February 16, 2004
Grandparents are important links to the past. I had no contact with my Neff/Goodman grandparents from about 3 years old until I was near 40 years old, and then only briefly. My grandfather Jesse Neff, Sr. had died many years earlier, in Arizona. I only visited with grandmother Ada Salina (Goodman) Neff a few times before she also passed away. I learned very little from her about her past. Perhaps she knew little of her ancestors either. All of her grandparents (except Evalina Payne Goodman)had died years before she was born. Also her parents had moved far from their native homeland in Tennessee to the Texas frontier right after the Civil War, leaving behind their relatives and friends.
To add more difficulty to the passage of information down though the generations, Ada's mother died on the way to the Indian Territory, when Ada was only ten years old and she was separated from her father a short time later when he moved back to Texas, leaving her and some of the other children in the Indian Territory. There has been a very large disconnect with our grandparents dating back to the Civil war. Consequently, we can only get a glimpse of the past through incomplete and fragmented records which we are fortunate enough to find on the internet. Because a great amount of data is missing, we have to extrapolate and frequently juxtapose documents to create some sense of continuity. Please keep this in mind as I try to reconstruct the story of Ada Salina (Goodman) Neff's grandfather, Anderson Goodman.
My dad's mother was Ada Salina Goodman Neff. She was my grandmother. Her grandfathers were Anderson S. Goodman and Orville Muse. I would like to tell something about Anderson Goodman and his family. Anderson S. Goodman was born July 1, 1809 in Franklin County, Tennessee to William and Mary Goodman. Anderson's grandparents were John Goodman and Mary (King) Goodman. Solomon King Goodman, born 1779 and Henry Goodman were his uncles.
Anderson Goodman was born during a time of frontier giants on the western frontier. Thomas Jefferson was just handing over the reins of the presidency to James Madison when Anderson S. Goodman was born.
Abraham Lincoln, future president of the United States was born the same year as Anderson a couple hundred miles northwest of Franklin Tennessee, in Harding County Kentucky. Anderson's life span covered nearly the exact time in history as Abe Lincoln's. Not only were they about the same age, they died about the same time. Anderson was killed in 1864, just a year before Lincoln was assassinated. These two men were on opposite sides of the slavery issue of the time. Anderson fought against Lincoln's Union troops.
Sam Houston, future president of the Republic of Texas was 16 years old when Anderson was born. He. lived about 150 miles to the northeast in Marysville, Tennessee. Other notable people of that era were Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and Andrew Jackson.
The story that I am telling about Anderson is not meant to be factual in every sense. I have put together a few facts and a lot of fiction. Please keep that in mind as you read the story of Anderson S. Goodman's murder.
(A fictional account of a factual event)
THE MURDER OF ANDERSON S. GOODMAN
(A STORY)
FEB 13. 2004
Evelina stepped out the back door of her log cabin onto the small porch, reached into the folds of her apron and absently tossed a handful of cracked corn to the chickens busily scratching under the tupelo tree. The chickens quickly flocked to the welcomed grain, trying to get their share before it was too late. Turning back into the house, she said to Mary Caroline, "I'm going to walk down to the field and take Anderson some water and something to eat, - it looks like the shower has passed over and I doubt if he'll be in before dark, now." Twenty-seven year old Mary and her son, little eight-year-old Jimmy, had come to live with his grandparents until the war was over.
Mary Caroline's husband, Martin Armstrong, had abandoned his family shortly after their son; James Anderson Armstrong had been born. Anderson and Evelina had deeded ten acres of land to Mary Caroline in August 1860, before the war started. Anderson and his sons, along with Benjamin Reed had helped build a little house for Mary and the small boy to call home. However, after the fighting started, they all felt it would be safer for Mary Caroline and Jimmy to live with her mother, Evelina Goodman, for the duration.
Mary, busy spinning yarn, looked up at Evelina and nodded her head that she understood and kept peddling away at the spinning wheel. Jimmy was examining a toy whistle his grandpa had made from a branch of the elm tree growing down on Elk creek. In a few minutes, he would have to start on his book lessons for the day. He still had some bible verses to memorize also.
Anderson had gotten up well before daybreak and milked the family's scrawny milch cows, Jersey and Millie. When he was finished milking, he removed the gate separating the cows from their calves and let them in to suckle for the milk he had generously left in the udders. He crossed over to the pigpen and tossed a bucket of slop into the hog trough, and the two sows and four shoats all grunted and squealed their appreciation.
After he had finished caring for the livestock he loaded up a small tub of wood chips and carried it to the kitchen to make a fire in the cook-stove. While Evelina fried some bacon and warmed the bread she'd baked the day before, Anderson finished a few other morning chores .He and Evelina shared a breakfast of biscuits, honey, bacon and "red eye gravy". Dawn was just breaking as he hitched up the team and heading for the field. He was trying to make up for lost time. Ever since he had returned from the war, it seemed like he just couldn't catch up with all the neglected chores that ensued during his stint in the army.
