Promoting Peace thru Preservation

Historians of Nacogdoches,

I have forwarded primary documents and a synopsis of William Goyens Jr to Dr. Abernethy and Dr. Sosebee to help promote a deeper understanding of the culture William Goyens was born into. I have spent years studying the political structure of Moore County, NC and understand why it was a hostile place for persons of color and why Goyens came to Texas. The first 20 years of his life in North Carolina is as compelling as the last decades of his life in Texas. And now we have the additional benefit of DNA. The Redbone Heritage Foundation encourages members to use the tool. We collect family histories and DNA results to reconstruct historical communities in an attempt to understand the culture the people known as Redbones, a multi-ethnic group of people of unknown origin, lived in. It is hoped the research will foster a deeper understanding of these clannish people and promote respect, understanding and peace for all people.

I'm not seeking grand monuments, parades or anything outrageously expensive in the Goyens Family Cemetery issue. I only hope the Nacogdoches historians will apply to the Texas Historical Commission to have the land where the marker once stood protected.

Dr. Prince included in her Master's Thesis:

Goyens was buried beside his wife near a large cedar tree on the Moral Creek in a Mexican cemetery approximately 3 miles from his home. The following year a fence was placed around the graves of the husband and wife. (Her source: Scrapbook of Newspaper Clippings, Eugene C. Barker Collection, UT, Austin. no date or name of paper was given)

The Centennial Marker book publication which I've already sent verified the marker was placed on the grave of Goyens. The application was prepared by Nacogdoches historians in 1936. Those historians are our best and most recent source on the location of Goyens' family cemetery and the Mexican cemetery that is there as well. I have no idea how many graves are truly there.

I believe the action of protecting the cemetery with public access will celebrate the multi-ethnic heritage in Nacogdoches. It is an act of peace, tolerance, respect and understanding. That is what my ancestral uncle tried to foster during his era. Peace and good will toward ALL, regardless of color, race, ethnicity, culture or creed. It is a noble thing to do.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter,

Cyndie Goins Hoelscher
5th generation great granddaughter of William Goyens, Jr.

Che la pace regni sulla terra.

Historical Cemetery Preservation Programs

Letter to Scott Sosebee, Ph.D., Jere Jackson (CHC), Archie McDonald Ph.D, F Abernathy Ph.D, Tom Middlebrook, Archeology Division Steward Program, Brian Bray, Certified Local Government Contact, Larissa Pholpot (Visionaries in Preservation Community)

William Goyens Jr's Centennial Marker was unique because only 10% of the 13,000 historic markers in the state are (were) located on burial sites. If you check with the Texas Historical Commission (THC) there are several programs enacted to protect these sites, including: Historical Texas Cemetery Designation Program (protecting cemeteries and burial sites by recording them in deed records), RIP Statewide Cemetery Survey Project (year 2000 to help locate historic cemeteries), RIP Guardian Program, recently initiated to encourage working with volunteer groups around the state for cemetery preservation methods, and the Role of County Historical Commissioners. The County Historical Commissioner (CHC) works with the THC on a variety of preservation projects, including cemeteries.

I have contacted the THC and the Constituent Communication Division for the Office of our Governor, Rick Perry where I learned the above information.

There is much work to be done. I would like to see Goyens' family cemetery preserved, honorably marked (as it once was by the Texas Centennial Commission before the marker was moved) and accessible to the public after years of abandonment. I will be in Nacogdoches September 17-20 and available to meet with you concerning your plans to cooperate with the roles you have been entrusted with in preserving the history of Nacogdoches.

Thank you,
Cyndie Goins Hoelscher

Texas PreservationsTrust Fund

08/02/08 From Cyndie Goins Hoelscher to Stephen F. Austin University History Department and City of Nacogdoches:

§ 442.015. TEXAS PRESERVATION TRUST FUND ACCOUNT

Now that I understand the history of William Goyens' Centennial Marker and how the Goyens graveyard on Goyens Hill was abandoned, I'm searching for possible solutions, because nothing is accomplished by dwelling on mistakes of the past. It is what we can do today and how it will impact tomorrow which is the most important thing. We are all in the position to correct a negligence made in the past and to become true guardians of Texas History by moving forward and being proactive about protecting the graveyard before it is completely lost to us forever.

There is a statute , § 442.015. TEXAS PRESERVATION TRUST FUND ACCOUNT, which provides for a trust fund, and says "The commission shall give priority to property the commission determines to be endangered by demolition, neglect, underuse, looting, vandalism, or other threat to the property."

This may be a starting point. I would like to see the graveyard properly marked as it once was by the Texas Centennial Commission and public accessibility to it. This action would be an appropriate way to rectify the history that has been lost and to celebrate Nacogdoches' rich multi-cultural heritage as well. It would be proud and fine statement for the oldest towne in Texas.

