North Carolina – Columbus County

(Below are different Going, Goyen, Gowen related sources for those people were in the Virginia, North Carolina, or South Carolina areas in the early 1700’s to early 1800’s)

OTHER SOURCES: For possible other sources for this family’s descendants – see the following pages on this site:

SOURCES and EVENTS:

Columbus Co, NC

FamilySearch Catalogue Page: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=190985&query=%2Bplace%3A%22United%20States%2C%20North%20Carolina%2C%20Columbus%22

FamilySearch Wiki Page: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Columbus_County,_North_Carolina_Genealogy

LAND:

Deeds: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1932460?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Record of deeds, 1807-1902; index to deeds, 1808-1922: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/374138?availability=Family%20History%20Library

PROBATE:

Wills and estate papers (Columbus County), 1663-1978: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/456865?availability=Family%20History%20Library

1880 – Name Elias Gowan
Event Type Probate
Event Year 1880
Event Place Columbus, North Carolina, United States
Number of Names with File 1
File Name Elias Gowan
First Image Number 01412
Last Image Number 01413
Number of Images 2
https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=%2Bsurname%3AGow*~%20%2Bfilm_number%3A1769484

Record of wills, 1808-1908; index, 1808-1967: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/142927?availability=Family%20History%20Library

1808 Richard Faulk – bk 1, p 15
(Index): https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-LGCH-W2K?i=54&cc=1867501&cat=142927
Last Will: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-LGCH-N5K?i=13&cc=1867501&cat=142927
… I Richard Faulk of the County of Bladen in the State of North Carolina … my soul unto the hands of Almighty God … buried in a Chritain like manner … First … to my well beloved daughter Elizabeth 20 shillings … also to my well beloved daughter Edith 20 shillings … to my well beloved daughter Lucretia 20 shillings … to my well beloved daughter Kesiah 20 shillings … well beloved son Jesse all the land above the Middle Ditch which runs through the plantation whereon I now reside joining William Stephen’s land and to a mark line between myself and Jesse Godwin, also one negro fellow by the name of Jacob, also one negro girl named Dinah and her incrase, also one bay horse saddle and bridle, also nine head of cattle. Consisting of two cows and yearlings one cow and calf and two – two year old heifers and one two year old steer, also one feather bed and furniture, and also 200 acres of land of the upper part of the six hundred and forty acre tract lying on Cypress… unto my well beloved daughter Demaris one negro girl named Jenny now in her possession and also 20 shillings .. unto my well beloved daughter Tilphia one negro girl named Hannah, also one negro boy named Bob, one feather bed and furniture, two cows, and calves, and one two year old heifer … unto my well beloved son Hinnant one negro boy named Peter, two negro girls one by the name of Bell and the other Charlott, also all the land I now possess which I have not bequeathed including all the improvements, also one feather bed and furniture, two cows and calves, two -two year old heifers, and one two year old steer, one year old filly… unto my well beloved wife Sarah one negro fellow named Ruben, two negro wenches, one by the name of Phillis, and the other by the name of Gill, they and their increase during her natural life, and after her death the aforsd negroes and their increase to be sold and the money which they shall fetch to be equally divided between my well beloved daughter Elizabeth and the heirs of Edith which portion belonging to the sd Edith’s heirs to be put out on interest until such time as her heirs shall be of age to receive the same, and also the remainder between my other daughters Lucretia, Kisiah, and Demaris… unto my well beloved wife, all the remaining part of my stock of cattle, plantation tools, and the remaining part of all my household furniture, consisting of one hand mill beds and furniture, pewter and etc, also one yoke of oxen, one riding chair, one bay mare, and one black horse, also my stock of sheep and finally and lastly I appoint my well beloved wife Sarah executrix, and my well beloved son Jesse, and my beloved friend and neighbor Averch Nichols executor to this my last will and testament… 7th day of August 1808. Signed: Richard Faulk. Wit: Wynn Nancy, William Faulk Jr, Caleb Stephens. Columbus Co, NC.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-LGCH-N5K?i=13&cc=1867501&cat=142927
1821 April 8 – will written for Jesse Godwin – bk 1, p 8.
… I Jesse Godwin … this my last will and testament … my body to the Earth … buried in a Christain manner … my soul into the hands of my Creator … unto my daughter Martha one father bed and furniture and four cows and calves … to my son John one bed and furniture also one part of a tract or parcel of land the division line to begin at or opposite a … bed near the house in my line … through the plantation … where my dwelling house now stands, …. also one half of tract of 200 acres lying in the Creek Swamps, also two cows and calves … my daughter Emey all the furniture in her possession at present, also one cow and calf … to my daughter Sarah one bed and furniture and one cow and calf … to my daughter Elizabeth one bed and furniture and one cow and calf .. unto my daughter Ann one bed and furniture and one cow and calf … to my son Daniel one bed and furniture two cows and calves, and all my lands not previously given unto my son John, exept 500 acres of a large survey lot of Uriah Flowers by me and Phillip Coleman, also one year old calf … my beloved wife Elizabeth shall have the use of the plantation on which I now, or that part thereof intended for my son Daniel during her life, widdowhood… the residue of my Estate not before mentioned … due my by the estate of Richard Faulk decd … to the use of my wife and her heirs by me not living until her deceasing .. give to the two youngest children Daniel and Ann a suitable education … $100 dollars …. for the purpose of education the before mentioned Daniel and Ann … my wife Elizabeth Godwin executrix … my son John Godwin and my friend Dempsey Coleman Esqr executors …
(Index): https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9GCH-W2V?i=64&cc=1867501&cat=142927

1880 Elias Gowan – bk 2, p 45.
(Index): https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9GCH-WT5?i=65&cc=1867501&cat=142927
Will of Elias Gowan: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9GCH-JF1?i=120&cc=1867501&cat=142927
…. I Elias Gowan of the County of Columbus and State of North Carolina … my wife Senna Ann during her natural life or widowhood and to my beloved daughter Alice Hayes to be held in common by them until my daughter Alice arrives to the age of 18 years, then divided between them equally and to remain so during my wife Senna Ann’s widowhood, … to my daughter Alice … 100 acres of land on which they now live, one grey horse, one cart … all farming tools … all household and kitchen furniture …. to my daughter Alice Hayes 4 head of stock cattle … to my daughters Hellen and Edith and my sons Peter and Samuel also my daughters Rhoda my open land and dwelling and storehouse in Cerro Gorda, as the land now stands cleard … said land and houses be seated out by me executor hereinafter mentioned from year to year during the natural lives of the above mentioned children … the proceeds … equally divideed between them … to Miss Nancy Rhodes all my land on the East side of Uncles Branch …my daughter Helen Edmond and my son Peter and my son Samuel … my son Peter my land known as the David Godwin place … including the mill and stones belonging to the mill … with Peter Peacock’s line … my son Peter’s corner of the Thomas Godwin land … 200 acres tract of land near the road leading to Cerro Gorda … with Nacy Roda line … to my son in law Richard Blount and his three children my grandchildren namely Delin, Soroty, and Franklin, and George Blount each 12 dollars and 50 cents apiece … appoint my son Peter Gowan executor … Signed: Elias Gowan. Wit: John AG Tyler, AM Rhodes. Columbus Co, NC.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9GCH-JF1?i=120&cc=1867501&cat=142927

1899 June 17 will written – Linnie A Gowan bk 2, p 409 Columbus Co, NC.
… my daughter Lealia Deborn, wife of Charles Deborne … my daughter Alice Nobles wife of A S Nobles … Irena Godwin a child that I have raised all the balance of my personal property … my trusty friend T E Bardin my lawful executor … Will filed on May 25, 1912.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9GCH-NFC?i=352&cc=1867501&cat=142927

North Carolina, Columbus County, estate records, 1812-1968: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1932459?availability=Family%20History%20Library

1880 Elias Gowan: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95PN-9LQ2?i=5&cc=1916185&cat=1932459

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See: John Gowen of Marion Co, NC – most entries here are his descendants: https://goyengoinggowengoyneandgone.com/1730-john-gowen-jr/

1819 May 15 – Garrett Gowin of Columbus Co, NC for consideration of $100 convey land to Hinnant Faulk. Land described as two tracts in Columbus Co, NC 1st on the N side of Yellow Bay and on the south side of Butler Branch adjoining Thomas N Gautin’s land, for 45 acres. 2nd tract lying and adjoing the above survey containing 45 acres being one half adjoining the beg corner of a survey of 90 acres bought by –?– from Ebenizer Ellis the Survey to be equaly divided by a line running parallel to the first line of the survey be the same more or less as the plats of the said tracts will more fully show which said –?—. . . . Signed: Garret Gowin. Wit: Archd McKay, Charles Babson. bk C, p 197. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L98L-Q3RH?i=115&cat=374138

1819 May 27 – Garret Gowing for $200 convey to Hynant Faulk a negro girl named Charlote which was conveyed by deed of gift to my mother during her life and at her death to be mine, but my father, John Gowing, having recd other consideration for the claim of my mother and it appearing that my Grandfather Richard Faulk willed the said girl Charlotte to his son Hynant, I do for the above consideration for ever relinquish all manner of claim to the said girl by virtue of said deed of give which deed cannot be removed from record but its virtue as repects my claim shall be hereby destroyed. Signed: Garrat Gowin. Wit: Archd McKay, Charles Babson. bk C p 196. Columbus County, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L98L-Q3RH?i=115&cat=374138
(Garrett Gowing’s father is John Gowing m. Edith Faulk – grandfather is Richard Faulk – must be father of mom – must be Edith’s mom).

