to be entitled to enrollment should have at some time prior to the act of 1898 established a residence in the Choctaw Nation.”
Additionally the Commission stated that the names of the descendants of Jeremiah Goins did not appear on the tribal rolls.
The family appealed the decision. On December 1, 1896 its attorneys presented the appeal to the United States Court for the Southern District, Indian Territory at Ardmore, Oklahoma for the family members to be admitted to the Choctaw rolls.
The attorneys introduced over 50 pages of typewritten material in evidence of blood, residence and tribal affiliation.
They were successful on this occasion:
“Decree entered admitting the following persons:
Robert Goins, Elizabeth Goins, Seaborn Goins, Calvin Goins, Caroline Goins, John Goins, Elizabeth Goins, Minereva Goins, William Henry Goins, Samantha Goins, James Goins, James Goins, Jr, Randolph Goins, Lizzie Goins, Rayborn Goins, Thomas L. Goins, William Goins, Collin Goins, Eli Goins, Rayborn Goins, Campbell Goins, Martha Margaret Goins, Missouri E. Goins, Amanda May Goins, Dinkey Goins, Reuben Goins, Mary Goins, Cordelia Goins, Jeremiah Goins, Jr, Monroe Goins, William Goins, Frank Goins, Leonard Goins, Mrs. Evaline Paddieo [Padier], Reuben Paddieo, John Paddieo, Evaline Paddieo, Martha Paddieo, W. C. Tasso Paddieo, James Paddieo, Amanda Paddieo, Jerry M. Morris, G. W. Morris, Spencer W. Morris, Jr, Sarah Morris, Kansas Morris, Mrs. Emily Perrice [Perez], G. W. Nevils, Ike Perice, Josephine Perrice, Josephine Perrice, Mary Perrice, Anna Perrice, Alonza Perrice, Caroline Perrice, Mrs. Mary Southward, W. C. Southward, William Southward, Elizabeth Southward, John F. Southward, James Marion Southward, Jessie Myrtle Southward, Maggie May Southward, James Melton Gardner, Margaret Lugene Gardner, Manda Eldora Gardner, Cora Lee Gardner, J. M. Gardner, Ebenezer S. Morris, Gertrude E. Morris, Jesse W. Morris, Jesse Coleman Morris, Augusta B. Morris, Wilmuth Morris, Nora Lee Morris, Mollie Morris, Cora May Morris, Kansas Viola Morris, Frank C. Jones, James Jones, Jesse Jones, Gypsie Jones, Frank C. Jones, Ignathia Marjories, Susie Marjories, Reams Marjories, Joe Perrice, Ignathia Perez, Jr. Eugene Dias, Albert Dias, Clara Androda [Andrade], Christoval Androda, Mrs. Josephine Priest, Adella Taylor, Pearline Taylor, Anzo Taylor, William Martin Taylor, Josephine Taylor and Clara Taylor.”
A judgment was rendered in favor of the family December 21, 1897:
“In the United States court in the Indian Territory, Southern District at a term begun and held at Ardmore, in the Indian Territory, on the 15th day of November, A.D. 1897. The Hon. Hosea Topwnsend, judge. The following order was made and entered of record, to wit:
Robert Goins et al vs. The Choctaw Nation, No. 127 Judgement
At this time came on to be heard the report of the master in chancery, filed herein June 23, 1897, and at the same time came the applicants by their attorneys; and it appearing to the court that the applicants herein through their attorneys have excepted to the report of said Master in chancery, wherein he recommends that those of the applicants who are nonresidents of the Indian Territory be denied the right to have their names enrolled as members of the tribe of Choctaw Indians, and the court, after hearing said exceptions and being fully advised in the premises, is of the opinion that said exceptions be, and the same are hereby, sustained; and it appearing to the court from the report of said master and from the evidence filed herein that all of the applicants are members of the tribe of Choctaw Indians:
It is therefore considered, adjudged and decreed by the court that Robert Goins and his wife, Elizabeth Goins and Seaborn Goins, Calvin Goins, Caroline Goins, John Goins, Elizabeth Goins, Minerva Goins, William Henry Goins and Samontha Goins, the children of Henry Goins, deceased and James Goins and his children, James Goins, Jr. and Randolph Goins and Lizzie Goins; and Rayborn Goins and children, Thomas L. Goins, William Goins, Collin Goins, Eli Goins, Rayborn Goins, Campbell Goins, Martha Margaret Goins, Missouri E. Goins, Amanda May Goins and Dinkey Goins; and Reuben Goins and children, Mary Goins land Cordelia Goins; and Jeremiah Goins, Jr. and children, Monroe Goins, William Goins, Frank Goins, and Leonard Goins; and Mrs. Evaline Paddieo [Padier] and her children, Reuben Paddieo, Tasso Paddieo, John Paddieo, Evaline Paddieo, Martha Paddieo, James Paddieo and Amanda Paddieo; and the children of Caroline Morris whose name was Caroline Goins, to wit: Jerry M. Morris, G. W. Morris, Spencer W. Morris, Jr. Sarah Morris and Kansas Morris; and Mrs. Emily Perrice [Perez] and G. W. Nevils, her son by her first husband, William M. Nevils, and her children by her second husband, Antonio Perrice, to wit, Ike Perrice, Josephine Perrice, Mary Perrice, Anna Perrice,
