Finding the heirs of Ethedred Godwin - Part 3

In the first post of this series we were introduced to Etheldred Godwin, one of two or three brothers who moved from Randolph Co., NC to Clay and Putnam Counties, IN between 1828 and 1830. They might have wanted to move to Indiana for a couple of reasons: (1) the land was better for farming (2) they were Quakers and there was a movement of Quakers into this area of Indiana.

At least two Godwin brothers made the journey together - Nathan and Etheldred Godwin - both of whom were born in the late 1770s. Etheldred Godwin and his family remained in Putnam Co., IN until his death in 1852. Nathan Godwin removed to Perry Co., IL, where he died in 1833. In the second post of this series, we were introduced to a possible third brother - Enoch Godwin - who was connected to the family of Jonathan and Sarah Godden. We met Jonathan and Sarah Godden, who were married in Putnam Co., Indiana in 1844, while evaluating the sources used in tracking the life of Sion Godwin, who has been identified as a possible son of Etheldred Godwin.

Sion Godwin was listed on the 1880 Larimer Co., CO census report as "brother" to Margaret Sabin. Margaret Godwin had married George Sabin in Putnam Co., IN in January of 1853. Both Margaret and Sion Godwin had been enumerated previously in the household of Etheldred Godwin in 1850, along with Joshua Godwin.

So far, 3 possible children of Etheldred Godwin have been identified - Margaret, Joshua, and Cyon/Sion/Scion Godwin. However, Godwin cousins were popping up all over the map in IN, IL, and IA census reports! After all, it was possible there were 3 brothers who came to Indiana and with them came several children each - many of whom were given the same names. Sorting through which Godwin children belonged to which Godwin brother became a more and more daunting task.

In order to piece together the Godwins of Putnam Co., IN, the first thing I did was collect all of the land grant records for each Godwin. I went to the Bureau of Land Management's website and did a search for "Godwin" in Putnam Co., IN. Three records came up - two for "Netheldre(a)d" Godwin and one for "Nathan" Godwin. The latter Nathan Godwin was not the same Nathan who was Dred's brother, as he had died in 1833 in Perry Co., IL. Dred Godwin had applied for two separate patents of 40 acres each for land in Putnam Co., IN. The first was issued on Sept 1st, 1838, the second was issued 4 days later on Sept 5th, 1838.

Here are the land descriptions for the two tracts of land Dred Godwin patented:

(1) The north east quarter of the north west quarter of section 17, township 12 north, range 5 west

(2) The south west quarter of the north west quarter of section 8, township 12 north, range 5 west

Land in Indiana was divided according to the Public Land Survey System, sometimes known as the "Rectangular Survey System." According to a basic Section Township map, sections 8 and 17 are in close proximity to each other. Below is a schematic of how a Section township map should look like:

Dred Godwin purchased a total of 80 acres from the State of Indiana. My next step is to then see if this land was sold to anyone. The subsequent transfer of land was recorded in "deeds." I ordered the Putnam Co., IN Deed Index for Grantors (sellers) from my local Family History Library (Film no. 1315537) to see if and when Dred Godwin sold this land. I looked through all the Godwin deed entries. Although I did not find an entry for Dred Godwin selling off these two parcels of land, I did find several "Goodwin" entries all lumped together. Each Goodwin entry had two tracts of land being sold in 1852 and a couple of them mentioned a "1/7th part" which caught my attention.

Goodwins mentioned in Putnam Co., IN Deed Index (Grantors) in 1852:

Sion Goodwin
Jonathan Goodwin
Nathan Goodwin
Joshua Goodwin

Each entry in the index for these 4 men was for a 1/7th share (each) of the same two tracts of land:
(1) The north east quarter of the north west quarter of section 17, township 12 north, range 5 west
(2) The south west quarter of the north west quarter of section 8, township 12 north, range 5 west

Sound familiar? They should! These two tracts of land were the exact tracts of land that Etheldred Godwin originally patented from the Viciennes, Indiana Land Office in 1838!

And what about the grantor names? At least two of those names are somewhat familiar - two males by the name of Joshua and Sion Godwin had been enumerated with Dred Godwin on the 1850 Putnam Co., IN census report.

Being "1/7th shares" of these two tracts of land indicates that this land was heired to "7" descendants of Dred Godwin. An indepth review of the actual deeds might indicate a relationship between Dred Godwin and these heirs. This will be discussed in the next post of this series.

Related Posts:
Finding the Heirs of Etheldred Godwin - Part 1
Finding the Heirs of Etheldred Godwin - Part 2
Finding the Heirs of Etheldred Godwin - Part 4
Finding the Heirs of Etheldred Godwin - Part 5