SOUTH CAROLINA
Following English custom, before 1837, most colonial South Carolina marriages took place in the parish church, following the publication of banns [the announcement in church on three successive Sundays], or by license, according to Sherry Irvine, BA, CGRS, FSA. There were two proper ways to get married, by banns or by license. If the couple obtained a marriage li-cense from one of the ecclesiastical offices, banns were not re-quired.
In South Carolina hardly any Colonial licenses survive because the license was given to the groom to present to the officiating minister. The license contained statements made on oath that both parties to the union were over the age of 21 [or they supplied the proper permission] and that there was no known impediment to the marriage. The bond, originally required, was for a sum of money to be forfeited if any part of the allegations were false.
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In 1810 the Gowen/Going/Goins/etc. family, free since the mid-seventeenth century, headed 40 "other free" households with 105 persons in Virginia, 62 persons in North Carolina, 11 in South Carolina, and 10 in Louisiana.
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Gowan Campbell was born in 1820 in South Carolina of par-ents unknown. He was enumerated in the 1850 census of Cass County, Georgia with Sarah Campbell, his wife, according to the research of Wendy Campbell.
They were recorded in the Twelfth Division, page 137 as Household No. 532-533:
“Campbell, Govan 30, overseer, born in SC
Sarah 30, wife, born in SC
Gowan Campbell was enumerated in Roseborough, South Carolina in Laurens County in 1860 with a second wife, Della Campbell. They were recorded on page 323 as Household 1652-1616:
“Campbell, Gowan 45, overseer, born in SC
Della 30, wife
A. 8, daughter
William M. 5, son
Callie 3, daughter
James 2, son
[infant] 6/12, son”
In 1870 Gowan Campbell and his family were recorded in Cross Keys, South Carolina in Union County, page 350, Household No.26/27:
“Campbell, Gowen 53, white male, born in SC
Della 36, wife
William W. 14, son
Callie 13, daughter
Jesse 12, son
James W. 11, son
Johnny 4, son”
Gowan Campbell was enumerated at Woodruff, South Carolina in Spartanburg County, page 361B:
Campbell Govan, 60, farmer, born in SC, father born in
SC, mother born in SC
Della 46, wife, keeping house, born in SC,
father born in SC, mother
born in SC
Wm. 24, son, farm laborer, born in SC, fa-ther born in _ SC, mother born in SC
Callie 23, daughter, born in SC, father born
in SC, mother born in SC
Jesse 22. son, farm laborer, born in SC, fa-
ther, born in SC, mother born in SC
Walter 21, son, farm laborer, born in SC, fa-
ther born in SC, mother born in SC
Jack 14, son, born in SC, father born in SC,
mother born in SC”
Children born to them include:
A. Campbell born about 1852
William W. Campbell born about 1855
Callie Campbell born about 1857
Jesse James Campbell born about April 1858
James Walter Campbell born about February 1859
Johnny “Jack” Campbell born about 1866
Jesse James Campbell, son of Gowan Campbell and Della Camp-bell, was born in April 1858 in South Carolina. He was married about 1883 to Ella Splawn who was born March 12, 1869 in North Carolina. He died about 1905, and she died January 14, 1948 at Greer, South Carolina.
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Accounts Audited of Revolutionarv War Claims Against the State of South Carolina Published in 1935.
Volume /
Name Page Date Notes
John Gowen 1/8,9 24 May 1786 Sworn before Justice of the Peace Baylis Earle (Then ortater John's fatherin law)
John Gowen 1 / 9 10 June, 1786
John Gowen 1/146
Capt. John Gowen 2/89 As witness
John Keating 2/54 As bonder
3. Biographical Directory of the South Carolina Senate, 1776‑1985 John William Gowen, In vol 1, page 447 Listing for Sen. Baylis Earle, mentions that John William Gowen married his daughter Miriam. Her birthdate was not stated, but by comparison to brothers and sisters would have been about 1776. When? Where?
