David Goings b. Sept 15, 1783 in Montgomery Co, Va
Parents:
Unk
Children:
Elizabeth Goings born March 29, 1804
Katherine Goings born April 21, 1805
Mary “Polly” Goings born January 29, 1807
Margaret “Peggy” Goings born February 5, 1810
Rachel Goings born November 27, 1811
Sally Goings born November 14, 1813
Frederick Goings born May 1, 1815
David Goings, Jr. born March 22, 1817
George Goings born October 4, 1818
Joseph Addison Goings born February 20, 1820
William Goings born January 1, 1822
Lewis A. Goings born June 30, 1823
John Williams Goings born December 16, 1826
Siblings:
Unk
FACTS:
1802 David Goings 1 tithe, 1 horse [frame 533] Montgomery Co Va
http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/monttax.htm
1805 David Goings 1 tithe 1 horse [frame 633] Montgomery Co Va
http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/monttax.htm
1806 David Goings 1 tithe 1 horse [frame 660] Montgomery Co Va
http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/monttax.htm
David Goings, regarded as a native of Newburn, Virginia, was born September 15, 1783 of parents unknown, according to the research of Catherine Elizabeth Strawn Olguin, a descendant of Arcadia, California. Evelyn Lee McKinley Orr, sixth-generation descendant of Omaha, Nebraska confirms, referring to the bible record kept by Susannah Williams Goings. He was married October 30, 1803 at Newburn, in Montgomery County to Susannah Williams who was born there in 1783, according to Hazel M. Wood, a descendant of San Diego, California.
In 1806 Giles County, Virginia was organized with land from Montgomery County, and the young couple found themselves in the new county. Susannah Williams Goings was born to George Henry Williams and Margaret Harless Williams October 2, 1783 in Montgomery County. George Henry Williams was described as a German, originally known as Georg Heinrich Wilhelm, according to Elke Hall, a descendant.
George Henry Williams was born April 8, 1747 and died March 7, 1820 in Giles County. His will provided that his widow was to receive one-third of “the land I live on and adjoining land on the south side of Sinking Creek.” Five daughters, “Elizabeth Albert, Margaret Burk, Polly Hatfield, Susannah Goins and Catherine Stafford” were mentioned in the will. He also mentioned the children of a daughter-in-law, Widow Williams. He referred to them as children that she had by my son, Michael Williams. He bequeathed to his son, Frederick Williams the “plantation on the north side of Sinking Creek, where he now lives.” He also mentions his son, George Henry Williams, Jr. whose land “adjoined David Goins.”
George Henry Williams also devised to his grandson, Henry Williams, “son of Susannah Goins,” one beast when he comes of age. He also stated that “it is my desire that David Goins and his wife take Henry.” George Henry Williams, Jr. was named executor. The will was proven in May 1822 by witnesses, John Burk, Christian Snidow and Isaiah Givens.
Susannah Williams was further identified by Elke Hall as a cousin of Daniel Harless who was married to Elizabeth Nash in 1797. Their daughter, Polly Harless was married in 1819 in Giles County to James Hall.
Susannah Williams was apparently the mother of two sons when she married David Goings. According to her bible record, she had two sons, “Henry Williams born October 30, 1801 and James Williams born March 29, 1802,” before her marriage to David Goings. “The birth years are probably correct, but the months must be in error,” wrote Evelyn Lee McKinley Orr. Catherine Elizabeth Strawn, a descendant of Arcadia, California, suggests that the sons were fathered by Jacob Williams, unidentified.
Elizabeth Williams was married to Jacob Allen Albert who was born in 1757 in Pascotank, North Carolina, according to Elke Hall.
Evelyn McKinley Orr wrote, “In April of 1807, David’s father-in-law, George Henry Williams, gave him 150 acres of land. The Giles County Deed Book 1 records on the 3rd day of April 1807:
“For consideration of love and affection and the further consideration of $1.00, a parcel of land containing 150 acres in the County of Giles on the waters of Sinking Creek, a branch of New River being all that part of two tracts of land that lies eastward of a line beginning at three white oaks on the line of the last patent survey which old line runs from a Spanish oak and white oak N 71 degrees W 180 poles to two white oaks and a black oak on a ridge the dividing line beginning 70 poles from the east corner of said old line and running 24 1/2 degrees west 42 poles to an Ash & white oak thence S 52 degrees W 25 poles to three little white oaks thence S 7 degrees E 188 poles to an elm by the creek side thence S 43 degrees W 75 poIes to a chestnut oak and Spanish oak survey which line runs from two black oaks N 85 degrees E 188 to these white oaks and black oak by a path thence round to the eastward to contain all the land that lies to the eastward of the above described line which is combined in two patents, one patent paid to Henry Sharp assignee of James Salles and is for one hundred twelve acres of land and bears the date 1786 the other patent is paid to George Williams, assignee of Henry Sharp for 370 acres of land which bears the patent date 17 of January 1793.”
David Goings was listed as a resident of Giles County in the census of 1810, according to “Index to 1810 Virginia Census” by Madeline W. Crickard.
The 1815 Giles County tax roll included “David Goens, white male, over age 16, no slaves, 3 horses, 4 cattle, with land along Sinking Creek near Salt Pond Mt, Doe Creek and Knob Mt.” His land was located adjacent to the home place of his father-in-law, George Henry Williams.
He reappeared as the head of a household in the 1820 census of Giles County, page 116:
“Goings, David white male 26-45
white female over 45
white male 16-26
white male 16-26
white female 10-16
white female 10-16
white male 0-10
white male 0-10
white male 0-10
white female 0-10
white female 0-10
white female 0-10”
Three members of the household were engaged in agriculture.
On June 21, 1824 David Goings sold one parcel of land to Guy French for $380 and another parcel to Guy French July 22, 1824 for $550. Other land records in Giles County in 1824 show indenture agreements between David Goings and some creditors to pay off debts. One agreement was made the 5th day of July 1824 with Henry Williams, the first born son of Susannah Williams Goings.
