If your ancestor was born in Virginia in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and if his surname sounded like “Goin” or “Going” or “Gowen,” then you have your genealogical work cut out for you. Trust me, I know.

But, this past year, descendants of James Burns Gowen were much luckier as they discovered their ancestor’s burial ground.

Gowen was born in Bedford County, VA in 1786, and he left for the “West” at the turn of that century into what is now middle Tennessee. In an article published in the Lynchburg (TN) Sentinel on May 21, 1880, Gowen’s grandson, Rev George Gowen, pastor of the Vine Street Christian Church, Nashville, Tennessee, wrote the following:

In conjunction with several others he left the Old Dominion in the early part of the century, turned his eyes to the great hunting grounds of the West; and after suffering considerably from exposure, he finally reached the fertile lands of Middle Tennessee, camping upon the banks of the Harpeth River. Here he spent the following year in hunting and trapping, after which he removed to Bedford County. Following an Indian trail, he passed over the present site of Shelbyville, killing a deer about where the Courthouse now stands. Going ten miles further South he entered a large tract of land at 12 ½ cents per acre, living upon the same tract up to the time of his death. Here in the year 1810, he built the first home that was ever reared on Mulberry, the same remaining until a year ago when it was torn town.

Thanks to information such as shown above, James Gowen’s descendants were able to piece together their ancestor’s past. They were able to link him as a hunting companion to Daniel Boone, as a volunteer under General Andrew Jackson in the Creek war in 1812, and as one of the longest-living pioneers in the area until his death on 14 May 1880 in what was then Bedford County (Shelbyville) and then later, Moore County, Tennessee (Lynchburg).

While one descendant, Don Gowen, had searched for James’ burial site for about twenty years, another descendant unknown to him had just become interested in her genealogy. Shirley Gowen Gilbert began to search for this cemetery as well about two years ago. To show just how industrious some genealogists can become when they’re motivated by renewed family ties, Don and Shirley finally discovered the elusive cemetery in summer 2006.

Their efforts, quoted from the Sunday Shelbyville Times-Gazette, tells it all:

“Even having Don’s direction, we still had to enlist the help of some locals and after looking at three cemeteries, someone thought of one more place to look,” Gilbert said.

They crawled through a fence, walked into a cattle catch-pen and climbed to the top of a tall hill where they found the cemetery among a clump of trees.

“I looked at this cemetery with great joy because I had finally found it, but great sadness because of the deplorable condition,” Gilbert said. Along with the Gowen grave is also the final resting place of Eleanor “Nelly” Merrill Wiseman, reportedly one of Moore County’s first residents.*

As a result of this discovery, descendants of James Burns Gowen and others buried in the old Gowen Cemetery are being asked to support the formation of The James Burns Gowen Cemetery Association, Inc., which will be a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization “for the restoration, enhancement, maintenance, and establishment of a perpetual care fund for the cemetery.” As you probably noted in the photo at the beginning of this article, the cemetery needs some extensive repairs and work.

While I know that some Gowen descendants (and the variant spellings of that surname) might jump for joy when they read this story in hopes that they’ve discovered a long-lost relation (as I did), I hope that you all will first visit the James Burns Gowen Cemetery Association online to learn more about this man’s lineage before you jump the gun. You’ll find James along with two separate wives and their resultant nineteen children along with lists of individuals buried at the “Gowen Cemetery.” This information will supply you with at least a beginning to understand if you are truly related to this patriarch.

But, that said, I’m sure that many Virginia Gowen/Goin/Going, etc. ancestors will wonder exactly how it came to happen that James was born in Bedford County, Virginia, at a time when it seemed that so many families with that surname seemed to suddenly appear in area documents. Bedford is known as the marrying ground for several men with that surname who left for Kentucky at about that same time. And, later, other Goin (and variant spellings) men and their families settled there from Buckingham and Amherst Counties. Were they all related? Did they know each other as friends or acquaintances, or were they completely unaware of each other?

Those questions may never be answered, considering the dearth of documentation in this area. But, I - for one - am mighty pleased that Don and Shirley discovered their ancestor’s burial ground. Their work goes a long way in enouraging other Goin/Gowen/Going, etc. descendants who seek to define their Virginia lineages.

* Brian Mosely, “Abandoned cemetery found, reclaimed,” Shelbyville Times-Gazette (Shelbyville, TN: 27 January 2007). Article online: http://www.t-g.com/story/1187117.html.

Posted by river queen in Bedford