5. Original Index Book of Revolutionary Claims Filed in South Carolina 20 Aug 1783 ‑ 8 March 1786, Library of Congress 68‑56356
Name Page Notes
Gowen, John 74, 75, 114 No. Returns
Gowen, David 114
Gowen, Edward 114
Goyen, John 15
Goyen,William 1 5
Goyen, Henry 15
Goyen, Daniel 15
11. South Carolina Lovalists in the American Revolution 224297 Gowan's Fort mentioned. On upper Pacolet river; Indian battle 11/1781. Later mention of "massacre". Note: The Pacolet River is a 30 mile long never, rising (today) in a lake north of Spartanburg and running near Cowpens; further south becomes part of the Broad River.
By Bobby Gilmer Moss, 1983
Gowen, David
He served in the militia under Col. Roebuck before the fall of Charleston and was dead prior to August 1786. A.A.3012B‑ A.A 3012A; X3520.
Gowen, Edward
He served in the militia under Col. Roebuck after the fall of Charleston. A.A.3012B; X3521 .
Gowen, Isham
He served under Capt. William Alexander, Col. Wade Hampton andGen. Sumter. A.A.3012C; M215.
Gowen, William
He served as a captain in the militia during 1782. (A.A.1076).
Gowin, Frederick
He enlisted in the Second Regiment on 1 August 1779 under Capt. Thomas Moultrie. At sometime, he was a sergeant. Saffell, p. 292; N.A.246; N.A.853.
Goyne, James
S30442 b. 30 May 1755, Mecklenburg County, Va. While residing in Camden District, he was drafted during 1776 and served under Lt. William Daugherty, Capt. John Smith and Col. John Winn of the militia. In late 1779, he volunteered to serve under Capt. John Nixon and marched into the Indian country. Next, he volunteered under Capt. Charles Lewis, Lt. Col. Patrick McGriff and Col. Lacey and was in the battle at Biggin Church. In June 1782, he was drafted and served under Lt. Charles Pickett and Maj. Odear (?). (Moved to Ga. and Miss.
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Gen. Samuel McGowan was commander of the Gowan’s Brigade during the Civil War. His command was the subject of a book written by James Fitz James Caldwell, according to Damon Van Vliet, a book dealer of Manchester, New Hampshire:
“The History of a Brigade of South Carolinians, Known First as “Greggs” and Subsequently as “Mc-Gowan’s Brigade.” Dayton, Ohio: Press of Morning-side Bookshop, 1974 was originally published in 1866 in 247 pages. Caldwell, who served as an officer in the 1st South Carolina Infantry, composed this very early, but still useful history that chronicles the activities of his brigade.
Beginning in 1862, the brigade was comprised of the same five regiments and saw action throughout the complete record of the Army of Northern Virginia. The five regiments commanded by Maxcy Gregg and then by Samuel McGowan were the 1st, 12th, 13th and 14th South Carolina Infantry and Orr's Rifles. It is altoge-ther the best history of a brigade in Lee's Army, and the best unit history from the Palmetto State. The author describes all of the brigade's many engagements and adds enough personal material to make the account both personal and human in scope.
Chapters include the following: the Five Regiments Constituting Gregg’s Brigade; The Battles Around Richmond, June and July, 1862; From the Battles Around Richmond to the Second Battle of Manassas, July and August, 1862; Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Ox Hill, and the Capture of Harper‘s Ferry. August 29-September 15, 1862; Battles of Sharpsburg and Shepherdstown; The Repose in the Valley, the March to Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Fredericks-burg; The Brigade in Winter-Quarters, Battle of Chan-cel-lorsville; From the Battle of Chancellorsville to the Battle of Gettysburg; The Battle of Gettysburg - the Retire to Virginia; From the Return to Virginia to the Affair at Mine Run; From November 26, 1863, to the Opening of the 1864 Campaign; The Battle of the Wil-derness and Spottsylvania Court House; From May 12 to July 1, 1864. Battles of Jericho Ford, Riddle’s Shop, and on the Weldon Railroad, Return to North side of the James, Battles of Deep Bottom and Fussel’s Mills, July 1 to August 16; Return to Petersburg, Battles of Ream’s Station and Jones Farm, The Expedition to Jar-rett’s Station; The Condition of M’Gowan’s Brigade During the Winter of 1864-65; Active Operations until April 1, 1865; The Battle of Sutherland’s Station and the Retreat of the Army; The Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, Includes a list of Casualties Among Officers at Second Manassas and at Fredericksburg.”