Sometime after 1824 and before December of 1825 when their daughter Katherine was married, David Goings removed to Montgomery County, Virginia. Marriage records for his first five daughters are in Montgomery County.
“David Goaings” appeared as the head of a household in the 1830 census of Montgomery County, page 67:
“Goaings, David white male 40-50
white female 40-50
white male 15-20
white female 15-20
white female 15-20
white male 10-15
white male 10-15
white male 10-15
white male 5-10
white male 0-5”
Williams family researcher, Ethel Walters of Pembroke, Virginia suggested in 1989 that David Goings had family in Montgomery County, which may have motivated him to move there.
Evelyn Lee McKinley Orr wrote:
“In 1831 and in 1832, two of the married daughters of David and Susannah left the mountains of the New River area of southwestern Virginia and moved to Indiana. Word had reached Virginia that land was available in Delaware County. Members of the Goings family were among the very first to purchase land from the federal government in Liberty Township.”
On December 24, 1831, David sent the following letter to his daughter, Elizabeth Goings Campbell, shortly after she had moved to Indiana. It isn’t known if he wrote it or had some else write it for him. The original was written on a large sheet of paper, half of it being used for the correspondence and the other half turned over and sealed with wax to form an envelope:
‘Dear Children,
I take the present opportunity of writing a hasty line to you. We were glad to hear by Mr. Ribble that you were all well or nearly well. I truly hope that you may enjoy good health and also that you may be pleased with that fine rich country. Your letter by Mr. Cecil last fall brought us the distressing news of the death of your daughter, Sally. It is needless for me now to turn back to notice the afflicting circumstance. It is our duty to be resigned.
My family and all your other relations in this country are well as far as I know. I will mention the death of one of your aunts, Mrs. Elizabeth Albert which took place several months ago. Mr. Ribble can tell you more of the news of our neighborhood than I can write. I expect to come and see you next fall.
Your loving father,
David Goings.
My daughter Rachel and all my family joins in love to you.’
“The letter was sent with a Mr. Ribble who was also moving to Indiana. Many friends and neighbors of the Goings left the rocky hills of Virginia for cheap and fertile land in Indiana. In 1939 the original letter was in the possession of Anna Campbell Powers, granddaughter of Elizabeth Goings Campbell.
David Goings wrote in the letter of December of 1831 that he would be coming to visit that next fall. David Susannah and their sons came to Indiana to live about 1833. The eldest son, Frederick, may have come in 1832 with the East family. Three married daughters remained in Virginia. In 1832 a cabin on the farm of Ashel Thornburg was converted into a school house, and Anderson R. East, son-in-law of David and Susannah, taught there during that and the succeeding winter. After arriving in 1833, the younger Goings sons probably attended this school and were taught by Anderson East or Samuel Campbell. Schooling in Indiana was paid for by individual subscription until public law provided free schools in 1851-52.
On February 21, 1835, “David Goings” purchased land in section 17 of Liberty township, Delaware County. It was located 1.25 mile west of Selma, Indiana. The tract book of original land entries lists 40 acres in Sec. 17, twp 20, Range 11E on “1/Nov/1826.” The year “1826” is an obvious typing error in the book and was possibly “01/Nov/1836” the recording date for the February 1835 purchase.
It is uncertain whether David Goings or David Goings II entered this land. They were among the first to settle in Liberty township, and section 17 of Liberty township was entered as early as 1833 and as late as 1837. The first road built in Delaware County was built in 1829. It crossed the township and ran from Windsor, Indiana in Randolph County, due east to Muncitown, [now Muncie] Indiana. The county had 2,272 inhabitants in 1830. The area was described as generally level with the soil part loam mixed with sand and very productive. Heavy stands of timber consisting chiefly of walnut, ash, hickory, buckeye, beech, popular, and oak with an undergrowth of redbud, sassafras, and spice. The chief staples raised were wheat for flour, corn, pork, potatoes and livestock. Muncietown had recently been established and was the seat of justice. The largest rush of settlers came during the years 1835-40.
According to Norman Haskell Goings, the original Goings farms in Section 17 were still owned by the Goings family in 1939. On a visit to Muncie in 1989, I learned from a local historian, Ira Bailey, that the Goings were all gone from Delaware County at that time. Some Campbells and Easts were still in the Muncie area. A few years after the family came to Indiana, David Goings returned to Virginia.
He rode horseback the approximate 300-mile distance to visit his daughter, Katherine Goings Surface, near Newbern, Virginia in Pulaski County. On his way back to Indiana he visited his daughter, Rachel Goings Burton in Pearisburg, Virginia, where he became sick and died April 26, 1840. He was 57 years old. This was before telegraph or mail service, and if friends or family were not traveling to and from, there was no way of getting news. According to Norman Haskell Goings’ history, the family did not know for sometime what had happened to David Going. He was reportedly buried in an old cemetery there in an unmarked grave. Descendants made unsuccessful trips there in 1908, 1916, and 1933 in attempts to find his grave and to place a tombstone on it.
In a codicil of her will dated January 24, 1846 Susannah Williams Going specified “William Chapman of Virginia to be paid the amount that David Goings went [on] his father’s bail.” The meaning of the bequest is obscure, but it is suggested that court records of Delaware County, Indiana or Montgomery County, Virginia might reveal something more about the purpose of the trip of David Goings to Virginia.
Susannah Williams Goings purchased land from her son Frederick Goings and his wife, Hannah Hoover Goings December 29, 1837. The transaction was recorded in May 1838. She paid $125 for 40 acres located in the northeast quarter of Section 17, township 20, Range 11 of Delaware County. This land was adjacent to the original Goings land and to the East and Campbell farms, as shown on the 1861 atlas of the county.
In November 1839, Susannah Williams Goings sold land in Section 17 to A. R. East. The farms of the Easts, Campbells and Goings were all located northwest of Smithville, Indiana, the oldest village in Liberty township. It originated with a small group of houses along the White River. All of the early settlers settled near the rivers first. In the early 1850s a railroad, the Bellefontaine & Indianapolis, came through the county near Selma a few miles away, and this sounded the death-knell for Smithfield.