Little did he know as he was leaving the house that morning what fate awaited him. He certainly never expected that something which had started as a foolish prank the previous week was going to turn into a disastrous event that would make Evelina a widow by day's end and would nearly cost his son his life too.
Anderson and his two boys, George and Solomon Goodman, had been conscripted into the Confederate army in 1861 almost immediately after the first shot had been fired at Fort Sumner. Solomon Payne Goodman, twin brother of John Henry Goodman, was twenty-seven years old and George Sanders Goodman was only sixteen years old when the war broke out. This was an exciting time for George and he was anxious to get into the ranks. As for Anderson, it was join with the other local men being mustered into the confederate forces or risk being shot. Anderson was getting up in years and he was not quite as patriotic as some of the younger men were, but he went along, partly because they were taking his boys. He did his part though and fought bravely in the few battles that his unit, the 34h Infantry unit was involved in.
However, after he was captured in Kentucky and released to return home, he wanted no part of fighting for either side. He was just getting too old for that kind of thing. He only interest was getting back home to his farm and putting his own household back in order.
He had turned 54 years old in July 1863, a couple of months after his release from the army. Upon his return to Pelham, Tennessee he found his farm and businesses were all in shambles. One of the businesses that had looked lucrative before this dreadful war started didn't look so good now. In 1859, Anderson and Evalina's brothers, Benjamin and George and her sister Caroline's father-in-law, Isaac Meeks, had scraped together $500 to purchase a liquor license from the State of Tennessee.
Ben, George, and Isaac had each contributed $100, and Anderson had put up $200 towards the purchase of the liquor license. That was a lot of money, in fact, all the money they had, but it had looked like a good investment before the war started. Being licensed to distill and sell liquor meant a windfall in revenue for the three families. Now, it appeared inevitable that the Confederacy was doomed to lose the war and there was no chance that any provisional government would honor that license. So that money, which had represented all the capital the four men had, was lost.
The war had not been kind to many of the residents of Grundy County. Not that the regular armies of either side had conducted any major battles in the area, but most of the damage and destruction had been done by marauding bushwhackers who were taking advantage of the lack of government and helping themselves to the spoils of war.
Calvin Brixey, from neighboring Coffee County, was the leader of one of the most notorious gangs of thugs and thieves. He knew many of the residents and which of the menfolk were away at war, making it easy to exploit the weaknesses of their families. He and his so called "army scouts" had raided the Goodman home along with several of the neighbor homes, plundering and pillaging, taking whatever they wanted, with little or no resistance from the women and children. They were a well-known band of thieves and murderers, known to the Grundy County residents as the " Brixeyites". The members included among others, Andrew Hampton, Champ Ferguson, Spunkie Bill Layne, McChristian, James Canatser and Martian Phips. Sometimes, the older children would tease the younger ones, telling them that "the Brixeyites will get you". That was enough to scare the daylights out of them and ensure good behavior from the younger children.
Shortly after Anderson returned home from the war, he found much of his livestock missing. He discussed this matter with his cousin, Solomon Poindexter Goodman who lived a few miles away, over in Tracy City. Solomon and Anderson had both lost their parents when they were very young. Solomon was only 10 years old when his parents both died. Anderson's mother died shortly after he was born, and his dad, William married Charity Lee when he was only 3 years old. The two boys had grown up together, making out the best they could. They were closer than most brothers.
Solomon Poindexter's father, Solomon King Goodman and his wife, Elizabeth Burrows, were very early settlers in Franklin County, Tennessee in the area that would later (in 1844) become Grundy County. The area had been ceded to the United States by the Cherokee Nation in 1807 under terms included in the Dearborn Treaty. Almost immediately, settlers started poring into the new land that lay at the foot of the Cumberland Mountains. It was a second Eden. There was abundant timber, fertile soil, plentiful water, fish, wild game, many edible wild plants, nuts, berries fruits. And it was practically free for the taking. Solomon King Goodman settled near what would become Tracy, Tennessee and William, Anderson's dad settled nearer what would become Pelham, Tennessee.
By 1860, Solomon Poindexter Goodman was one of the wealthiest men in the area. He was the third richest landowner on the 1860 Agricultural census. He and his wife, the former Julia Ann Graham had borne 8 children by the time the war started. They owned 700 improved acres (land that had been cleared of timber and could be farmed) and 400 unimproved acres. His farm was valued at $22000 and his livestock at over $4000.
