Monroe County GaArchives Obituaries.....Goodwyne, Charles O. March 20 1920 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Lynn Cunningham http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002535 January 15, 2005, 10:27 am The Barnesville News-Gazette, May 13, 1920 Memorial to C.O. Goodwyn A very interesting and largely attended Memorial service in honor of the late Charles O. Goodwyn was held at Shiloh church last Sunday at which a number of tributes were paid the life of the beloved citizen and member of that church. Among the papers read concerning the life of the deceased the following paper was read by Mr. Andrew Ingram, which contains much information about his life and as we feel sure many people throughout this section who knew him will read it with interest we asked the privilege of publishing it: Charles Kingsley, when asked the secret of his success in life, replied, “I had a friend.” How aptly this applies to the life of C.O. Goodwyn, and explains the feeling of great sorrow which pervaded our county when he died. His many friends need no eulogy on his life; they knew and loved him. His life was a long and eventful one. He was born on May 23rd, 1840, in Lunenburg county, Virginia. His parents were George Washington Goodwyn and Anna Katherine Burnett Goodwyn. Shortly after his birth, during the winter of 1840- 41, his parents moved to Monroe county, Georgia, settling on a farm adjoining the plantation of Coleman G. Goodwyn, an older brother of George W. Goodwyn, about two miles south of Forsyth. Charlie Goodwyn was reared on this farm. To those who knew him well, it was always a source of astonishment to know that Charlie Goodwyn never attended school but three months in his life. His native ability, improved by application, gave him every earmark of a graduate, especially when he exercised his remarkable oratorical powers. But it is a fact that the only schooling he ever had was in a little one-room log school house about one mile from his father’s home, where he attended three months. Pointing out the old school house to his son, Oscar, one day, he remarked that the only thing he ever learned at school was how to chaw tobacco. That he learned the lesson thoroughly all his friends knew, for chewing tobacco was a comfort to him all his life, even when the last illness confined him to his home. At the age of eighteen, he was appointed by his uncle, Coleman Goodwyn, as overseer on his plantation, and he was filling this position when the war between the States broke. He enlisted in the Confederate Army in January, 1861, and was attached to the 45th Georgia Regiment, Thomas’ Brigade, Hill’s Corps. His service was loyal and wholehearted, and nothing pleased him more, throughout his life, than to dwell again in memories of the glorious days during which he had participated in the great struggle of the Sixties. He was wounded at the Battle of Cedar Run on August 9th, 1862, a musket bullet passing through his left arm and body. The bullet lodged in his side, and was removed by the late Doctor Roddy, of Forsyth, who was at the time Chief Surgeon in General Lee’s Army. The family has the bullet as a treasured memento. Disabled by this wound, he was given permission to return home to recuperate. He never wearied of telling of this experience. The late Jerry Hollis, of Monroe county, had gone to Virginia to bring home a brother who was wounded, and volunteered his service to help bring Goodwyn home as well. Through his influence as a Mason, Mr. Hollis secured a Jersey wagon from a wealthy farmer who was also a Mason. In this wagon, three rode sixty miles to a point where they could board a train, beyond the point where the Yankees had torn up the railroad tracks. Mr. Goodwyn never forgot this kindness on the part of Mr. Hollis and the Masonic order. As soon as he recovered from this wound, he again returned where duty called. In conversation on one occasion he told the writer that he never afterwards entered an engagement, that he did not go to God in prayer, that if it be his will that he might return to his loved ones, his friends, his church, Shiloh, that he might in his feeble way be of some service to them. At the Battle of the Wilderness he again came very near to giving his life for his beloved Southland. A bullet pierced his hip and inflicted a wound on the hip joint from which he never fully recovered. When the war closed, he was at home on crutches still suffering from this wound. Mr. Goodwyn had three great loves filling his heart - his family, his church, and the South. He never wearied telling of the old days, and was in every sense an unreconstructed Confederate. He not only believed - he knew - that the South was right; and while a loyal American always, he was first and foremost a Confederate. His love for old Shiloh church was deep and abiding. He joined this church on August 22nd, 1854, at the age of fourteen, and was a lifelong member. His heart and his purse were always with his old church, and through the years he was an inspiration and a blessing to the church and to all who worshiped there. He was ordained a Deacon in 1889, which trust he held until his death. His family connection was large. His own family was remarkable, there being sixteen children in the family. An interesting thing, however, is that though the oldest of the sixteen, he survived all but three. R.M. Goodwyn, J.T. Goodwyn and Miss Rebecca Goodwyn survive him. He was married to Miss Hattie Ogletree on December 8th, 1867. There were four children, all of whom are living - Oscar E., Luther P., Chas. O., Jr., and Minnie Elizabeth Bradley. He was again married, after his wife’s death, to Miss Mary A. Proctor, on September 10th, 1874. Two children, Mrs. Ella Wolcott and Early N. Goodwyn survive him. The end was not wholly unexpected. For some time he had been in failing health, but with his mental energies as keen as ever, and with remarkable determination, he refused to surrender. The end came on the 20th day of March, 1920, at the home of his son, Early N. Goodwyn, in Forsyth, where he had lived during recent years. In two more months, had he lived, he would have been eighty years of age. He had passed years before the three score years allotted to man, but his life became richer and the days fuller of golden memories as he grew older. The record of his life is a tale of a life well spent, and when he died it might be well said of Monroe county, as of little Drumtochty, “There’s one heart in Monroe, and that heart is sore.” Note: At Forsyth City Cemetery, Monroe County, Georgia: C.O. Goodwyne, b. 23 May 1840, d. 20 Mar 1920 Mary A. Goodwyne, b. 20 May 1853, d. 30 Mar 1901 At Ogletree Family Cemetery, Monroe County, Georgia Harriet Ogletree, wife of C.O. Goodwyne, b. 3 Mar 1846, d. 25 Mar 1874 Additional Comments: Record obtained from Old Jail Museum and Archives, Barnesville, Georgia. Compiled by Shanna English. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/monroe/obits/g/ob6254goodwyne.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb