On the hunt for military records!

Today I am going to be gathering up information I have on our 2x great-grandfather, Thomas Henry Goodwin (born in 1824) and sending it to my friend Jan in Louisiana.  She is a member of the online site "Fold 3", which is similar to Ancestry.com, except that it deals strictly with military records. Anyway, I am hopeful that she might be able to track down some military records regarding Thomas during the time period of the Civil War.

An 1870 census record that I have for Thomas H Goodwin lists his birthplace as South Carolina, but living in District 3 of Humphrey's County, Tennessee. Since he was born in South Carolina and was raised in Tennessee, I am assuming that he possibly fought for the Confederate Army? I have found US Civil War records from the National Park Service database that lists a Thomas Goodwin as a private in the Confederate Army, serving in the 2nd Regiment of the South Carolina Troops for 6 months between 1863-1864, but I can't be one hundred per cent sure that this is the same Thomas Goodwin, since our grandfather was actually living in Tennessee during this time period.  I am hoping that Jan can track something down for me that is a bit more concrete.

When the Civil War began most Americans expected it to be a crisis that came to a quick end.  However, when the Union and Confederate armies began shooting in the summer of 1861, that assumption would quickly change.  The war became a very costly struggle lasting four long years. When the war broke out, Thomas Goodwin would have been roughly 37 years of age, most certainly of fighting age.

The Civil War began April 12, 1861 with the Battle of Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.  By the year 1862, the war had spread and become a bloody conflict. The Battle of Shiloh on April 6th and 7th was fought in Tennessee and had major casualties On the Union side, 13,000 were killed or wounded in battle.  On the Confederate side, there were 10,000 casualties.

The year 1865 brought about the end of the Civil War, as well as the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  April 9, 1865 General Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.  The nation rejoiced at the end of the war, but on April 26, 1865 President Lincoln would be shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.  The news would of his death would travel quickly throughout the nation by telegraph.

During the year that Lincoln was assassinated, Thomas Henry Goodwin would have been roughly around 41 years old.  In the 1870 census, Thomas has gone from being a farmer to a blacksmith.  I know from the 1860 census records that he owned his own property and it is listed as a $375 property value.  In the 1870 census (at age 47) he is listed as a blacksmith and a few years later, he would be dead, at the age of only fifty.

According to the census records, during 1870 Thomas's sons, Henry (age 23), Robert (age 21), Christopher (age 19) and Lindsey (age 16) are all living in the home and working as "farm laborers". I am assuming that it was their jobs to run the family farm while their father worked in town as the blacksmith.

In the 1800's almost every town had a blacksmith, who not only created guns and horseshoes, but farm tools, wagon axles and more.  Life could not function properly without a town blacksmith.  It was their job to repair daily life items that dealt with metal or wood.  So, it looks like our 2x great grandfather, Thomas Henry Goodwin (father of Felix Grundy Goodwin) was an important part of the community during the last years of his life.  Sadly, our grandfather Felix would lose his father when he was only eight years old.

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Assorted Photos of Goodwin Ancestors

Jay C. Goodwin, son of Christopher and Josie Goodwin
{nephew of Felix Grundy Goodwin}

Christopher Columbus Goodwin and Josie Goodwin
{older brother to Felix Grundy Goodwin}

Daughters of Christopher and Josie Goodwin
{nieces of Felix Grundy Goodwin}

Amanda Goodwin's Short Life

Even though Amanda Warren Goodwin had only a short presence in our family tree, she had a very important one, since she is the mother of John Thomas Goodwin, who would later have his own son, Franklin Lee Goodwin....and for that we are forever grateful to Amanda.

As I mentioned in my last post, information on our great grandmother is very limited. She was the daughter of John H. Warren and Mary Elizabeth (Benson) Warren.  I have not been able to find any documentation of her birth, we can only "assume" the year of her birth  by looking at the census reports and making logical assumptions.. I am also going to guess here, just because many women during that era did it, that she named our grandfather, John Thomas Goodwin, after his grandfather, John Warren.

