HISTORY OF THE GOODWIN FAMILY BIBLE  AS I KNOW IT Contributed by George Goodwin Shingle Springs, CA Sometime in 1995 I heard from my cousin, Don Baker, that our Aunt Pansy Sayre (Goodwin) in Cadiz, Kentucky, had an old bible that belonged to the Goodwin family and she wanted to pass it on to someone in the family who was a Goodwin.  I promptly wrote her and told her I would love to have the bible, that I would pass it on down to my son when I died and that it would stay in the Goodwin family.  Don was in Kentucky later that year and brought the bible home to give to me.  We visited Don and Arlene in Santa Anna, California, later that fall and he gave it to me. In August, 1998, I went to Kentucky along with Ellen, Hannah, Dick, Jan, Jo Ann and Pres.  We visited Aunt Pansy and she told me her cousin, William Thomas Ladd, who lived in Princeton,  Kentucky, gave it to her sometime before he died in 1967 at age 71.  He apparently wanted it to stay in the Goodwin family.  Aunt Pansy would have been 57 when he died so I assume it was around that time that she obtained the bible.  She had it for 28 years until she gave it to me. William Ladd was the son of S. Nep Ladd and Willie Mae Goodwin.  Their other children were Mayme Francis and Mary Virginia. Willie Mae was the daughter of William A. Goodwin and Francis Elizabeth Adams, my great grandparents, who were the first owners of the bible.  Their other children were George Washington, my grandfather, William Fletcher and Lucy Jane. William and Francis were married November 6, 1856.  They were both 22.  In 1860 they bought 98 acres in Trigg County, Kentucky for $350 where they raised their family.  The property was purchased from S.W. Adams, Francis’ brother.  I believe this was part of the final settlement of their father, Jesse Adam’s estate. William and Francis lived on the property until they died, he in 1887 and she in 1901.  Willie Mae and William Fletcher, who was blind, continued to live there with their mother after their father’s death.  Willie Mae married  S. Nep Ladd and along with William Fletcher, who never married, continued to live there for the rest of their lives, until 1962, when Nep died at age 90.  Uncle Fletch died in 1944 at age 85 and Aunt Willie died in 1951 at age 81. The Goodwin Family Bible was published in 1856.  I believe William and Francis purchased it after they were married to maintain a record of their family.  All of the family members are duly recorded therein along with various spouses and other relatives.  The last entry was the death of Chester L. Goodwin July, 13, 1962, Dad’s older half brother. In January, 1999, I had the bible restored.  It required new covers (both were long gone) and various mending of pages at a cost of $180.  The pages with the handwritten records were in fairly good condition.  Today it is 144 years old. George Raymond (Ray) Goodwin , Age 69    January 24, 1999   NAMES IN THE BIBLE — WHO THEY ARE MARRIAGES PAGE William A. Goodwin and Francis Elizabeth Adams married November 11, 1856.  My great grandparents. George Washington Goodwin and Mary Francis Murphy (Mollie) married November 28, 1877.   My grandfather and his first wife. Lynn B. Gardner and Lucy Jane Goodwin married December 18, 1879.  Daughter of W.A, and F.E. Goodwin.  Lucy Jane died at age 19. George Washington Goodwin and Lila Wallis married August 20, 1892.  My grandparents.  She was his second wife.  Nep Ladd and Willie Goodwin married August 25, 1892.  Daughter of W.A. and F.E. Goodwin. Lee Alexander and Henrietta Gardner married February 8, 1897.  Daughter of L.B. and L.J. Gardner.  Chester Lee Goodwin and Ora Kennedy married October 12, 1902.  Dad’s older half brother. BIRTHS PAGE William A. Goodwin   September 11, 1834   (1) = Generation Francis Elizabeth Goodwin   May 18, 1834 ( Her name is spelled both Francis and Frances) (1) George Washington Goodwin   September 25, 1857  (2)  William Fletcher Goodwin   December 17, 1859 (2) (Blind since age 23 – Lived to 85) Lucy Jane Goodwin   October 14, 1863 (2) Willie Mae Goodwin   March 22, 1870 (2) Mollie Francis Murphy July 4, 1856  (Her name is spelled both Francis and Frances) (2)  Chester Lee Goodwin  September 10, 1878  (3) Cora Francis Goodwin December 7, 1880 (Died at eight months) (3) Henrietta Gardner February 12, 1881 (3) (Dad’s cousin)  Walter Fletcher Goodwin   July 12, 1882 (3) (Shot in 1908 by the Night Riders — survived)  Grace Goodwin  January 28, 1885 (3) Clem Goodwin July 7, 1895 (3)  Leslie Goodwin October 17, 1896 (3)  (Twins) Wesley Goodwin October 17, 1896 (3)  Ora L. Goodwin  December 13, 1882 (3) (wife of Chester Goodwin)  Myrtle Carney Goodwin October 19, 1903 (4)  (daughter of Chester and Ora)  Mamie Frances Ladd  November 29, 1893  (3)  (Dad’s cousin) William Thomas Ladd  February 24, 1896  (3)            “  Mary Virginia Ladd August 19, 1899  (3)                   “  Rebecca L. King   March 3, 1914  (4)  (daughter of Mamie Frances Ladd) William Warren King  August 27, 1915 (4)  (son  of Mamie Frances Ladd )  DEATHS Cora Francis Goodwin  August 24, 1881   (Died at 8 months) Lucy Jane Gardner  July 20, 1882 Mollie Frances Goodwin  June 20, 1887 Carl Leslie Goodwin  June 22, 1887  (Died at age 1— two days after his mother Mollie) W.A. Goodwin  July 18. 1887 Francis Elizabeth Goodwin  June 1, 1901 George Washington Goodwin  January 30, 1909 Nellie Goodwin  January 4, 1910  (Died at age 11) William Fletcher Goodwin  March 6, 1944 Willie Mae Ladd  October 12, 1951 Lila G. Winchell  January 15, 1954 (No middle name — the G. stands for Goodwin) Wesley Goodwin  January 8, 1962 Chester L. Goodwin  July 13. 1962 I believe the last three entries were put in by Aunt Pansy.  All of the other entries seem to have been written by three or four different people.  Grandma Goodwin’s name was Winchell when she died.  Her funeral was the only one of any of the above that I attended.  I was a pallbearer along with five other cousins. All the notes in (     ) are mine.  Some of the dates in the bible differ slightly from those in Pearl Forguson’s genealogy information.  I didn’t change them. While putting this information down I realized that 1887 was a bad year for Grandpa Goodwin.  His father, first wife and baby all died within a month of each other. 1909-1910 was a bad time for Grandma Goodwin.  Her husband, daughter, father, mother, and sister-in-law all died within a year of each other.   Wallis family members are not listed in the bible. Contributed by ©George Goodwin Shingle Springs, CA ©2002 Return to the Trigg County KY History & Genealogy