Rachel Branch Goode1

b. 9 October 1826, d. 1904
FatherJohn Goode1 b. bet 1770 - 1780
MotherAnn Cochran Findlay1 b. abt 1797, d. 18 Sep 1832
Birth9 Oct 1826 Rachel Branch Goode was born on 9 Oct 1826 in Virginia.2,3 
Marriage22 Nov 1843 She married Benjamin Keys Buchanan, son of William Buchanan and Jane Keys, on 22 Nov 1843.1,3 
  Rachel was 17; Benjamin was 28. Some years later Rachel's older sister Elizabeth married Benjamin's brother Mathew. The couple probably became acquainted when Elizabeth lived with Benjamin and Rachel following their marriage.4 
Cens-1850Oct 1850  Rachel and Benjamin spent at least the first few years of their marriage in Abingdon, where their eldest son was born and where Benjamin was employed as a merchant.4 
Residencecirca 1859  About 1859 Benjamin acquired a large parcel of land that had belonged to the Keywood (Cawood, etc.) family for many years. It came available when the then Mrs. Caywood was murdered. Her husband, Ben Caywood, was eventually charged with arranging her murder. After 3 hung trials he was acquitted and left the area at which time his property was sold. It may have been briefly held by Solon Buchanan.5,6 [whose wife died in 1858 and is buried in the Edgehill Cemetery on the Keywood/Buchanan land] 
Cens-18605 Jul 1860  The 1860 census reflected Benjamin and Rachel's increased family size and changed circumstances. Five children were enumerated: William (14), Jack (11), Thomas (6), Jane (3) and Elizabeth (1). Benjamin was reported to own land valued at over $12,000 and personal property valued at $17,000.7 
Cens-1860- Slave16 Jul 1860  The latter figure included the 8 slaves enumerated for him on the 1860 slave schedule.8 
  A son Toby died in 1853 at one year of age. Another son (Alexander) was born in 1863; daughter Elizabeth died of dysentery in 1867. 
Cens-18705 Oct 1870  In 1870 the couple were again enumerated on the federal census. Benjamin was 54 and stated that he owned land valued at $30,000, as well as personal property worth $20,000. Rachel was 43. Also present were [son] William, age 24 and [his wife] Mary, 22 (the couple had married the previous March), as well as Jack, 22, Thomas 16 and Alex 7. The household also included several domestics and a teacher in addition to William J. Moore, age 16.9 
  William was no doubt Benjamin's nephew, the son of his sister Bethia who died following William's birth in 1854. William's father was also deceased. 
Residence1879  The original large home occupied by Benjamin and Rachel was reported to have been built in 1857. It burned to the ground and was rebuilt in 1879. This second house was constructed from bricks that were kilned on the site. The house consisted of 2 stories with a central stairway and a kitchen at the rear of the ground floor. It sat in a beautiful and fertile valley north of Glade Spring and south of Saltville.10 
  Benjamin divided his land among his sons as they came of age or married. The 1900 census for the Saltville District of Washington County enumerated Benjamin (84) and Rachel (73) with their daughter Jean (43) living adjacent to the independent households of their 4 sons. In later years their son's children also established their own households in the valley.11 
Death1904 Rachel died in 1904.2 
Burial She was buried at Edgehill Cemetery in Washington County, Virginia.2 

Family

Benjamin Keys Buchanan b. 31 Oct 1815, d. 4 Sep 1901
Children
Last Edited24 Jan 2013

