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Richard Goodwin
Born Oct 9, 1751? VA?
Died by May 6, 1786 ?Natchez District

SPOUSE	CHILDREN
Phoebe ?Manadue[widow?] m. 1770? b. 1752? SC d. by 1823 ?Claiborne Co. MS	Benjamin b. 1771? d. by Mar 1804? ?Jefferson Co. MS	William b. 1775? d. after 1823 ?Claiborne Co. MS	Samuel b. 1776 d. May 28, 1833 Claiborne Co. MS
	Sarah b. 1782/1786 Natchez Dist. d. after Mar 1804	Elizabeth b. 1782/1786 Natchez Dist. d. after Mar 1804
Washington Co., previously Washington District, was formed by North Carolina in 1777 and extended west to the Mississippi River, mostly containing land inhabited by five different tribes of Native Americans, but mostly Cherokee. In 1779, the Cumberland Settlement was created by the granting of land by the NC government. In 1783 this settlement was mostly contained in the newly formed Davidson Co. and surrounded by Indian Lands, and Virginia and Kentucky to the North. Map of the Cumberland Settlements showing Forts, known as Stations, in present-day counties.
Map of the Cumberland Settlement in 1780.
A "William Goodman" served as a Captain in the 4th Regiment of the NC Continental Army from Oct 1776 to Jan 1779 [Abishai, p. 1065]. As a result, he was granted 640 acres in the Cumberland Settlement which was assigned to a Chloe Goodwin, "heir of William Goodwin for service by the latter in the Continental Line" [NC Land Grants File #1596].
The land granted to William Goodwin was on the Big Harpeth River (now in Davidson Co. TN). Also receiving grants on that river were John White, David Smith, and David Williams, whose families all came to Natchez with the Richard Goodwin family [NC Land Grants File # 179, 2110, 2401.
In May 1782, "Ricardo Gooden, wife & children" arrived via flatboat at Natchez with 5 "individuos" and two "esclavos", that is slaves [Natchez Court Records]. A total of 13 families were recorded by Spanish authorities as arriving, and the record was signed by Grand-Pré on Jul 6, 1782. Among them were the families of David Williams, John White, David Smith, and Thomas Ethridge.
On May 16, 1782 Thomas Ethridge made a deposition to the Natchez District Commandant, Carlos de Grand-Pré, responding to questions questions provided by an Indian Interpreter named St. Germain, who was among some Natchez residents who had concerns regarding those Americans arriving on flatboats down the Mississippi River, mentioning David Smith, and others. He said that of the seven slaves brought by Smith "six were stolen" [Farrell Family History website].
On May 17, 1782, having just arrived in Natchez, "Richard Gooding" sold a slave named Antoine Ellis, "aged about 40 years, native of Curacoa", to widow Anne McIntosh for "Consideration $350, which the seller has received from purchaser" [McBee, Book A, p. 14].
Map of the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799.
On Feb 22, 1784 David Smith, sold to John Burnet, the "part which I held in the saw mill in partnership with him and Richard Gooding and which we erected in the Cypress Swamp belonging to the aforesaid Burnet, distant 2 leagues from the Fort; for $500 payable out of the profits of the said mill as the same may accrue" [McBee, p. 17].
On Sep 10, 1784, St. Germain witnessed the sale of 100 arpents (about 84 acres) of land from David Smith to Cato West "near Cole's Creek, bordered on one side by land of Samuel Osborn, on other sides vacant" for $150 in cash paid at time of sale [McBee, Book A, p. 27].
On Apr 9, 1785, John Burnet sold to St. Germain two/thirds of the saw mill "now occupied on or near land of Richard Goodwin, with the same part in a yoke of oxen at the Mill and the wheels and chain and everything belonging to Richard Goodwin, and also my right to said mill" for $800 (Spanish money) "payable January next" [McBee, p. 137].
St. Germain died shortly before May 8, 1786 after "a fall from the top of a tree in the Cypress Swamp" about 15 miles above the Fort of Natches, apparently trying to get wood for the saw mill that he had purchased part of from John Burnet just the year before. The King's Surgeon, Don Louis Faure, informed of the accident, found him in the house of John Burnet "already dead half an hour before his arrival … body cold and wanting one leg" (McBee, pp. 33-4].
Cole's Creek, the saw mill and the Burnet Plantation were all in what became Jefferson Co., created from Adams Co., Mississippi Territory, in 1799 (see present day map). In 1802 Claiborne Co. was formed just north of Jefferson Co. (see present day map for location).
