Document 1

DOCUMENT No. 5

W.J. Clement to Mr. A. Gooch
sent from: Oakland, MS
dated: March 17, 1855
letter (privately held) - owned by Rev. Robert Frazier of FL.

W.[illiam] J. Clement (1828-1861) is the second child of William and Jane (Gooch) Clement of Granville County, North Carolina. Mr. A. Gooch is , Amos Gooch a younger brother of Jane Gooch and thus Uncle to W.J. Clement. William's tombstone is found on index at the North Carolina State Archives. He enlised on the 25th of June 1861 Charleston, in Tallahatchie County, MS by Capt. Fitzgerald and served as a private in Company F, 1st Battalion of Mississippi. At that time, he lists his occumpation as a clerk in Preston, MS. William died the 16th of September 1861 at Camp Pickens, Manassas, VA of a fever, one record mentions Measels. He never married.

Oakland (1) Miss March 17 [18]55

Mr. A Gooch
Dear Sir (2)

It is with pleasure / I Spend a few moments in writing you/ a few lines I am well and enjoing/ fine health as good as as [or is] I ever and / in my life I tell you I am a fine / looking fellow with the bigest pare / of whisker you ever saws any Billy / Goat have all of our relation are / well I beleive I Saw Uncle Tom (3) the / other day the old fellow had the mis- / fortune to lose one of his negros last fall / by the falling of a Tree on him (Granville) (4) / we had a very hard rain a few nights / a gow which did Sivver damage / to Some of our neighbors I Saw / one of them this morning he tell me / he thinks that he is [illegible] about a / thousen Dollars the rain turn over his / gin House and plad [played] Tom Walker with/ the old trees and fences.

I am living in Oakland Clerking I am / getting three hundre[d] Dollars per yea[r] and / board Write me soon as convenint [end of first page]

Whos the old man James Gooch (5) [illegible] / not [illegible] you in the matter of getting you a / wife I Saw a letter of his after he / was married one might judge from his / lett[e]r that marr[y]ing was the greatest thing / now out (6) I expect it is a right good / thing in it place but it like a good / many thing[s] it has it battes as well as se[r]ved • / I woul[d] like to marry my self If I/ thought I could be well paid for my/ tr[o]ubles/ Nothing more at present / give my love to Aunt Hannah (7) / and Julia (8) except for you[r] self my best wishes/ and marry if you want 9(Jas Gooch)

Respectfully your friend
W.J. Clement

Notes:

1 Sir Amos Gooch (1802-1885) The ninth child of Daniel & Nancey (Sneed) Gooch of Granville County. Though it appears that Amos married in 1824 to Martha Knight in Granville County, he is remembered as being a bachelor. Amos lived in the Tar River District on the Gooch family homestead near Enon Church, which his spinster sister Hannah owned. Amos was a wealthy farmer and the fact that his personal papers were found in the Granville County Courthouse, suggests that he held some political position of prominence, possibly county clerk.
2 Oakland, MS Founded in 1837 and located in Yalobusha County, MS. This town is situated about 15 miles NE of Coffeeville and not far South from the area where Samuel Gooch had settled along Middle Creek. A female academy was established in Oakland around 1838 and a school for boys in 1839. The railroad came through about 1860. [re: Hometown Mississippi; J.F. Brieger (1980)] .
3 Thomas Gooch (1796-1869) The fifth child of Daniel & Nancey (Sneed) Gooch of Granville County. Thomas emigrated to Mississippi before 1839; either with his borther Samuel or after Samuel’s death. A family story recalls that Thomas came to Mississippi at the request of his brother’s widow to manage the estate A published interview with his former slave, Henretta Gooch indicates he lived six miles of Charleston, MS. He is remembered as being a bachelor; however, Tallahatchie County records list a Thomas Gooch marrying Harriet Talbert in 1866. By his death Harriet had evidently died, since she is not mentioned in his estate papers. .
4 Granville A slave child named Granville was given to Thomas Gooch by his father, Daniel on the 14th day of January 1835. Granville was probably the child of one of Daniel Gooch's slaves. Granville was taken to Mississippi by Thomas before 1840 [re: Granville County D.B. 1835]. .
5 James Gooch (1794-1879) The fourth child of Daniel & Nancey (Sneed) Gooch of Granville County. James remained a bachelor much of his life until his marriage to Sallie Willis Harris in 1854. James was a wealthy farmer in the Granville region which is now Vance County. Gooch's Grove is named after his homestead outside of Henderson. .
6 James James married late in life, his marriage bond is dated the 09th of Oct. 1854 and they were married on the 17th in Granville County. He married Sallie Willis, the daughter George W. & Sarah (Wright) Harris, she was much his junior. .
7 Hannah Gooch (1800-1890) The eighth child of Daniel & Nancey (Sneed) Gooch of Granville County. Hannah was given her father's home farm and house upon Daniel's death in 1837. A spinster, Hannah never married, but kept house for her brother Amos along with another sister Nancy. Hannah was well remembered by her nieces and nephews and raised many orphaned children in the family. .
8 Julia Julia LeMay Gooch (1845-1932), daughter of Dudley Snead & Mary Jane (Bennett) Gooch. As was often the custom of the time, wealthy bachelor uncles and aunts were often given a child to raise from one of their siblings, especially if a child was orphaned or lost their mother. Julia's mother had died in 1849, probably in child birth. Julia appears with her father and step-mother in the 1850 Census, but was probably sent to live with her wealthy bachelor Uncle Amos and spinster Aunt Hannah who lived in the old Gooch homestead on the Tar River. Julia married late in life. She married John Henry Meadows (1847-1901), the son of Pinkney Meadows. She was Meadow’s second wife, having first married Cora Lee Allen (1861-1882) the daughter of planter Willam T. & Frances (Yancey) Allen; neighbors to Julia’s Uncle Amos and Aunt Hannah. Upon her widowhood, Julia was left with financial problems and though she owned a home in Oxford she lived with relatives moving from one home to another accompanied by her servant Molly Yancy. Julia eventually moved back to her home in Oxford where she died. She and her husband are buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Oxford. .
9 ... and marry if you want.. Amos Gooch was remembered as a life long bachelor; however Granville records show that an Amos Gooch took out a marriage bond indicating a possible marriage to a Martha Knight in 1824. However, even if this marriage took place, it was short lived since there is no record of Martha or of Amos setting up a separate household from his sister Hannah.

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