I’ve been researching Moses and Agnes Going of Wilkes, Warren and Columbia County, Georgia (circa late 1700's) and their Georgia descendants for a few years now. While I once on board with the notion that Moses Going of Wilkes County, Georgia and Moses Going of Louisa County, Virginia were the same person, I now believe that’s inaccurate.
There’s a lot of information here but I hope by laying it all out that other researchers might redirect their efforts away from Louisa County and perhaps collectively dive into the new pile of new research needed to unlock the origins of this family. For clarity, I generically stick with my “Going” spelling of the name unless I’m referring to records with a variant spelling. If you’re new to this family, you should be aware that records vary in their spelling of the name and throughout my research I’ve seen most of the individuals I discuss below have their names spelled in many of the 20 or so variations that all relate to the same family (Going, Goin, Goings, Gowin, Gowen, Goyen, etc.).
Moses Going and his wife Agnes came from Henry County, Virginia and settled in Wilkes County, Georgia. This is fairly provable. Moses purchased his Wilkes County land in April, 1785 and was called a Wilkes County resident so he probably established himself there prior to that. I would guess that he made the journey to Georgia in late fall, 1784. Other researchers have suggested 1786 but the land record, combined with its residency requirement, makes me think late 1784. This is about the point where I leave most of the accepted theories regarding Moses’ origins.
Because of his Virginia birth and the close match for age, many researchers have taken the further step to connect Moses Goings of Wilkes County with Moses Going Louisa County, Virginia. It’s very tempting to conflate the two. Both apparently had wives names Agnes, both were born in Virginia, they were contemporaries, and some of the names and ages of their children can be made to fit a single narrative. But I’m now certain they were actually two different individuals, probably cousins. I believe Paul Heinegg thought the same. If you’ve had a chance to view his detailed study of the “Gowen” family in Free Africans Americans of North Carolina, Virgina, and South Carolina, he lists Moses Going of Henry County and Moses Going of Louisa County separately. He had his reasons for this.
Moses Going of Louisa County was on the Louisa County tax rolls in 1783 and 1785 and he was summoned to court there in February, 1783. Moses Going of Henry County is on the Henry County tax rolls each year from 1782 through 1786. In addition, he was also present in Henry County in 1780 to make his service declaration. Between the overlapping residencies and the hundreds of miles of distance that separate Louisa County and Henry County, here begins the case for these being different men.
So far as I can see, none of the immediate family attributed to Moses Goings of Louisa had any connections to the Henry/Patrick/Halifax area. Reciprocally, the other Going families living in the same area as Moses in Henry County had no Louisa County ties. The same can be said when Moses Goings lands in Georgia- no Louisa County Going family or Louisa County neighbors settled anywhere nearby. Considering the migration patterns for this time and place, this would be unusual. Many researchers have also been suspicious of the bizarre acts of travel needed to explain the coming and going of family members to and from Georgia to attend weddings in Louisa County as well as how those family members mysteriously wound up getting married there in the first place. But rather than picking apart the inconsistencies, I’ll make the case in the positive for Moses Going being a man that—prior to his arrival in Henry County—lived in Southside Virginia (specifically, Halifax, Luneburg, and perhaps Brunswick Counties) and in Granville County, North Carolina.
It starts with what we know. In Moses Going’s French and Indian War service declaration, we know he claimed service in William Byrd’s regiment in 1760. During that time, Colonel William Byrd III had command of the militia district based out of Halifax County that made up the southern area of Southside Virginia (a place name that refers to the Virginia counties east of the Blue Ridge Mountains and south of the James River). His father, William Byrd II, was an early explorer and landowner in this area of Southside Virginia and had surveyed the border between Virginia and North Carolina in 1728. Moses further stated that he served in Captain James Gunn’s company. James Gunn was a landholder in the Southside counties of Lunenburg, Nottaway, and Amelia. This was the first part of the trail that led me to look deeper into Southside Virginia for Going connections. Tracking James Gunn further, I believe that he was living in Lunenburg County at the time. Militia companies during this period were usually raised locally and commanded by a local Captain. With that, I believe Moses Going was living in Luneburg County when he enlisted in James Gunn’s company of militia in 1760.