The first time that I find actual documentation on Amanda Warren, she appears in the 1870 census report in Humphrey's County, Tennessee, Civil District 3.  She is listed as the 6 year old daughter of John and Mary Warren, which would roughly put her birth year around 1864.  She lives in the home with her seven siblings: William (20), Henry (18), John (16), Sarah (12), Samuel (10),  Mary Jane (8), and Cordelia (2). Another sister, Viola, would be born after this census.  As a side note, Amanda's older sister, Mary Jane would later grow up and marry Felix Goodwin's older brother, Robert Carroll Goodwin.

Amanda shows up again in the 1880 Census, and she is listed as age 14 which would put her birth year at 1866.  So really, we are just making deductions on her actual birth date.  We can guess roughly between 1864 and 1866.  However, when I look at her marriage bond, I have to assume she is 18 since she didn't have a parent sign consent for underage (which would have been required). Since she married in the year 1884, I am going to guess that she was born sometime in 1866.  I am told by other genealogists that census takers during that time were notoriously inaccurate when recording members of the household, so it would not be surprising if the wrong age was put down on one of the census reports.

There were four children born to Felix and Amanda during their short time together.  First was daughter Bertha (1885), Harry W (1888), Lura Belle (1893) and John Thomas (1895).

Sadly, there are no 1890 census records available for this area.  I went looking for the reason why I was unable to locate anything and I found the following information:

"A federal census was taken in the United States in 1890, but a large percentage of the records were destroyed by a January 1921 fire at the Commerce Building in Washington, DC. Many organizations, including the National Genealogical Society and Daughters of the American Revolution petitioned that the remaining damaged and waterlogged volumes be preserved. Despite this public outcry, however, thirteen years later the Census Bureau destroyed the remaining 1890 schedules. In the 1940s and 1950s a few bundles of surviving census schedules from 1890 were discovered and moved to the National Archives. A devastating tragedy for U.S. genealogists, just 6,160 names were recovered from these surviving fragments of a census which originally counted nearly 63 million Americans."

So, all we know as facts are that Amanda gave birth to her last baby, John Thomas, in November, 1895 and that by May 28th, 1899 Felix is married to his second wife, Nora Shaver.  In the 1900 census report, Nora is listed as a wife of one year and mother to Amanda's four children in the home.

As with her birth, Amanda's death is even more of a mystery.  Some guesses?  Well, there were many epidemics present during the mid- 1800's through to the early 1900's and the practice of medicine was relatively primitive. There was an outbreak of cholera during the late 1800's in the Tennessee area; influenza was widespread and deadly; both Yellow Fever and Scarlett fever were common, and as I mentioned, with medicine not very advanced, there is always the possibility of death from complications from childbirth (Amanda would have still been in her childbearing years).

While I would really love to find a death certificate, I am not holding out too much hope of that happening.  At this point, this is the extent of my knowledge about our great grandmother Goodwin.  I did notice in the 1900 census, Felix and his new wife, Nora, appear just before the census report of Amanda's older brother, William Warren and his family, meaning that they were neighbors. How awkward would that be?  I am guessing Nora Goodwin would not have been too anxious to go knock on that door to borrow a cup of sugar!

What I wouldn't give to have an hour....now wait, lets make that a day, to sit down and talk with some of these ancestors and ask all of my questions. To know how they lived their daily lives would be incredible!

Marriage of Felix Goodwin and Amanda Warren

The next couple of posts are going to be in regards to our Great-grandmother, Amanda (Warren) Goodwin. Information on Amanda is pretty scarce, but I will share what I have found. Amanda was the first wife of Felix Grundy Goodwin and mother to John Thomas Goodwin. One actual document that I have found is the marriage bond for the couple and I thought I would post it for you all to check out.  I am not sure how clear the scan will come through, but I have transcribed everything that it says below.

Marriage "bonds" were common during this time period, particularly in southern or mid-atlantic states well into the nineteenth century.  The groom and a suitable bondsman (often times a relative of the bride or groom) would pledge an amount (usually dictated by law) to an official as a guarentee that there were no legal reasons why the couple could not marry. Some of those reasons were if neither of the individuals was of legal age to marry, if one or the other were already married, or if they were too closely related as per their jurisdictions laws.

