Andrew Martin Gooing History
Baker City Gal

Andrew Martin Gooing was wounded and captured at the Siege of Vicksburg. The account of the Vicksburg Confederate surrender is included below this ancestor's history, with excerpts from the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant.

Ancestor Highlight

Andrew Martin Gooing - Proxy Soldier

[Taken from Gowen Manuscript 058, with research by Helen Wasson, Martha Gooing Ballard, Earnest Edward Ballard, and James Thomas Ballard. In the three generations mentioned here, you find the surnames Gooing, Going, Goins, Gowing, Gowen, Goyne, (and even more) which makes research very interesting!]

Andrew Martin Gooing, son of Pleasant Goins and Temperance Cooper Goins, was born November 23, 1823 in Dallas County. He was enlisted June 13, 1846 in the U.S. Army at Mobile, Alabama for one year’s service in the Mexican War as a private in Capt. William Coleman’s Company in the First Alabama Regiment under Col. J. R. Coffey. His service record describes him as “5’10” with fair complexion, black eyes and light hair.” He was discharged at New Orleans May 27, 1847.

Helen B. Wasson wrote,

“The next record we have of Andrew Martin Gooing is an affidavit, dated September 27, 1847, sworn to in Marion, Perry County, Alabama, preparatory to filing for bounty land.

On October 27, 1847, in a letter headed Perryville, Alabama, he requested that his warrant for bounty land be sent “to my ad­dress at Maplesville, Bibb County, Alabama.” On April 25, 1848, he was awarded 160 acres of land in Bibb County.

On November 30, 1848, Andrew M. Gooing married Miss Areminta Barnett, according to File 2020, Perry County, Alabama marriage records. She was the daughter of Thomas Barnett and Phebary Bishop Barnett.

According to the 1850 census, Andrew and Areminta Gooing resided in Perry County, Alabama in Perryville Beat, in the eastern part of the county. Andrew is listed as being 26 years old, a pumpmaker, Areminta is 24, and they have one child, William, age 1.

In 1858, the estate of Thomas Barnett, Areminta’s father, was settled. In Minute Book I 1858, page 43, State of Alabama, Perry County, we find Areminta and her husband mentioned. Their part was $1,272.95. Having received $342.53 prior to the settlement, were due $990.42.

Shortly thereafter, Andrew and Areminta Gooing came to Louisiana, we suppose, with a caravan of settlers. They first lived at Old Shiloh in Union Parish. Emest Edward Ballard, grandson of Andrew M. Gooing, told me that Andrew M. Gooing had a gin, a blacksmith shop, and that he was a carpenter.

Martha A. Gooing Ballard’s letter states: ‘Father was a farmer, wood workman, a fine blacksmith, and a mason.’

Proxy Soldier
We have a certified copy of Conveyance Record K, page 190‑-191, Union Parish Deed, dated February 27, 1863, a deed from Alfred Honeycutt to ‘A. M. Goings’ for 360 acres of land. This deed confirms the following story that was told to me. Alfred Honeycutt had a son, Bob, who was of army age. Honeycutt could not bear to see his son to go to war. He told Andrew M. Gooing he would deed 360 acres to him if he would take the boy’s place. Andrew agreed to do this. On the day of his enlistment, the deed was made. They moved from the Old Shiloh to the Honeycutt place on DeLoutre. That is how the Ballard homeplace was acquired.

Following is Andrew M. Gooing’s Confederate States war record, taken from Booth’s ‘Records of Louisiana Confeder­ate Soldiers and Commands,’ Book 1, Page 44:

‘Guing, Andrew M. Pvt. Co. I, 31st Infantry. Enlisted February 27, 1863, Monroe, Louisiana. Federal Rolls of Prisoners of War, captured and paroled at Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 4, 1863.

The photostat of Andrew M. Gooing’s CSA record shows the same dates as above. It shows he enlisted for three years, or the war. There are two interesting notes; ‘he has never been paid,’ and ‘the duplicate roll carries his name as Going instead of Gooing.’

Martha A. Gooing Ballard’s letter gives us the following: ‘Father went through the Vicksburg hard battle and was wounded in head and shoulder which shortened his life . . .’

