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
Bells History
Biography Index
Susan Hawkins
© 2024
Grayson
CountyTXGenWeb
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