A person identified only as "Groding, deceased" was mentioned in a suit by St. Germain, before he died May 8, 1786, against William Ferguson who had petitioned the court for payment of a note he held but "drawn in favor of Groding" [McBee, p. 305].
On Dec 17, 1788 "Phoebe Goodwin" [apparently now a widow] sold to Henry Manadue 600 arpents on Cypress Swamp, bordered by lands of St. Germain and Jean Baptiste Lapuente, 3 leagues from the Fort of Natchez, "on which are erected a saw-mill and other buildings, for $1100, in hand paid" Phoebe Goodwin signed with an "X" [McBee, Book B, p. 60].
In 1789, ?brother "Wm. Groding" bought 100 acres "adj. Adam Bingaman and Mrs. McIntosh" from "Jonas Oiler" for $200. Jonas was the sole heir of Marcus Iler. The land was about 3 miles east of Natchez. On Feb 8, 1791, William gave Adam Bingaman right to the land and on Mar 9, 1791, he sold two other tracts nearby, 96 and 100 arpents, to Adam [McBee, p. 460].
On Feb 22, 1790 Waterman Crane sold 110 arpents of land with "an old house thereon" for $100 to "William Goodwin" bordered by lands of Widow McIntosh and Adam Bingaman (husband of Mrs. McIntosh) [McBee, Book B, p. 74]. On Mar 9, 1791, "William Groding" sold 96 acres land to Adam Bingaman. Court records for this transacton state that "Groding signs in German" [McBee, p. 460, Book B, p. 82].
Son or brother "William Groding" was old enough on Mar 9, 1791 to sell two tracts of land, 100 and 96 arpents, to Adam Bingaman. The lands bordered that of Mrs. McIntosh and her husband Adam Bingaman, respectively [McBee, Book B, p. 82].
After Richard died, Phoebe married. or remarried, Henry Manadue Jr.. In one translation of the 1792 Spanish census for the Natchez Dist. there are two "Enrique Manadue" households: Henry Manadue, the young man, and Henry Manadue. Both are in the SC (St. Catherine's Creek) area.
Henry Manadue Sr. died by Oct 5, 1793 in Natchez. He had a son Henry Jr, and a daughter Rosanna who was born in NC in 1768. Phoebe Manadue his widow was recorded in Natchez Court records on Oct 5, 1793 [McBee, p. 97].
According to the 1792 Spanish Census for the Natchez District, there is only one household with a name similar to Goodwin: "Pheby Goodwind" owned 300 arpents of land in Bayou Pierre [future Claiborne Co.], with 6 white persons and one slave living on it.
When Martha Green, wife of "Thomas Green Jr. listed her estate, her 500 acres on Bayou Pierre was "adj. the widow Goodwin" [McBee, p. 366]. In the 1792 Spanish Census for the Natchez District, there were no Green households in the Bayou Pierre region.
In March 1794, "Phoebe Gooding" gave her name and birthplace (SC) and condition (widow) when asked what she told "Thomas Green concerning the arrival of Americans to this province" [McBee, p. 330].
On Mar 9, 1804, the "heirs of Richard Goodwin" are identified as Samuel, William, Sarah and Elizabeth Goodwin. Also as legal representatives they claimed land on the south side of Bayou Pierre, "by right of occupancy... cultivated in 1786 by Mr. John Terry who sold it in the said year to said Richard Goodwin, decd, and his family have inhabited and cultivated it ever since" and the claim was signed by son Samuel Goodwin and witnessed Mar 26, 1804 by William Smith [McBee, p. 517].
Two Goodwins are listed on Page 7 lines 18 and 19 of the Claiborne Co. Tax Roll for 1810 as follows: Samuel Goodwin 209 acres in Bayou Pierre (donation), one poll (white person) and no slaves. William Goodwin (son) 200 acres in Bayou Pierre (donation), two polls and one slave.
On Mar 24, 1804, a "Benjamin Goodall" claimed "preemption rights to 100 acres on the waters of Petty [Petit] Gulf Cr., by virtue of having inhabited and cultivated the same since 1802" [McBee, p. 519]. This would have been in Jefferson Co. MS at the time. The 1816 Jefferson Co. MS Census just has a "Samuel Goodall" household.
