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| As American colonists won their independence, four members
of England's Goss family set out across the Atlantic with dreams of freedom. The families
settled in South Carolina, where Stephenson and Mace Goss were born around 1786. Along the
coast lay the commercial city of Charleston and the wealthy aristocrats of the lowlands.
In the interior, or Up Country, could be found the frontiersmen, which probably included
our Goss family. They would have found South Carolina a state divided, with political
clashes between the small ruling elite and the large numbers of poor farmers. (This clash
would climax the next century between two other members of my family tree, General Wade
Hampton and "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman, but that's another chapter.)
By 1805, Stephenson had married Abi ____, and over the next twenty years fathered six children. In 1831, the brothers Mace and Stephenson decided to continue exploring new territory and moved their families south to Georgia. Mace settled in Macon where his descendants still live. Stephenson and his family continued to Stewart County, Georgia, near the Indian village of Lannahassee. Traveling by wagon, they came with a group of 300 settlers to an area traded from the Indians by a Mr. Glover. Initially renting the land from Glover, the pioneers moved into the Indian houses made of poles, clay and animal hides, and began raising corn for bread. After becoming established, most homesteaded government land and built their own homes. Stephenson and his family settled on Slaughter Creek, then lived near Cantrell's Mill for awhile. In 1840 they bought land in the Rural Hill area where they spent the rest of their lives. |
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| Generation 1 | Generation 2 | Generation 2 cont | Generation 3 |
| Generation 3 cont | Generation 4 | Home | |
| Sources:
Copyright 2002
Debbie McLeod |
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