Aunt Rosalie Ballard White has heard Areminta Gooing say that during the war, in the middle of the night, some Yankees came and burned the cotton gin and cotton bales. They took all their chickens, livestock and bed covering. [The gin was on that part of the place they call the ‘old sand field.’]

Andrew M. Gooing returned from the war on a horse someone had let him have. It is said he was so ill when he returned that he could hardly climb down from the horse. He died December 9, 1867.

Children born to Andrew Martin Gooing and Areminta Barnett Gooing include:
William Sanders Gooing born August 25, 1849
Phebery Jane Gooing born January 16, 1851
Sarah Agnes Gooing born April 4, 1852
Pleasant Thomas Fillmore Gooing born April 15, 1854
[infant] born Sept. 10, 1856
Mary Alabama Gooing born March 14, 1858
Martha Angeline Narcissa Gooing born August 19, 1860
Andrew Jackson Gooing born Sept. 24, 1863

After the War
On September 14, 1957, I visited Andrew M. Gooing’s grave at Old Tennessee Graveyard in Union Parish, Louisiana. E. E. Ballard took me there. The gravestone is Masonic, shaped like a pyramid and in perfect condition. On the side opposite the Masonic insignia there is sculptured an ear of corn. The front of the stone is marked ‘Andrew M. Gooing Born November 15, 1823, Died December 9, 1867. Erected by his Wife.’

Andrew M. Gooing deeded the 360 acres to William Sanders Gooing, his son whom he had taught the carpentry trade. William took over the shop after his father’s death. E. E. Ballard told me that ‘Uncle Will’ could build anything and was especially good at cabinet work. He also stated that William S. Gooing built the Gus Hartman House at Farmerville. In 1890, William S. Gooing was murdered by a man named Deas. His death, we are told, caused Areminta, his mother to grieve for him for the rest of her life. William S. Gooing’s grave is adjacent to his father’s and is marked.

William S. Gooing left the place to Martha Angeline Gooing, our grandmother, who had married John Ballard. This caused friction in the family, so Martha A. and John Ballard put the land up for sale and John Ballard bought it in.

Areminta made her home with Martha and John Ballard. I have heard my father speak of her many times and said he had ridden into town with her to get her pension check.

This pension check was a great puzzlement to me. I had been told it was a CSA widow’s pension. I made many fruitless efforts to verify it. The CSA Pension Act was not approved until 1898 ‑ then, one day, upon rereading Martha A. Ballard’s letter, it occurred to me that perhaps it was a widow’s pension from Andrew’s service in the Mexican War. This proved to be true, and as a consequence, I was able to acquire from National Archives Andrew’s military records which gave me much valuable information.

His Wife, Areminta Barnett
Areminta Barnett Gooing was well-educated. We are told she was a schoolteacher. She was a Baptist; her bible was beauti­fully kept, and she wrote exceedingly well.

We found the following in her handwriting:

“Areminta Gooing Aug. the 9, 1900 --
Back to the old home viewing scenes of childhood
There is where I know no care or pain
There in my childish glee
Under the woodland tree
0, how I long to go to the old home once again
Though I am old now,
I love to linger on happy thoughts of bygone days
When through the [illegible], I roamed
Far from my dear old home
Gathering the scented flowers that grew along the way
Now I am alone, no loving hands … ”

That is all that is on the scrap of paper, but it does give one in­sight to the character of Areminta Barnett Gooing.

Areminta died March 4, 1902, while she was visiting in the home of her daughter, Phebery Jane Gooing Tugwell [Mrs. George Tugwell]. She is buried at Blanchard Springs, Arkansas, where she died. I have been told her grave is marked. [Her grave was found in 1990 by Carroll Heard Goyne, Jr, Foundation Editorial Boardmember of Shreveport. It is located in an almost abandoned wooded cemetery in Section 32, Township 19S, Range 3W in Union County. The cemetery is about 1/4 mile northwest of the present Blanchard Springs Church. A smaller wooded cemetery is about 1/2 mile south of this one, according to James Thomas Ballard.] Blanchard Springs is in Union County, Arkansas.