1836 Feb 14 – Elias Gowin pays $900 for land conveyed from Hinant Faulk, land described as part of 3 parcels of land in Columbus Co, NC on Porter Swamp containing 390 acres granted to Thomas Amos containing 640 acres on Oct 23, 1782. Other tract containing 40 acres bearing date of Jan 22, 1773. Also part of a tract of 250 acres granted by pattent to Demsy Dawson on Nov 12, 1779, also on other tract containing 9 acres in said Faulks line on E side of Drowning Creek and Porters Swamp and bearing date of Nov 26, 1799 granted to Richard Faulk by pattent. Also sundry other tracts of land and parts of tracts left me by will of my Father in the County of Columbus and State of N Carolina and now me the said Hinant Faulk conveys unto the said Elias Gowin which said land or parcels of land or tracts will more fully be represented by the patents and original deeds conveyed unto Richard Faulk and by me the said Hinant Faulk unto the said Elias Gowin . . . Signed: Hinant Faulk. Wit: Colin McRae, Briant Coleman. bk F, p 447. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G98L-Q2ZT?i=520&cat=374138
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L98L-QKBC?i=519&cat=374138

1839 July 2 – Daniel Godwin of Robeson Co, NC for $100 conveys to Elias Gowin of Columbus Co, NC 3 tracts of land known as the lands of Jesse Godwin and conveyed by Richard Faulk to Jesse Godwin and by him the said Godwin to his son Daniel in his last will. No by said Daniel Godwin to Elias Gowin. Signed: Daniel Godwin. Wit: C McRae, John N Edward. bk J, p 213. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L98L-QCZL?i=244&cat=374138

1839 July 2 – Daniel Godwin of Robeson County to Elias Gowan of Columbus Co, NC for $150 conveys to Elias Gowin 3 tracts of land knonw as the land of Jesse Godwin, and conveyed by Hinnant Faulk to Jesse Godwin and Jacob Rhodes, and patented by said Jesse Godwin and by Jesse Godwin to his son Daniel Godwin in his last will, and by Daniel Godwin to Elias Gowan. First tract 90 acres bounded by Dempsey Dawson’s corner, Thomas Amys corner. Other tract of 91 acres adj to other 90 acres conveyed, on both sides of Bull Skin Bay, and Simpson Branch, and another tract of 60 acres, at Richard Faulks’ corner of a 90 acre survey, Stephen’s line. Signed: Daniel Godwin. Wit: James Hammond Jr. bk N p 660-661. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G98L-QD6D?i=832&cat=374138
1839 July 2 – Daniel Godwin of Robeson Co NC, and Elias Gowan of Columbus Co, NC for $150 conveys to Elias Gowan 3 tracts of land known as Jesse Godwin and conveyed by Hinnant Faulk to Jesse Godwin and Jacob Rhodes, and patented by Godwin and by Jesse Godwin to his son Daniel Godwin in his last will, and by Daniel Godwin to Elias Gowan. Containing 90 acres, 91 acres, etc . . . bk N p 660-662. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G98L-QD6D?cat=374138

1843 Feb 18 – Aaron Fowler of Columbus Co, NC for $40 conveys to Elias Gowin land containing 170 acres bounded by John Sterling’s corner, Porter’s Swamp, Big Branah line, land of a former deed from Uriah Flowers to Elias Stricklin. Signed: Aaron Fowler. Wit: Roland Hammonds, G A Belaker. bk O p 524. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998L-QZR6?i=287&cat=374138

1845 Feb 14 – Elias Gowin fr Henry Strickland bk Q p 260. Columbus Co, NC.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998L-QCF6?i=138&cat=374138

1845 Dec 16 – Florida, Gadsden County. Sarah Barber, Alexander Godwin, and Thomas Godwin for $135 convey to Elias Gowin of Columbus Co, NC, all that tract in Columbus Co, NC on West by Absalom Powell’s land, on North by Augustus Smith’s land, and all other sides by Elias Gowin’s land, between Strongs and the Yellow Bay on Butler’s Branch, containing 90 acres. Signed: Sarah Barber, Alexander Godwin, Thomas Godwin. Wit: David Godwin, Priscilla Gowan. bk J, p 214. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G98L-QCV7?i=245&cat=374138

1845 Dec 16 – Florida, Gadsden Co. Sarah Barber and Anny Barber for $20 each convey 200 acres to Elias Gowin. by lands belonging to Elias Gowin, Simon Bolk and others, adj Wolf Pit Bay. Land was left to them by their brother John Godwin, decd. Signed: Sarah Barber, Ann Barber. Wit: Richard Blount, Priscilla Blount. bk M, p 110. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998L-QD73?i=67&cat=374138

1846 Mar 20 – Joshua Williamson Esqr and his successor in office High Sheriff of Columbus Co, NC sold for taxes due 1841 278 acres, 150 acres, sold by Caleb Stephens, Eli Stephens, Levi Stephens, and Henry Stephens to John Godwin, also 100 acres left him by will of his father. Also a part of a 91 acre tract put up for sale at the courthous and sold on March 13, 1843, at which time Elias Gowan was the winning bidder. Signed: J Williamson, Shff. Wit: Laban Williamson, Agrippa Williamson. bk L, p 592. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L98L-QHTT?i=647&cat=374138

1846 Nov 21 – Elias Gowin pays $350 to Thos Godwin for 2 tracts of land. bk W, p 54. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G98L-QN8J?i=369&cat=374138

1848 Dec 29 – Georgia, Decator County – Alexander Godwin and Thomas Godwin of Decator County, Georgia for $66 convey to Elias Gowan land left to them by at the death of David Godwin late of Columbus Co, NC decd the same 30 acres whereon there is a mill now situated. Signed: Alexander Godwin, Thomas Godwin. Wit: Peter Gowan. bk Z, p 340. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-898N-HJQ7?i=540&cat=374138

1849 June 19 – We Alexander Gawen and Martha Gawen his wife of Attala Co, MS appoint William H Flowers as attorney to receive all the real personal and perishable Estate or money due to us as heir to the estate of Isaac Nichols decd. Son and heir of the estate of Averit Nichols, late of Columbus Co, NC decd giving and granting unto our said attorney full power and authority to do and perform all and every act needed . . . Signed: Alexander Gawen, Martha Gowine. bk J p 572. Filed in Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G98L-Q4TK?i=446&cat=374138 (parents of Martha Gawen)

1849 Oct 12 – Elias Gowin for $125 conveys to Alva Smith land in Columbus Co, NC on east side of Drowning Creek, adj lands of Augustus Smith on the South and West Absalom Powell’s on the east and the lands of the said Elias Gowin on the north. On the south side of Butler Branch a part of 2 surveys of the Rhodes land bought by T Rhodes at Sheriff Sale. Whole containing 90 acres, bounded by Smith, Powell, Gowin as represented . . . Signed: Elias Gowin. Wit: B Smith, A Smith. bk J p 678. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998L-QZ41?i=501&cat=374138

1850 Feb 23 – Robert Manon Powell for $120 paid by Elias Gowin conveys to Elias Gowen a tract of land on W side of Porter Swamp on both sides of Uncles Branch on Gowen’s line, 87 acres orig surveyed for Griffeth J McRea. bk Q p 7. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998L-QZSJ?i=7&cat=374138

1850 May 13 – Equity Court Cause in Columbus Co, NC where William H Flowers and wife and others the heirs of Averett Nichols decd are petitioners for the sale of lands mentioned and refd to in the Petition Filed at Fall Term 1849, of said court a decree of sale was made. One tract containing 50 acres in Columbus Co, NC on west side of Porter Swamp and both sides of Uncle Branch on David Godwin’s line. John A Maultsby Clerk advertised time and place of sale, and Elias Gowan was highest bidder for $40.00. Signed: J A Maultsby. Wit: N L Williamson, clerk. bk J, p 691. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998L-QZ38?i=508&cat=374138

1851 Oct 10 – Elias Gowin pays $30 to N L Williamson and William H Coleman for land on Porter Swamp on Godwins line, now said Gowan’s line, along nichols line, and N L Williamson’s corner, and Colemans, containing 40 acres. Signed: N L Williamson, W H Coleman. Wits: M Powell, Peter Gowan. bk N p 438. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-898L-Q64P?i=717&cat=374138

1853 Jn 14 – Elias Gowen to D F Suggs bk M p 68

1853 Feb 8 – John McLean of Robeson Co, NC for 1 cent sells 1 acre on N side of W & M Chester Rail Road to Elias Gowan of Columbus Co, NC. Signed: Elias Gowen. Wit: D F Suggs. bk M p 172. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L98L-Q8RP?i=102&cat=374138

1854 Feb 6 – Garrett Godwin conveys land to Elias Gowin. bk Q p 50. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L98L-QZ72?i=29&cat=374138

1857 Dec 30 – Elias Gowen for $600 conveys to John H Edmond land. bk AA, p 380. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G982-RSQX?i=202&cat=374138

1858 Jan 23 – Benjamin A Gowin receives 129 and 1/2 acres from Dennis D Godwen for $259.00. – bk M p 804. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-898L-QC6D?i=472&cat=374138

1858 Oct 11 – Nancy Gowen highest bidder at auction for land from clerk Jno W Ellis, land pref owned by Godwin family, heirs of Garrett Godwin decd. One tract of 82 acres, one tract of 86 and 3/4 acres. bk M, p 790. Columbus Co, NC. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998L-QCV4?i=464&cat=374138

Land Transactions: Only transcribing entries to the 1850s – entries keep going into the 1900s – so more info if looking.

