1990 – 06 June Newsletter – GRF

Sections in this issue:

1) Phillip Goins, Choctaw Evaded the Reservation;
2) Love Letters Reveal . . . Wayne Gowin, CSA Veteran Persistent, Successful Suitor;
3) DEAR COUSINS;
4) John Goyne Instant Success In Australian Goldfields;
5) Foundation Library Receives Three Easley-Gowen Volumes

All Gowen Manuscript Pages and Newsletters:   https://goyengoinggowengoyneandgone.com/gowen-research-foundation-pages-and-info/

Gowen Research Foundation Newsletter
Volume 1, No. 10 June 1990

1)  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)
2)  Love Letters Reveal . . .
Wayne Gowin, CSA Veteran
Persistent, Successful Suitor

By Col. Michael O. Beck

On June 13, 1865, Wayne Gowin took the Oath of Allegiance
to the United States, while a prisoner of Federal soldiers at
Point Lookout, Maryland. He had been a prisoner of war less
than two months then, having been captured along with 250
other men of his unit, the Sixteenth Mississippi Volunteer
Infantry Regiment at Battery Gregg in the gallant defense of
Petersburg, Virginia. There he had fought his last battle of the
war to buy Robert E. Lee and his shadow of an army, 28,000
men, precious time in their final withdrawal toward a meeting
with destiny at C April 9, 1865.
His military service was distinguished by many of the greatest
battles of that tragic civil war–Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville
and Gettysburg, to name a few. His record shows he
served his cause continuously over four years, except for one
brief furlough. The fact that he survived continuous battle for
that long is remarkable. On June 23 he was released from
prison for “Transportation to Jackson, Mississippi.”
Wayne’s first priority after the war was to resume a
relationship with Cornelia Agee, 24 years old and new to the
community when he joined the Confederate army.
In the first of 10 love letters of Wayne and Cornelia that
survive, he wrote from his home in Smith County in October
1866:
“I respectfully ask for an interview next Saturday morning.
In justice to you and alsow [sic] to my self wee [sic]
should come to a tacit understanding owing to the impresion
[sic] that is prevalent in the county that we will
marry. I hope you will grant the desired interview when
I hope to know my fate.”
Seven months later, May 19, 1867, Wayne wrote again to his
sweetheart, a student at Sylvarena Female Institute in Sylvarena,
Mississippi reiterating an earlier marriage proposal:
“Miss Cornie,
After compliments the undersigned would respectfully
ask the pleasure of an interview for next Saturday, the
26th at 5 pm.
Miss Cornie, I hope you have given my interrogatories
sufficient thought to give me an answer or at least to give
me some data from which I may form some idea of your
intentions. This I assure you is no matter of secondary
importance but one that has caused great anxiety. Indeed
my future happiness depends on it to a greater or less
extent. And I hope you will weigh the matter well in all
of its lights and shades, and if I should be the happy
recipient of your love, I will excert [sic] my humble
ability to make you happy in the position.
Yours as ever,
Wayne Gowin”
Cornelia was graduated from the Institute and delivered the
valedictorian address there in July of 1867. In December
1867, Wayne wrote from Shubuta, Mississippi:
“My Dear Miss Cornie,
I write you a few lines this morning to inform you that I
have reached home in good health and with whole bones.
Times were very dull here during Christmas. Nothing
but egg nogs and turkey dinners though we are
anticipating quite a nice time here New Years night. The
Shubuta Cowbellions are all gowing [sic] to turne [sic]
out in mask or disquise [sic] and march all over town
with a band of music and transparent lights. At twelve
o’clock they will throw off their masks and welcome
New Year in and have a nice supper to which every body
is invited. After supper is over they will spend the night
in dancing or any other way they see right and proper. I
wish you could be here to witness it.
May Heaven’s blessing attend you. Come, come, soon.
Your devoted Wayne”
Wayne was still courting Cornelia in March of 1868, but the
relationship was upon rocky shoals at his writing on the 19th:
“Dear friend,
Your letter notifying me of your change of mind was
received on the return of Mr. and Mrs. Welch [sister of
Cornelia] from Smith.
In reply I will say your will bee don [sic]. I have lived
for a different state of things but it has bin [sic] to no
purpose. In the future we will meet only as friends. I
think I understand the whole. In conclusion, I will say if
you love mee [sic] you will marry and risk the
consequence. May the lamp of heaven guide you
through this life and finally bring you safely to the
Haven of Eternal Rest is the prare [sic] of a friend.
Wayne”
The relationship was patched up by the start of the New Year
for they were married shortly afterward. Their first child,
Charlie V. Gowin was born December 11, 1869 in Shubuta. A
second son was born to them July 25, 1872, according to the
family bible.
Wayne Gowin died January 2, 1873 at age 32. The second
son died shortly afterward while Cornelia was living with her
parents, Hurcules Joseph Agee and Elizabeth Kate McRae
Agee. They were from Montgomery County, South Carolina.
Cornelia and Charlie continued with her father when he
removed to Arkansas about 1875 seeking to escape the
carpetbaggers who had bankrupted his lumber business. The
move was made by steamboat up the Arkansas River to Little
Rock and then by wagontrain to Logan County where they
bought land. Later Cornelia and Charlie removed with family
members to Haskell, Texas where she died in 1887. Charlie
V. Gowin went on to marry and father 10 children. His
surviving children now live in the Texas towns of Kyle, Sealy,
Shamrock and Andrews.
Thanks to Edna Gowin of Kyle, daughter of Charlie V.
Gowin, for preserving the love letters and giving them to a
fourth-generation descendant of Wayne Gowin, patriot and
star-crossed lover.

