Saturday, March 21, 2009

Lumbee Indian Histories: Race, Ethnicity, and Indian Identity in the Southern United States

From H-Net - Humanities and Social Sciences

http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-ethnic&month=9606&week=d&msg=z6KsRyxqEsZexRKcI8WA2A&user=&pw=

Gerald M. Sider. _Lumbee Indian Histories: Race, Ethnicity, and
Indian Identity in the Southern United States_. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press, 1993. xxvi + 309 pp. Maps,
notes, essay on sources, and index. $65.00 ea. (cloth); $17.95
ea. (paper).

Review by Wallace Genser , University of Michigan,
for H-Ethnic

The Politics of Indian Identity

_Lumbee Indian Histories_ is the second volume of Gerald Sider's
three volume effort to provide "a theory of culture in history:
the role of culture in the formation and transformation of
systems of inequality" (p. v). Sider's ambitious and
theoretically sophisticated work seeks to bridge the gap between
anthropological and historical approaches to Native American
Studies by using the case of the Lumbee--a small group of Native
Americans living in Robeson county in south central North
Carolina--to explore Lumbee ethnogenesis and redefinition in the
context of colonial conquest and subsequent oppression. Sider
traces the transformation of Lumbee identity--both self-identity
and the identities imposed upon them by their colonial
masters--from contact to the present to illustrate how
colonialism has shaped the identity of these peoples and their
descendants (and by extension Native peoples throughout the
southeastern United States). Sider's work nicely complements
recent works such as David Roediger's _Towards the Abolition of
Whiteness_ (1994) exploring the emergence and transformation of
"whiteness" by reminding us of the ongoing transformation of
"redness" in American culture. Attention to this crucial process
places _Lumbee Indian Histories_ at the forefront of recent
research striving to understand the constructed nature of ethnic
and racial identity.

In telling the story of the Lumbee, Sider takes the reader on a
journey backward from the recent past to the era of first contact
between these peoples and Europeans. Sider begins by describing
the internal conflicts--between those who continued to think of
themselves as "Lumbee" and a smaller group who began calling
themselves "Tuscarora"--which rent these people when Sider
arrived among them in 1967 (Sider has spent parts of the past
three decades as an activist among the Lumbee). Sider sees this
split growing partly out of conflict between relatively well-off
"Lumbee" and more economically hard-pressed "Tuscarora." Those
who embraced the "Lumbee" label had reached a rapprochement with
whites over a limited form of autonomy focused mainly on control
of local schools and cultural institutions. Those who defined
themselves as "Tuscarora" believed that only by embracing an
admittedly problematic identity sanctioned by what Sider and the
Lumbee call "the White power elite" could they attain any level
of self-determination. The Lumbee/Tuscarora split is thus merely
the most recent manifestation of a structural problem embedded in
adopting such a fluid identity: the inevitable emergence of
chronic fractures of community identity.

Sider's point is that this conflict demonstrates how internal
disputes over self-definition reflect and influence the conflicts
over recognition by their colonial masters that have plagued the
Lumbee and their compatriots throughout US history. His ultimate
goal is to illustrate how shifting internal boundaries both
reflect and mediate external conflicts, leading in the case of
Native Americans to increasingly constrained options for
self-determination. Initially invented as "peoples" by European
categories, Sider demonstrates that Southeastern
Natives--particularly those situated on the economically marginal
(at least in white eyes) borderlands between the piedmont and the
coastal plains stretching from New Jersey to Florida--have tried
to use white categories to advance their own interests. Sider
considers the Lumbee the most striking example of those Native
American groups that chose not "acculturation" to white society
but instead crafted fluid identities that permitted them to
maintain a limited measure of autonomy.

Thus, in Sider's words, "ethnicity does not simply emerge from
history; history is created within ethnicity." His most telling
insight regarding the interconnections among dynamic variables
that scholars of various stripes have often taken for granted is
his claim that "If impoverishment and domination shape ethnicity
and ethnicity, when seen as a process, creates and claims
histories, then oppression creates history through culture as
well as class" (pp. 114-5). This dynamic formulation of identity
formation, stressing the interrelationships among economic
exploitation, historical consciousness, culture, and ethnicity,
allows Sider to link these processes instead of falling into the
all too common trap of discussing each process in isolation.

Lumbee identity emerged in an ongoing dialectical process in
concert with US government efforts to fit them into rigid racial
categories. Over the past two hundred years the Lumbee have
repeatedly had their official "identity" changed by the US
government. Initially the Lumbee were not identified as
"Indians" at all; instead, they possessed most of the rights of
those residents considered "white," which permitted them to
straddle the new nation's racial boundaries. When North Carolina
revised its constitution in 1835 they were lumped with free
African Americans as "Free Persons of Color," a designation that
remained in effect until emancipation. The Civil War, while
freeing them of this designation, nonetheless left the Lumbee
experiencing much of the discrimination faced by those considered
"'non-White.'" In 1885 North Carolina formally recognized them
as "Indians," thereby setting off a century of struggle over just
what kind of "Indians" they were and what associated benefits and
constraints "Indian" identity imposed upon them (pp. xv-xvi).

Termed "Croatan Indians" in 1885, they rejected this term because
local whites had shortened it to "Cro"--implicitly linking them
with African Americans suffering under "Jim Crow" laws--and won
recognition in 1911 as "Indians of Robeson County." This generic
name was replaced by "Cherokee Indians of Robeson County" in
1913, which itself set off conflict with Cherokee from elsewhere
in North Carolina who feared that their governmental benefits
might be proportionally reduced to accommodate these "new"
Cherokee (a dynamic that continues to divide established Native
American groups from groups seeking tribal recognition today).
After nearly gaining national recognition during the New Deal as
"Siouan Indians of the Lumber River," they secured designation as
"Lumbee Indians" from North Carolina in 1953 and from the US
government in 1956.
In keeping with the Eisenhower administration's policy of
"terminating" tribal rights, Congress stipulated that the US
government would be completely free of legal or financial
obligations toward these people (pp. 3-4). While struggling with
local whites, neighboring Native Americans, and the state and
national governments, the Lumbee were also divided over how to
identify themselves in a way that aptly conveyed their historical
past, their cultural present, and their aspirations for the
future. The Lumbee/Tuscarora split, Sider makes clear, is thus
connected to longstanding internal disputes over how to
characterize their heritage in order to forge a history both
usable to themselves and useful in dealing with their conquerors.
Yet each dispute, Sider argues, emerges out of a specific
historical context and reflects both the demands of the colonizer
and the strivings of the colonized.

Throughout US history whites have maintained control over the
Lumbee through control of land, access to credit, power over
local schools, vote buying, and the small but significant efforts
of white political "paternalism" (p. 97) to siphon off just
enough Native American votes to prevent Native American/African
American coalitions (which Sider inexplicably poses as almost
"natural" alliances) from attaining political victories. A
particularly effective white tactic was the outlawing in 1956 of
"single shot voting" in multiposition Democratic primary
elections. Rather than permitting Native Americans or African
Americans to take a "single shot" vote for the one Native
American or African American in a field crowded with white
candidates, the Democratic party forced voters to vote for as
many candidates as there were seats to be filled, thus diluting
minority voting influence and forcing them to help defeat their
own candidates (pp. 93-5). Within these agricultural, financial,
educational, and political realms, Native Americans struggled to
define their identities and to carve out a place for themselves
within this oppressive system. Sider convincingly demonstrates
that these processes were intimately related. As Sider aptly
puts it, "the capacity of a dominated people to attack their
domination precisely in its own terms and with its own symbols .
. . is often limited. . . . A more effective source of
oppositional autonomy seems to lie in a dominated people
appropriating as their own, and refashioning, the contradictions
imposed on them" (p. 99). Whether they were refashioning their
identities in efforts to wrest recognition from governmental
agencies, running their own community institutions, striving to
survive economically on a daily basis, or mobilizing politically
to elect Native American candidates, the Lumbee never
surrendered. It is in this continuing struggle that Sider finds
hope for the future.