Thank you all for your attention to this important issue.

Goyens Family Cemetery in Nacogdoches, TX

Goyens Family Cemetery: (Information provided by Sarah Raverly of the Texas Abandoned Cemetery Project)

The online THC atlas states the marker was "Moved from gravesite to Nacogdoches County Courthouse grounds". On page 164 of "Monuments Commemorating the Centenary of Texas Independence" written by the Centennial Commission in 1938, Goyen's marker location was given as [Goyens Family Cemetery, 4 mi W of Nacogdoches] . The original marker applications were done by the Counties, then verified by 4 state historians.

It may be a cow pasture now, but it was designated as a cemetery in 1936 and upon the subsequent removal of the marker.

William Goyens Jr and DNA

We've always been told that we were mix't. Court documents filed in Randolph County, North Carolina explicitly spelled out how mix't we were, but they didn't leave hints on what the true origins of our family were.

William Goyens Jr. of Nacogdoches was born in 1794 in Moore County, North Carolina. His sister Leah Goings was born in 1790. William Goyens Jr. left Moore County in the 1820's and came to Texas were he was captured twice as bounty hunters tried to pass anyone of dark complection off for slaves. He stood before the Republic of Texas Legislature and stated "Unfortunately I am a man of color . . .", but he never claimed African-American ancestry.

Being descended from this family, we were always aware of admixture. It was the way society treated the Goinses from Moore County, North Carolina and one of the reasons so many pulled up stakes to seek a better life out West - a life free from the prejudices and discriminations of a harsh and judgmental society. The family who remained in North Carolina stuck together and was considered clannish. They lived on the fringes of town. They kept among themselves. They were buried together out in woods, not being acceptable, even in death to rest among society.

So what's the story? Our elders didn't talk about it. To talk about it often meant being deprived of rights such as land ownership, the right to own guns or the right to vote. They were even deprived of the right to choose who they could legally marry. So they kept the secrets of our heritage and carried the knowledge with them to their unmarked graves.

When my father decided to have our DNA tested, we knew the blood would reveal many of those secrets and we were ready to embrace the TRUTH, no matter how many surprises it might hold. We had some family tales and remembrances, but not enough to understand who we were and what stories were true and which ones were created by a biased society with tunnel vision. My father is four generations from William Goyens Jr and his great-great-great grandmother Leah Goins. His DNA results were:

91% European

9% Native American

0% Sub-Saharan African

0% East Asian

So the test results prove that the family who remained in North Carolina and were known as Croatan Indians did retain some of their cultural identity, and Goyens who traveled to a land where he was 'different' could only be labeled as a 'runaway slave' and that became engraved on his final resting place by the Texas Historical Commission and related in biographies long after his death.

Goyens was considered remarkable enough to have his final resting place honored by the Texas Historical Commission (although the historical information on the marker was riddled with errors). A final dishonor was when some entity from Nacogdoches moved the marker from the site to the side of the road on Goyens Hill, leaving Goyens' grave unmarked and in danger of being lost forever. I have repeatedly asked for answers and help from the East Texas Historical Association to rectify this mistake, but none feel the issue is important or that their account of Goyens should be corrected and preserved.

William Goyens, Jr of Nacogdoches, TX

William Goyens, Jr. Nacogdoches, TX (1794-1856)

It was quite a romantic picture to grab Goyens' story and put him up in Texas history as an icon. Without researching his past, historians have consistently portrayed him as a runaway slave from South Carolina who escaped bondage and was able to build a fortune in Texas. If any of them would have taken a field trip to Moore county, North Carolina and learned about his family there, they would have questioned such claims.

Goyens, born 1794, was not born in Africa. He was not born into slavery.. He was born to free persons of color in Moore County, North Carolina. His father, William Goings, Sr. purchased the land in Pocket Creek in 1764, therefore, dismissing the myth that his father earned the land with manumission for serving in the Revolutionary War.  They were Free Persons of Color in Colonial America.  Goyens' sister, Leah Goins and her children have consistently been enumerated as Croatan, Lumbee o Mulatto.  Goyens' grandfather was John Harmon, a native of Portugal and this multi-ethnic heritage is important in American history as most Portuguese/Spanish colonization efforts take the back seat to Britain's colonization efforts in the text books.  