The amount pledged would be forfeited only if  there proved to be a legal reason that the couple could not marry. If there were no legal impediments, the bond amount would be "null and void", even if the wedding did not take place due to other reasons. In many jurisdictions, the marriage bond would stay in effect for a year or two after the wedding in case any illegality should come to light.

Use of the marriage bond began to fade in the mid to late 1800's.  What I have gathered, the date on the marriage bond is usually a day or two before the actual wedding. In this particular bond, I see that Felix used a W.H. Tomlinson as his bondsman, but I have no idea if he was a friend or possibly a relative of Amanda's.

To any minister of the gospel, having the care of souls, or to any judge, chancellor or Justice of the Peace of said county, Greeting.

You, or either of you, are hereby authorized to solemnize the Rites of Marriage between F. G. Goodwin and Amanda Warren, of our county, agreeably to the direction of the Act of Assembly in such case made and provided, PROVIDED ALWAYS, that the rite of matrimony be solemnized in this county, otherwise these shall be null and void, and shall not be accounted any license or authority to you, or either of you, for the purpose of aforesaid, more than though the same had never been prayed or granted, etc.

Given at the clerk's office of said county, this 21st day of June, 1884.

Signed:  G M Rogers, county court clerk.

Know all men that we, F. G. Goodwin and W. H. Tomlinson of the county of Humphreys and state of Tennessee are held and firmly bound unto the state of Tennessee in the sum of twelve hundred and fifty dollars, to which payment well and truly to be made, we bind our heirs, executors and administrators, and each and every one of us and them, both jointly and severally, firmly by these presents.

Witness our hands and seals the 21st day of June, 1884.

The condition of the above obligation is such THAT WHEREAS F.G. Goodwin hath prayed and obtained License to marry n.Amanda Warren.

Now if there shall not hereafter appear any lawful cause why the said F. G. Goodwin and Amanda Warren should not be joined together in Holy Matrimony as husband and wife, than this obligation to be paid and of no effect, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.

Signed by:  F. G. Goodwin and W. H. Tomlinson

More Pictures of the Past in Corning

I love looking at old photographs~ memories of the past, of a lifetime that was much more difficult than today, but at the same time, so much more simple. Men worked hard to earn a meager living and women stayed home to take care of their children and keep house.

Today I just wanted to share some of these amazing photographs that I have come across, of the area of Corning, Arkansas, during the time that our grandfather, John Thomas, would have been growing up there.  I love to let my imagination run wild....thinking of what life must have been like for him back then.   Muddy streets, horses and cattle, the local mercantile.....

This 1910 photograph shows what the weary traveler saw around 1910 as he alighted from the Iron Mountain train and faced westward for his first good look at his new home.  Across a muddy street stretched southward a row of wooden buildings that bespoke the primitive architecture of the village.  At the extreme right, a sheet iron store building housed the Joseph Steinberg Mercantile and the Canfield tool shop. Next, a two story establishment was the J. O. Langdon Restaurant, flanked by the lean-to one-story bowling alley.  On the corner, as it has been since the beginning of the town, the Staley Drug Store.




















The following picture is of the third County Courthouse.  The first courthouse was built in 1873 and was later sold to M.L. Watts to become the general merchandise store known a "C.O. Watt & Co. in 1884.  The second courthouse was built in 1881 on the court square where it served until 1900 when it was irreparably damaged by an earthquake.  Finally this third courthouse was constructed in 1900, where it stood until it was destroyed by fire in 1963. Due to this fire, a lot of records were destroyed along with the majestic building.

Corning, Arkansas...Pictures of the Past

During my research on our family history, I find that sometime around 1903 Felix Grundy Goodwin had packed up his family and headed to Corning, Arkansas. I have to assume it was in order to find work, since it isn't where he family was located.  This is where Felix's daughter, Hester Louise is born on June 16, 1903.  His daughter Lottie Mae is born there three years later in 1906.  So, we know that our grandfather, John Thomas would be living in this area of the country about the time he was 8 or 9 years old.