On the 18th day of March 1843 Susannah Williams Goings wrote her will:
‘I, Susannah Goings of the County of Delaware in the State of Indiana do make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following that is to say,
First, it is my will that after my decease all my just debts and funeral expenses be fully paid and satisfied.
Second, I give, devise and bequeath to my two sons Lewis Goings and John Williams Goings the farm on which we now reside known and described as follows to wit, all the North West fourth of the North West quarter of Section No. Sixteen in Township No. Twenty North of Range North Eleven East and all of the North East fourth of the North East quarter of Section No. Seventeen in Township No. Twenty North of Range Eleven East. The whole estimate to contain eighty acres share and share alike.
Third, it is my will that my three sons William Goings, Lewis Goings and John Williams Goings shall each have a horse after they arrive at the age of twenty one years and that John Williams Goings shall have my bed, bedding and bedstead and one cow.
Fourth, it is my will that the balance of my personal property be sold and divided equally amongst my children, the heirs of those who are deceased to have the share of their deceased parent, namely Henry Williams, James Williams, Elizabeth Campbell, Catherine Surface, Mary East, Margaret Brown, Rachel Burton, Frederick Goings, David Goings, Joseph Addison Goings, William Goings, Lewis Goings, and John Williams Goings. In testimony I have appointed John Richey of the County of Delaware to be the Executor of this My Last Will and Testament hereby annulling all former wills by me at any time heretofor made or executed.
In witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and seal this eighteenth day of March AD Eighteen Hundred and Forty Three.
Susannah [X] Goings
Witnesses:
John Richey
Elizabeth Richey”
On the 24th day of January, 1846 she added a codicil to the will, whereby she specified that,
‘My youngest son, John Williams Goings shall have the North forty, dividing the land East and West and also all the grain and meat that may remain on hand at the time of my decease and also a horse beast worth sixty dollars or its equivalent in cash or other property worth sixty dollars, also the table linen. It is my will that after my decease, my son Lewis Goings shall have the bay mare and shall have a share of the fruit of the orchard for ten years. John Burton of Virginia to be paid $16.00 and William Chapman of Virginia to be paid the amount that David Goings went his father’s bail. Elizabeth East, my granddaughter to have my clock and Susannah Goings, daughter of my son Joseph Addison to have my table cloth’.
“Susannah Goings sold a parcel of land to her son, William Goings October 20, 1843.
On the 1850 Federal census she listed a $1,000 value for her farm. Her youngest son, John Williams Goings, was still living at home. Susannah Williams Goings died September 29, 1855 at age 71. Her will was probated October 30,1855.
In 1989, I visited Truitt Cemetery near Selma where Susannah is buried. The main road that once passed alongside the cemetery was overgrown with tall grasses. The cemetery, on private land, is completely overgrown with trees and brush. Vandals and time have destroyed or buried almost all of the headstones. County officials are aware of this. The approximate location is marked on the 1861 Land Atlas. In 1939, Norman Haskell Goings wrote that Susannah had a well preserved marker and a good location in the graveyard.”
Hazel M. Wood wrote October 31, 1989, “David Goings was one of those persons with swarthy skin and fine features, sometimes regarded as Melungeons. Some of his descendants resembled people of Afghanistan or India. His descendants moved on to Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and a few to Texas.”
Two sons were born to Susannah Williams before her marriage to David Goings, according to her bible record:
Henry Williams born October 30, 1801
James Williams born March 29, 1802 ?
Henry Williams, son of Susannah Williams, was born in Montgomery County October 30, 1801. He was married May 14, 1824 to Juliet Lucas in Giles County.
They appeared as heads of a household in the 1850 census of Giles County:
“Williams, Henry 49, born in Virginia
Juliet
Percilla 22, born in Virginia
Margaret A. 20, born in Virginia
Andrew 17, born in Virginia
Sarah 15, born in Virginia
James H. 11, born in Virginia
John R. 9, born in Virginia
Rachel E. 3, born in Virginia”
Norman Haskell Goings wrote in 1939, “before grandmother died Henry, the oldest, got his family together and moved west. They left their wagons in northern Indiana and came south to Delaware County to visit grandmother Goings, the Easts and the Campbells.” Norman’s father rode his horse with them and they joined Henry’s people in Hannibal, Missouri. They journeyed on to Johnson County, Missouri and settled around Knobnoster, Missouri and Montserrat, Missouri. The Delaware County Goings never heard from them again. He died at Knobnoster, Missouri in Johnson County, according to the research of Catherine Elizabeth Strawn Olguin.
James Williams, son of Susannah Williams, was born March 29, 1802, according to his mother’s bible record. “James Williams” was married October 26, 1818 to Anna Echols, according to Giles County marriage records. Surety was George Williams, regarded as his grandfather. Peter Echols and Susana Echols, apparently her parents, gave permission for the marriage and witnessed the ceremony.
James Williams was security at the marriage of his half-sister Mary “Polly” Goings and Anderson East October 30, 1829 in Montgomery County.
Fourteen children were born to David Goings and Susannah Williams Goings. Included were:
Elizabeth Goings born March 29, 1804
Katherine Goings born April 21, 1805
Mary “Polly” Goings born January 29, 1807
Margaret “Peggy” Goings born February 5, 1810
Rachel Goings born November 27, 1811
Sally Goings born November 14, 1813
Frederick Goings born May 1, 1815
David Goings, Jr. born March 22, 1817
George Goings born October 4, 1818
Joseph Addison Goings born February 20, 1820
William Goings born January 1, 1822
Lewis A. Goings born June 30, 1823
John Williams Goings born December 16, 1826
From GRF Newsletter July 1994:
Was David Goings a Turkish Melungeon?
