CHOCTAW COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

 

Joseph B. Gowings, a farmer who owned four slaves was enumerated as the head of a household in the 1840 census of Choctaw County, page 75:

 

    "Gowings, Joseph B.      white male   40-50

                           white female 20-30

                              white male   10-15

                              white female   5-10

                              white female   5-10

                              white male     5-10

                              white female   0-5

                              white female   0-5

                              white male     0-5"

 

CHOCTAW NATION, MISSISSIPPI

 

Phillip Goins, a "three-quarters" Choctaw, was born in Mississippi about 1770 and was a resident of the Choctaw Nation in Mississippi, according to United States Citizenship Court records as transcribed in "The Journal of American Family Research," Volume 3.  For Phillip Goins to have been a "three-quarters" Choctaw, his father and his grandfather before him would have had to have married full-blood Choctaw women.  This suggests that the grandfather Goins must have arrived in the Choctaw Nation around 1710 which is regarded as highly unlikely.

 

"Goins" is not a word in the Choctaw language, nor is it found in the "Choctaw Lexicon" compiled by the Rev. Cyrus Byington.  Since the "Goins" name is Caucasian and since blue-eyed individuals have turned up among the Choctaw descendants of Phillip Goins, it is suggested that he was of Melungeon descent.  The names "Goins" and "Gibson" were prominent in the Melungeon communities of Virginia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.

 

It is possible that Phillip and Oti Goins were "invented" by the children of Jeremiah Goins and Sarafina Drake Goins to legiti­matize their bid to be enrolled by the Tribal Council of the Choctaw Nation.  Their claims of Choctaw blood were denied by the Tribal Council and the Dawes Commission which investigated the evidence.

 

Jane P. McManus, a Goins researcher of Covington, Louisiana  wrote  September 19, 1989:

 

"Several years ago I came across a huge genealogical collection of family group sheets assembled by Curtis Jacobs in a library in southern Louisiana [Beauregard Parish Library].  Included was a sheet on the Goins family.  Listed were John Goins and wife Nancy John­son Goins.  Their children were: Benjamin, James, Thomas, Stephen, Jenny [Virginia], Jerry [Jeremiah], William M. and John.  ["John Goines, age 42, born in South Carolina" was enumerated as the head of Household 421 in the 1860 census or Rapides Parish, Louisiana.]

 

William M. Goins had a bible record wherein he recorded all his family's dates.  He was born August 22, 1809.  He was married to Charlotte Elizabeth Nelson July 27, 1832 in St. Landry Parish.  She was born December 10, 1808 in Louisiana.  John Drake was bondsman.  He recorded that Stephen Goins was married to Edith Perkins November 14, 1826.  Jenny married Jordan Perkins March 12, 1814.  [Jordan Perkins was the son of Joshua Perkins and Mary Mixon Perkins who migrated west from South Carolina to Mississippi to Louisiana in the early 1800s.  They travelled with a group composed of the Willis, Sweat and Johnson families led by Rev. Joseph Willis.] Jerry married Sarafina Drake about 1820.  John Goins was married to Francis 'Fanny' Nash."

 

Joshua Perkins and Jenny Goins Perkins had seven children who lived to adulthood, according to Patricia Ann Waak, Foundation member of Erie, Colorado in a letter dated October 21, 1995.  One of their sons, Jesse Perkins was born about 1816.  He was married about 1838, wife's name Cyndelia.  Joshua Perkins and Jesse Perkins took their families westward into Texas about 1840.  They appeared on the tax roll of Houston County, Texas in 1846 and were enumerated there in the federal census of 1850.  Both father and son and their families appeared in the 1860 census of Bee County, Texas.  Jesse Perkins and his family were enumerated in the 1870 census of Goliad County, Texas

 

The oldest daughter of Jesse Perkins, Martha Perkins was born about 1845 and was married about 1862, husband's name Quarles.  She was remarried in 1870 to Charles Smith in Goliad, Texas.  They were enumerated in Callahan County, Texas in the 1880 census.  Seven children were born to them, including two sets of twins.  In 1887 Charles Smith transferred all of his land to Martha Perkins Quarles Smith, shortly before her death in 1888.

 

Dooley Wirt Smith, son of Charles Smith and Martha Perkins Quarles Smith, was born about 1877.  His father remarried about 1890, and Dooley Wirt Smith disliked his stepmother.  He placed his younger siblings in a wagon, and at the age of 13 fled with them to an older sister's home.  He was married about 1898 to Annie Elizabeth Jane Mays.  Ten of their children lived to adulthood, including Anne Nell Smith. 

 

Ann Nell Smith, ninth child, was born about 1919.  She was married in 1942 to Boxly William Waak.  Children born to them include Patricia Ann Waak who was born about 1944.  She was married about 1962, husband's name Baldi.  She was remarried in 1994 to Kenneth John Strom.

