The James Goad Family 1
The Shockley Family 5
Robert P. Goad 6
Mary M. Goad 9
The Biography of Col. Eli Dodson, Jr. 11
Thomas Goad 12
Alexander Goad 13
Isabelle Goad 13
Ephriam C. Goad 15
Margaret Goad 16
Alexander Goad (1810 -1889) 17
Martha Goad Cantrell 19
Ibbey Goad Reeves 20
Margaret Goad Reeves 21
William Henderson Goad (1836-1919) 23
Charles Pinkney Goad (1838-) 24
Martha Ellis Ray 30
Union Army Records, Civil War, from the State of Arkansas 31
Goad, Pinkney (also entered as Chas. P. Goad) 31
Goad, Madison 31
Almeda Jane Goad Wilmoth 32
James Madison Goad (1842-1938) 32
Louisa J. Goad 35
Robert Columbus Goad 37
Eli E. Goad 38
Additional Related Material 41
Family Group Sheet – James M. Goad 42
“Impact of the Civil War on Farmers of the Arkansas River Valley and Northwest Arkansas” by Michael Goad 44
Letter from Jane Womack Goad to Charles Pinkney Goad 4/1/1889 46
Family Group Sheet of William and Elizabeth Henderson 47
Family Group Sheet of Alexander S. Goad, Jane Henderson and Jane Womack 49
Photos 51
Eli Dodson, Jr 51
Alexander S. Goad and Jane Womack Goad 51
James Madison “Matt” Goad and Mary Jane Williams 52
Isabelle “Ibbie” Goad Reeves 52
The James Goad Family
Families then as today moved for reasons of economics; or (in rare instances) for a change of scenery or adventure. Our Goad family moved from Virginia into Tennessee where other relatives had probably come earlier and sent back reports of opportunities in this unsettled wilderness area. Our ancestors were farmers and hunters and were a very hardy breed, quite able to take care of themselves in this primitive region.
This part of our nation was a wilderness inhabited by Indians and only occasionally visited by trappers, adventurers and explorers until after the British gained control of the area after the French and Indian War. After some exploration by scouts such as Daniel Boone, permanent settlement of Tennessee began about 1869. The settlers came mainly from the back country of Virginia and North Carolina.
Most of these remote settlements were on land legally owned by Indians. Part of the area was governed as part of Virginia, but the remainder of the settlers, who were on Indian lands, set up their own government, called the Watauga Association. They leased land from the Indians, mainly the Cherokees. The western part of Tennessee was not opened to settlement until the Chickasaw title was extinguished in 1818. The southeastern part of the state was not legally opened to white settlers until the Cherokees were forcibly removed to the West in 1838. On June 1, 1796, Tennessee became the sixteenth state with John Sevier as its first governor. John Sevier’s mother was Joanna Goad.
Hearsay, based on family stories handed down through the generations, is that James Goad was possessed of the desire to travel. It is possible that when a young man he traveled from Virginia to regions of the Tennessee wilderness. I do not know if James Goad ever served in the military. There were several skirmishes with the Indians and much of the War of 1812 with the British was fought both with and against the Indians.
It should be understood that during James Goad’s adult life and by living in Virginia and Tennessee, it would have been nearly impossible to avoid contact with the Indians. On all of my other family lines, if there was the slightest trace of Indian ancestry, then it was always mentioned (usually with pride). This has never been mentioned by a fellow Goad researcher and I must assume that James Goad was not of Indian blood.
I do not believe that James Goad took his family from Virginia into Tennessee without a first hand look at this new land before moving. Of course, the motivation for migrating was the opportunity for a better way of life. That the grass is always greener is not a new thought. Tennessee, a brand new state, could have sounded like a California gold rush to James. Virginia had become somewhat crowded by 1800 and cheap land (land was opportunity) was not abundant.