By Evelyn McKinley Orr
Chairman, Melungeon Research Team
8310 Emmet, Omaha, Nebraska, 68134
My ancestor, David Goings was born in 1783, probably in
Virginia. In 1939 a grandson of David reported that his father
thought David was Turkish. His father, John Goings and his
uncle David Goings, Jr, “looked like old men of Turkey as we
see them in pictures today.” The first David Goings who was
described as having swarthy skin is now regarded as a
Melungeon. Was he a Turkish Melungeon? Let’s examine
some facts that contribute to the complex Melungeon mystery.
Turkey is situated between the Black Sea and the
Mediterranean Sea, and its population includes North African
and Mediterranean peoples. Originally of Asian ancestors, the
Turks became mixed with the Greeks, Ethiopians, Arabs,
Abyssinians and Berbers. Later the Turks and the Moors
became major political forces in the world. The Moors and
the Portuguese also share an Arabic and Berber heritage. The
Turks became part of this scenario with much of this same mix
and geographic proximity. The Moors-Portuguese-Spanish-
Iberians are emerging as probable ancestors of the
Melungeons.
Sir Francis Drake, the famous English seaman of the late
1500s, became entangled in a most interesting episode. In
May 1585, Drake liberated a large group of galley slaves of
various nationalities from Spanish bondage in Santo Domingo
and Cartagena, according to “Sir Francis Drake,” pp190-191
by George Thompson and “Set Sail for Roanoke” by David
Beers Quinn.
Drake decided to free the slaves, some 500 plus, including
some women in the vicinity of Havana. An anti-Spanish
community in a fortified harbor in Cuba would give the
British a strong position in the Caribbean and serve as a base
for their operations. As Drake approached Cuba, hurricaneforce
winds arose, and all that Drake could do was to run with
the storm. He was off the coast of Virginia before the storm
abated and determined to put in at Roanoke Island, a colony
just planted by Sir Walter Raleigh.
Thompson concluded that Drake planned to reinforce the
Roanoke colony with his newly-freed passengers. Gov. Ralph
Lane whom Raleigh had left in charge expressed no
confidence in the future of the colony and requested that
Drake take them aboard as well. The colonists prevailed upon
Drake to take them back to England.
What then happened to the 500 non-paying passengers? Were
some of them dropped off at the Roanoke colony to make
room for the Lane party? Did the former slaves abandon
Lane’s fort, move inland and meld into the Indian population?
Did they ultimately link up with Iberian refugees from the
Santa Elena colony of Capt. Juan [Joao] Pardo in 1567? Were
they to become the Melungeons?
In 1990 James L. Guthrie made a comparison of genetic
material taken in 1969 from Melungeons living in Hancock
County, Tennessee with the DNA samples taken from peoples
living in other parts of the world. His findings were published
in “Tennessee Anthropologist,” Spring 1990 in an article
entitled “Melungeons: Comparison of Gene Frequency
Distributions to Those in Worldwide Populations.”
Guthrie concluded, “Several comparisons indicating
Mediterranean heritage include the value of the Melungeons’
O gene. It is similar to values in certain populations of
Cyprus, Crete and Turkey. It is recognized that small sample
sizes, the availability of Melungeon data in only five systems,
the uneven distribution of samples around the world, and
changes in gene frequency distribution over time, limit the
rigor of this treatment. Nevertheless, it seems clear that the
populations not significantly different from the Melungeons in
these characteristics still exist, but they live in a relatively well
defined part of the world, the Mediterranean and the northwest
coast of Europe.”
Joseph Benenhaley, regarded as the progenitor of the Turks of
South Carolina, married a Lumbee Indian woman by the name
of Oxendine. He arrived in Sumter County before the
Revolutionary War and claimed to be of Arabic descent from
the coast of North Africa which was then part of the Turkish
empire.
In 1963, Muhitten Guven, a member of the Turkish
Parliament, on a State Department tour of the United States,
learned of the Sumter Turks and requested a visit to their
community. He observed many similarities with his own
appearance and regarded them as Maltese. The Guthrie
Report listed Malta as one of the locations where the natives
have a “gene value Fy’ similar to the Tennessee Melungeons.
Ken Taspinar, the interpreter for Muhitten, concluded that the
Sumter Turks were North Africans from the Turkish Ottoman
Empire, according to “Turks,” “U.S. Journal,” March 1969.
As family genealogists continue their search and as more
DNA analysis becomes available, the evidence will unfold.
Hopefully, the curtain of antiquity will be drawn away from
the Melungeons. Researchers should watch for blood ties
among the Turks, the Redbones, the Brass Ankles, the
Catawbas, the Lumbees and the Melungeons of Appalachia.
Dr. Brent Kennedy, Melungeon researcher and head of the
prestigious Melungeon Committee, found Lumbees among his
Melungeon ancestors, according to his new book “The
Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People.”
The early Lumbees used the term “Melungeon.” An instance
of their probable ties to the Sumter County Redbones appears
in the 1915 North Carolina Supreme Court case of “W. B.
Goins et al vs. the Board of Trustees, Indian Normal School.”
Children of the Redbones Goins families had been denied
entrance into the Indian Normal School for Croatan/Cherokee
[now called Lumbee] Indians in Pembroke, North Carolina.
The Goins families claimed they were sometimes called
Redbones sometimes called Croatan Indians. They were
asked to prove that they were “not of not of Negro blood to the
fourth generation.”
Harold McMillan, a former North Carolina state senator and
Lumbee historian, was called to testify in the case. He had
written and introduced the legislation in 1887 which provided
for the “establishment of a school for the people who
descended from the tribes on Croatan Island.” In 1885 he had
written the legislation which gave the Indians living in
Lumberton County the official name of Croatan. Prior to that
legislation, they called themselves “Malungeans.” The tern
“Malungean” was also used to describe a member of the
Redbone Goins family in the transcript.
The Turkish government in June sent a television crew from
Istambul to Atlanta to film an interview with Dr. Kennedy.
The Turkish moderator explained to him that his government
was undertaking a study of southeastern American Indians,
seeking a possible link with the Turks through the Moors.