3)  DEAR COUSINS

May I present to you the impasse at which I find myself in
my research for the origin of our name, and through it request
aid from the members of the Foundation. Among the Cornish
families the name is pronounced “GO-en” [long “0”] regardless
of the spelling through the ages, the name has always
had an “en” or “ne” ending. It seems to be divorced from
“Gowan,” pronounced “GOW-an” [short “O”] prevalent in
Scotland. There are GAwens among the Cornish, never
GowAns. “GowAn,” in Gaelic means “smith.” “GowAn” in
Celtic means “a forger of weapons.”
Did “Gowen/Gowan” really mean “Smith” to the early
Cornish, or did the name derive from the low, marshy area in
Cornwall called Gouyn-next-Nancalloth?
Are the Goyen families in other parts of England related
to the Cornish Goyens, or were they descendants of Sir Hugh
de Goy who accompanied William the Conqueror in 1066?
Or did one of them reach Cornwall? We must remember that
in the original Cornish language “Y” is pronounced as “W.”
Did the Spanish sea-faring Goyannes family spread to Cornwall
and become the source of Goyen/Gowen? If the name is
Celtic, then from which of the Celtic areas did it originate–Cornwall,
Ireland, Scotland or Wales? Where were the
blacksmiths called “Gowens?”
I would be grateful for any suggestions that anyone could
send me. Robert J. Goyen, 523 Sutton Street, Sebastopol,
3356, Victoria, Australia.
==Dear Cousins==
l would like to correspond with anyone having info on the
Gowan family in NC and SC prior to 1800. I am specifically
looking for the parents of John Gowan who married Nancy
xxx, probably in Marion County, SC c1790. Mike Beck, 824
Holbrook Circle, Ft. Walton Beach, FL, 32548.
==Dear Cousins==
I’m doing my research from prison, but my family has been
very helpful. I am enclosing details of my branch. Here I’m
known as “Bugg.”
“Bugg” was born in 1952 in Larue County, Kentucky–the
baby of the family and also the blacksheep. “Bugg” was
capable of doing anything he set his mind to. He wasn’t afraid
of work, he could lay down beside it and watch it all day. To
“Bugg” there was always an easier way of doing things. I
suppose being the age of eight and having to go to the fields
with his father and plow all day might have had something to
do with his nature.
“Bugg” was married in 1975 to Julie, and to them two children
were born. After six years of marriage, they were divorced–on
their anniversary. Julie managed to have her own
business, and “Bugg,” well, he still thought money grew on
trees. In 1984 “Bugg” was arrested for growing marijuana. He
was sent to prison for three months. After his release, since
marijuana was Kentucky’s No. 1 cash crop, he went back to
his old habit of growing reefer.
He was busted in 1986 for the same crime of cultivation
and did two years at the Kentucky State Reformatory in LaGrange.
After he was paroled, he slipped out on the state and
moved to Florida. There he was stopped on a traffic violation
and found to be on the run. You guessed it, still doing time at
LaGrange.
He makes parole again in 1992, and this time, believe me,
without a “green thumb. You don’t have to print my story, but
you can if you want to. W. R. “Bugg” Gowen, No 91548,
Box 6, LaGrange, KY, 91548.
==Dear Cousins==
Please find enclosed my application for membership in
Gowen Research Foundation. I am a descendant of William
Gowen who was transported by Cromwell to New England in
1650. My grandmother, Lura Edith Gowen Lewis is still
around at 92. Good genes! George W. Lewis, Jr, 22
Morningside Drive, Dover, NH, 03820.