Adding to the notion of a Southside Virginia connection, we know of a handful of other Going families who lived nearby Moses Going in Henry County in the 1780’s: John, David, Claiborne, William, Charles, James, Jacob, Zephaniah, and Shadrack. At least two (John and David) also operated mills and all lived in roughly the same area around what is now Stuart, Virginia- Spoon Creek, Blackberry Creek, Dan River, etc. None of those men are accounted for among the Goings clan in Louisa County. However, just about all of them have documented connections to both Lunenburg County and neighboring Granville County, North Carolina.
I digress for a moment to mention that the county borders in this area of Virginia and North Carolina changed often during Moses Going’s lifetime. The numerous changes are a bit hard to keep up with but very important when tracing land records and tracking relatives and neighbors through this period of history. Lunenburg County was formed from Brunswick County in 1746. Brunswick was created in 1720 at about the time the first permanent European settlers began to appear in this area. The western portion of Luneburg became Halifax County in 1752. Lunenburg then again lost a portion of its western lands to form Charlotte County in 1765. Lunenburg’s southern half became Mecklenburg County that same year. The western half of Halifax County was taken to form Pittsylvania County in 1767. The western half of Pittsylvania County became Henry County in 1777. A northern portion of Henry County became part of Franklin County in 1786 and the entire western half of Henry became Patrick County in 1791. All of this area sits on or near the North Carolina border. From 1741, Edgecombe was the adjacent North Carolina County for all of this area of Virginia. In 1746, the western portion of Edgecombe became Granville County. The western part of Granville became Orange County in 1752. Everything west of that was considered Anson County until Rowan County was formed from the northern half of Anson in 1753. The Eastern part of Granville became Bute County in 1764. Guilford and Surry Counties were formed from the northern part of Rowan in 1770 and became the counties adjacent to Henry County along the Virginia border. In 1777, Caswell County was cut from Guilford and Wilkes County was formed from Surry, and then Stokes County from the eastern part of 1789. All three were then counties along the Virginia border. I note all of this because I’ve found that individuals living in any one of these counties frequently moved around this general area following its water courses or sometimes moved “on paper” when their land was shifted to form a new county. Because of this, all of the counties I’ve mentioned above should be considered in play when trying to track individuals who lived in this general area during this time period.
back to Moses…
In 1761, there was a Moses “Gowen” living in the household of Thomas “Gowen” in the St. Johns Parish area of Granville County (this area would later become Bute County and is now Franklin County). This was a year after Moses Going’s known militia service in Virginia. Granville County is adjacent to the old Luneburg County border. I believe Moses made the short trip and joined other family members that had previously established themselves in Granville. Among them were Thomas, Edward, and Michael “Gowen” who were all present by the in this area beginning in the 1750’s. Moses is present on the Granville County tax rolls for 1762 and 1764 (as Moses “Gowen”) in the household of Thomas “Gowen”. He reappears in 1767 in his own household (some of the Granville tax lists are destroyed or incomplete so this may explain the missing years). I believe this was probably about the time he married Agnes. Considering the missing records/years, this could have occurred anywhere from 1764-1767. In 1768, Moses purchased 100 acres of land on both sides of Middle Creek at the Tar River. The original document notes that he had an alias: “Moses Jewil”. This becomes important later.
The area where Moses and the rest of the Granville County Going clan (Thomas, Michael, Joseph, James, Gideon, Christopher and Edward) lived was near present-day town of Franklinton, North Carolina. On a map: Start at Franklinton, follow Highway 1 North out of town about 3.5 miles and you hit the Tar River. Once you reach the Tar River, head west. Almost immediately you hit a branch called Taylors Creek. Moses Going, Thomas Going, Michael Going and Edward Going all resided here at varying times throughout the 18th century in a tight area that’s no more than about 5 square miles. Further down Taylor’s Creek is a branch called McGee Creek. This is probably where neighbor Henry “Meghe” who was a document witness for Edward Going lived. Heading back to the Tar River and continuing about another 1.5 miles upstream you come to the Middle Creek branch. This is where Moses Going purchased his land in 1768. Just to the west of Franklinton is Louisburg. Louisburg was a colonial village that sat along the Fall Line Road—a major wagon road that ran along the present day course of NC 401 and US 1 into Virginia and eventually as far as Boston. Southward, this road terminated in Augusta, Georgia. The journey from Louisburg to Luneburg County, Virginia up the Fall Line Road was about 36 miles.
