Isaac Newton Goings was the 8th out of the eleven children born to Lewis Goings (1823-1890) & Elizabeth Ketterman(1826-1881).
Husband of Inez Clara McCannon. Born Sept 30, 1860 in Union, Black Hawk Co., Iowa.
Died Oct 21st, 1915 in Goodland, Sherman Co., Kansas.
Cause of death: "Results of injuries received by
being dragged by lariat rope on horse.
Isaac Newton Goings was born in Union, Black Hawk County, Iowa. His family moved from Iowa to German, Smith County, Kansas before he reached the age of 20.
In 1905, at age 45, Isaac had moved to Sherman County, Kansas and was farming alone.
At age 47, Isaac married Inez Clara McCannon, daughter or Alford McCannon and Alma Marie Reynolds. Isaac was 47 years of age at the time and Inez was but 19, being 28 years older than his wife.
At age 55, Isaac, now married and the father of three daughters, Ruby, Evalina, and Josie Goings, was living and farming in Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.
Living through some of the worst dust storms in Kansas history , Isaac took advantage of the Homestead Boom into the untamed lands of furtile soils, with dreams of a better life in farming. The simple life and old timer ways. With no electricity and indoor plumbing, it was very hard work and the rewards of farming were of little compensation.
Isaac lived and farmed and it was his way of life. I am sure that he had more than his share of isolation, loneliness and the constant need for hard, physical labor. After he married and had three daughter, his life would be forever filled with simple, happy events and celebrations to compensate for the struggles he endured. They would share in old fashioned church pot lucks, the ocasional social gatherings and neighborhood events.
Isaac and Inez endured when ill timed rains would spoil a hay crop, drought would rob them from a good harvest and high winds and dust storms would strip their land of the ripened grain. They would also endure the storms of life in the loss of friends, family and loved ones.
It is this tender-hearted, but tragic reverence that so intrigues me, moves me and charms me. Yes, farming was Isaac's essential way of life. Noble simplicity. He would endure the threats of storms, drought, ruined crops, low prices, sickness and accidents. But, Isaac would not endure the last accident that took his life and shattered his dreams. On October 21st, 1915, while doctoring a horse, Isaac got entangled in a rope and was consequently dragged to death. Isaac was laid to rest in the Goodland Cemetery, Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.
-----------------
This is the story of my mothers plight in the search to find her Fathers burial spot. My Mother's name:
Evalina C. Goings VanNess, she was born in Goodland, Sherman Co., Kansas in on March 30,1912 to Isaac
Newton Goings and Inez Clara McCannon. Mother said she started looking for her Father's burial spot when
she was 24 or 25 years old while living in Montana. She wrote many letters over the years and paid
genealogists to dig up information. I have many of those original letters in my possession. All the letters contain
about the same information and all of the genealogists tell her to give up the search, it's useless, there are no
records because the Court House burnt down and all records destroyed. One letter stated that the funeral home
at that time went out of business in 1940 something and no records were found. But my Mother never gave up.
She sold eggs by the dozens and raspberries by the gallons and used the money to pay researchers just to
have them say the same old thing, "Give it up, Mrs VanNess, there are no records."
My Grandfather was 47 years old when he married my Grandmother Inez Clara McCannon, and she was
only 19 years of age. They married June 8, 1908 in Goodland, Kansas. Isaac Newton married my grandmother in 1908 and to that union were born 3 children, all girls. Ruby, born 1910, Evalina (my Mother) born 1912, and Josie, born 1913. Mother was only 3 years old when her Dad tragically died on Oct 21, 1915 after being dragged to death by horse.
My grandmother remarries in 1918 to a William Spalding Sweet and to that union there were 3 more daughters born and one son. In order: Flossie born 1918, Nettie born 1923, Oliver born 1925, and Jennie born 1927.
My Mother always talked about another child she remembered in the household. Her name was Forrest Lot Sweet and probably born around 1920. My mother says she can remember holding her and taking care of her while her mother worked on the thrashing crew making a mere 19 cents a day. Then the child (Forest Lot Sweet) was gone from her memory. Mother has her listed on her genealogy records with 3 question marks behind it. At that time , Mother was only 7 years old.
William Spalding Sweet disappears around this time and I don't have much info on him. My Grandmother marries again to Robert (Bob) Dunn. My Mother graduated from Goodland
High School, Class of 1932 and left Kansas 2 years later. She moved to Montana and on the third of July 1936, she married my Dad, George A. VanNess. In the years that followed to that union would be born 11 children of which I am number 10.
