John Goodrich, Jr., the Wethersfield, Conn. settler, m. by 1645 an Elizabeth, whose first child, dau. Elizabeth, was b. of record in Wethersfield on Nov. 2, 1645.
Based on Nathaniel Goodwin's 1853 Genealogical Notes, Case in his 1889 Goodrich Genealogy claimed John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth was the dau. of Thomas Edwards of Wethersfield. Stiles in Ancient Wethersfield repeats the same claim after identifying Thomas Edwards, b. circa 1623, as the eldest son of John Edwards, the Wethersfield settler. Stiles then states Elizabeth, by 1645 the wife of John Goodrich, was the latter Thomas Edwards' daughter. The error is so obvious that Stiles should have questioned the claim before repeating it. Savage in his 1860 Dictionary failed to connect Thomas, s. of John Edwards of Wethersfield, as being one and the same as a separately described Thomas Edwards of Wethersfield, stating that Thomas Edwards "brought Elizabeth who m. about 1645, John Goodrich."
Thomas Edwards (John,1) was a longtime settler of the Hoccanum section of Wethersfield (now part of Glastonbury, Conn.) perhaps as early as 1645. In testimony given by Thomas in November 1670 concerning the verbal will of Samuel Benjamin, Thomas Edwards claimed he was then age "about 47 years." Thomas Edwards d. of record at Wethersfield July 27, 1683, "age 62." Both of Edwards' stated ages, by him in 1670 and at his death in 1683, indicate he was b. between 1622 and 1624. If Thomas Edwards married by age 20 (circa 1645) and had a dau. named Elizabeth, she could not possibly have m. John Goodrich by 1645. John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth is presumed to have died in childbirth in Wethersfield July 5, 1670, the same day she gave birth to an unnamed son that died the same day.
In 1953 in Mary Lovering Holman's Stevens-Miller, Holman cites portions of the Oct. 1680 will of John Goodrich's son Joseph at Sudbury, Mass. Joseph made his "loveing uncell Thomas Read, Senor" and the latter's son, Thomas Read, Jr. (who m. Joseph Goodrich's sister Mary in 1677), executors of his will. Stevens-Miller discusses the probability that John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth, and the elder Thomas Read's wife, must have been sisters for Joseph to call the elder Thomas Read as uncle, concluding "it is very probable that this was the case and that it was the Reads who took charge of the younger Goodrich children when Elizabeth died." In her early genealogical writing Holman had the characteristic of making affirmative family assumptions from two or more facts that were clearly not related to one another.
The present writer disagrees with the Stevens-Miller analogy of John Goodrich's connection to Thomas Read of Sudbury, Mass. As no proof is provided that the Stevens-Miller conclusion was true, it was no better than mere conjecture. Complementing this judgment, previously in 1952 Donald L. Jacobus, in Hale, House and Related Families, and obviously having seen Holman's above cited work prior to being published, commented "The term 'uncle' which Joseph Goodrich applied to Thomas Read, Sr., may have been a courtesy term for the father of his brother-in-law. No evidence for any blood relationship has been seen."
Actually, after wife Elizabeth's death in 1670, the person who cared for the still minor Goodrich children at Wethersfield was undoubtedly John Goodrich's second wife, the former widow Mary (Foote) Stoddard, who Goodrich married on or about April 4, 1674, the date of their marriage contract.
On Mar. 23, 1674/5 John Goodrich, 3rd, the eldest son of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, m. Mary Gibbs at Sudbury, Mass. (Sudbury VRs). The younger Goodrich d. at Wethersfield only thirteen months into the marriage followed by the widow Mary (Gibbs) Goodrich marrying 2) Thomas Frost at Sudbury on Nov. 12, 1678 (ibid).
In May 1677, Mary Goodrich, dau. of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, m. Thomas Read, Jr. at Sudbury, Mass. (ibid.) This was followed by Mary (Goodrich) Read's younger sister Hannah Goodrich marrying Zachariah Maynard at Sudbury on July 15, 1678 (ibid).
Thus, when Joseph Goodrich d. unmarried at Sudbury in late 1680, he had two married siblings residing in Sudbury plus a former sister-in-law who had remarried in Sudbury. He then named one of his young brothers-in-law as co-executor of his will along with the latter's father. If "my loveing uncell" was simply a term of endearment for a senior member of his extended family, there was no relation between Joseph's mother Elizabeth and Thomas Read, Sr. of Sudbury, Mass.
The result is that Elizabeth, the first wife of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, was certainly not the dau. of Thomas Edwards and was likely not related to the Read family of Sudbury, Mass. Consequently, her family name and origins remain unknown and unproved.
