Brick Walls and Mysteries
in the Family History Research
of Jennifer Godwin

What part of England or Ireland did William REDMOND GODWIN come from? Why did he desert Burgoyne's army? Where did he meet and marry Rachel HARPER?

What was the maiden name of Lucy, married first to Sampson SILVER, second to William GODWIN?

Solved! Lucy was born Lucy OAKES, to Abel OAKES and Betsey HAMLIN, on 28 March 1793, in Canaan, Maine.

Are Ivory HARLOW and Rebecca MANWELL of Sangerville, the parents of Caroline HARLOW?

Solved! Yes, according to Craig Bryant's Rumford Genealogy Project citing the History of Jay, Maine.

What happened to the two older GODWINs living with the CARTLAND family in Bangor in 1850 and who are those CHITHYs?

Nancy E. age 26, Frederick age 22 and Franklin age 9 appear with Priscilla and Asa Cartland in 1850. Frederick Godwin is listed in the 1851 Bangor City directory as a laborer working for his brother-in-law Asa Cartland, an innkeeper on Levant Road. Nancy E. and Frederick were probably siblings of Priscilla. Did Nancy marry? What happened to Frederick? Could he be the '49er?

Who are Benjamin F. Godwin, mentioned in a deed document and the Silas letter and probably born 1816 to 1820; Nancy E., born about 1824, appearing in the census; Frederick, born about 1828, appearing in the census and probably mentioned in the Silas letter? Are the two younger ones too old to be Nancy's biological children, as they would have been born to Nancy when she was 40 and 44, respectively?

What happened to Silas H. GODWIN and Abigail GRACE who were married in Portland, Maine in 1838?

Solved! Silas H. Godwin died in 1841, Abigail probably died soon thereafter.. They seem to have been the parents of Silas S. Godwin (born about 1839) and Benjamin Franklin Godwin (born about 1841). Silas S. was taken in by his Uncle Hiram and lived in Chicago in 1850. He was a fireman in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in the mid-1860s, and by 1870 settled in Brooklyn, New York with his own wife and family, and there he lived out his life and died in 1915.

Where are Silas H. Godwin and Abigail Grace buried?

Who are Abigail Grace's parents and where and when was she born?

What became of the younger son of Silas H. and Abigail Grace, Benjamin Franklin Godwin?

What happened to Priscilla GODWIN CARTLAND and her daughters after leaving Michigan?

Partially solved. It is said that Priscilla separated from her husband Asa CARTLAND about 1885 and took her daughters, Priscilla, Anges, Helena and Alberta away to Connecticut, "the West" and/or Europe. Priscilla is said to have been actress under the stage name Grace Hawthorne. Helena may have been a singer. These women may have died in England and/or France. Possible husbands: Bernard SARGEANT DE SANTELYS, John MURRAY, SHELLEY, Phineas LEACH.

What is the source of Hiram Favor Godwin's middle name?

Solved! According to WorldConnect family trees, it is incredibly likely that the parents of Nancy (George) Gordon, HFG's grandmother, were Micah George and Mary Favor, daughter of Cutting Favor.

What happened to William Henry GODWIN after 1859?

Solved! Wm. H. Godwin died in Dora, Labette County, Kansas in January 1880, at age 50.

What happened to the children of William H. and Frances (PARK) GODWIN after they both died in 1880?

What became of Park, born about 1858; Grant, born about 1865; Fanny, born about 1868, Verne, born about 1876; and Angelina, born November 1879, all in Kansas? Did Fanny teach at the Godwin Heights school near Grandville, Michigan? Was Angelina raised as Nina by the Blackmers?

Partially solved. Verne Godwin was raised by a Kansas farm family, and later married, moved to Illinois, had at least three children, went to California and died there at age 90. Park Godwin had one son with a Nancy Lipsey and then abandoned her. The son was Prior Melvin Godwin, later a resident of Iowa. Park and Vern both became postal workers; Park eventually settled in Chicago, Illinois with a wife named Josephine.

What happened to the Godwin House Hotel in Wyoming, Michigan?

Did it burn in 1871 as one history states? Is the hotel listed in the Wyoming Township census of 1870 the Godwin House or is it another lodging? Are there any pictures of the hotel? Any articles describing its history?

Did William DUNHAM and Emeline GODWIN DUNHAM have children?

DUNHAM had five children with his first wife Hannah CONANT: three boys, two girls. In his death announcement there are four surviving daughters listed. But in the 1870, Emeline is already 45 years old, and has been married fifteen years, but no children reside with them. If they do exist, where are the children? Who is the young girl "Lulu," who lives with them in one Manistee, Michigan census?

What became of the portrait with a heavy gold frame of Henry John MacFARLANE that was left by Charlotte G. MacFARLANE CREED YORK in her will to the Art Institute of Chicago or the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, refused by them both and two other institutions, and was finally given to the Seidel Dancing School in Harvey, Illinois?

Who are Robert LANSING's parents?

A biography of Robert LANSING's son, Robert Bingham LANSING, says that Robert was a native of New York City. There is a family legend that Lucy C. Lansing, believed to be the daughter of Robert LANSING and Martha BINGHAM, was the great-granddaughter of one of the Stephen VAN RENSSELAERs. There is no evidence to support that assertion at this time. If it were true, Robert LANSING's mother would have to be the VAN RENSSELAER. The biography merely states that the families were associated/related.

When was Lucy C. LANSING born? When did she die? Where is buried?

Is the Lucy LANSING who married Serrel RICHARDSON in Guernsey County, Ohio on December 5, 1816 the Lucy Lansing who later was the mother of Henrietta and Lucy McELROY?

Is this the same Serrel RICHARDSON who later married Gracy MITZEL on December 13, 1832 in Morgan County, Ohio?

What became of Rachel McELROY after 1850?

In 1850 at age 15, she is living with her sister Henrietta, age 18 and their aunt and uncle Martha and Jonas BEMIS in Guernsey County, Ohio. Her father and step-mother live elsewhere. After 1850, what happened? Did she marry and move away? Die?

Did Cassius O. DYE kill himself in 1933?

What happened to J. C. REES McGUIRE after 1900?

Did he die of tuberculosis like his mother? Where is he buried? If he survived where did he go?

When did Samuel D. REES and Orlean McGUIRE meet? Where did live in the early years of their marriage?

Where did the McGUIRE family go in the 1870s?

A photograph of Orlean labeled London indicates England, and a European vacation is supported by William J. McGUIRE's 1873 application for a passport. Where did they go in particular? Why?