Sarah Elizabeth Goins

Jane, Reid and Sarah Goins (ca 1874)

My great-grandmother, Sarah Goins, was the first genealogist in the family.

Sarah was born August 24, 1871 in Coffey County, Kansas.  Her mother, Harriet Pridgeon, died when Sarah was only three years old, and just a few short weeks after the family reached Albany, Oregon. Sarah's father, Reid Goins, died when she was eleven years old. Sarah and her sister Jane were taken in and raised by adoptive families.

Sarah and Jane (or Geneva, as she liked to be called) were very close. After Jane's death at age 37, Sarah began writing letters--reaching out to distant family members, asking questions about her family's history. I like to read the few letters that have survived--letters that attempt to answer her questions about a fractured, distant family. I can picture her sitting at a desk, pen or pencil in hand, querying those aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Thanks, Sarah, for getting us started.