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Genealogy-Davis |
February 19, 2007 |
Lavinia Fleming McKee Goodwin
February 19, 2007
Birth record in transcription from Preston, Lancashire, England, 1858.
Under development.
Lavinia Fleming Goodwin was Rees Clark's great-grandmother. Her father was James Fleming, and her mother was Rachel Montgomery. James was from Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Lavinia was born in Preston, Lancashire, England in 1858.
She worked from age six at the Clark Thread Mill in Paisley, Scotland, where she received an elementary education courtesy of the mill. Interesting connection to John Clark, owner (no relation to our name Clark), who was an adherent of the utopian philosopher Robert Owen, whose New Lanark community was a forerunner of others. One idea was that industry owed a decent living to the workers. So little Lavinia went to school, found a husband worth his salt, and bailed out of dingy, dead-end Renfrewshire, headed for the wonders of the USA.
She married Thomas McKee, later Goodwin in America. They migrated to Illinois, then to Colorado. Family myth held that he wanted to be where he could vote.
As it came to me the Goodwins moved to Braceville, IL, and Thomas worked in the coal fields. I understood he took the name Goodwin, because his uncle was a foreman and because there was anti-Irish prejudice and the name McKee wasn't conducive to success. They moved on to Iowa, where my grandmother Anna Goodwin was born in 1886 and then to Colorado and New Mexico, always following the coal mining opportunities.
Thomas McKee Goodwin died in 1987 at about 40, leaving Lavinia to care for seven children. She opened a boarding house in Trinidad. All the daughters helped out, but Thomas William Goodwin went straight to work at age 12. His first job was to walk behind the trolleys in the mine picking up pieces of coal that fell off. Union bashers will kindly hold their tongues.
My college reading of Robert Owen meant nothing at the time, but it became huge as I stood next to the old Clark Thread Company mill in 1986.
She had eight children. One died in infancy at sea, another died with her infant son of childbirth complications. She had five grandchildren and only three great-grandchildren.
Lavinia died in Long Beach, California, in 1939, in the company of her son, Thomas W. Goodwin. Her line has spread to Seattle and Tokyo.
One wonders what Robert Owen and John Clark might think.
Lavinia Fleming Goodwin was Rees Clark's great-grandmother. Her father was James Fleming, and her mother was Rachel Montgomery. James was from Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Lavinia was born in Preston, Lancashire, England in 1858.
She worked from age six at the Clark Thread Mill in Paisley, Scotland, where she received an elementary education courtesy of the mill. Interesting connection to John Clark, owner (no relation to our name Clark), who was an adherent of the utopian philosopher Robert Owen, whose New Lanark community was a forerunner of others. One idea was that industry owed a decent living to the workers. So little Lavinia went to school, found a husband worth his salt, and bailed out of dingy, dead-end Renfrewshire, headed for the wonders of the USA.
She married Thomas McKee, later Goodwin in America. They migrated to Illinois, then to Colorado. Family myth held that he wanted to be where he could vote.
As it came to me the Goodwins moved to Braceville, IL, and Thomas worked in the coal fields. I understood he took the name Goodwin, because his uncle was a foreman and because there was anti-Irish prejudice and the name McKee wasn't conducive to success. They moved on to Iowa, where my grandmother Anna Goodwin was born in 1886 and then to Colorado and New Mexico, always following the coal mining opportunities.
Thomas McKee Goodwin died in 1987 at about 40, leaving Lavinia to care for seven children. She opened a boarding house in Trinidad. All the daughters helped out, but Thomas William Goodwin went straight to work at age 12. His first job was to walk behind the trolleys in the mine picking up pieces of coal that fell off. Union bashers will kindly hold their tongues.
My college reading of Robert Owen meant nothing at the time, but it became huge as I stood next to the old Clark Thread Company mill in 1986.
She had eight children. One died in infancy at sea, another died with her infant son of childbirth complications. She had five grandchildren and only three great-grandchildren.
Lavinia died in Long Beach, California, in 1939, in the company of her son, Thomas W. Goodwin. Her line has spread to Seattle and Tokyo.
One wonders what Robert Owen and John Clark might think.
James Fleming
James Fleming may have to live with the Goodwins in Illinois after the death of his wife, Rachel, in about 1882. (census info)
A James Fleming still resided in Braceville in 1900. The dates and places of his life line up, but James' relocation was never mentioned to me. I'll leave it for future research.
A James Fleming still resided in Braceville in 1900. The dates and places of his life line up, but James' relocation was never mentioned to me. I'll leave it for future research.