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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
children, as follows: Mary Charlotte, born August 31, 1841, died in infancy; Bettie Amosette Summers, born January 9, 1845, died February 20, 1868; Laura Virginia, born February 3, 1847, died April 22, 1848; William Leftwich Jr., born June 8, 1849; Samuel Cook, of whom further; John Pleasant, born January 16, 1853, died in infancy; Martha Caroline, born July 25, 1854, married James Bouldin Saunders, and died April 8, 1902; James Monroe, born March 14, 1859, died June 21, 1860; Fannie Octavia, born March 17, 1859, married William Rufus Thomas; Mary Isabel, born November 10, i860, married Samiiel McCorkle Johnston, and died December 1, 1890; Charles Chesterfield Otey, born April 6, 1864, died May 29, 1886.
Samuel Cook Goggin, the fifth child of William Leftwich and Elizabeth L. (Cook) Goggin, was born May 6, 1851, in Bedford county, Virginia, at Peakland. Here amid these rural surroundings, his entire childhood and youth were spent, and here he received a training, which unfortunately a decreasing proportion of American youths are receiving. Here as a boy he assisted in superintending the farm, and acquired a fondness for rural life and agriculture, in the meantime attending the local schools. In these excellent institutions he received a splendid preparatory training, which enabled him to complete his education at the venerable William and Mary College, the second oldest college in the United States. His father's death in the year 1870, when he was a youth of but nineteen years of age, threw upon his shoulders unexpected responsibilities, and he at once took charge of the farm, directing its operation and caring for his mother and such of his brothers and sisters as continued to live there. The taste for a rural life thus instilled in early youth never left Mr. Goggin, and he has arranged matters so as to generally have a farm whose operation he could oversee. He remained on the home place until twenty-seven years of age, and then for a period of five years abandoned farming, engaging in a mercantile business during that time. His enterprise was conducting a general store at Leesville. Campbell county, Virginia, and this proved highly successful. At the end of five years, however, the attractions of the farm proved too strong to be resisted, and he retired to the old Moon farm near Leesville, which he operated from 1886 to 1893. In the latter year he was elected to the office of clerk of the county court of Campbell county. This involved his removing his residence to Rustburg, the county seat, where he still lives, holding the office to the present time. He has become the possessor of a property at Rustburg which he has turned into a model farm. The site is a beautiful one in the midst of a fine agricultural country, and there Mr. Goggin conducts his agricultural operations. He is a profound student of the subject, and a recognized authority throughout the region. On his place he has one hundred head of hogs of the choicest breeds, besides many fine horses, and cattle of diverse kinds. It is in this work that his heart is centered, and he gives an immense amount of thought and effort to it. He subscribes to the best journals, and is sought for his advice by everyone throughout the countryside. Mr. Goggin is a prominent figure in the social life of the community. He is a past master in the Masonic order.
Mr. Goggin married, February 28, 1878, in Leesville, Lizzie D. Moon, a native of that place. Her father, Littlebeary Moon, was a merchant and farmer of Leesville, where he died in March, 1886, at the age of eighty years. Mrs. Goggin's mother was Miss Martha P. Moon, a second cousin of her husband. She was born at Scottsville, Albemarle county, Virginia, and after her daughter's marriage with Mr. Goggin, made her home with them until her death at the age of eighty-six years.
Mr. and Mrs. Goggin have been the parents of ten children, seven of whom are now living. They were: Lizzie, who died at the age of nine years; Mary, now Mrs. Page Nelson, of Rustburg. and the mother of two children, Virginia and Ruth; William, who is at present living at home in an eftort to regain his health; Martha, now the wife of Charles W. Woodson, Mr. Goggin's deputy in Rustburg, and they are the parents of four children. Elizabeth. Charles, Alma and Annie; Sallie. who teaches in the high school at Rustburg; Fannie, who married Albert G. Stone and now lives at Ashland, Virginia; Lucile. who assists her father in his office; Ruth, who is now a student of music in Lynchburg. Virginia. Mr. Goggin is a