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Ann Goin was married October 17, 1771 to James Fenney, according to "South Carolina Marriages, 1688-1799."
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Irene G. Goin was married about 1850 to James Adams Hooper as his second wife [of four], according to "Welch Family History" by June Rayfield Welch. James Adams Hooper was born January 12, 1821 in South Carolina and died January 26, 1908 in Texas.
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John Goin enlisted in the Fourth South Carolina Regiment Septembr 15, 1777, according to "Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution" by Bobby Gilmer Moss. He served as a captain under Gen. Pickens in 1781.
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William Goin served as a sergeant in the light dragoons under Lt. Col. Samuel Hammond, according to "Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution"
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David Going enlisted in the South Carolina Sixth Regiment October 22, 1776, according to "Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution."
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Frederick Going was killed in the seige of Charleston in 1780, according to "Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution." His widow, Mary Going, applied for a pension.
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Levi Going was mentioned as a soldier in "South Carolina Abstracts of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 & Indian Wars," page 21.
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Rapes Going enlisted in the South Carolina Second Regiment July 1, 1779 in the company commanded by Capt. Thomas Hall, according to "Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution."
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Sheried Going enlisted in the South Carolina Fifth Carolina Regiment August 10, 1779, according to "Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution."
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William Going, born about 1766, was mentioned in "South Carolina Abstracts of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 & Indian Wars," page 53.
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William Going, Co. H, Fifth South Carolina Infantry Regiment, was among the Confederate soldiers surendered at Appomattox Courthouse April 9-15, according to "The Appomattox Paroles."
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John Tillman Goins was married February 7, 1860 to Jane Thompson, according to "South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research,” Volume 11. Children born to John Tillman Goins and Jane Thompson Goins are unknown.
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J. Gowan was married to Mary Carrie Linley Decemer 26, 1868, York County, according to "South Carolina Newspaper Marriage Notices 1823-1865." Children born to J. Gowan and Mary Carrie Linley Gowan are unknown.
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Private A. G. Gowen was listed in the Seventh South Carolina Calvary Regiment in the Civil War, according to the Civil War military roster.
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Private P. Gowen was listed in the 25th South Carolina Infantry Regiment, according to the Civil War military roster.
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Private William H. Gowen joined the South Carolina Confederate troops June 4, 1861 at Orangeburg Compound. He was transferred to Co. A, Ninth South Carolina Infantry Regiment. He served in the Palmetto Sharpshooters between December 31, 1861 and June 30, 1962. The company was commanded by Lt. Col. B. E. Bee.
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Sally Gowens was married to John Martin October 3, 1819, according to South Carolina Marriages, 1600-1820."
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J. C. Gowin, Co. K, Fifth South Carolina Infantry Regiment, was among the Confederate soldiers surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse April 9-15, according to "The Appomattox Paroles."
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Thomas Gown immigrated into the United States June 5, 1764, according to "Original Lists of Protestant Immigration to South Carolina." page 26 by Jamie Revill.
William B. Going was married about 1857 to Ida Gilmer, ac-cording to Abbeville County probate records. Their marriage was reported in "7500 Marriages from 96 and Abbeville Districts, South Carolina, 1774-1890." Children born to William B. Going and Ada Gilmer Going are unknown.
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Benjamin Goun, Sr. who was born in South Carolina about 1769 was enumerated as the head of a household in Abbeville County, according to "Heads of Families, South Carolina, 1790."
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James McGowen and Elizabeth Haygood McGowen lived in North Carolina in 1754 when a daughter was born. They were residents of Abbeville County when it was created in 1785 from District 96. He operated a ferry on the upper Savannah River, according to Jan McChesney, Foundation member and descendant of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He is mentioned in the deed records of Elbert County, Georgia which lay across the Savannah River from Abbeville County, according to Deane McGowen.