During all of these years my mother continued her search. Her Mother Inez, in the meantime, takes her children still living at home and moves to Illinois in the illusion of a better life. She lived in Carrier Mills, Saline Co., Illinois and remained there til her death in 1962. She is buried in the Salem Cemetery.
As a small child and one of three girls and 8 boys, Mother told me about a little ceramic doll that her Dad had
given her before he died. She described it as being so small that it would fit in the palm of her tiny hand. It was the only thing she ever could remember getting from her Dad before he died and Oh how she wished she still
had it. She had lost it in Goodland as a child growing up.
In the summer of 1965, my oldest brother drove my Mother to Kansas to search the Cemetery. My older sister went also. They searched the Cemetery, but found nothing. Then they visited the farm where mother lived as a child. Everything was gone, the out buildings, sheds and even the old house were all gone. The only thing that remained was a huge tree that stood alone in a large wheat field. My brother climbed the tree to scan the landscape and take pictures of what was left of the old homestead. As he was climbing and gripping the branches, he noticed something in the notch of the tree limbs that was stuck in the notch. And yes, it was the little ceramic doll that Isaac had given my Mother when she was but 3 years old.
My Mothers journey to find her Father never ended there. There were no computers at that time and phone service was not brought in till the late 60's, so all correspondence had to be in letter form. All researching was done for that all mighty dollar. Mother & Dad, with 11 children to raise, found it difficult to put aside a few extra dollars to send researchers. What was considered extra was but few and far between. Bless Mothers heart, she never gave up.
In Nov of 1984, I was living in Tacoma, Washington, where I received the news to return home. My Mother was very sick and not likely to get better. I left immediately, leaving my 2 older boys, who were in school, with my husband. I took the youngest child and went home to Montana. My husband and 2 older boys would join me 4 days later and we would all return home together. I visited Mother everyday and on one of those visits, I made the promise that all that searching would not be in vain. I promised that I would carry on the search & if I found Isaac Newton Goings, I was to put a headstone to mark his grave.
On the 3rd day there, Mother had a good turn and they released her from the hospital in Missoula and I
drove her home located 8 to 10 miles east of Ronan. Four hours later, a brother, who lives in Polson, Montana,
had received a call from the Missoula hospital that they had test results back and that he had to pick up Mother
and return her to the hospital at once. My Father was legally blind and so other family members did all the
driving.
My Mother cried, got up from the table, went to the bedroom to change clothes and returned. In her hand
was a key to her trunk which she handed to Dad. When he asked her what the key was for, her only reply while
holding back the tears was "I'm not coming home." The few of us that sat around the table were totally paralyzed by her tearful words. Next, she moved to her precious mementos and removed the little ceramic doll that her father had given her as a child so many years before. With shaking hands, she handed it to me, squeezed my hand around it and spoke so softly, "IN KEEPING A PROMISE -I want you to take care of my dollie." She cried and hugged everyone for the last time and it is true, She never came home. Three days later she passed away.
The little ceramic doll became my inspiration to continue the plight to find Isaac Newton Goings. Days turned
into months and the months into years. I spent 27 years & 8 months searching for the buried spot of my Grandfather, Isaac Newton Goings. Then I found this web site on
the net called Find-a-Grave and 24 days after posting Isaac Newton Goings, Larry & Sherry Wilkerson from
Kanorado, Kansas step into the picture. They did all the foot work and research for me in Goodland, Kansas.
Beyond just trying to take a picture of a headstone that didn't exist, they, after only 3 1/2 weeks had found Isaac Newton Goings grave site. They had found that which was LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. And next to Issac's plot is a gravestone that says "Forrest Lot Sweet, born 17 April 1920, died 19 Sept 1920. This was the little sister that my Mother remembered.
The Headstone for my grandfather, Isaac Newton Goings, and the little ceramic doll are starting their journey from Tacoma, Wa. on Monday August 4th, 2008, to their home in Goodland, Kansas 2,600 miles away to be placed over my
Grandfather's final resting spot of eternal sleep, 93 years after his death.
The following poem was written in 1906 by Walter Butler Palmer. I thought it fitting for my grandfather.
Dear Grandfather,
Your tombstone now, stands among the rest;
Neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care,
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist,
You died before I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you,
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood connects and beets a pulse,
Entirely not our own.
Dear Grandfather, the place you filled
One hundred years ago.
