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The Goodrich Line
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Chester's mother was Fanny Goodrich,
and as mentioned in the introduction, the
Goodrich name is
ancient in English history, going back in one form or
another to before the Battle of Hastings and accession of the
Norman French to power in England.
The Goodriches of
England were of an ancient lineage, antedating the Norman
Conquest, at which time many of the name were in possession
of lands, lordships and titles, which after the manner of
those times, suffered confiscation at the hands of the
Conqueror. "Doomsday Rolls" are especially full of the name,
which originally was Goderic -- that is "Eric," prefixed by
the name of the Deity. From the number enrolled as clergy,
of various ranks, it is probable that many of the name
sought, in the service of the Church, that refuge from
absolute poverty and dependence to which they had been
reduced by the confiscation of their estates. Goodrich
Castle, a noble fortalice, and erected soon after the
Conquest on the banks of the river Wye, as a protection for
the West of England against the incursions of the Welsh,
but, still remains (though in ruins since the War between
Parliament and Charles the First), indissolubly connected
with the history of the family.
In America, the Goodrich
line begins with William
(1622-76), who is
said to have arrived in 1640, then descends through
Ephraim
(1663-1739),
William (again)
(1697-1787),
Elisha (1734-89),
Asa (1765-1819), and finally Fanny
(1807-1902),
Chester's mother.
Before delving into our
personal Goodrich line, in the course of research I found a
great site
that shows the lineage from William ("the Elder," as he is
sometimes called) to various famous people on the Goodrich
family tree, including Benjamin Franklin ("B.F.") Goodrich,
Oliver Wolcott (signer of the Declaration of Independence), and
John Sherman (19th century statesman), and William Tecumseh
Sherman (Civil War general). I have incorporated some of
those lines into family genealogy
records and in the "famous
relatives" page.
William Goodrich (1622-76) is referred to in some sources as
"The Elder," in others "The Younger." William's father
apparently named two sons "William," although it is uncertain
whether both came to America, which increases the confusion.
Our William is almost certainly more properly referred to as
"The Younger," although some of his descendants are sometimes
attributed to "The Elder." He is also referred to as "The
Immigrant," or by his military rank, "Ensign."
A Naubuc farm "was
recorded to Thomas Uffoot in 1641, and by him sold to
William Goodrich, in 1646. It was in the possession of
Mr. Goodrich at the time of the survey in 1684. The
Goodrich family is supposed to have come from Wales [SLH:
this is probably inaccurate, since it now appears that
the Goodrich family was firmly established in Suffolk
County, England]. The first settler, William, married
Sarah Marvin, 1648 ..... John and William Goodrich, two
orphans, came from South Wales with their mother's
brother, William Stillman, about 1644. From these two
sprung all of the name in America." [no source] They
first settled in New Haven Colony, but subsequently
removed to Wethersfield, John, about 1644, and William
in 1666 [prob 1646, v.s.] Most of the persons bearing
the name of Goodrich at the time of the Town's
incorporation, were the sons of William Goodrich, and in
the next generation the sons of Ephraim Goodrich, who
married Sarah Treat the daughter of Richard Treat, in
1684."
-
William and brother John
came to America after their father died in 1632.
William would have been 18 years old if he arrived in 1840,
which is what the record shows. He lived in
Connecticut eight years before marrying Sarah Marvin, who
was only 16 at the date of her marriage.
-
And
this:
He was among the
very first settlers at Wethersfield, being one of a
small party known as the adventurers who wintered there
before the arrival of the main body. The next year,
1636, the Watertown Company or the larger part of it,
including his brother John, migrated to the site of the
new town and there planted themselves anew. ..... He was
Freeman, May 15, 1656; Deputy to the General Court for
five sessions from May, 1662 to October, 1666,
inclusive, a member of the Grand Jury in May, 1662, and
Ensign of the Wethersfield trainband in May, 1665; one
of Mason's Army in the Pequot War of 1637.