Sider intends his work for both general and academic readers.
Each audience will find much of value here. The general reader
will be drawn into the story of how the Lumbee were
transformed--and transformed themselves--from a largely
autonomous precontact people (although Sider does not explore
their colonial roots) to a people surviving on the periphery of
"White" (Sider capitalizes the term throughout) society.
Scholars interested in how local developments resonate with
issues of personal identity will appreciate Sider's valuable
chronology of Lumbee transformations. Historians of Native
American culture will find a compelling formulation of the
challenges and choices available to peoples confronting US
economic and cultural expansion. Ethnic Studies scholars will be
rewarded with a carefully crafted presentation of racial and
ethnic identity as a dynamic process influenced by a multiplicity
of shifting variables. And scholars from several disciplines
will find in Sider's theoretical apparatus a nuanced exploration
of the innumerable and often conflicting connections among class,
race, ethnicity, and culture.

Each of these audiences will also find flaws in Sider's work.
The general reader will sometimes feel overwhelmed by a dense
writing style that occasionally opts for academic jargon over
clarity. Scholars interested in the development of local
community institutions and struggles will search in vain for full
exploration of the political context of Robeson County. Scholars
of Native American studies will seek a more sensitive treatment
of how oral traditions may subtly support a persisting
counter-hegemonic ethos among the Lumbee rather than merely
reflect the triumphant inscription of colonial values in the
minds of subjugated peoples. While Sider often accepts Native
American accounts of heroic resistance--such as Henry Berry
Lowery's famous outlaw band, "the Robin Hoods of Robeson County"
(p. 158), which raided wealthy white farmers during and after the
Civil War and distributed their booty to poor residents of all
races--Sider neglects to incorporate such a counter-hegemonic
ethos into his account of Lumbee history.

Ethnic Studies scholars, and all those interested in the gendered
nature of human experience, will be disappointed in finding that
for all Sider's theoretical sophistication no mention is made of
female versions of Lumbee history. Despite recognition that
Lumbee women played crucial economic and cultural roles among the
Lumbee from the deerskin trade to tobacco farming to textile
manufacturing, Sider never addresses how women's experiences of
colonialism compared with those of men's.
Consideration of these issues in the context of Sylvia Van Kirk's
pioneering _Many Tender Ties_ (1980) on western Canadian fur
trading women would greatly expand the reach of Sider's work.
Without such a balanced approach to the gender-specific
experiences of colonized peoples, Sider's approach will offer
only a partial account of the development and transformation of
Lumbee ethnicity.

Moreover, for all its theoretical sophistication and insight into
the persistent struggles of the Lumbee for recognition from their
more powerful neighbors, these neighbors are never given full
form. Lacking are fleshed out versions--or even brief
accounts--of the internal tensions dividing the white and Black
communities of Robeson County. Incorporating the insights of
Steven Hahn's _Roots of Southern Populism_ (1983) and James O.
Horton's _Free People of Color_ (1993) would avoid such
monolithic portrayals of these diverse communities. Sider
understandably emphasizes white solidarity and briefly mentions
the greater racial unity among Black residents. Discussion of
the comparative makeups of each group is needed, however, to
provide a fuller sense of the tensions and cleavages within these
groups that Lumbee peoples have attempted to exploit in order to
forge politically and culturally functional group identities.

Fellow historians will perhaps be jolted, as I was, by Sider's
conceptualization of what he calls the "problem" embedded in "the
connection between doing anthropology and doing history." In his
view, the most crucial question facing a scholar is "*how
studying the history of a people, questioning them about their
history, and doing documentary research on their past affects
your relations with the people among whom you live and work*" (p.
xxiii, italics in original). Many historians would ask a quite
different question: How do your relations with the people you
study affect your and their conceptualizations of their past?
This question is particularly relevant in Sider's case, given
that he traces the genesis of several popular contemporary terms
among the Lumbee--"tied mule stories," "locality leader," "the
Movement," and "the organization"--to his 1971 dissertation on
the Lumbee. These terms have been embraced by local peoples and
have "entered into the local political and academic discourse"
(pp. 298-9), thus suggesting that changing conceptualizations of
Lumbee history emerge not just from "impoverishment and
domination" but also from the efforts of a local activist with a
quite different agenda. When one becomes as involved with one's
subjects as Sider has, full recognition of one's own part in
shaping that history is crucial.

Evidentiary issues also merit attention. Historians may find
Sider's lack of footnotes troubling. Much of his work grows out
of conversations with co-workers and selected readings in
cultural theory, and these sources are only addressed briefly in
his "Sources and Perspectives" section. More attention to recent
historical works on Native Americans in the region such as James
H. Merrell's _The Indians' New World_ (1989) (which Sider briefly
cites) and Karen I. Blu's _The Lumbee Problem_ (1980) (which he
also cites but does not use extensively) is needed. Historians
will be vexed occasionally by Sider's use of confidential sources
and his determination to emphasize his special ties as an
activist among the Lumbee. This determination becomes especially
evident in his essay on sources. He obliquely contests
authorship of a key source without clarifying the "other
concerns" motivating the misattribution (p. 291). He also
provides "silences as requested" regarding his sources (p. 305)
and defers to several local residents who read his manuscript and
requested that he avoid "identify[ing] some of the participants"
in a crucial court case (p. 294). While Sider's respect for his
sources' anonymity is admirable, such self-censorship presents a
problem in a work ostensibly tracing "*How Native American
peoples see, claim, and seek to shape--in sum, produce--their own
history*" (p. xvii, italics in original).

Sider's self-conscious and passionately unapologetic involvement
with the Lumbee provides a refreshing rejoinder to scholars who
imagine themselves clinically detached from their subjects.
While it is reassuring to be reminded that anthropologists have
become cognizant of and open about personal entanglements with
peoples they study, Sider's approach leads to another potential
pitfall: the transformation of scholar into crusading journalist
protecting his sources with an eye toward providing the only
possible credible version of events. While protecting his
sources reveals Sider's respect for individuals who may be
vulnerable to retaliation, in the end it necessarily limits
discussion by claiming journalistic and personal prerogative to
present an irrefutable version of a people's past. Maintaining a
balance between the demands of historical analysis and loyalty to
one's sources is by no means easy, and such editorial decisions
are the very stuff of historical discourse. At the very least,
Sider's approach can open up debate over just how this ground can
be negotiated.

In sum, _Lumbee Indian Histories_ offers many contributions to
Native American history, ethnic studies, and cultural history.
Sider's work sheds fresh light on the formation of Native
American identity in one North Carolina county, offers a
sophisticated model for understanding the emergence and
transformation of racial and ethnic identity, and provides a
convincing account of the intimate and often perplexing
connections between cultural identity and collective memory.
Perhaps most importantly, _Lumbee Indian Histories_ presents
scholars with an opportunity to reexamine our own
involvement--intellectually and in many cases politically--with
the peoples we seek to study.

Wallace Genser, University of Michigan, for H-Ethnic


Copyright ) 1996 by H-Net, all rights reserved. This work may be
copied for non-profit educational use if proper credit is given
to the author and the list. For other permission, please contact

Monday, March 16, 2009

Jefferson County, WV Early Records

From : Jefferson County, WV Genweb
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wvjeffer/

Jefferson County was formed in 1801 from part of Berkeley County in what was then Virginia and was named for Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States. The county seat is Charles Town where the county's courthouse was the site of the trial for the abolitionist John Brown after his 1859 raid on the federal armory in Harpers Ferry.