 

Children born to Patricia Ann Waak Baldi include:

 

    Cinira Anne Baldi                   born about 1965

    Rachel Nell Baldi                        born about 1968

                                             ==O==

 

Phillip Goins was married about 1795 to Oti, a full-blood Choctaw woman who was also born in Choctaw Nation, ac­cording to the children of Jeremiah Goins and Sarafina Drake Goins.  Margie Bailey of Columbia, Mississippi wrote in October, 1992, "My father spoke many times of Oti Montro, an Indian woman [or princess] as his ancestor."

 

A Phillip Goins did appear in the records of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana.  He was the common law husband of Keziah Nash, daughter of Thomas Nash and Emily Slater Nash.  Keziah Nash was born about 1789 in Mississippi.  Phillip Goins was enumerated as the head of a household of three people in the 1810 census of St. Landry Parish. 

 

They were married in January 1815 at Natchitoches, Louisiana.  At the time they applied for a license to marry, they signed a contract in Natchitoches Parish to legitimize their two children.  James Groves, brother-in-law of Keziah Nash Goins, witnessed the legitimization contract, No. 4415, and Thomas Nash signed as security on the marriage license, No. 4417, bond of $500.  On the same date Elizabeth Nash, sister of Keziah Nash, was married to John Gardner.

 

The contract read:

 

"Be it known that we, Phillip Goins and Keziah Nash have this day with these presents in consideration of a marriage to be this day solemnized between us mutually agreed contract with each other to acknowledge marriage our two children Michael and Rebecca come before the same and they are hereby declared and acknowledged by us as legitimate and entitled to all the rights to which they would have been entitled if born subsequent to said marriage."

                                  Phillip [X] Goins

January 2, 1815                   Keziah [X] Nash

 

Attested: D. Case, James Bloodworth, James Groves"

 

 

Children born to Phillip Goins and Keziah Nash Goins include:

 

    Michael Goins             born about 1808

    Rebecca Goins               born about 1811

 

Michael [Leroy?] Goins, son of Phillip Goins and Keziah Nash Goins, was born in Natchitoches about 1808.  "Micael Gowen and Ardena Taylor, both of this county" were married March 20, 1849 in adjoining Newton County, Texas, accord-ing to Newton County Marriage Book A-1, page 48.  "Har-dienia Taylor, age 7" was enumerated in the household of her parents, William Taylor and Rebecca Nash Taylor in the Mexican census of 1823.

 

Children born to Michael Leroy Goins and Hardinia Taylor Goins include:

 

    Caroline Goins                       born about 1851

    Martha Goins                             born about 1852

    Mary Jane Goins                        born about 1854

 

Martha Goins, daughter of Michael Leroy Goins and Hardenia Taylor Goins, was born about 1852.  During the Civil War her family lived in Atascosa County, Texas.  She lived with her mother "near Campbellton while her husband was away fighting in the Civil War." 

 

Rebecca Goins, daughter of Phillip Goins and Keziah Nash Goins, was born about 1811 in Natchitoches.

 

As the pressure of white settlers began to encroach upon the Indians in Mississippi, Phillip Goins reacted by moving to Opelousas, Louisiana.  He was enumerated there in St. Landry Parish in the U. S. census of 1810 as the head of a household composed of "three free colored persons."  The enumerators in 1810 had very little latitude as to how they recorded non-whites. 

 

George Virgil Goins, a descendant of Dibble, Oklahoma, wrote in July 1992 that Benjamin Goins and James Goins, whom he regarded as brothers of Phillip Goins, were also enumerated in the 1810 census of St. Landry Parish.  He wrote:

 

"Benjamin and Phillip purchased land on Bayou Crocodile and Bayou Boeuf in 1808.  Both are listed as land owners.  James Goins lived in the same vicinity in 1810.  In 1804 over 100 Choctaw families lived on Bayou Crocodile.  Benjamin Goins still lived on this land in 1815.  In 1819 James Goins owned 320 acres at Chopique on the west side of the Calcasieu River.  "Amos Goines" was enumerated in 1820 on Bayou Boeuf in Rapides Parish."

 

James Goins was married to Elizabeth Perkins, daughter of Joshua Perkins and Elizabeth Mixon Perkins, according to the research of Sandra M. Loridans of Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico.  Virginia "Jenny" Goins was married to Jordan Perkins, son of Joshua Perkins.  Jordan Perkins was born in 1793 in South Carolina.  Joshua Perkins was born about 1765 in Greenwood, South Carolina in District 96.  He was married about 1788 to Mary Mixon, daughter of Micah Mixon and _____ William-son Mixon, according to the research of Sherry Bourn.

