| BIOGRAPHY
Noah and Sintha Mai (Fyke) Good arrived in Farmers Branch in 1846. They
were charter members of First Baptist Church of Farmers Branch
Courtesy Farmers Branch Historical Park
NOAH GOOD, a resident of Farmers' Branch, Dallas county, Texas, was born in Page
county, Virginia. He was reared on a farm and received an ordinary English
education. Being of a mechanical turn, he took up the carpenter's trade and
worked at it in Virginia, and also to some extent after he came to Texas. In
1839 he moved to Kentucky, and from there, the following year, to Tennessee. In
the later State he was employed in overseeing negroes. While in Tennessee he was
married, and when he arrived in Texas, in 1846, his family consisted of a wife
and three children. He took a headright in Dallas county, under the Peters
Colony, thus acquiring 640 acres of land. He subsequently bought an acre and a
half adjoining the town site of Farmers' Branch. He also has twenty-four and one
half acres within a mile of the town, a part of his headright. He worked at his
trade in the summer and made rails for his farm in the winter.
In 1863 Mr. Good was conscripted into the Confederate army, and served eight
months, his services being confined to this State. He was a member of Captain
McCamsy's company, Colonel Smith's regiment; received his discharge near Bonham.
Mrs. Good's parents, Elisha and Sarah Fyke, natives of Alabama, came to Texas in
1846. Her father was a mechanic by trade, but after coming to Texas was engaged
in farming. He was in the Florida war, and received wounds there that finally
ended his days, his death occurring in July 1860. His wife died the winter after
their arrival in Texas.
Mr. Good is of German extraction, but of his ancestors he knows little. To him
and his wife eleven children have been born, namely:
George W., Sarah A.,
William L., Mary E., Martha A., Virginia, Helena,
Francis M., Ruth E., and James
A. and John A. (twins).
Mr. Good has a nice residence in Farmers' Branch, where he is comfortably
situated. Of late years he has sold some of his land and divided some among his
children, retaining a farm of 176 acres and 102 acres of timber land. For fur
years he served as Justice of the Peace. He is a member of the Masonic
fraternity and of the Missionary Baptist Church.
Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas, Chicago; The
Lewis Publishing Company, 1892
Article extracted by
Edward Lynn Williams
NOAH GOOD
submitted by Inez Good Early in the 1840's the Peters Colony
Land Grant Company had an extensive land grant in North Texas, in the
approximate center of which was located the already established town of Farmers
Branch. Because there were too few settlers to suit the Peters Company, Farmers
Branch was widely advertised in the east; in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Virginia, and even in Europe. The advertising attracted many persons of means,
and the first settlers were, for the most part, fairly well educated.
One of the early settlers was Noah Good who was born on his parents' farm in
Page County, Virginia. Being of a "mechanical turn," he took up the carpenters'
trade; and in 1839, he and his family emigrated to Kentucky, then to Tennessee.
He married Sintha Mai Fyke on March 18, 1841 in Robertson County, Tennesssee,
and after the birth of their third child they decided to come to Texas. Sintha
Mai's parents, Elisha and Sarah Fyke, and their children and the Noah Good
family made the trip together. They traveled by steamboat from Memphis to
Shreveport via New Orleans, and at Shreveport wagons and teams were purchased
which brought them to Farmers Branch. As George Good the first born child of
Noah, said, "It was not to us a long drawn-out journey through a dreary
wilderness, but more like a natural mode of life, that of the nomad."
They arrived in Dallas County four years after John Neely Bryan and in the year
that the county was organized, 1846. Then, Dallas consisted of a fw log houses
and a store or two in a clearing that was mostly weeds. In addition to cabins,
the nearby town of Cedar Springs had two things that Dallas lacked -- a mill and
a distillery. Noah's land grant of 640 acres was east of Marsh Lane,
between Valley View and Belt Line Road, and their cabin was on Farmers Branch
Creek. He cultivated small fields of wheat and corn and kept cows, horses, and
hogs. Game -- deer, turkey, and prairie chickens == was plentiful, and in the
spring ducks and geese came in incredible numbers. Noah used to say they had
venison for meat, turkey for bread and malaria for sauce! They had no
money, nor did they need it except a little with which to buy tobacco, sugar,
coffee, and ammunition. The first thing that happened to the Goods and Fykes was
to get chills and fever. This put them in contact with their neighbors, who
informed them that even the oldest settlers at a certain season of the year
developed an "ague" every other day. Wheat and corn were taken to
Dunn's mill at Grapevine to be ground, and a small part of the ground grain was
retained by the miller in payment for his services. Grapevine was then
called "Dunnsville" after Johnny Dunn who had the mill and was the first settler
there. The mill in Farmers Branch was not a modern one and would not work when
the weather was wet. Friendly Indians often came to Farmers Branch.