Grantor Index for Gs: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998L-Q6NC?i=159&cat=374138
Grantee Index for Gs: https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007539207?cat=374138

Land Books: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/374138?availability=Family%20History
(Books A-E have no index seen – so may browse thru to see if we are missing any transactions)

1867 Dec 15 – James T Gowen fr Mills and MC Walker bk P p 129
1867 Dec 5 – James T Gowen fr John D and Elizabeth Walker bk P p 139
1869 Apr 26 – Saml W Gowen fr Demsey Coleman bk Q p 531
1869 Apr 26 – Elizabeth Gowin fr Demsey Coleman bk Q p 531
1867 Feb 1 – Saml W Gowen fr Demsey Coleman bk Q p 559
1870 May 5 – Elizabeth Gowin fr Elias Gowen etal bk R p 221.
1870 May 5 – Saml W Gowen fr Elias Gowen etal bk R p 221
1873 Mar 22 – Henry F Gowin fr Ann Gowen etal bk S p 184
1871 Feb 11 – Henry F Gowin fr Cader and Elvy Rhodes bk S, p 303
1873 Nov 29 – Saml W Gowen fr James and AJ Faulk bk S p 461
1866 Mar 30 – Peter Gowen fr Elias Gowen bk S, p 513
1875 Nov 30 – Liny J Gowen fr Nancy Gowen bk T, p 417
1875 Nov 27 – Nancy Gowen fro H F Gowen bk T, p 419
1872 July 24 – James T Gowen fr Thos N and Fanny Suggs bk T, p 648
1866 Oct 1 – Peter Gowin fr Elias Gowen – bk Y, p 501
1881 Jan 12 – Peter Gowin fr Elias Gowen – bk Y p 503
1881 July 4 – Alva Gowin fr Elia Gowen bk Y, p 504
1882 Feb 2 – Alva Gowin fr Elia Gowen bk Y, p 564
1882 Feb 2 – Peter and Saml Gowen fr Elias and LA Gowen bk Y p 564
1882 Feb 2 – Linna A Gowen fr Elias Gowen bk Y p 582
1882 Feb 20 – Peter Gowen fr Elias Gowen bk Z p 337
1881 Dec 3 – Peter Gowen fr Alva Gowen bk Z p 339
1884 Jan 19 – Peter Gowen fr A E and D A Lassiter bk BB p 203
1877 Apr 3 – Ann Gowin fro Elias Gowen bk GG p 160
1868 Jan 1 – Saml Gowen fr Elias Gowan bk MM p 395
1870 Nov 25 – Elias Gowin fr Ex Means admin, bk XX, p 3
1867 Dec 5 – James T Gowen fr M M and MC Ward, bk A1, p 373

From Gowen Manuscript: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gowenrf/Gowenms094.htm

Second Lt. B. A. Gowan, Fifty-first North Carolina Infantry Regiment of Columbus County was among the prisoners of war at Morris Island in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina from September 7 to October 21, 1864.

The Federal troops used the prisoners of war as a human screen so that any incoming shells from the Confederate batteries on the shore would have to pass over the heads of their fellows to strike the Union position.

Whiteville, North Carolina in Columbus County was the residence of Lt. B. A. Gowan, according to “North Carolina Regiments,” Volume 4.
==O==
A negro family headed by Christian Gowan was enumerated in Fair Bluff Township, Enumeration District 51, page 34 of the 1880 census of Columbus County. The family was recorded as:

“Gowan, Christian 32, born in NC
Ervin 13, born in NC
Mary 12, born in NC
Eliza T. 10, born in NC
Joshua 6, born in NC
James M. 3, born in NC”
==O==
Pvt. Henry F. Gowan of Columbus County enlisted in Confederate service prior to March 26, 1864 and served in Company K, Thirty-sixth North Carolina Infantry Regiment and in the Second North Carolina Artillery Regiment. He was captured at Ft. Fisher January 15, 1865 and was confined in Federal prison at Point Lookout, Maryland. He took the oath of allegiance to the Union June 27, 1865 and was released.
==O==
Samuel Gowan, a Georgian, was the head of a household listed in the 1880 census of Columbus County, Enumeration District 51, page 7. The family living at Fair Bluff, North Carolina, was recorded as:

“Gowan, Samuel 40, born in GA
S. Elizabeth 36, born in NC
Joseph R. 12, born in NC
Robert D. 11, born in NC
Vance E. 7, born in NC, daughter
Nimpa J. 5, born in NC, daughter
Sam H. 3, born in North Carolina”
==O==
John Gowens was listed as the head of a household in the 1820 census of Columbus County, page 15, according to Dorothy Williams Potter in “Index to the 1820 census of North Carolina.”
==O==
Elias Gowins, owner of four slaves, was the head of the only household of interest to Gowen chroniclers in the 1840 census of Columbus County, page 62. He was born between 1800 and 1810. His household was enumerated as:

“Gowins, Elias white male 30-40
white female 10-15
white female 10-15
white female 5-10”

…………….

==O==
Alexander Gowen is believed to have been born in Virginia about 1720. He was married about 1745, wife’s name unknown and shortly afterwards removed to Orange County, North Carolina. He appeared in legal records of that county when he and is son, Alexander Gowen, Jr. signaed a petition requesting that Orange County be divided and the boundaries be clearly defined, according to “Colonial Records of North Carolina” by Clarke, volume 9, page 809. since the petition was granted and Chatham County was carved from Orange County in 1771, it is believed that the Gowen signatures were affixed about 1770.

Alexander Gowen died about 1785 probably in Orange (or Chatham) County,

Childern born to Alexander Gowen are believed to include:

Alexander Gowen, Jr. born about 1750
Jesse Gowen born about 1752
John Gowen born about 1754
Daniel Gowen born about 1757
Henry Gowen born about 1760

Alexander Gowen, Jr., believed to be the frist child of Alexander Gowen was born about 1750, probably in Virginia. He removed with his father’s family to Orange County, North Carolina where he signed the petition for partition. Following the Revolutionary War he removed along with his brothers to Camden District, Fairfield County, South Carolina, perhaps to land received for military services.

He appeared in the 1790 census of Fairfield County as “Alex Gowin, one male over 16, three females, no slaves and no free colored persons.”

Alexander Gowen, Jr. appeared in July 1791 in the Nashville, Tennessee area. He received a land grant from the State of Tennessee in 1814, and it is known that this recipient had formerly lived in Orange County, North Carolina. Nothing more is know of this individual or his descendents.

Jesse gowen, believed to be the second child of Alexander Gowen, was born about 1752 probably in Virginia. He removed with his father’s family to Orange County, North Carolina. Following the Revolutionary War he removed along with his brothers to Camden District, Fairfield County, South Carolina. His household was enumerated in the 1790 census of that county as “Jesse Goin, one male over 16, two males under 16, one femail, no slaves, and no free colored persons.”

Nothing more is known of this individual or descendents.

John gowen, believed to be the third son of Alexander Gowen was born about 1754, probably in Virginia. He removed with his father’s family to Orange County, North Carolina, living there about 1770. It is believed that he served in the Revolutionary War as a North Carolina soldier. During the Revolutionary War the spelling of his name was changed from Gowen to Gowan. Following the war he removed with his brothers to Camden District, Fairfield County, South Carolina. his household was listed in the 1790 census of that county as “John Goin, one male over 16, one male under 16, three females, no slaves and no free colored persons.”

It is believed that children born to John Gowan include:

Alexander Gowan born about 1775
John Gowan born about 1780
Hugh M. Gowan born about 1785

Alexander Gowan, assumed to be the first child of John Gowen was born in North Carolina, probably Orange (or Chatham) County about 1775. Lather his father’s family removed to Fairfield County, South Carolina. Later he returned to his native state, purchasing land in Rutherford County, North Carolina in 1796. The transaction was recorded in Deed Book M-Q, page 3300 as “Alexander Going, grantee” of land from “James Huddleston, grantor.”

He appeared in the 1810 census of Rutherford County as the head of a household “over 45” with famil. In 1818 he sold his land in Rutherford Count to Robert Wells. Deed Bood 29-31 records, “Februarty 23, 1818 Alexander Gowan of Rutherford County, North Carolina conveys th Robert Wells of same county 200 acres in Rutherford County. Consideration $200.” The deed was signed with an”X” and was witnessed by Hugh Gowan who also signed with and “X”, indicating that both were illiterate.

Notheng more is known of Alexander Gowan or descendants.

A Benjamin Gowan, unidentified, also appeared in the 1810 Rutherford County census as the head of a household, age 26-45.

John Gowan, assumed to be the second son of John Gowan was born in North Caroina, probably Orange or Chatham County about 1780. Later he moved with his father’s family to Camden District, Fairfield County, South Carolina. Later he returned to North Carolina, probably Rutherford County. He was married about 1804, wife’s name assumed to be Garrett.

“General John Gowan served as an officer in the American Revolution,” according to a statement about the military career of John Gowan in the “History of alabama” published by the American Historical Society of Chicago and New York in 1927. The field editor who wrote the article received his information in an interview with Dr. Jesse Earl Gowan, DDS, of Clanton, Alabama, and apparently did not bother to document the statement.

Based on additional genealogical material presented by the articl it is belived that “General” John Gowan served as a soldier in the War of 1812, perhaps even as an officer, however no military records have been discorverd thus far showing any member of the family in “flag rank.”

Nothing more is know of John Gowan. It is believed that children born to him include:

Meredith Gowan born in 1804
William Gowan born about 1805
Ada Gowan born about 1807
Zilpha Gowan born about 1809
John M. Gowan born about 1810
Richard Gowan born March 6, 1813
Alexander Gowan born about 1816
James A. Gowan born about 1820
Jesse Gowan born about 1823

Meredith Gowan, believed to be the first child of John Gowan, was born about 1804, probably in Fairfield County, South Carolina. Philip Alan Gowan in his book “Gowan-Morley” states that he was born in North Carolina.

Meredith Gowan was married about 1825 to Nancy Powell who was born about 1811 in Norht Carolina. Phillip Alan Gowan states that she was a daughter of Javes Powell and Patience Powell of South Carolina.

In the 1830 census she, the mother of five, was still under 20 years old!

Prior to 1830 Meredith Gowan moved his family to Copiah County, Mississippi where his household appeared in the 1830 census as “one male 20-40, two males under 10, one male 40-60, three females under 10 and one female 10-20. His household and that of “William Goins” were the only members of the family in Copiah County.

Shortly after 1830 Meredith Gowan moved his family to Simpson County, Mississippi. He died there in March 1835, survived by “widow, Nancy, and children, James, Ann, Rose, John Henry and Ebenezer Gowan,” according to “Mississipps Court Records, 1799-1859” by Hendrix. Phillip Alan Gowan fixes the date of death of Meredith Gowan as March 1838 in Copiah County, however.

From Gowen Manuscript: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gowenrf/Gowenms095.htm

Jeremiah “Jerry” Goins was a resident of Columbus County, about 1780, according to the research of Mary M. Browder Barr, a descendant of Florence, South Carolina.

“Jerry Goins came from Cumberland County, North Carolina,” according to the testimony of W. W. Goins, a descendant, in a court case tried in adjoining Robeson County, North Carolina in 1915.

