As I shared on Facebook, I received and inbox message from a gentleman that says he is helping a friend. Okay and where is this going? I was not familiar with his name, he is not one of my students, etc. So I read on-he says I found you on the internet and you research the Goens/Goins. We are looking for descendants/relatives of Charles H. Goens. (WHAT????) okay this is getting good now! Then he says, my friend has Charles H. Goens bible, it includes photos and papers, etc., and he wants to give the bible to the family. Okay, okay, okay, I am family…LOL! Oh heck ya. So we get on the phone, apparently the house where his friend lives was Charles H. Goens , wife Louisa V. (Roper) house and then his daughter Fanny’s house. The friend is not related to the Goens, but has procession of the bible and other things.
Photo of Charles H. and wife Louisa V. (Roper) when they are older:
I spoke to the friend, Hays, he says is 88, a dear sweet man, he says the bible belongs to family. Hays’ wife had passed two years ago. Wanda and I explained that I am Charles H. Goens great great grand niece and she is Charles’s great granddaughter.
Mini Tree: Joseph & Nancy Goings, son Lawson & Sarah A. (Hart) Goen/Goins/Goings, son Charles H. & Louisa Victoria (Roper), daughter Rosa married James A. Throckmorton, they had a daughter Fanny (and other children). They have a total of 5 children, all very well educated but none of the children have any descendants.
Chas H. Goen
The home sits on 16 beautiful acres. I saw the carriage house and cows. He shares that the carriage house is where the Mennonites repaired their carriages.
Carriage House
Here are various photos and sheets that were in the bible.
This is the sign-double click to see the name Throckmorton Lane
Hays was the most gracious man I have met. He is a WW2 veteran and retired fireman! We had so much to talk about.
We enjoyed the afternoon. He told us about his wife Ruth being friends with Fanny. I asked the gentleman how did they find me-he said his friend Neil, googled and my name on the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) came up. He gave the bible and photos to Wanda. She knew about the bible, her father tried to get the bible and the cousin , Fanny would not give it to him. Wanda will visit her dad’s grave on her way home and let him know that she has the bible. We are so excited. It was awesome. As I mentioned the gentleman is 88, made a pot of pinto beans and apple crisp. It was very good. We visited the graves and viewed lose pages as well as written spots through out the bible. The bible is old, but the postings where not. I would assume Fanny, who died in 2001, put the information in the bible instead of her mother.
Now, I learned something new…the Throckmorton’s were Mennonites in Chambersburg. I had not seen or heard of Black Mennonites. This was very interesting and of course will caused me to do some more research. The house was a log cabin that has been remodeled. I had to take a photo of the door. The latch is what peaked my interest. I remember on Marsh family homestead in Michigan, there was a similar door.
Some more bible photos
I hope you all enjoyed the photos that were on Facebook as well as here. I hope to visit Hays again. He is looking for a box of photos that he remembered. December 2015.
Family Tree Girl 
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