Corning, Arkansas is also where Felix's second wife, Nora would die (have not found any records as to her cause of death yet).  We know from family accounts that Felix would call his father-in-law and request he come to Arkansas to retrieve his daughter's body as well as the three children.  I am told he came by train, so I did some searching and found these pictures of the train and depot in Corning during that time period.

Mr. Shaver (Nora's father) would have traveled over 200 miles from Denver, Tennessee to Corning, Arkansas to claim his 30 year old daughter's body as well as his three young grandchildren (ages 8, 5 and 1 1/2).  I can only imagine what a long train ride that must have been for this poor man.  This all happened in January of 1908, so I am guessing the weather conditions were not ideal either.  On October 15th, 1910, Felix would marry his third wife, Elizabeth Louise Williams, in Corning, Arkansas.  Felix was 44 years old and his new bride had just turned 23 years old.  Our grandfather, John Thomas Goodwin, would have been about to turn 15 years old by the time this marriage occurred.  Times sure were tough!                                                                                                                             

 

Family Roots of Felix Grundy Goodwin

I have discovered that not only did our great-grandfather, Felix Goodwin, produce a large family, he actually came from a similarly large brood.  In this, my last post of this month, I will be charting his parents and his siblings (these would be our Great-great grandparents and our great-aunts and uncles).  Are you ready for this? So many names, sometimes it is easy to get lost!

Felix Grundy Goodwin's parents were Thomas Henry Goodwin, born September 19,1823, and Louisa (Eliza) Jane McElyea born sometime between 1831-1833.  At this point, we can only make an educated guess on her birth date because there are some conflicting numbers on census reports and birth records are pretty non-existent during this time period.

There were married in 1846 and would start their large family in the spring of 1847.  Depending on which census report is most accurate, Louisa would have been between 13-15 years old when they married and 14-16 when their first child arrives.  I would be shocked with the age of only 13, but I can't totally discount it.

It is interesting to note, that in the mid 1800's (during the Civil War era) marriages were not just about joining a man and a woman.  It was more about joining two families, businesses, jobs and wealth.  A man was typically looking for an agreeable woman who could take care of his house and provide him with children.  A woman was looking for a breadwinner.  Many people married, not because of love, but rather for convenience or favorable situations.

Marriages were not necessarily "arranged", but general opinion of the time was that young ladies should not be subjected to making a quick decision or hurting a gentleman's feelings by rejecting him in person, therefore in many cases the young man would approach the young lady's family for permission.

Now, onto the family life that Thomas and Louisa built together.

Henry Hartwell Goodwin                    born April 1847
Robert Carroll Goodwin                     born March 1849
Christopher Columbus Goodwin         born October 1850
Lindsey Ewing Goodwin                     born February 1853
Francis Victoria Goodwin                   born  1857
Mary A. Goodwin                              born 1859
Mildred Margaret Goodwin                born November 1861
Emanda Ida Goodwin                         born  1864
Felix Grundy Goodwin                        born October 1866
William Bradley Goodwin                    born February 1872

Thomas Henry Goodwin, was listed as a farmer in early census reports and it is noted that he could not write and that he was born in South Carolina.  However, in the 1870 census report he is now a blacksmith (my next post will be more information on the job of a blacksmith in the 1800's).

While I have more extensive research to do on Thomas Goodwin's military record, I do have a listing for a Thomas Goodwin that served in the 2nd Regiment of the South Carolina State Troops. He is listed as a private in the Confederate army for six months between 1863-1864 (remember that South Carolina is where Thomas was born).  This information is listed in the National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (I am hoping to eventually to actually get a copy of this record) and I am only guessing that this might be our Thomas Goodwin. I can't be sure though, since he was already 40 years old at the time....but then again, his age might be why he served only six months.  At this point, the best I can do is speculate.