Anderson, who had married the widow Evelina (Payne) Reed, had not fared quite as well as his cousin, but he was pretty well off. His farm had 65 improved acres and 131 unimproved acres and had a cash value of $2000. The improved acreage was up from the 40 acres that he had cleared ten years earlier. It was slow laborious backbreaking labor, clearing the land by hand with only double-bitted axes and hand drawn saws. Many of the trees had trunks nearly three feet in diameter. The larger trees were "girdled" by removing a strip of bark completely around the trunk. This would cause trees to die and after awhile they could be burned. In the meanwhile, crops could be planted around and under the trees, since the trees would have no foliage to shade out the sunlight from the crops.
His livestock value had more than doubled since 1850 to $425. He had two more milk cows, and he was harvesting more wool from his sheep. He was also harvesting and producing maple syrup from the several maple trees on his land. By 1860, he and Evelina had ten children, counting the three by Evelina and her first husband, Benjamin Reed, Sr.
Everyone in the small community knew Anderson Goodman and he was well liked by his neighbors. In October of 1837,Solomon Poindexter Goodman, Anderson, and several other community leaders successfully petitioned for Pelham to become a part of Coffee County (which later became Grundy County, in 1844). The petition was approved February 3, 1838, and Anderson was appointed Postmaster for Pelham in 1842 and again in 1854.
He applied for a merchant's license September 15, 1854 and for another merchant's license on November 4, 1856. He had established a lumber mill on Elk River, converting the raw power of the water into energy to turn the wheel of the mill.
Solomon listened carefully as Anderson told of the depredations of Calvin Brixey. He too had been victimized by this same bunch of ruffians. So had his neighbors, Thomas Harrison, Isaac Rust and the Walkers and Witts. These men and several others got together and petitioned General George Day Wagner of the Union forces for some relief from the renegade bushwhackers. General Wagner had commanded a brigade in the battle of Stones River at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He had received his promotion to Brigadier General in April 1863.
The Union's army response to this petition by Anderson, Solomon, Thomas, Isaac and others was to enlist Calvin Brixey into the Union Army as a Captain of the Army Scouts. This act only lent legality to the acts of violence he was committing upon the citizens of Grundy County. Calvin learned of the letter that Anderson had signed and vowed vengeance upon the old man at the earliest opportunity.
Anderson had been keeping a watchful eye on the gathering clouds as he plowed and dodged his team of mules between the stumps he'd been unable to burn out yet. It was tiring work, but he wanted to get it ready to plant corn before the rains caused it to be too wet again. He already had been delayed nearly two weeks. He had completely lost track of time and had no thought of stopping before he finished this field. It would take the rest of the afternoon. He had been so busy the past few days that he'd completely forgotten about the incident involving his favorite mare, Melody.
Last Wednesday, he had hitched Melody to the buggy and loaded up Evelina and little Jimmy. He drove the buggy to the Pelham Church where they all attended prayer meeting. Mary Caroline had a fever and had stayed home that evening. While they were attending church service, two of Captain Brixey's men, after having a few drinks, sneaked into the churchyard where Anderson had tied the mare to a post. They proceeded to shave the mare's tail and mane. When Anderson emerged from the church, he got a glimpse of the two men riding off, laughing about the prank. He recognized them both and the following Sunday, after church was over, he approached both men and told them he didn't appreciate the prank and ordered them to leave his stock alone.
After talking to the men, Anderson didn't give the matter much more thought. However, the two men, Martian Phips and James Canatser were indignant and felt highly offended by the rebuke. They reported the matter to Captain Brixey. Brixey ordered Phips, Canatser and McChristian to bring the old man in for questioning. They all knew exactly what this meant. It was well known that several other residents had been murdered while being "brought in". Of course, in their report the prisoner being "brought in" had tried to escape and the Army Scouts just did their duty by shooting the prisoner. This happened often enough that when any of Captain Brixey's men heard this order, they understood exactly what it meant. Reports of this behavior had circulated back to the Union Army regulars and they were disgusted enough by Brixey's behavior that his arrest warrant was ordered.
Just as Anderson neared the part of the field that came closest to the rural road, he saw the three horsemen approaching. They were all armed and, of course, Anderson was unarmed intent only in his work. Martian hailed Anderson and Anderson called back a greeting to the men. It was just at this instant, he realized their intentions were not in his best interest. McChristian approached and told Anderson, "Capt. Brixey will have a word with you and we are to escort you to Tracy City. Now!". Anderson, realized he had no choice in the matter. At gunpoint, they forced him to leave his team standing in the field and started marching him up the mountain road toward Tracy City.