Edited and expanded 8/5/2018
Based on Nathaniel Goodwin's 1853 Genealogical Notes, Case in his 1889 Goodrich Genealogy claimed John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth was the dau. of Thomas Edwards of Wethersfield. Stiles in Ancient Wethersfield repeats the same claim after identifying Thomas Edwards, b. circa 1623, as the eldest son of John Edwards, the Wethersfield settler. Stiles then states Elizabeth, by 1645 the wife of John Goodrich, was the latter Thomas Edwards' daughter. The error is so obvious that Stiles should have questioned the claim before repeating it. Savage in his 1860 Dictionary failed to connect Thomas, s. of John Edwards of Wethersfield, as being one and the same as a separately described Thomas Edwards of Wethersfield, stating that Thomas Edwards "brought Elizabeth who m. about 1645, John Goodrich."
Thomas Edwards (John,1) was a longtime settler of the Hoccanum section of Wethersfield (now part of Glastonbury, Conn.) perhaps as early as 1645. In testimony given by Thomas in November 1670 concerning the verbal will of Samuel Benjamin, Thomas Edwards claimed he was then age "about 47 years." Thomas Edwards d. of record at Wethersfield July 27, 1683, "age 62." Both of Edwards' stated ages, by him in 1670 and at his death in 1683, indicate he was b. between 1622 and 1624. If Thomas Edwards married by age 20 (circa 1645) and had a dau. named Elizabeth, she could not possibly have m. John Goodrich by 1645. John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth is presumed to have died in childbirth in Wethersfield July 5, 1670, the same day she gave birth to an unnamed son that died the same day.
In 1953 in Mary Lovering Holman's Stevens-Miller, Holman cites portions of the Oct. 1680 will of John Goodrich's son Joseph at Sudbury, Mass. Joseph made his "loveing uncell Thomas Read, Senor" and the latter's son, Thomas Read, Jr. (who m. Joseph Goodrich's sister Mary in 1677), executors of his will. Stevens-Miller discusses the probability that John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth, and the elder Thomas Read's wife, must have been sisters for Joseph to call the elder Thomas Read as uncle, concluding "it is very probable that this was the case and that it was the Reads who took charge of the younger Goodrich children when Elizabeth died." In her early genealogical writing Holman had the characteristic of making affirmative family assumptions from two or more facts that were clearly not related to one another.
The present writer disagrees with the Stevens-Miller analogy of John Goodrich's connection to Thomas Read of Sudbury, Mass. As no proof is provided that the Stevens-Miller conclusion was true, it was no better than mere conjecture. Complementing this judgment, previously in 1952 Donald L. Jacobus, in Hale, House and Related Families, and obviously having seen Holman's above cited work prior to being published, commented "The term 'uncle' which Joseph Goodrich applied to Thomas Read, Sr., may have been a courtesy term for the father of his brother-in-law. No evidence for any blood relationship has been seen."
Actually, after wife Elizabeth's death in 1670, the person who cared for the still minor Goodrich children at Wethersfield was undoubtedly John Goodrich's second wife, the former widow Mary (Foote) Stoddard, who Goodrich married on or about April 4, 1674, the date of their marriage contract.
On Mar. 23, 1674/5 John Goodrich, 3rd, the eldest son of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, m. Mary Gibbs at Sudbury, Mass. (Sudbury VRs). The younger Goodrich d. at Wethersfield only thirteen months into the marriage followed by the widow Mary (Gibbs) Goodrich marrying 2) Thomas Frost at Sudbury on Nov. 12, 1678 (ibid).
In May 1677, Mary Goodrich, dau. of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, m. Thomas Read, Jr. at Sudbury, Mass. (ibid.) This was followed by Mary (Goodrich) Read's younger sister Hannah Goodrich marrying Zachariah Maynard at Sudbury on July 15, 1678 (ibid).
Thus, when Joseph Goodrich d. unmarried at Sudbury in late 1680, he had two married siblings residing in Sudbury plus a former sister-in-law who had remarried in Sudbury. He then named one of his young brothers-in-law as co-executor of his will along with the latter's father. If "my loveing uncell" was simply a term of endearment for a senior member of his extended family, there was no relation between Joseph's mother Elizabeth and Thomas Read, Sr. of Sudbury, Mass.
The result is that Elizabeth, the first wife of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, was certainly not the dau. of Thomas Edwards and was likely not related to the Read family of Sudbury, Mass. Consequently, her family name and origins remain unknown and unproved.
Edited and expanded 8/5/2018
John Goodrich, Jr., the Wethersfield, Conn. settler, m. by 1645 an Elizabeth, whose first child, dau. Elizabeth, was b. of record in Wethersfield on Nov. 2, 1645.