Thomas Henry Goodwin dies in Hustburg, Tennessee on November 18, 1874 at the age of fifty-one.  Our great-grandfather, Felix,  is only eight years old when he loses his father, leaving behind Louisa and five small children still at home.  Only six years later, the widowed mother and her children are found in the 1880 census for Dukeom, Kentucky in Graves County where her family is from.  Felix is twelve or thirteen years old at that time and the next document that I find for him is when he marries Amanda Warren on June 21, 1884 back in Humphrey's County, Tennessee.

As a side note, I also discovered a Tennessee Tax List record that shows that in 1894, Felix Goodwin had paid some back taxes owed....in the whopping amount of two dollars and thirty-five cents!!!!

My last comment here is for my little brother Mark Thomas....thank goodness your name was handed down from our great-grandfather, rather than our grandfather?  Think about it~  Mark Felix Goodwin....has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Uncle Felix, Aunt Hester & Aunt Lottie

Our great grandfather, Felix Grundy Goodwin, had three children after John Thomas, but as mentioned in earlier posts, they would not grow up in the Goodwin household.  After their mother's passing they were sent to live with their maternal grandparents, the Shavers.  However, I am told, they did know about their half-siblings growing up.

Today I just wanted to post a picture (provided by Lottie's son, Tony Wiggins) of these three siblings.  I believe this photo is from sometime in their teenage years. Tony plans to go through all of his mother's old pictures so I am hoping to get some better ones from him at some point.

 The second photo is one of Felix Clinton Goodwin (our great uncle), also called Uncle Major (Tony had no idea why).  He is the man on the right.  Next to him is Tony's father, Tom Wiggins.  Apparently long ties were the fashion of the day!

In 1895 Our Grandfather Is Born And ........

In today’s post, I thought I would include some interesting historical tidbits for the year 1895, when our grandfather, John Thomas Goodwin was born.  It is interesting to see what was going on in the world that he grew up in.  

He was born on November 1, 1895 in the small community of Denver,Tennessee in Humphrey’s County where he lived most of his childhood until the family relocated to Corning, Arkansas.  He was born to Felix Grundy Goodwin and Amanda Warren Goodwin and he was welcomed home by Bertha (10), Henry (7) and Laura (3).

In the year 1895:

Felix Faure is installed as president of France.

The moving picture projector is patented.

First US patent granted for gasoline driven car.

First shipment of canned pineapple from Hawaii sent. 

America's first auto race: 6 cars, 55 miles, average of only 7 mph! Inventor J Frank Duryea battled snow and breakdowns to win the race from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois in just over ten hours.

Volleyball invented by W.G. Morgan in Massachusetts.

Congress authorizes a US Mint in Denver, Colorado.

Cuban war for independence begins.

First pro football game (QB John Brallier paid $10 and won 12-0)

Alfred Nobel’s will establishes the Nobel prizes.

Booker T. Washington (education pioneer) delivers “Atlanta Compromise” address.

Physicist and chemist, Marie Curie, weds physicist Pierre Curie in France.

Louis Pasteur dies at the age of 72.

First cartoon strip is printed in a newspaper.

November 8, 1895 German scientist, Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen and earns first of Nobel Prizes. The first x-ray image is of his wife’s hand.

Go Forth And Multiply!

In my last post I chronicled Felix Grundy Goodwin's family, noting three wives and twelve children!  Sounds like a lot, huh?  Well, hold onto your hats folks, because big families seem to be the norm for the Goodwin men!

An example, Felix's older brother, Christopher Columbus Goodwin (yes, you read that right...wonder who he was named after?).  In a 1917 photo of this patriarch's family there are nine daughters and three sons present. According to my research, Christopher and Josephine had a total of sixteen children during their marriage!