Prior to his residence in North Carolina Jeremiah “Jerry” Goins lived in Virginia, according to an article in “The North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal,” Volume XX, No. 2, May 1994, page 82.

This manuscript traces several Chickasaw Indian traders who lived along the Roanoke River near Plumtree [Mush] Island, the Occoneechee Neck, and Quankey Creek. Using the names of “Licensed Indian traders,” a list of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina traders was created. A partial list includes Robert Long, Charles Hicks, John Brown, William Gilchrist, Abraham Colson, James Anderson, William Kemp, James Moore, Richard Hyde, John Sims, William Williams, and John Pettygrew.

The Gowen family, in several spelling variations, were associated with the Roanoke River for several generations as it meandered across southwestern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina for 410 miles. Members of the family were found in each of the counties in the Roanoke River Basin. Included were Montgomery, Roanoke, Floyd, Patrick, Henry, Pittsylvania, Halifax, Mecklenburg and Brunswick Counties in Virginia and Warren, Halifax, Northampton, Bertie and Washington Counties in North Carolina before the river flowed into Albemarle Sound, past Roanoke Island and out into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Journal article includes:

“One of the first families to live at Sandy Bluff was the Turbevilles. North Carolina records show that between 1713 and 1726, the Turbevilles had lived on the Occoneechee Neck of the Morattuck [Roanoke] River [in present day Northampton County.] In May of 1726, William and Walter Turbeville moved to Plumbtree Island [now called Mush Island in Halifax County]. In addition to the Turbevilles and Colsons, many other families that had previously lived on the Roanoke River moved to Sandy Bluff. Among them were the Gibsons, Chavis [Chavers], Goins [Goings], and Sweets [Sweat].

According to Gregg, Gideon Gibson was one of the wealthiest men at Sandy Bluff. He was also a “Free Man of Color.” So were the Chavis, Goins and Sweat families. All four families were related by marriage. The Goins family had originally come from Virginia before migrating to North and South Carolina. [Goins Island is located in Lake Gaston on the Roanoke River a few miles up river from Hyde Island and Plumbtree Island.] Chavis [Chavers], on the other hand, lived on the Quankey Creek, which is below Plumbtree Island.

Gideon Gibson had lived near the Occoneechee Neck adjacent to land owned by Arthur Kavanaugh, Ralph Mason, and Richard Turbeville before buying land on Quankey Creek from Robert Long [Lang], a Chickasaw and Cherokee Indian trader. Long also owned land at Elk Marsh and Plumbtree Island. Long had received his land patents at Quankey Creek and Plumbtree Island on 1 March 1719/1720.

According to Gregg, Gideon’s brother, Jordan, went West with Daniel Boone. Benjamin Cutbirth [also known as Calvert/Colbert] was also a member of Daniel Boone’s entourage. Robert Long and Gideon Gibson were not the only woodsmen who lived at Quankey Creek in North Carolina. Joseph Sims and James Moore also lived there. Like the Colsons and Turbevilles of Plumbtree Island, these woodsmen traded with the Chickasaws. During the off-season they often rested at Sandy Bluff before returning to North Carolina.

In 1732, Joseph Sims and James Moore witnessed the selling of land between two men from Albermarle County, North Carolina, at Quankey Creek. A third witness was James Logan. William Williams, a former owner mentioned in the above sale, had traded with the Chickasaw Nations since the early 1720s. Peter Jones had accompanied Joseph Colson, Robert Hicks, Major Mumford, and William Byrd II during the survey of “Eden.”

“On the south side of the James below the mountains the frontier at this time was represented by the Welsh settlement on the Mcherrin; Col.Byrd’s improvements on the Roanoke above Sandy Creek, including the three charming islands, Sapponi, Occoneechee and Totero; Maj. Mumford’s Quarter nearby; Col. Byrd’s Land of Eden on the Dan and Major Mayo’s Survey adjoining; Richard and William Kennon’s grant on Cub Creek which supplied farmsteads for John Caldwell’s Presbyterian Colony.

Three years later, on 24 June 1724, Joseph Calvert bought an additional 250 acres from John Gray “on Morratuck River and Plumbtree Island adjoining William Green, near Foltera Fort.” The lands bought by Colson/Calvert, and Turbeville on the north side of the Morratuck [Roanoke] River were near an Indian path leading to the courthouse in Brunswick County, Virginia, and to the plantation of Maj. Robert Mumford.

Further research revealed that the Turbevilles, Colsons, and Calverts worked for Major Robert Mumford of Brunswick County, Virginia, and with Thomas Whitmell. Major Mumford was a large land speculator and the descendant of an Indian trading family. The Mumfords had traded alongside men like Abraham Wood, Benjamin Harrison, Robert Bolling, William Byrd I, Peter Poythress and Robert Hicks since the late 1600s.

The Turbevilles learned of the Occoneechee Neck on the Roanoke through their association with Arthur Kavanaugh and Maj. Robert Mumford. By 1712, both Kavanaugh and Mumford were large landowners in Virginia and North Carolina. Kavanaugh began selling his North Carolina patents in 1713 and Mumford acted as his attorney. Thomas Whitmell, the Indian trader, bought six hundred acres from Kavanaugh on the north side of the Morattuck River in 1715.

Before moving to North Carolina, the Turbevilles sold land they owned in Prince George County, Virginia, to Peter Mitchell, an Indian trader and land speculator. Mitchell lived high on the Roanoke River near the Caldwells and James Logan.] Anderson was also an Indian trader and land speculator who worked with Mumford. Prior to 1722, Anderson lived with his family on the Occoneechee Neck of the Roanoke River. Before moving to the Roanoke River and the Occoneechee, Anderson had lived in Prince George County, Virginia. Prince George County records reveal that in the 1740 “Rent Roll of all the Lands held in the County,” the following names were listed: Jno. Anderson, Lewis Green, Peter Jones, Peter Mitchell, Hubert Gibson, Col. Bolling, Col. Harrison, Arthur Kavanaugh, Francis Poythres, Sr, Dan’l Hickdon [Higdon], Col. Byrd, Rob’t. Hix, Robt. Munford, Rich’d. Turberfield, and Wm. Eppes.

In 1722, Maj. Mumford and John Anderson were the first individuals to apply for a patent in present-day Mecklenburg County in Virginia. It was for “2811 acres in the fork of Cock’s [now Poplar] Creek” and the Roanoke River. When Richard Turbeville and his family moved to North Carolina, they lived on the Occoneechee with other Chickasaw traders and next to Anderson, Colson, Pace, Mason, Gibson, Lang [Long] and Thomas Whitmell.

On March 1, 1720, the Lords Proprietors of North Carolina issued patents to Plumbtree Island and on the south side of Plumbtree Swamp abutting the island. These patents went to Thomas Whitmell, William Green, John Cotton, John Geddes, William Reeves, Barnaby Milton, and Robert Lang [Long].”

Jeremiah “Jerry” Goins was married about 1788 to Edie Lucas, described as a Catawba Indian who could speak the language by Charles James McDonald Furman, a newspaper columnist. He wrote that Edie Lucas Goins’ father was an Indian who was killed during the Revolutionary War and her mother a white woman. Jeremiah “Jerry” Goins was described as a “cousin of Tom Burbage, a Baptist preacher over at Wasamasaw and Patsy Burbage who married a Dutchman. He was also related to the Stapletons, Locklears and Cripses.” Some descendants regard Jeremiah “Jerry” Goins, Jr. as a Lumbee.

Charles James McDonald Furman was described as an avid history enthusiast with a taste for ethnology and anthropology in a collection housed in the University of South Carolina, South Caroliniana Society Manuscripts Collections:

McDonald Furman papers

Charles James McDonald Furman [1863-1904], a great-grand-son of the Rev. Richard Furman, was an avid history enthusiast with a taste for ethnology and anthropology. Regarded as an eccentric by contemporary South Carolinians, he was held in high regard by the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology and by bureau members Albert Gatschet and James A. Mooney. Furman’s research into the history and culture of South Carolina blacks and Indians fascinated these noted ethnologists.
Furman’s work is not easily accessible to the modern reader and researcher. He never published a book or even a lengthy article, and declared that his aim was “every now & then, to write short and pointed articles about some historical subject.” Most of his contributions appeared in the “Sumter Watchman and Southron”, “The Columbia State,” and the “News & Courier.” Today they are scattered through microfilmed newspapers and archival collections of clippings.

Furman’s papers in the South Caroliniana Library are among its earliest and most interesting accessions. The four hundred twenty-four manuscripts include his diary from 1878 until 1903, and photostats and original drafts of a number of his articles. Two boxes of correspondence reflect his lifelong interest in all facets of South Carolina history and politics. They include letters such as those from William A. Courtenay and Edward McCrady concerning preservation and publication of the state’s colonial records and financial backing for McCrady’s “History of the American Revolution.”

Scattered holdings of Furman material relating to his interests in blacks and Indians can also be found in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Anthropological Archives. They appear in the papers of ethnologists he corresponded with, notably those of Albert S. Gatschet.

The South Caroliniana Library has recently acquired one hundred thirty-three Furman letters and newspaper clippings relating to the Sumter County “Redbones” or “Old Issues.” These strange people fascinated him for many years and the new material includes both letters and articles he produced in his attempts to track down their history. The Redbones lived in Privateer Township not far from Furman’s home, Cornhill plantation, and as he explained to his newspaper audience, “They are a mixed race and have never been slaves. They are supposed to be descendants of Indians and negroes, but nothing is definitely known of their origin.”

“It seems the irony of fate,” he continued, “that we should have cyclopaedias giving accounts of races in which we are not interested, and with which we will never come in contact, when right here in our State we have a peculiar race about which comparatively little seems to be known, and yet it is a race which is worthy of ethnological research.”

The manuscripts record Furman’s investigations of common Redbone family names like Goins, Chavis, and Oxendine, and his correspondence with authorities on similar and possibly related ethnic groups. Hamilton McMillan of Red Springs, N. C, sent material concerning the Croatan (Lumbee) Indians, and Dr. Swan Burnett [husband of the children’s writer Frances Hodgson Burnett] sent an article from American Anthropologist dealing with the Melungeons of East Tennessee. One of Furman’s clippings recounted James Mooney’s theory of possible Portuguese ancestry for the Pamunkeys, Croatans, Melungeons, and other groups.

