Person:Samuel Goodwin (17)

Samuel Goodwin, Goodins' Fort, Nelson Co., KY

• Adams, Evelyn Crady. Goodin's Fort (1780) In Nelson County, Kentucky. The Filson. (Louisville, Kentucky: Filson Historical Society), Vol. 27, No. 1, January 1953.^S2

When Samuel abandoned the Fort Goodin, he moved across the Rolling Fork to one of his plantations in present LaRue County, KY. He apparently retained more than half of his original land entries which approximated two thousand acres. He died on his plantation in the Edlintown area in 1807. He left no will.There seems to be some confusion about the names, "Goodin, Goodwines, and Goodwins" . There seemed to be a lot of them in early Kentucky, especially in Nelson and Hardin Counties.. And, they seemed to share the same given names as well. Several writers have attempted to sort this out.^S2

"The ancestry of Samuel Goodin (1733?-1807), founder of Goodin's Fort, in unknown. He may have been the grandson of Thomas Gooding (1650?-1730?), Quaker minister from Cardiganshire, Wales, who was received into a Quaker Church in Chester County, Pennsylvlania, December 28, 1708. The children of Thomas Gooding and his wife Elizabeth Gooding (1652-1739) were John, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary, and Sarah, all of whom were likewise Quaker ministers. Thomas Gooding Jr. (1694 - 4/16/1775), the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Gooding, married on March 13, 1729, Ann, the daughter of Richard Jones, in Goshen, Pennsylvania, and their seven children as listed as -

John who married in 1759;

Thomas who married Mary Hall and whose will probated in Fayette County names a son Samuel;

Richard (1735- ) who married in 1757;

Jane who died in 1813;

Isaac (1741 - 1827);

Elizabeth who died young; and

Sarah.^S2

Samuel Goodin of Kentucky does not appear in this list but the approximate year of his birth in 1733, his marriage in 1757 and his death in 1807 would place him among the early children. The frequent use of the name Thomas in Samuel's line could be significiant; the piety, austerity, and forthrightness of the pioneer Kentucky Goodins and their apparent opposition to slavery could reflect a Quaker background; and finally, Samuel's spelling of his name as Goodin and not as Goodwin could be accounted for."^S1

The name of Samuel's first wife is not known. She died before the family came to KY in 1779, probably in PA. He and his children came to the Falls of The Ohio (Louisville) in April 1779 from a very severe winter spent in Fayette County, PA. See "Kentucky Court Reports" by James Hughes, pages 183-186. They went south to Pottenger's Creek in 1780 at a site on the north bank of Rolling Fork, a few miles from the point where Beech Fork empties into the larger stream. He built Goodin's Fort in 1781.^S2

• A newsletter published by The Society of Descendents of Goodin's Fort in 1980

"Samuel Goodin, Sr. was a brave white man, likely a Quaker, that led a party of hearty settlers by flatboard, arriving at the Falls of the Ohio (Louisville) in the year 1779. During the first year the settlers and the Indians were at peace. Samuel Goodin, Sr. took advantage of this peace and built Goodin's Fort and planted his crops unmolested. This wise man had picked the site of his fort on the humble Rolling Fork River, bordered by rich, fertile land. There was plenty of fish and several months of the year they were able to use their flatboards. During the dry months of summer and autumn they could ford the river. Everywhere virgin timber was available for cabins. There was buffalo, turkey, deer, squirrels, rabbits, and bear. There were groves of sugar maple trees that gave them ample sweetning. They used the sassafras bushes for making tea. For added treats they had pecans, walnuts, hickory nuts and chestnuts. There was an abundance of salt and even depositions of iron ore. The fort was finished by the Spring of 1780. New neighbors were everywhere. Samuel Goodin, a widower of about 50 years had brought with him sons Isaac, Thomas, and Samuel Jr. and also his daughters Elizabeth, her husband Atkinson Hill, and Rebecca. The largest known group to be protected inside the fort was 25 Catholic families that were imigrating from Maryland. The women and children stayed at the fort while the men went on to Pottingers Creek to establish a settlement.