These examples lend credence to the possibility of Turkish-
Moorish-Portuguese-Spanish-Iberian blood in the
Melungeons. Proof of this theory will show that the scope of
the American “melting pot” is even greater than originally
thought.
The English won the struggle for North America, and our
history books naturally begin with the first English
settlements. Historians have had little interest in the activities
of the fringe nationalities. The “Iberians” are found only in
the footnotes, if at all. The Foundation’s Melungeon Research
Team and Dr. Kennedy’s committee have found some
intriguing pieces of the puzzle. The work is ongoing, and
additional researchers with an interest in the Melungeons are
invited to join the search.
David Goings, age 20, was married to Susannah William in
1803. Her family was a member of the New River German
settlement in Montgomery County [later Giles County],
Virginia. The New River valley was a major migration area
for settlers moving west in the 1700s, and the Melungeons
were among them.
The Goings had 13 children, 11 living to adulthood. All were
born in Montgomery [Giles after 1806] County. The family
seems to have escaped the discrimination dealt many of their
Melungeon cousins.
The family lived along Sinking Creek beside Melungeon
Collins families which later appeared in Hancock County,
Tennessee. The land of David Goings was given to him by his
father-in-law. About 1824 the Goings removed to
Montgomery County. In the early 1830s they removed to
Delaware County, Indiana, being influenced there by two of
their married daughters. Quite a wave of migration headed
west during that decade, being attracted by cheap virgin land
in Indiana.
Many Melungeons removed from Montgomery County at that
time and melded into the European populations, as did the
family of David Goings. Later, his descendants in Iowa
regarded themselves as French. Today many Melungeon
descendants are unaware of their heritage and the
discrimination that many of their ancestors endured. Yet,
some of them have obvious Melungeon features and
characteristics.
David, Susannah and six unmarried sons were in Liberty
township in Delaware County by 1834. Several years later
David rode his horse back to Virginia for a visit with Goings
relatives who remained there. He died there in 1840 on his
trip.
Children born to David Goings and Susannah William Goings
include:
Elizabeth Goings born March 29, 1804
Katherine Goings born April 21, 1805
Mary “Polly” Goings born January 29, 1807
Margaret “Peggy” Goings born February 5, 1810
Rachel Goings born November 27, 1811
Sally Goings born November 14, 1813
Frederick Goings born May 1, 1815
David Goings, Jr. born March 22, 1817
George Goings born October 4, 1818
Joseph Addison Goings born February 20, 1820
William Goings born January 1, 1822
Lewis Goings born January 30, 1823
John Williams Goings born December 16, 1826
“The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People” can
be ordered by calling Mercer University Press, 800/637-2378
[800/342-0841, Ext. 2880 in Georgia] $16.99.
1. Elizabeth Goings was married to Samuel G. Campbell,
Scotch-Irish in Montgomery County and removed to Delaware
County. He farmed and taught school in Liberty township.
2. Katherine Goings was married to Jacob Surface, a German.
They remained near Pearisburg, Virginia where he was a
farmer.
3. Mary “Polly” Goings was married to Anderson R. East, a
German and removed to Delaware County. He also farmed
and taught school in Liberty township. A son, Lt. Crockett
East died in the Battle of Gettysburg. War Department
records describe him as having “dark hair, dark complexion
and blue eyes”–a Melungeon description?
4. Margaret “Peggy” Goings was married to Abram A. Brown.
It is believed that they remained in Virginia.
5. Rachel Goings was married to John A. Burton, a German.
They remained in the New River area.
6. Sally Goings died young.
7. Frederick Goings was married to Hannah Hoover in
Delaware County. He farmed in Liberty township of
Delaware County.
8. David Goings, Jr. was married to Margaret King in
Delaware County. He also farmed in Liberty township.
9. George Goings died young.
10. Joseph Addison Goings was married to Delilah Tharp in
Delaware County. They removed to Benton County, Iowa
where he farmed in Polk township. They were the author’s
ancestors.
11. William Goings was married Susannah Bortzfield in
Delaware County. They remained there where he farmed in
Liberty township.
12. Lewis Goings was married to Elizabeth Ketterman in
Delaware County. They accompanied his brother, Joseph
Addison Goings in a move to Iowa and later removed to Smith
County, Kansas.
13. John Williams Goings was married to Sarah Bortzfield in
Delaware County. He was a farmer and a grain dealer in
Liberty township.
MELUNGEON DAVID GOINGS RODE HORSEBACK 300 MILES FROM FROM INDIANA TO VIRGINIA
David Goings, a resident of Virginia and Indiana was
born September 15, 1783 of parents unknown according to
the research of Catherine Elizabeth Strawn Olguin, a de-
scendant of Arcadia, California. Evelyn Lee McKinley
Orr, sixth generation descendant of Omaha, Nebraska adds
that the birthplace of David and is unknown. On census
records, his children named West Virginia, Kentucky, Tur-
key, and Virginia as possible places of his birth. West
Virginia and Kentucky were part of Virginia in 1783.
David Goings was married to Susannah Williams October 30,
1803, according to her bible record page provided by Nor-
man Haskell Goings. The page also lists the birth dates
for David, Susannah and all of Susannah’s children.
No marriage record for them has been found to date, but
the marriage location was probably near the farm of the
bride’s parents along Sinking Creek in Montgomery County,
Virginia. This location today is between Pembroke, Vir-
ginia and Eagleston, Virginia in Giles County.
Susannah Williams, daughter of George Henry Williams and
Margaret Harless Williams October 2, 1783 in Montgomery
County. George Henry Williams was born April 8, 1747 in
Augusta County, [now Rockingham County] Virginia accord-
ing to Peaked Mountain Church birth and baptismal records,
as reported in “William and Mary Quarterly,” Vols. 13-14
and LDS baptismal records of Augusta, County. Both
sources show him baptized as George Henry Williams, prob-
ably was never known as George Heinrich Wilhelm, the Ger-
man version of this name. His parents were Johan Hein-
rich Wilhelm and Anna Elizabeth Sherb/Sharp Preisch Wil-
helm, German immigrants. This was a second marriage for
both parents according to the research of Richard Wil-
liams of Columbus, Ohio.
