My Moore County Goings family tree

Leah Goins, born c.a. 1790, was the daughter of William Goings, Sr (1749-1835) and Patsy Petty.  William Goings Sr. was the illigitimate son of John Harmon, a Portuguese in documents, and Elizabeth Goings (1740-?)

Daniel Goins, (1824-1907) was the illigitimate son of Alexander Murchison (b.c.a. 1804) and Leah Goins, a Croatan of NC.  Daniel married Margaret Goins (double Goins line)

Many of these Goinses remained in North Carolina after a mass emigration to Tennessee and Texas in the 1820's-1830's.  The ones who remained clung to their cultural identity.  They have represented the Croatan/Lumbee Indian tribe on the tribal council for many generations and Jimmy Goins former  Chairman of the Tribal Council.


William Goyens, Jr, (1794-1856) is the brother to Leah Goins.  He served as a Cherokee fighting side by side with the Cherokee at the Battle of the Horseshoe in Alabama, 1814 as muster rolls reveal.  It is by no accident that he was tapped as Indian Agent by Sam Houston for negotiation of the Houston-Forbes Treaty.  They had already fought one battle together under Andrew Jackson and knew of each other prior to arriving in Texas. These events were set in motion before any of these people arrived in the Republic of Texas.

Genealogy and Brilliant Compassion

There has been an ongoing debate among 'historians' that somehow a degree makes a person a 'better' historian than a genealogist (who is just a hobbyist).  I strongly disagree with this, especially since I've seen some sloppy biographies of noted heroes.  Genealogists work strictly with primary documentation - the census records, the vital records (birth, death and marriage) while some historians rely solely on what has been published before or what is available in their local archives.  Most genealogists I know make pilgrimages to the places where their ancestors lived.  They locate cemeteries, churches and get a true feel for the community where their family members lived and died.  My father and I have accumulated a treasure of experiences from interviewing people who lived down the street, including a shy elderly woman who merely peeped around a tree to answer my father's questions about one of our great uncles.  She answered concisely and clearly, but preferred to have the tree between him and her.  Can a historian glean that from a book?
And with this experience comes something I can only call brilliant compassion.  Because this elderly woman, along with the grave-digger walking along the side of the road one day in present day Lee County, NC and the old man with the granddaughter who liked to swat visitors with a fly-swatter all bequeathed us something more than answers.  They gave us the culture of our ancestors.  And that is why genealogists get it right and historians get it wrong.  That is why the history books are not accurate.

Must read books about history and compassion:

Murchison Dynasty of Texas and William Goyens, Jr. Tender Ties

Rassie Wicker himself was intrigued by the Moore County Goinses, because he too was a descendent of Kinnith Murchison through Kenneth Wicker who married Isabella Currie, who was the daughter of Malcolm Bethune Currie and Catherine Murchison. Talitha Ann Wicker, born 1863 married Andrew Cole, whose land bordered on William Goings, Sr.’s property in Pocket Creek. Flora Coffer, daughter of Henry Copher and Margaret McIntosh, born in 1839 married Ben Kimball, which is also a family name which appears on Goins’ affidavit of genealogy. The Henry Coffer home was adjacent to Edward Goins’ line. The old white Coffer house was converted into a church before it was removed to the Henry Kimball place.[i] It is the intricate kinship which proves the credibility of the Goins affidavit witnesses and the validity of their testimonies in court including the Goins’ Portuguese/Native American heritage. The Pocket Creek Community was small and families intimately related. Descendants of the Goings/Goyens/Goins family have had Whole DNA tests which revealed Berber, (Asni, Morocco), Spanish, Moroccan, Macedonian, Canary Islands and Scottish among the top ten global population matches in order from highest contribution to lower contributions. The conclusion was 91% European, 9% Native American and 0% Sub-Saharan or East Asian ancestry[ii] proving that all dark-skinned individuals, including Europeans and Native-Americans were subjected to the burden of proof which could result in loss of rights and even enslavement. The blood validates the oral tradition and the historical documentation on the family.