Some items are of outstanding historical value. On 27 May 1897, The State published Furman’s biographical sketch of Redbone patriarch James Edward Smiling, a Sumter County legislator in the radical General Assembly from 1868 to 1870. Information on Reconstruction figures like Smiling is often difficult to find.

On 17 May 1893, Bennettsville historian J.A.W. Thomas sent Furman four pages of detailed information on mixed breeds in Marlboro County. “Of course the people of `mixed breed,’ that we have among us in Marlborough,” Thomas wrote, “are not known as `Redbones,’ and not until recently have they been called `Croatans,’ a name which some of them are now adopting. For generations they have claimed to have been of `Portugese’ extraction, while more commonly the white people have thought them Mulattoes.” Some families among them had rendered distinguished service during the Revolution and won the respect of the white people. “And the consequence has been,” Thomas explained, “that their complexion, their circumstances and general characteristics wonderfully improved, until now they are scarcely recognized as having `mixed blood’ in their veins.”

Often, however, Furman’s search for information on mixed breed families yielded evidence of criminal activity. His newspaper clippings contained frequent references to murders and lynchings, and sometimes they related bizarre prosecutions under the miscegenation laws of the Jim Crow era.

The Bureau of Ethnology told Furman that if he would write his research as a monograph and supply photographs of the Sumter County Redbones, the bureau would solicit the publication money to print it. But when Furman died in 1904, his best printed summary of his findings was a 27 May 1896 article in the “Sumter Watchman and Southron” titled “The Privateer Redbones.” James Mooney thought the piece significant and inserted a notice of it in the July 1896 number of “American Anthropologist.”

“While these people are classed with the negroes,” Furman concluded, “their features & color as a race show unmistakeable evidence of white or Indian blood, or both. They are certainly an isolated people & I repeat here what I said in a communication to the “News & Courier” & the “Columbia State” a few months ago—that as a people, they are, if anything, more apart to themselves than are the Hebrews of our State.”
“Jerry Goins, a yellow man,” and his wife Edie Lucas Goins were early residents of Sumter County and Williamsburg County, South Carolina. It is believed that he died during the 1820s. During an interview with James Edward Smiling August 1, 1889, Charles James McDonald Furman recorded his statement, “Jerry Goins got burnt up back of where Nettles’ Store now is. I was born about two miles above Sumter. I am now 69 years old.”

Edie Lucas Goins, a “free colored female, age 36-55,” appeared living alone in the 1830 census of Sumter County, page 98. Her enumeration was in a consecutive entry with that of Levicy Goins, her daughter-in-law. Edie Lucas Goins did not reappear in the 1840 census of Sumter County as the head of a household. Carolyn Moore of Salem, Missouri who abstracted data on the Goins family members and their kinsmen from the Furman columns, reported that Edie Goins in her later years lived in the home of Tom Gibbes, Jr.

Children born to them, according to the research of Mary M. Browder Barr include:

Frederick Goins born about 1790
Mary “Polly” Goins born about 1795

Frederick Goins, son of Jeremiah “Jerry” Goins and Edie Lucas Goins, was born about 1790. He was married about 1810 to Levicy Gibbes, daughter of Thomas Gibbes and Sarah Brown Gibbes, according to Carolyn Moore.

She was born about 1794, according to a letter written July 3, 1991 by a g-g-granddaughter, Mary M. Browder Barr. She wrote, “I found her grave marker, and it states that she was about 93 years old when she died in 1887.”

On June 8, 1820 “Levisa Goens” upon payment of $150 received a deed from Moses Timmons “of Cleramont County, Sumter District to land containing 50 acres lying on the Charleston Road & down said road till cornering to Isaac Gideon’s line and then to run said line till cornering to Jesse Timmons 236 acres of land, then to run on his line till cornering to Charleston Road again being a part of a tract of land of 300 acres granted to Peter Kelly by his Excellency William Moultrey,” according to Sumter County deed records. Willis Hudnall, Hiram Wilder and Robert Hudnall were witnesses to the deed which was recorded June 19, 1829.

Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins transferred land in 1827, but he is not found in the records of the county after that date.

Levicy Gibbes Goins, a “free colored female,” headed up a household in the 1830 census of Sumter County, also page 98, adjoining Edie Lucas Goins. The household was rendered as:

“Goins, Levicy free colored female 24-36
free colored male 10-24
free colored male 10-24
free colored female 0-10
free colored male 0-10
free colored male 0-10
free colored male 0 10”

The household of Levicy Gibbes Goins reappeared in the 1840 census of Sumter District as:

“Goins, Levicy free colored female 36-55
free colored female 10-24
free colored male 10-24
free colored male 10-24
free colored male 10-24
free colored male 10-24
free colored male 10-24
free colored female 0 10
free colored female 0 10
free colored female 0 10”

Four members of the household were engaged in agriculture. One member, was engaged in “manufacturing and trades.”

Mrs. Barr considers Levicy Gibbes Goins a member of the Redbones, a tri-racial isolated group of people who lived in the Williamsburg County and Sumter County area from the time of the Revolutionary War. She bases her belief on the research conducted by Charles James McDonald Furman and a group of associates who researched the origin of the Redbones for 27 years before his death in 1904. Furman wrote:

“It is my opinion that over half of the 70-80 Redbones are descended from a “yellow man,” Jerry Goins and his wife Edie Goins. Edie Goins was a mixed blood Indian woman who was a well-known fortune teller in her day. Their daughter-in-law, Vicey Goins lived to be a great age and died in 1887. Her son Wade Goins is one of the old people among the Privateer Redbones. He is an interesting character and is considerably mixed with Indian. He is as straight as an arrow, his skin is decidedly copper colored, and his face, I think, looks more like that of an Indian or white man than a Negro. He is now an old man, aged about 70 or 72 and is one of the deacons of Bethesda Church.

Another descendant of the first Goins couple is Tom Gibbes, pastor of the little church in southeastern Privateer which is attended by the Redbones people and which, I may remark, is a member of the colored Wateree Baptist Association, Lower Division. He also shows his Indian blood.

It is interesting to see over what a large area the name Goins is found. This name is found among that peculiar people, the Croatans of North Carolina, which unique race is believed by historical investigators to be the descendants of Sir Walter Raleigh’s famous “lost colony.” It is possible that the “old issues” or properly speaking, Redbones are in part a branch of the Croatans.

Redbones are found in Louisiana. In the spring of 1893 I wrote to one of the parish officials about them. I received an interesting reply. Among the Redbones mentioned in Louisiana was the Goins family.

In a magazine article last summer, Mr. James Nomey, one of the leading ethnological writers in the United States, gave an account of two Goins brothers he knew in Indiana, ‘who although associating by necessity with Negroes, always insisted that they were not of that race or of slave ancestry. They had the appearance of half-blood Indians.'”

Children born to Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins include:

Jonathan Goins born about 1822
Wade Goins born in 1824
Matilda Goins born about 1825
Madrey Goins born in October 1827
James Goins [twin] born about 1829
Thomas Goins [twin] born about 1829
Henry Goins born about 1831
Washington Goins born about 1835

An unidentified lady known as the “Umbrella Lady” wrote November 13, 2001:

“I am seeking info on the family of Lavincy Goins and Fred Gibbs. I think they lived in Williamsburg County, SC. They had the following children:

Julia Gibbs
Levina Gibbs, born in May 1872. I think she was my grandfather Sam Barrineau’s mother. And she was married to Tom Barrineau. I can’t seem to find anything on this woman.
Georginia Gibbs, born in June 1873
Gilliana Gibbs
Ada Ann Gibbs.

e-mail; umbrellaservice@aol.com”

Jonathan Goins, son of Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins, was born about 1822. He was married about 1847 to Jane Winkles, “a white woman,” according to Carolyn Moore. Children born to Jonathan Goins and Jane Winkles Goins include.

John Henry Goins born about 1850

John Henry Goins, son of Jonathan Goins and Jane Winkles Goins, was born about 1850. He was married about 1873 to Cynthia Timmons. Children born to John Henry Goins and Cynthia Timmons Goins include:

Mattie Goins born about 1876

Wade Goins, son of Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins, was born in 1824. He was married about 1847 to Abigail Avin, “a white woman,” according to Carolyn Moore. Abigail Avin is believed to be an older woman with a young daughter, Mary Avin.

Later he was remarried to Susan Atkinson, “a white woman.” He lived in the “Chavis Settlement” in Williamsburg County about 1880.

Children born to Wade Goins, Abigail Avin Goins and Susan Atkinson Goins include:

Mary Avin Goins born about 1834

Mary Avin Goins, daughter of Abigail Avin Goins, was born about 1834. She was married “on the 2nd inst. [December 2, 1852 by T. H. Osteen, Esq. to Mr. Charles M. Corbett. Miss Mary, daughter of Mrs. Abigail, wife of Mr. Wade Goins, is of this district,” according to a newspaper report dated December 7, 1852. This item appeared in the “South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research.”

Matilda Goins, daughter of Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins, was born about 1825. She was married to James Edward Smiling in 1841. He was “called James Johnson prior to 1838,” according to Carolyn Moore. James Edward Smiling, “free person of color” was a member of the South Carolina State Legislature during the Reconstruction Period.

Charles James McDonald Furman interviewed James Edward Smiling August 1, 1889 and recorded Smiling’s statement:

“I was born about two miles above Sumter. I am now 69 years old. In 1838 I went to the house carpenters’ trade; two years before that I was at the wheelwright and blacksmith’s trade. I joined the Providence Church, then when the Mizpah Church was formed, joined there. It was from this church that I received my license to preach. In July 1868, I was elected a member of the legislature. I was a magistrate under Gov. Scott and was trial justice for about four years.

I was the first chairman of the Republicans of Privateer Precinct. I have been land assessor and often manager at elections.

At the outset of the war I furnished a horse, bridle, saddle and spur for Nettle’s Company. This horse went through the war. My full name is James Edward Smiling.

