THIS SITE IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY GRANDFATHER REED TROY "POP" GOODSON (1886-1970), WHO TOLD SOME OF THE FAMILY STORIES, AND MY COUSIN RODGER PRICE GOODSON (1937-2000), WHO HAD THE MIND TO WRITE THEM DOWN.
In July 1983 I received a letter written by Rodger Goodson, giving this factual account told, in true mountain dialect, by Troy's older brother, Alexander Garfield "Fellie" Goodson (1880-1965) at the site of the Goodson Settlement cemetery.....
"Hit come up the awfulest storm ever was seen. We was all a-tryin' to get the hay in before the rain come, and hit cummenced to thunderin' and lightin' till I was might nigh scaired to death. Eye God sir, that lightenin' was a-comin' right down on us, and then hit struck the rye shocks in the field above us, and set the rye shocks on far. Next thing we knowed, the smoke come a-rollin' down into the meader and somebody hollered out the whole mountain was on far!
"We grabbed up ever horse blanket and straw broom and shovel we could lay hands on, and went up in that rye field to beat the far out and trench it before hit got to the trees. That took might nigh all day long, and we lost ever bit of the rye crop and most of the hay. Hit come up the awfulest thunderin', like they was a-blowin' up the world, and that lightenin' kept on a-flashin' and a-crackin'like that, till I thought for sure hit was tryin' to kill me, kill ever one of us!
"But the rain finally come and hit was jist like the Flood startin' all over again. We thought hit was the end of the world!
"We got the far put out in the rye shocks, finally, and kept hit from takin' holt among the trees. Then the rain come down and put the rest of hit out, and when we got back down to the meader, HE (Leander L. Goodson) was dead! HE died while all that storm was a-goin' on, when the mountain caught far. We had to wait about three days to bury him till the rains finally let up. Then we put him in the ground, and she (Leander's youngest daughter, Jane Goodson) planted a tree at the foot of his grave. Now hits growed right through him and her (Leander's wife, Nancy Brannock Goodson), and hit's growed right through ever one of them. Why hit'll grow through me and Troy, grow right through all of us!"
Who WAS Leander L. Goodson?
All I can say here is, he must have been a man if it took a fire on the mountain to put him under.
For over thirty years I have been researching this Goodson Family that goes back to about 1796 in Chesterfield County, Virginia, with the birth of Leander L. Goodson. From there the journey has gone through the War of 1812 and the Indian War, Wythe County in Virginia, McMinn County in Tennessee, Perry County in Illinois, Surry County in North Carolina, and finally the Blue Ridge Mountains of Grayson and Carroll Counties, Virginia, where the Goodson Settlement was established in the 1840s. These pages are about a remarkable family and all those who came after. And the history continues....
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Please note that I make no claim regarding the validity of the information contained and/or attached herein. Remember that each item of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.
Please contact me through my e-mail if you have any additional information, corrections, or need assistance. Thank you.
COPYRIGHT: This information may be used for general research intentions. However, text files, articles, stories, and so forth, having been written by me personally, may not be reproduced in any form without my expressed written consent.
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- Eda Virginia "Edie" Lowe Goodson (ca. 1945) (31 KB)
wife of Benjamin "Ben" Goodson
- Early & Troy Goodson families (ca. 1951) (28 KB)
Barbara Ann Chappell, Leonard O'Neil Burcham, Howard Wayne Chappell, Jr., Leona (Goodson) Burcham, Wanda Burcham, Jalanda York, Early Ambrose Goodson, and wife Susie (Dotson) Goodson, Bessie (Lowe)Goodson, and Reed Troy Goodson, Evie (Goodson)Carrico, and Eugene Carrico
- Goodson's at the Goodson Settlement (ca. 1915) (32 KB)
Reed Troy Goodson holding son, Price (nmn)Goodson, daughter Ila Rosamond Goodson, and wife Bessie (Lowe) Goodson.
- Christmas at Troy & Bessie Goodson's 1949 (21 KB)
Front to back: Barbara Chappell, H. Wayne Chappell, Jr., Jalanda York, Earnest Alexander "E. A." Davis, Jr., Marion Davis, Beulah (Goodson) Harris, John York, Bessie (Lowe) & Troy Goodson, "Mollie" (Sandefur) Lowe Galyean, Ila (Goodson)Chappell York, Ethel (Galyean) Davis
- Michael & Price Goodson (ca. 1945) (7 KB)
Michael Stuart (baby) and Price (n.m.n.) Goodson
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