***********************************************
1810 Charles, Jefferson, VA Census
Transcribed by Tracy Hutchison

Jason Gowings – 3 - FPC
**********************************************
1820 Mountain (Blue Ridge), Jefferson, VA Census
Transcribed by Tracy Hutchison

Joseph Goens – FPC
2 males to 14
1 male to 26
1 male 45 +
1 female to 14
1 female to 26
1 female to 45

*********************************************
1830 Jefferson, VA Census
Transcribed by Tracy Hutchison

George Goings - FPC
1 male under 10
1 male 10-24
1 male 36-55
2 females under 10
1 female 24-26

Joseph Goings – FPC
1 male under 10
1 male 10-24
1 male 55-100
1 white female 40-50

*************************************************
1840 Jefferson, VA Census
Transcribed by Tracy Hutchison

Thomas Goings – FPC
4 males under 10
1 male 24-36
1 female under 10
1 female 24-36

1840 Shepherdstown, Jefferson, VA Census
Transcribed by Tracy Hutchison

Luke Goins – FPC
2 males 24-36
1 female under 10
1 female 10-24
1 female 24-36

****************************************************

1850 Jefferson, VA Census
Transcribed by Tracy Hutchison

Charles Town
189/189
Goheen, John - 38 - M - W - Coachmaker
Goheen, Anna - 28 - F - W

Bolivar
1625/1650
Goings, Jane - 40 - F - M - VA
Goings, Franklin - 13 - M - M - VA
Goings, Amanda - 8 - F - M- VA
Goings, Georgana - 3 - F - M - VA

28th District
805/817
Criswell, Thomas - 38 - M - W - Manufaturer - IRELAND
Criswell, Maria - 25 - F - W - PA
Criswell, Lemuel -4 - M - W - PA
Criswell, Ann E. - 2 -F - W -VA
Scott, John - 21 -M - W - Manufacturer - PA
Scott, George- 19 - M - W - PA
Johnson, David -16 - M - W - VA
Johnson, James - 14 - M - W -VA
Johnson, Benjamin - 11 - M - W -VA
Scott, Ann - 40 - F - W - PA
Goings, Mary - 13 -F - B - VA

806/818
Goings, Lawson -48 - M -M - Boatman - VA
Goings, Sally -40 - F - M - VA
Goings, John -16 - M - M -VA
Goings, William -14 -M - M - VA
Goings, Stephen -13 - M - M -VA
Goings, Fanny - 11 - F - M - VA
Goings, Mary - 10 - F - M - VA
Goings, Charles - 6 - M - M -VA
Goings, Joseph - 4 - M - M -VA
Goings, Nancy - 3 - F - M -VA
Goings, Sally - 1 - F - M -VA

857/869
Goings, Thomas -50 - M -B -VA
Goings, Lucretia - 50 -F - B -VA
Goings, William -18 -M -B -VA
Goings, George -16 - M - B - VA
Goings, Mary -13 -F - B - VA
Goings, John - 11 - M - B - VA
Goings, Arthur - 9 - M - B - VA
Goings, Betsy - 7 -F -B - VA
Goings, Ann M - 5 -F - B - VA
Goings, Charles - 3 - M - B - VA

************************************************************
1860 Jefferson, VA Census
Transcribed by Tracy Hutchison

765/755
Hart, Thomas – 48 – M – M – Stone Mason – VA
Hart, Mary E. – 50 – F – M – VA
Hart, Ann C. – 19 – F – M – VA
Hart, George M. 15 – M – M – VA
Hart, Emily – 13 – F – M – VA
Hart, Martha E. – 11 – F – M – VA
Hart, Thomas M. – 8 – M – M – VA
Stephenson, Mary – 30 – F – M – VA
Goins, Elizabeth – 70 – F – M – VA

1079/1066
Goins, Thomas – 60 – M – B – Farm Laborer – VA
Goins, Lucretia – 45 – F – B – VA
Goins, Charles – 14 – M – B - VA

1822/1837
Milton, James W. – 33- M – VA
Milton, Mary E. – 33 – F – VA
Milton, Anna Mary – 4 – F – VA
Milton, James H S – 1 – M – VA
Rodrick, Phillip – 22 – M – VA
Goins, Elizabeth – 22 – F – B – VA

1825/1842
Goins, Lawson – 53 – M – M – Boatman – VA
Goins, Sarah – 50 – F – M – VA
Goins, John F. – 27 – M – M – VA
Goins, William – 25 – M – M – VA
Goins, Stephen – 23 – M – M – VA
Goins, Fannie – 21 – F – M – VA
Goins, Mary – 19 – F – M – VA
Goins, Charles – 16 – M – M – VA
Goins, Joseph – 13 – M – M – VA
Goins, Nancy – 12 – F – M – VA
Goins, Sallie – 10 – F – M – VA
Goins, Richard – 8 – M – M – VA
Hart, Mary – 45 – F – M – VA
Hart, Phebe – 19 – F – M – VA
Hart, Thomas – 16 – M – M – VA
Hart, Benjamin – 8 – M – M – VA

1860 Charlestown, Jefferson County, VA
Transcribed by Tracy Hutchison

1224/1207
Brown, William – 27 – M – M – VA
Brown, Lucy – 28 – F – M – VA
Brown, Georgianne – 4 – F – M – VA
Goins, Thomas – 34 – M – M – Blacksmith – VA
***********************************************************
From: Calendar and Index to Recorded Survey Plats in Jefferson County, West Virginia (Virginia), Courthouse, 1801-1901 by Michael D. Thompson – Jefferson County Historical Society

Plat Number: 270
Deed Book Number: 32
Page Number: 383
Date of Plat: 5/1/1852
Plat of 4 lots adjoining the town alley on the north side of Charlestown, the Leetown Road, the Methodist Church, the School Lot, and Wm. Crow (conveyed to Caroline Blue, T. Goings, J. Brown, L. Hamilton).

Plat Number: 380
Deed Book Number: 38
Page Number: 376
Date of Plat: 2/1/1859
Plat of 29-acre parcel conveyed by Armstead Orem et ux. to Thomas Goens (a free man of color), and adjoining Bushy Ridge, Charles Brooke, James McCurdy heirs and John Kable heirs.

Plat Number: 1052
Deed Book Number: 80
Page Number: 6
Date of Plat: 4/22/1895
Plat of partition and division of the lads of Thomas Goins, and adjoining J. McCurdy, John Kable, and Charles Brooks.

Plat Number: 1113
Deed Book Number: 85
Page Number: 179
Date of Plat: 5/30/1888
Plat of 1/2 –acre lot conveyed by Milton Rouss and Mary C. Rouss to Joseph Goens, and adjoining Shannon Hill, R. P. Chew, Samuel L. Rissler, Milton Rouss, and the Bloomery-Kabletown Turnpike.



ABOVE: a small portion of an 1883 Jefferson County map by S. Howell Brown with the plats of Charles H. Goins, Thomas Goins and the Shannandale Springs Company areas highlighted.
*************************************************************
Goen, Goens, Goins, and Goings Family of Jefferson County Virginia and West Virginia
Information provided by Shelley Murphy, Great, Great, Great Granddaughter of Lawson Goens.

Lawson Goens was born free in 1807 in Virginia. His parents or siblings are unknown and it is unknown if he was born in Jefferson County Virginia. It is not known if Jason Goings, free Negro listed in the Jefferson County Personal Property Tax List for years of 1806-1840 on Shirley’s land is related. Lawson was married about 1830 to Sarah Hart who was born April 1, 1810 in Virginia. We do not have any information on the Hart family. The family members are found in the Federal census for the years of 1850, 1860 and 1870. They were in the District 28, Kabletown and Middleway areas of Jefferson County. VA., and as of April 1863 now West Virginia. In some of the censuses they are listed as being white and other census’s they are colored/mulatto/black. Lawson Goens worked as a ferryman for 30 years in Jefferson Co. at the historic Shannondale Springs Resort. He died on July 12, 1874. We do not know where he died or where he is buried. Lawson’s wife Sarah (Hart) died in 1886, we do not know what County she died in, but she was buried in Jefferson County West Virginia, and headstone was at the cemetery in front of St. Pauls’s Church in Kearneysville, but now her headstone is gone. There was a rumor that a car plowed into the cemetery several years ago and some headstones were lost.

