Ann (Woodward) Ragsdale (1578 - 1633)

Hi Derrick and Stephen, I am of the same mind as you that John's wife was not Mary E. Heathcote, and I feel certain that Anna Woodward is. However, I recently found several Ragsdales in East Bridgeford prior to 1631. They are listed as early as 1603 with Hugh Ragsdale's baptism. It looks like Hugh has several siblings who are baptized. There are marriage records and burial records in this register, as well. I happened to stumble upon them last night looking for William Ragsdale, John's father. I have read Blake Ragsdale's book, and it has been helpful for establishing some context related to where the Ragsdales begin in America, the evidence is not very compelling prior to Godfrey's arrival in the Virginia Colony. I suspect this is a bit of American ethnocentrism, pride, and mythos all rolled into one given how Godfrey meets his end in the massacre, but the book itself is pretty outdated having been written in 70s given the access we have to archival documents and primary texts. I've found several mistakes in my own research, one of them being the assumption that because the Heathcotes have several Godfreys that it must mean Godfrey Ragsdale is a direct descendent, yet given the family's prominence at the time, or a small relation through Godfrey and Francis Heathcote, it makes sense John and Anna would name one of their sons after them.

I am interested in the Ragsdales prior to the arrival in the United States. I know who my ancestors are stateside. I'm Godfrey Ragsdale I's 8th great granddaughter. However, I have a desire to know where he came from, who his kin are, and how I come to be where I'm at today. This part of my family's story is missing. Thank you for disrupting the status quo and not peddling stories about John's marriage to fit the narrative the Ragsdales seem content to believe. As a Ragsdale interested in the facts, such stories cause brick walls that become harder to break through.

Here's the link to the register on Ancestry regarding the Ragsdales: https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/1637866?mark=5eb71e8ac218b41131a850dc856a30097c8f22d1da34a3e43ee8e4d9b613d329

Echoing Stephen's comments below it would appear that this is based on wishful thinking of a connection to the prominent Heathcote family of Chesterfield, perhaps because they featured several Godfreys?

There is no evidence of a marriage of John Ragsdale to Mary Heathcote.

The first Ragsdale family appears in East Bridgford in 1631 (baptism of Henry son of Henry). There are no Ragsdales in the village before then - the parish register starts in 1614.

There is a family of Ragsdales in Chesterfield in the right period, several children baptised with John as the father, but it would appear that this John married Anna Woodward in 1602.

I would suggest that Mary Heathcote either needs her name changed or she needs to be disconnected from this family and properly researched separately.

Mary Heathcote, daughter of Francis Heathcote of Chesterfield who died in 1619, is stated in multiple family trees on FamilySearch and Ancestry to be the wife of John Ragsdale and mother of Godfrey Ragsdale, born 1615 in East Bridgeford. The source of this appears to Mrs Blake Ragsdale van Leer's notes on "The Ragsdale Family in England and America", which asserts this fact (without naming her as Mary), based on the bequest in Francis's will to "John Ragsdale's children"; and also comments that there was a branch of Heathcotes in E. Bridgeford. (Included in "Elijah Ragsdale" compiled by June Hart Webster, 1975, found online at http://www.ragsdalegenealogy.com/elijah/Part1.pdf)

I think this is wrong, for the reasons listed in the following comment.

1. There is no suggestion in Francis Heathcote's will [Heathcote-137] of any relationship to John Ragsdall's children, or to Widow Ragsdale who is also mentioned. The bequest is tiny, which does not support the idea that these are his grandchildren.

2. The will does not mention that he has any children at all. 3. There is nothing to suggest that the Ragsdale family in the will is of East Bridgeford; it seems much more likely to be the family of that name which appears in the Chesterfield parish register. 4. There was indeed a branch of the Heathcote family in East Bridgeford, but only from 1752 onwards (well over a century later), when Rev. Edward Heathcote married Catherine Hacker, an heiress from East Bridgeford.