My paternal grandmother Nellie Jane Craig Goins

My Grandmother Nellie Goins died at a young age from tuberculosis. In the photo above the Thomas Straley Goins family is heading to Colorado. I don’t know when she contracted the disease. Nellie died at the age of 29 from the disease. In the early 1900’s there were tubercular sanatoriums that treated patients with TB. From photos and what my relatives said, Thomas Straley Goins and family made a trip to Colorado Springs to see if the dry, mild climate would help improve Nellie’s health. I think that some of the Walker family also went with them. In the photos of the trip to Colorado it appears my father, Thomas Craig Goins, is around 4 or 5 years old. That would make the year that they traveled to Colorado around 1925. A year before Nellie’s death.

The Patterson Goins Connection

   My great great grandfather’s uncle was Daniel Goins. In some family trees his middle name is Patterson. Daniel’s second marriage was to Susan Harman and they had two children Laura and Daniel Patterson Goins Jr. In the 1880 census Daniel Patterson Goins Jr. is enumerated as Paterson Geowens. In his death certificate he is Daniel Patterson Goins.  Paterson/Daniel Patterson Goins married Bell Peck March 11, 1894 in Bradley County, Tennessee. One of their children was named D. P.  Goins born 4 Aug 1913 and died at the age of 5 on 21 Dec 1918 in Cleveland, Bradley County, Tennesssee. Both Paterson/Daniel Patterson and D.P. Goins died of influenza in 1918.

   So the question is where did the Patterson name come from?

   Maybe Patterson comes from Catherine Patterson who married William Goins in about 1704.  William Goins was born about 1683 in James City County, Virginia. William died about 1725 and Catherine died in 1739. In Catherine Patterson's will she mentions her children John, Alexander, Susannah Goins. Some researchers think that after William Goins died, Catherine remarried and her husband’s surname was Patterson.

   Because my yDNA closely matches Hollis yDNA I would like to think that there is a connection with the Hollis family. John Hollis comes up in a July 23, 1739 probate record naming John Goins as the sole administrator of Catherine Pattersons’ estate. Fast forward  to the 1790 census in Camden District, Fairfield County, South Carolina. Living in the same general area are Daniel, Alexander and Henry Goins; James, William, Elijah, and Moses Hollis; and Peter Patterson.

   So maybe the name Patterson can be used to make the connection to William Goins. Also that Alexander Goins was living in South Carolina in the 1790 census with the Hollis families.

Mysteries of my DNA

   I had my yDNA analyzed by Family Tree DNA to identify my direct paternal line. My yDNA was tested for 67 STR markers.  Each marker having its own value. I am then matched with other individuals who have the same values or nearly the same values for those markers tested. What I find interesting is that besides matches with other Goins surnames there are individuals with the surnames of Cook, Gibbs, Grimes, Bowling, Renfro, Wilson, Adams, Wallace, and Hollis who closely match my yDNA.

   In regards to the surname Hollis, researchers have found that there is a close association with the Gowens and Hollis families who in the late 1700‘s to the early 1800‘s moved together from Virginia through North Carolina to South Carolina.

   My yDNA has been associated with haplogroup E1b1a. This haplogroup is the main haplogroup in sub-Saharan Africa (West Africa). In many Goins/Gowens family trees and The Gowen Manuscript, an African slave named Mihill “Michael” Gowen/Guynes is our ancestor that links us to West Africa.

    I had the remaining 22 pairs of chromosomes (my autosomal DNA) tested by DNA Tribes. My autosomal DNA contains random bits of DNA from my parents and my grandparents, great grandparents, etc. According to DNA Tribes my top five closest genetic relatives today and peoples whose blend of geographical ancestry is most similar to my own are as follows in descending order : Armenian (Gardman, Azerbaijan); Sweden; Caucasian (Florida); Mainland Croatia; Zemplin, Eastern Slovakia; and Vis, Croatia. 

   My mother’s side of the family has the surnames, Taylor, Conrow, Minton, Arnett, Beagle, Fox, Thompson and Ward. It would appear that most of my mother’s side of the family came from the British Isles. This was confirmed when I had my mitochondrial DNA tested by Family Tree DNA. Human mitochondrial DNA is only inherited from my mother. Her haplogroup is H which includes the British Isles and Europe.

   I also had my autosomal DNA tested by the Ancestry website. Their genetic ethnicity results were British Isles 87%, Southern Europe 7% and Uncertain 6%.

   Family Tree DNA and Ancestry are matching my yDNA and autosomal DNA to other individuals. I hope matches in the future will add new ancestors/relatives to my family tree.

Julius Caesar Goins

   My great grandfather Julius Caesar Goins was the third son of James Durham Goins and Polly Johnson. Julius was born February 13, 1866 in Bradley County, Tennessee. On September 18, 1887 Julius married Caldona Cowden in Bradley County, Tennessee. They had five children: My grandfather, Thomas Straley Goins;  Alvin Camel Goins; Polly Ann Goins; Erasmus Guy Goins; and Edith Orlena Goins.

   Robert P. Goins wrote that Julius C Goins was the first to move to Oklahoma in the summer of 1900. The rest followed but not all at once.Julius and Ernest Walker bought a store in Old Spavinaw in 1904. Each put up $250. In 1906 Julius bought out Ernest Walker's part. When the City of Tulsa built the dam in 1922 they traded him three lots and cash for his property. Besides owning a store, Julius was a Methodist Minister.

In the photo below, Julius is seated, left to right are William "Bill" Walker, Ernest Walker, and Thomas Straley Goins.

Edmond Goins Clan in the Civil War

Records show that my great great grandfather James Goins served in the Confederate Army in the 36th regiment of the Tennessee Infantry.  The 36th regiment was formed in February 1862 and disbanded in June of the same year. I haven't found any records that would show that James Goins enlisted in another regiment after the 36th disbanded.

Sons of the Edmond Goins and the closely related Thomas Cowden families are listed as members of the Confederate Army.

Then there is a book written in 1866 by J. S. Hurlburt titled “History of the Rebellion in Bradley County, East Tennessee." The sons of the Edmond Goins clan of Bradley County, Tennessee appear to be on opposite sides in the Civil War. This book was “enthusiastically dedicated to the Union people of Tennessee and their posterity”. In the books appendix, men of the Goins and Cowden clans are listed as Union persons/soldiers or Rebel persons/soldiers. The following are excerpts from this appendix:

Leading Union persons in the second district: Thomas Cowden has a son in the U.S.Army., John Gowans, James Gowin.

Medium men of the second district: Daniel Gowan. I have not found out what “Medium men” are.

Union soldiers from the second district: Wm Crowden and George Crowden dead.

Leading rebels in the second district: Wm Gowan, Hugh Gowan.

Rebel soldiers from the second district: Hugh Gowen, Wm Gowen.

Leading Union persons in the third district: John Cowden died near Atlanta.

Another Leading Union person in the second district was Joel Johnson Sr. This is my great great grandmother Polly Johnson Goins father.

I believe that the sons of the Goins and Cowden families served in the Confederate Army. In the 1870 Bradley County census the families were still living near each other.