Evelina went out to the springhouse and drew up a bucket of fresh cold water. She poured about a half gallon of it into a flask that she used for carrying water to Anderson when he was working away from the house. She had packed several pieces of cold chicken, some cornbread, and a sweet potato in a bag she used for taking his dinner to him. Putting on her bonnet, and juggling the flask and packet of food, she started down the path to the field where she knew Anderson was working. It only took a few minutes before she was in sight of the cleared field. The first thing she observed was the team still standing, hooked to the plow. Anderson was not in sight. The team had drifted away from the furrow and one mule was turned sideways. The scene was unnatural.
Evelina immediately sensed that something was wrong. If Anderson had taken a break, he would have stopped the team under the shade of a tree and not left them standing in the open field, in the hot sun, like that. She had learned caution living on the frontier and her senses had always served her well. She turned back toward the house and made a hasty retreat. Nearing the house, she called to Mary Caroline, "Go get Benjamin, something has happened to Anderson". Mary didn't bother to question why or what. She had also been raised to respond immediately in a crisis. Too often, survival depended on quick action.
Benjamin Reed was Mary Caroline's older half brother. He was the son of Benjamin Reed, Sr. and Evelina Payne. He lived about a quarter of a mile from Anderson and his mother. Mary and Benjamin were back in just under a half-hour. Evelina explained what she had seen and that something was out of the ordinary. Benjamin picked up Anderson's rifle and a handful of shells and headed in the direction of Anderson's fields. He cautiously approached the team and called out Anderson's name. There was no answer. He then saw the shod hoof prints, three horses and the bootprints of Anderson being marched in front of the horses. He followed the road, keeping to the side hidden from view by the trees and shrubs along the road.
He had gone about a mile up the road when he found Anderson sprawled out, lying in a pool of blood. He surveyed the area around where Anderson was lying, not going directly to the body at first. He reconnoitered the area, moving silently and swiftly through the trees, up the road a few hundred feet. Not seeing anyone in any direction, he moved swiftly back to where Anderson lay. He knew before he reached the body, that Anderson was dead. He had been shot once in the head and once in the heart. He lifted the lifeless body of his stepfather and with great grief carried Anderson back to where the mules were still standing. "Unhitching the mules from the plow, Benjamin laid his step-father across the broad back of one of the mules and led the team home."
By the time they got to the house, Evelina had summoned her daughters, Anna and Elizabeth. They had both come over with their husbands, James Pattie and J.N.W. Conn. Anna Pattie and Elizabeth Conn were half-sisters of Mary Caroline. But they were all a very close family and came together in any kind of crisis. This was devastating to Evelina and all of her children. This was the second time Evelina had been widowed and now she was 62 years old. However, she never dwelled on her own problems. The first thing was to give Anderson a decent burial. After then would come the really hard part.
She was going to have to find George Sanders, John and Solomon Payne and convey the news of their father's death to them. She well knew what their reaction was going to be when they learned of Anderson's murder. The boys were still serving in the Confederate army, and contacting them would not be difficult. They managed to stay pretty close to the local area and kept in contact with their friends and neighbors. She was most concerned about what George's reaction was going to be, she knew he was going to take the news about his fathers death very hard.
The murder of Anderson Goodman was too much for even the Union authorities to stomach and Calvin Brixey was ordered arrested. Federal authorities soon arrested him and he served less than a month in jail. He probably would have liked to stay longer, for he knew that he was a marked man. When he was released from jail by the Federal authorities, about the end of June 1864, he was immediately taken into custody by local authorities. He was held for a short while, then taken to his mother's boarding house next door to the Coffee County jail, just off the square and allowed to bid his final goodbyes before he was taken off towards Murfreesboro and hung by the neck until he was dead, on September 3, 1864.
This still wasn't enough to satisfy George Sanders Goodman. Right after Thanksgiving 1864, he learned that some of the former Brixey's troops were quartered at Solomon Poindexter Goodman's home near Tracy. He reported this to the Captain John P. Henley, who George was serving under at the time. On Christmas Day, 1864, George and his troop of confederates marched to the home of Solomon Poindexter Goodman. They learned that the Brixey soldiers were staying in the barn. They set the barn on fire and as George tells it in his own words, "smoked them out". However, during the fray, George took a bullet in his right arm, hitting the bone and breaking his arm. Now this put him in quite a fix. The rebels were 60 miles inside the enemy lines, and George and James Levan were both badly wounded. Somehow, Evelina learned of the situation and she and old man Thomps Levan came to the boys rescue. They carried them up the side of the Cumberland Mountains and found a cave to hide them in. George stayed hidden in that cave for 13 miserable, cold weeks during the winter of 1864-65. His mother would bring him food and care for his wound during that long period of time. Had the Federals found him, they would have killed him. He was a wanted man.
