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