After Lawson died, Sarah moved in with her daughter Nancy Johnson. According to Sarah (Hart) Goens’ bible, and there is no S on the Surname, it is written as Goen.

Findings: Jefferson County Virginia does not have the Personal Property for Jefferson County VA records to my knowledge so they were sent to Richmond each year and now on microfilm.

Order Book 8, 19 Nov 1838:
[p. 121] At Ct. of Oyer & Terminer held 19th Nov for trial of Lawson Goins, a free man of colour, charged with felonously stealing, taking & carrying away from a house at the Shannon Dale Springs, divers bank notes of the value of $21 the prop. of Shannon Dale Springs Co. Present Wm. P. Flood, James Griggs, Wm. F. Turner, Wm.
Grantham & Saml. W. Lackland, Gent. Just's. Plead not guilty. Found guilty and sentenced to 5y in public jail and penitentiary. (word for word from the document)

The above court order raises some questions; this is the company that Lawson worked for 30 yrs. So not sure if he did jail or penitentiary time. Mary Catherine one of his daughters was born in 1840 during the jail time. More research has to be done to verify the situation.

11 Children born to Lawson Goens and Sarah (Hart):

**Martha Elizabeth born June 16, 1831, died 1834.

**John Francis, born August 4, 1832. He and his wife lived on Mt. Gilliam in a log cabin and he built caskets.


**William Alexander born March 4, 1834. Married about 1857 to Martha Johnson, daughter of Kitty. Children born if any are unknown at this time.

**Stephen, born Feb 28, 1838. He lived with his brother John and later moved to Pittsburg PA. He died April 4, 1890. H lived with his brother John Francis supposedly on Mt. Gilliam, now known as the Burns property. He died April 4, 1890.


**Frances Virginia “Fannie,” born December 28, 1837, she married James Douglas Roper. Children are: Mary Virginia b. 11/7/1860, George William b. 5/13/1864, Martha E. b. 11/10, 1875 and Nancy Clara b. about 1880.

**Mary Catherine born April 18, 1840. Married George Marsh. George Marsh was from the area as well and was found in the in the 1860s federal census with a John Marsh, living with the Robinson family. Elijah and Sarah Robinson are also found in District 28, 1850 Federal census.
George Marsh was believed to be a slave. George and Mary left Jefferson County right after the civil war and headed to Manistee County Michigan, making a stop in Ohio. George and Mary Catherine’s children are: Nancy Ardella b. 1864, Sarah born in OH- (married Henry Davis), Cora born in Manistee Co. Mi, Frank, Warren, Jesse, Clara (married Henry Davis), Hattie, John and Matthew, George.

**Charles Henry born March 16, 1844, married Louisa Victoria Roper about 1867: children: James Douglas, Rosie, Fanny, Mabel, Florence, Alice Sophy, Eliza, Annie E. Charles and Neva Elrita.

**Josiah (Joseph) born August 17, 1846, married Lucy Sims, 1869 daughter of Eliza Sims.
Children; Arwilda M b. 1871 (married Howard Hart, who is the son of Mascena Hart), Lawson 1873, Charles Austin b. 1875, and Lucy b. 1878.

**Nancy Elizabeth born March 24, 1848. She married Emanuel Johnson around 1868. Children: Eugene b. 1868, Margaret b. 1870, Mary b. 1872, Henry b. 1875, John b. 1878

**Sarah Ann “Sally” born August 9, 1849, married William Henry Roper. Children: Aldridge b. 2/1870, Edwin, Rose, Sallie.

**Richard Peyton b. April 28, 1852.

Notes:

We believe that Lawson Goens was born in Jefferson County and died in Jefferson County WV. Thomas Goings listed in the 1850 census with wife Lucretia, could be Lawson’s brother.

The Hart family in Kearneysville related to the Goens, Howard Hart, son of Mescent Hart married Joseph and Lucy (Sims) Goens daughter Arwilda McCormick.

The Ropers were another free family along with the Johnson’s. The Ropers come from Nicolas Roper from Suffolk, England, not from Ireland., had a son named James. Three Goens’ children married Ropers’

Two Goens children married Johnson’s.
Emanual Johnson, Nancy Goens husband, his father is John and they were from Page County VA. Emanual Johnson died between 1870-1880, there is no record found regarding his death. We do not know if Martha Johnson (who married William A. Goens) and Emanual Johnson were related.

Marsh and Yates families are related. Emma Marsh married John I. Yates on 8 October 1885, the Yates families descendants are still living in Jefferson County. The Yates family came from Rappahannock County, VA

Batille Muse’s plantation was named Marsh Farm and he had 24 taxable slaves. It is not confirmed if George Marsh’s family was enslaved on the Marsh Farm. Oral history says George Marsh at the age of 4, remembers his father running through the house and out to the barn with white men, neighbors following with guns, he remembers hearing shots and never saw his father again.

Bushey Ridge-I believe the Goens property was located there, but have yet to find out what happen and why did families left the area. Did not find where Lawson Goens owned property.

James Elmer Goens, lived in Kearneysville, his mother was Josephine Goens, daughter of Joseph and Lucy (Sims) referenced in Lucy Sims Goens will.

If you have anything to add or want more information, you can contact me Shelley Murphy at 434-293-2566 or keli1@aol.com


****Note added by Tracy Hutchison - For a great history and maps of Shannadale Springs visit:

http://www.shannondale.org/foss/shannondale_springs.pdf

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From: St. Louis County Library

http://www.slcl.org/branches/hq/sc/images/scc-geo/wvir.pdf

File Microcopies of Records in the National Archives: No. 87
Roll 13
RECORDS OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF CLAIMS
(SOUTHERN CLAIMS COMMISSION)
1871-1880
GEOGRAPHICAL LIST OF CLAIMS
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Washington: 1946

INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The volume microc0pied on this roll is labeled on its front cover “List of Claims,” and is numbered 55, the last volume in the numbered volumes of records of the Commissioners of Claims, otherwise known as the Southern Claims Commission. The volume is undated.

It consists of a printed list of claimants, arranged alphabetically by names of States, thereunder by names of counties, and thereunder by names of claimants, with the serial number and amount of each claim presented to the Commissioners. All the claims, totaling 22,298, are included. The sheets of the volume are ruled to permit manuscript annotations. These are confined to “allowed” and “disallowed,” written opposite a few of the claims. The fact that the action taken with respect to most of the claims is not indicated suggests that the volume was not long used as a record of action taken.

The volume is part of a body of records in the National Archives designated as Record Group No. 56, General Records of the Department of the Treasury.