When he was finally well enough to travel, he did not return to Grundy County, where he knew it would be too dangerous to live and too hard to hide. Instead, he headed to Bedford County, Tennessee where he changed his name George Solomon Sanders. While he was in Bedford, he met Louisa F. Muse and they were married November 20, 1866. Louisa had also had a pretty tough life. Both of her parents had died by the time she was eleven years old. She had a four-year-old son when she and George married. A few years later, about 1870, they left Tennessee for good and moved by covered wagon to Kaufmann County, Texas. After a short stay in Kaufmann, they packed up again and moved to Morgan Mill, Erath County, and Texas. These were my great grandparents. Parents of Ada Salina (Goodman) Neff
BY NORMAN NEFF
Contributors;
Sharon Goodman
Deanne Neff
Attachments:
George Goodman Letter about his military service
Story about George Goodmans mother, Evelina Payne Goodman
Brixey
Brixey hanging
Monday, March 9, 1908
Was in Tennessee Army. I am a native of Tennessee; was born in Grundy County in 1845. I will be 63 years old March 28. I am one of those old ex-confederates, was in the Tennessee Army, Fourth Confederate Regiment, Company G. Barnes was our Captain. He was a good officer and a good man.
I served awhile in Captain John P. Henley's Company. During my last service we ran some Tennessee Federals in a barn and they shot me through the right arm before we got them smoked out. I was in a fix then, sixty miles inside of their lines and not able to ride out. Next morning a boy by the name of Levan and I were carried up the side of Cumberland Mountain to an old stillhouse and a man brought something to eat, and old man Levan and my mother found out where we were and they come to us. The Federals had killed my Father; he was 53 years old when they killed him. He had been in the Army, but they had discharged him. I had to hide 3 months in those mountains before I got to go in, and it was 12 months before I could use my right arm.
Sometime after the surrender in 1870, I came to Kaufman County, Texas. Left there in 1875 and came to Erath.
G. S. Goodman, Morgan Mills, Texas.From Civil War letters 1908 Historictempletonmccanlessdistrict.com/HTMD-CivilWarVetLetters.htm.
Gene: This isn't the letter that you sent me. It was a story in a book about George S. Goodman and it mentions the murder of his father. It was sent to me by Escoe B. Henley. Enjoy! Sharon Here it is:
I met Escoe B. Henley (an older gentleman) at the Grundy County Heritage Book committee meeting on November 23, 2003. He told me about a story that was in a book that he had and would I like a copy of the story. When I returned to Texas after the Thanksgiving holiday, I had a three page copy of the story that he had told me about. Here is the story. It was taken from "The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, pages 36-38"
A Mother's Devotion- On the 25th of December, 1864, a party of Confederate scouts made an attack on a band of Union Home Guards at the house of Sol. Goodman, in Grundy County, Tenn. The latter took refuge in a barn, to which the attacking party set fire, and so compelled their surrender. In the fight, George Goodman, of the Confederates, had his arm broken by a bullet. At that time, and under the circumstances, it was almost equivalent to death, for it was a conflict of neighbor against neighbor, and animosities were embittered and intensified by many bloody acts on each side, which called loudly for revenge. In this instance, Goodman's father (Anderson S. Goodman, SG note) had been brutally murdered by three of Brixey's men, who had formerly lived on his place and had often experienced his kindness. This act, of course, raised all of the devil in George's nature, and at every opportunity he made a raid into that section, and wreaked his vengeance upon his enemies. Now, that he was too badly wounded to make his way South to a place of safety, death truly stared him in the face as soon as his enemies should become aware of his defenseless condition. The news of his situation was borne to his widowed mother, and she at once realized its nature. As soon as possible she hastened to his assistance, determined to save him from the butchery which she knew would be his fate as soon as his whereabouts were made know. Four miles from her house there was a high cliff of rocks, near the top of Cumberland mountains, in a wild and unfrequented spot, and thither she contrived to get him without any one's help; for she feared the indiscretions of friends and a precious life, to her, hung on the event of concealment. The place was admirably suited for the purpose; the cliff jutted over, forming a roof, and some fallen rocks walled it in on one side. Waiting until midnight, she returned to her house four miles off, to get food and clothing. She knew that her absence and its object were known, and that her enemies would be on the lookout to discover George's whereabouts, so eager they were for his blood, and it can only be imagined with what caution she approached her own house, and what anxiety filled her breast until she secured what she wanted and was safely on her return. She had to cross Elk River on a log, but she said that she trusted Providence that it would not break under her until her journeyings were ended. For thirteen long weeks, in the middle of the unusually severe winter of '64-65, she returned every third night to her home for provisions, crossing and recrossing the frail bridge, until George was sufficiently recovered to take care of himself. It was but a short time after she ceased her travels that a party of Federals attempted to cross on the log that had borne the faithful old mother so long, when it broke and precipitated them into the river.