 

Stephen Goins was married to Edith "Edie" Perkins, daughter of Joshua Perkins.

 

The Choctaw tribe lived for centuries in southeastern Missis­sippi.  They had not given the Americans any resistance.  In­stead they had aligned themselves with the Americans in their battles.  Several hundred of their braves fought with the Missis­sippians in the Creek War, according to "Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Nation" by Angie Debo.  They fought with Gen. Andrew Jackson in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812.  They invited American missionaries to establish sta­tions and schools in the Choctaw Nation and gave permission for the construction of the Natchez Trace across their land.

 

Americans had begun flooding into Natchez, Mississippi and the surrounding area even before the Revolutionary War.  From the Spanish Archives, "The Genealogical Helper" ex­tracted the names of 157 Americans who had arrived in 1789.  "Legajo 16" identified the individuals in a "Report on the to­bacco growers at Natchez during the past year" dated March 2, 1790.  The white population in Mississippi grew from less than 9,000 in 1800 to over 70,000 in 1830, and the pressure upon the Indians began to increase exponentially.  Phillip Goins had foreseen the gathering storm for the Choctaws and preceded westward.

 

The Choctaws were the first tribe to succumb to the pressure of the encroaching white settlers.  In 1830 they agreed to re­move to Oklahoma and became known as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes."  Almost 7,000,000 acres were ceded to the Choctaws in southeastern Oklahoma, "south of the Canadian River, north of the Red River, from Ft. Smith west." In Oklahoma the Choctaws were settled primarily in Mc­Curtain, Pittsburg, Le Flore, Pushmataha and Choctaw Counties.  Some remained in Mississippi in Neshoba County where a Choctaw reservation is maintained today.  In 1990 about 4,000 of the county's population of 24,000 were Choctaws.  Adjoining Winston County also holds a high concentra­tion of Choctaws.  William Arm­strong undertook a  Choctaw census in 1831 in Mississippi which showed a total of 19,554, according to "The Choctaws" by Jesse O. McKee and Jon A. Schlenker.  Of those 12,500 came to Oklahoma. 

 

The Creeks and Seminoles began arriving in Oklahoma in 1832.  The Cherokees traversed the "Trail of Tears" in 1835.  In 1837 6,070 Chickasaw and their slaves be­gan moving from Chickasaw Bluffs [present site of Memphis, Tennessee] to their new capital at Tish­omingo, Oklahoma.  The territory the Chickasaws gave up was generally the north­ern 1/5 of Miss­issippi.  They were transported to an area just west of the Choctaws' new home­land.  Subsequently a portion of 67 Indian tribes were removed to Oklahoma.  In Oklahoma the Choctaws were settled primarily in Mc­Curtain, Pittsburg, Le Flore, Push­mataha and Choctaw Counties.  Some remained in Mississippi in Neshoba County where a Choctaw reservation is maintained today.  In 1990 about 4,000 of the county's popu­lation of 24,000 are Choctaws.  Adjoining Winston County also holds a high concentra­tion of Choctaws.  A Choctaw census taken in 1831 in Mississippi showed a total of 19,554.  Of those 12,500 came to Oklahoma. 

 

The American government showed a very devious nature in dealing with the Choctaw Nation.  It signed 16 different treaties with the tribe and reneged shamefully on com­mitments it had no intention of keeping.  It was easier to sweep the Indians westward than to exterminate them.

 

In the Treaty of Treaty Ground, Mississippi signed October 20, 1820 by Gen. Andrew Jackson and Chief Pushmataha the United States ceded land in southwest Arkansas, the southern half of Oklahoma as well as land in Texas and New Mexico [which of which belonged to Spain.]  The Choctaws gave away still more in the Treaty of Washington January 20, 1825.  Chiefs Mushulatubbe, Pushmataha and Apuckshun­nubbee un­dertook the journey to Washington to sign the agreement.  Apuckshunnubbee died on the way, and Pushmataha died in Washington in December 1824 before the treaty was signed.  It seemed that the Indians suffered in every contact with the whites.

 

In the "Paris News" of Paris, Texas Robert A. Burns wrote:

 

"In 1820 and 1821, when the area which now comprises much of Northeast Texas and Southeast Oklahoma became the vast area known as Miller County, Arkansas, those settlers north of the Red River seemed more enthusiastic about the new country than those located south of the river.

 

The first courthouse was located in the home of Claiborne Wright who lived at the site of an earlier settlement of French and Indians called Shawneetown, located south of present-day Idabel, Oklahoma.

 

Those settlers south of the river at that time exhibited discontent with the idea that they were to become part of Arkansas.. One settler wrote a letter to the governor of Texas, which was at that time ruled by Spain.  The capitol of Texas was located in San Antonio, and the language and the government was Spanish.

