Back in April of 2016 I wrote about a new discovery I had made in my 30-year search for facts about John Gooch, my 3rd great-grandfather. After all these years, new information rarely surfaces, so I was excited to find him in a new online database for Bounty Land Warrant Applications on Fold.3. John Gooch’s life has been a study in correlation of indirect evidence, and the facts provided in this new record added substantially to the study.
John Gooch – War of 1812 Service Record Index (Fold3 database)
Years ago I had found evidence on an index card of a John Gooch who served in the War of 1812 in the North Carolina Militia, but was never quite certain it was my John Gooch, who died in Austin, Texas. I was pleased to see that direct evidence in the Bounty Land Warrant Application file was exactly what I needed to verify this connection. Continue reading “7 Key Pieces of Evidence from John Gooch’s Bounty Land Warrant File”→
John Gooch received a 4th Class Headright Certificate #166 from the Republic of Texas and was granted 640 acres of land – that’s one square mile – by virtue of the early Texas Land Grant provisions. “Headrights”, or land entitlements, were granted according to the date of arrival in Texas and other requirements such as marital status and minimum years of residency.
Here are a few documents from John Gooch’s file, obtained from the Texas General Land Office. Note the first one is from the Republic of Texas, 7 Mar 1842, in Red River County:
Red River Co., Texas Board of Land Commissioners, Gooch, John- 4th Class Headright Certificate #166 (Certified copy, original issued 7 Mar 1842), John Gooch.
Here is his land grant certificate #128, and notice “Republic” of Texas has been crossed out, with “State” written in above. The date is 19 Sep 1846, and The United States had annexed the Republic of Texas on 16 Jun of 1845, causing a little problem with Mexico. Texas had declared itself a Republic in 1836 – Remember the Texas Revolution? – but Mexico did not recognize Texas independence, and the U.S. annexation of “their” territory was not appreciated. The U.S. declared war with Mexico in May of 1846. After 1845 the Texas Land Office saved on printing costs, crossing out “Republic” to write in “State”. Besides, depending on the outcome of the war they could be back to “Territory” before long.
Red River County Board of Land Commissioners, Gooch, John- Unconditional Certificate #128 for 4th Class Headright #166, John Gooch.
Notice on the back of this certificate John has transferred his rights to his son, Benjamin, with “Robertson” [County] also noted. I don’t know why it says 3rd class on it.
Red River County Board of Land Commissioners, Gooch, John- Unconditional Certificate #128 for 4th Class Headright #166, John Gooch. Transfer of rights to his son, Benjamin Gooch
The Texas General Land office has an online index and images of early land grants issued by one of the governments of Texas: Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and the State of Texas. That’s four flags, if you were counting. The other two flags over what is now Texas were France and the Confederate States of America, but they did not grant land.
To receive a 4th Class Headright Certificate a man had to have arrived in Texas between 1 Jan 1840 and 1 Jan 1842. A married man was entitled to 640 acres, and a single man to 320 acres. Ten acres had to be cultivated.
John Gooch’s headright certificate gives us valuable genealogical clues:
He arrived in Nov 1841
He was married
He had a son named Benjamin
Other records may exist in Red River and Robertson Counties
This is another excellent example of the value of land records in your family history research, and the importance of putting your research in the context of historical events.
I am on my way home from a research trip to the Texas Hill Country to find the land my Gooch ancestors occupied from the late 1840s at least through the 1880s. I know Texas would rather consider itself part of the South than part of the West, but that’s where my folks were before they moved to Arizona, and if a trip through the county roads of central Texas is not On Granny’s Trail, then I don’t know what is. Besides, any state with the amount of cacti and roadside taxidermists I saw surely qualifies as “Western.”
My specific goal for this trip was to locate my ancestors’ original land tracts on a modern map, so I could drive there and take pictures of the surroundings.
This post recounts the steps I took in the research process and the fun surprise ending. I plan to follow up in the future with some helpful advice for planning a research trip but I couldn’t wait to share what I found, because it involved what I call Ninja Genealogy and some delightful serendipity. The post is long, but not nearly as long as the 25 year journey I took to this particular tract of land. Continue reading “Ninja Genealogy and Serendipity among the Cacti and Taxidermists”→
John Gooch received a 4th Class Headright Certificate #166 from the Republic of Texas and was granted 640 acres of land – that’s one square mile – by virtue of the early Texas Land Grant provisions. “Headrights”, or land entitlements, were granted according to the date of arrival in Texas and other requirements such as marital status and minimum years of residency.
Here are a few documents from John Gooch’s file, obtained from the Texas General Land Office. Note the first one is from the Republic of Texas, 7 Mar 1842, in Red River County:
Red River Co., Texas Board of Land Commissioners, Gooch, John- 4th Class Headright Certificate #166 (Certified copy, original issued 7 Mar 1842), John Gooch.
Here is his land grant certificate #128, and notice “Republic” of Texas has been crossed out, with “State” written in above. The date is 19 Sep 1846, and The United States had annexed the Republic of Texas on 16 Jun of 1845, causing a little problem with Mexico. Texas had declared itself a Republic in 1836 – Remember the Texas Revolution? – but Mexico did not recognize Texas independence, and the U.S. annexation of “their” territory was not appreciated. The U.S. declared war with Mexico in May of 1846. After 1845 the Texas Land Office saved on printing costs, crossing out “Republic” to write in “State”. Besides, depending on the outcome of the war they could be back to “Territory” before long.
Red River County Board of Land Commissioners, Gooch, John- Unconditional Certificate #128 for 4th Class Headright #166, John Gooch.
Notice on the back of this certificate John has transferred his rights to his son, Benjamin, with “Robertson” [County] also noted. I don’t know why it says 3rd class on it.
Red River County Board of Land Commissioners, Gooch, John- Unconditional Certificate #128 for 4th Class Headright #166, John Gooch. Transfer of rights to his son, Benjamin Gooch
The Texas General Land office has an online index and images of early land grants issued by one of the governments of Texas: Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and the State of Texas. That’s four flags, if you were counting. The other two flags over what is now Texas were France and the Confederate States of America, but they did not grant land.
To receive a 4th Class Headright Certificate a man had to have arrived in Texas between 1 Jan 1840 and 1 Jan 1842. A married man was entitled to 640 acres, and a single man to 320 acres. Ten acres had to be cultivated.
John Gooch’s headright certificate gives us valuable genealogical clues:
He arrived in Nov 1841
He was married
He had a son named Benjamin
Other records may exist in Red River and Robertson Counties
This is another excellent example of the value of land records in your family history research, and the importance of putting your research in the context of historical events.
On Granny's Trail 