An interesting story regarding this particular branch of the family tree is the fact that Josephine did not like her children to get married.  This was told to me by a third cousin of ours named Laura Lee Meachum Birdwell (she is a daughter of Dana Goodwin in this picture).  According to Laura Lee, Christopher Columbus Goodwin (whom she called "Pappy" but others called "Kit") was married to Josephine (Josie) Warren December 24, 1873 in Humphrey's County, Tennessee.  Laura Lee was always told that her grandma Josephine didn't want her children to marry, and that whenever one of them would, she would "run off and hide out for a couple of days", apparently our version of throwing a "hissy fit".  I am also told that sisters Ibbie, Carrie and Louise never married (I guess they decided it was easier than setting mama off!). Family stories about Josephine were that she was "a different breed of cat.....a nut!"

I am also told that one of the sons, Jay Cleveland Goodwin (also in the picture) was a very mean man (at least that is what Laura Lee's daddy always told her).  He never married (I wonder why) and died at the age of eighty-two.

So there you have just one of our great-grandfather Felix's branches of the family tree. I thought the whole story of Josephine was kind of funny and reminded me of my last post...."as far as anyone knows, our family is normal".. 

Christopher Columbus Goodwin was born October 7, 1850, the third of ten children born to Thomas Henry and Louisa Jane Goodwin (our great-great grandparents).  Christopher (also known as "Kit") died June 21, 1939 and is buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.   

Lineage of Felix Grundy Goodwin

Today's post is going to be a list of facts on our great-grandfather, Felix Grundy Goodwin.  Quite the unique name, don't you think?  I have always wondered over the past year of researching, just where did that name come from anyway?  I know that he had a brother named Christopher Columbus Goodwin (I think we can guess who he was named after, right?).  I did find a "Felix Grundy" who was a popular politician in Tennessee (so much so, that there is a Grundy County named in his honor).  He became a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1819 to 1825, and in 1820 he was commissioner to settle the boundary line between Tennessee and Kentucky. In July of 1838 he was appointed Attorney General of the United States by president Martin Van Buren and in his biography he is listed as a mentor to future president James K. Polk. Apparently, he was quite a popular man in his era, so who knows, maybe our great grandfather Felix Grundy Goodwin is named after him?  Anyway, that is only speculation, the following are the facts that I have discovered so far.  There are still some dates that need filled in, but I will eventually get there, right?

GOODWIN, Felix Grundy      {son of Thomas Henry Goodwin & Louisa Jane McElyea}

Born:  October 18, 1866              

Denver, Tennessee, Humphrey’s County

Died:  December 22, 1928           

Burial at Kinsey Cemetery, Poplar Bluff, MO 

1^st Marriage:      Amanda WARREN , June 21, 1884

                             Humphrey’s County, TN 

    {daughter of John Warren & Mary Elizabeth Benson}

                             B:  1866  Humphrey’s County, TN

                             D:  1899

Children:

Bertha (Bertie)                December 1885               d:

Harry W.                        July 1888                         d:

Lura (Laura) Belle           March 1893                     d:

John Thomas                   November 5, 1895          d: August 2, 1966

                                               

2^nd Marriage:    Nora Evangeline SHAVER , May 28, 1899

                            Humphrey’s County, TN

   {Daughter of John M. Shaver & Hester D. Miller}

                            B:  March 06, 1878        D:   January 11, 1908   

Children:

Felix Clinton       b: September 07, 1900     d: 1965   

Hester Louise     b: June 16, 1903               d:

Lottie Mae         b: July 22, 1906                d:  1988

3^rd Marriage:  Elizabeth Louise WILLIAMS, October 15, 1910

                         Corning Arkansas 

{Daughter of Francis M. Williams & Bertha Ann Newdecker}

B:   October 10, 1887       D:   February 18, 1967    

Children:

Francis E. Lee       September 16, 1911       d:

Harding Harville    June 12, 1914                 d:

Roy                       July 23, 1917                 d:  June 13, 1924

Violet Lillian          January 04, 1920            d: 

Marvin                  July 23, 1925                  d:  October 15, 1925

Denver, Tennessee…..ever heard of it?

I wanted to provide some background information on the small community of Denver, Tennessee, where our grandfather, John Thomas Goodwin was born in the year 1895. It is a small community that is approximately 254 miles from Louisville, Illinois.