William had nine children,
of whom Ephraim Goodrich
(1663-1739) was the next to youngest. We only have
genealogical information for Ephraim, aside from his rank:
"Captain." Of course, this is well before the
Revolutionary War, and in his prime even before the French &
Indian Wars, so it must have been a local militia rank for
defense against Indian attack. He married Sarah Treat,
whose gravestone is still to be found in Wethersfield,
Connecticut (as is Ephraim's).
Ephraim and Sarah Treat had
seven children, of whom William
Goodrich (1697-1787) was the fourth. He is the first
of the Goodriches in our line to bridge the Revolutionary War,
although by that time he was nearly 80 years old. Again,
no special mention of him anywhere I can find. He married
Rachael Savage, and they had nine children, of whom
Elisha Goodrich (1734-1789) was
fourth. Elisha married his first cousin, Lucy Goodrich,
and they had eleven children, of which
Asa Goodrich (1765-1819) was the second.
With Asa we encounter a
little bit of history via family correspondence and research:
The early home of
Asa Goodrich was Glassenbury [sic -- viz., Glastonbury],
Conn.
-
Chester Jackson writing
daughter Wilma in Fairmount, ND, January 24, 1907 (Chester was writing cousins out east, trying to track down his grandmother, Ruth Stratton):
Inclined to believe that gramma was one of the first [??] but skipped out & married that old sailor Capt. Goodrich my grandad,
who got captured by the French about 1801 & kept up for a
year in prison in Paris, while his family mourned him as
dead.
As to this research has
turned up absolutely nothing.
You should enjoy the
sea for the love of it is in your blood by inheritance,
for didn't Asa Goodrich your great grandfather plough
the raging main along in 1780 to 1805? His vessel or
vessels sailed to the West Indies and no doubt took
cargo from the island where you were born.
Col. Pixley removed
with his family from Stockbridge to Owego Feb. 6, 1791,
and settled on his property. In May, IT'.M, he sold to
Abner Turner, who came here that year. 49% acres on the
west bank of the Owego creek where it meets the Catatonk
creek. March 17. 1802, he sold 451 acres on the Owego
creek, including his own homestead, to Capt. Eliakim,
Noah, and Asa Goodrich for $5,000. He then removed
to Owego and lived in the old farm house which is still
standing on the south side of Main Street, west of and
adjoining the Owego Academy grounds, and there he died
in 1807. On the headstone of his grave in the
Presbyterian church yard in Temple street is the
following inscription:
"In memory of Col. David Pixley. who departed this life
Aug. 25. 1807, in the 67th year of his age. He was an
officer of the Revolution at the siege of Quebec under
Gen. Montgomery. He was the first settler of Owego in
1790 and continued its father and friend until his
death.'"
When Col. Pixley settled on the west side of the Owego
creek that town was known as Owego, and the east side of
the creek was known as Tioga. The confusion arising from
having the village of Owego in the town of Tioga on the
east side of the creek was so annoying that in 1813 the
names of the towns of Owego and Tioga were exchanged,
the one for the other, as they now exist.
[Emphasis added. Eliakim Goodrich was Asa's
brother and died in Tioga, NY. Noah Goodrich was
their first cousin and also died in Tioga.]
Fanny Goodrich (1807-1902)
Fanny's legitimacy in the Goodrich family
tree is slightly (and I emphasize slightly!)
suspect. I think it best to just reproduce here the email
I sent my uncle, Richard Bates, April 30, 2012 (edited to show
most recent research):
Fanny (allegedly -- see
below) goes straight back to an ancestor (William) who
arrived in the Colonies in 1640, and from him stem all these
relationships. There are problems, however.