Moses continues to show up in Granville County records in 1768, 1769, (no surviving list for 1770), and 1771. This was the last year Moses appears in Granville County. His disappearance was possibly due to the changing political environment in North Carolina at the time. In November, 1771 a “Petition from inhabitants of Granville County concerning the tax on free Negros” was circulated. This was apparently in response to the renewed enforcement of a 1738 law that made all Negros and persons “of mixed blood to the fourth Generation” over the age of 12 taxable under North Carolina law. Other families only paid a “tithe” on adult males over the age of 16. Unlike their white neighbors, black and mixed-race families were additionally taxed on their wives and daughters over the age of 12. Similar laws had existed in Virginia and may have been the cause of earlier migration to North Carolina. Although North Carolina had identical laws, enforcement along the North Carolina frontier was lax and there were dozens of mixed-race families living around the same area. Looking through the tax records, it’s a mixed bag of enforcement through most of the earlier lists. Some years the Going families in Granville were counted as “white”. When they weren’t, they contested the tax as other Going families had previously done in Virginia. In 1761, all of the “Tar River” Going families in Granville were singled out on the tax rolls with the notation “refused to list their wives”. None of their wives were taxed the following year. Apparently there was much leeway in how the law was applied. There were also reports of bribes taken by “back country” tax collectors. Irregularities and illegal activity in tax collection were among the events that propelled the Regulator Movement in 1771. It’s estimated that about 1,500 North Carolinians left the State within the next year. I believe most or all of the Going families in Granville County, including Moses, were among them. One result of the Regulators defeat was a more thorough and less corrupt tax process. This may have actually worked against mixed-race families who were formerly able to avoid paying the additional taxes due on their family members by familiar relationship or bribe. There was also apparently a persistent drought in North Carolina at this time. That alone could have given cause for Moses to make the move to new lands in Henry County. Whatever caused the move, Moses disappears from Granville County after 1771.
It’s difficult to ascertain when Moses Going arrived in Henry County. We know he was there by 1780 when he made his service declaration. Further research is needed to search land and tax records in order to fill gap between this time and his Granville County departure around 1771. Henry County was created from Pittsylvania County in 1776 so perhaps something can be found among Pittsylvania records. Those records show David “Gowing” on the 1767 list of titheables. He purchased several parcels of land in 1771, 1773, and 1776. By 1778: John, David, Jesse, and James Going (all tracable to the Granville Tar River families) appear as do many of their Granville neighbors (Rickman, Pettiford, etc.).
Before Moses Going left Henry County for the Wilkes County, Georgia in 1784, he would have already been familiar with many of the families already living there. This was common practice at the time. Very few families would have braved a journey of hundreds of miles to settle frontier land without the assurance of familiar connections. It’s difficult for us to wrap our modern heads around how precarious their existence could be. In the event of crop failure, sickness, robbery, death of a spouse, or attacks by natives, a family could easily be wiped out if not for the support of their neighbors. Therefore, living among people you knew and trusted was imperative. For the Going family, this had even more significance. As people of mixed race, they also needed to live among familiar families that could vouch for their status as free people. Trying to establish themselves in an unfamiliar community meant risking everything. When they arrived in the area around Kiokee Creek where they settled, they would have been greeted by many familiar faces who shared deep connections to Lunenburg and/or Granville Counties. These include names such as: Evans, Dunn, Anderson, Satterwhite, Edmondson, Mobley, Eubanks, Blevins, Roberts, Willingham, Pope, Wilson, Womack, Wright, Stith and Mitchell.
Undoubtedly, the large Quaker settlement at nearby Brownsborough was also a factor in the decision to settle in this area. The Quakers had banned slavery among their members and were known to be amicable toward free black and mixed-race families. Migrating among familiar neighbors guaranteed some level of acceptance of their status in their new neighborhood. An existing level of racial toleration among the area’s earlier settlers perhaps provided additional assurance.
The supporting evidence for the story I lay out here is strong. I’ve traced dozens of families from the Brunswick/Halifax/Lunenburg area through Granville and/or adjacent North Carolina counties to the area where Moses Going settled in Georgia. Many, but not all, of these families also had a stop in Henry or Patrick County, Virginia as did Moses. Most of these families had mixed-race ties and many go back several generations. If we accept that individuals like Moses Going needed to live and migrate among familiars, all of this starts to make sense.
Fortunately, this intricate web of close associations and interconnected migration bodes well for unlocking Moses Going’s ancestry. Now that I’ve hopefully presented a good case for detaching Moses Going of Henry County from Moses Going of Louisa County, the work begins to find his true ancestral origins. My next post will cover a few working theories I’ve developed to address that.