Taking Johnstonville Rd. out of Barnesville, you come across this sign, welcoming you to Goggans and Johnstonville. Now, we were on our way to Johnstonville. Having been up and down other portions of the road, we’ve just never seen the community itself. And we certainly weren’t thinking about finding Goggans that evening, so once we saw the sign we had to stop.
In 1834, what would eventually become Lamar County was split between Monroe and Pike Counties. That year, on the Monroe County side, a small community was founded by John Frank and Rebecca Goggans. John Goggans was born in South Carolina in 1802, Rebecca in 1801. They married in Jones County in 1824, and in 1832, John drew a winning number in the Cherokee Land Lottery, landing them in this portion of what was Monroe County at the time. John donated the land for the railroad station, the general store and post office, and Union Primitive Baptist Church. The general store and the church are both still standing. A historical marker stands out front next to the store, and according to it the store provided postal service until 1958.
Much of the family rests in the graveyard at the nearby Union Primitive Baptist Church. Both the church and the cemetery are in good shape. The front of the old general store looks pretty good, but a glance at the roof tells a different story. It looks as if it melted.
What caught my attention personally when we stumbled upon Goggans on our way to Johnstonville was the name Rebecca Pitts. My great-grandmother, born around 1865 (five years before Mrs. Goggans passed) was named Rebecca Jane Pitts, quite possibly a niece – or great niece – of Mrs. Goggans.
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