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ELIJAH GOES TO COURT

with Slanderer
In Claiborne County,Tennessee

              By Carol Anne Ledford
 

Trouble started for Elijah Goin when his daughter,
Mary Ann "Polly" Goin was married to
William H. "Billy" Mayes May 23,1853 in Claiborne County,
Tennessee.  Sterling Mayes, brother
to the groom, took exception to the marriage, and one week
la- ter was telling everyone that his brother had married a
Mulat- to and that the whole Goin family were Mulattos and
Negroes. Sterling even instructed his children to taunt the Goin
child-ren with the Mulatto label and promised to protect them
in it. By July, the whole county had heard the accusations.
Sterling had gone so far as to make up a little song about Blacks
and Mulattos which he sang to the tune of "Old Dan Tucker,"
popu- lar jig tune of the day.  He even had the nerve to sing
the song to Elijah Goin in front of his friends on the main
street of Tazewell, the county seat. Elijah Goin bit his tongue
and turned the other cheek, hoping that Sterling would tire of
his little game, but the pressure only intensified.  In
September, Sterling sang his doggerel verses in church.  He made
his rhymes fit the hymns that were being sung at the camp
meeting, an evangelistic meeting held outdoors in a tent.  Several
rows of worshipers heard the caustic Mulatto slurs drowning
out the gospel words. That was the last straw, Elijah Goin filed suit in
Circuit Court for slander against Sterling Mayes September 15,
1853, requesting damages of $5,000, a monumental sum in those
days. The charges were serious and damaging to Elijah Goin who
was a schoolteacher and active in community affairs.  He had
once been elected as constable. It was embarrassing to his
family and his friends, and Elijah Goin had to take action
before his reputation and standing in the county were destroyed.
Action on the suit was exceedingly slow, with continuous post-
ponements and continuances. It would be five years before
a verdict was finally handed down.  When the case finally
went to court July 26, 1858, the trial lasted 37 court days
and involved the testimony of 43 witnesses.  Tennessee law re-
quired that the loser in a suit pay the court costs and
the expense of bringing in the witnesses.  The witnesses
were paid 25 cents a day for their appearances, and if they
traveled over 20 miles, they were paid four cents a mile travel
allowance.  There were 22 witnesses who had to be in
court 27 days of the trial, some traveling
as far as 290 miles.  Total  court costs of the case was $720
with $669 going to the witnesses. Each of the litigants had to
post bond guaranteeing payment of the huge sum.  Both were men
of substance, but it was a severe obligation.  Elijah Goin
owned land valued at $1,000, and his personal property was valued
at $350. He was 38 years old and married.  His wife and six
children would suffer severely if the verdict went against the
plainiff.  William H. "Billy" Mayes joined his
father-in-law in posting the bond. The "Mulatto and Negro"
charge had serious implications.  The Territory Act of 1794 and the
Tennessee Constitution of 1796 declared, "all Negroes,
Mulattos and Indians and persons of
mixed blood, descended from Negro or Indian ancestors to
the third generation inclusive, though one ancestor of each
generaion may have been a white person, whether bond or free,
should be held deemed to be incapable in law to be a
witness in any case whatsoever, except against each other."
The Act also forbad such persons from obtaining
marriage lienses, voting, owning land, paying taxes, making wills,
owning slaves or holding office. Their civil rights were
denied. Even in Revolutionary days and in the War of 1812,
Negroes and Mulattos could not serve as
soldiers.  A few were utilized in non-combatant roles as cooks
and teamsters. Elijah Goin's 70-year-old father, Levi Goin was
enduring great anguish.  Elijah Goin had several brothers, uncles and
cousins who were undergoing mental duress, not to mention all of
the in-laws involved.  He took some comfort in the fact his
old grandfather, Thomas Goin, Revolutionary soldier and
family pariarch of Claiborne County, did not have to undergo the
pain and anxiety that the trial brought to the family.
Thomas Goin had lived in Claiborne County long before
its cretion in 1801 and had died there in 1838, 15 years
before the suit was filed.  Thomas Goin didn't come to Claiborne
County; the county came to him. Thomas Goin bought his land,
225 acres on Cherokee Creek in 1786 from the State of North
Carolina, two years before Tennessee came into existence.  He was a
constable there [Washington County, North Carolina] in 1784.  He
served on several jury panels there, according to the county court
reords and was in court in Jonesborough on the day that
Andrew Jackson was admitted to the bar.In 1788, he sold his land in
Washington County and moved 90 miles west to newly-created
Hawkins County, Tennessee from which Claiborne would be
later created.  He appeared there as a taxpayer on Big Barren Creek
in 1799 in "Capt. Coxes company." The postoffice of Goin,
Tennessee would later be named for this pioneer's family.  Goin still
exists today, but the postoffice was discontinued in 1965.  In
1802, he and his sons help to build to road to Tazewell and
were appointed its overseers. In 1803, he was instrumental in
establishing the Big Barren Primitive Baptist Church.  He
served on Claiborne County jury panels and in 1833 was listed as a
"white male" taxpayer.Until he died in 1838, no one
had ever suggested that he was a Negro or a Mulatto.  The
family had distinct Melungeon features, but the mixed-blood
characteristics were attributed to Indian or Portuguese ancestry.  Thomas
Goin was buried in Old Big Barren Cemetery.  The site is now at
the bottom of Morris Lake, and it is unknown if the graves were
moved before the lake was created. Known children of Thomas Goin
include Levi Goin, born about 1778, Uriah Goin, born about
1785 and Isaac Abraham Goin, born about 1793.The verdict?  Elijah Goin won his slander suit against Sterling Mayes, and the jury awarded
him $50 damages, far less than the $5,000 he sought.  Sterling
Mayes appealed the case to the Tennessee Supreme Court in
Knoxville where the Circuit Court's decision was reversed and
remanded.  He won the appeal on the grounds that it had long been
common knowledge in the community that the Goin family was of
mixed blood and that he was not seeking the forfeiture of the
civil rights of Elijah Goin.=3D=3D0=3D=3D
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The authoress, Carol Anne Ledford who was born March 4,
1944 in Monroe, Michigan is a double ninth-generation
granddaughter of Thomas Goin.  Two of his
sons, Levi Goin and Uriah Goin were
her eighth-generation grandfathers.

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