Areminta Barnett Gooing was the daughter of Thomas Barnett and Pheraby Bishop Barnett, according to the research of a great-grandson, James Thomas Ballard, a Foundation member of Vicksburg, Mississippi. He wrote:

“Andrew Martin Gooing came to Union Parish as a member of the Thomas Barnett family. Thomas Barnett was born March 6, 1786 and died in Perry County, Alabama March 3, 1857, leaving a widow and seven daughters and a substantial estate, according to Perry County Probate Book 1, page 43. His eldest daughter was Areminta Barnett born about 1825.

Surrender and Parole – Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

from battelfields.org - AI generated photo

Editor's Note: I am grateful to Ulysses S. Grant for recording his account of the surrender of Vicksburg. As a "proxy" soldier, Andrew Martin Gooing played an unfortunate part in this history. I am full of awe, knowing that he survived what so many didn't and that he was able to travel back home in his wounded condition, though his health was forever changed and he only lived a few years after.

The following excerpt is from the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and details the arrangements for the Confederate surrender at Vicksburg, Mississippi in July 1863. His memoirs also include some of Confederate General Pemberton's letters and Grant's replies.

(NOTE: Grant's letters and Pemberton's replies are in italics.)

GRANT

On the 3d about ten o'clock A. M. white flags appeared on a portion of the rebel works. Hostilities along that part of the line ceased at once. Soon two persons were seen coming towards our lines bearing a white flag. They proved to be General Bowen, a division commander, and Colonel [L. M.] Montgomery, aide-de-camp to Pemberton, bearing the following letter to me:

PEMBERTON
I have the honor to propose an armistice for hours, with the view to arranging terms for the capitulation of Vicksburg. To this end, if agreeable to you, I will appoint three commissioners, to meet a like number to be named by yourself, at such place and hour today as you may find convenient. I make this proposition to save the further effusion of blood, which must otherwise be shed to a frightful extent, feeling myself fully able to maintain my position for a yet indefinite period. This communication will be handed you under a flag of truce, by Major-General John S. Bowen.

GRANT
It was a glorious sight to officers and soldiers on the line where these white flags were visible, and the news soon spread to all parts of the command. The troops felt that their long and weary marches, hard fighting, ceaseless watching by night and day, in a hot climate, exposure to all sorts of weather, to diseases and, worst of all, to the gibes of many Northern papers that came to them saying all their suffering was in vain, that Vicksburg would never be taken, were at last at an end and the Union sure to be saved.

GRANT
In conformity with agreement of this afternoon, I will submit the following proposition for the surrender of the City of Vicksburg, public stores, etc. On your accepting the terms proposed, I will march in one division as a guard, and take possession at eight A. M. tomorrow. As soon as rolls can be made out, and paroles be signed by officers and men, you will be allowed to march out of our lines, the officers taking with them their side-arms and clothing, and the field, staff and cavalry officers one horse each. The rank and file will be allowed all their clothing, but no other property. If these conditions are accepted, any amount of rations you may deem necessary can be taken from the stores you now have, and also the necessary cooking utensils for preparing them. Thirty wagons also, counting two two-horse or mule teams as one, will be allowed to transport such articles as cannot be carried along. The same conditions will be allowed to all sick and wounded officers and soldiers as fast as they become able to travel. The paroles for these latter must be signed, however, whilst officers present are authorized to sign the roll of prisoners.

By the terms of the cartel then in force, prisoners captured by either army were required to be forwarded as soon as possible to either Aiken's landing below Dutch Gap on the James River, or to Vicksburg, there to be exchanged, or paroled until they could be exchanged. There was a Confederate commissioner at Vicksburg, authorized to make the exchange. I did not propose to take him a prisoner, but to leave him free to perform the functions of his office. Had I insisted upon an unconditional surrender there would have been over thirty thousand men to transport to Cairo, very much to the inconvenience of the army on the Mississippi. Thence the prisoners would have had to be transported by rail to Washington or Baltimore; thence again by steamer to Aiken's-all at very great expense. At Aiken's they would have had to be paroled, because the Confederates did not have Union prisoners to give in exchange. Then again Pemberton's army was largely composed of men whose homes were in the South-west; I knew many of them were tired of the war and would get home just as soon as they could. A large number of them had voluntarily come into our lines during the siege, and requested to be sent north where they could get employment until the war was over and they could go to their homes.