George Good remembers them as great beggars; and on one occasion when Noah
opened the smokehouse door to get some meat for an Indian, the Indi9an grunted,
"Ugh!" Hap hog meat!" Of German extraction, Noah Good knew very little
about his ancestors. His parents were Jacob Good and Eve Widick, who were
married November 15, 1813. Noah was born December 4, 1814. Religion
played an important part in the life of the Noah Good family. They were Baptist,
but the denomination did not matter to them. All the settlers worked together to
establish churches and schools. In 1846 a Baptist Church was established in
Farmers Branch with the Rev. David Myers as pastor and was called the Union
Baptist Church, and the Good family was active in its organization and daily
life. After a few years, this congregation moved to Carrollton. Webb Chapel
Methodist Church was organized in 1845, and Noah Good is mentioned in the diary
of Isaac B. Webb in June of 1847 along with James A. Smith and David Shahan as
being the "bord" of directors for the Methodist Church. In the minutes of the
Cavalry Baptist Church it is mentioned that "Noah Good, a deacon, and his wife
and daughter became affiliated with our church" December 25, 1868. The
grandchildren of Noah think of him not only as a devout Christian and member of
the Baptist Church but also as a dedicated member of the Masonic Lodge. He first
joined Tannehill Lodge No. 52 on July 25, 1857, but dimitted June 30, 1860. He
helped organize the White Rock Lodge, and at the time its charter was granted,
the Grand Lodge of Texas was regularly convened in Houston, and three Masonic
brethren, among them Noah Good, and Dr. A. S. Shelburn, went to Houston in June
of 1858 on horse back to request the charter. On their return trip the three
were accompanied by a military escort as far as Navasota by order of William T.
Sampson, the Grand Master of the lodge and also a state official. Noah was a
member of White Rock Lodge from 1858 to 1870. He helped organize the James A.
Smith Lodge 395 and was its 3rd Worshipful Master. He was a member of this group
from the time it was organized, June 6, 1874, until the time of his death on
April 7, 1894. Noah was conscripted into the Confederate Army in 1863.
He was in the Cavalry, a member of Captain McCamy's
company and Colonel Smith's regiment and remained in Texas the
entire eight months of his service. After living on the farm for many
years, Noah built a house in town so that his family would have a "Sunday
House," and he bought a pump organ and learned to play. On Sunday
afternoons relatives and friends would come to hear him play and to have a
"Singing." The Farmers Branch Baptist Church was organized in 1870. Of
the fourteen charter members, there were Noah and wife Sintha and five of their
children. The congregation grew and a church building was erected. In due time,
the members fe3lt that the church needed a bell, and Noah Good worked hard to
help raise the money for a bell. On the day that the bell was purchased,
Noah became very ill, so ill that his family and friends realized that the end
was near. The story goes that the men of the church took a day off and worked
into the night to build the bell tower for the church and got the bell hung so
that Noah could hear the bell toll before he passed on. This bell is still the
property of the Farmers Branch Baptist Church (now called First Baptist Church
of Farmers Branch), but at this writing is not mounted so that it can be rung.
George Good, eldest child of Noah Good, remembers that "some of our early
neighbors were G. W. Shahan, R. J. West (father of Robert and John West), Isaac
Webb, Thomas Keenan, William Pulliam. William Cochran settled in Farmers
Branch but soon moved to Cochran Chapel neighborhood. John Jackson, father of
Frank Jackson, Mrs. J. M. Mathis and George Jackson lived northeast of us and
southeast of Trinity Mills." Noah Good's descendents are numerous, and
many still live in the Farmers Branch - Carrollton area.
***************** At a regular stated Communication of James A. Smith
Lodge No. 395 held April 14, 1894, at Mound Prairie, Dallas County, Texas, a
Resolution on the death of Noah Good read in part as follows: "Whereas
it pleased Almighty God, The Great Architect of the Universe - The Great Grand
Master and Supreme Ruler of the destinies of all men to call from labor on earth
on the 7th day of April A.D., 1894, A. L. 5894, our beloved and worthy brother
Noah Good, to an eternal refreshment and everlasting happiness in the Celestial
Lodge above: Therefore, Bi it Resolved; First, That in the death of Brother Noah
Good, James A. Smith Lodge, No. 395, of Free and Accepted Masons, has lost one
of its brightest jewels, an earnest, hones, zealous and worthy member.
Second, That in his death, the community has lost a just and an upright man, one
of its best and most useful citizens, whose example and precept are worthy of
emulation. Third, The Church has lost one of its brightest lights, one of its
most earnest and devoted members, distinguished for his private virtues and high
moral character, meekness, truth, honesty and virtue, adored with Christian
fortitude and magnanimity of soul, which for nearly a half century among us,
entitled him to a firm hold on the affections and confidence of all who knew him
...." Elm Fork Echoes - The Peters Colony Historical Society
of Dallas County, Texas.
Vol.
1 No. 1, April 1973
ARTICLE Noah Good, but recently
dead, came to Dallas county, settling near Farmers Branch, in 1845. He was one
of the founders of the first Baptist church ever organized in Dallas county and
through the long years of his useful life he was a zealous member of that
church. He was a Christian who served his God with all his heart and loved his
neighbor as himself. His life was a just and pure life. He never was in the
courthouse as a litigant in his life and of him, as it was said of Abou Ben
Adhem, his name was written in the book of life as one who love his follow men.
From "The Dallas Pioneers" article
The Dallas Morning News - August 3, 1894
Article extracted by
Edward Lynn Williams |
Carrollton-Farmers
Branch TXGenWeb