Alzona Perrice, and Caroline Perrice; and Mrs. Mary Southward and her husband, W. C. Southward and their children, William M. Southward, Elizabeth Southward, John F. Southward, James Marion Southward, Jessie Myrtle Southward, and Maggie May Southward; and the children of Sallie Goins who married J. M. Gardner, viz. James Melton Gardner, Margaret Lugene Gardner, Manda Eldora Gardner and Cora Lee Gardner, and the said J. M. Gardner; and the children of J. M. Morris, who was a son of Caroline Morris, viz, Ebenezer S. Morris, Gertrude E. Morris, Jesse W. Morris, Jesse Coleman Morris and Augusta B. Morris; and the children of G. W. Morris, viz, Wilmuth Morris, Nora Lee Morris, Mollie Morris, Cora May Morris and Kansas Viola Morris; and the children of Sallie Morris who married Frank C. Jones, viz, Frank C. Jones, James Jones, Jesse Jones and Gypsie Jones and the said Frank C. Jones; and the children of Josephine Marjories, who was a daughter of the said Emily Perrice, viz, Ignathia Marjories, Susie Marjories and Reams Marjories; and the children of Ike Perrice, who was son of Emily Perrice, viz, Joe Perrice and Ignatia Perrice, Jr; and the children of Mary Dias, who was a daughter of Emily Perrice, to wit, Eugene Dias and Albert Dias; and the children of Anna Androda [Andrade], a daughter of Emily Perrice, to wit: Clara Androda and Christoval Androda; and the grandchildren of Jeremiah Goins, to wit, Mrs. Josephine Priest and her children by her former husband, namely, Adella Taylor, Pearline Taylor, Anzo Taylor, William Martin Taylor, Josephine Taylor and Clara Taylor are all members of the Choctaw Tribe of Indians and as such are entitled to have their names enrolled as members of said tribe of Choctaw Indians by blood, except as to the said W. C. Southward, who is a member of said tribe by intermarriage, and Elizabeth Goins, the wife of Robert Goins, who is a member of said tribe by intermarriage.
It is further considered, adjudged and decreed by the court that the Choctaw Nation, the defendant, pay all costs in this behalf expended and incurred, for which execution may issue.
It is further considered, adjudged and decreed by the court that the clerk of this court certify this judgment to the Commission of the United States to the Five Civilized Tribes for its observance. To which judgment of the court the defendant, the Choctaw Nation, in open court duly excepted.”
Mary Harmon Wallace of Ratliff City, Oklahoma, a descendant of Jeremiah Goins and a member of the Editorial Board of Gowen Research Foundation, wrote an explanation of the difficulty that faced the Choctaw Goins individuals in being enrolled as members of the tribe in Oklahoma:
“A question often asked, ‘If Jeremiah Goins was half or more Choctaw Indian, why wasn’t the Goins family admitted to the Choctaw Indian Rolls?’
The general public has never understood and most do not now understand that Indian descent, Indian blood of any tribe, no matter how well authenticated, did not entitle one to tribal citizenship.
During the enrollment period many applications were presented by people claiming to have Indian blood, others who had lived outside the Nation and had never been recognized as citizen of any tribe. Having Indian blood did not of itself confer citizenship. The claimants continued, however to harass the Dawes Commission until 1902, when Congress settled the matter by a law stating that no application would be received from any person who was not a recognized citizen of a tribe.
The Citizenship Court set up under the terms of the compact in existence from 1902 to the end of 1904. It rendered a decision the 17th day of December 1902, in the case styled, The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation of Tribes vs J.T. Riddle, et al. Their decision was, that the Federal Courts of the Indian Territory had not followed the correct procedure, by allowing suit to be brought against each tribe separately, and by trying the cases, de nove, instead of admitting only the evidence submitted to the Dawes Commission.
This ruling gave the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation the desired opportunity for rehearing of their cases before the Citizenship Court, and they secured an almost complete reversal, the claims of about 3,400 persons for citizenship in the five tribes were rejected and about 156 were sustained. (Ref. Report Select Commission, I, Report of Commission of Indian Affairs, 1903, Commission of the Five Civilized Tribes annual paper, 1904, and in Angie Debo’s “The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic” University of Oklahoma, Norman: 1961.)
