Benjamin Goodman (bef. 1639 - bef. 1735)

Born before 12 May 1639 in Southill, Bedfordshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 1 May 1735 at about age 95 in Hanover County, Colony of Virginia

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Benjamin Goodman migrated from England to Barbados.

Benjamin Goodman migrated from Barbados to Maryland Colony.

Biography

Birth, Troubled Times in England

BENJAMIN GOODMAN was baptised on 12 May 1639, at Southill, Bedfordshire, a farming area 50 miles north of London. Not much is known of Benjamin's childhood years. But the country of his birth, England, was going through some turbulent times. It is important that we know a little bit about what was going on in England so that we can, perhaps, understand how Benjamin came to leave England and make his way to America.

When Benjamin was only a youth of 7 or 8 the First English Civil War finally came to an end. King Charles I was imprisoned by those supporting Parliament. The Parliamentarians, as they were called, tried in vain to negotiate a compromise with Charles, but he would not budge from his strongly held view that he was King by Divine Right and had absolute power. Then when Charles attempted to raise an army in secret to fight against the Parliamentarians, their leaders came to the conclusion that they could never negotiate a settlement and at the first opportunity he would attempt to raise an army against them. Reluctantly, they determined he would have to be executed. He was put to death on 30 January 1649 at the height of the Second English Civil War. Instead of proclaiming Charles II as king, the English parliament passed a statute making such a proclamation unlawful. This led to the English Interregnum or Commonwealth led by Oliver Cromwell. The government of Scotland, however, saw things differently. There, Parliament proclaimed Charles II on 5 February 1649, at Edinburgh, and Charles II accepted the Scottish crown at Scone on 1 January 1651, and fled to mainland Europe where he spent the next nine years in exile in the countries of France, the Dutch Republic, and the Spanish Netherlands.

When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, it created a political crisis that resulted in the English government inviting Charles II to return to England and assume the throne. Charles II returned to English soil on 27 May 1660, his 30th birthday. Charles was crowned King of England and Ireland on 23 April 1661.

The English Parliament under Charles II reversed course and enacted a number of anti-Puritan laws that came to be known as the Clarendon Code. While it is unknown exactly what Benjamin did to get into trouble with the authorities, the Clarendon Code provided many opportunities.

Arrest, Conviction & Transportation to Barbados

Beginning about 1610 England frequently used a system of Penal Transportation, or "transportation" as it was generally referred to, to punish many of its criminals. This system used the removal of the convicted criminal to one of the penal colonies as punishment.

For the crime for which he was arrested, Benjamin Goodman was tried, convicted, and sentenced to Transport to the Caribbean Island of Barbados, which was one of the English colonies in the Western Caribbean. Benjamin was reprieved for transport to Barbados in February 1672. The Letter of Transportation ordering his removal and that of the other prisoners sentenced with him indicates these prisoners were pardoned for their crimes, providing they adhered to the particulars of their sentence. The Letter of Transportation which has been translated from the Old Latin says in part:

"...Know that, moved by piety [and] from our special grace and from certain knowledge and pure intentions, and from the assurance and from our dearly-beloved and faithful Justices who have delivered our gaol (jail) of Newgate of the prisoners staying there, we have pardoned..."

And then the Letter of Transportation specifies 33 names, giving the place of origin and status or occupation of each, and then,

Benjamin ["Beniamino"] Goodman, lately of St Katherine's in the County of Middlesex, labourer...

Further down the Letter of Transportation says this:

...All the persons [list of only 44 personal names, without details of which Benjamin Goodman is number 34] have been charged, tried, convict aforenameded and detained for the felonies, robberies, burglaries, homicides and offences ["transgressions'] which they have done, committed or perpetrated, But they shall be pardoned for what each and every one of them has done, committed and perpetrated, from all judgments, condemnations, executions, pains and punishments corporal, by branding in the hand and by imprisonment, and from all other pain and penalties whatsoever to which each and every one of them has been sentenced...'''''

And still further down, the Letter of Transportation says this:

...And it is granted to the aforesaid [list of only 35 personal names without details, of which Benjamin Goodman is number 27], to each and every one of them who shall be transported out of England ["extra Angl. transitur"] across the sea to the island or islands called the Barbadoes ["les Barbadoes"], or to any part of America now inhabited by our subjects, within the space of two months after these presents were given.

