William Godwin (1780 - 1851)

Born 8 Jan 1780 in New Hampshire, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Nancy Gordon — married 30 Dec 1806 in Lincoln Settlement, Hancock, Maine, USA

Descendants

Died 8 Jul 1851 at age 71 in Sangerville, Piscataquis, Maine, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mark Mullins [send private message]

Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import. It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Reference

Reference: 2967

Note

Note: #NI02967

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import.^[1] It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

WILLIAM:

Note: listed with parents in 1890 book: William, b._____.

........ it says "He left home a young man and never returned."

Most genealogies assume the William Godwin of Penobscot Co. ME is "our" William.

........ He appears to be the only William Godwin, of the correct age, in the general area.

........ Our William was not living with his parents in 1810 (assume already married).

........ Our William was alive as of 1822, as indicated by his father's 1822 Estate distribution.

........ Penobscot County is about 90 miles northeast of Oxford County, Maine

........ birth 1780 is correct for the order of children in his father's 1822 Estate distribution

1806 marriage(1): to Nancy Gordon

........ History of Garland Maine, page 96 (https://archive.org/details/historyofgarland00oakl)

........ "In 1806, William Godwin married Nancy Gordon of Lincoln town"

1820 census: Garland, Penobscot, Maine, William Godin age 26-44, wife 26-44, 9 children

........ living next to Sampson Silver (husband of future wife Lucy)

1822: listed in father's estate distribution - William Godwin

1840 census: Garland, Penobscot, Maine, Wm Godwin age 60-69, wife 50-59, 5 children

1842 wife(1): Nancy Gordon Godwin (1784 - 1842) - Find A Grave: Memorial #44750882

1843 marriage(2): William Godwin, Mrs. Lucy Silver, 21 Mar 1843, Sangerville, Piscataquis, Maine

1850 census: Piscataquis, Maine, William Godwin 70 NH, Lucy Godwin 58 ME

........ includes children from wife's previous marriage

1851 burial: William Godwin (1780-1851) - Find A Grave: Memorial #61341429

1860 census: Piscataquis, Maine, Lucy Godwin 68 ME (widowed)

1870 census: Piscataquis, Maine, Lucy Silver 78 ME (widowed)

1880 census: Piscataquis, Maine, Lucy Godwin 88 ME (widowed)

1880 wife(2): Lucy Oakes Godwin (1792 - 1880) - Find A Grave: Memorial #55306903

Sources

1. ↑ Godwin-1133 was created by Mark Mullins through the import of Mullins-Rastelli.ged on Dec 12, 2015. This comment and citation can be deleted after the biography has been edited and primary sources are included.

Notes

Note NI02967Notes supplied by Jennifer Godwin - Sept 1998

William Godwin of Garland and Sangerville, Maine

William Godwin, named for his father William (Redmond) Godwin, was born in New Hampshire in about

February of 1780. When he was about 23 years old, in 1803, he came to Garland, a tiny new town in central Maine.(2) According to The History of Garland, Maine, he married the town's first schoolteacher, Nancy Gordon,

in 1806. Nancy Gordon was the daughter of Amos(3) and Nancy Gordon who were also pioneers in Garlarnd. Nancy was born about 1785, location unknown, and was one of nine children.

William Godwin was a farmer and owned a tavern along one of the town roads.(4) The History of Garland, Maine also tells us William Godwin was very involved with organizing the small town and over the years worked as "surveyor of boards," postmaster and tax collector. He is listed on the first voting list in 1812 along with a James Godwin, who may be his brother. In 1816, called the "Cold Year," it is said that "disastrous results came to nearly all farmers who attempted to raise corn. There is a tradition, however, that William Godwin raised a crop of corn, on an elevated farm... Perpetual breezes over the hilltop kept the growing corn almost constantly in motion, thus resisting the action of the frost, and allowing the crop to grow and ripen." The Garland Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was founded in the home of William Godwin and he also participated in the establishment of a Congregationalist church. The inventory left by William Godwin's estate accounts two pews in the Garland Congregationalist meeting house.)