The 1770-73 tithe list of Montgomery County records list
him living in the “Lower District of New River, Sinking
Creek, Thoms Creek, Greenbrier Run and the mouth of
Spruce Creek.” From 1769-1772 his land was located in
Botetourt County, Virginia; from 1772-1776 it was in Fin-
castle County, and from 1776 to 1806, it was in Montgom-
ery County. The Williams family cemetery was located
“near old Maybrook,” according to Ethel Walters, Williams
family historian.
In 1806, Giles County, Virginia was organized with land
from Montgomery County.
George Henry Williams died March 7, 1820 in Giles County.
His will provided that his widow was to receive one-third
of “the land I live on and adjoining land on the south
side of Sinking Creek.” Five daughters, “Elizabeth Al-
bert, Margaret Burk, Polly Hatfield, Susannah Goins and
Catherine Stafford” were mentioned in the will. He also
mentioned the children of a daughter-in-law, Widow Wil-
liams. He referred to them as children that she had by
my son, Michael Williams. He bequeathed to his son, Fred-
erick Williams the “plantation on the north side of Sink-
ing Creek, where he now lives.” He also mentions his son,
George Henry Williams, Jr. whose land “adjoined David
Goins.”
George Henry Williams also devised to his grandson, Henry
Williams, “son of Susannah Goins,” one beast when he
comes of age. He also stated, “it is my desire that Da-
vid Goins and his wife take Henry.” George Henry Wil-
liams, Jr. was named executor. The will was proven in
May 1822 by witnesses, John Burk, Christian Snidow and
Isaiah Givens, according to Giles County Will Book A,
page 310.
Susannah Williams was apparently the mother of two sons
when she was married to David Goings. According to her
bible record, she had two sons, “Henry Williams born Oc-
tober 30, 1801 and James Williams born March 29, 1802,”
before her marriage to David Goings. “The birth years
are possibly correct, but the months must be in error,”
wrote Evelyn Lee McKinley Orr. Catherine Elizabeth
Strawn suggests that the sons were fathered by Jacob Wil-
liams, unidentified.
David Goings received a gift deed from George Henry Wil-
liams April 3, 1807 of 150 acres, according to Giles
County Deed Book 1:
“For consideration of love and affection and the fur-
ther consideration of $1.00, a parcel of land con-
taining 150 acres in the County of Giles on the wa-
ters of Sinking Creek, a branch of New River being
all that part of two tracts of land . . . which is
combined in two patents, one patent paid to Henry
Sharp assignee of James Salles and is for one hun-
dred twelve acres of land and bears the date 1786
the other patent is paid to George Williams, as-
signee of Henry Sharp for 370 acres of land which
bears the patent date 17 of January 1793.”
David Goings was listed as a resident of Giles County in
the census of 1810, according to “Index to 1810 Virginia
Census” by Madeline W. Crickard.
“The 1815 Giles County, Virginia Tax List,” pages B-6 and
B-16 included “David Goens, white male, over age 16, no
slaves, 3 horses, 4 cattle, with land along Sinking Creek
near Salt Pond Mt, Doe Creek and Knob Mt.” His land was
located adjacent to the home place of his father-in-law,
George Henry Williams. His land was located between pre-
sent-day Pembroke and Eagleston in Giles County.
He reappeared as the head of a household in the 1820 cen-
sus of Giles County, page 116:
“Goings, David white male 26-45
white female over 45
white male 16-26
white male 16-26
white female 10-16
white female 10-16
white male 0-10
white male 0-10
white male 0-10
white female 0-10
white female 0-10
white female 0-10”
Three members of the household were engaged in agricul-
ture.
Williams family researcher, Ethel Walters of Pembroke,
Virginia suggested in 1989 that David Goings had family,
perhaps a brother, in Montgomery County, which may have
influenced him to move there.
“John Gowens” was enumerated as the head of a household
in the 1820 census of Montgomery County:
“Gowens, John white male 26-45
white female 26-45
white female 0-10”
On June 21, 1824 David Goings sold one parcel of land to
Guy French for $380 and another parcel to Guy French July
22, 1824 for $550. Other land records in Giles County in
1824 show indenture agreements between David Goings and
some creditors to pay off debts. One agreement was made
the 5th day of July 1824 with Henry Williams, the first-
born son of Susannah Williams Goings.
Sometime after the land sales in 1824 and possibly before
December of 1825 when their daughter Katherine was mar-
ried, David Goings moved to Montgomery County, Virginia.
Marriage records for his five daughters are in Montgomery
County. This move probably placed him closer to Newbern,
Virginia. Norman Goings, family historian, wrote in 1939
that the nearest town to David Goings was Newbern and was
also near the location of his daughter, Katherine.
“David Goaings” appeared as the head of a household in
the 1830 census of Montgomery County, page 67:
“Goaings, David white male 40-50
white female 40-50
white male 15-20
white female 15-20
white female 15-20
white male 10-15
white male 10-15
white male 10-15
white male 5-10
white male 0-5”
Evelyn Lee McKinley Orr wrote:
“In 1831 and in 1832, two of the married daughters of Da-
vid and Susannah left the mountains of the New River area
of southwestern Virginia and moved to Indiana. Word had
reached Virginia that land was available in Delaware
County. Members of the Goings family were among the very
first to purchase land from the federal government in
Liberty Township.”
On December 24, 1831, David sent the following letter to
his daughter, Elizabeth Goings Campbell, shortly after
she had moved to Indiana. It isn’t known if he wrote it
or had some else write it for him. The original was
written on a large sheet of paper, half of it being used
for the correspondence and the other half turned over
and sealed with wax to form an envelope:
“Dear Children,
I take the present opportunity of writing a hasty line to
you. We were glad to hear by Mr. Ribble that you were
all well or nearly well. I truly hope that you may enjoy
good health and also that you may be pleased with that
fine rich country. Your letter by Mr. Cecil last fall
brought us the distressing news of the death of your
daughter, Sally. It is needless for me now to turn back
to notice the afflicting circumstance. It is our duty to
be resigned.