Spreads out among the ones you left,
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder how you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew,
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
Husband of Inez Clara McCannon. Born Sept 30, 1860 in Union, Black Hawk Co., Iowa.
Died Oct 21st, 1915 in Goodland, Sherman Co., Kansas.
Cause of death: "Results of injuries received by
being dragged by lariat rope on horse.
Isaac Newton Goings was born in Union, Black Hawk County, Iowa. His family moved from Iowa to German, Smith County, Kansas before he reached the age of 20.
In 1905, at age 45, Isaac had moved to Sherman County, Kansas and was farming alone.
At age 47, Isaac married Inez Clara McCannon, daughter or Alford McCannon and Alma Marie Reynolds. Isaac was 47 years of age at the time and Inez was but 19, being 28 years older than his wife.
At age 55, Isaac, now married and the father of three daughters, Ruby, Evalina, and Josie Goings, was living and farming in Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.
Living through some of the worst dust storms in Kansas history , Isaac took advantage of the Homestead Boom into the untamed lands of furtile soils, with dreams of a better life in farming. The simple life and old timer ways. With no electricity and indoor plumbing, it was very hard work and the rewards of farming were of little compensation.
Isaac lived and farmed and it was his way of life. I am sure that he had more than his share of isolation, loneliness and the constant need for hard, physical labor. After he married and had three daughter, his life would be forever filled with simple, happy events and celebrations to compensate for the struggles he endured. They would share in old fashioned church pot lucks, the ocasional social gatherings and neighborhood events.
Isaac and Inez endured when ill timed rains would spoil a hay crop, drought would rob them from a good harvest and high winds and dust storms would strip their land of the ripened grain. They would also endure the storms of life in the loss of friends, family and loved ones.
It is this tender-hearted, but tragic reverence that so intrigues me, moves me and charms me. Yes, farming was Isaac's essential way of life. Noble simplicity. He would endure the threats of storms, drought, ruined crops, low prices, sickness and accidents. But, Isaac would not endure the last accident that took his life and shattered his dreams. On October 21st, 1915, while doctoring a horse, Isaac got entangled in a rope and was consequently dragged to death. Isaac was laid to rest in the Goodland Cemetery, Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.
-----------------
This is the story of my mothers plight in the search to find her Fathers burial spot. My Mother's name:
Evalina C. Goings VanNess, she was born in Goodland, Sherman Co., Kansas in on March 30,1912 to Isaac
Newton Goings and Inez Clara McCannon. Mother said she started looking for her Father's burial spot when
she was 24 or 25 years old while living in Montana. She wrote many letters over the years and paid
genealogists to dig up information. I have many of those original letters in my possession. All the letters contain
about the same information and all of the genealogists tell her to give up the search, it's useless, there are no
records because the Court House burnt down and all records destroyed. One letter stated that the funeral home
at that time went out of business in 1940 something and no records were found. But my Mother never gave up.
She sold eggs by the dozens and raspberries by the gallons and used the money to pay researchers just to
have them say the same old thing, "Give it up, Mrs VanNess, there are no records."
My Grandfather was 47 years old when he married my Grandmother Inez Clara McCannon, and she was
only 19 years of age. They married June 8, 1908 in Goodland, Kansas. Isaac Newton married my grandmother in 1908 and to that union were born 3 children, all girls. Ruby, born 1910, Evalina (my Mother) born 1912, and Josie, born 1913. Mother was only 3 years old when her Dad tragically died on Oct 21, 1915 after being dragged to death by horse.
My grandmother remarries in 1918 to a William Spalding Sweet and to that union there were 3 more daughters born and one son. In order: Flossie born 1918, Nettie born 1923, Oliver born 1925, and Jennie born 1927.
My Mother always talked about another child she remembered in the household. Her name was Forrest Lot Sweet and probably born around 1920. My mother says she can remember holding her and taking care of her while her mother worked on the thrashing crew making a mere 19 cents a day. Then the child (Forest Lot Sweet) was gone from her memory. Mother has her listed on her genealogy records with 3 question marks behind it. At that time , Mother was only 7 years old.
William Spalding Sweet disappears around this time and I don't have much info on him. My Grandmother marries again to Robert (Bob) Dunn. My Mother graduated from Goodland
High School, Class of 1932 and left Kansas 2 years later. She moved to Montana and on the third of July 1936, she married my Dad, George A. VanNess. In the years that followed to that union would be born 11 children of which I am number 10.