(Note added by Tracy Hutchison: Below is only the portion of the list in regards to Jefferson County. Some of the numbers and names were a little blurry. If you see an error please let me know and I will make the correction. All claims for Jefferson County are listed only to show persons that were in the area during the same time frame as John F Goen)

JEFFERSON CO.
14,627. Charles Agllonby - 2,936
4,259. Linton N Andrews - 883
15,589. Garrett W Bane - 600
15,980. Moses Baylor - 2,958
17,007. John Beck – 772
15,591. Hector Bell – 923
15,534. G W Boyers – 3,280
13,289. Lee G Brothertou – 247
13,291. Thomas Brown – 560
15,592. Caleb Burns – 1,945
13,207. Isaac V Burns – 657
11,324. Augustine Cain – 440
13,025. John Chamberlain – 687
15,000. Daniel Coalman – 690
14,308. George W Cockrell – 1,200
14,428. John G Cockrell – 224
17,008. Hezekiah Colbert – 1,932
13,211. John Cook – 1,050
13,530. Nathan H Copeland – 339
12,740. Estate of William Crow. – 725
12,726. Randolph Custer – 2,518
21,976. Patrick H Daley – 425
15,593. William A Dixon – 150
11,712. William H Dixon – 1,146
15,594. Isaac Dust – 269
15,595. Benjamin Eckels – 1,040
13,287. Edwin C Engle – 300
12,664. Frederick A Fulk – 1,371
12,727. John F Goen – 1,625
15,319. Phillip Gordou – 1,210
14,628. William Green – 384
14,304. Estate of William Grove – 2,099
5,092. Edward V Haines – 2,089
13,020. Alleria A Hamill – 425
20,179. Elijah Hawk – 386
17,013. James T Hazlewood – 150 – Al.
14,395. John W Hill – 475
14,844. Francis R. Hooff – 3,285
20,076. E C Hopkins – 306
353. Harrison Huff – 130
15,590. Estate of William Hurst – 4,105
14,437. Mary S Jewett – 2,700
13,018. Andrew J Johnson – 190
12,355. John H Kauode – 2,945
20,178. Anna Kennedy – 1,500
12,665. Estate of Mrs A H Kerny – 750
21,767. Adam Kidwiler – 3,914
20,229. Isaac Kidwiler – 1,025
20,175. Thomas Kirwin – 495
14,629. Charles Langdon – 151
13,118. & 13,470. William M Lemen – 939
12,545. Willoughby N Lemen – 112
13,523. Samuel Lewis – 260
13,288. Thomas Licklider – 407
14,845. Dangerfield Lloyd – 1,163
15,984. Remington S Lock – 950 – Allowed $410.
13,481. William Loyd – 4,146
15,987. James W McCloy – 232 – Allowed $157.
14,370. John W McCurdy – 798
13,532. William McSherry – 1,743
17,012. Estate of Joseph Melvin – 583
15,530. Joseph Mcnifee – 1,030
13,019. Jacob Merritt – 2,386
21,619. Thomas H Miles – 11,749
17,507. Edward W Miller – 11,661
13,022. Jacob J Miller – 1,285 – Allowed $505.
14,309. Lydia Miller – 4,020
12,364. Robert M Miller – 2,631
12,191. George W. Mock – 200
1,925. Daniel Moler – 12,892
13,023. Phillip R Moler – 908
15,537. William J Moler – 517
243. & 14,371. Samuel Moreland – 2,588
13,200. James W Myers – 1,665
17,316. Lucinda Myers – 150
14,431. John W Neer – 665
1,000. John Nisewaner – 420
15,538. Estate of Mary Osborne – 278
14,433. Logan Osburn – 1,185
15,185. Estate of Barney Ott – 1,207
14,310. Daniel Ott – 598
12,666. John W Ott – 1,842 – Disallowed
17,317. John W Packett – 837
14,434. John B Packett – 2,076
14,435. William Pane – 1,750
17,318. Jonathan J Pettit – 8,004
1,213. Richard N Pool – 11,637
13,531. William C Ramey – 2,576
18,024. John H Ramsbury – 100
14,548. Henry Reed – 544
14,430. Samuel Ridenour – 5,425
13,017. Joseph L Roberts – 405
14,811. John Rockenbaugh – 701
14,372. Estate of James Roper – 9,929
13,117. & 13,200. Samuel Ruckle – 711
12,723. Estate of Uriah Rutherford – 2,996
11,464. Mary B Seaman – 4,881
13,480. George E Shaull – 530 - D
13,522. John F Shaull – 973
13,482. Nicholas S Shaull – 1,013
13,210. George Show – 1,025
13,021. James W Snyder – 2,340
14,438. George W. Spotts – 962
15,539. Jacob W Staley – 838
12,725. Stephen Staley – 1,702
20,173. Anna Stipes – 162
13,119. John J II Straith – 3,300
21,715. David H Strother – 50,000
1,959. Carey Thompson – 1,886
14,312. John Urton – 1,108
12,546. David A Wageley – 1,488
13,520. James Walker – 300
12,354. John W Ware – 1,533
14,630. John Welcome – 265
14,313. Elizabeth P Welsh – 1,537
13,521. Joseph Welshans – 453
15,596. Thomas West – 3,380
14,545. Francis A Whittington – 880
11,949. Thomas H Willis – 14,050
11,325. Thomas E Woodward – 716
15,507. Frances Yates – 3,999
13,518. George P Zombro – 1,277

Original documents for the above can be viewed at Footnote.
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Transcribed by Tracy Hutchison. Every effort was made to correctly transcribe the document, however, errors may have occured. Please let me know if you notice any corrections that need to be made.





Before the Commissioner of Claims,
Under Act of March 3, 1871.

Jno. F, Goen Col’d
vs.
The United States


On this 24 day of April, 1872 at Kerneysville in the County of Jefferson and State of West Virginia personally came John F. Goen (col’d) claimant, and George M. Mock and Michael Souders his witnesses, in a cause now pending before the Commissioners of Claims, in the name of John F. Goen vs. The United States, before me a U.S. Commissioner of Claims.

Present the Claimant and Col G. W. Z. Black Attorney for said Claimant.
The said Claimant, and each of said Witnesses, were first, before any questions were put to them, properly and duly sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth relative to the matters in which they were to testify; and the testimony of the Claimant and sad witnesses were taken down by me or in my presence; and I read over to said Claimant and to each witnesses their respective depositions; and the said depositions were duly signed in my presence.
Thos. S. Hargest
US Commissioner
And Special Commissioner.

Deposition of the Claimant
Answer to First Interrogatory: about 3 miles East of Charlestown in this county, Iwas there in person engaged in farming.
To Question No. 2. Hesays I lived there until the ninth of month of November 1864 when I went to Ohio and remained in Ohio until March 1866, when I returned to summit point at this county.
To Questions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14 he answerw “no”_in full to each
To Question 15 hesay yes in the fall of 1864 I went to Ohio to get rid of the rebels. I worked in a foundry out there. I remained there until March 1866 as I have already stated.
To Question No 16, 17 & 18 he answers “no” in full to each
To Question 19, he says “yes I was threatened by Mosby himself in the spring of 1864. He threatened that if I did not tell him where the Union army was he would wither take me south or shoot me. He rode off telling me that he would be back in the evening and if I did not tell him all about it there that I would be shot or taken south. When he came be I was very scarce.
To Questions 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32, he answers no in full to each
To Question 33 he says, at the beginning of the rebellion I sympathized with the Union. My feeling and language were for the Union I always expressed myself for the Union I exerted my influence and cast my vote for the Union. I voted to agst the ordinance of secession where ordinance of secession was adopted I adhered to the Union and did not go “with the State”

The atty for the claimant waiving a first examination, the claim’t is here examined by the Com’sr concerning the property charged.
I was present and and saw all the property charged taken from me. The 2 horses charged as the 1st item were taken from me by Capt William Bragg of Gen’l Coles Reg’t I was ploughing in the field near the road where he came in and said he must take the Horses for Artillery use and that if I would come to H. Ferry next day and I could get them back. The next day the blockade was down so tight that I could not get to the Ferry This occurred in the month of October 1864. The took the Horses and I never saw them afterwards. They were large draft horses, in good order, one was six & the other 7 yrs old, were worth $175. each. (note out in the margin – 2’d item) The corn was taken in the month of December 1864, by the commands that were encamped at Charlestown and Halltown. I don’t know the names of the officers who commanded The corn was all hauled away in Gov’t wagons out of my field They took husk & all, not the _____. The wagons numbered 15 or 20, and made two trips. There was 750 bus. taken. I estimated the quantity left in the field now was about 27 acres in the field and about 19 taken. I got from 40 to 50 bus to the acre of what was left, what they took they took clean _left none Corn was worth 90 cts per bus then. The wagon masters who were in charge of the horses said they were just out for _______ and intend to take it wherever the could find it. I asked for receipts but they said they were not ordered to give receipts.
(note in margin – 3rd item) The Hay charged was taken in the month of October 1864 by Dunponts Battery, Crook’s division. The Artillery men came for it themselves. They said they were in the hunt of Hay for their horses and were bound to have it. They said they had no hay for their horses. They took the hay out of the barn and out of stacks in the field. There was 3 ____ with from 8 to 10 loads in each and about 20 tons out of the barn. The hauled some in wagons to the camp and some they carried on horseback in bundles. Hay was worth at that time about $20 per ton All the property charged belonged to me individually.
I know nothing more about it Further saith not
John F Goen