Based on Nathaniel Goodwin's 1853 Genealogical Notes, Case in his 1889 Goodrich Genealogy claimed John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth was the dau. of Thomas Edwards of Wethersfield. Stiles in Ancient Wethersfield repeats the same claim after identifying Thomas Edwards, b. circa 1623, as the eldest son of John Edwards, the Wethersfield settler. Stiles then states Elizabeth, by 1645 the wife of John Goodrich, was the latter Thomas Edwards' daughter. The error is so obvious that Stiles should have questioned the claim before repeating it. Savage in his 1860 Dictionary failed to connect Thomas, s. of John Edwards of Wethersfield, as being one and the same as a separately described Thomas Edwards of Wethersfield, stating that Thomas Edwards "brought Elizabeth who m. about 1645, John Goodrich."
Thomas Edwards (John,1) was a longtime settler of the Hoccanum section of Wethersfield (now part of Glastonbury, Conn.) perhaps as early as 1645. In testimony given by Thomas in November 1670 concerning the verbal will of Samuel Benjamin, Thomas Edwards claimed he was then age "about 47 years." Thomas Edwards d. of record at Wethersfield July 27, 1683, "age 62." Both of Edwards' stated ages, by him in 1670 and at his death in 1683, indicate he was b. between 1622 and 1624. If Thomas Edwards married by age 20 (circa 1645) and had a dau. named Elizabeth, she could not possibly have m. John Goodrich by 1645. John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth is presumed to have died in childbirth in Wethersfield July 5, 1670, the same day she gave birth to an unnamed son that died the same day.
In 1953 in Mary Lovering Holman's Stevens-Miller, Holman cites portions of the Oct. 1680 will of John Goodrich's son Joseph at Sudbury, Mass. Joseph made his "loveing uncell Thomas Read, Senor" and the latter's son, Thomas Read, Jr. (who m. Joseph Goodrich's sister Mary in 1677), executors of his will. Stevens-Miller discusses the probability that John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth, and the elder Thomas Read's wife, must have been sisters for Joseph to call the elder Thomas Read as uncle, concluding "it is very probable that this was the case and that it was the Reads who took charge of the younger Goodrich children when Elizabeth died." In her early genealogical writing Holman had the characteristic of making affirmative family assumptions from two or more facts that were clearly not related to one another.
The present writer disagrees with the Stevens-Miller analogy of John Goodrich's connection to Thomas Read of Sudbury, Mass. As no proof is provided that the Stevens-Miller conclusion was true, it was no better than mere conjecture. Complementing this judgment, previously in 1952 Donald L. Jacobus, in Hale, House and Related Families, and obviously having seen Holman's above cited work prior to being published, commented "The term 'uncle' which Joseph Goodrich applied to Thomas Read, Sr., may have been a courtesy term for the father of his brother-in-law. No evidence for any blood relationship has been seen."
Actually, after wife Elizabeth's death in 1670, the person who cared for the still minor Goodrich children at Wethersfield was undoubtedly John Goodrich's second wife, the former widow Mary (Foote) Stoddard, who Goodrich married on or about April 4, 1674, the date of their marriage contract.
On Mar. 23, 1674/5 John Goodrich, 3rd, the eldest son of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, m. Mary Gibbs at Sudbury, Mass. (Sudbury VRs). The younger Goodrich d. at Wethersfield only thirteen months into the marriage followed by the widow Mary (Gibbs) Goodrich marrying 2) Thomas Frost at Sudbury on Nov. 12, 1678 (ibid).
In May 1677, Mary Goodrich, dau. of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, m. Thomas Read, Jr. at Sudbury, Mass. (ibid.) This was followed by Mary (Goodrich) Read's younger sister Hannah Goodrich marrying Zachariah Maynard at Sudbury on July 15, 1678 (ibid).
Thus, when Joseph Goodrich d. unmarried at Sudbury in late 1680, he had two married siblings residing in Sudbury plus a former sister-in-law who had remarried in Sudbury. He then named one of his young brothers-in-law as co-executor of his will along with the latter's father. If "my loveing uncell" was simply a term of endearment for a senior member of his extended family, there was no relation between Joseph's mother Elizabeth and Thomas Read, Sr. of Sudbury, Mass.
The result is that Elizabeth, the first wife of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, was certainly not the dau. of Thomas Edwards and was likely not related to the Read family of Sudbury, Mass. Consequently, her family name and origins remain unknown and unproved.