My family and all your other relations in this country
are well as far as I know. I will mention the death of
one of your aunts, Mrs. Elizabeth Albert which took place
several months ago. Mr. Ribble can tell you more of the
news of our neighborhood than I can write. I expect to
come and see you next fall.
Your loving father,
David Goings.
My daughter Rachel and all my family joins in love to
you.’
The letter was sent with a Mr. Ribble who was traveling
to Indiana. Many friends and neighbors of the Goings
left the rocky hills of Virginia for cheap and fertile
land in Indiana. In 1939, the original letter was in
the possession of Anna Campbell Powers, granddaughter of
Elizabeth Goings Campbell. A typewritten version of the
letter appeared in the research of Norman Goings in 1939.
David Goings wrote in the letter of December of 1831 that
he would be coming to visit that next fall. David Susan-
nah and their sons came to Indiana to live about 1833.
The eldest son, Frederick, may have come in 1832 with the
East family. Three married daughters remained in Virgin-
ia. In 1832, a cabin on the farm of Ashel Thornburg was
converted into a school house, and Anderson R. East, son-
in-law of David and Susannah, taught there during that
and the succeeding winter. After arriving in 1833, the
younger Goings sons probably attended this school and
were taught by Anderson East or Samuel Campbell. School-
ing in Indiana was paid for by individual subscription
until public law provided free schools in 1851-52.
On February 21, 1835, “David Goings” purchased land in
section 17 of Liberty township, Delaware County. It was
located a mile west of Selma, Indiana. The tract book of
original land entries lists 40 acres in Sec. 17, twp 20,
Range 11E on “1/Nov/1826.” The year “1826” is an obvious
typing error in the book and was possibly “01/Nov/1836.”
the recording date for the February 1835 purchase.
The Goings family was among the first to settle in Liber-
ty township, and section 17 of Liberty township was en-
tered as early as 1833 and as late as 1837. The first
road built in Delaware County was built in 1829. It
crossed the township and ran from Windsor, Indiana in
Randolph County, due east to Muncitown, [now Muncie] In-
diana. The county had 2,272 inhabitants in 1830. The
area was described as generally level with the soil part
loam mixed with sand and very productive. Heavy stands
of timber consisting chiefly of walnut, ash, hickory,
buckeye, beech, popular, and oak with an undergrowth of
redbud, sassafras, and spice were found there. The chief
staples raised were wheat for flour, corn, pork, potatoes
and livestock. Muncietown had recently been established
and was the seat of justice. The largest rush of set-
tlers came during the years 1835-40, according to “Our
County, It’s History and Early Settlement” by John S.
Ellis.
According to Norman Haskell Goings, the original Goings
farms in Section 17 were still owned by the Goings family
in 1939.
Evelyn McKinley Orr wrote:
“On a visit to Muncie in 1989, I learned from a local
historian, Ira Bailey, that the Goings were all gone from
Delaware County at that time. Some Campbells and Easts
were still teaching in the Muncie area, according to Ro-
sella Cartwright of the Delaware County Historical So-
ciety who assisted me. A few years after the family came
to Indiana, David Goings returned to Virginia.”
Norman Haskell Goings wrote
“Grandfather rode a horse back to Virginia to the
home of Jacob Surface, husband of his daughter Kather-
ine. He then went to Pearisburg to the home of his
daughter, Rachel Goings Burton. There he sickened
and died. He was buried in an old cemetery in that
town. This was April 26, 1840. His death occurred
long before telegraph and mail service and the fam-
ily in Indiana did not know for years what happened.
“Ella Sales and Mildred Goings tried to find the
grave in 1908 and in 1916 so a tombstone could be
placed on it. On their 1916 trip, an old man pointed
out the burial spot to them and said, ‘It’s right
here.’
Mildred and I went there in 1933. She knew the spot
the old man had indicated, but we could not locate
the grave exactly.”
In a codicil of her will dated January 24, 1846 Susannah
Williams Going specified “William Chapman of Virginia to
be paid the amount that David Goings went [on] his fa-
ther’s bail.” The meaning of the bequest is obscure, but
it is suggested that court records of Delaware County,
Indiana or Montgomery County, Virginia might reveal some-
thing more about the purpose of the trip of David Goings
to Virginia.
Susannah Williams Goings purchased land from her son
Frederick Goings and his wife, Hannah Hoover Goings De-
cember 29, 1837. The transaction was recorded in May
1838. She paid $125 for 40 acres located in the northeast
quarter of Section 17, township 20, Range 11 of Delaware
County. This land was adjacent to the original Goings
land and to the East and Campbell farms, as shown on the
1861 atlas of the county.
In November 1839, Susannah Williams Goings sold land in
Section 17 to A. R. East. The farms of the Easts, Camp-
bells and Goings were all located northwest of Smith-
ville, Indiana, the oldest village in Liberty township.
It originated with a small group of houses along the
White River. All of the early settlers settled near the
rivers first. In the early 1850s a railroad, the Belle-
fontaine & Indianapolis, came through the county near
Selma a few miles away, and this sounded the death-knell
for Smithfield.
On the 18th day of March 1843 Susannah Williams Goings
wrote her will which was published in “Indiana Wills, Ft.
Wayne Indiana Library, 1988,” Vol. 2, pages 40-42. The
original in the County Recorder’s office in Muncie reads:
“I, Susannah Goings of the County of Delaware in the
State of Indiana do make and publish this my last will
and testament in manner and form following that is to
say,
First, it is my will that after my decease all my just
debts and funeral expenses be fully paid and satisfied.
