The John Gouldin Case

The following images tell the beginning of the story of John Gouldin and his land in Kentucky. The end of the story will be when I find where he came from in Virginia and when he died in Kentucky -- but this is good for starters. Without a "place" a genealogist is just searching and fishing. I HAVE to find the place he came from to find out more about him.
The first image tells me he received this Virginia Land Office Treasury Warrant on 15 October 1779 and he paid 200 pounds for 500 acres.

The second image tells me that on 10 May 1780 he assigned 72 acres to John Spindle for an undisclosed amount of money. This shows John Gouldin's signature and his math notes.

The third image tells me that on 19 June 1785, the Fayette Co Surveyor, Thomas Marshall surveyed the remaining 428 acres for John Goulden. This determined where his land would be. The County Surveyor was a very important man as he had to know the land to survey for the many men (and their families) immigrating into Kentucky from Virginia. Two other famous Surveyors were Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. These men were usually the men that had arrived in the area far ahead of the settlers and had learned every nook and cranny of the new land. These men had photographic memories when it came to the land. This document also tells me that this land was on McConnals Run a branch of the North Fork of The Elkhorn that emptied into the Elkhorn 29 miles below Bryants Staton.

The fourth image shows the outside of the file for John Gouldin. This file was received at the land office in Virginia (Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792)and a grant was issued by Virginia Lieutenant Governor, Beverly Randolph, Esq. on the 5th day of September 1787. This gave John Gouldin title to the land described in the above documents.

Why am I excited? Because I am sure I have found another generation back for my Goulden Family. I have studied them for years and have proven back to this man's son, also a John Goulden. I am sure I have it right because his son married Sally Williams in 1803 in Jessamine Co Kentucky. This land is near Jessamine County and with the counties being formed from Fayette County at a rapid pace, he may have been in present day Jessamine County. That is what I love about land records. It gives me a picture of a family in a certain place. I have plenty to do as I want to find out what happened to this land and when did John Goulden die and was he the man that served on the USS Rattletrap with Captain James Willing in 1778. My "ancestral connections" tell me he is, but since I live in a mortal world, I have to prove it.

I have more studying to do to pinpoint where this land was. Fortunately most of these geographic places are still called the same names,except Bryants Station of course, as it was destroyed. This is such a historical area and as I read about it I can feel the energy and violence these people experienced. I will be spending many hours to come pouring over atlases and maps. I started this project to find another Revolutionary Patriot, but that is secondary now as I just want to find John Goulden and solve his case.

Note the many spellings of John's last name. I have always used GOULDEN but it can be GOLDEN, GOULDIN, GOULDING, GOLDIN, etc, etc. Spelling was pretty much an inconvenience when it came to our ancestors names, it just gives us a greater challenge to find them.

Notice I mentioned Fayette County Kentucky in this article. It would seem easy then to find records in Fayette Co Kentucky for John Gouldin. But not so easy when I remember that at the time he received his land the County of Kentucky in Virginia (the entire present State of Kentucky)had been split into three counties. Jefferson, Lincoln and Fayette. Kentucky now has 120 counties and they all came from these three original counties. One of the interesting things about genealogy is that you learn history and geography as you research your ancestors. Maybe that is why I am addicted to it.

Until later, patj