He wrote his will there December 4, 1802:
“In the name of God Amen:
I, James McGowen of South Carolina and Abbeville county, being in perfect health of body, mind and memory, thanks be given unto God, calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament:
That is to say, principally and first of all, I give and commend my soul into the hand of almighty God that give it, and my body I commend to earth to be buried in decent christian burial at the discretion of my executors. Nothing doubting but I shall receive the same . . . in the general resurrection by the might and power of God
And touching such wordly estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me within this life, I give and bequeath to Elisabeth, my dearly beloved wife and all and singular my lands, manages, tenements and moveables by her freely to be possessed and enjoyed till death or marriage, and then by virtue of this my last will and testament, I give and leave the above mentioned lands, tenements and moveables in every part and parcel to my son Elijah M. McGowen to him and fully possessed of them, save only my negro man Joe which I leave to my wife so long as she lives, and to be at her disposal at her death to whom she will.
And to everyone of my sons and daughters, Mary, William, Robert, John, James, Susannah, Sarah and Elijah M.h, I give and leave to . . . . . one . . . . to have and to hold at my death out of my estate,
And I do make, constitute and ordain the above named Elisabeth my wife and William Carothers, my son-in-law the executors of this my last will and testament and I do hereby utterly disavow, revoke and disannul all and every other former testament, will, legacies and executors by me in any wise before named.
Ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Fourth day December 1802 in the year of our lord one thousand and eight hundred and two.
Signed pronounced and declared by me, James McGowen to be my last will and testament done in the presence of one who is in the presents of each other and have unto set their names.
James McGowen
Witnesses:
Joseph Chipman
Hannah [X] McGowen
Mary Carithers"
James McGowen died December 20, 1802 in South Carolina, according to “DAR Patriot Index.”
Children born to James McGowen and Elizabeth Haygood McGowen include:
Mary McGowen born September 8, 1754
William McGowen born about 1756
Robert McGowen born about 1757
John McGowen born about 1759 [1764]
James McGowen born about 1761
Susannah McGowen born about 1764
Sarah McGowen born about 1768
Elijah M. McGowen born about 1773
Mary McGowen, daughter of James McGowen and Elizabeth Hagood McGowen, was born September 8, 1754 in North Carolina. She was married about 1771 to William Carithers who was born April 12, 1754. He died at Abbeville, South Carolina March 23, 1855 at age 100. William Carithers had brothers: Robert, born in 1744 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was married to Mary Luckie; John, born in 1745 in Baltimore, Maryland; Hugh, James and Samuel, all Revolutionary soldiers. They received land grants at Abbeville, according to Jan McChesney, a descendant of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Children born to them include:
William C. Carithers born October 7, 1788
William C. Carithers, son of William Carithers and Mary McGowan Carithers, was born October 7, 1788. He was married about 1813 to Mary Ann Griffith. In 1821 they were residents of Madison County, Georgia where he later died.
Children born to them include:
James Yancy Carithers born March 16, 1821
James Yancey Carithers, son of William C. Carithers and Mary Ann Grifith Carithers, was born March 16, 1821 in Madison County, Georgia. He was married about 1844 to Mary Elizabeth Ball. He died June 6, 1867.
William McGowen, son of James McGowen and Elizabeth Haygood McGowen, was born about 1756.
Robert McGowen, son of James McGowen and Elizabeth Haygood McGowen, was born about 1757.
John McGowen, son of James McGowen and Elizabeth Haygood McGowen, was born about 1759. He was married about 1782, wife’s name Hannah.
Children born to John McGowen and Hannah McGowen in-clude:
John McGowen born about 1784
Jane McGowen born about 1786
Elbert McGowen born about 1788
Samuel McGowen born in 1790
Hamilton McGowen born about 1793
` Robert McGowen born about 1796
Emily McGowen born about 1800
Louisa B. McGowen born about 1805
John McGowen, son of John McGowen and Hannah McGow-en, was born about 1784. He removed to Mississippi. John McGowen and John McGowen, Jr. was enumerated in the 1820 census of Monroe County, Mississippi. It is believed that John McGowen died there in 1827.