In the case of Robert Goins et al. #127 vs The Choctaw Nation, Robert Goins listed 98 other Goins family members, the judgement dated 21st day of December 1897, stated the listed members ‘were members of the Tribe of Choctaws.’
On the 17th day of December 1902, the decree of the United States Court was ‘vacated’ by a decree of the Citizenship Court, (by the above 1902 ruling,). On 3 March 1903, the family was to get a new trial, then on 29 July 1904 a decree was entered denying all claimants. In September 1904, 47 children’s application was denied by the commission
The case was closed 15 September 1904. The case was reviewed the 22nd day of April 1909. The matter was terminated 3 June 1909. ‘The Indian Office Secretary could find no evidence that the family had established residence in the Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory.’
Robert Goins and some family members were awarded land in the vicinity of Ada, Indian Territory, but had to give the land up in 1904. Caroline (Callie) had land at Ireton (Alex), Indian Territory.
Ransom and Reuben Goins were the smart ones, they just married full blood Indians and became members of the tribe by intermarriage. (Ref. Court Records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Records of The Citizenship Courts at Tishomingo, Oklahoma).”
On December 17, 1902 the decree of the United States Court was “vacated” by a decree of the Citizenship Court in a “test case.” On March 3, 1903 it was announced that the family was to get a new trial. On July 29, 1904 a decree was entered denying all claimants.
In September 1904 applications for enrollment of children listed below was denied by the Commission. One of the opinions read:
“The right of the applicants’ father, John H. Goins, to citizenship in the Choctaw Nation having been adversely determined by a decree of the Choctaw and Chickasaw citizenship court, it is hereby ordered that the application for enrollment as citizens by blood of the Choctaw Nation be dismissed:
Leroy Goins, Albert Goins, Georgia Goins, Paul Goins, Minneola Goins, Henry Goins, Jewel Goins, Starley May Goins, Jesse Goins, Tomer A. Goins, Henry A. Goins, William B. Goins, Allie May Goins, General Jackson Hinkle, Bessie M. Jones, Flora Leona Jones, Buel Bradford Jones, Frank Delmer Jones, James I. Paddieo, John L. S. Cox, Eva Paddieo, Josie Paddieo, William Adolphus Ramsey, Effie S. Southward, Susan Southward, Edith Southward, William W. Morris, Lula Mamie Morris, Andrew J. Dorn, Tommy O. Dorn, Robert A. Dorn, Lenora May Laxton, Maggie Edwards, Roy Edwards, Elizabeth Martinez, Alzina Martinez, Ida Padier, Seborn Goins, Nellie Marjories, Manuel Marjories, Jr, Fred Lee Marjories, Ida Goins, Ruby Viola Goins, Joseph Goins, Conception Perrice [Perez], Ella Perrice and Stella Perrice.”
The case was closed September 15, 1904. The Indian Office reviewed the case April 22, 1909. The matter was finally laid to rest June 3, 1909. The Indian Office Secretary could find no evidence that the family had established residence in Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory. Eighty-one years later genealogists are just as hard-pressed to find evidence of residence.
It is believed that children born to Jeremiah Goins and his two wives include:
Henry Goins born in 1824
Ranson Goins born in 1825
Evaline Goins born in 1826
Seaborn Goins born in 1828
Caroline Goins born in 1830
Robert Goins born in 1831
James C. Goins born in 1834
Adeline Goins born in 1835
Robert Goins born in 1836
Reuben A. Goins born in 1837
Emily Goins born in 1841
Jeremiah Goins, Jr. born in 1845
Mary Goins born in 1848
William Gowen Killed by Blow From Kinsman in Fistfight
William Gowan and John Lewis were involved in a fistfight which resulted in the death of William Gowan, according to a newspaper article in “The Carolina Spartan” in its edition of Wednesday, December 15, 1880. The article was reproduced in “Old Spartanburg District Genealogy,” Vol. 2, through the courtesy of Dr. James L. Reid of Campobello, South Carolina, according to the research of Beverly Turner Smith of Smyrna, Georgia. The article read:
“Sunday evening the 6th instant, William Gowan, near Inman, and John Lewis, the husband of his grand-daughter got into a quarrel, both being excited by whiskey, and Lewis, about 25 years old, struck Gowan, who is about 69, over the head with his fist. The females then ran out of the house and do not know what took place afterwards. Monday, Gowan was walking about in a sort of delirious condition.
Thursday evening he went to bed and remained in a comatose condition until Friday night when he died.
Saturday, Drs. Dean and Chapman made a post mortem examination and made oath Sunday at the Coroner’s inquest that Gowan’s skull was fractured and that congestion of the brain took place. Sunday, Coroner Ezell held an inquest, but the verdict has not been published. Lewis has not been arrested. He is a native of Georgia. Gowan moved from Union County to Spartanburg County.”
Goyen Family Tree 