At the Reuniting of a Nation

150 years ago, my great-great-grandfather, William Fairfax Gooden, stood outside a farmhouse in a sleepy little town that few people outside Virginia knew existed. But at 3 p.m. April 9, 1865, when pencil lead touched paper and two well respected and opposing military generals shook hands, that time – that place – was etched into history books studied by the six generations since and the hundreds of generations yet to come.

The moment was the surrender of Confederate Army of Virginia General Robert E. Lee to Union Army of the Potomac General Ulysses S. Grant, and the place was Appomattox.

William Fairfax Gooden was the father of my great-grandmother, Estelle Gooden Boyer; grandfather of my grandmother, Helen Boyer Stoker; and great-grandfather of my mother, June Stoker Daravanis.

William Fairfax Gooden was born in March 1849 in Pennsylvania and enlisted in the Union army on March 14, 1864 at age 15 despite the opposition of his father, Hiram.

William was assigned to the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 65^th Regiment, 5^th Cavalry, Company I. William was among 231 new recruits to join the Pennsylvania 5^th Cavalry in Notoway Bridge, Virginia. His company saw action at Notoway Bridge throughout April; fought at Jarratt’s Station and Bellville, Virginia May 8 through May 19, 1864; fought at Petersburg June 2 through June 15; fought at Staunton Bridge, Stoney Creek and Darbytown from June 29 to mid-July; fought numerous skirmishes around the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia from September 29 until the end of 1864.

A profile of the Pennsylvania 65^th Regiment, written in 1999, continues the story:

“In the latter part of March, 1865, it joined Gen. Sheridan's command and on April 1, started on its last campaign. The enemy was met and routed at Five Forks, where the 5th cavalry made a gallant dash, capturing 300 prisoners. During the succeeding week the command was active in the pursuit, skirmishing at Gravelly Run, Amelia Court House and Burkesville. On the 7th its picket line was established near Prince Edward Court House and on the evening of the same day it reached Appomattox Court House, where it shared in the fighting up to the time of the surrender.

“It moved to Lynchburg on the 12th and thence returned through Appomattox, Farmville, Burkesville, Five Forks and Richmond to the Mechanicsville Pike, where it encamped.”

William Fairfax Gooden and 330 other members of the Pennsylvania 65^th Regiment mustered out on May 14, 1866.

For the entire Civil War, one officer and 76 soldiers of the Pennsylvania 65^th Regiment were killed or mortally wounded in battle. An additional six officers and 210 soldiers died of disease or accident.

William moved to Johnson County, Indiana, south of Indianapolis, where he married the former Sarah Russell on Dec. 20, 1869. Their son, Charles, was born on Christmas day of 1870. Sarah died the following year. He then married Lavinia Sanders Kaufman, who also lost a spouse to death and had a son, on March 29, 1880. From this union, my great-grandmother Estelle was born in 1884. She died seven months short of her 100^th birthday in 1984. 

William studied medicine, moved to Aurora, Nebraska in 1886 and eventually became Burlington Division (Neb.) Surgeon for many years. Lavinia died March 9, 1900. In 1904, William married Luella “Lulu” Ream, another widow with one son, and moved to Montgomery, Alabama where he died and was buried in 1914.

But before my great-great-grandfather could come to the rescue of injured and ailing citizens of Indiana, Nebraska and Alabama; William Fairfax Gooden stepped forward to help save a budding nation. And he was only a teenager.

Though I have driven through Virginia a couple of times in my life, I’ve never stopped at Appomattox. Someday I hope to visit Appomattox and see what he saw. I know the trees will be bigger and the exterior paint will have been refreshed since then, but the ground where he stood and the aura he felt on that particular day – at that particular moment – is eternal.