Richard may have been the older brother of Benjamin (Goodin) Goodwin (1755-1841) who received a pension in 1823 for service from Dec 26, 1776 to Mar 9, 1780 in the Virgina Continental Army. He was discharged in PA, and soon had a son Benjamin born about 1781. Benjamin was born in Baltimore MD and died in Natchez, and his occupation was Sargeant ["Pension Appilcation of Benjamin Goodwin S34903", www.revwarapps.com, website].
In the 1820 Census for Claiborne Co. MS, on line 8 of page 16, son "William Goodin" aged 26-45 headed a household of 6 whites and a male slave at least 45 years old, possibly the remaining slave that came with the family to Natchez in 1782 when William was a child. On line 11 of the same page, son "Samuel Goodwin" aged 26-45, headed a larger household of 14 whites and one, younger male slave [skcensus website].
In the 1823 Tax Roll for Claiborne Co., on page 1 lines 47,48,49, there were three Goodwins taxed, all in Bayou Pierre; Samuel Goodwin (son), with 1 poll (white person) and 2 slaves on 143 acres; "Pheoby Goodwin (Estate)" (widow), with no persons on the land on 100 acres; William Goodwin (son), with 2 polls and 1 slave on 100 acres. The same three Goodwins were taxed on page 6, lines 14-16, of the 1825 Tax Roll for Claiborne Co. [usgwarchives,net].
A Samuel Goodwin married Cynthia Kitchin or Kinchon in Claiborne Co. After appearing in the 1830 Census, he died of Cholera on May 28, 1833. A Richard Goodwin (a son of Samuel perhaps) had died of cholera on May 21 [The Port Gibson Correspondent..., Jun 1, 1833, obituary, usgwarchives.net website]. His will was probated in Claiborne Co. A "Cynthia Godwin" was mentioned [Ancestry.com].
A William H. Goodwin (grandson), born about 1800 married Delila Foster, who in the 1850 Census for Claiborne Co. MS was 45 years [Ancestry.com, usgwarchives.net websites].
In the West Feliciana Parish LA 1850 Census, household number 163, "Samuel D. Goodin" (likely a grandson) was listed as a white male "Overseer", born in "Miss.", 45 years old, with a female (wife) aged 35 born in Louisiana" and no other persons living with them [U.S. Census, 1850, usgwarchives.net].
Sources: Thomas, Abishai et al., "Roster of the North Carolina troops in the Continental Army", copy of a register taken from original muster and pay rolls 1791, Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, vol. 16, pp. 1065, on Univ. of NC website. Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census. "George W. Humphreys Bible", Claiborne MS Bibles, photostat of original bible, recorded 1957 by May Wilson McBee, in Mississippi Genealogy Trails, website. Genealogy Trails, Claiborne Co. (MS) 1810 Tax Roll, website, transcribed by Lee Kohler, updated May 8, 2018. Claiborne Co. MS, Genealogy Trails, Claiborne Co. (MS) 1823 Tax Roll, website, transcribed by Lee Kohler, updated May 9, 2018. Cumberland Compact, original document signed May 13, 1780, Washington County NC, website. Clayton, Prof. W.W., History of Davidson County Tennessee, reprod. 1971 by Charles Elder, Nashville TN. Drake, Doug, Jack Masters and Bill Puryear, Founding of the Cumberland Settlements, The First Atlas, 1779-1804, Warioto Press, 2009, pp. 23, map E7. Farrell Family History, website. McBee, May Wilson, comp., "Land Claims", in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book F, p.21. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, pp. 17, 34, 97, 305, 307, 327-330, 366, 460, 517, 519, Book B, pp. 60, 74, 82. MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1780-1790. MSGenWeb, Natchez District 1792 Census Index, comp. by Ellen Pack, Head of Household Index, transcribed and translated from Spanish. North Carolina Land Grants, TN Davidson Co. File #1596, website. Potter, Dorothy Williams, Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823, Gateway Press, Baltimore MD, 1982, p. 342. U.S. Census 1820, Claiborne Co. MS, skcensus.com website, S-K Publ., 1995, p. 16 (5A). U.S. Census, 1850 West Feliciana Parish, La., submitted by Donald W. Johnson, usgwarchives.net, website. Wells, Carol, Natchez Postscripts 1781-1798, Heritage Books, pp. 101, 144-5, 151, White, Gifford, James Taylor White of Virginia and some of his descendants into Texas, Austin, TX, 1982. Veach, Damon, "Louisiana Ancestors", article in Sunday Advocate Magazine, Baton Rouge LA, Feb 21, 1982.