Godown Relationship Documents

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Amwell Township, Hunterdon, New Jersey
Surname/tag: Godown

Document 1. 25 March 1737. Jacob Godown takes out a mortgage using a 200 acre parcel of land as collateral. The lot is roughly 40 chains by 55 chains along the Kings Road. His son Jacob occupies the southeasterly half part. The terms of repayment end in 1753.^[1]

Document 2. 22 May 1779. Indenture between Evans Godown and Andrew Larason and his wife Lavinia. This starts with a description of the 200 acres listed in the 1737 mortgage. Jacob Godown bought said parcel in 1707. It then describes a second parcel of 30 acres which borders the previous parcel on the northwest side, the "great road" on the northeast side, Allishockin Brook on the southeast side and Bartholomew Thatcher on the southwest side. Jacob Godown bought this parcel in 1718. In 1743, Jacob Godown, for reasonable considerations, granted to Evans Godown 123 acres of the above land. Evans is selling 111 of these acres to Larason.^[2]

Document 3. April 1790 #1506J Estate of Evans Godown. 24 April 1790 John and Jacob Godown are appointed administrators of the estate of Evans Godown, late of Amwell. An inventory which doesn't list any land was taken 19 April 1790. #1507 Thomas Godown was chosen and appointed as guardian by Hannah Godown (age 14-21), daughter of Evans Godown late deceased.^[3]

Document 4. 4 May 1792. Evans Godown died intestate. Children: John Godown & wife Mary, Jacob Godown and wife Sarah, Thomas Godown, Mary Godown, Daniel Thatcher & wife Catherine, James Gano & Rebacah his wife, Freegift Rounsavell & wife Arramina, Isaac Lake & wife Elizabeth, Hannah Godown, Thomas Larew & wife Liddy. The heirs sold this land to Samuel Hunt. The back side mentions that Evans, Sarah, Naomie and Amos Thatcher children of Amos Thatcher & Sarah his wife (both deceased and heirs of Evans Godown), confirmed the sale in 1796. This document is not in the NJ archives but was detailed in a post on Genealogy.com.^[4]

Document 5. 5 May 1792. A mortgage between Samuel Hunt and Mary his wife (stating the terms of payment for the above property) and John Godown, Jacob Godown, Thomas Godown, Mary Godown, Daniel Thatcher, James Gano, Freegit Rounsavilt, Isaac Lake & Thomas Larew. Also mentioned are the heirs of Amos Thatcher & wife decd. who are not yet 21.^[5]

Conclusions:
The most important thing is the list of Evans children. Marriage dates in parenthesis are from Reverend Frazier's records. John Godown's birth and death were recorded in a family bible.

• John Godown m. Mary (m. 1777) b. 1749 d. 1814
• Jacob Godown m Sarah (m. 1783)
• Thomas Godown,
• Mary Godown,
• Catharien m. Daniel Thatcher
• Rebacah m. James Gano
• Arramina m Freegift Rounsavell (m. 1779)
• Elisabeth m. Isaac Lake (m. 1783)
• Hannah Godown,
• Liddy m. Thomas Larew
• Sarah m. Amos Thatcher, their children :
  • Evans Thatcher, Sarah Thatcher, Naomie Thatcher, and Amos Thatcher

Jacob Godown had a son Jacob Godown, an adult in 1737, who was probably born before 1716.^[1]

Evans was granted land by the first Jacob in 1743. He was probably born before 1722.^[2] The original deed, not surprisingly, has not been located.

It has been suggested that Evans was a son of the second Jacob. Since we don't know the 2nd Jacob's actual birth we can't positively know that he was or was not the father of Evans, but evidence points to Evans being the son of the first Jacob. Evans' oldest child, John, was born in 1749, which would make Evan 27 or older. Youngest child, Hannah, age 14-21 in 1790, makes Evans perhaps 54 ish, when she was born. Her name is not mentioned in the 1792 Hunt mortgage, but she was probably still a minor. He and his wives had eleven children in a span of 27 years.

The map: Marfy Goodspeed "The Amwell-Hopewell Road of 1736," July 5, 2014. https://goodspeedhistories.com/the-amwell-hopewell-road-of-1736/

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Hunterdon County Loan Office Records, Jacob Godown & Loan Commisioners, 1737; digital image, New Jersey GenWeb, (http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/hunterdon/land/mtg-jg.txt : accessed June 2023),transcription by Donna Evans; note, this document does not seem to be online but may be at an LDS affiliate library.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Hunterdon County Court House, Clerks' Office, State of New Jersey, Deeds Vol. 3 1800-1801, pp 297-301; digital images, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4X-PS28-C?i=469&cat=220656 : accessed June 2023).
3. ↑ Hunterdon County Wills and Administrations 1506J. http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/hunterdon/wills/in-edg1.txt http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/hunterdon/wills/grd-hg1.txt
4. ↑ Jofreda Mikalson "Re: Araminah Godown m. 1779 Hunderton [sic] Co,NJ" Post at Genealogy.com September 16, 2003, https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/godown/28/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230606105448/https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/godown/28/
5. ↑ Hunterdon County, New Jersey, “Mortgages Vol 1 1766-1793, Hunt to Godown 1792, pp. 117-119 ; FHL Film # 008139598, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSK3-N35L-Z : accessed June 2023)