Robert McGowen, Samuel McGowen, John McGowen and William McGowen were enumerated in the 1830 census of adjoining Loundes County, Mississippi.
Children born to John McGowen include:
James Elbert McGowen born about 1836
James Elbert McGowen, son of John McGowen, was born about 1836 in Loundes County. It appears that he removed to Louisiana. He was married in 1854 to Mary J. Hough in Nat-chitoches Parish, Louisiana. He was enlisted about 1862 from Moorehouse Parish, Louisana in the Confederate Army.
James Elbert McGowen was enumerated in the 1880 census of Blanco County, Texas.
Children born to James Elbert McGowen include:
James Henry McGowen born about 1876
James Henry McGowen, son of James Elbert McGowen, was born about 1876.
Children born to James Henry McGowen include
Archie McGowen born about 1911
Archie McGowen, son of James Henry McGowen, was born about 1911.
Children born to him include:
Deane McGowen born about 1941
Jane McGowen, daughter of John McGowen and Hannah McGowen, was born about 1786.
Elbert McGowen, son of John McGowen and Hannah McGowen, was born about, 1788.
Samuel McGowen, son of John McGowen, was born in Elbert County, Georgia in 1790. He died in Texas in 1853 and was buried in Camilla, Texas.
Hamilton McGowen, son of John McGowen and Hannah McGowen, was born about 1793.
Robert McGowen, son of John McGowen and Hannah McGowen, was born about 1796.
Emily McGowen, daughter of John McGowen and Hannah McGowen, was born about, about 1800.
Louisa B. McGowen, daughter of John McGowen and Hannah McGowen, was born about 1805.
James McGowen, son of James McGowen and Elizabeth Haygood McGowen, was born about 1761.
Susannah McGowen, daughter of James McGowen and Elizabeth Haygood McGowen, was born about 1764.
Sarah McGowen, daughter son of James McGowen and Elizabeth Haygood McGowen, was born about 1768.
Elijah McGowen, son of James McGowen and Elizabeth Haygood McGowen, was born about 1773.
In my greatgrandfather James Elbert's
death certificate it says his father was John Mc Gowen born in Georgia.
Beverly Giles Loffler of a will
of a James Mc Gowan proved 1844 it lists James siblings as being Samuel,
John, Jane, Elbert,Hamilton, Robert, Emily and Louisa B. This would also
make Samuel and John brothers, of course, and
Our family Journal has the information from James Elbert on to the present,
through James Henry and my father Archie Mc Gowen.
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Rev. James Gowan Patterson was born in Abbeville District October 6, 1803 of parents unknown. He was married about 1826 to Laura Evans who was born at Winnsboro, South Carolina May 6, 1809. He died July 18, 1866 in Spaulding County, Georgia. She died there December 26, 1879 and was buried beside her husband in the City Cemetery at Griffing, Georgia.
Jacob [James?] M. Gowan was enumerated as the head of a household in the 1820 census of Beaufort County.
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William Gowen was recorded as the head of a household in the 1800 census of Beaufort County, page 86:
"Gowen, William white male 26-45
white female over 45"
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William Gowen was enumerated as the head of a household in the 1830 census of Beaufort County, page 289:
"Gowen, William white male 20-30
white female 20-30
white male 0-5"
"William Gowan" reappeared in the 1840 census of Charleston County, page 247:
Gowan, William white male 30-40
white female 20-30
white male 5-10
white female 5-10
white male 0-5
white female 0-5
[4 slaves]”
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The 1850 census of Beaufort District listed in St. Peters Parish on July 15, 1850 the household of William Gowin, No. 38-38:
"Gowin, William 45, born in SC, planter, $300 real
estate
Nancy 42, born in SC
Wilson 12, born in SC, attending school
Benjamin 10, born in SC, attending school
Mary 8, born in SC, attending school
Hampton 6, born in SC
Hetty 2, born in SC
Mary A. 1, born in SC"
Berkeley County was created in 1882 from Charleston County.