And if each or any one of them should remain in or return to England, within the space of seven years immediately following the two months after the giving of these presents, then our pardon shall be null and void.'''''

But as long as they do not so remain or return, then our pardon shall be firm, valid and sufficient in law for those aforesaid persons here mentioned.

Witnessed by the King at Westminster, 17 May [year not stated].

By the King himself.

King Charles II witnessed the Letter of Transportation.

Benjamin arrived in Barbados later in the year 1672. He was 33 years old.

Usually, once the convict reached his destination site, the penal system required the men to perform labor, usually on government projects such as road construction, building works or mining, or in some cases the convict was assigned to work for a free individual as unpaid labor. But Benjamin avoided all that. Ultimately, Benjamin decided he wanted to move on to another English colony.

It's likely that Benjamin wanted off the island because of the conditions he found there. The English had first arrived in Barbados in 1625 when British sailors landed there, arriving at the site of present-day Holetown and taking possession of the island in the name of James I. The first settlers came in 1628. Though the British governed the island, it permitted Barbados a large measure of local autonomy.

In 1661 the legislature instituted the first of the slave codes. It was the measure used to provide a legal basis for slavery on the island. While the law required masters to provide each slave with one set of clothing per year, it set no standards for slaves' diet, housing, or working conditions. It also abnegated the slaves' basic rights guaranteed under English common law, such as the right to life, and allowed the slaves' owners to do anything they wished to their slaves without fear of reprisal.

The poor whites on the island, a class to which Benjamin almost certainly belonged, were called "redlegs". Folk stories say the name was derived from the effects the tropical sun had on the fair-skinned legs of the poor white men. Most of the redlegs were English, Irish, or Scottish and had arrived on the island sometime in the early to mid 17th century, but others came later, like Benjamin. The redlegs were typically slaves, indentured servants, or, like Benjamin, transported prisoners.

The economic opportunities afforded the redlegs were meager. Even those, like Benjamin, who had had their crimes pardoned and were free to work where they wanted found few jobs available. Landowners preferred slave labor so redlegs that could go elsewhere usually did.

Benjamin Departs Barbados, Arrives in America

Benjamin decided he wanted to go on to the English colony of Maryland. That Maryland used the headright system to allocate land was probably a factor in Benjamin's choice to come to Maryland, though Maryland wasn't the only colony to use headrights. A headright was a legal grant of land to a colony's settlers. Most headrights were for 1 to 100 acres of land, and Maryland gave a headright to anyone willing to cross the Atlantic Ocean and help populate the colony.

The circumstances under which Benjamin arrived in Maryland suggest that he was the recipient of a headright. We know he arrived in Maryland in the year 1674 by ship from Barbados and that he was given land, probably 50 acres. He was 35 years old. There are no records to tell us what Benjamin did in Maryland or how long he stayed there.

The next written record is from 27 April 1701. Benjamin is a married man, living in Virginia, and his son, Samuel, is being baptized at St. Peter's Parish, in New Kent County.

So who did Benjamin marry? Land processioning records from later vestry books from St. Peter's Parish and its successor, St. Paul's Parish indicate that he married Lucie Blackwell (1685- Aft 1750) sometime before 1701. Benjamin was most fortunate in his choice of wife. Lucie Blackwell was from a prominent and wealthy family. Lucie's 2nd great grandfather was Raleigh Croshaw (1584-Abt 1624) of Jamestown Colony fame. As a member of both the London Company and the Virginia Company, Croshaw soon found himself recognized by John Smith and rewarded as a skilled Indian fighter. By the time Benjamin married Lucie land and wealth that had been acquired by Raleigh Croshaw had been passed down through the family, much of it to the Blackwells.