During all of these years my mother continued her search. Her Mother Inez, in the meantime, takes her children still living at home and moves to Illinois in the illusion of a better life. She lived in Carrier Mills, Saline Co., Illinois and remained there til her death in 1962. She is buried in the Salem Cemetery.
As a small child and one of three girls and 8 boys, Mother told me about a little ceramic doll that her Dad had
given her before he died. She described it as being so small that it would fit in the palm of her tiny hand. It was the only thing she ever could remember getting from her Dad before he died and Oh how she wished she still
had it. She had lost it in Goodland as a child growing up.
In the summer of 1965, my oldest brother drove my Mother to Kansas to search the Cemetery. My older sister went also. They searched the Cemetery, but found nothing. Then they visited the farm where mother lived as a child. Everything was gone, the out buildings, sheds and even the old house were all gone. The only thing that remained was a huge tree that stood alone in a large wheat field. My brother climbed the tree to scan the landscape and take pictures of what was left of the old homestead. As he was climbing and gripping the branches, he noticed something in the notch of the tree limbs that was stuck in the notch. And yes, it was the little ceramic doll that Isaac had given my Mother when she was but 3 years old.
My Mothers journey to find her Father never ended there. There were no computers at that time and phone service was not brought in till the late 60's, so all correspondence had to be in letter form. All researching was done for that all mighty dollar. Mother & Dad, with 11 children to raise, found it difficult to put aside a few extra dollars to send researchers. What was considered extra was but few and far between. Bless Mothers heart, she never gave up.
In Nov of 1984, I was living in Tacoma, Washington, where I received the news to return home. My Mother was very sick and not likely to get better. I left immediately, leaving my 2 older boys, who were in school, with my husband. I took the youngest child and went home to Montana. My husband and 2 older boys would join me 4 days later and we would all return home together. I visited Mother everyday and on one of those visits, I made the promise that all that searching would not be in vain. I promised that I would carry on the search & if I found Isaac Newton Goings, I was to put a headstone to mark his grave.
On the 3rd day there, Mother had a good turn and they released her from the hospital in Missoula and I
drove her home located 8 to 10 miles east of Ronan. Four hours later, a brother, who lives in Polson, Montana,
had received a call from the Missoula hospital that they had test results back and that he had to pick up Mother
and return her to the hospital at once. My Father was legally blind and so other family members did all the
driving.
My Mother cried, got up from the table, went to the bedroom to change clothes and returned. In her hand
was a key to her trunk which she handed to Dad. When he asked her what the key was for, her only reply while
holding back the tears was "I'm not coming home." The few of us that sat around the table were totally paralyzed by her tearful words. Next, she moved to her precious mementos and removed the little ceramic doll that her father had given her as a child so many years before. With shaking hands, she handed it to me, squeezed my hand around it and spoke so softly, "IN KEEPING A PROMISE -I want you to take care of my dollie." She cried and hugged everyone for the last time and it is true, She never came home. Three days later she passed away.
The little ceramic doll became my inspiration to continue the plight to find Isaac Newton Goings. Days turned
into months and the months into years. I spent 27 years & 8 months searching for the buried spot of my Grandfather, Isaac Newton Goings. Then I found this web site on
the net called Find-a-Grave and 24 days after posting Isaac Newton Goings, Larry & Sherry Wilkerson from
Kanorado, Kansas step into the picture. They did all the foot work and research for me in Goodland, Kansas.
Beyond just trying to take a picture of a headstone that didn't exist, they, after only 3 1/2 weeks had found Isaac Newton Goings grave site. They had found that which was LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. And next to Issac's plot is a gravestone that says "Forrest Lot Sweet, born 17 April 1920, died 19 Sept 1920. This was the little sister that my Mother remembered.
The Headstone for my grandfather, Isaac Newton Goings, and the little ceramic doll are starting their journey from Tacoma, Wa. on Monday August 4th, 2008, to their home in Goodland, Kansas 2,600 miles away to be placed over my
Grandfather's final resting spot of eternal sleep, 93 years after his death.
The following poem was written in 1906 by Walter Butler Palmer. I thought it fitting for my grandfather.
Dear Grandfather,
Your tombstone now, stands among the rest;
Neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care,
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist,
You died before I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you,
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood connects and beets a pulse,
Entirely not our own.
Dear Grandfather, the place you filled
One hundred years ago.