Such is a brief description of the mental tension this heroic woman had to undergo for more than three months. She thought, for a long time, that George would die, but she says she never lost hope. She had dreamed before the war that she would save him on that mountain, and would cover him with a certain quilt. So, when she started to his succor, she remembered her dream and took the quilt with her, and, in the darkest hours, in looking on it she felt her courage revive. Now she says it all seems like a dream- the occurrences that made up that age of suffering under the cliff. She prayed to God every step she took- prayed continually. She scarcely ate or slept, for George needed constant attention; the large nerve in his arm had been cut by the ball, and his suffering was acute and long continued, and his nervous system so shattered, in consequence, that he would scream out in terror at the slightest noise. Erysipelas also attacked his wound, and added to his danger; he was often delirious, and groaned continually. His mother says that one night, as she started off for food, she could hear him groan for a long distance, and could hardly hope that he would be alive on her return; but, when she approached the spot and heard his moaning, these evidences of life though tokens of great suffering, and were the sweetest sounds she ever heard.
Although it was the dead waste and middle of winter, she dared not build much fire, lest the smoke would be a cloud by day and the light a pillar of fire by night to guide her enemies to the spot. Nearly every day she could see them in the valley below, and frequently the light of a burning house; her own house was threatened, but she told her daughter to let it burn, and moved nothing out.
Wild cats were numerous on the mountain, and their savage screams at night added to the wildnerss and loneliness of her situation. The bleating of a flock of sheep, which came occasionally and rested on the mountain side, was of the greatest company to her, for it betokened no harm, and it was a blessed consolation, amid the warring elements surrounding her, to hear some sounds of innocence and peace.
Poor woman! as has been stated before, she scarcely ate or slept, and how she endured the mental strain of continual anxieties and fears, passes understanding. Faith, Hope, and Love all blended to give her strength, but the greatest of these was Love, which never once thought of bodily comfort, which halted before no danger nor sacrifice, but followed relentlessly as fate but one object- the saving of her darling boy.
The names of the murderers of old man Anderson Goodman were Mart. Phipps, ____ McChristian, and ____ Conatzy. The immediate cause was this: The old man was at a prayer meeting one night, when these men shaved his mare's mane and tail. He met them on the Sunday following and upraided (unbraided?) them for the act. They immendiatley reported him to the blood-thirsty Brixey, at Tracy City, and he sent a squad to kill him, which they did on the following Tuesday. He was taken from his plow and carried about a mile. Phipps and Conatzy did the shooting, one ball striking him in the brain and the other in his chest. They forbade his body to be touched or buried, but this was attended to by the neighbors after the murderers left Conatzy was killed afterward, and Phipps, at last accounts, was a wanderer in the West, fearing to return.
Sharon Goodman, (her husband descends from Solomon Goodman) sent me the above story. The mother, of course, was Evalina Payne, Anderson Goodman's wife.
Calvin L. Brixey, Officer's Certificate of Death
Altamont, March 30th 1872
I, William H. Hampton, 1st Lieutenant of Company M, of the 10th Regiment of Tennessee Volunteers Cavalry, certify on honor that Captain Calvin L. Brixey was a Captain in the 1st Independent Cavalry, and his widow is, as I am informed, an applicant for an army Pension; that by communication with most any Loyal Citizen near Dechard and the Department can get other information, corroborating with . And I further certify, that the said Calvin L. Brixey, was captured by the Rebel General Wheeler's command in Franklin County, Tennessee, 1864, while raising volunteers to go West. James Canaster and Martin Phips, two of Brixey's enlisted men was with him and escaped. Martian Phips now lives in Grundy County, Tennessee, and James Canatser lives some where in Kentucky. The Rebels taken Captain Brixey tied upon a horse near Murfreesborough and there they hung him by the neck until he was dead and then left him hanging by the neck forbidding the Citizens taking him down. He was hung on or about the 3rd of September, 1864 and remained there until about the 4th of September, 1864. I know that I'm not mistaken in the identity of Brixey. I was well acquainted with him.
William H. Hampton
Late 1st Lieutenant Commanding Co M, 10 Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry
Calvin's first name sometimes listed as John and Calvin as a middle name. Some texts also list the middle initial as "L".