 

The author of the letter, William Rabb, wrote in Spanish in the summer of 1821 from "Jonesborough, south side of Red River:"

 

I am a resident of the upper settlement on Red River, having lived there three years.  It is the opinion of the most intelligent men in this section that we are within the limits of the Province of Texas.  An unfortunate experience has proved to us that we do not have the protection of the United States.  The settlement contains about eighty families.  With the exception of a few, they are honorable and industrious people, although they have the misfortune of living under the most depressive and unfavorable conditions.  Up until just recently, the other bank of the Red River has been under the political jurisdiction of the United States.  The authorities have recently sold the region to the Choctaw tribe.  The old-time settlers and former officials continue to live in the county which now belongs to the Indians and not only control their former possessions, but likewise the bank of the river.

 

We are obliged to pay enormous contributions to maintain a bunch of public grafters.  We are almost daily forced to submit to the most terrible insults and injuries, without having any hope of seeing the end to our misfortunes.  The reason for our present situation is that the Choctaws who live on the east side of the Mississippi have not yet come to take over their new possessions.

 

The settlers on the north side of the Red River carry on direct trade with the Comanches, furnishing them with all the munitions of war and receiving in exchange a great number of horses, many of which bear the Spanish brand.  We feel that this selfish and illegal traffic is very injurious to our government.

 

This settlement is located about 300 miles by land above Natchitoches, and this place [Jonesborough] is almost directly north from the place where the road from Bexar crosses the Trinity River.  The inhabitants of this unfortunate section of your province would be very happy to be under the protection of your government.  They greatly regret the lack of any civil law, for their guidance. 

 

Many of the settlers will probably leave in consequence of the present situation.  I have planned to locate on the Colorado under the direction of Mr. Austin and expect to move my family and goods during the present autumn.  I hope to be free of the unprincipled creatures who rob me and insult me with impunity.  However, I am anxious for the welfare of my fellow citizens whom I shall leave in this territory.  I hope through your goodness they will find a safe protection against the abusive hands of those miserable rascals who have no compassion and who without any reason whatever destroy our peace and devour our substance.  I do not venture to suggest to you the steps necessary for the protection of this region.  I leave it to God and your great wisdom.  I know that you will extend to us the best possible treatment."

 

At the same time the letter Rabb wrote to Gov. Antonio Martinez was delivered, the same couriers delivered [a letter] from 84 heads of families south of the Red River, asking that they be allowed to elect an alcalde and commandant for a provisional government until the area in which they lived could be properly organized.  Many of these dissidents, including Rabb, later became part of Stephen F. Austin's colony.

 

Events were quickly changing. Mexico declared its independence from Spain.  Within 15 years, Texas declared itself an independent nation.  All that area south of Red River which was for years Miller County, Arkansas came into Texas as old Red River County."

 

The treaty finalizing the Choctaw removal was signed Septem­ber 28, 1830 at the council grounds on Dancing Rab­bit Creek, Mississippi.  This treaty specified that "no part of the land ceded to the Choctaw Nation shall ever be embraced in any ter­ritory or state."  It further provided for a Choctaw delegate in the U. S. Congress, but Con­gress never granted such represen­tation. 

 

The Choctaws gave up 10,000,000 acres of prime Mississippi land in the bargain.  To soothe the ob­jections of the Indians who protested that the land being of­fered in the treaty was al­ready occupied by the whites, An­drew Jackson assured the Choctaws that he would drive out the settlers.  Arkansas Terri­tory which was created in 1819 embraced the land that was be­ing offered.  Old Miller County, Arkansas Territory had been created in 1820 and by 1821 already had a "population of 999 and 84 slaves," ac­cording to the March 3, 1821 edition of the "Arkansas Gazette."  The population of Old Miller County had in­creased to 2,500 in 1825.  Very few of this first settle­ment of "sooners" were ever disturbed by Jackson's promise.

 

The Americans used every means of duplicity to gain the up­per hand.  They freely dis­tributed whiskey among the Indi­ans, un­dermining their will to work and to produce.  They distributed lavish bribes among the chieftains to gain their consent to the treaties and to influence them to "sell out" their people and their heritage.  The In­dians received nothing but misery for their pas­sive resistance.

 

The Choctaws in Jasper and Newton Counties wrote a letter delineating their oppression to George S. Gaines, one of their few trusted friends in Washington:

 

"Our tribe has been woefully imposed upon of late.  We have had our habitations torn down and burned; our fences destroyed, cattle turned into our fields and we ourselves have been scourged, manacled, fettered and otherwise personally abused, until by such treat­ment some of our best men have died.  These are the acts of the persons who profess to be the agents of the Govern­ment to procure our removal to Arkansas and who cheat us out of all they can, by the use of fraud, duplicity and even violence." 