Dr. William Moreau Goins of Columbia, South Carolina is the son of Elsie Taylor Goins, Foundation member and genealogist.
William Moreau Goins was born about 1961. He was graduated in 1979 from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. He was mentioned in "Good News Gonzaga," publication of the high school alumni:
"Bill Goins '79 performs under his middle name, Mo-reau. As Moreau, the multi-talented Goins sings, dances and acts. Included among his acts are tradi-tional dances of Native Americans. He was chosen to represent the National Native Network of Talent to carry on a legacy started by Iron Eyes Cody, the leg-endary tearful Indian of the 'Keep America Beautiful' campaign. Also Moreau has performed with the Wash-ington Metropolitan Opera and authored, directed and starred in a production at Washington's Source The-atre."
Elsie Taylor Goins was interviewed in February 1999 by a Charleston newspaper reporter:
By Herb Frazier
Post and Courier staff
Charleston, South Carolina
Columbia--The twisted branches of Elsie Taylor Goins' family tree lead a black American family to its roots - an English slave trader buried in West Africa.
From there, the branches spread to two mulatto women who sailed from Africa into Charleston in 1764 as "free people of color." They later owned slaves and rice plantations in Berkeley County.
Goins' lineage, spanning three centuries, is meticulously drawn on a large tan canvas she created after seeing her family's "freedom papers," declaring that her ancestors from Africa were never held as slaves.
It is the perception that most black Americans are the descendants of enslaved Africans, said Goins, a retired budget analyst with the Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C.
Other black families probably could tell of ancestors who arrived as free people, if memories and records had not been lost in time, she said.
"My family is unique because we had the freedom papers that gave us information about four generations," she said, sitting in the den of her home among the records she has gathered in researching her family's history.
What sets Goins' family history apart from other descendants of free people of color is that her ancestors came to Colonial America already free, and she has an unusual document to show it.
Dr. S. Max Edelson, an assistant professor of history at the College of Charleston, said Goins' story is unique.
"Similar stories could be waiting for historians to uncover," he said.
"It is an invitation for further research."
Not all free black people had papers attesting to their freedom, said Dr. Bernard Powers, a professor of history at the college. Powers said "freedom papers" is a generic term for court documents that stated a person purchased his freedom or was given it. Real estate transactions also served as freedom papers because slaves couldn't own property, he said.
Freedom papers were obtained depending on a person's circumstances, he explained. Some black people felt they needed them as protection against kidnappers who'd sell them into slavery. The freedom papers in Goins' family were issued to her great-grandfather Andrew Henry Dibble, a Camden tailor. Goins said he probably got them to reaffirm his freedom even though the importation of African slaves to the United States had been outlawed long before.
The governor and secretary of state signed Dibble's "certificate of freedom" on Aug. 24, 1860.
Dibble's freedom papers are unique because high-ranking state officials signed them, and it indicates he was an influential person who had a white person to vouch for him, said Dr. Mark Smith, a U.S. history professor at the University of South Carolina.
The year Dibble got his freedom papers was a tense time in South Carolina. The anti-slavery movement was rising. Abraham Lincoln was elected president in November. The next month, South Carolina seceded from the Union. On April 12, 1861, shots were fired on Fort Sumter, starting the Civil War.
Smith speculates that Dibble obtained his "certificate of freedom" because he was afraid of an anti-slavery backlash that could have affected him even though he had never been a slave.
Dibble was born Jan. 1, 1825, in Charleston. The freedom papers do more than just list four generations of his ancestors. It links Goins' family with Africa in a way far different than most other black families.
Dibble's freedom papers include a December 1807 affidavit that Catherine Cleveland, his great-grandmother, and Elizabeth Cleveland Hardcastle, her aunt, were free people of color. Hardcastle was the daughter of William Cleveland, a white slave trader from Devonshire, England.
In the 1730s, William Cleveland arrived on the Banana Islands just off the coast of Sierra Leone in West Africa.
He was shipwrecked, and he took refuge on the island.