The following is provided by an essay written by Dorothy Snow and Betty Majors, "Thomas Brixey of Hillsboro, Tn. and His Descendants". - - -Calvin Brixey was probably the most famous or notorious member of the entire Brixey family. "Cal" joined the Confederate Army on 7/29/1861 in Lynchburg as a member of the 16th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry. By July 1863 he had deserted and it was noted on his CSA Army records that at that time he was "now bushwhacking in Tennessee." By 1/14/1864 Cal had joined the Union Army under Col. Samuel Ross, receiving the rank of Captain. His tactics of murder and plunder were so rampant that on 6/4/1864 the Federal Army ordered his arrest. While in prison in Nashville he wrote that he was afraid of being turned over to the civilian authorities- -that "if that was done I will not live two days". Although charged with "many cases of murder, robbery, etc." he was released from prison by the Federal Authorities on 6/28/1864 after only 20 days imprisonment. According to his family (as told by Melvin Gray by his Aunt Creola Brixey) Cal was soon arrested in Grundy County, Tn. He was tied on a mule and brought to his mother's house in Manchester for the family to see him one last time. Afterwards he was taken to Beech Grove in Coffee, Co. and hanged for his crimes. Susan F. Jones Todd told of the friendship of her father, John H. Jones and Walton Brixey. She remembered the fear that was aroused by the warning of impending raids by Calvin and Andrew Hampton, Champ Ferguson, Spunkie Bill and ( ) Layne, a part of the group who rode with him. She said her family would take their provisions and stock the Walton's house so that it would not be stolen by Cal and his men.
The following letter found in the Provost Marshal's records give an indication of the local feelings for Cal:
Near Pelham, Tn., Sep 1st A.D. 1863
Genrl G. D. Wagner, (George Day)
Dear Sir, We the undersigned citizens of Grundy County and Vicinity of Pelham be leave to state our greviences as a people to you and hopefully as that you take steps as you may think the nature of the case and circumstances demands since your departure from the neighborhood the company recently organized under Capt Bricksy have assumed authority to arrest quite citizens without any charge what ever have taken private property such as young horses and mules (not in any way wanted for the service) and appropriated them to their own private use all of this to us seems unwarranted and wrong and hoping that we have some claims to protection from the Federal Government especially against men who have gone further in the Rebellion than any of us joining that army without any compulsion whatever and when their old associates have quit the country they throw themselves upon the mercies of the Federal Government join the loyal Army and are now fortified in their assumption to deal with citizens and their property generally as they were ever to do with the property of the hatefull Union men as they were pleased to style them while in the Rebel ranks- - but we do not allude to the entire company for some men in it have never been identified with the rebellion nor do we believe they have engaged in the above mentioned practices but a number have, the proof of which can be established beyond question hoping that you will at an early day give the subject the action you think it demands and make some disposition of the Bricksys Company which will give relief to the country- -we have the honor to be
Very respectfully Your obt Servants
S. P. Goodman
Thomas Harrison
Isaac Rust
A. S. Goodman
J. C. Walker
S. T. Witt
August 17, 2003
GEORGE S. GOODMAN
1845 -1924
Great-grandfather
George S. Goodman was the sixth of seven children born to Anderson S. Goodman and Evalina Payne. He was born in Tracy, Grundy County, Tennessee, March 28, 1845.
From all available records, it appears that George Goodman's family was pretty well to do. His father was postmaster of Pelham, Tennessee, had a merchant's license to sell "spirits" (alcoholic beverages), and owned a considerable amount of land. His mother also came from a highly regarded family in that area, the Paynes. Anderson, deeded George 5 acres of land in 1860. George was only 15 years old at the time.
Tennessee residents were fairly evenly divided on the Civil War issues. There were just as many for secession as were against it. Both sides, Union and Confederate armies, raised units from Grundy County, Tennessee. Many of the wealthiest people, in that area, who chose the wrong side were financially ruined by the war. George Goodman, his brother Solomon and their dad, Anderson signed on with the confederacy. George was still in his teen years when he went off to war.
In a personal letter, written March 9, 1908, George Goodman says:
" I was in the Tennessee Army, Fourth Confederate Regiment, Company G. Barnes was our Captain. He was a good officer and a good man. I served awhile in Captain John P. Henley's Company. During my last service we ran some Tennessee Federals in a barn and they shot me through the right arm before we got them smoked out. I was in a fix then, sixty miles inside of their lines and not able to ride out. Next morning a boy by the name of Levan and I were carried up the side of Cumberland Mountain to an old stillhouse and a man brought something to eat, and old man Levan and my mother found out where we were and they come to us. I had to hide 3 months in those mountains before I got to go in, and it was 12 months before I could use my right arm".
George's father, Anderson S. Goodman, was killed by Union soldiers, when he surprised them as they were trying to steal his horses. Anderson was fifty five years old and had already been discharged from the army. There was an absence of civil authority in the area. Looting, murder and bushwhacking was practiced by both sides.
After the war was over, George married Louisa F. Muse, on November 20, 1866. He fondly called her "Susa". She was the daughter of Orville Muse and Malinda Ross and was about eighteen years old when she married George. She had a four-year old son, James Henry that George adopted. James Henry always used the surname, "Goodman".