Denver is located in Humphrey’s County, which is on the western edge of Middle Tennessee, one of the states three “grand divisions”.  The county was formed in 1809 from lands of Stewart County. The County Seat is Waverly; other communities include Bakerville, Buffalo, Hurricane Mills, McEwen, New Johnsonville, and Hustburg.

As I mentioned, Denver is where Grandpa John was born, as well as several of his siblings.  His father, Felix Grundy Goodwin had relocated here from his birthplace of Kentucky and married John’s mother, Amanda Warren on June 21, 1884.  I actually have Tennessee State documents that record this marriage and I will share that with you in later posts (once I figure out how to scan documents).  

Felix would have been 18 years of age at the time of this marriage and Amanda was 17.  The birth of their first child, Bertha (Bertie) was in December of 1885.  Three more children would be born of this union, Harry W. (July 1888), Laura B. (March 1893) and our grandfather, John Thomas (1895).

I am still searching for Amanda Warren Goodwin's death certificate, but I show that she is gone in 1899, at which time I find records of Felix’s second marriage on May 28, 1899 to  Nora Evangeline Shaver.  Felix was 33 at the time and Nora was 21 years old.  Their first child, Felix Clinton was born September 7, 1900, and was quickly followed by two more siblings, Hester Louise and Lottie Mae, all born in Denver.

Dad tells me that he recalls visiting one of the sisters in Tennessee when he was a small boy, but couldn’t remember which one.  I mentioned this to Lottie Mae’s son, Tony, and he confirmed that his mother was aware of her older siblings and that they had remained in contact with a half-brother which I am going to assume was  Grandpa John.  

Tony told me that he would do what he could to confirm that information.  He also told me that he was going to go through all of his mother’s old photos with another cousin (who is 85 years old, but with a great memory) to see if they could find any with John in them!

I am including a photo I recently came across of the Denver, Tennessee post office. It's not much to speak of, but I love the picture. Someday I would like to take a weekend road trip to this little “bump in the road” and just check out the area. While this isn't actually where our family originates from (since great-grandpa Felix was actually in Kentucky) it is where our grandfather John was born and raised for the first fifteen years or so of his life.

Humphrey’s County is also where a lot of the Goodwin family ancestors are buried, so again, I am anxious to plan a road trip to the area to see what else I can find in regards to our family history.

Family Discovered, Family Lost

I suffer from ADGD (Attention Deficit Genealogy Disorder).It's when you start researching one ancestor, but get distracted by another ancestor, which causes you to bounce around to different ancestors only to end up doing a lot of work with very little to show for it! I am trying my best to get everything organized and recorded, so hang in there.

Today I received word that we lost a family member, one that we have never met.  This is a branch of the family that I just discovered this past week and I was so sorry to hear of his passing.  I would have so liked the opportunity to meet this man, our dad’s first cousin.  I do hope to connect with his younger brother, Tony Wiggens, after he has had time to mourn his brother Larry’s passing.

When I first started messaging Tony, he informed me that his brother (who was 82 years old) was in very poor health and was in the ICU in Vanderbilt Hospital. He told me that Larry had recently had an aortic valve replacement and  that he was “in the battle of his life”. He said that he had undergone 3 heart by-pass surgeries in the last 35 years. Sadly he lost his battle today.

                                                      Larry and Jeanette Wiggens

  

Larry Wiggens was the oldest of two sons born to Lottie Mae Goodwin Wiggens.  Lottie was the youngest child of Felix Grundy Goodwin and his second wife, Nora Shaver Goodwin. 

Lottie was only a year and a half old when her mother passed away.  According to Tony, our great grandfather Felix was in Arkansas at the time of Nora’s passing.  He said that Felix called Nora’s daddy and told him that he needed to come pick up the body and the three children, as he was unable to care for them.  Nora’s daddy, J.M. Shaver boarded a train from Tennessee and traveled to Arkansas to claim his daughter’s body and to take his grandchildren home with him.

