BACK TO LETTERS

DOCUMENT No. 40

William D. Gooch to Amos Gooch
sent from Christian County, KY
dated: June 17, 1872
Letter (publicly held) - original in North Carolina State Archives

William Daniel Gooch (1851-1892) is the son of Dudley Snead Gooch, by his second wife Mary Indianna Jones. Orphaned at a young age, William probably grew up in the household of Amos and Hannah Gooch, William's bachelor uncle and maiden aunt. Willliam emigrated to Kentucky and finally to Texas. In 1870 he married the sister of a Lampasas, Texas merchant C.E. Fulton. Louretta Fulton is the daughter of Wilson & Mary Ann (Davis) Fulton, natives of Stokes County, NC. William and Louretta had four children. In 1892, William Daniel Gooch was gunned down in the streets of Colorado City, TX , where he had just been re-elected as the was the U.S. Marshall.

Christian Co Ky
Jun 17 1872
Dear Uncle

I will write / you a few lines to let you / know where I am and how / I am getting on I am / in Kentucky and doing as well / as can be expected I am / teaching school and getting / $25/25 pr month and my board / I got in business in Henderson (1) / but the small pock run me / out of the town it is the / town that cousin Jimmie (2) / Gooch died in [T]he small / pock is raging there very / much. I got rob in / Chatnoga as I came on /

so I am out of money / but have got plenty of / friends I went down to / See cousin Rowling Gooch (3) / he is a brother of Sheriff Gooch4 / he send his love to you and / Aunt Hannah I also went / to see Mr. Walker Jones (5) Mr / Mr Henry Jones' (6) son. [H]e send / his love to you also he married / Cousin Rowling Sister (7) they / are Both Preachers (8) I live / 25 miles from them (9) I went / down there and spent a / week Uncle Amos I want / you to send me your picture / Cousin Rowling wants to see / it and I want it also / I never expect to come to / NC no more Uncle Amos / I wish that you would / pay Dr. Ben Hicks (10) $1.00 / For me I forgot to pay /

him when I left and / take it out of fathers / estate. I have not much / Knews to write so I must / come to a close Give / my love to aunt Hannah / I remain your nephew /

Notes:

1. Henderson, Ky A town in Western Kentucky located on high red bluffs facing the Ohio River. Founded in 1797 by Richard Henderson of Granville County and settled by Daniel Boone. It was formed as the outpost for the Transylvania Land Company, which later lost its claim to the area which is now Kentucky and ended up with 200,000 acres in Western Kentucky. The Henderson, Bullocks, Williams, Burton and Sneed family were all involved in the settlement of this area and were intermarried. Daniel Gooch is related to the Sneed family and had cousins who had settled in this area.

2. Jimmie Gooch Possibly the son of Joseph H. & Louisa (Philpot) Gooch of Granville County. The 1850 Census lists him as 11 years old. However, the name James was not uncommon in the Gooch family.
   Rowling Gooch (1822-1873) The son of Thomas & Jemima (Hester) Gooch. Grandson of Rowland Gooch brother of the writer's great grandfather. Rowland married Louisa Frances Coffman in Hopkins County, Ky in 1844. He died of cholera in Union County, KY.

3. Sheriff Gooch Joseph Hester Gooch (1816-1878), Sheriff of Granville County. Joseph is a distant cousin to William D. Gooch. Joseph is the son of Thomas & Jamima (Hester) Gooch and grandson of Rowland Gooch, brother of the writer's great grandfather. Joseph married Louisa Marian Philpot in Granville County (1837). Louisa is the daughter of James & Elizabeth (Davie) Philpott. It is said that in later years Joseph emigrated to Nevada township in Collins County, Texas.

4. Walker Jones Rev. Solomon W. Jones (1820-1891). Granville marriage bonds of 1838 show that Solomon married Mary B. Gooch (1819-1890) a daughter of Thomas & Jemima (Hester) Gooch. Solomon is probably the son of Henry W. Jones a wealthy Granville farmer whose plantation was located on the South side of the Tar River near Gooch's Mill. The 1850 Census show Solomon and Mary in Kentucky with their children: Thomas, Willis, Joseph & Alex. Both Solomon and Mary are buried on their farm at Hanson in Hopkins County, KY.

5. Henry Jones One of the Henry Jones found in the Tar River District as a neighbor of the Gooch Family. Henry Jones is mentioned in a letter by William C. Russell to Amos Gooch, as a family friend and neighbor in the Tar River District of Granville County. It is probably a reference to Henry W. Jones (1792-1871), who married the daughter of David Parker and was a contemporary of Amos Gooch.

6. ..Cousin Rowlings sister.. Mary B. Gooch (1819-1890). Daughter of Thomas & Jemima (Hester) Gooch. Married Solomon W. Jones in Granville County in 1838. (See note #5)

7. ..Both preachers.. It is not known which sect, though possibly Baptist. Many of the Gooches of Tar River were involved with the Presbyterian Church, but it is more likely these men were Baptist. Several Gooch families were involved in developing the Primitive Baptist Church in Granville County. Family tradition recounts that Rowling Gooch died of cholera on one of his circuits preaching in Kentucky.

8. ..25 miles from them.. The Gooch and Walker families lived in Hanson in Hopkins County, KY.

9. Dr. Ben Hicks unidentified

LETTERS

© 1999 mahard@jps.net