GEORGE
GANCELO GODING
George Gancelo
Goding joined the Bells Methodist Church in
1866 and was an active member for
sixty-three years, serving eighteen years as
Sunday School Superintendent. He was also a
member for many years of the Masonic Lodge
#978 and the I.O.O.F Lodge, both of Bells.
George Goding, the
son of George and Betsy (Bumpus) Goding, was
born 28 August 1836 in East Livermore,
Maine. His parents move to Lowell, MA,
in 1838 where he and his brother Eldridge
grew up. They often worked in the lumber
camps and factories. Both dreamed of a life
at sea, so when old enough, Eldridge spent
his summers on coasting and fishing vessels.
And at age nineteen, George went to work on
a revenue cutter.
But rumors of the
western gold rush took George from his life
at sea. Early in 1859, he and his cousin
Jonas Goding started out for Pike's Peak,
Colorado. By the time they reached the
Missouri River, they met with people who
were returning home disillusioned from the
gold fields. Disappointed, but still
eager for adventure, the cousins decided to
try their luck in Texas. Living off the
land, they traveled by wagon and oxen across
vast prairies, seldom seeing any other
people. Once they were almost eaten by a
pack of hungry wolves who surrounded their
camp, edging closer and closer as the night
progressed. The only thing that saved them
was that they had gathered plenty of wood
and were able to keep the fire going all
night.
On 15 December
1859, the Goding cousins crossed Red River
at Colbert's Ferry, Indian Territory, into
Texas, and made their way to Farmington in
Grayson county. In December 1861, George
enlisted in the Confederate Army at Sherman
and served under Captain Tom Shannon. He was
in many hard-fought battles, but was never
wounded nor captured. He served the duration
of the war and received an honorable
discharge 25 May 1865. He was awarded the
Cross of Honor for distinguished service
during the Civil War by the Dixie Chapter of
the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Jonas Goding did
not remain in Texas long, as he was in
Warren, Illinois by 28 February 1862 when he
married Sarah A. Conley. But in the spring
of 1878, Jonas left Warren for Nebraska,
settling in the Kingston district. Some of
his descendants can still be found in
Nebraska.
In 1862 Eldridge
Goding, wanting to continue his sea
adventures, left MA. He stopped for
a few months seeking gold in
California, but soon was back at sea. He
continued his seafaring life until 1866,
visiting Europe thirteen times, making six
voyages around Cape Horn and six times
around the Cape of Good Hope, and crossing
the equator twenty-five times. He visited
many parts of China, India, and Australia.
By 1876, he was in Seattle, WA, and
married. There he owned and operated two
steamships for a time. When elderly, George
and Eldridge did get back together.
When the Civil War
was over, George G. Goding settled near
Bells where he engaged in the insurance
business and bee keeping. He married Nancy
P. Williams 1 February 1870. The Williams
family had come to Grayson County from
Virginia in 1859. Nancy Williams Goding died
soon after the birth of her only child,
Nancy P. Goding, born 14 December 1892. This
daughter married L. A. Brown and they had
five children: Nelson, Floyd, Fred, Roman
and Pauline Brown.
George Goding soon
took a second wife, Lydia A. Williams,
sister to his first wife. He and Lydia were
married on 22 December 1872 at Bells and
became the parents of six daughters: Mary
Elizabeth "Betty", Sallie Francis "Fanny",
Eula Virginia, Stella S., Nora and Nora's
twin. The old Goding home is located on the
highway to Sherman within the city limits of
Bells and is still lived in today.
Betty Goding,
born 13 September 1873, married F. M.
Foster, 20 February 1898. They lived in
Leonard, TX, where he practiced dentistry.
They had no children.
Fanny Goding
married Joshua Hale Fox, 6 September 1906,
at Bells. Joshua was a widower with four
children ranging in ages from fourteen to
six years of age. Joshua and Fanny had one
child, Aletha Lydia Fox, born 19 November
1909, at Caddo, OK. Aletha married Homer
Turner 16 April 1929, and had six children:
twins who died at birth, Bill, Kenny, Betty,
and Joe Turner.
Eula Goding, born
15 August 1877, married Fred Hughes. She had
no children and died in 1929. Stella Goding
and one of the twins died as infants. The
other twin, Nora Goding, born 7 December
1889, married James U. Hughes in 1901. Their
children were Jewel, Thelma Jane and
Creola
George G. Goding died 10
July 1929 and is buried at the Rose Hill
Cemetery at Bells.
Compiled by: Lora
B. Tindall
RESOURCE LOG: Genealogy
of
the Goding Family by Frederick W.
Goding, 1905, pp 108-110; Gravestone
Reading Rose Hill Cemetery, Bells, TX;
Family Word of Mouth Stories; Confederate
War Records; Family Photo
Biography Index
Susan Hawkins
©2025
If
you
find any of Grayson County
TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a
message.
|