 

The treaty of 1830 specified that 7,000 Choctaws were to re­main in east central Missis­sippi, but again the Americans weaseled out.  The white citizens of Alabama and Mississippi maintained a constant clamor for their removal also.  Sen. Jef­ferson Davis of Mississippi was foremost among those deter­mined to expel to remaining remnants of the Choctaws from Mississippi.  He wrote, "It is an object of great importance that the Choctaws be completely removed and prevented from re­turning." 

 

American officials circulated reports about the generous conditions given to the Choctaws by the terms of the treaty, but many church officials objected to the bullying of the In­dians.  Mary Elizabeth Young in "Redskins, Ruffleshirts and Rednecks" re­ported on the reaction of the missionary offi­cials:

 

"The missionaries of the American Board, angry be­cause the treaty granted no compensation for their expensive schools and mission stations did not con­sider it gener­ous in any respect.  They regarded the extensive reserves given to In­dian leaders as mere bribes.  They deplored the scanty provision for emi­grating tribesmen whose improvements were small.  They bitterly resented the commis­sioners' misrepre­sentation of the way in which the agreement had been negoti­ated."

 

The editor of the "Vicksburg Daily Sentinel" recorded the be­ginning of the exodus:

 

"They are going away!  With a visible reluctance which nothing has overcome but the stern necessity they feel impelling them, they have looked their last on the graves of their sires--the scenes of their youth, and have taken up the slow toilsome march with their household goods among them to their new homes in a strange land.  They leave names to many of our rivers, towns and counties, and so long as our State remains, the Choctaws who once owned most of her soil will be remembered."

 

The horrors of the Choctaw migration were never publicized to the extent as were the Cherokee's "trail of tears," but they were just as devastating.  From 1831 to 1834 forced marches of tribesmen, mostly on foot, in groups of 500 to 1,000 started out for Oklahoma, invariably in the fall and winter months.  The trip of 550 miles passed through unsettled country of dense forests, swamps, thick canebrakes and swollen rivers.  The suf­fering, caused by the mistakes and inefficiency of the War De­partment combined with one of the region's worst blizzards in history was indescribable.

 

Choctaw Agent William S. Colquhoun at Vicksburg, Missis­sippi wrote December 10, 1831 to Brigadier General George Gibson that a party of Choctaws had arrived there after march­ing 24 hours through sleet and snow.  "Their situation is dis­tressing and must get worse, they are often very naked, and few moccasins are seen amongst them." 

 

A party of 2,500 Choctaws traveling by steamboat were dis­embarked at Arkansas Post and kept in open camps through the worst of the blizzard.  Many had to remain for weeks awaiting horses which were being driven overland from Louisiana.  Cholera broke out on a boatload of Indians nearing the Mem­phis transfer station, and many panic-stricken women and chil­dren refused to board another steamboat.  They were ferried across the Mississippi and continued the journey on foot.

 

When he observed the Choctaws crossing the Mississippi at Memphis, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote:

 

"In the whole scene there was an air of ruin and de­struction, something which betrayed a final and irre­vocable adieu; one couldn't watch without feeling one's heart wrung.  The Indians were tranquil, but sombre and taciturn.  There was one who could speak English and of whom I asked why the Choctaws were leaving their country.  'To be free,' he answered."

 

Many hundreds fell victim to blizzards and cold weather and all manner of disease.  Epidemics of smallpox, cholera, ty­phoid and "intermittent fever" devastated the tribe en route and in its early years in Oklahoma.

 

No physicians were among the Indians in the initial treks, but many churchpeople became aware of their suffering and vol­unteered to help.  Teachers and preachers were sent.  Dr. Alexander Talley, a Ph.D. and a Methodist missionary, ac­companied the first Choctaw party moving westward.  Soon the War Department elected to have doctors accom­pany them.  On the steamboat Reindeer in November 1832

 

Dr. John T. Fulton and a Dr. Rayburn, government agents, re­ported 12 deaths in three days in a party of 445 Choc­taws due to cholera "for which they knew no effective treatment," ac­cording to Indian Agent A. S. Langham.  In a five-week pe­riod ending in September 1833, 600 died of fever alone, ac­cording to "Indian Removal" by Grant Foreman.

 

Cyrus Bynington who was a missionary among the Choctaws before the removal and who traveled to Indian Territory with them estimated that 6,000 died during the migration, according to "History of Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians" by H. B. Cushman.  Pres. Andrew Jackson had appointed Maj. Francis W. Armstrong "Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Choctaw Nation West of the Mississippi" and dispatched him to Ft. Smith, Arkansas Territory.  He arrived at Ft. Smith just ahead of the first Choc­taw contingent and had little time to prepare to assist the Indians, according to "Ft. Smith" by Edwin C. Bearss and A. M. Gibson.

