Samuel Goodson's old clock still ticks on today

Col. Sam Goodson of early Bristol fame, died on Jan. 31, 1870, 140 years ago, yet his highly prized old clock still ticks on and is yet keeping good time.

It had been running for at least 25 years before the time of his death, so the clock would now be about 165 years old. I often marvel at how some clocks can outlast several generations of owners and still keep on operating. There is one here at Pleasant Hill that is about 10 years older than the Goodson clock and it, too, is still running and keeping good time.

It’s striking often informs me of the time in the dark hours of long nights. But before I tell you the story of this old clock, I will give some information about the noted Col. Goodson, the original owner.

Col. Samuel Eason Goodson was born in Montgomery County, Va., in that part that later became Floyd County, on Aug. 7, 1793. The bible in which his birth was recorded is now here at Pleasant Hill. He was the only surviving child of John and Sarah Wickham Goodson. His grandfather was Maj. Thomas Goodson Sr., and his second wife, Sarah Riddle (Reddel) Goodson (I have a distant relationship to Col. Goodson through this Riddle line). He was a first cousin of the noted Col. James King. He was named for his uncle Samuel Eason, husband of his aunt Nancy Goodson Eason. The Easons also settled in this area and yet have a few descendents living here.

As a very young child, Col. Goodson was brought to Sullivan County, Tenn., and for a while lived on the Holly Bend Plantation of his uncle Col. James King who had married his aunt Sarah Goodson. It is also possible that a part of his early childhood may have been spent at what is now Strawberry Plains, Jefferson County, Tenn. There is some evidence to indicate this.

When he was about 17 years old (1800), his family moved to the former William Baker house north of Beaver Creek in what is now Bristol, Va. Then his father bought up more land a little further up Beaver and there established a country estate known as West Point to which the family moved in 1806.

Not much is known of his education. He once wrote that he attended a private school in Abingdon, Va. It seems his father bought a house there in which the family lived during school terms. He was serving in the local militia by May of 1816. He became a colonel in the militia on March 15, 1832, thus the title he carried the rest of his life was real, not honorary as was the case with so many local, prominent men.

Goodson began to pursue marriage at the age of 17 but was never successful, though he tried even into his senior years. For years, he was a partner in an Abingdon mercantile firm known as Goodson and Kreger. I have an old receipt or two from this firm.

He then got into politics, and here the story of the clock will begin. Goodson served several terms in the Virginia House of Delegates. At that time, Richmond had become a great distribution point for Northern manufacturers. Several clock manufacturing firms, mostly in Connecticut, were then using Richmond as a distribution center for the Southern trade. One of the larger firms doing business there was the Forestville Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Conn. Around 1840, when Col. Goodson was serving his first term in the House of Delegates, he found a fine mahogany cased 8-day weight clock that was much to his liking. It bore the label of the clock company mentioned above.

He bought it knowing it would be a problem getting it safely home. Instead of trusting local transportation, at that time, either wagon or stage, he had it well packed in a sack and brought it to West Point on the back of his horse. He often told that somewhere along the long road from Richmond, he saw a heavy rainstorm approaching from the west. He was fortunate to find a hollow tree by the roadside. He put the clock inside while he and the horse withstood the heavy rain. For years, it graced the mantel at old West Point.

At the death of Col. Goodson, the clock passed to Capt. Joseph W. Owen, a cousin he had reared. Capt. Owen then passed it to a sister who was also reared in the Goodson home. She married and moved near Nickelsville in Scott County, Va.

There, I found it and brought it back to Bristol on May 20, 1993, the 40th anniversary of my arrival in Bristol. It now belongs to Blaine Wade of Bristol, Tenn., and after the passage of more than 165 years, it is in remarkably good condition.

BUD PHILLIPS is a local historian and author. He can be reached at (276) 466-6435. For more about Bristol’s history, visit www.bristolhistoricalassociation.com.