Thomas Goodenow

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1570
• Alternate death: 6 Feb 1618, Donhead St. Andrew, Wiltshire, England

Thomas married Ursula about 1592. Ursula died after 18 Feb 1634 in Donhead St. Andrew, Wiltshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Jane about 1630. Jane died after Sep 1666. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 6 Apr 1688, Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Notes:

"Edmund held an official position as church warden of the parish at Donhead St. Andrew. Nevertheless, he was fined in 1636 and sentenced to do public penance for attending 'nonconforming' sermons outside his parish. He was also reprimanded in 1637 for going to church in Shaftsbury, where his brother, Thomas, lived." [The Goodenow Family Association]

Emigrated with his family April 1638, on the Confidence out of Southampton.

Deputy, for Sudbury, to the Massachusetts General Court nine times between May 1649 and January 1681.

"Sudbury was attacked by the Indians during King Philip's War, and he probably commanded the Goodnow Garrison, which probably was, as garrison houses often were, his own home fortified as part of the defenses of the town. Contemporary records speak of a retreat to 'Captain Goodanous Garrison.'" [James Cox Brady and His Ancestry, citation details below.]

Edmund married Anne about 1635 in England. Anne was born about 1609; died on 9 Mar 1676 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts; was buried in North Cemetery, Wayland, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Christopher Banister. Christopher was born about 1636; died on 30 Mar 1678. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1634, England

Notes:

Emigrated as an infant, with his family. Town clerk of Sudbury. "It was probably he who was engaged by the town in 1652 to beat the drum every Sabbath twice, also also for service on lecture day." [James Cox Brady and His Ancestry, citation details below.]

Former Sudbury town historian George Don Max, quoted on the Goodenow Family Association site:

Some years ago I was reading the diaries of the Rev. Mr. Israel Loring. His entry for Aug. 6, 1721 reads; "Dyed Capt. John Goodenow. I was with him on Saturday, the day before he Dyed. Told me then, that he was like a Pelecan in the Wilderness, and an Owl in the Desert. And pray'd that God would humble him down to Hell, but not throw him in there." The reference is Psalms 102:6, which is a "prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord."

John Goodenow's plaintive plea calls out for the reason for its utterance. I sought the answer in the Sudbury town tecords wherein I traced his career of service to the town. Finally the records revealed a set of circumstances, which still did not resolve the question. In 1699 John Goodenow was elected to the offices of Selectman, Town Clerk, and Assessor; he had filled these positions several times earlier. In 1701 his name does not appear as a holder of a Town Office. In 1702 and 1703 he served as Highway Surveyor and was appointed to a committee to survey and locate a new road; likewise in 1704 he was a committee member to "seat the meeting house." At a town meeting held Feb. 4, 1704, the Town proceeded to elect him Selectman, Town Clerk, and Assessor; a resumption to those positions of power so suddenly interrupted in 1699.

Immediately following his reelection the Town held a Special Meeting on the 31st of March, 1704. The Warrant reads in part: "...Then & There to chuse a Town Clerk & an assessor and a selectman by reason of Capt. John Goodenow Modestly Refuesing in the time of it and dos still continue his Reselution in the Matter for Reasons best known to himself; And allsoe from the advise of our own Respective Justive Brown...and the Town being met chuse John Brigham Selectman, Richard Moore Town Clerk, and Noah Clap Assesser."

From the record and upon reflection it appeared to me that while John Goodenow's public life was seemingly irreproachable, his private condition had to be examined. Subsequently while in Cambridge at the Middlesex County Probate Court searching out Sudbury Wills and Deeds, I decided to look for John Goodenow in the files of the Middlesex Courts. Here was the answer to the mystery of his fall. What I discovered was substantially what Roger Thompson also found and later reported in his fascinating study, Sex in Middlesex; Popular Mores in a Massachusetts County, 1649-1699, published by the University of Massachusetts Press in 1986.

In short, John Goodenow was accused of misuse of power by means of his offices; he was slick at horse trading, drank too much and was brought up before the Church to answer to it; was infrequent at church and when not there enjoyed the company of Hannah Brooks, the wife of John Brooks, with whom he had carried on an adulterous affair for some years. His offences, both moral and civil, had become a public outrage and an embarrassment to the town. Accordingly, Mr. Joseph Noyes, and others in town and some outside of it took Capt. Goodenow to Court in May 1699. Here was a situation that even they could not brook! He escaped prosecution by paying court costs and resigning from his town offices. His misdeeds and years were heavy upon him for the remaining days of his life. This is why in 1721 at the very door of death he beseeched God to "to humble him down to hell, but not to throw him in there."

——

John Goodenow (1635-1721) = Mary Axtell (1639-1704)
Elizabeth Goodenow (1672-1736) = Josiah Hayden (1669-1730)
John Hayden (1702-1763) = Lucy Maynard (1709-1774)
Elizabeth Hayden (1728-1810) = Joseph Young (1729-1769)
John Young (1763-1839) = Abigail Howe (1765-1815)
Brigham Young (1801-1877)

Brigham Young (1801-1877) = Zina Diantha Huntington (1821-1901)
Zina Presendia Young (1850-1931) = Charles Ora Card (1839-1906)
Orson Rega Card (1891-1984) = Lucena Richards (b. 1893)
Willard Richards Card = Peggy Jane Park
Orson Scott Card (b. 1951)

Also a direct ancestor of singer-songwriter James Taylor.

John married Mary Axtell on 19 Sep 1656 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of Thomas Axtell and Mary) was born before 25 Sep 1639 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England; was christened on 25 Sep 1639 in Berkhamsted St. Peter, Hertfordshire, England; died on 14 Apr 1704 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Ruth Eager on 11 Nov 1695 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Ruth (daughter of William Eager and Ruth Hill) was born on 1 Feb 1678 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts; died on 25 Dec 1767 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Torrey identifies the woman married by Samuel Bush "(?1642-1733)" in or by 1677 as "Mary GOODWIN (-1687), dau. John", although one of his citations is James Cox Brady and His Ancestry (citation details below), which gives the Goodenow model presented here. We are opting for the Goodenow model based on its development in volume 3 of The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton 1878-1908 (1996-2004), citation details below.

Mary married Samuel Bush about 1 May 1677. Samuel (son of John Bush and Elizabeth) was born about 1651; died on 7 May 1733 in Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts; was buried in Old Burying Ground, Westfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 12 Nov 1672, Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Elizabeth married Josiah Hayden on 6 Mar 1691 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Josiah (son of John Hayden and Hannah Ames) was born on 19 Jun 1669 in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts; died on 9 Dec 1730 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]