About 1808, James Goad, with his wife Margaret, and their three small children, left Virginia and started for White County, Tennessee. They traveled in a wagon pulled by oxen and were accompanied by other friends and relatives from Virginia. When they arrived in the eastern part of Tennessee, they may have joined with a few other families moving westward. They traveled in a group for the simple reason of safety.
James Goad left nothing behind in the way of possessions in his Native Virginia. I doubt that James ever owned land in Virginia and no record of a sale has been found. They took with them all the essentials necessary for sustaining a livelihood at their new home. Items likely consisted of tools, some bedding, cooking utensils, food staples, maybe one or two pieces of furniture, a Bible, a gun and some livestock.
They left late in winter and the trip, being about 500 miles took about a month. The trails were rough and a good days travel was about 20 miles. They camped by the trail at night. They probably rested, had some sort of religious service and did not travel on Sundays. Fresh meat was easily provided by wild game killed by the “scout” who checked the trail ahead. Some of the men had traveled this way before and knew the trail. The trip was rough. This area of our nation is hilly, heavily wooded and crisscrossed by dozens of small mountain streams. The trails always took the path of least resistance and one had to travel two miles to make one. Children got tired and restless from riding in the wagons, the diet was monotonous, wagons broke, and there were days when the weather would limit their progress severely, but there was the hope and promise of what their new life would bring. There was no desire to turn back.
After several weeks on the trail, it was a tired and ragged group that arrived in White County that early spring. They camped near acquaintances and relatives until they could erect their own log cabin or dwelling. Their first home was quickly constructed and temporary, for comfort was not the issue at this point. The critical first business was to either homestead or lease a piece of fertile ground, clear it of underbrush and get it ready for a crop. Larger trees were used either for firewood or for construction. After the tree was chopped down, the limbs were cut off and burned, then the log was skidded to a location where it would be used later. The stump was left to rot or be removed later. When plowing, they went around the stump. Unless it was a multiple family undertaking or cooperative effort, not more than ten acres or so was put into cultivation that first year.
First year crops were primarily corn and vegetables, with wild game and fish providing most or all of the meat. Seeds were probably brought from Virginia and borrowed from a neighbor on a pay back later arrangement. The spirit of cooperation among our people prevailed on a level that does not exist today. This is a sad fact, for without the "all for one and one for all" attitude so prevalent in early America, we could not have developed into the world's most prosperous nation.
Records confirm that James and Margaret Goad were religious. They were Protestant (more specifically Baptist) and are listed on the rolls of Rock Creek Baptist Church in Warren County in 1828.
James Goad probably leased land for the first few years that he lived in White County. Although he is listed on the tax lists as early as 1811 (earlier lists do not exist), he is not taxed for land until 1814 (10 acres on Smith's Cove) It is probable that he moved a few times in the 20 or so years that he lived in White County. In 1827 James Goad is listed as being taxed on 53 acres. In 1832 the heirs of James Goad are taxed on 50 acres.
The best accounting of pioneer life and the history of early White County is given in a small book by Rev. Monroe Seals (1867-1935) titled "History of White County, Tennessee". Although no Goad families are mentioned, it is an excellent source of information for this area. (Library of Congress Card #74-13633)
James and Margaret Goad had at least eight children that lived to be adults:
- Robert P. Goad was born about 1805 in Virginia. He died about 1830 in either Tennessee or Arkansas. He had married and there were three sons.
- Mary M. Goad was born abt 1807. She married Eli Dodson, Sr. Mary and Eli both died when young, but they had a son, Eli Dodson, Jr., who was raised by his uncle Alexander Goad.
- Thomas Goad was born about 1807. He married Elizabeth Rebecca Jones
- Alexander Goad (my great great grandfather) was born September 1810. He married Jane Henderson and they lived in Arkansas.
- Isabella Goad was born about 1813. She married Nathan Driver and they lived in Madison County, Arkansas.
- Ephriam C. Goad was born about 1815. He married Nancy A. Fulton.
- James Madison Goad was born about 1817. He married Rebecca Fisher and they lived in Crawford County, Arkansas.