In 1833, William Godwin leased property to Hiram F. Godwin in a document witnessed by Benjamin and Priscillali Godwin, relationships unknown. The lease was recorded in 1840. Nancy Gordon Godwin died on June 8,1842 at the age of 57 and is buried in Burnham Brook Cemetery in Garland, Maine. In less than a year later,William Godwin took a second wife, Mrs. Lucy Silver.(5) They were married on March 21,1843 in Sangerville, Maine, which is just north of Garland, in what is now Piscataquis County. In June of that year William Godwin gave a portion of his property in Garland to Hiram F. Godwin. William Godwin settled in Sangerville, where he seems to have lived until his death on July 8, 1851 at the age of 71. William Godwin died intestate, meaning he left no valid will. His widow, Lucy became the adminstratrix of the estate and settled the accounts of the family. Lucy died on July 18, 1880 at the age of 88 and is buried in Gilman's Corner Cemetery in Sangerville with her first husband. William Godwin is buried in Garland, Maine at Came Cemetery.

The Children of William Godwin

According to notes by Dorothy Holcomb, William Godwin and his wife Nancy had four sons: Henry, Hiram Favor, a fellow named Parke who moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan "and founded an influential family there" and an unnamed 49er who struck out for gold in the West and married a "squaw."(6) The only mention of the Godwin sons in the History of Garland, Maine is of Hiram F. Godwin, who in 1839 was part of the town troop that marched to the Aroostook War, a bloodless border dispute with Canada. Henry M. Godwin was born October 10, 1810 in Garland. Hiram M. Godwin was born September 16, 1811, also in Garland.

Footnotes for above

(2)Garland was then Township No.3, Fifth Range. The town was incorporated in 1811.

(3)According to a genealogy published on the Internet, Amos Gordon's great-grandfatherwas AlexanderGordon, a Scotsman born in Aberdeen in 1635. "He was a member of a clan loyal to the Stttarts. While a soldier in the Royalist Anny of King Charles II, he fell into the hands of Sir Oliver Cromwell and was taken prisoner at Tuthill Fields Camp in London. In 1651 he was sent to America as a prison of war. He came over on the ship "Liberty," comrnanded by CapL James Allen. It landed at Boston and he was confined at Watertown. In 1660 he setfied in Exeter, New Hampshire and engaged in the lumber business on the Exeter River. He was a successful man and an exemplary citizen." Alexander died in the summer of 1697.

(4)See included pages 237-238, "An Irate Citizen" from the History of Garland, Maine, by Lyndon Oak,?.

(5)Lucy was the widow of Samson Silver, who died on August 10, 1840. Samson's sister Sarah was married to Moses Gordon, a brother of Nancy Gordon, William Godwin's first wife. The farms of William Godwin and Sampson Silver were next to each other in 1820, according to the federal census.

(6)Unfortunately, all Garland records were destroyed in an 1880 fire so birth, marriage and death certificates for this period of time arc not available.

There are, however, clues that other children existed:

The witnessing of a document by Benjamin Godwin and Priscillali Godwin. The date of deed was 1833, the date of document was 1840.

In the 1840 census, William Godwin is listed as the head of the family in the census. The household consists of one male, 60 to 70 (Wm. Godwin), two males, 20 to 30, one male 10 to 15, one female 50 to 60 (Nancy), one female 20 to 30 and one female 15 to 20.

History of Rumford, Maine "He left home a young man and never returned"

Letter:

Addressed to Mr. Silas H. Godwin, Seaman, Portland, Maine (his son)

Garland June 1 1836

My son I now acknowledge the Receipt of your letter of the 22. ___ am [and?] was pleased to hear that you were in health we are all well at this time. You observed that you had frequently rote but we have not received any since you wrote from Portland -- if you recieve (sic) this I wish you would cum home we are all very antious to see you -- your mother and sisters in particular. I think when you git to Portland it will be but a small job to cum home I want to see you -- and then I can tell you more than I can write at this time -- Redmond & Henry is at Mishagan. We heard from them a

short time since they ware in health. ________ Mother and the Boys areantious to go to Mishagan and want you to cum home so as to go with them. I talk of riling [? selling?] my plan the first good chance I have.

Yours with Respect,

Wm. Godin

In the History of Garland, Maine p237 there is a write up of a feud between W. Godwin and the government in 1835 over the rerouting of a road away from his tavern. After numerous attempts by him and his "grown-up" sons to blockade the road he was tried heavily sued or fined for "interrupting the local travel on a road".

1835 in a dispute between the Free Will Baptists, Congregationalists and Universalists his name appears with the Congregationalists.

Died intestate

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Bill Bidewell for creating WikiTree profile Godwin-558 through the import of June 2013 BIDEWELL WikiTree#1.GED on Jul 7, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Bill and others.

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61341429/william-godwin

• Source: S-533147218 Repository: #R-1045346754 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Page: Ancestry Family Tree Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=80424554&pid=225
• Repository: R-1045346754 Name: Ancestry.com