Spreads out among the ones you left,
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder how you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew,
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
Isaac Newton Goings was the 8th out of the eleven children born to Lewis Goings (1823-1890) & Elizabeth Ketterman(1826-1881).
Husband of Inez Clara McCannon. Born Sept 30, 1860 in Union, Black Hawk Co., Iowa.
Died Oct 21st, 1915 in Goodland, Sherman Co., Kansas.
Cause of death: "Results of injuries received by
being dragged by lariat rope on horse.
Isaac Newton Goings was born in Union, Black Hawk County, Iowa. His family moved from Iowa to German, Smith County, Kansas before he reached the age of 20.
In 1905, at age 45, Isaac had moved to Sherman County, Kansas and was farming alone.
At age 47, Isaac married Inez Clara McCannon, daughter or Alford McCannon and Alma Marie Reynolds. Isaac was 47 years of age at the time and Inez was but 19, being 28 years older than his wife.
At age 55, Isaac, now married and the father of three daughters, Ruby, Evalina, and Josie Goings, was living and farming in Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.
Living through some of the worst dust storms in Kansas history , Isaac took advantage of the Homestead Boom into the untamed lands of furtile soils, with dreams of a better life in farming. The simple life and old timer ways. With no electricity and indoor plumbing, it was very hard work and the rewards of farming were of little compensation.
Isaac lived and farmed and it was his way of life. I am sure that he had more than his share of isolation, loneliness and the constant need for hard, physical labor. After he married and had three daughter, his life would be forever filled with simple, happy events and celebrations to compensate for the struggles he endured. They would share in old fashioned church pot lucks, the ocasional social gatherings and neighborhood events.
Isaac and Inez endured when ill timed rains would spoil a hay crop, drought would rob them from a good harvest and high winds and dust storms would strip their land of the ripened grain. They would also endure the storms of life in the loss of friends, family and loved ones.
It is this tender-hearted, but tragic reverence that so intrigues me, moves me and charms me. Yes, farming was Isaac's essential way of life. Noble simplicity. He would endure the threats of storms, drought, ruined crops, low prices, sickness and accidents. But, Isaac would not endure the last accident that took his life and shattered his dreams. On October 21st, 1915, while doctoring a horse, Isaac got entangled in a rope and was consequently dragged to death. Isaac was laid to rest in the Goodland Cemetery, Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.
-----------------
This is the story of my mothers plight in the search to find her Fathers burial spot. My Mother's name:
Evalina C. Goings VanNess, she was born in Goodland, Sherman Co., Kansas in on March 30,1912 to Isaac
Newton Goings and Inez Clara McCannon. Mother said she started looking for her Father's burial spot when
she was 24 or 25 years old while living in Montana. She wrote many letters over the years and paid
genealogists to dig up information. I have many of those original letters in my possession. All the letters contain
about the same information and all of the genealogists tell her to give up the search, it's useless, there are no
records because the Court House burnt down and all records destroyed. One letter stated that the funeral home
at that time went out of business in 1940 something and no records were found. But my Mother never gave up.
She sold eggs by the dozens and raspberries by the gallons and used the money to pay researchers just to
have them say the same old thing, "Give it up, Mrs VanNess, there are no records."
My Grandfather was 47 years old when he married my Grandmother Inez Clara McCannon, and she was
only 19 years of age. They married June 8, 1908 in Goodland, Kansas. Isaac Newton married my grandmother in 1908 and to that union were born 3 children, all girls. Ruby, born 1910, Evalina (my Mother) born 1912, and Josie, born 1913. Mother was only 3 years old when her Dad tragically died on Oct 21, 1915 after being dragged to death by horse.
My grandmother remarries in 1918 to a William Spalding Sweet and to that union there were 3 more daughters born and one son. In order: Flossie born 1918, Nettie born 1923, Oliver born 1925, and Jennie born 1927.
My Mother always talked about another child she remembered in the household. Her name was Forrest Lot Sweet and probably born around 1920. My mother says she can remember holding her and taking care of her while her mother worked on the thrashing crew making a mere 19 cents a day. Then the child (Forest Lot Sweet) was gone from her memory. Mother has her listed on her genealogy records with 3 question marks behind it. At that time , Mother was only 7 years old.
William Spalding Sweet disappears around this time and I don't have much info on him. My Grandmother marries again to Robert (Bob) Dunn. My Mother graduated from Goodland
High School, Class of 1932 and left Kansas 2 years later. She moved to Montana and on the third of July 1936, she married my Dad, George A. VanNess. In the years that followed to that union would be born 11 children of which I am number 10.
