Lucy Elizabeth (Andrews) Toney Goodin/Goodwin
by Benjamin C. Toney
Lucy Andrews was born 6 March 1834 in Washington Parish, LA, and died 12 April 1891 in Cuba, Sumter Co., AL, and is buried in the Clay Memorial Cemetery in Cuba, AL.
When the author was a boy, his grandfather, Winston Hulet “Hugh” Toney told him that De Witt Andrews, known to have been a son of Jacob Warren Andrews, was his cousin. Lucy Andrews was Hugh's mother, and for Hugh and De Witt to be cousins, Lucy had to be a sister of Warren Andrews. This was all proved to be untrue when the division of property of Edmund Andrews estate in 1836 was discovered. Edmund was Warren's father and Lucy Andrews was not one of the heirs in this estate settlement.
The author remains confident that although Lucy Andrews was not an heir in Edmund Andrews estate settlement, she was still close kin to this family. The only way for this to happen was for Lucy to have been the daughter of one of Edmund's two elder sons, Benjamin or Warren. Benjamin Andrews was non compos mentis and never married, and was not a likely prospect for her father. Warren Andrews was likely her father. He was born on 19 July 1812 in Amite Co., MS and died on 27 Dec. 1884 in old Pike Co, MS (now Walthall Co.) and was buried in the Elliot Cemetery there. He likely had married a first, unknown wife when he was about 21 years of age, and Lucy was born when he was about 22 years old and Warren named her for his mother Lucy (Curry) Andrews. Later, in 1843 Warren married Sarah Ellis and had a large family.
In the 1850 census Lucy Andrews was shown in the household of Joseph Youngblood in Marion Co., MS. Joseph's wife Eliza (Bickham) Youngblood was a first cousin of Warren Andrews (Their mothers were sisters and daughters of Jacob Curry and Elizabeth Ragland.).
It seems that the true relationship between Hugh Toney and De Witt Andrews was that De Witt was Hugh's half uncle, although De Witt was 6 years younger than Hugh. In order to simplify this relationship, they called themselves cousins.
Joseph Youngblood's nephew was William Washington Toney. William likely met Lucy Andrews at the Youngbloods and they were married in Marion Co., MS on 30 Jan. 1851.
After William and Lucy married, they returned to William's home at Morton, Scott Co., MS. Before the Civil War, they had four sons, Walter Monroe, Thomas Benjamin, Novelia Worth “Pete”, and Winston Hulet “Hugh”. As the war came upon them, William moved his family to Vicksburg, MS thinking it would be a safer place for them during the war. He then joined Co. K of the 2nd MS Cavalry and went off to war. On Oct. 3rd or 4th 1862 William was killed at Corinth, MS.
Lucy and her boys withstood the seige of Vicksburg in 1863. However, the Federal Troops burned her home to the ground after allowing her to salvage one piece of her furniture.
After their home was burned, Lucy and her family possibly returned to Morton, MS. It is not known where she met her second husband, John J. Goodin (sometimes spelled “Goodwin”). The author's grandfather Hugh Toney used to refer to him as Captain Goodin. It is likely that Goodin was playing a game with his Toney stepsons when referring to himself as a captain. He was probably the John J. Goodin who entered Co. H of the MS 36th Inf. Reg. At the time of the Civil War. This company was from Lauderdale Co., MS. He enlisted as a Private and was captured at Nashville, TN. At the end of the war, he was released from prison at Louisville, KY. At the time of his release, he was reported to be a Sergeant. Lucy (Andrews) Toney married John J. Goodin on 16 Nov. 1866. It is not known where the marriage took place. The date of their marriage was engraved on Lucy's tombstone.
In the Lauderdale Co., MS Census, John and Lucy were shown as John J. Goodwin and Lucy A. Goodwin. Three of Lucy's Toney sons were shown as Thomas Goodwin, Norvela (Novelia) W. Goodwin, and William Goodwin. This was not the only census in which Hugh was shown as William. In 1900 and 1910 he was also shown as William. In two other census records he was shown as Winston. He may have had three given names. His name might have been William Winston Hulet Toney. His uncle who died in the war was named Thomas Benjamin B. Toney, having three given names.
By 1880 all the Toney stepsons of Captain Goodin had left the household and he and Lucy were shown in the York, Sumter Co., AL Census as J.J. Goodin and L.A. Goodin. By the end of 1880 Walter M. Toney arrived in York where he married Lou C. Mc Gowen in Nov. of that year. Walter remained there until after 1900. At one time between the census records (probably 1900-1910) Novelia W. Toney lived at nearby Cuba, AL where their mother Lucy was buried.
About four months after Lucy died in 1891, John Goodin married Mrs. Mattie (Vaughan) Wright in Sumter Co., AL. He could have been Jack J. Goodwin, age 82, boarder, in the 1910 Kemper Co., MS Census. This was not very far from Sumter Co., AL. He died in 1911 in Choctaw Co., AL.
It might be interesting to note that Walter M. Toney had a second son that he likely named for his two grandfathers. His first name was “Charlie” for Charles Franklin Toney, and his second name was “Warren” for Jacob Warren Andrews. |