 

Starvation was also a threat in the early years.  The U. S. gov­ernment reneged on supplying the steel plows they had con­tracted to supply to the tribe so that they could raise corn on their land.  In June 1833 a 10-foot flood on the Arkansas River washed away all the mills, ferries and improvements that had been built along the river.  Maj. Armstrong wrote, "The Choctaws are dying to an alarming extent.  Near the agency there are 3,000 Indians, and within the hearing of a gun from this spot, 100 have died within five weeks."

 

                                             ==O==

Suggested as a kinsman is "Jenny Goen, who was born about 1795.  "Jenny Goen, free colored person" was married in St. Landry Parish March 12, 1814 to Jordan Perkins, according to the research of Leila Raye Perkins Smith, a descendant of Cor­rigan, Texas.  She wrote January 25, 1990, "We have been told that we have a lot of Indian blood.  In some census enumerations my ancestors were recorded as "Indian;" on others they were shown as "white."  Most of the men in my family are dark with blue eyes and straight black hair." 

 

Sandra M. Loridans of Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico wrote July 16, 1994, "I am a descendant of Jinny [Jane] Goen/Goin/-Goings of St. Landry Parish, LA.  Jinny Goen was my g-g-g-grandmother, and I believe she was born about 1795 in South Carolina  She was married March 12, 1814 in St. Landry Parish to Jordan Perkins who was born about 1793 in Aiken, South Carolina.  I do not know who her parents were, but Louisiana census records show them living near Phillip Goen/Goins.  There was also a Thomas Goins who was included in my family line.   Jordan Perkins was enumerated in 1840 in Calcasieu Pa, LA, in 1850 in Houston Co, TX and in 1860 in Bee Co, TX."

 

Children born to Jordan Perkins and Jenny Goins Perkins in­clude

 

    Jacob Perkins                             born about 1815

    Carlotta Perkins                          born about 1816

    Jesse Perkins                              born about 1817

    Hader Perkins                            born about 1827

    Joshua Perkins                       born about 1828

    Washington Perkins                    born about 1835

    Olive Perkins                              born about 1839

 

Jacob Perkins, son of Jordan Perkins and Jenny Goins Perkins, was born about 1815 in Louisiana.  He was married about 1840, wife's name Mary Jane.  She was born in May 1820 in Louisiana.  He died October 27, 1897 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.  She died after 1910 in Montgomery County, Texas.

 

Children born to them include:

 

    Isaac J. Perkins                              born in 1842

    Jincey [Caroline] Perkins                born in 1843

    Sarah Ann Perkins                          born in 1845

    Joshua Perkins                           born in 1849

    Laura Perkins                                 born in 1850

    Jesse F. Perkins                             born in 1853

    Cato A. Perkins                             born in 1858

    Dick Perkins                                  born in 1859

 

Joshua Perkins, son of Jacob Perkins and Mary Ann Perkins, was born in 1849.  He died in 1910.

 

Jesse F. Perkins, son of Jacob Perkins and Mary Ann Perkins, was born in 1853.  He died in 1880.

 

Carlotta Perkins, daughter of Jordan Perkins and Jenny Goins Perkins, was born about 1816.  She was married about 1832 to Frederick Bigner.

 

Jesse Perkins, son of Jordan Perkins and Jenny Goins Perkins, was born about 1817.  He was married about 1840, wife's name Cyndelia.

 

Stephen Goin and Edith Perkins were married in Louisiana November 17, 1826, according to George Virgil Goins who states that Jordan Perkins was the bondsman.  Polly Perkins gives consent for Edith Perkins to marry and states that Steven Goin was "the son of John and Nancy Johnson Goin of South Carolina."  Rev. Joseph Willis officiated.  Children born to Stephen Goin and Edith Perkins Goin are unknown.

 

Fanny Gowen, age 16 was married to Aaron Burr Nelson in Louisiana in October 1834.  William Gowen was the bonds­man, according to George Virgil Goins.

 

Melinda Goins was married in Louisiana to Gibson Perkins August 14, 1829, according to George Virgil Goins.  Joshua Goins was the bondsman.  The groom's consent was signed by George Perkins, and the bride's consent was signed by Eliza­beth Goins.  Joshua Goins was married November 27, 1862 in adjoining Newton County, Texas, according to Newton County Marriage Book C, page 114.  Children born to Joshua Goins and Sarah Perkins Goins are unknown.

 

"Patrick Goin," a Choctaw Indian was appointed as a scout for a survey party seeking a railroad route from San Antonio to El Paso, Texas March 18, 1849.  Robert S. Neighbors, Indian agent made the appointment in San Antonio.