Jerry Goins had no Negro blood in him. I have seen him. He looked like he was mixed with Indian. I suppose he died full fifty years ago. Old Mr. Joe Gist[?] who was a Revolutionary soldier, has told me that he saw Edie Goins’ father shot down in the war. Edie’s father was an Indian. Jerry Goins got burnt up back of where Nettles’ Store now is. Edie died about 1862 or 1863. She was called a fortune teller. She and Jerry had only two children. Her son was named Frederick; the daughter was Polly. She married James Gibbes. Jerry Goins and his wife lived not more than two or three miles from Nettles’ Store.

Fred Goins, who was son of Jerry & Edie, married Levici Gibbes. They had the following children: James & Thomas who were twins; Jonathan, Matilda, Wade and Madry. Besides these, Levici Goins had the following children after Fred’s death: Henry, Washington and Debretta [Deborah.]

Levici’s children married as follows: Jim Goins married first Martha Gibbes; she was the daughter of James Gibbes who married Polly Goins. Jim Goins had about seven children, among them Manning Goins and Solomon Goins. Jim Goins second wife was Mahala Chavis who was a daughter of Tom Chavis who married Elvira Winkles.

Thomas Goins married Elizabeth Chavis, daughter of Bill Chavis, and among his children was Williams Emons Goins who is now a preacher. Jonathan Goins married Jane Winkles. His children are all down in Williamsburg.

Matilda Goins married me. My children are Mary Magdalen who married Nelson Chavis, Henry who married Harriet Chavis, Jim who married Fannie Knight, Alice Matilda who married Lorenzo Chavis, Augustus Whitfield who married Fannie Thompson from Richland, Angeline who married Leonard Sweat, Shack who married Mary Knight and Cinthia Ann who was the first wife of Ruben Goins, son of Tom Goins.

Wade Goins married Abigail Aven and Susan Atkinson. Madry Goins married Lavina Tucker, and his children are down in Williamsburg. Henry never married. Washington married Agnes Bryant, and his children live in Williamsburg. Debietta [Deborah] married Jackson Chevis. Of the above, Jonathan, Wade, Madry and Wash married white women.

Old Tom Gibbes served in the Revolution. He lived right about here and is buried in my field near my house. All this land through this country was his, several thousand acres, and he also had several black people, and some of them died in this section of the country. His sons, Tom and Jim, staid around here, and he had three daughters that staid in this section of the country; Levici, Workey and Lucy. Levici was the one who married Fred Goins, and Lucy was the mother of West Sweat, [married about 1830 Tom Sweat from Richland].

Tom Gibbes’ son, Tom married a woman named Betsy Perry; she was a white woman. He afterward lived with Jerry Goins’ widow, Edie. I don’t know as he ever had any children living around here. Jim Gibbes married Polly Goins and had several children, among whom are Tom & John. Tom married my sister [Harriet Johna Smiling?]

John Chavis married one of Tom Gibbes daughters who was named Polly [Mary]. He lived about Barnwell, but his family moved about here about 60 years ago. Those of his children that I knew were Billy Chavis who is the father of Betsy Goins; Tom Chavis who married Elvira Winkler; Lucy who never married, she was Jackson Chavis’s mother; Levici who never married; Jimmy Chavis who married Elizabeth Hair, has no children around here.

West Sweat’s father came from over in Richland; his name was Tom. He came here about the thirties. [Angeline Smiling married Leonard Sweat, son of Wesley, son of Tom who married Lucy Gibbes.]”

Furman wrote, “Albert Chavis gave me this information August 30, 1889:

“My grandfather fought in the Revolution. His name was John Chavis. He came from North Carolina, from Roanoke, I think. He lived in Barnwell and Orangeburg. I don’t think he ever came here to settle. He married Polly Gibbes. He was always free.

From what I have heard, I don’t think Jerry Goins had any Negro blood. I served as a cook in the War, didn’t carry any arms. John Gibbs served in the fortifications down in Charleston, and all the Goinses as was able to go, served. Elisha and Elija Chevis served on the fortifications. Caldwell Chavis served as hostler. Highie Oxendine went to serve at Ft. Sumter, he never came back. He lived in Timmonstown. [He married Maria Goins, daughter of Tom Goins and Betsy Chavis Goins.]”

Furman recorded, “Tom Gibbes gave me this information September 13, 1889:”

“Bethesda is a branch of Providence. Rev. David Cuttino dedicated it. Mr. Cuttino, Mr. Hughson and Mr. Graham has preached there for us as pastors. I have been pastor about 8 years. Jim Smiling was pastor before me. Not more than two late freedmen are members of this church, there are about 50 standing members. I think my grandfather was a Revolutionary pensioner. I don’t know what year he moved here. He was a boss carpenter.”

Furman wrote, “Mrs. Harriet Gauley gve me this information February 1, 1890:”

“I have heard Mother say that the oldest Gibbes of all was mixed with Indian. Edie Goins was a great old talker and said she came from the Catawba tribe. Her hair was straight. She would say, ‘Honey, I am an Indian, there ain’t no Nigger in me.’ She had keen looking eyes. I have seen her many a time.”

Furman recorded, “Joseph [Halca] Jacobs told me on August 8, 1890:”

“I was born in the edge of North Carolina. My family was free, they got a bounty for fighting in the Revolution. I was a small boy when I came from North Carolina. My mother was a Wheeler, her mother, they tell me, was white and was raised over in Richland [died in 1902].

“Becca Jacobs, same date, told me: [Rebecca Chavis married Joseph Jacobs]

“Nancy Oxendine came from North Carolina [to Richland County]. She was deeply mixed with Indian. She was a Goins.”

Furman wrote in his notebook, “Wade Goins gave me this information March 11, 1892:”

“They said Jerry Goins was a Dutchman. I think Edie Goins was a Tobias [Catawba]. She was a full Indian. I don’t know where she came from. I don’t think we are any relation to the Goinses in North Carolina. Old man Gibbes was a Revolutionary soldier. He was appreciated by the whites. I don’t think he had any Indian in him.”

Furman recorded an interview with J. E. Smiling, April 2, 1892.

“Edie Goins was a Lucas before she married Jerry Goins. The old woman had to appearance of a full Indian, if she was not that, she must have been near about it. My mother was raised in Barnwell, her mother’s name was Patsy Burbage. Her husband was a Dutchman, Tom Burbage, a Baptist preacher over at Wasamasaw, was my grandmother’s brother. Jerry Goins and my mother were cousins. I never heard any one speak of old Tom Gibbes having Indian blood. I used to hear my mother speak of the Stapletons, the Locklears and Cripses who were her relations.”

On April 26, 1893 Mrs. M. A. Hughson told Furman in an interview that she remembered Edie Goins as a fortune teller.

On April 25, 1893 Tom Gibbes [b1835, son of James Gibbes] was interviewed by Furman:

“Our church has 51 or 52 members. Before we had a church, my people attended Providence. Edie Goins is buried near the church. I have been preaching there about 15 years. J. E. Smiley, Jared Chavis and I were the only ones of my people who have been pastors. Mr. Graham, Mr. Cuttino, Mr. Hughson used to preach for us. Rev. D. W. Cuttino organized the church. My uncle, Tom Gibbes said the Gibbses had Indian blood. No late freedmen, except June Stokes’ son, is a member of our church. I am living on a portion of my father’s land, am about 58 years old. My mother was Edie Goins’ daughter. Our church has always been Baptist and is named Bethesda. Vicey Goins was my aunt.”

J. E. Smiling gave a statement to Furman April 25, 1893:

“Our church has always been called Bethesda and was organized in 1866. It was dedicated by Rev. Davy Cuttino and other white ministers. Mr. Noah Graham was the first minister who preached for us after the church was built. Mr. Davy Cuttino was the next. Preacher Nichols was the next; Mr. Hughson came next. These were supplies. After these men, I was a supply there, after which the Rev. Thomas Gibbes was pastor of the church. I don’t think Jared Chavis was ever pastor of the church. This church has never had but two buildings. The present church building, I think, is on the same grounds where the old Ebenezer Church was. [Elizabeth Smiling, granddaughter of J. E. S. was born August 14, 1829.]”

John Goins gave a deed September 26, 1887 to Ebenezer Free Will Baptist Church and to its members to one acre of land to be used as property for a church building and a one-room school building. The land was located in Williamsburg County at Greeleyville, South Carolina. Dr. William Moreau Goins, Foundation member of Columbia, South Carolina, photographed the segregated school building which was still standing in 2002 and the deed which has never been recorded in the Williamsburg County Court-house, but was retained in the homes of the members for over a century.

“Most of my people joined at Providence before Bethesda was formed. Old Bethesda Church was built where it now stands, a good half mile from where the present Bethesda stands. It was the old church that Mr. Cuttino and the other white ministers dedicated. The new church has never been dedicated. Tom Goins and myself were the leaders in having the old Bethesda Church built, and it was built as a place for us to have worship in on Sunday afternoons. It was used also as a school-house, and two white men, John Ridgell and Daniel Kelly, taught for us. As our families increased, we formed a church there as a branch of Providence and got our letters from that church. John, Madry, Wash and Wade, sons of Vicy Goins are all legally married to their white wives. Vicey Goins was a member of Bethesda at her death. Old Tom Gibbes is mentioned in a life of Marion. The land where the present Bethesda is built belonged to Vicey Goins.”

Mrs. Harriet Gauley gave an interview to Furman May 29, 1893 in which she stated:

“Edie Goins said she was a Lucas before her marriage. My mother said old Gen. Sumter would go to see old Tom Gibbes, the Revolutionary soldier, and would not let him suffer for anything. Mother said Gibbes was a faithful soldier.”

Nelson Chavis [son of Thomas Chavis] was interviewed by Furman June 24, 1893:

“My grandmother was [Mary] Polly Gibbes, and her father, Tom Gibbes, was the one mentioned in Book D in the Sumter courthouse. My father, Thomas Chaves, was the one who told us this. My grandfather, John Chavis who married Polly Gibbes, fought through the Revolutionary War. My father told me that John Chavis came from Roanoke, near a little town call Halifax. My mother was Elivra Winkles, a clear blooded white woman. Three of my brothers married white women–Albert, Caldwell and Lige. Betsy Goin’s father was my uncle, William Chavis was his name. Mr. Davy Cuttino was the one who organized and named Bethesda Church.”

