(Henry) Lawson GOINGS was born circa 1875, somewhere in Mississippi to unknown parents. I have not been able to find him in the 1880 census. Although Henry was his given name, he preferred to use Lawson or H. Lawson in every document I have for him.
He is listed in the San Antonio city directory for 1896-97, 1900 and 1901-1902. He was employed as a driver at the George C. Saur throughout most of that time.
On July 11, 1896, he married Emma KING (b. 1872, Miss.) in San Antonio, Texas. They had two children:
Jennie (Geneva) GOINGSb. June 30, 1897; m. Clayborne Cooksey, 1918; m. Columbus MORRIS, 1926; d. 1983
Raymond GOINGS b. November 13, 1899, San Antonio, Texas; m. Vestula Lewis, San Francisco, CA
Jennie and Raymond GOINGS
picture: 1900, San Antonio, Texas
This is how the GOINGS family looked in the 1900 Census:
Federal Census, June 7th 1900, 339 Virginia St., San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas
|
NAME |
REL. |
RACE |
AGE |
DATE OF BIRTH |
BORN |
OCCUPATION |
|
Lawson GOWINGS |
head |
B |
25 |
Feb 1875 |
Texas |
Laborer |
|
Emma GOWINGS |
wife |
B |
22 |
Mar 1878 |
Texas |
None |
|
Jennie GOWINGS |
dau |
B |
2 |
June 1897 |
Texas |
|
|
Raymond GOWINGS |
son |
B |
7 mo. |
Nov 1899 |
Texas |
|
According to his death certificate, Lawson GOINGS died of tuberculosis on March 24, 1901. He was buried in city cemetery #2, San Antonio, Texas.
Shortly after his death Emma, the children, and her sister Jennie McGee moved to California. They settled in the Los Angeles area. At one point they ran a restaurant in Long Beach where my grandmother and her brother mostly grew up.
By 1916, my grandmother Jennie GOINGS had changed her name to Geneva J. GOINGS. According to the city directory, she, her mother Emma, her brother Raymond and her widowed Aunt Jennie McGEE are all living at 1163 W. 11th Street in Los Angeles. In 1917 her occupation is listed as domestic, in 1918 she is a seamstress. By 1918 the family was living in Glendale at 610 W. Vine. On December 30, 1918 she married Clayborne Cooksey (b. 1897, Texas – d. CA). Her occupation was listed as waitress, so she may have still been working at the Long Beach restaurant. Geneva and Clayborne had one child:
Carol COOKSEY; m. Comma Lee McNEAL
Geneva and Clayborne were divorced in 1923.
Geneva L. MORRIS, Geneva J. MORRIS,
and Carol COOKSEY
picture: "summer, 1945"
On November 24, 1926 in Los Angeles, under the name Geneva J. COOKSEY, my grandmother married my grandfather, Columbus Franklin MORRIS. They had two children:
Mignon Emma MORRIS(b. August 22, 1927 - d. March 27, 1932 in Los Angeles, California)
Geneva L. MORRISm. Charles H. WADE
After their marriage my grandparents lived in the "courts" on Ascot St. that Geneva’s mother and aunt had built. They later moved to Monrovia to a large two-story house on a quarter acre of land – room for my grandfather’s chickens and my grandmother’s roses. In the mid-1960's they moved again, to Altadena where they had a house with a huge yard with more than 10 fruit trees to be closer to their daughter and her family. My memories of my grandmother are that she was always busy. She took classes in upholstering and refinishing furniture, put up preserves, collected antiques and kept a huge garden of flowers and vegetables. Geneva J. GOINGS died in 1983.
Under Construction!
Last updated 08 December, 1998