Michael Souders a witness for the clt being duly sworn and examined by the Com’sr swears and says – first examination being waived.
I am 33 years I lived in Charlestown. I have known the claimant Mr Goen since 1862. I was a soldier of the 2d Md Cavalry. I was stationed at Charlestown nearly all the time of the war. I saw him since 1862 during the war nearly every day. when the rebels were about __always came into our lines and stayed there until they were gone. I always heard him say he was a Union man. I have known him to give our Captain (Denton Summers) information concerning the movements of the rebels. He was regarded by and ____ by the officers and soldiers of the camp as a true Unionist.
I did not see the property charged taken from him, but I was there the day before it was taken on a patrol and saw the Hay, and the next day I was by again and it was gone. I don’t know any thing now about the day. I know nothing of the other property. The wagons trains in our camp were nearly always out in the county after ___ for the horses ever wagins were nearly always out for ____ in the community. I don’t know anything now about the matter – further saith not
Michael Souders

G.W. Mock a witness for the clt. being duly sworn and ex’nd by the Court expresses and says – first examination being waived.
Age 45 I reside at Charlestown West Va. My occupation Brick & Stone Mason I have known him since 1833 (or 1855). Was intimate with claimant during the war, lived about 2 ½ miles from him, saw him often every week. Conversed with him frequently about the war its cause and progress. Witness was a union man, and claimant knew him as such, does not recollect – Claimants language but they both often said it (the war) could have been avoided, claimant at all times symphatised with the union case and adhered to the cause of the United States, showed his sympathy in conversation when we were alone. Claimants reputation was that of a loyal man, he was regarded as a loyal man by his loyal neighbors, did not know of his ever contributing any money or property or giving information to the Union cause. The Rebels tried to arrest him at one time on account of his union sentiment but he kept out of their way, does not think he ever contributed any thing in aid of the confederate cause Does not know that he ever served any confederate bonds or ever did to aid the confederate cause., he does not think claimant could have established his loyalty to the confederate government as he was a known union man and further saith not
George W. Mock






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From: Marriages, Jefferson County, Virginia – West Virginia 1801 through 1890, Transcribed and Compiled Alphabetically by J. Lester Link Under The Supervision And Kindeness Of John E. Ott, County Court Clerk, And With the Particular Assistance Of Mrs. Sarah Watson Humpston and Other Office Personnel

Brannam, T. and Lucy Goings – April 4, 1872
Place of marriage, Jefferson County – Age of husband, 42 – Age of wife, 28 – Husband is a Widower – Wife is a Widow – Husband was born at Fairfax, Virginia – Wife was born in Jefferson County, West Virginia – Both reside in Jefferson County, West Virginia – Husband’s parents are Joseph and Lucy – Wife’s parents are Alfred and Annie – Occupation of husband is Farmer.

Goens, C. H. and L. V. Roper (bride) – November 19, 1868
Place of marriage, Jefferson County – Age of husband, 24 – Age of wife, 19 – Both are Single – Both were born in Jefferson County – Both reside in Jefferson County – Husband’s parents are L. and Sarah – Wife’s parents are Osburn and Louise – Occupation of husband is Farmer. (Parent consents.)

Goens, William (cold.) Hatty Washington – May 26, 1886
Place of marriage, Kearneysville – Age of husband, 24 – Age of wife, 21 – Both are Single – Both were born in Jefferson County, West Virginia – Both reside in Jefferson County, West Virginia.

Goings, Harriet and Joseph Hill – January 30, 1806

Goings, Henry (free mixture) Elizabeth Hart – November 26, 1826

Goings, John H. (cold.) Edmonia McCard – December 15, 1885
Place of marriage, Ripon – Age of husband, 45 – Age of wife, 26 – Husband is a Widower – Wife is Single – Both were born in Jefferson County, West Virginia – Both reside in Jefferson County, West Virginia.

Goings, Tom (free negroes) Margaret Alexander – March 29, 1852

Goins, Fanny (free colored) James Douglas – June 13, 1860

Goins, John and Sarah McDaniel – December 28, 1871
Place of marriage – Jefferson County – Age of husband, 34 – Age of wife, 27 – Both are Single – Both were born in Jefferson County – Husband resides in Jefferson – Wife resides in Jefferson County – Husband’s parents are Thomas and Theresa – Wife’s parents are George and Ellen – Occupation of husband is Farmer.

Goins, Joseph (cold.) Lucy Sims – January 23, 1873
Place of marriage, near Kabletown – Age of husband is 27 next august – Age of wife, 24 – Both are Single – Both are born in Jefferson County, West Virginia – Both reside in Jefferson County, West Virginia – Husband’s parents are Lawson and Sarah – Wife’s parents are, mother Eliza – Occupation of husband is Farmer.

Goins, William (free colored) Martha Johnson – February 23, 1863
Time of marriage, Thursday, February 26, 1863 – Place of marriage, Charlestown – Names, William Goins and Martha Johnson (free colored) – Age of husband, 28 years the 4th of next March – Age of wife, 35 years – Both are Single – Both were born in this County – Both live in this County – Names of husband’s parents, Lawson and Sally Goins – Names of wife’s mother, Kitty – Occupation of husband is Farm Hand – License issued, February 23, 1863 – Thomas A. Moore, Clerk.

Johnson, Emanuel (cold.) Nancy E Goyins – September 19, 1867
Place of marriage, Jefferson – Age of husband, 24 – Age of wife, 19 _ Both are Single – Husband was born in Page County, Virginia – Wife was born in Jefferson County – Both reside in Jefferson County – Husband’s parents are John – Wife’s parents are Lawson – Occupation of husband is Farmer. (Father is person gives his consent.)

Roper, William H. and Sarah Goins – July 14, 1873
Place of marriage, Charlestown – Age of husband, 25 – Age of wife, 22 – Both are Single – Both were born in Jefferson County, West Virginia – Both reside in Jefferson County, West Virginia.
******************************************************

From:  “The Black Book”, Jefferson County West Virginia Directory of African-American Facts 1800-2004.  The Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society.

Pg. 6 – Businesses - Barber Shops
Goens’, Lewis……………………Harpers Ferry

Pg. 7 – Businesses – Boatsman
Goins, Lawson………………….Charles Town

Pg. 13 – City, County and Government Officials
Delegates to State and National Convention
Goens, Lawson…..Negro Farmers Congress, San Francisco, 1915, appointed by WV Governor Hatfield

Pg. 33 – John Brown Elks Lodge No. 841 - Chartered 1928 - I.O.P.O.E. of WV - Charles Town, West Virginia – Charter Members, Initiated August 1928
Goens, Shannon S.

Pg. 35 – World War I Negro Veterans
Goens, James E.

Pg. 43 – Page-Jackson High School Graduates 1942-1965
Goens, Lorelia……1957

*******************************************************
Tombstone Inscriptions - Jefferson County, W. Va. 1687-1980 - Tombstone Inscriptions and Burial Lots compiled by Bee Line Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Published by Walsworth Publishing Company, Marceline, Mo.