Mrs. Cynthia Hodge was interviewed by Furman August 5, 1893:

“Edie Goins told me that her mother was a white woman, and her father was an Indian. Jerry Goins was a yellow man. Edie never did tell me that I remember what her father and mother’s names were. Edie said she could talk Indian, but I never heard her. I heard that old Tom Gibbes was a mighty good soldier.”

Betsy [Chavis] Goins was interviewed August 12, 1893:

“John Chavis was the first one I know of. He was free-born, and he and old Tom Gibbes fought through the Revolutionary War. John Chavis settled over Black River. He married Polly Gibbes, old Tom Gibbes daughter. Tabitha Edey comes in here somewhere. My great-grandmother was named Sallie Gibbes [Sarah Brown]. My father was Billy Chavis, John Chavis’ son. My father was married twice. His first wife was Nancy Griffin. She was a clear-blooded white woman and came from Richland. My father’s second wife was Miranda Pane; her mother was Lucy Gibbes. [Lucy Gibbes married Sweat first and then Pane.] Miranda Pane was West Sweat’s half-sister. I and Beccie Jacobs were by the first marriage of my father; Ervin Chavis and Wakey [Chavis] Goins were by my father’s second wife. My mother had two sons named Griffin; they didn’t live around here. I married Tom Goins. Granny [Edie] Goins had the Indian blood as sure as you are born. Jerry Goins died when I was a baby. Uncle Jim Gibbes married his daughter. My older daughter was Maria Goins; she married Hughie Oxendine. He and his mother came from Richland, his mother was Nancy Oxendine who said she was a Goins. They said Hughie Oxendine got destroyed in Ft. Sumter.”

Furman wrote in his notebook, “Pres. Michen gave me this information August 14, 1893:”

“John Chavis came from Roanoke, Virginia, so they tell me. He fought in the Revolution. I have heard my mother say that the old Gibbes fought at Eutaw Springs. My mother used to pass for a white woman, until my birth. Edie Goins could talk Indian. The whole of my people spring from Tabitha Edey [mother of Sarah Brown]. I have heard that John Chavis had Indian blood. My mother was a kind of red looking woman.”

Furman recorded, “Jackson Chavis told me this on August 19, 1893:

“My grandmother was a [Mary “Polly”] Gibbes and married a Chavis. They lived over Vance’s Ferry, so I have heard my great aunt [Vicia] say. My mother was Lucy Chavis [daughter of John Chavis]. I was a teamster in the War, fought for about two months and was in the same company that Mr. Frank Folsome was in. The first of my people to serve in the jury, to my recollection, was Lorenzo Chavis. The next were John Gibbes and Wade Goins.”

Furman recorded, Debrietta [Deborah] Chavis told me this on August 19, 1893:

“My mother gave the land where Bethesda stands. I can’t tell you what year she gave it. I was her youngest child. Tabitha Edey was my mother’s grandmother. I have heard my mother say that she heard Edie Goins say that her name was Edie Lucas before her marriage. My grandmother Gibbes was named Sallie [Sarah], I think. I always heard my mother say that she was the youngest child of my grandfather. Jim Gibbes, Tom Gibbes’ father, was the next youngest to her. I don’t know anything about my grandfather having Indian blood.”

Mary Browder Barr, Foundation researcher of Florence, South Carolina wrote that she discovered a letter written in 1903 by Charles James McDonald Furman. It revealed that Lavina Tucker Goins told Furman that she was the daughter of Jeb Tucker, an Englishman and Ocenee Gayo, a Red Stick woman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jeb Tucker fought with the British and Red Sticks in the War of 1812 and was considered a traitor. So he and his new wife removed to Sumter County, South Carolina where Lavina Tucker was born. Lavina was described by Furman as a “small dark-skinned woman with black hair, but with blue eyes, therefore she could pass as a white woman.” After Lavina was married to Madry Goins, her mother felt free to go back to Baton Rouge to be with her people.

Children born to James Edward Smiling and Matilda Goins Smiling include:

Mary Magdalen Smiling born about 1842
Henry Smiling born about 1843
James Edward Smiling, Jr. born about 1845
Alice Matilda Smiling born about 1847
Augustus Smiling born about 1849
Angeline Smiling born about 1852
Shack Smiling born about 1855
Cynthia Ann Smiling born about 1859

Mary Magdalen Smiling, daughter of James Edward Smiling and Matilda Goins Smiling, was born about 1842. She was married about 1861 to Nelson Chavis.

Henry Smiling son of James Edward Smiling and Matilda Goins Smiling, was born about 1843. He was married about 1866 to Harriet Chavis.

James Edward Smiling, Jr, son of James Edward Smiling and Matilda Goins Smiling, was born about 1845. He was married about 1866 to Fannie Knight, daughter of Alexander Knight, “freedman, son of Fannie Hill of Society Hill, North Carolina and Mary Hair Knight of Rockingham County, North Carolina,” according to Carolyn Moore. The mother of Mary Hair Knight was a white woman.

Alice Matilda Smiling, daughter of James Edward Smiling and Matilda Goins Smiling, was born about 1847. She was married about 1866 to Lorenzo Chavis.

Angeline Smiling, daughter of James Edward Smiling and Matilda Goins Smiling, was born about 1852. She was married about 1870 to Leonard Sweet.

Shack [Meshach?] Smiling, son of James Edward Smiling and Matilda Goins Smiling, was born about 1855. He was married about 1880 to Mary Knight, regarded as a sister to Fannie Knight.

Cynthia Ann Smiling, “youngest” daughter of James Edward Smiling and Matilda Goins Smiling, was born about 1859. She was married about 1877 to Ruben Goins as his first wife.

Madrey Goins, son of Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins, was born in October 1827 in Williamsburg County, according to Mary M. Browder Barr. He was married to Lavinia Tucker who was born in South Carolina in March 1835. Mrs. Barr wrote, “I have a 98-year-old cousin who knew my great grandfather, Madrey Goins before he died in 1910.” She states that he was a Confederate veteran and drew a South Carolina pension for a disability received in a leg wound.

Madrey Goins lived in the Chavis Settlement about 1880, according to Carolyn Moore. He was buried in Goins Cemetery at Greeleyville, South Carolina. When Lavinia Tucker Goins died, she was buried beside her husband.

Children born to Madrey Goins and Lavinia Tucker Goins include:

Ceny Goins born July 15, 1875

Ceny Goins, daughter of Madrey Goins and Lavinia Goins, was born at Greeleyville, South Carolina July 15, 1875. She was married about 1900 to Jessie Benjamin Browder who was born September 9, 1878 in Clarendon County, South Carolina to Adam Browder and Margaret A. McCall Browder. In 1903 they lived at Greeleyville. She died in Florence County, South Carolina March 26, 1932, and he died there March 31, 1942. She was buried in Garden of Memories Cemetery, and he was buried in Bethel Church Cemetery, Olanta, South Carolina.

Children born to Jessie Benjamin Browder and Ceny Goins Browder include:

William Benjamin Browder born July 23, 1903

William Benjamin Browder, son of Jessie Benjamin Browder and Ceny Goins Browder, was born July 23, 1903 at Greeleyville. He was married September 4, 1925 in Florence County to Ozella Barineau who was born there October 4, 1903 to Sanders Barineau and Mary Lundy Barineau. William Benjamin Browder died there August 6, 1965 and was buried in Garden of Memories Cemetery. She died November 10, 1974 and was buried in Mt. Elon Cemetery.

Children born to them include:

Mary M. Browder born April 12, 1928

Mary M. Browder, daughter of William Benjamin Browder and Ozella Barineau Browder, was born April 12, 1928. She was married secondarily August 6, 1964 to W. Cooper Barr who was born April 22, 1944 in Florence. They continued there in 1991.

Mary M. Browder Barr has done extensive research on her Goins family and supplied the data on them for the manuscript. She wrote,

“I have found documents on my branch of the family which have recorded the surname as Gowens, Goens, Gowins, Goings, Goan, and Goins. To further complicate the matter, the family lived in the community populated by the mixed-race Redbones. Charles James McDonald Furman, author and lecturer [1863-1904] spent many years researching the origin of this mysterious, isolated people whose history parallels that of the Melungeons. He referred to them as a ‘mixed breed people who were never slaves and who had Indian blood in their veins.’ He considered them to be a branch of the Croatans and perhaps descendants of the lost colony of Sir Walter Raleigh.”

James Goins, twin son of Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins, was born about 1829. He was married about 1850 to his cousin, Martha Gibbes, daughter of James Gibbes and Polly Goins Gibbes. Following her death, he was remarried to Mahala Chavis, daughter of Tom Chavis and Elvira Winkles Chavis.

Seven children were born to James Goins, Martha Gibbes Goins and Mahala Chavis Goins, including:

Manning Goins born about 1852
Solomon Goins born about 1855

Thomas Goins, twin son of Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins, was born about 1829. He was married about 1850 to Elizabeth Chavis.

Maria Goins born about 1849
William Goins born about 1850

Maria Goins, daughter of Thomas Goins and Elizabeth Chavis Goins, was born about 1849. She was married about 1866 to Hughie Oxendine, son of Nancy Oxendine, a North Carolinian who stated that she was a Goins descendant, according to Furman who described her as “Indian.”

William Goins, son of Thomas Goins and Elizabeth Chavis Goins, was born about 1850. He became a preacher. He is identified as “the ancestor of the Goins brothers who filed a lawsuit at Pembroke” by Carolyn Moore. The reference pertains to an Indian school in Robeson County, North Carolina, near the South Carolina state line.

Evelyn McKinley Orr wrote of the school at Pembroke:

“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 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 near Lumberton, North Carolina the official name of Croatan. Prior to that legislation, they called themselves Malungeans. The term Malungean was also used to describe a member of the Redbone Goins family in the transcript.”