- Margaret (Peggy) Goad was born about 1819. She married George W. Wood and they lived in Madison County, Arkansas until after the Civil War.
James Goad died in 1829. He was 50 years old, which at that time, was considered old age. There is a story that a James Goad, nicknamed "Sharp" Goad, was up toward Arkansas either hunting or scouting and the Indians got him. This may or may not be so, but, to me, doesn't seem too likely. Nevertheless, after James died, the widow Margaret married Mr. John Franklin and by 1834 all of James' children (mostly married) were in Madison County, Arkansas. I believe that Grandfather James Goad died in White County after having lived there for more than twenty years. White County will records provide information as to his children and his widow. So ends the Goad era in Virginia and Tennessee. The new trail begins in Arkansas about 1834, two years before this territory was admitted as a State.
The Shockley Family
It would seem appropriate to include some information on the family of my great great great grandmother, Margaret “Peggy” Shockley. The writer has completed only a limited search for these early records, but the information stated here is consistent with what I have been told by other researchers.
The Shockley family is of English origin and came to America in early colonial times. They were Protestant and they settled in Virginia. Margaret “Peggy” Shockley was born about 1792 in Virginia. Her parents were Mary “Polly”______and William Shockley, Sr. The parents were both natives of Virginia and were supposed to have died there about 1802. I could only speculate on the names of their other children. Margaret "Peggy" Shockley married James M. Goad on 18 October 1804 in Bedford County, Virginia. They moved from Virginia to White County, Tennessee about 1808. Margaret and James Goad had eight children. (Their stories are elsewhere in this booklet.) [1]
After James Goad died, about 1828 in White County, Margaret then married Mr. John Franklin. Margaret and John Franklin stayed in Tennessee until about 1834 when they came to Madison County, Arkansas. Margaret and John had no children. They raised the youngest of Margaret's children by James Goad and probably raised several of John's children.
Margaret died around 1855 in Madison County, Arkansas. We do not know when John Franklin died.
A tax list for White County, Tennessee for the year 1811 shows:
· Isham Shockley - no acres
· Isiah Shockley - one white poll; no acres
· William Shockley - one white poll; no acres These are probably relatives of Margaret Shockley Goad.
In 1830 there are several Shockley families in White County. There are eleven different Shockley families in White County in 1840. I would assume they are all related in some way.
The information below is from Mrs. June Worland and is important:
“Several years ago I was writing to an elderly man in Tennessee. He was a Shockley descendant. He didn't know too much, but he told me some of the stories he'd heard or had been passed down to him. He has since passed away. He said many Shockleys and many Goards came to Tennessee about the same time in the early 1800’s. He said the Shockleys were all related some way and he supposed the Goards were too. First of all he told me I have the name wrong. He said it wasn't Goad. It was Goard.”
“He said Peggy Shockley married Sharp Goard (a nickname for James?). Her and some of her brothers came to Tennessee after their folks died in Virginia. He said Peggy’s oldest boy (Robert) had real hard luck, that his wife died in “child bed” leaving three little boys and that Peggy’s son went wild.”
“Before that, or around that time he said banks failed and lots of folks moved on to other states trying to get a new start. A bunch went to Arkansas Sharp Goard was among them but "the Indians got him up there.” Well, he said, the son, he joined the militia up there to get vengeance on them Indians. The grandma raised the boys."
“I paid little attention until I got to “the Indians got him.” Of course, I had heard that story before. Now I wonder if it could be true and my people got the story attached to the wrong James Goad. Anyway, I cannot prove any of this nor have I been able to find a service record for Robert Goad.”
- from June Worland.
Robert P. Goad
Robert P. Goad was the oldest child of James and Margaret Shockley Goad. He was born in July 1805 in Virginia and was about three years old when his parents brought him to White County, Tennessee. Robert married a Miss ______about 1821 in White County and they had three sons.
The wife died about 1826, probably of childbirth complications. It is doubtful that Robert remarried. Just where, when or how Robert Goad died is not known.