During all of these years my mother continued her search. Her Mother Inez, in the meantime, takes her children still living at home and moves to Illinois in the illusion of a better life. She lived in Carrier Mills, Saline Co., Illinois and remained there til her death in 1962. She is buried in the Salem Cemetery.
As a small child and one of three girls and 8 boys, Mother told me about a little ceramic doll that her Dad had
given her before he died. She described it as being so small that it would fit in the palm of her tiny hand. It was the only thing she ever could remember getting from her Dad before he died and Oh how she wished she still
had it. She had lost it in Goodland as a child growing up.
In the summer of 1965, my oldest brother drove my Mother to Kansas to search the Cemetery. My older sister went also. They searched the Cemetery, but found nothing. Then they visited the farm where mother lived as a child. Everything was gone, the out buildings, sheds and even the old house were all gone. The only thing that remained was a huge tree that stood alone in a large wheat field. My brother climbed the tree to scan the landscape and take pictures of what was left of the old homestead. As he was climbing and gripping the branches, he noticed something in the notch of the tree limbs that was stuck in the notch. And yes, it was the little ceramic doll that Isaac had given my Mother when she was but 3 years old.
My Mothers journey to find her Father never ended there. There were no computers at that time and phone service was not brought in till the late 60's, so all correspondence had to be in letter form. All researching was done for that all mighty dollar. Mother & Dad, with 11 children to raise, found it difficult to put aside a few extra dollars to send researchers. What was considered extra was but few and far between. Bless Mothers heart, she never gave up.
In Nov of 1984, I was living in Tacoma, Washington, where I received the news to return home. My Mother was very sick and not likely to get better. I left immediately, leaving my 2 older boys, who were in school, with my husband. I took the youngest child and went home to Montana. My husband and 2 older boys would join me 4 days later and we would all return home together. I visited Mother everyday and on one of those visits, I made the promise that all that searching would not be in vain. I promised that I would carry on the search & if I found Isaac Newton Goings, I was to put a headstone to mark his grave.
On the 3rd day there, Mother had a good turn and they released her from the hospital in Missoula and I
drove her home located 8 to 10 miles east of Ronan. Four hours later, a brother, who lives in Polson, Montana,
had received a call from the Missoula hospital that they had test results back and that he had to pick up Mother
and return her to the hospital at once. My Father was legally blind and so other family members did all the
driving.
My Mother cried, got up from the table, went to the bedroom to change clothes and returned. In her hand
was a key to her trunk which she handed to Dad. When he asked her what the key was for, her only reply while
holding back the tears was "I'm not coming home." The few of us that sat around the table were totally paralyzed by her tearful words. Next, she moved to her precious mementos and removed the little ceramic doll that her father had given her as a child so many years before. With shaking hands, she handed it to me, squeezed my hand around it and spoke so softly, "IN KEEPING A PROMISE -I want you to take care of my dollie." She cried and hugged everyone for the last time and it is true, She never came home. Three days later she passed away.
The little ceramic doll became my inspiration to continue the plight to find Isaac Newton Goings. Days turned
into months and the months into years. I spent 27 years & 8 months searching for the buried spot of my Grandfather, Isaac Newton Goings. Then I found this web site on
the net called Find-a-Grave and 24 days after posting Isaac Newton Goings, Larry & Sherry Wilkerson from
Kanorado, Kansas step into the picture. They did all the foot work and research for me in Goodland, Kansas.
Beyond just trying to take a picture of a headstone that didn't exist, they, after only 3 1/2 weeks had found Isaac Newton Goings grave site. They had found that which was LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. And next to Issac's plot is a gravestone that says "Forrest Lot Sweet, born 17 April 1920, died 19 Sept 1920. This was the little sister that my Mother remembered.
The Headstone for my grandfather, Isaac Newton Goings, and the little ceramic doll are starting their journey from Tacoma, Wa. on Monday August 4th, 2008, to their home in Goodland, Kansas 2,600 miles away to be placed over my
Grandfather's final resting spot of eternal sleep, 93 years after his death.
The following poem was written in 1906 by Walter Butler Palmer. I thought it fitting for my grandfather.
Dear Grandfather,
Your tombstone now, stands among the rest;
Neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care,
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist,
You died before I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you,
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood connects and beets a pulse,
Entirely not our own.
Dear Grandfather, the place you filled
One hundred years ago.
