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John Goodson

NOTE: Thomas Jr. was a Major in the Rev.War, enlisting in Botetourt County. He was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

John Goodson, born September 29, 1763 in Botetourt County, Virginia, was the fourth child of Thomas Goodson Sr. (q.v.) and married Sarah Wickham on September 7, 1789 in Botetourt County, Virginia. Sarah was born July 10, 1770. We believe her parents were Nathaniel Wickham and Sarah Wood.

John was sheriff in Montgomery County for many years. It was his duty as sheriff to hang persons convicted as Tories and to be responsible for their families after their deaths. In 1799 he went to Washington County hoping there would be fewer such duties. He purchased 348 acres of land and also went into the iron works business with James King, the husband of his sister, Sarah. He served as a Captain in the Virginia Militia and also as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1817-1818. His home was in Goodson, Virginia and was renovated and not completely razed until after 1937. On May 18, 1819, John was licensed for his private home to take in travelers for the night and to give them meals. He died July 7, 1829 and he and his wife who died June 13, 1816 are buried in Ordway Cemetery. The entries in John’s Bible concerning the King, Eason, and Goodson families have been invaluable.

John and Sarah had only one child, Samuel Eason Goodson (1793-1870) who inherited his father’s property. He served in the War of 1812 and was commissioned a lieutenant of the Militia of the Commonwealth of Virginia and then advanced through the ranks to lieutenant colonel. He was called either Colonel or by his nickname, which referred to the goatee which he always wore. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates for eleven successive years. He was generous in his gifts of land to churches and to the Virginia and Tennessee Company, which needed land for a right-of-way through the Virginia town originally, named Goodson.