 

"Anna Goins, Choctaw" who was born about 1790 was married about 1810 in St. Landry Parish to Thomas Nash, as his second wife, according to Della Ford Nash of Oklahoma City.  Thomas Nash was born in 1754 in Chowan County, North Carolina.  He was in Mississippi Territory by 1780 where he operated an Indian trading post.  In 1815 they lived in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana.  In 1826 they were in Atascosita District, Tejas y Coahuila.  They were enumerated in the 1830 and 1850 census back in Natchitoches Parish.  Thomas Nash was enumerated as "age 97" and Anna Goins Nash was reported as "age 77."

 

Thomas Nash, Jr, who was born in 1785 to Thomas Nash and his first wife, Emily Slater Nash was married to Sarah "Sally" Drake. 

 

Children born to Thomas Nash and Anna Goins Nash included James Nash who was born in 1813 in Rapides Parish, Louis­iana.  Land was taken from Rapides Parish to form St. Landry Parish when it was created in 1807.  James Nash was married in 1834 to Mary Perkins.  He died prior to the 1850 census, but Mary Perkins Nash appeared in Rapides Parish in the enumerations of 1850 and 1860. 

 

Children born to Thomas Nash and Anna Goins Nash include:

 

    James Nash                        born about 1836

 

James Nash, son of Thomas Nash and Anna Goings Nash, was born in Louisiana about 1836.  He was married about 1855 to Elizabeth Goodman, according to Martha Lea Nolan Alexander, a descendant.

 

Children born to James Nash and Elizabeth Goodman Nash include:

 

    Emily Nash                         born about 1857

 

Emily Nash, daughter of James Nash and Elizabeth Goodman Nash, was born about 1857.  She was married about 1875 to Levi “Buck” Allen.  Emily Nash Allen died in 1892.

 

Children born to Levi “Buck” Allen and Emily Nash Allen include:

 

    David Uriah Allen                   born March 12, 1877

 

David Uriah Allen, son of Levi “Buck” Allen and Emily Nash Allen, was born March 12, 1877.  He was married in Vernon Parish May 15, 1902 to Ola Camilla Potter.  She was born December 24, 1877 to John Jahew Watts Potter and Rachel Hilman Potter. 

 

David Uriah Allen died December 10, 1947, and Ola Camilla Potter Allen died July 3, 1950.

 

Children born to them include:

 

    Ethel Emily Allen             born September 23, 1928

 

Ethel Emily Allen, daughter of David Uriah Allen and Ola Camilla Potter Allen, was born September 23, 1928 at Caney, Louisiana.  She was married at Lake Charles, Louisiana July 10, 1944 to Earl Nolen.  He was born January 3, 1919 to Simeon Vincent Nolen and Ada Owers Nolen.  Earl Nolen died February 23, 1998 at Leesville, Louisiana.  Ethel Emily Allen died on the same day, according to their daughter, Martha Lee Nolen Alexander.

 

Children born to them include:

 

    Martha Lee Nolen               born December 12, 1948

 

Martha Lee Nolen, daughter of Earl Nolen and Ethel Emily Allen Nolen, was born December 12, 1948 at Lake Charles, Louisiana.  She was married April 6, 1984 to Gene Hershell Alexander.  In 2000 they lived at Leesville where she, a member of Gowen Research Foundation, was active in the research of her branch of the family.

 

Emanuel Nash, their fourth child, was born in Rapides Parish in 1842.  He was married about 1898 to Sena Goins/Goynes, his third wife.  Eight children were born to them, according to Della Ford Nash.  Their descendants generally settled in Texas.

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Martha "Patsy" Goings was born in Choctaw Nation, Missis­sippi about 1812 of parents unknown.  She was married about 1832 to Eli Crowder, believed to be about 30 years older.  He was born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina in 1781 to James Crowder, Jr. and Lorhamah "Ama" James Crowder, ac­cording to the research of Carlotta Earlene Hollis Bates, a de­scendant of Kensington, California.  Eli Crowder was a veteran of the War of 1812.

 

They escaped the forced move of the Choctaw tribe to Indian Territory in the early 1830s.  In 1842 they lived in Attala County, Mississippi.  Sometime after 1845 they removed to Oklahoma and settled in an area which later was named Choctaw County.  They were accompanied by two of her brothers, Jim Goings and Gibson Goings who settled near Boswell, Oklahoma. 

 

"Gibson Gowen" was enumerated in the 1831 census of Choctaw Nation in Mississippi.  He appears to be a widower:

 

    "Gowen, Gibson             male            over 16

                                  male            0-10

                                  female             0-10

                                  male            0-10"

 

The enumerator noted, "Gibson Gowen admitted that he did not live on his land at the time the treaty was signed, but the logs were cut [in preparation of building a cabin.]"

