William ("Bill") Goyens
Posted by: 
QuesterMark
N 31° 36.206 W 094° 39.389
15R E 342856 N 3497671
This 1936 "gravestone" marker stands on the courthouse grounds in Nacogdoches, facing South Street. It appears to have been shot a few times as well as broken completely through and repaired.
Waymark Code: WMW20G
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 06/29/2017
Views: 4
A plaque is mounted on a wall next to the historical marker (see gallery). It's not dated, but photos of it from 2010 exist on other sites. It says:
William Goyens (1794-1856)
Texas' First Black Capitalist
This monument marks the site of a large city lot owned by Williams Goyens in the 1840s. Contrary to the information on this 1936 Texas Centennial marker, Goyens was not a slave but was born a free man of color in North Carolina in 1794.
William Goyens came to Nacogdoches in 1820, became a prosperous innkeeper and blacksmith, was the gunsmith and armorer for the Mexican army, and built wagons and operated a freight service between Nacogdoches and Natchitoches. He also bought and sold land and became one of the country's major landholders.
Goyens was active in civic and political life in Nacogdoches and became the chief intermediary between the Indians and the settlers of East Texas. Goyens helped Sam Houston negotiate a peace treaty with the Cherokees during the Texas Revolution.
When free Negroes were banned from Texas after 1840, the leading citizens of Nacogdoches petitioned Congress and gained amnesty for Goyens, who lived the last part of his life on Goyens Hill, four miles west of Nacogdoches. William Goyens died in 1856, leaving an estate of 12,423 acres, considerable money and goods, five slaves, and a rich and respectable reputation.
This William Goyens Centennial marker was moved from its original location in a woods pasture near Goyens Hill to this more visible and protected site.
Related waymarks:
African Americans in the Texas Revolution: WM67HE