Ancestors Speak

When we go looking for our ancestors, we may not find them in the fine cemeteries with finely engraved gravestones. Often our ancestors were buried in small family cemeteries, some now reclaimed by the wild woodlands. Some with only hand-scratched stones, telling us who they were and why they were buried as they were.In one such case, a Goins descendant in Moore County, North Carolina is buried among other family members deep in the woods. They were buried there, because they were not allowed to be buried in a public Anglo-White cemetery. They were considered too "dark" to be buried near the White citizens in the area. Yet, the family members buried their loved one in a way so future generations - who knew where to look- would have a clue to who they were and why they lived as they did. On the footstone of the grave was a crudely scratched figure of a person with three long lines underneath. It was a local gravedigger who told me that he had once unknowingly dug into a grave of these people. He said the body was buried erect, supported by timbers, with their head facing toward the sky, and their feet touching the earth. It was a Native American practice of some of the indigenous peoples of Moore County, North Carolina. It is an indication that the Redbone, Melungeon, Lumbee peoples are of complex heritage. Anyone who tries to simplify their culture into a single Black or White answer, will be disappointed. The answer is not so simple, nor were the lives that the Redbone ancestors lived.Some may wonder why I post to the Redbone site. They may say - oh she is another mixed blood person. She is Croatan. She is Lumbee. She is Melungeon. Yet, my heritage is complex and my ancestors migrated South and Westward. I have a death certificate that states my g-g-g-grandmother, Leah Goins was Croatan. But I have family stories that she had sons who left Moore County, North Carolina and settled in Mississippi or Louisiana. Did these brothers take their culture with them? I'm sure they did. It was who they were. Would they seek out others like them? Yes. It was their way to be clannish and they would be attracted to others who were like them. Will we someday find a link between the Melungeons, the Redbones and the Lumbee?

I think we will.

On the Red Bank

Daddy was born on the Red Bank, a slice of red dirt that formed a soft cliff, on the southside of Asheboro, Randolph County, NC. He was born Oct 30, 1937. There's a story about that, but I will save that for another time. With Daddy, there's always a story behind the story. It can go on and on. But the house on the red bank was called the old Chief's house. Mainly, because there was an old gravestone under a tree not far from where my Dad and his siblings played everyday. I asked my Dad who was buried under the tree near his house. He said, "I dunno."

Perhaps every family has a tale of an old chief somewhere in there. I kind of pushed it to the back of my mind. I look at my Dad with his sandy, red hair and his blue eyes and then I look at his older brother David with his gray eyes and dark wavy hair. My uncle resembles my grandmother with her dark wavy hair and high cheekbones. Lovie Jane Goins was descended from Mollie Hooker c.a. 1871. No one really knew much about her. I found a charcoal portrait of her. She was a prim and proper looking woman with black hair and Asian looking eyes. The paperwork was good, revealing a tidy little family chart with dates and information. She was the daughter of William Clarkson Hooker (1844 1923). William Clarkson Hooker was the grandson of Robin Hooker (b. c.a. 1750) and Rachel Sanders.

He was the illigitimate child of Henly Nixon and Patsy Hooker.

In the Randolph County, North Carolina vertical files was the following information under HOOKER: (and I'm typing this as the record appeared in the file)

December 1 - 15, 1787 Senate Records

The Committee of Propositions . . .to whom the Petition of Johnathan (NATHAN) HOOKER was refered . . .

Repeat. That in the year 1769, John HOOKER, brother of the Petitioner, an infant of twelve years old was forced and carried off to the Musquito Shore in New Spain in America by a Certain Abraham Jennets . . . That the said NATHAN HOOKER . . .of him and Heir apparent to the said John HOOKER, who by wife was possessed of one hundred and eighty acres of land in the County of Tyrel in fee simple -- That the Commissioners of confiscated estates for the District of of Edenton on the . . . day of ... 178...under, and by virtue of the Laws commonly called the Confiscation Laws chosed and sold the aforesaid land at public venue. The said Nathan HOOKER became the purchaser as he believed in Justice the land was not confiscated and that consideration together with the information of . . all the aforesaid comments by whom the said tale was made, that the bond of the said purchaser Nathan HOOKER is not owed or payable until January next, are of opinion that the aforesaid lands were not subject to confiscation, therefore, resolved that the said Commissioners cancel the said bond and the the Comptroller credit his account accordingly.

John L JOHNSTON

North Carolina

In Senate 1787, The foregoing report being read was concurred with signatures

So as my father and I dig deeper into my grandmother's people, I wonder what adventures they faced. What life did young John HOOKER face on the Mosquito Coast? Is he related to our Mollie HOOKER? I understand the original of this document is now in the Randolph Room at the Asheboro, Public Library. I hope to receive a copy soon.

And someday, my father and I will have to climb up on the red bank. I will have to ask him if the house where he was born still stands. Perhaps we will find a single grave under a tree, if no one has disturbed it after all these years. Maybe it is the old chief. Or maybe it's Mollie's grandfather, waiting for someone to come back home.