Second, I give, devise and bequeath to my two sons
Lewis Goings and John Williams Goings the farm on
which we now reside known and described as follows
to wit, all the North West fourth of the North West
quarter of Section No. Sixteen in Township No. 20
North of Range North Eleven East and all of the
North East fourth of the North East quarter of Sec-
tion No. Seventeen in Township No. Twenty North of
Range Eleven East. The whole estimate to contain
eighty acres share and share alike.
Third, it is my will that my three sons William Go-
ings, Lewis Goings and John Williams Goings shall
each have a horse after they arrive at the age of
twenty one years and that John Williams Goings shall
have my bed, bedding and bedstead and one cow.
Fourth, it is my will that the balance of my per-
sonal property be sold and divided equally amongst
my children, the heirs of those who are deceased
to have the share of their deceased parent, namely
Henry Williams, James Williams, Elizabeth Campbell,
Catherine Surface, Mary East, Margaret Brown, Rachel
Burton, Frederick Goings, David Goings, Joseph Addi-
son Goings, William Goings, Lewis Goings, and John
Williams Goings. In testimony I have appointed
John Richey of the County of Delaware to be the
Executor of this My Last Will and Testament hereby
annulling all former wills by me at any time here-
tofore made or executed.
In witness whereof I have here unto set my hand and
seal this eighteenth day of March AD Eighteen Hun-
dred and Forty Three.
Susannah [X] Goings
Witnesses:
John Richey
Elizabeth Richey”
On the 24th day of January, 1846 she added a codicil to
the will, whereby she specified that,
“My youngest son, John Williams Goings shall have
the North forty, dividing the land East and West and
also all the grain and meat that may remain on hand
at the time of my decease and also a horse beast
worth sixty dollars or its equivalent in cash or
other property worth sixty dollars, also the table
linen.
It is my will that after my decease, my son Lewis
Goings shall have the bay mare and shall have a
share of the fruit of the orchard for ten years.
John Burton [son-in-law] of Virginia to be paid
$16.00 and William Chapman of Virginia to be paid
the amount that David Goings went his father’s bail.
Elizabeth East, my granddaughter to have my clock
and Susannah Goings, daughter of my son Joseph Addi-
son to have my table cloth.”
Susannah Goings sold a parcel of land to her son, Wil-
liams Goings October 20, 1843.
On the 1850 Federal census she listed a $1,000 value for
her farm. Her youngest son, John Williams Goings, was
still living at home. Susannah Williams Goings died
September 29, 1855 at age 71. Her will was probated Oc-
tober 30,1855.
In 1989, Evelyn McKinley Orr visited Truitt Cemetery near
Selma where Susannah is buried. She wrote:
“The main road that once passed alongside the ceme-
tery was overgrown with tall grasses. The cemetery,
on private land, is completely overgrown with trees
and brush. Vandals and time have destroyed or bur-
ied almost all of the headstones. County officials
are aware of this. The approximate location is
marked on the 1861 Land Atlas.”
In 1939, Norman Haskell Goings wrote that Susannah had a
well preserved marker and a good location in the grave-
yard. He added:
“My father, John Williams Goings, enjoyed telling us
he was a ‘Tuck-a-ho,” a nickname for native Turks.
He often said his father was born in Turkey, but he
could never explain why we have an English name. My
notion is that Grandfather Goings was not a native
Turk, his ancestors having been in American a genera-
tion or more, but my father and Uncle David had many
features of the old men from Turkey.”
According to the research of Evelyn McKinley, Tuck-a-hoe
is not a nickname for native Turks, but when John Wil-
liams Goings heard his father say that he was a ‘Tuck-a-
hoe,” he was giving vague clues to socio-economic back-
ground of David Goings. That term was often applied to
an inhabitant of Lower Virginia and to the poor land in
that part of the state. In some parts of the South,
“Tuckahoe” means “poor white.” It was also a general
term applied to bulbous roots used by the Indians of this
region for food, according to “Hodges Handy Book of Indi-
ans North of Mexico,” Volume 2, page 831. It was also a
name sometimes applied to North American Indians. The
Blue Ridge Mountains divided the Old Dominion into two
nations called the Tuckahoes in the lowlands and the
Quo’hees in the highlands, according to “The Oxford Eng-
lish Dictionary,” Second Edition, page 649.
Hazel M. Wood wrote October 31, 1989 that “David Goings
was one of those persons with swarthy skin and fine fea-
tures, sometimes regarded as Melungeons. Some of his
descendants resembled people of Afghanistan or India.”
In 1990 Hazel M. Wood provided Evelyn McKinley Orr with
a copy of Norman Haskell Goings’ three pages of family
notes, a copy of the bible page record of Susannah Wil-
liams and a list of descendants and spouses’ names com-
piled by Bruce Blank.
Evelyn McKinley Orr wrote in December 2000 that many de-
scendants of Joseph Addison Goings displayed fine North-
ern European features of other family lines. Some des-
cendants also displayed physical features amd swarthy
skin color of people from the Mediterranean, Middle East
or Southern Europe areas. The family tradition of her
Goings in Iowa was that they were thought to be French.
Two sons were born to Susannah Williams before her mar-
riage to David Goings, according to her bible record:
Henry Williams born October 30, 1800
James Williams born March 29, 1802
The names and dates of birth of all the children of Sus-
annah Williams Goings were recorded in her bible, along
with her marriage date. A copy of this bible page ap-
peared in the research of Norman Haskell Goings.
Children born to David Goings and Susannah Williams Go-
ings include:
Elizabeth Goings born March 29, 1804
Katherine Goings born April 21, 1805
Mary “Polly” Goings born January 29, 1807
[infant] born in 1808
Margaret “Peggy” Goings born February 5, 1810
Rachel Goings born November 27, 1811
Sally Goings born November 14, 1813
Frederick Goings born May 1, 1815
David Goings, Jr. born March 22, 1817
George Goings born October 4, 1818
Joseph Addison Goings born February 20, 1820
William Goings born January 1, 1822
Lewis A. Goings born June 30, 1823
John Williams Goings born December 16, 1826
Goyen Family Tree 