Two more children, Mary Evelyn and William Anderson, were born to George and Susa, while they still lived in Tennessee.
The entire area around Grundy County was suffering the effects of a long reconstruction era depression and by 1870, the Goodmans had had enough of postwar Tennessee. He moved his growing family to Texas. They went first to Kaufman County, Texas, a few miles south of Dallas, Texas. They remained there for about five years and two more children were born; Orville Madison and Ruben Perrin. They left Kaufman about 1875 and moved to Morgan Mill, Texas. Morgan Mill is in Erath County, Texas, about 17 miles north of Stephensville, Texas.
George lived on a farm at Morgan Mill until 1893. A 29 year old white boarder named G. M. Tucker lived with the Goodmans and did farm labor. There is some story that he became a well known educator in that area.
Eight more children, including our grandmother, Ada Salina were born at Morgan Mill.
George sold his farm in 1893, packed up his family in two wagons and set out for the Indian Territory of Oklahoma to homestead land he thought his wife was entitled to claim. Louisa became ill on the way to the Indian Territory and she died just after they crossed the Red River to Thackerville. This sudden and totally unexpected event shocked and devastated George Goodman. He sent her body back to Erath County for burial, accompanied by his son, Ruben Perrin.
Some of the Goodman family, including George, eventually moved back to Erath County. Some of the girls, including our grandmother, Ada Salina remained in the Territory where they met and married their husbands.
George S. Goodman died on April 16, 1924 in Erath County Texas and was buried in the Hightower Cemetery. He was 79 years old when he died. His "adopted" son, James Henry is buried in the same cemetery. Louisa is buried in Erath County at the Bethel cemetery. She was forty five years old when she died. A son, Orville Madison Goodman is buried in the cemetery with his mother. Unfortunately, this cemetery has been so vandalized that the graves cannot be found.
PHOTOS
Left to right:
James Henry Goodman, born 13 Oct 1862, TN. Died 1948, Fort Worth, Texas. Married Mary Louisa Herring.Ada Salina Goodman, born 20 Apr 1883 Stephenville, TX. Died 1975, Modesto, CA. Married Jesse Wayne Neff, Sr.William Anderson Goodman, born 8 Nov 1869, TN. Died 11 May 1949,Erath County, TX. Married unknown.Anna Belle Goodman, born 5 Sept 1887, TX. Died 24 May 1988, San Bernadino, CA.Oscar Poindexter Goodman, born 3 Dec 1878, Lipon, TX. Died unknown. Married Maggie GilkersonSarah Narcissus Goodman, born 15 June 1889, TX. Died 29 Dec 1950.(All of the photos of Ada Goodman Neff were taken by Deanne Neff and provided by Deanne Neff and Gene Neff. Photos were taken in Modesto, CA, where Ada Goodman Neff lived. Used with permission.) More photos of Ada Goodman Neff. (1)(2)(3)
(1)(2)(3)Charles Turner and Mary Ethel (Good) Goodman. Charlie was the youngest son of George S. Goodman. He was born 11 June 1882, Denton, TX.
Franklin (Frank) and Minnie (Gibson) Goodman on wedding day. They were married at Clyde Rhea's house in Tishomingo, OK.
Gravestone of Franklin Cleveland Goodman. Frank was the son of George S. Goodman. He was born 9 Mar 1885 in Erath County, TX and died 10 June 1961, Tishomingo, OK. He married Minnie Gibson, 1916, Tishomingo, OK.
Gravestone of Albert D. Goodman. Albert was the son of Franklin Cleveland Goodman and grandson of Anderson S. Goodman. He was born 4 Feb 1925 and died 30 Dec 1993.
Gravestone of Anderson S. Goodman. Located at Warren Cemetery (Red Hill), Pelham, TN.
Photo of George S. Goodman. Photo provided by Trella Hughes, his great-granddaughter.
Richard Neff and Lila Johannson- Photo contributed by Deanne Neff.
Ada Goodman Neff and sons, plus Margie Alan and Frankie Jr. - Photo contributed by Deanne Neff.
Deanne Neff and her brother, Alan- Photo contributed by Deanne Neff.
Jesse Neff, 1910 - photo contributed by Deanne Neff.
Sallie Ogle at the grave of her neice Ruth Scott, Aunt Belle's only daughter. She was buried at Mt. Olivet in Fort Worth. This is the same cemetary that both of my grandparents and uncles are buried in. Photo contributed by Deanne Neff.
James Henry and Mary Louise (Lou) Goodman and children, Carl, Catherine (Catha), Lester, and Gordon. But the children are not listed in order, so not sure which one is which. If you know correct names, will you please let me know, so that picture can be labeled correctely. Photo contributed by Deanne Neff.