1.   Dr. John C. Butler, in Jacob Van Meter Family & History.

   The son, Abraham Van Meter, had at least one slave he brought with him from Virginia. This was "General Braddock", who earned his freedom through killing nine Indians. He moved from the Severns Valley settlement to Goodin's fort in the Rolling Fork when Abraham Van Meter's widow, who had inherited "General Braddock" from her husband, following his death from a poison Indian arrow, married Samuel Goodin. The slave was appraised at 100 pounds. On March 19, 1797 he was "set free forever". He afterwards married Becky Swan and lived on a small farm near Elizabethtown. This verifies that the Swans, who came out with the Van Meter party, also brought slaves to Kentucky. The son, Abraham Van Meter, had at least one slave he brought with him from Virginia. This was "General Braddock", who earned his freedom through killing nine Indians. He moved from the Severns Valley settlement to Goodin's fort in the Rolling Fork when Abraham Van Meter's widow, who had inherited "General Braddock" from her husband, following his death from a poison Indian arrow, married Samuel Goodin. The slave was appraised at 100 pounds. On March 19, 1797 he was "set free forever". He afterwards married Becky Swan and lived on a small farm near Elizabethtown. This verifies that the Swans, who came out with the Van Meter party, also brought slaves to Kentucky.

2.   Adams, Evelyn Crady. Goodin’s Fort (1780) in Nelson County Kentucky, in Filson Historical Society (Louisville, Kentucky). The Filson Club history quarterly. (Louisville, Kentucky: The Club, 1930-2000)
   Vol. 27, January 1953.

   These were among the people at Goodin's Fort (According to Edgar Porter Harned)
   
   Samuel Goodin, Sr. , John Houston, Capt. Samuel Pottenger, Isaac Goodin, Samuel's son, Atkinson Hill, Samuel's son-in-law; Samuel Goodin, Jr., Samuel's son; Peter Kennedy (Indian scout); Thomas Goodin, Samuel's son; Elizabeth Goodin, Samuel's daughter; Catherine Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's daughter; Letitia Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's daughter; Sarah Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's daughter; Elizabeth Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's dau; Abraham Goodin, son of Samuel and Elizabeth; General Braddock^S1 (only slave mentioned at fort, freed in 1797); Abraham Van Meter, died about 1782; Beck Swank^S1, married General Braddock^S1; Abnego Carter; Unknown Hamilton; Aaron Atherton Sr.; Peter Atherton, son of Aaron; John S. Atherton, son of Peter; John M. Atherton, son of Peter; Peter Lee Atherton, son of John M. Atherton.
   
   The fort was the logical refuge for the following adjacent families: David Crady; Richard Edlin; Christopher Bush; Samuel Miller; Anthony Chambers; Daniel Vittitow; Samuel Vittitow (ie. Withrow); Stephen Vittitow; Zachariah Maraman; Leonard Johnson's son Clemmy, fiddler from Maryland.
   
   Page 5 - Atherton's Ford
   Page 7 - Aaron Atherton Sr. and family
   Page 18 - Milton Atherton
   Page 19 - B.F. Atherton, Finetta Atherton
   Page 26 - 16 Dec 1823, Suit of Purcell vs Atherton, in Hardin County Court
   Page 27 - Atherton Family. W.H. Perrin, op.cit., 1887, p. 781.
   
   When Samuel abandoned the Fort Goodin, he moved across the Rolling Fork to one of his plantations in present LaRue County, KY. He apparently retained more than half of his original land entries which approximated two thousand acres. He died on his plantation in the Edlintown area in 1807. He left no will.There seems to be some confusion about the names, "Goodin, Goodwines, and Goodwins" . There seemed to be a lot of them in early Kentucky, especially in Nelson and Hardin Counties.. And, they seemed to share the same given names as well. Several writers have attempted to sort this out.