Spreads out among the ones you left,
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder how you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew,
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
Husband of Inez Clara McCannon. Born Sept 30, 1860 in Union, Black Hawk Co., Iowa.
Died Oct 21st, 1915 in Goodland, Sherman Co., Kansas.
Cause of death: "Results of injuries received by
being dragged by lariat rope on horse.
Isaac Newton Goings was born in Union, Black Hawk County, Iowa. His family moved from Iowa to German, Smith County, Kansas before he reached the age of 20.
In 1905, at age 45, Isaac had moved to Sherman County, Kansas and was farming alone.
At age 47, Isaac married Inez Clara McCannon, daughter or Alford McCannon and Alma Marie Reynolds. Isaac was 47 years of age at the time and Inez was but 19, being 28 years older than his wife.
At age 55, Isaac, now married and the father of three daughters, Ruby, Evalina, and Josie Goings, was living and farming in Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.
Living through some of the worst dust storms in Kansas history , Isaac took advantage of the Homestead Boom into the untamed lands of furtile soils, with dreams of a better life in farming. The simple life and old timer ways. With no electricity and indoor plumbing, it was very hard work and the rewards of farming were of little compensation.
Isaac lived and farmed and it was his way of life. I am sure that he had more than his share of isolation, loneliness and the constant need for hard, physical labor. After he married and had three daughter, his life would be forever filled with simple, happy events and celebrations to compensate for the struggles he endured. They would share in old fashioned church pot lucks, the ocasional social gatherings and neighborhood events.
Isaac and Inez endured when ill timed rains would spoil a hay crop, drought would rob them from a good harvest and high winds and dust storms would strip their land of the ripened grain. They would also endure the storms of life in the loss of friends, family and loved ones.
It is this tender-hearted, but tragic reverence that so intrigues me, moves me and charms me. Yes, farming was Isaac's essential way of life. Noble simplicity. He would endure the threats of storms, drought, ruined crops, low prices, sickness and accidents. But, Isaac would not endure the last accident that took his life and shattered his dreams. On October 21st, 1915, while doctoring a horse, Isaac got entangled in a rope and was consequently dragged to death. Isaac was laid to rest in the Goodland Cemetery, Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.
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This is the story of my mothers plight in the search to find her Fathers burial spot. My Mother's name:
Evalina C. Goings VanNess, she was born in Goodland, Sherman Co., Kansas in on March 30,1912 to Isaac
Newton Goings and Inez Clara McCannon. Mother said she started looking for her Father's burial spot when
she was 24 or 25 years old while living in Montana. She wrote many letters over the years and paid
genealogists to dig up information. I have many of those original letters in my possession. All the letters contain
about the same information and all of the genealogists tell her to give up the search, it's useless, there are no
records because the Court House burnt down and all records destroyed. One letter stated that the funeral home
at that time went out of business in 1940 something and no records were found. But my Mother never gave up.
She sold eggs by the dozens and raspberries by the gallons and used the money to pay researchers just to
have them say the same old thing, "Give it up, Mrs VanNess, there are no records."
My Grandfather was 47 years old when he married my Grandmother Inez Clara McCannon, and she was
only 19 years of age. They married June 8, 1908 in Goodland, Kansas. Isaac Newton married my grandmother in 1908 and to that union were born 3 children, all girls. Ruby, born 1910, Evalina (my Mother) born 1912, and Josie, born 1913. Mother was only 3 years old when her Dad tragically died on Oct 21, 1915 after being dragged to death by horse.
My grandmother remarries in 1918 to a William Spalding Sweet and to that union there were 3 more daughters born and one son. In order: Flossie born 1918, Nettie born 1923, Oliver born 1925, and Jennie born 1927.
My Mother always talked about another child she remembered in the household. Her name was Forrest Lot Sweet and probably born around 1920. My mother says she can remember holding her and taking care of her while her mother worked on the thrashing crew making a mere 19 cents a day. Then the child (Forest Lot Sweet) was gone from her memory. Mother has her listed on her genealogy records with 3 question marks behind it. At that time , Mother was only 7 years old.
William Spalding Sweet disappears around this time and I don't have much info on him. My Grandmother marries again to Robert (Bob) Dunn. My Mother graduated from Goodland
High School, Class of 1932 and left Kansas 2 years later. She moved to Montana and on the third of July 1936, she married my Dad, George A. VanNess. In the years that followed to that union would be born 11 children of which I am number 10.