King Skinner Caulker, ruler of the Sherbro people, took him in. Caulker was an African who traded in ivory, gum, redwood and slaves. Cleveland eventually got into slave trading, too.
For a white man to be an independent slave trader, he was expected to marry into an African family, said Joe Opala, a scholar-in-residence at the Penn Center on St. Helena Island.
"When you came from Europe, you were expected to attach yourself to a local king and from him you took protection," said Opala, who lived in Freetown, Sierra Leone, for 20 years. "He gave you land and a place to do business. In return, you had to marry a girl from his family. That tied you into the system."
Cleveland married Kate Caulker, King Caulker's only child, Goins said. They had two children, John and Elizabeth. Cleveland died Dec. 6, 1758. He is buried on Bunce Island, Sierra Leone, the site of a former British slave-trading post.
After his death, Elizabeth Cleveland and her niece Catherine came to the South Carolina Colony. Elizabeth Cleveland later owned Wampee, Brick House, Raccoon Hill, Tucker and Pierce's Old Field plantations in Berkeley County, Goins said. When she died in 1808, she owned about 30 slaves on the Tucker Plantation. She willed Raccoon Hill to Catherine Cleveland.
The fair-skinned Elizabeth Cleveland was identified as a white female in the 1790 and 1800 census. She was married to a white doctor, William Hardcastle.
Being a descendant of a black woman who owned black slaves is not a badge of shame, Goins said.
"I don't feel like I have to run and hide," she said. "It is un-fortunate they were in the slave business, but I can't change history. They were doing what society dictated. I assume if they felt it was undesirable, they would not have done it."
Goins and her sister, Catherine Taylor McConnell, began researching their family's history 30 years ago. McConnell died in 1996. This year, Goins hopes to publish a book about her family.
“Most people don't realize that some [Africans] arrived as free people. It is a part of history that should be written because so much of history has been lost."
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Perhaps the earliest recorded individual of interest to Gowen chroniclers in the state of South Carolina is Charles Gowing who died in Charleston in 1704. "George Chicken & James Ingerson executed a bond for Chicken's proper administration of the estate of Charles Gowing, late of Charles Town. Warrant of appraisement was directed to Wm. Gibbon, Evan McFashion & John Goodwin," according to "Abstracts from the Records of the Court of Ordinary of the Province of South Carolina, 1700-1712" by A. S. Salley, Jr.
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William Going signed a petition "to the Crown against the Proprietors" February 24, 1717, according to "South Caro-lina Historical Magazine." The petition was signed by all of the members of the South Carolina House of Commons and many other citizens. A total of 568 signatures--one half of the white male population of colony of South Carolina--appeared on the document.
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Mrs. Giles Gowan was the mother of John Johnston who men-tioned her in his will. John Johnston died in South Carolina April 21, 1739. His will also mentioned John Gowan, mer-chant of London, England. Abstract of this will is printed in "Abstracts of Wills of the State of South Carolina 1670-1740," page 265, by Caroline T. Moore. The will was re-corded in Charleston Will Book 1736-1740, page 399.
Mrs. Giles Gowan, apparently was married at least three times. She wrote her will as Sarah Johnston, widow, in "Charles Town, South Carolina." She died November 29, 1768, according to Charleston County Will Book TT, page 74. The will names her sons, John McCall, Robert Collins and Robert Johnston and grandsons, John McCall, James McCall and Hext McCall, minor. John McCall, son, was named executor of the estate.
John McCall had been a witness to the will of Ann Air Sep-tember 28, 1763, according to Charleston County Will Book QQ, page 316.
James McCall had been a witness the will of Lloyd Caleb in Charleston County in 1766, according to Charleston County Will Book RR, page 98. He had also witnessed the will of Thomas Vardell in 1769, according to Charleston County Will Book SS, page 66.
Hext McCall was a witness to a deed in 1776 in Charleston County, according to Charleston Will Book TT, page 570. He was witness to a deed in 1782, according to Charleston Coun-ty Book WW, page 224. He was named a guardian in 1780, according to Charleston County Will Book WW, page 255.