Bolivar Cemetery
Goens, William Lawson - b. June 12, 1876 d. Jan. 5, 1922
Goens, Lewis R. - b. Jan 1, 1911 d.Oct. 8, 1967 - PFC Tank Destroyer WWII
Goens, Victoria D. - 1913 -

Burial Ground Next to Boyd Carter for the following:
Goens, William - 1861-1919 Harriet - 1865-1927 wf of William Goens
Goens, Edgar - b. May 11, 1911 d. Aug. 3 1963 - PVT WWII
Goens, Paul R. - b. Mar. 4, 1890 d. May 3, 1932

St. Paul's Baptist (Kearneysville)
Goens, Sarah A. - d. Feb. 8, 1886, aged 75 yrs. 10 mo. 7 da.

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Sunday, March 8, 2009

Georgetown District/County, SC Early Records

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown,_South_Carolina

Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County.[3] Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Great Pee Dee River, Waccamaw River, and Sampit River, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 tons of materials a year.

History
Georgetown occupies a unique place in American history. In fact, some historians claim that American history began here in 1526 with the earliest settlement in North America by Europeans with African slaves. It is believed that in that year the Spanish, under Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón, founded a colony on Waccamaw Neck called San Miguel de Guadalupe. For multiple reasons, the colony failed including a likely fever epidemic and a revolt of African slaves who went to live with the Cofitachiqui Indians in the area. Having failed as farmers, the surviving Spanish sailed to the Spice Islands of the Caribbean on a ship built from local cypress and oak trees.

After settling Charles Town in 1670, the English established trade with the Indians and the trading posts in the outlying areas quickly became settlements.

By 1721, the petition for a new parish, Prince George, Winyah, on the Black River was granted. In 1734, Prince George, Winyah was divided and the newly created Prince Frederick Parish came to occupy the church at Black River. Prince George Parish, Winyah then encompassed the new town of Georgetown on the Sampit River.

In 1729, Elisha Screven laid the plan for Georgetown and developed the city in a four-by-eight block grid. Referred to as the “Historic District”, the original grid city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and still bears the original street names, lot numbers, and many of the original homes.

The Indian trade declined soon after Georgetown was established and indigo became the cash crop with rice as a secondary crop.[5] Agricultural profits were so great between 1735-1775 that in 1757 the Winyah Indigo Society, whose members paid dues in indigo, opened and maintained the first public school between Charles Town and Wilmington.

When the American Revolution erupted, Georgetown played a large part by sending both Thomas Lynch, Sr. and Thomas Lynch, Jr. to sign the Declaration of Independence. Later in the war, Marquis de Lafayette arrived in Georgetown from France to help the Colonists in the war against England. During the final years of the conflict, Georgetown was the important port for supplying General Nathanael Greene's army. Francis Marion (the Swamp Fox) led many guerrilla actions in this vicinity.

Following the American Revolution, rice became the staple crop. It required the low land along the rivers for cultivation and thus the rice plantations were established around Georgetown on its five rivers. By 1840, the Georgetown District (later County) produced nearly one-half of the total rice crop of the United States, and became the largest rice-exporting port in the world.
This wealth produced an aristocratic way of life marked by stately plantation manor houses, elegant furniture, generous hospitality and a leisured lifestyle for a select few which lasted until 1860.[6] Many of these plantations are still standing today, including Mansfield Plantation on the banks of the Black River. The profits from Georgetown's rice trade flooded into nearby Charleston, where they stoked a thriving mercantile and factoring economy.

The town's thriving economy long attracted settlers from elsewhere, including a number of planters and shipowners who emigrated to Georgetown from Virginia. These included the Shackelford family, whose representative John Shackelford moved to Georgetown in the eighteenth century after serving in the Virginia forces of the Continental Army. His descendants became prominent planters, lawyers, judges and Georgetown and Charleston businessmen.[7]
Georgetown and Georgetown County suffered terribly during Reconstruction (1865-1876). The rice crops of 1866-88 were failures due to disrupted labor patterns, lack of capital and inclement weather. Rice continued to be grown commercially until about 1910, but never on the scale or with the profits attained before 1860.

After reconstruction ended, Georgetown turned to wood products for its economic survival and by 1900 there were several lumber mills in operation on the Sampit River. The largest was the Atlantic Coast Lumber Company which provided a much needed boost to the local economy.
As the twentieth century dawned, Georgetown, under the leadership of Mayor William Doyle Morgan, modernized. The city added electricity, telephone service, sewer facilities, rail connections, some paved streets and sidewalks, new banks, a thriving port, a new public school and a handsome Post Office and Customs House building.

Like most cities, Georgetown suffered great economic deprivation during the Great Depression. The Atlantic Coast Lumber Company went bankrupt early in the depression, putting almost everyone out of work. In 1936 help arrived. In that year the Southern Kraft Division of International Paper opened a mill which by 1944 was the largest in the world.

In recent years, the economy has become more diversified. A steel mill has located here, tourism has become a booming business and many retirees have chosen to settle here in this area of lovely beaches, plantations developed as communities, and pleasant climate.

Georgetown has featured the visitation of many prominent people throughout the nearly 277 years of cities existence. George Washington visited Clifton Plantation and addressed the townspeople in 1791. President James Monroe was entertained in 1821 at Prospect Hill (now Arcadia) on Waccamaw with a real red carpet rolled out to the river. Theodosia Burr made her home at the Oaks Plantation (now part of Brookgreen Gardens) after her marriage to Joseph Alston in 1801 and departed from Georgetown on her ill-fated voyage in 1812. Brookgreen was also the boyhood home of one of America's most famous painters, Washington Allston. Joel R. Poinsett lived at White House Plantation on the Black River. After retiring from government service, Poinsett entertained President Martin Van Buren at his home. President Grover Cleveland, as guest of the Annandale Gun Club, came for duck hunting and was feted by the citizens in 1894 and 1896. Bernard Baruch, America's elder statesman, entertained many notables at Hobcaw Barony, his home for many years. Among those were President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, General Mark Clark and General Omar Bradley.

Today, the Historic District of Georgetown contains more than fifty homes, public buildings and sites which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=179889

Series: S213190
Volume: 0006
Page: 00046
Item: 000
Date: 10/17/1784
Description: GOWING, JOHN, PLAT FOR 200 ACRES ON DROWNING CREEK, GEORGE TOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY JOHN HENDERSON.
Names indexed: GOWING, JOHN; HENDERSON, JOHN
Locations: DROWNING CREEK; GEORGETOWN DISTRICT
Document type: PLAT

************************************************************************

Records submitted by Joanne Pezzullo. Joanne has lost some records over the years and is not sure exactly of the sources. Several websites contain the some of the same records.

William Middleton Sr. left a sizeable estate (worth about 4,000pounds not counting land), inventoried and appraised by WilliamMiddleton, Jr., Gideon Gibson, Sr., and Gideon Gibson, Jr. on April 24,1773. An interesting list of debtors to the estate includes:
Wm Alston due the Estate for Pork......55"--"-
Gideon Gibson Sr Note to the Estate...157"--"-<-----------------------------
George Gibson due to the Estate........26"--"-<-----------------------------
John Berry by Acct due the Estate.......5"--"-
Jordan Gibson Sr. Acct.................17"--"- <----------------------------
Benj. Blackmans acct.......96/3
Peter Keighleys acct.......25/
Isaac Nevils acct..........L 5
Thomas Brewintons acct.....60/
Frederick Jones acct...... L 10
Jacob Goings acct dues said Estate......7"10"- <----------------------------**********************************************