Edited and expanded 8/5/2018
Based on Nathaniel Goodwin's 1853 Genealogical Notes, Case in his 1889 Goodrich Genealogy claimed John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth was the dau. of Thomas Edwards of Wethersfield. Stiles in Ancient Wethersfield repeats the same claim after identifying Thomas Edwards, b. circa 1623, as the eldest son of John Edwards, the Wethersfield settler. Stiles then states Elizabeth, by 1645 the wife of John Goodrich, was the latter Thomas Edwards' daughter. The error is so obvious that Stiles should have questioned the claim before repeating it. Savage in his 1860 Dictionary failed to connect Thomas, s. of John Edwards of Wethersfield, as being one and the same as a separately described Thomas Edwards of Wethersfield, stating that Thomas Edwards "brought Elizabeth who m. about 1645, John Goodrich."
Thomas Edwards (John,1) was a longtime settler of the Hoccanum section of Wethersfield (now part of Glastonbury, Conn.) perhaps as early as 1645. In testimony given by Thomas in November 1670 concerning the verbal will of Samuel Benjamin, Thomas Edwards claimed he was then age "about 47 years." Thomas Edwards d. of record at Wethersfield July 27, 1683, "age 62." Both of Edwards' stated ages, by him in 1670 and at his death in 1683, indicate he was b. between 1622 and 1624. If Thomas Edwards married by age 20 (circa 1645) and had a dau. named Elizabeth, she could not possibly have m. John Goodrich by 1645. John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth is presumed to have died in childbirth in Wethersfield July 5, 1670, the same day she gave birth to an unnamed son that died the same day.
In 1953 in Mary Lovering Holman's Stevens-Miller, Holman cites portions of the Oct. 1680 will of John Goodrich's son Joseph at Sudbury, Mass. Joseph made his "loveing uncell Thomas Read, Senor" and the latter's son, Thomas Read, Jr. (who m. Joseph Goodrich's sister Mary in 1677), executors of his will. Stevens-Miller discusses the probability that John Goodrich's wife Elizabeth, and the elder Thomas Read's wife, must have been sisters for Joseph to call the elder Thomas Read as uncle, concluding "it is very probable that this was the case and that it was the Reads who took charge of the younger Goodrich children when Elizabeth died." In her early genealogical writing Holman had the characteristic of making affirmative family assumptions from two or more facts that were clearly not related to one another.
The present writer disagrees with the Stevens-Miller analogy of John Goodrich's connection to Thomas Read of Sudbury, Mass. As no proof is provided that the Stevens-Miller conclusion was true, it was no better than mere conjecture. Complementing this judgment, previously in 1952 Donald L. Jacobus, in Hale, House and Related Families, and obviously having seen Holman's above cited work prior to being published, commented "The term 'uncle' which Joseph Goodrich applied to Thomas Read, Sr., may have been a courtesy term for the father of his brother-in-law. No evidence for any blood relationship has been seen."
Actually, after wife Elizabeth's death in 1670, the person who cared for the still minor Goodrich children at Wethersfield was undoubtedly John Goodrich's second wife, the former widow Mary (Foote) Stoddard, who Goodrich married on or about April 4, 1674, the date of their marriage contract.
On Mar. 23, 1674/5 John Goodrich, 3rd, the eldest son of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, m. Mary Gibbs at Sudbury, Mass. (Sudbury VRs). The younger Goodrich d. at Wethersfield only thirteen months into the marriage followed by the widow Mary (Gibbs) Goodrich marrying 2) Thomas Frost at Sudbury on Nov. 12, 1678 (ibid).
In May 1677, Mary Goodrich, dau. of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, m. Thomas Read, Jr. at Sudbury, Mass. (ibid.) This was followed by Mary (Goodrich) Read's younger sister Hannah Goodrich marrying Zachariah Maynard at Sudbury on July 15, 1678 (ibid).
Thus, when Joseph Goodrich d. unmarried at Sudbury in late 1680, he had two married siblings residing in Sudbury plus a former sister-in-law who had remarried in Sudbury. He then named one of his young brothers-in-law as co-executor of his will along with the latter's father. If "my loveing uncell" was simply a term of endearment for a senior member of his extended family, there was no relation between Joseph's mother Elizabeth and Thomas Read, Sr. of Sudbury, Mass.
The result is that Elizabeth, the first wife of John Goodrich of Wethersfield, was certainly not the dau. of Thomas Edwards and was likely not related to the Read family of Sudbury, Mass. Consequently, her family name and origins remain unknown and unproved.
Edited and expanded 8/5/2018
Inscription
At the time of Elizabeth's death the Wethersfield Village Cemetery was the only cemetery at Wethersfield. If she had a gravestone by 1899 it no longer existed.