4)  John Goyne Instant Success
In Australian Goldfields

By Nola Aickin

John Goyne was born in 1826 at Rosemundy, St. Agnes, Cornwall,
the son of James and Elizabeth Goyne. He grew up in a
world of mining and miners and gained much practical experience
in that field, becoming a miner himself at a young age.
The 1841 census shows John Goyne as a miner at age 15. In
1847, he was married to Catherine Letcher in Truro, Cornwall.
Five years later, he sailed with his brother on the ship
“Graham” from the West Indian docks of London for Victoria,
arriving in Australia in early 1854. Catherine was to follow in
1866, some 13 years later on the “Great Britain,” and their
children, Louisa, 18; Emily, 16; Kate, 15 and John, 13
travelled on the “White Star” the following year.
On his arrival in Victoria, John Goyne made his way to the
goldfields and followed the rush of gold fever for four years.
In the goldfields he had observed that much of the gold ore
was lost in its processing. He saw some deficiencies in the
stamper grating equipment then in use and had some ideas for
improvements. By 1858, he had raised sufficient capital to
launch his stamper grating factory at Epsom. The Goyne
factory was immediately successful, gaining large sales volume
and much publicity. He was soon receiving large orders
from mining companies in Western Australia, Queensland,
New Zealand, South Africa, the Straits settlements and
Batavia. Two more children were born, Minnie and Frank.
With success, John Goyne began to plan a new home, a showplace
in the community. It was to be called “Rosemundy
House” after his birthplace. By, 1880, he was a very wealthy
and influential man. Shipments of sheet iron and steel were
constantly arriving from England, and finished products were
continually being shipped out. The factory was wired with
electric lights, enabling it to operate day and night.
Opposite the factory was “Rosemundy” surrounded by 20
acres of grounds, six of which were orchards. The area surrounding
the mansion was like a park, landscaped with trees
and shrubs, and the house was almost hidden with gardens.
The outhouses were many–scullery, laundry, maidsquarters,
stables and a gold office. The main house was glorious–an
exceptional Victorian solid brick residence.
Catherine Goyne died October 12, 1905 at the age of 76, and
John Goyne designed the family vault which was erected in
White Hills Cemetery. Two years later, he died at the age of
81 and was buried beside his wife. So ended the life of a man
who contributed greatly to the gold industry of Bendigo and to
the communities of Epsom and White Hills. He was a man
who embarked on an enterprise which was destined to play an
important role in mining operations worldwide–a pioneer and
a genius in his own right.
==O==
[Nola Aickin and her husband are the present owners of
“Rosemundy” and have maintained the mansion in keeping
with its original grandeur and heritage. The address: “Rosemundy,”
Goyne’s Road, Epsom 3551, Victoria, Australia.

5)  Foundation Library Receives
Three Easley-Gowen Volumes

Virginia Easley DeMarse of Arlington, Virginia, descendant
of the Easley and Gowen families of South Carolina, recently
contributed three volumes of Easley-Gowen research
compiled by her to the Foundation Library.
Mrs. DeMarse, president of the National Genealogical Society
and new member of Gowen Research Foundation, presented a
report on Melungeon research at the NGS National Capital
Area 10th Anniversary Conference held June 6-9 in the
Washington, D.C. area. Evelyn Orr and Louise Goins
Richardson, GRF Melungeon Research Team members,
assisted in forwarding Melungeon data to Mrs. DeMarse for
the presentation.
Mrs. DeMarse became interested in the Melungeons and the
Lumbee Indians while in college when she acquired a copy of
Brewton Berry’s “Almost White.” Since that time she has
added several Melungeon volumes to her personal library.
Among her acquisitions is a set of muster rolls of British
soldiers who were mustered out in North Carolina after the
French and Indian War and given land grants in western North
Carolina. The land grants were in the “Melungeon area” of
Appalachia. She wrote, “Several of these veterans are
described as ‘Free Mulattoes from the Barbadoes.'”
Family researchers are encouraged to continue to deposit
copies of their research in the Foundation Library. Holdings of
the Library will not be limited to books and publications.
Members are invited to forward copies of manuscripts,
an-cestor charts, newspaper clippings, bible records, reports of
anniversaries, reunions, vital statistics, obituaries, citations,
census reports, military records, pension applications and
ev-ery scrap of data that will help to tell the story of the
family.
When the material is published in a proposed series of
volumes, credit will be given to every contributor.
The Foundation Newsletter is mailed only to members who
have purchased memberships, plus the historical and
ge-nealogical libraries on our mailing list. Additionally sample
copies will be mailed to prospective members upon request.
If you wish to participate in the Foundation, you may clip [or
reproduce] the membership coupon below. Indicate the type
of membership you prefer, and Linda McNiel, Foundation
secretary, will issue your 1990 Membership Card.
The form below may also be used to request gift memberships
for members of your family. The Foundation will send Gift
Cards acknowledging your thoughtfulness, both to you and the
recipients.

Gowen Research Foundation Newsletter
Arlee Gowen, Editor
Linda McNiel, Circulation

Gowen Research Foundation
Phone: 806/795-8758 or 795-9694
5708 Gary Avenue
Lubbock, Texas, 79413
Fax: 806/795-9694
E-mail:gowen@llano.net
Internet: http://www.llano.net/gowen

___________________________________________________________

NOTE:  The above information produced by the Gowen Research Foundation (GRF), and parts of the “Gowen Manuscript” they worked on producing.  It has tons of information – much of it is correct, but be careful, some of it is not correct – so check their sources and logic.  I’ve copied some of their information in the past researching my own family, only to find out there were some clear mistakes.   So be sure to check the information to verify if it is right before citing the source and believing the person who researched it before was 100% correct.  Most of the information I found there seems to be correct, but some is not.

Their website is:  Internet: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gowenrf

There does not seem to be anyone “manning the ship” at the Gowen Research Foundation, or Gowen Manuscript site any longer, and there is no way to contact anyone about any errors.   The pages themselves don’t have a mechanism to leave a note for others to see any “new information” that you may have that shows when you find info that shows something is wrong, or when something has been verified.

Feel free to leave messages about any new information found, or errors in these pages, or information that has been verified that those who wrote these pages may not have known about.