Tim Hashaw wrote March 9, 2002,

The book “Lumbee, Indian Histories; Race, Ethnicity, and Indian Identity in the Southern United States” by Gerald M. Sider, Cambridge University Press reveals much. The author has very esteemed credentials and you may come to the understanding that the so-called “Indians” known as Croatans and Lumbees, are in fact, early Melungeons.

Sider presents evidence that Lumbees, Smilings, Croatans of the Carolinas first called themselves “malungeans” before claiming to be Indians. To begin the story I quote:

“In 1913, three brothers, A. A. Goins, W. W. Goins and W. D. Goins who were born and lived in Sumter County, South Carolina before moving to Robeson County about 1907 sought to enroll their children in the Indian normal school. Their sister had gone to this school and was teaching in an Indian graded school in the county.

Despite their sister’s position and personal history, their own children were denied admissions by the Indian school committee and the case went to the superior court where they won. The normal school committee then appealed to the state supreme court. The following excerpts from the case records bring to the foreground how history was involved and how it became crucial to the construction of what was called a “pedigree” – a genealogy of social and ethnic relations as well as relatives.

“Plaintiff’s petition, superior court:

10. That the order denying admission adopted by the defendant board of trustees was upon the alleged ground that the plaintiffs had not proved their “Pedigrees” meaning thereby that they had not establised to the satisfaction of the said trustees that they were of “pure” Indian blood . . . that the plaintiff W. W. Goins, at said time went to Sumter County from which place he had removed to Robeson County, and secured documentary evidence… ”

A white man named Dr. Furman had worked up W. W. Goins’ ancestry purportedly showing their Indian ancestry:

“He traced up our origin and found out that our parents went from North Carolina, some of the older ones, and there were a lot of names–Oxendine, Hunt, Chavis and Goins–he having traced them up first give me a little light and that was what I found out about it.”

W. W. Goins testified:

“I am a brother of W. D. Goins. I was born and raised in Sumter County, South Carolina. My Mother is there. I have been living in Robeson County, North Carolina for the past eight years. I have one child of school age.

Dr. Furman traced up our origin and found out that our parents went from North Carolina. Some of the older one, and there were a lot of names—Oxendine, Hunt, Chavis and Goins. Names of the families in the Indian families down there were Smilings, Chavis and Goins. The Oxendines are dead.

Old Bill Chavis, my great-grandfather, went from this [Robeson] County. Tom and Bill Chavis came from Robeson County, and old man Goins came from Cumberland County, North Carolina. My wife’s name was Pauline Epps. Her father’s name was Edward Epps, and her mother was Adeline Epps. Her mother was supposed to be half white and half Indian.”

Counsel then calls Fannie Chavis, the sister who had gone to the Lumbee Normal school. She was requested to look at the certificate from Sumter County which said:

“I, L. I. Parrott, clerk of the court for Sumter county, said state, do hereby certify that the families of Smilings and Goins of this county have been known as ‘Red Bones’ ever since I have been acquainted with the people. Mr. McDonald Furman, now deceased, took a great deal of trouble several years ago to establish the fact that they were of the Indian race. They are looked upon as a separate race, neither white nor Negro.”

Thereafter several Lumbee Indians of Robeson County with names like Chavis, Locklear, Bell, etc. and even a state legislator who testified he had gone down to Sumter County South Carolina to investigate the Goins’ claims. They had questioned several neighbors, old timers etc., learning of their past and how they were traditionally viewed. The Lumbee, as Locklear testified:

“I know William Goins, father of these parties. I visited them in South Carolina once about 6 years ago. The general reputation I got down there was that they were Indian people. They were supposed to be Indians. I have lived in Robeson County all my life, and I am perfectly familiar with the Indian people up here from my association, being in the home of old man Goins and his family and from the investigation I have made of the people there. My opinion is that on the mother’s side plaintiffs are Indians and on the father’s side Malungeans. The Rev. William Goins is not a typical indian by feature, he is a mixture between white and Indian.”

Another witness, Lizzie Brown was called. Brown had been accepted as a Lumbee even though she had come from Carolina Melungeon people

“I am a sister of the plaintiffs. I have been living at Pates in Robeson County for five years. I was raised in Sumter County, South Carolina. sc. My boy goes to the public Indian school at Pates. He has also gone to the normal school. We are Indians in the North, but they gave us the name of ‘Red Bones’ down here.”

Finally we come to Hamilton McMillan, witness for the defendants:

“I am a resident of Robeson County. I am now 78 years of age. I represented Robeson County in the state legislature in 1885 and 1887. I am familiar with the Act of 1885 designating certain Indians of Robeson County as Croatan Indians; I introduced the bill myself. I was acquainted with the Indians of Robeson County at the time the Act of 1885 was passed designating them as Croatan Indians.

I had been investigating their history for several years before that. I have given them the designation of Croatan Indians in the Act. I wanted to give them some designation. There was a tribe known as Croatan tribe on Croatan Island. It was an honorable name and it was a complete designation.

The Indians designated as Croatan Indians were living in Robeson County. None of them lived in Sumter County, South Caroliina as far as I know. I had the Act of 1887 passed to establish a normal school for the Croatan Indians of Robeson County.

“Question by the court to McMillan: Do these people here call themselves Croatans?

Answer: No sir, they call themselves Malungeans.

Question: Were they never called Croatans until this Act was introduced in here?

Answer: No sir.

Question: Where were they from anyway?

Answer: The traditions all point to the residence west of Pamlico Sound, beyond Cape Hatteras [in the northern part of North Carolina].

“The plaintiffs won- they were Indians of Robeson County in the eyes of the court, but the county replied by building them a separate school: an Indian school in the midst of the ‘settlement’ area but a school for ‘different Indians.’

“Further complexities in the role of Whites in the social construction of Indian separateness and the accompanying histories, are suggested in the testimony of Hamilton McMillan, who as senator in the state legislature of 1885 sponsored the legislation that accorded the Indian people of Robeson County legal recognition as Indians and also provided–actually invented–as Whites have invented all “tribal” names for Native Americans–their first official name: Croatan. The name was a transformation of what he claimed they called themselves [both Croatan and Melungean refer to a prior intermixture with Whites, the first specific, the second [Melungeon general.]”

So, we have people intermarrying with Lumbees who prior to 1885 referred to themselves generally as Melungeons in North and South Carolina.

The migration trend was from the Carolinas into Tennessee and Kentucky, not vice versa. Here is an implication that these people had been known in the Carolinas as Melungeons for a time prior to 1885. A generation would require they were known as Melungeons in the Carolinas at least by 1810 and likely earlier.

Later on Siler writes about the need to deny the “black” ancestry in the red-white-black mix among these people in the Carolinas.

“Both this ‘Indian removal’ and the disfranchisement of free persons of color happened in a context where one’s ‘racial’ identity played a crucial role in the reproduction over time of the social relations of production. To be Black, or Indian, or White or less specifically but no less significantly, one of the multiple different socially recognized mixes: a mustee [mixed Indian and Black]; a mulatto [mixed Black and White]; a mestizo, or more commonly a ‘half breed’ or ‘half blood’ [mixed Indian and White]; or Melungeon [mixed Indian, white and black] plus the legal categories ‘free persons of color’ [which included all the above and more] and ‘free Negro’– all meant a great deal, not just in terms of political rights and protections, but in terms of the kinds of positions one could and could not have in the processes of production and the kinds of returns for one’s labor one might reasonably expect.”

Henry Goins, son of Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins, was born about 1831.

Washington Goins, son of Frederick Goins and Levicy Gibbes Goins, was born about 1835.

Frederick “Fed” Goins, son of Jeremiah “Jerry” Goins, was born about 1780. He was married about 1800 to Lavicia Gibbs, daughter of Thomas Gibbs.

Children born to Frederick “Fed” Goins and Lavicia Gibbs Goins, according to Mary M. Browder Barr, include:

Thomas Goins [twin] born about 1802

Polly Goins, daughter of Jeremiah “Jerry” Goins and Edy Lucas Goins, was born about 1795. She was married about 1815 to James Gibbes, son of Thomas Gibbes and Sarah Brown Gibbes, according to Carolyn Moore.

Children born to them include:

Martha Gibbes born about 1830

Martha Gibbes, daughter of James Gibbes and Polly Goins Gibbes, was born about 1818. She was married about 1837 to a cousin, James Goins, twin son of Frederick Goins and and Levicy Gibbes Goins. For details of her life, see his account.

Mary “Polly” Goins, daughter of Jeremiah “Jerry” Goins and Edie Lucas Goins, was born about 1795. Of this individual nothing more is known.
==O==
Second Lt. B. A. Gowan, Fifty-first North Carolina Infantry Regiment of Columbus County was among the prisoners of war at Morris Island in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina from September 7 to October 21, 1864.

Whiteville, North Carolina [Columbus County] was the residence of Lt. B. A. Gowan, according to “North Carolina Regiments,” Volume 4.
==O==
A negro family headed by Christian Gowan also lived in Fair Bluff Township, Enumeration District 51, page 34 of the 1880 census of Columbus County. The family was recorded as:

“Gowan, Samuel 40, born in GA
S. Elizabeth 36, born in NC
Joseph R. 12, born in NC
Robert D. 11, born in NC
Vance E. 7, born in NC, daughter
Nimpa J. 5, born in NC, daughter
Sam H. 3, born in NC”
==O==
John Gowens was listed as the head of a household in the 1820 census of Columbus County, page 15, according to Dorothy Williams Potter in “Index to the 1820 census of North Carolina.”
==O==
Elias Gowins, owner of four slaves, was the head of the only household of interest to Gowen chroniclers in the 1840 census of Columbus County, page 62. He was born between 1800 and 1810. His household was enumerated as:

Gowins, Elias white male 30-40
white female 10-15
white female 10-15
white female 5-10″

Descendant Researchers:

Samuel Kenneth Goans, 2919 Walnut Creek Drive, Antioch, TN, 37013,
615/366-0639
Willis T. & Rachel Finley, 307 Fairview Lane, Longview, TX, 903/759-0415,
willis.rachel.finley@worldnet.att.net
Patricia Melton, 1515 45th St, Moline, IL, 61265, 309/797-4427,
mjayspat@mchsi.com

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