According to Tony, his mother did not remember ever having any contact with her father, Felix, after her mother’s passing.  She told Tony that she and Hester Louise (Aunt Heck) and Felix Clinton (Uncle Major) were basically raised by their aunt,  Trilby Shaver, who was only around thirteen years old when her sister Nora’s children came to live with them.

So much information is coming at me and I love it.  I will continue to connect with as many family members that will talk to me, and I am taking notes as furiously as I can. 

I love this picture of our cousin Larry Wiggens, son of Lottie Mae Goodwin Wiggens and Thomas Marion Wiggens.  It may be just me, but I can totally see a family resemblance to our dad.  Tony tells me that if he can find a picture of his Uncle Felix Clinton Goodwin, that I will be amazed at the family resemblances I will find there.

I am sure that there will be many more posts involving this branch of the family tree, now that I am in contact with Tony.  I am so excited to find living members of the Goodwin tree that can fill in a few of the blank spaces.  I am loving this genealogy journey!!!

Getting Started....

I began the search into the Goodwin family history in August of 2013, thinking it would make a unique gift to our father on his birthday that September.  I'm not sure what I was thinking!  It turns out that this was a much larger project than I had initially thought for a birthday gift.  A year of researching and I still have not given that gift! Honestly, I think that this could turn into a lifelong project.  Sorry dad~ looks like this gift will be one that you receive in bits and pieces, or the one that keeps on giving.

When I started this project, of course I had no clue as to what I was doing. I quickly realized that this family tree was continuously dropping leaves at every turn, hence the name of my blog.....Family Roots, Falling Leaves.  

I also discovered that some information was next to impossible to find. Genealogists refer to this as "hitting a wall" and let me tell you, I have had my fair share of those during this journey. However, I remain determined to unearth as much family history and information as I possibly can, at least until my eyesight gives out!

I have been diligently taking notes, recording dates, reaching out to possible Goodwin decedents until all the names and birth dates start to blur together. At those times, I have to pull back and take a break, take a few breaths before jumping back into it.  So many dates, names, cemeteries and documents...it can really, really be overwhelming and sometimes I feel like I am being "buried" in falling branches and leaves of this family tree.

I am going to use this blog to try and sort through mountains of information and maybe at some point have some kind of semblance to the chaotic mess I call my research!  I hope you can bear with me.  It doesn't help that I have bit of an attention deficit disorder.  Sometimes if I find an interesting bit of information, I tend to just go off without a plan, without direction.  I just get so excited when I discover something new and interesting.  Who am I kidding?  It's all interesting to me, so I will make no promises that this blog will be too orderly! I have not decided how I will post information, but give me time, I will get it figured out.


~~~Terri

A Genealogist Is Born

           

               John (Jack) Thomas Goodwin and Ella Mae Shelton Goodwin 

A Genealogist Is Born

We are the chosen.  In each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors.  To put flesh on their bones and make them live again.  To tell the family story and to feel that somehow the know and approve. 

Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing a life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: "Tell our story."  So we do.

In finding them, we somehow find ourselves.  How many graves have I stood before now and cried. I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, "You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us."  How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me?  I cannot say.

It goes beyond just documenting facts.  It goes to who I am and why I do the things I do.  It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen.  The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh.  It goes to doing something about it.  It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish.  How thye contributed to what we are today.  It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family.  It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died, to make and keep us a nation.  It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they aware doing it for us.

It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth, without them we could not exist, and so we love each one, as far back as we can reach, so that we might be born who we are, so that we might remember them.  So we do.  With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are they and they are the sum of who we are.

So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family.  It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers.  That is why I do my family genealogy, and the is what calls those young and old to step up and restore the memor or gree those who we have never known before.

~ Author Unknown

When I read this definition, it really struck me as a something I had been feeling recently.  I have reached an age in my life where I am so curious about my family's history, our lineage.  Do I look like my great-grandmother?  Is my father anything like his father? What kind of people were descended from in this Goodwin family tree? So many questions.  I really hope to find family, unlock mysteries, maybe even unearth a few family secrets.  Wish me luck!

         

~~~Terri