An entire book was written in 1899 entitled "The
Goodrich Family in America," although for Asa Goodrich
(Fanny's father) the author fails to mention both Fanny and
her sister Eliza. Also curious is that NONE of Asa's family
trees on Ancestry.com mention Fanny as a child, and only two
family trees other than ours include her at all, and neither
of those identify her parents. Now, according to our record,
she was born in 1807, which was the year her mother died
(although Ruth Stratton's 1807 year of death appears to come
from our family records; another family tree puts her year
of death in 1846), so it is possible that Ruth Stratton
dying in childbirth or soon thereafter has lead to the
confusion. Nevertheless, this probably merits some serious
"on the ground" investigation.
Asa Goodrich had a sister named "Fanny," who was living at
the time of our Fanny's birth. That may explain the origin
of her name. Doesn't help at all with her provenance,
however. [SLH addition: And her uncle Eliakim,
Asa's only older sibling, had a daughter named Fanny born
just the year previous to Fanny.]
Evidence we DO have of her ancestry is two entries in the
Jacob Jackson family bible referring to Asa Goodrich dying
of catarrh and Ruth Stratton dying of influenza, although
both died long before Jacob would have known Fanny.
Moreover, the entries appear to have been made later, not in
Jacob's handwriting [SLH revision: The
entries are comparable to Jacob's handwriting very late in
his life -- e.g., possibly from the 1860s.]
And we also have this:
A letter from Jesse
Shourds (Fanny's nephew) to Chester Jackson, 1/6/1922: "I went to visit
your [Chester's] mother [Fanny Goodrich] in Racine in
the year 1892.
"When I knocked at the door she opened it and
immediately threw up her hands and exclaimed, 'O,
Horace, have you been raised from the dead?' She tho't
that I looked so much like her brother that it was he. I
had a fine visit with her. It was my first visit with
her.
"That was a great trip for me. She was the last Aunt
living on my mother's side."
Asa did have a son named
Horace, born in 1799, who would have lived with Fanny when
she was young. We don't know when he died.
[Paragraph relating to Fanny's first marriage deleted since
it has been superseded by more recent research -- see
below].
In other words, there is a chance that Fanny invented her
pedigree.
Following receipt of a few
snippets of information from uncle Richard Bates and delving into
Ancestry.com again regarding Fanny's first marriage, I found some
people who had William Eaton Wolcott in their trees, although without any mention of
Fanny. An email to one of them explains the situation:
I've been researching some
family information and in the process found your page for
William Eaton Wolcott [link].
I know of Wolcott from another direction. One of his earlier
wives (perhaps his first) was my great great grandmother, Fanny
(nee Goodrich) (Wolcott) Jackson. Here's what we think we know:
Fanny was the daughter of Asa Goodrich and Ruth Stratton, both
of strong "founding fathers" lineage. She was born 3 Jan 1807,
place unknown. Genealogical records show six children of Asa and
Ruth, not including Fanny, who may have had a sister named Eliza
also not listed among the six. Her nonappearance on any (and I
mean virtually any) record is part of the mystery.
Fanny married Wolcott sometime prior to 1830, perhaps in
Pennsylvania. They had three children (and these are not
necessarily in birth order), Saphronia, Harriet (or Harriett)
Maria, and Gilbert Champlain (whom you list on your page), the
latter born about 1830 in Pennsylvania.
Fanny divorced William (or vice versa) sometime prior to
December 1844, and she married my great great grandfather, Jacob
Jackson, on 25 Dec 1844.
I am telling you all this in hope it not only helps you with
your own data, but as well in the possibility that something
else you know may help us search for the complete story behind
Fanny Goodrich.
And that's how things stand.
Richard Bates has remarked that
After father Jacob died,
Chester was burdened with running the farm and keeping things
together for young brother Charles. His mother, Fannie Goodrich,
was mentally impaired at middle age. I have seen one of her
attempts to write which suggests that it was organic brain
damage rather than a psychosis. ... Chester never went back to
visit his mother and never mentioned her to his daughters.
We may never know more about
Fanny, but on balance I've concluded that she indeed was what has
been long accepted: a descendant of the redoubtable Goodrich
line, through her father Asa, which means I, my cousins, and our
children are, too. For what it's worth.
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