Exploring Goddard ancestry
Pedigree puzzle: Who was Hugh?
Hugh Goddard married Mary Avis in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1787; they raised their family in Greene and McMinn Counties, Tennessee.
Goddards from nearby Sullivan County have wondered for generations if Hugh (roughly the same age as William, their own patriarch) was related to them in some way. No conclusive records have ever been found, but there is tantalizing documentation of business transactions between William's son Joseph (1780-1825), and at least two of Hugh's sons, John (unk.-1826) and William (1788-1836) in Knox County, Tennessee. Several of Hugh's children married Campbells, well known in Knoxville.
Jane Crouch Williams, lead researcher for Sullivan County Goddards, says, "The Hugh Goddard family is one I have researched since the 1960s, hoping to connect to our William Goddard-Elinor Muncy family. In 2011, we still believe there may be a connection but have been unable to prove it."
Now Jane has joined forces with the Goddard DNA Project to try and resolve the question with the aid of genetic testing. If your family includes a male Goddard descendant of Hugh & Mary Avis Goddard, we suggest Y chromosome testing for him. According to Jane's research, likely candidates would be direct paternal descendants of one of these grandsons:
Goddards from nearby Sullivan County have wondered for generations if Hugh (roughly the same age as William, their own patriarch) was related to them in some way. No conclusive records have ever been found, but there is tantalizing documentation of business transactions between William's son Joseph (1780-1825), and at least two of Hugh's sons, John (unk.-1826) and William (1788-1836) in Knox County, Tennessee. Several of Hugh's children married Campbells, well known in Knoxville.
Jane Crouch Williams, lead researcher for Sullivan County Goddards, says, "The Hugh Goddard family is one I have researched since the 1960s, hoping to connect to our William Goddard-Elinor Muncy family. In 2011, we still believe there may be a connection but have been unable to prove it."
Now Jane has joined forces with the Goddard DNA Project to try and resolve the question with the aid of genetic testing. If your family includes a male Goddard descendant of Hugh & Mary Avis Goddard, we suggest Y chromosome testing for him. According to Jane's research, likely candidates would be direct paternal descendants of one of these grandsons:
- William Henry Goddard, 1817-1900
- Hugh Goddard (son of Thornton), 1819-1873
- William LaFayette Goddard, 1822-1894
- Hugh Avis Goddard, 1824-1880
- John William Goddard, 1825-1896
- Marcus Bearden Goddard, 1834-1910
- Frank Pierce Goddard, 1852-1930
Samuel Aspinwall & Jemima Bachope Goddard Family
Few families are as truly “global” as descendants of this couple. Samuel’s ancestors, hailing originally from North Wiltshire, England, emigrated to colonial America about 1665. William and Elizabeth Miles Goddard established a large clan, prominent in Massachusetts for more than two centuries.
Samuel Aspinwall Goddard (1796-1886), however, moved back to the ancestral homeland in 1817. Though he married, raised a family and spent the rest of his life in the UK, he retained a strong interest in and affection for his American birthplace, and traveled back and forth frequently.
His equally-restless progeny made their way around the world, some returning permanently to the USA, others settling in Canada, and some venturing as far away as New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Australia.
To learn more about this adventurous family, please visit our Global Goddards page.
Samuel Aspinwall Goddard (1796-1886), however, moved back to the ancestral homeland in 1817. Though he married, raised a family and spent the rest of his life in the UK, he retained a strong interest in and affection for his American birthplace, and traveled back and forth frequently.
His equally-restless progeny made their way around the world, some returning permanently to the USA, others settling in Canada, and some venturing as far away as New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Australia.
To learn more about this adventurous family, please visit our Global Goddards page.