Care for the Turner Orphans

The next documented evidence available for Benjamin and Lucie is in the Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish. It is noted there that Benjamin and Lucie were caring for the Turner orphans. Now Lucie had a sister named Lydia who had married James Turner. They had had more than one child but it is unknown how many. It was further noted in the Vestry Book that Benjamin Goodman and his wife Lucie were caring for the orphans while living on the land formerly owned by James and Lydia Turner, the deceased parents of the orphans and the deceased brother of Lucie and the deceased brother-in-law of Benjamin. Some researchers have postulated that Benjamin and Lucie were trying to keep the orphans' land in the family. The Vestry Book also mentions James Blackwell as the grandfather of the orphans, as well as the compensation given to Benjamin and Lucie for caring for the Turner orphans.

Benjamin's Will and Death

Benjamin had his will drawn up on 29 Mar 1729. Below is the main portion of the will. It shows that he had a great deal of land and that he bequeathed it to his sons and wife. Benjamin is also a slave-owner and stipulates in his will that his slaves are to be divided equally among all his children. Benjamin's will reads:

I Benjamin Goodman of St. Pauls Par., Hanover Co., being in Good Health of body and of sound and perfect mind and memory do make this my last Will and Testament. I commend my soul to Almighty God and my Body I commit to the earth to be decently Buried at the discretion of my Exors. I will that all my debts and funeral Charges be paid; to my son Samuel Goodman the plantation whereon he now dweleth and 100 a. of land thereunto adjoining being part of the Divident whereon I now live joining on the main Road; to my son Robert Goodman the old plantation and 100 a. thereunto adjoining; My will is that My Loving wife Lucie Goodman shall have and enjoy my plantation whereon I now dwell with all the houses and orchard thereupon during her natural life and after her decease to be to the only proper use of my son Benjamin Goodman: I desire that my negroes and all my personal Estate, be equally divided amongst all my children; I appoint my loving wife Lucie Goodman and my son in law John Turner Exors. of this my Last Will and Testament. 29 Mar 1729.

Signed and sealed

(signature) Benj. Goodman

in the presence of

(signatures)

Wm. Blackwell, Mary and Mark Blackwell, George Turner.

Benjamin died sometime before May 1735, when his Will was proved ...

At court held for Hanover County this first day of May 1735 the Will of Benjamin Goodman, deceased, was presented in court by the executors herein named and being proved by the oaths of two of his witnesses hereto, it was admitted to record.

Test. Aug Graham, C.C.

Administration of Bond ...

We, Lucy Goodman, John Holden and John Turner and George Jones, are firmly bound to Nicholas Meriwether in the sum of £300 sterling,1 May 1735.

Condition: if the above bound John and Lucy Goodman, Exors. of the last Will and Testament of Benjamin Goodman, deceased, do make or cause to be made a true and perfect Inventory of the Goods, Chattels and Credits of the said deceased and pay all Legacies contained in said Testament, then this obligation to be void.

(signatures)

John Turner

Lucy (X) Goodman

John Holden

George Jones.

Resource Notes

Disputed Wives

Please see this discussion about Benjamins' wives Pruning the tree, who is the wife of Benjamin Goodman?. The profiles in dispute are Lucie Blackwell and Johanna Webster.

The disputed information is: Johanna Webster Married to Benjamin Goodman 1679 in Virginia^{[citation needed]} and father of Henry Goodman^{[citation needed]}.

Sources

• Letter of Transportation May [1671], detailing the Transportation of Benjamin Goodman of St. Katherine's Parish, Labourer (Public Record Office, London, England, Reference No. C66/3137,PFN/1081)

• Peter Wilson Coldham, Bonded Passengers to America, 9 vols. in 3 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co.,1983), Vol. II Middlesex, 1617-1775, 334p, 108.

• Wikipedia Contributors, "Barbados Slave Code”, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed 10 May 2015).

• Gust Skordas, editor, The Early Settlers of Maryland: an Index to Names of Immigrants, Compiled from Records of Land Patents, 1633-1680, in the Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland, (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1968)525p. Repr. 1986, 187

• Peter Wilson Coldham, The King's Passengers to Maryland and Virginia (Heritage Books, Inc., 2006), 450p

• C. G. Chamberlayne, editor, The Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County, Virginia, 1706-1786 (Richmond, Virginia: The Library Board, 1940) 325.

• Wikipedia contributors, "Raleigh Croshaw”, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed 12 May 2015).

• Donald P. Goodman, My Ancestors and Descendants, 2010, 368p

• Gilmer Family Tree on Ancestry.com