During all of these years my mother continued her search. Her Mother Inez, in the meantime, takes her children still living at home and moves to Illinois in the illusion of a better life. She lived in Carrier Mills, Saline Co., Illinois and remained there til her death in 1962. She is buried in the Salem Cemetery.
As a small child and one of three girls and 8 boys, Mother told me about a little ceramic doll that her Dad had
given her before he died. She described it as being so small that it would fit in the palm of her tiny hand. It was the only thing she ever could remember getting from her Dad before he died and Oh how she wished she still
had it. She had lost it in Goodland as a child growing up.
In the summer of 1965, my oldest brother drove my Mother to Kansas to search the Cemetery. My older sister went also. They searched the Cemetery, but found nothing. Then they visited the farm where mother lived as a child. Everything was gone, the out buildings, sheds and even the old house were all gone. The only thing that remained was a huge tree that stood alone in a large wheat field. My brother climbed the tree to scan the landscape and take pictures of what was left of the old homestead. As he was climbing and gripping the branches, he noticed something in the notch of the tree limbs that was stuck in the notch. And yes, it was the little ceramic doll that Isaac had given my Mother when she was but 3 years old.
My Mothers journey to find her Father never ended there. There were no computers at that time and phone service was not brought in till the late 60's, so all correspondence had to be in letter form. All researching was done for that all mighty dollar. Mother & Dad, with 11 children to raise, found it difficult to put aside a few extra dollars to send researchers. What was considered extra was but few and far between. Bless Mothers heart, she never gave up.
In Nov of 1984, I was living in Tacoma, Washington, where I received the news to return home. My Mother was very sick and not likely to get better. I left immediately, leaving my 2 older boys, who were in school, with my husband. I took the youngest child and went home to Montana. My husband and 2 older boys would join me 4 days later and we would all return home together. I visited Mother everyday and on one of those visits, I made the promise that all that searching would not be in vain. I promised that I would carry on the search & if I found Isaac Newton Goings, I was to put a headstone to mark his grave.
On the 3rd day there, Mother had a good turn and they released her from the hospital in Missoula and I
drove her home located 8 to 10 miles east of Ronan. Four hours later, a brother, who lives in Polson, Montana,
had received a call from the Missoula hospital that they had test results back and that he had to pick up Mother
and return her to the hospital at once. My Father was legally blind and so other family members did all the
driving.
My Mother cried, got up from the table, went to the bedroom to change clothes and returned. In her hand
was a key to her trunk which she handed to Dad. When he asked her what the key was for, her only reply while
holding back the tears was "I'm not coming home." The few of us that sat around the table were totally paralyzed by her tearful words. Next, she moved to her precious mementos and removed the little ceramic doll that her father had given her as a child so many years before. With shaking hands, she handed it to me, squeezed my hand around it and spoke so softly, "IN KEEPING A PROMISE -I want you to take care of my dollie." She cried and hugged everyone for the last time and it is true, She never came home. Three days later she passed away.
The little ceramic doll became my inspiration to continue the plight to find Isaac Newton Goings. Days turned
into months and the months into years. I spent 27 years & 8 months searching for the buried spot of my Grandfather, Isaac Newton Goings. Then I found this web site on
the net called Find-a-Grave and 24 days after posting Isaac Newton Goings, Larry & Sherry Wilkerson from
Kanorado, Kansas step into the picture. They did all the foot work and research for me in Goodland, Kansas.
Beyond just trying to take a picture of a headstone that didn't exist, they, after only 3 1/2 weeks had found Isaac Newton Goings grave site. They had found that which was LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. And next to Issac's plot is a gravestone that says "Forrest Lot Sweet, born 17 April 1920, died 19 Sept 1920. This was the little sister that my Mother remembered.
The Headstone for my grandfather, Isaac Newton Goings, and the little ceramic doll are starting their journey from Tacoma, Wa. on Monday August 4th, 2008, to their home in Goodland, Kansas 2,600 miles away to be placed over my
Grandfather's final resting spot of eternal sleep, 93 years after his death.
The following poem was written in 1906 by Walter Butler Palmer. I thought it fitting for my grandfather.
Dear Grandfather,
Your tombstone now, stands among the rest;
Neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
On polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care,
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I exist,
You died before I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you,
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood connects and beets a pulse,
Entirely not our own.
Dear Grandfather, the place you filled
One hundred years ago.
Spreads out among the ones you left,
Who would have loved you so.
I wonder how you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew,
That someday I would find this spot,
And come to visit you.
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