David Goings, regarded as a native of Newburn, Virginia, was born September 15, 1783 of parents unknown. In the bible records kept by Susannah Williams Goings, his wife, it stated that they were married October 30, 1803 at Newburn, in Montgomery County, Virginia.

In 1806 Giles County, Virginia was organized with land from Montgomery County, and the young couple found themselves in the new county. Susannah Williams Goings was born to George Henry Williams and Margaret Harless Williams on Octo­ber 2, 1783 in Montgomery County.

Susannah Williams was apparently the mother of two sons when she married David Goings. According to her bible record, she had two sons, "Henry Williams born October 30, 1801 and James Williams born March 29, 1802," before her marriage to David Goings.

On June 21, 1824 David Goings sold one parcel of land to Guy French for $380 and another parcel to Guy French July 22, 1824 for $550. Other land records in Giles County in 1824 show indenture agreements between David Goings and some creditors to pay off debts. One agreement was made the 5th day of July 1824 with Henry Williams, the first born son of Susannah Williams Goings.

In 1831 and in 1832, two of the married daughters of David and Susannah left the mountains of the New River area of southwestern Virginia and moved to Indiana. Word had reached Virginia that land was available in Delaware County. Members of the Goings family were among the very first to purchase land from the federal government in Liberty Township.

A few years after the family came to Indiana, David Goings returned to Virginia.

He rode horseback the approximate 300-mile distance to visit his daughter, Katherine Goings Surface, near Newbern, Vir­ginia in Pulaski County. On his way back to Indiana he visited his daughter, Rachel Goings Burton in Pearisburg, Virginia, where he became sick and died April 26, 1840. He was 57 years old. This was before telegraph or mail service, and if friends or family were not traveling to and from, there was no way of getting news. According to Norman Haskell Goings' history, the family did not know for sometime what had happened to David Goings. He was reportedly buried in an old cemetery there in an unmarked grave. Descendants made unsuccessful trips there in 1908, 1916, and 1933 in attempts to find his grave and to place a tombstone on it.

There were several stories that have floated down through the family as to how David Goings met his death. One story was that a dog spooked his horse that he was riding on his return trip from visiting his daughter in Indiana. The horse threw him and he died from the injuries. Another story was that he fell sick and died from the unknown illness, and still another one was that he had asked a hired hand to accompany him on his visit. The hired hand refused to go, but he knew that David would be returning with a large amount of cash. The hired hand knew the route that David would be riding and waited to ambush him on his return trip. His hired hand, supposedly, confessed to the murder of David Goings on his death bed many years later. None of the theories about David Goings's death were ever proven.

David Goings is regarded by some researchers as a Melungeon. Melungeon characteristics are also found among his descendants and are often described as not being Indian, White or Negro, but rather of "looking Mediterranean" with the prevalence of swarthy white-skinned peoples with dark eyes and black hair. In "Races of the Old World," 1871, Charles L. Brace described the Melungeons as "well built, but not so tall as the Arabs. Their features are noble, but not so energetic as those of the Arabs. The complexion of their children is clear, white and rosy. The men are more brown, their hair is jet black, their eyes are also black. The expression of their faces indicates mildness and melan-choly."

Turkish descent has been suggested for my ancestor, David Go-ings who was born September 17, 1783. He was married in 1803 to a German girl in Montgomery [later Giles] County, Virginia. In 1939, a descendant, Norman Goings of Selma, Indiana wrote that his father and uncles resembled "old men of Turkey as we see them in pictures today." Norman's father believed the Goings to be Turkish emigrants. The father of Norman Goings used the term "Tuckahoe" to de-scribe the family and told Norman that it was a nickname for people from Turkey.

Hazel M. Wood wrote October 31, 1989, "David Goings was one of those persons with swarthy skin and fine features, sometimes regarded as Melungeons. Some of his descendants resembled people of Afghanistan or India. His descendants moved on to Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and a few to Texas."

David Goings and Susannah (Williams) Goings had the following children:

1. Elizabeth Goings b.29 March 1804- d. 21 Feb 1882.

2. Catherine Goings b. 21 April 1806- d. 1881.

3. Mary Polly Goings b. 29 June 1807- d. 29 Jan 1877.

4. Margaret Peggy Goings b. 5 Feb 1810- d. 22 Jan 1833.

5. Racheal Goings b. 27 Nov 1811- d. 18 Dec 1841.

6. Sally Goings b. 14 Aug 1813- d. 20 Aug 1831.

7. Fredrick Goings b. 1 May 1815- d. 31 Dec 1913.

8. David Goings Jr. b. 22 March 1817- d. 25 Apr 1892.

9. Joseph Addison Goings b. 30 Jan 1821- d. 18 June 1877.

10. William A Goings b. 1 Jan 1822- d. 10 march 1890.

11. Lewis A Goings b. 17 June 1823- d. 19 Aug 1890.

12. John Williams Goings b. 16 Dec 1826- d. 8 July 1906.