Citations

  1. [S2272] Jean Keys Buchanan, The Buchanans, manuscript, 1928.
  2. [S2] Catherine McConnell, High On A Windy Hill, p. 151. Rachel Branch Buchanan 1826-1904.
  3. [S2370] G. Brown Goode, Virginia Cousins - The Ancestry and Posterity of John Goode, p. 265.
  4. [S367] Benjamin K. Buchanan household, 1850 U.S. Census, Washington Co., VA, pop. sched., Abingdon, p. 288 (original script) after p. 211 stamped, dwelling 2073, family 2073, viewed online at Ancestry.com, May 2009, image 2 of 9. Household includes: Benjamin K. Buchanan, 34, merchant; Rachel 24; William 4; John 2; Elizabeth Goode 25; Francis Findlay 16, clark; all b. VA.
  5. [S2274] William Buchanan, "Buchanan Family History", 1984-1995. Mr. Buchanan cites p. 86-89 of the autobiography of Thomas L. Preston for the story of Mrs. Caywood's murder.
  6. [S16] Mrs. Cawood was murdered in 1823 per the following source: "Obituaries From the Family Visitor April 6, 1822-April 3, 1824" as extracted in Virginia Vital Records (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982) and viewed as a digital image June 2009 at Ancestry.com.
  7. [S234] Benj. K. Buchanan household, 1860 U.S. cens, Washington Co., VA, pop. sched., Western district, p. 449 (added script), dwelling 600, family 587, viewed online at Ancestry.com, March 2007, image 87 of 361. Household includes: Benj K. Buchanan, 44, farmer, owns land: $12,475 and pers. prop val at $17,000; Rachel, 33; William 14; Jack 11; Thomas 6; Jane 3; Elizabeth 1; Samuel Arnett, laborer, 46; all b. VA.
  8. [S1308] Benjamin K. Buchanan, owner, 1860 U.S. census, Washington Co., Virginia, slave schedule, p. 7 (original script), line 24, viewed online at Ancestry.com. 8 slaves including 2 adult males, 2 adult females and 4 young girls; also 3 slave houses.
  9. [S635] Benjamin Buchanan household, 1870 U.S. cens, Washington Co., Virginia, pop. sched., First Division, p. 22 (original script), dwelling 124, family 139, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Jul. 2006, image 22 of 44. Enumeration includes: Benjamim Buchanan, 54, farmer, owns land valued at $30,000, pers. prop of $20,000; Rachel B., wife, 43; William 24, merchant, marr in March; Mary 22 (b. TN), marr in March; Jack, 22, student; Thos P., 16 student; Alex F. 7; Wm J. Moore, 16, student; all b. VA.
  10. [S2274] William Buchanan, "Buchanan Family History", 1984-1995. Mr. Buchanan notes that the second Keywood home burned in the 1940s. Although the walls were brick they had not been well cured; without a roof to keep the rain off the walls soon disintegrated. Nothing remains of the home which sat just down the hill from the present marker noting the site of the first Methodist conference west of the Blueridge Mountains.
  11. [S634] Benjamin Buchanan household, 1900 U.S. cens., Washington Co., Virginia, pop. sched., Saltville district, ED 122, sheet 22B, dwelling 312, family 312, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Feb. 2009, image 71 of 89. Household includes: Benjamin Buchanan, 84, b. Oct. 1815, marr, b. VA, parents b. VA, farmer, owns farm; Rachel B., wife, 73, b. Oct. 1826, mother of 7 children, 5 are living; Jean K., dau, 43, b. Jul 1856 VA; Adolphus Harden, servant, 18, b. June 1872 NC.
  12. [S1344] Notification re the estate of Jean Buchanan, dec'd, The Journal Virginian, Oct. 11, 1962.
  13. [S2169] Donald Helton, compiler, "Washington County Virginia Abstracted Death Records 1912-1939" (manuscript shared by author), p. 52. Record abstracted as: William Buchanan, b. 15 Feb. 1846, d. 20 June 1925, marr to Mary P. Buchanan; s/o Ben K. Buchanan b. VA and Rachel Goode, b. VA; bur Keywood Cem.
  14. [S2169] Donald Helton, compiler, "Washington County Virginia Abstracted Death Records 1912-1939" (manuscript shared by author), p. 78. Record abstracted as: Jack Buchahan [sic], b. 14 Jul, 1848 Saltville, VA, d. 1 May 1932, wid'r of Lizzie P. Buchanan; s/o Ben K. Buchanan b. WCV and Rachel Goode b. WCV.
  15. [S1680] Thomas & Jane (Fleenor) Colley, Washington County, Virginia Cemetery Annotations, Vol I, p. 126. The authors cite the Washington Co., VA Death registers.