 

Patsy Hall, a Choctaw, gave an affidavit on August 10, 1896 before the Dawes Commission concerning the Goins family:

 

"Affiant states that among the number who accompanied her father and family from Mississippi to the Kiamichi River was a man named Gip Goins and wife, and a man named James Goin and wife and children; that affiant knows that said Gip and James Goins were half-blood Choctaw Indians; that said Gip and James Goin died near Mayhew in the Choctaw Nation.

 

Affiant further states that while she and her family were living near Mayhew that Jeremiah Goins came from Texas to visit James and Gip Goins and that she was well acquainted with Jeremiah Goins; that he was a half-blood Choctaw Indian and was a first cousin by blood to the said James and Gip Goins; that she is personally ac­quainted with Robert Goins who now lives near Owl in the Choctaw Nation and knows that the said Robert Goins is the legitimate son of said Jeremiah Goin, and knows that the said Robert Goins is a one-fourth Choctaw Indian by blood."

 

On August 31, 1896, Humady Williams another affiant, age about 92, appeared to give sworn testimony concerning the Goins family:

 

"My name is Humady Williams.  I am about 92 years old.  I was borned in old Chickasaw Nation, Mississippi, near Pontotoc town.  I was raised among the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians and emigrated with them to this country.

 

When I can first remember, I belonged to Mose Perry who was a Chickasaw and Choctaw Indian, about half and half.  I belonged to him until I was about grown.  I had other masters through the years, and I belonged to George James when I was freed.

 

I understood Chickasaw, Choctaw and English and was interpreter for whites and Indians for a good many years in old Chickasaw Nation, Mississippi and after I came to this country.

 

I was acquainted with a family of Indians in Old Choctaw Nation by the name of Goins.  I remember Jeremiah, James and Gip Goins;  James and Gip were brothers and were cousins of Jeremiah.  I remember Jeremiah well, better than any of them.  His father's name was Phillip Goins."

 

Eli Crowder died in 1883 at the age of 102 and was buried at Crowder Prairie, Indian Territory in Jackson County.  It is be­lieved that she died soon after.

 

Children born to them include:

 

    Marion Richard Crowder    born about 1834

    Eli Crowder                    born about 1840

    Van Robert Crowder              born about 1841

    Thomas C. Crowder               born March 10, 1842

    William J. Crowder             born March 1, 1843

    Francis Crowder                 born about 1846

    Joshua Crowder                 born about 1850

    George W. Crowder               born February 5, 1852

    John Crowder             `      born about 1854

 

Marion Richard Crowder, son of Eli Crowder and Martha "Patsy" Goings Crowder, was born in Mississippi [either Pon­totoc or Atalla County,  about 1832.  He accompanied his par­ents in a move to Indian Territory after 1845.  He served in a Confederate unit during the Civil War.  He died July 19, 1921 and was buried at Honey Spring Cemetery, south of Soper, Oklahoma.

 

Eli Crowder, son of Eli Crowder and Martha "Patsy" Goings Crowder, was born about 1840 in Mississippi.  He died young.

 

Van Robert Crowder, son of Eli Crowder and Martha "Patsy" Goings Crowder, was born about 1841 in Mississippi.  He was married about 1854 to Luiza Pitchlynn.  He died about 1909.

 

Thomas C. Crowder, son of Eli Crowder and Martha "Patsy" Goings Crowder, was born March 10, 1842 in Attala County.  He was brought to Indian Territory by his parents.  He served in a Confederate unit during the Civil War.  He was married about 1866 to Flora Alexander.  He died December 16, 1915 at Crowder Prairie, Oklahoma and was buried in Crowder Springs Cemetery near Boswell.

 

William J. Crowder, son of Eli Crowder and Martha "Patsy" Goings Crowder, was born March 1, 1843 in Mississippi.  He was married about 1885 to Josephine Taylor.  He died February 25, 1935 and was buried at Boswell.

 

Francis Crowder, son of Eli Crowder and Martha "Patsy" Go­ings Crowder, was born about 1846.  It is believed that he died in childhood.

 

Joshua Crowder, son of Eli Crowder and Martha "Patsy" Go­ings Crowder, was born about 1850 in Indian Territory.  He was married about 1875, wife's name Sophia.

 

George W. Crowder, son of Eli Crowder and Martha "Patsy" Goings Crowder, was born February 5, 1852 in Indian County, Texas.

                                             ==O==

Thomas Nash had also emigrated from Louisiana.  His family appeared in the Mexican census of 1826:

 

    "Nash,     Thomas       62, born in NC, farmer,

                                  stock raiser

      Going    Anna           56, born in VA, wife

      Nash      Michael       22, born in MS, son

               Benjamin     17, born in LA, son

               James          13, born in LA, son

               Margaret      11, born in LA, daughter

      Nash      William        24. born in MS, son,

                                  farmer

      Smith Polly           27, born in KY, wife

      Nash      Thomas         2, born in LA, son