1785. Will of Moses Bass of Prince Georges Parish, George Town Dist, Province of SC, being indisposed in Body.... to MOURNING GOING, dau of JACOB GOING, one cow marked with a cross & over bit & undr bit in one ear and cross & whole under nick in the other ear; to SARAH GOING, dau of JACOB GOING, one cow marked in the above mentioned mark; to ELIZABETH GOING, dau of JACOB GOING, one cow marked with a cross & undr bit & over bit in each ear and branded ME; to ANNE GOING, dau of JACOB GOING, one heifer marked with a cross and under bit & over bit in each ear branded ME; to CYNTHA GOING, dau of JACOB GOING, one heifer yearling marked with a cross & over bit & under bit in each ear & branded ME; to my beloved cousin Jeremiah Bass, tract of 100 ac granted to John Smith, and one negro named Peter, one negro woman named Fann, one negro boy named Jack with their increase; my wife Elizabeth Bass to have the use of said plantation & tract of land granted to John Smith her lifetime and the use of negroes Peter, Fann & Jack & their increase her life time; to my beloved cousin Wright Bass, the plantation, mill, & tract of land containing 444 ac that I now live on, one negro woman Jane, my wife Elizabeth Bass to have the use of the plantation, mill & tract of land and negro woman her lifetime; to Henry Harison, son of James Harison, one negro woman Cate & increase, my wife to have the use of the negro woman her lifetime; to JOSEPH GOING, JUNR, one negro girl named Judah & increase, my wife to have the use her life time; to my beloved wife Elizabeth Bass, one negro man named Jack, one woman named Florah, one woman named Nan, one boy named Isum, one boy named Roger, and my cattle, about 110 head, branded ME, all my stock of horses & mares, all my household furniture & plantation tools, 26 head of sheep, and my hogs, also negro girl Violet; to JACOB GOING, a plantation of 50 ac granted to John Crawford; I appoint my wife Elizabeth Bass and my friend Luke Whitefield and James Harison, executors, dated 28 Feb 1777. Moses Bass (M) (LS), Wit: Malachi Murfee, Jeremiah Bass (x), Right Bass. A true copy taken from the original and examined by Hugh Horry, Ordinary G Town Dist. Whereas I, the within named Right Bass, am the eldest son of Edward Bass deceased, who was eldest brother of the within named Testator Moses Bass, which said Moses Bass departed this life without issue, whereby I, said Right Bass became his heir at law, and I am willing that all the several devises & bequests in the said will should have full effect, for the memory of my deceased uncle Moses Bass and for the several devisees in the within will, and five shillings, I confirm all the devises, legacies and bequests, 9 Nov 1785. Right Bass (LS), Wit: Chas Cotesworth Pinckney, Wm Smith. Proved in Charleston Dist by the oath of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 28 Jun 1786 before Dl. Mazyck, JP. Rec 28 Jun 1786. S-5, 283-284. (Holcomb, SC Deed Abstracts, 1783-1788, Bks I-5 thru Z-5, 1996. SML 975.7 Hol)

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=178931

Series: S213190
Volume: 0003
Page: 00356
Item: 001
Date: 2/15/1786
Description: GOWIN, JOHN, PLAT FOR 100 ACRES ON DROWNING CREEK, GEORGE TOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY JOHN HENDERSON.
Names indexed: GOWIN, JOHN; HENDERSON, JOHN
Locations: DROWNING CREEK; GEORGETOWN DISTRICT
Document type: Plat

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=185610

Series: S213190
Volume: 0014
Page: 00143
Item: 000
Date: 3/2/1786
Description: ROTHMAHLER, JOB, PLAT FOR 1,200 ACRES ON DROWNING CREEK, GEORGE TOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY JOHN HENDERSON.
Names indexed: GOWING, JOHN; HENDERSON, JOHN; ROTHMAHLER, JOB
Locations: DROWNING CREEK; GEORGETOWN DISTRICT; NORTH CAROLINA
Document type: PLAT

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=192523

Series: S213190
Volume: 0026
Page: 00032
Item: 000
Date: 11/12/1789
Description: GIBSON, STEPHEN, PLAT FOR 1,700 ACRES ON LITTLE PEE DEE RIVER, GEORGETOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY WILLIAM STEWART.
Names indexed: BLUE, WILLIAM; GIBSON, STEPHEN; GOWIN, LUCY; STEWART, WILLIAM
Locations: GEORGETOWN DISTRICT; LITTLE PEE DEE RIVER
Document type: PLAT

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=193039

Series: S213190
Volume: 0026
Page: 00322
Item: 001
Date: 12/30/1791
Description: BLUE, WILLIAM, PLAT FOR 250 ACRES ON JUMPING GULLY, GEORGETOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY JOHN HENDERSON ON DECEMBER 22, 1785.
Names indexed: BLUE, WILLIAM; GOINS, THOMAS; HENDERSON, JOHN; MCKAY, JOHN
Locations: GEORGETOWN DISTRICT; JUMPING GULLY BRANCH; LITTLE PEE DEE RIVER
Document type: PLAT

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=193095

Series: S213190
Volume: 0026
Page: 00349
Item: 002
Date: 7/26/1792
Description: CAMPBELL, DANIEL, PLAT FOR 100 ACRES ON HAYS SWAMP, GEORGE TOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY WILLIAM STEWART FOR JOHN MCDONALD.
Names indexed: CAMPBELL, DANIEL; GOWEN, THOMAS; MCDONALD, JOHN; STEWART, WILLIAM
Locations: GEORGETOWN DISTRICT; HAYES SWAMP; LITTLE PEE DEE RIVER
Document type: PLAT

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=195914

Series: S213190
Volume: 0030
Page: 00006
Item: 002Date: 7/26/1792
Description: CAMPBELL, DANIEL, PLAT FOR 500 ACRES ON NORTH EAST SIDE OF LITTLE PEE DEE RIVER, GEORGE TOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY WILLIAM STEWART FOR JOHN MCDONALD.
Names indexed: CAMPBELL, DANIEL; FOLLIE; GIBSON, STEPHEN; GOWEN, THOMAS; MCDONALD, JOHN; STEWART, WILLIAM
Locations: GEORGETOWN DISTRICT; LITTLE PEE DEE RIVER
Document type: PLAT

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=196115

Series: S213190
Volume: 0030
Page: 00112
Item: 002Date: 4/26/1793
Description: FATHEREE, WILLIAM, PLAT FOR 800 ACRES ON DROWNING CREEK, GEORGE TOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY JOHN RUSS.
Names indexed: BARFIELD, JOSHUA; COMBS, JOHN ABIRAM; FATHEREE, WILLIAM; GOWAN, JOHN; RUSS, JOHN
Locations: DROWNING CREEK; GEORGETOWN DISTRICT
Document type: PLAT

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=202084

Series: S213190
Volume: 0034
Page: 00353
Item: 001
Date: 4/7/1796
Description: MCKELLER, PETER, PLAT FOR 100 ACRES ON HAYSES SWAMP, GEORGE TOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY JOSIAH LEWIS.
Names indexed: GIBSON, STEPHEN; GOWING, JOHN; LEWIS, JOSIAH; MCDONALD, JOHN; MCKELLER, PETER
Locations: GEORGETOWN DISTRICT; HAYES SWAMP; LITTLE PEE DEE RIVER
Document type: PLAT

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http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=202480

Series: S213190
Volume: 0035
Page: 00107
Item: 002
Date: 1/4/1798
Description: WATSON, WILLIAM, PLAT FOR 61 ACRES ON LITTLE PEE DEE RIVER AND DROWNING CREEK, GEORGE TOWN DISTRICT, SURVEYED BY D. ROWLAND.
Names indexed: ADAMS, EZEKIEL; GOWEN, JOHN; PAGE, JESSE; ROWLAND, D.; WATSON, WILLIAM
Locations: BEAR SWAMP; CYPRESS BRANCH; DROWNING CREEK; GEORGETOWN DISTRICT; LITTLE PEE DEE RIVER
Document type: PLAT

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1790 Prince Fredericks, Georgetown, SC Federal Census
Bathiah Going
Shadrach Ginn

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1790 Prince Georges, Georgetown, SC Federal Census
Lucey Gowen
John Gowen
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