Originally a blacksmith and wagon maker, Goyens branched out into what has been described as "land deals, amateur detective work, raising horses and litigation." Especially litigation. He engaged in 30 lawsuits during a 10-year stretch from 1826 to 1836, at which time the courts recessed for the Texas Revolution. Goyens served Sam Houston as an Indian agent and as a translator of Cherokee and Comanche dialects; he spoke both languages in addition to Spanish and English. Goyens was key a player in the writing of a treaty that kept the Cherokees from siding with Mexico during the revolution.
Once the revolution was over, Goyens was back to filing lawsuits of a non-frivolous nature. As a dark-skinned man during the days of slavery, Goyens' property holdings were often disputed. Sometimes, the fact that he himself was not property was disputed. When his legal status or that of his property was challenged, Goyens went to court, often employing the best attorneys in East Texas, such as Thomas J. Rusk and Charles S. Taylor. He rarely lost a case.
Free African-Americans during the Republic years were feared and distrusted, the feeling being that too many free blacks would undermine slavery. For whatever reason, whether as an economic tool or to gain acceptance in the Anglo world, Goyens owned slaves at a time when free people of color had to receive permission from Congress to even live in Texas. President Mirabeau Lamar ordered all free blacks to leave the state by the first day of 1842, but Sam Houston was reelected in 1842 and repealed the law.
Goyens was barely literate, but he was a shrewd man and wise in the ways of the world -- and the courts. In 1826, a man named Williams English captured Goyens with every intention of selling him into slavery. Goyens promised English a female slave and a signed a note that essentially made him English's servant, but still allowed Goyens to do business for himself. Goyens then returned to Nacogdoches, went to court and had the entire transaction vacated. That was the first of his many lawsuits.
Later, he bought some land about four miles west of Nacogdoches and built a two-story mansion on what was to become known as Goyens Hill. He added a gristmill and a sawmill and was one of the first people in Texas to grow rice commercially. Through his various businesses and a series of real estate deals, Goyens became quite wealthy. He is often referred to as "the first African-American millionaire" in Texas, but that may not be quite true.
First, there is the matter of his marriage to a white woman, whose family traveled to meet Goyens and subsequently approved the marriage. It's doubtful that a Southern family of that day would have given its blessing if they believed that Goyens was black. The Cherokees looked on him as a brother -- he traveled with them on his way to Texas so as to avoid confrontations with whites -- and he probably had some deep Cherokee ancestry. He might have also been a Melungeon.
The Melungeons are a mystery race whose existence in the mountains of East Tennessee pre-dates Daniel Boone's legendary ramblings. Some say they are descendants of Portuguese sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of North Carolina in the mid-1500s. Others identify them as deserters from a Spanish expedition that camped at present-day Newport, Tenn. on the Clinch River. The expedition featured several Portuguese who had been conscripted into service. At Newport, the story goes, the unwilling Portuguese fled into the mountains. The Melungeons have also been identified as descendants of Sir Walter Raleigh's lost colony, which was established in the late 1500s and promptly vanished.
The legacy of William Goyens, in future generations, will come to include less about his race and more about his accomplishments, though the fact that he did so in a black and white world will always be a part of his story. Goyens' role as a pioneer, soldier, pirate and liaison with the Comanche and Cherokee were remarkable, historic and noteworthy under any circumstances.