Late at night I received the following reply to my last letter:

PEMBERTON
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of this date, proposing terms of capitulation for this garrison and post. In the main your terms are accepted; but, in justice both to the honor and spirit of my troops, manifested in the defence of Vicksburg, I have to submit the following amendments, which, if acceded to by you, will perfect the agreement between us. At ten o’clock A. M. tomorrow, I propose to evacuate the works in and around Vicksburg, and to surrender the city and garrison under my command, by marching out with my colors and arms, stacking them in front of my present [294] lines. After which you will take possession. Officers to retain their side-arms and personal property, and the rights and property of citizens to be respected.

GRANT
This was received after midnight. My reply was as follows:

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of 3d July. The amendment proposed by you cannot be acceded to in full. It will be necessary to furnish every officer and man with a parole signed by himself, which, with the completion of the roll of prisoners, will necessarily take some time. Again, I can make no stipulations with regard to the treatment of citizens and their private property. While I do not propose to cause them any undue annoyance or loss, I cannot consent to leave myself under any restraint by stipulations. The property which officers will be allowed to take with them will be as stated in my proposition of last evening; that is, officers will be allowed their private baggage and side-arms, and mounted officers one horse each. If you mean by your proposition for each brigade to march to the front of the lines now occupied by it, and stack arms at ten o'clock A. M., and then return to the inside and there remain as prisoners until properly paroled, I will make no objection to it. Should no notification be received of your acceptance of my terms by nine o'clock A. M. I shall regard them as having been rejected, and shall act accordingly. Should these terms be accepted, white flags should be displayed along your lines to prevent such of my troops as may not have been notified, from firing upon your men.

GRANT
Pemberton promptly accepted these terms.

During the siege there had been a good deal of friendly sparring between the soldiers of the two armies, on picket and where the lines were close together. All rebels were known as “Johnnies,” all Union troops as “Yanks.” Often “Johnny” would call: “Well, Yank, when are you coming into town?” The reply was sometimes: “We propose to celebrate the 4th of July there.” Sometimes it would be: “We always treat our prisoners with kindness and do not want to hurt them;” or, “We are holding you as prisoners of war while you are feeding yourselves.” The garrison, from the commanding general down, undoubtedly expected an assault on the fourth. They knew from the temper of their men it would be successful when made; and that would be a greater humiliation than to surrender. Besides it would be attended with severe loss to them.

The Vicksburg paper, which we received regularly through the courtesy of the rebel pickets, said prior to the fourth, in speaking of the “Yankee” boast that they would take dinner in Vicksburg that day, that the best receipt for cooking a rabbit was “First ketch your rabbit.” The paper at this time and for some time previous was printed on the plain side of wall paper. The last number was issued on the fourth and announced that we had “caught our rabbit.”

I have no doubt that Pemberton commenced his correspondence on the third with a two-fold purpose: first, to avoid an assault, which he knew would be successful, and second, to prevent the capture taking place on the great national holiday, the anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence. Holding out for better terms as he did he defeated his aim in the latter particular.

At the appointed hour the garrison of Vicksburg marched out of their works and formed line in front, stacked arms and marched back in good order. Our whole army present witnessed this scene without cheering. Logan's division, which had approached nearest the rebel works, was the first to march in; and the flag of one of the regiments of his division was soon floating over the courthouse. Our soldiers were no sooner inside the lines than the two armies began to fraternize. Our men had had full rations from the time the siege commenced, to the close. The enemy had been suffering, particularly towards the last. I myself saw our men taking bread from their haversacks and giving it to the enemy they had so recently been engaged in starving out. It was accepted with avidity and with thanks.

"Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg (March–July 1863), which included the Vicksburg Siege (May 18--July 4), claimed 10,142 Union and 9,091 Confederate killed and wounded. The Confederacy also surrendered 29,495 soldiers; however, most of the Rebels were paroled and rejoined the Confederate Army." (American Battlefield Trust) Pvt. Gooing was one of these.

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