The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, part 3

On July 10th, 1788, Jonathan Godwin received two patents from the State of North Carolina for 46 and 47 acres each of land lying in Sampson County on the East side of the Little Cohera River and the East side of the Black Mingo River. 

When Jonathan Godwin died in 1791, his widow, Rachel, was allowed to keep his estate in her possession. No mention, however, was made of what was contained in his estate. In 1792 Richard Godwin took an inventory of Jonathan's estate which included only one tract of land containing 50 acres. You can view the contents of his estate in The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, part 1. No description of the land included in the inventory was provided. If Jonathan Godwin received two tracts of land, each approximately 50 acres from the State of North Carolina in 1788, but only one tract appeared in his estate records, then what happened to the other 50 acre tract of land he received from the State in 1788?  

At least one of those tracts of land was identified as being sold by Nathan, Rachel, and Dred Godwin to John Dormond in 1795 (See Part 2). This tract was on the East side of the Little Cohara River. What about the 2nd tract he received on the East side of the Black Mingo River? It is not possible to search the deed records by land description. However, since Nathan, Rachel and Dred Godwin sold the first parcel of land, I thought maybe they might have sold the 2nd one as well. I started my search by looking for Nathan, Rachel or Dred as the grantor in the Sampson County Deed Records (they are on microfilm at the North Carolina State Archives). Since the land was sold after Jonathan's death in 1791, I restricted my search to records after 1791. 

I found one other deed from Rachel Godwin but it was on the Beaverdam Swamp. This was land she had inherited or purchased from Thomas Bullard who was presumed to be her brother. I then moved on to Nathan. There were actually two Nathan Godwins living in Sampson County at this time and they were both buying and selling land quite often. I had to read through each deed in which Nathan was the grantor to find either 1) a description of 50 acres of land on the East side of the Black Mingo being sold or 2) land originally granted to Jonathan Godwin by patent bearing date of 1788. 

I finally found one deed from Nathan Godwin to Elizabeth Bagley which satisfied both of the above requirements. The deed was for 50 acres of land lying on the East side of Black Mingo which was originally granted to Jonathan Godwin by patent bearing date of 1788! (See deed images and transcript below. Click on the image to make it bigger). 

Sampson County, North Carolina
Nathan Godwin to Elizabeth Bagley

To all to whom these presents Shall come greeting know ye that I Nathan Godwin Junior of Sampson County and State aforesaid planter for and in consideration of the sum of Twelve pounds ten shillings L12.10 current money of the State to me in hand paid by Elizabeth Bagley of Sampson County and State aforesaid the receipt whereal I do hereby acknowledge that I have bargained and sold and by these presents do fully freely and absolutely give grant convey assign and set over to her the said Elizabeth Bagley forever One certain tract or parcell of land lying and being in the county of Sampson containing fifty acres of land more or less situated and lying on the East side of Black Mingo and on the North side of the Beaverdam swamp beginning at a post Oak on the side of mingo Swamp thence South 31 East 120 poles thence a pine thence South 59 West 63 poles to a pine thence North 31 West 120 poles to a Stake thence to the Beginning it being a tract of land granted to Jonathan Godwin by patent bearing date the 10th of July 1788. To have and to hold the same bargained lands and premises together with all buildings fencings houses water ___ and Improvements thereunto belonging unto it and Elizabeth Bagley her heirs, executors, Administrators and assigns forever and I disavow? Nathan Godwin Junior for himself his heirs, Executors, administrators and assigns forever the said bargained lands and premises unto the said Elizabeth Bagley her heirs Executors administrators and assigns against any person or persons whatsoever shall come and I the said Nathan Godwin myself my heirs Executors administrators and assigns will and shall warrant and forever defend the same bargained land and premises unto the said Elizabeth Bagley her heirs and assigns forever and by these presents. 

In witness whereof I the said 
Nathan Godwin have herunto set his hand and affixed his seal this the 26th day of January one thousand eight hundred and one 1801.

Signed sealed and Delivered in the presence of
Nathan Godwin
John Godwin
Micajah Godwin

Nathan Godwin Junior (seal)

State of North Carolina
Sampson County, Feburary court one thousand eight hundred and one then was the within deed from Nathan Godwin to Elizabeth Bagley was proved in open court by the oath of Micajah Godwin and ordered to be registered. 
H Holmes, Clk

State of North Carolina Sampson County then registered this third day of April Anna Domino one thousand Eight hundred and one 
O Holmes Regr

There are several important pieces of information included in this deed: 

1)  This land was located on the East Side of the Black Mingo and contains 50 acres. This is the exact description given of one of the tracts of land that Jonathan Godwin received from the State of North Carolina in 1788. 

2) This land was granted to Jonathan by patent bearing date July 1788, thus further confirming that this is the same tract of land Jonathan received from the State in 1788. 

3) Nathan Godwin is the sole grantor on this deed. However, Micajah, Nathan, and John Godwin were listed as witnesses. It is possible they were relatives of Nathan. 

4) Nathan is listed as "junior" in this deed. At first this threw me off because I was surmising that this Nathan Godwin was the son of Jonathan Godwin. However, many new researchers make the common mistake of believing that someone listed as "junior" is the the son of someone with the same name. This is not necessarily true. More likely, there was another man with the same name who was older, thus he was probably called "Senior" and this younger Nathan was therefore called "Junior." I mentioned earlier that there was another Nathan living in Sampson County at the same time. He was older; probably around Rachel and Jonathan's age. This Nathan was also called "Junior" in the 1795 deed he sold along with Rachel and Dred to John Dormond as discussed in Part 2 of this post series. 

Conclusion: 

In this series of blog posts, I discussed Jonathan Godwin's Estate which was inventoried by Richard Godwin in Sampson County, North Carolina in 1792 and the land grants which he received prior to his death and their subsequent distribution by his heirs. 

According to the land grants, Jonathan Godwin received two patents of 50 acres each from the State of North Carolina for lands lying on the East side of the Little Cohera River and on the East side of the Black Mingo River. 

When he died in 1791, his widow was allowed to keep his estate in her possession. In 1792, only 50 acres of land was inventoried in his estate. In 1795, Jonathan's widow Rachel, Nathan, and Dred Godwin sold 50 acres on the Little Cohera, land that was originally patented to Jonathan Godwin in 1788, to John Dormond. In 1801, Nathan Godwin sold the 2nd tract of land containing 50 acres lying on the East side of the Black Mingo River to Elizabeth Bagley. This land was also originally patented to Jonathan Godwin in 1788. Therefore, both tracts of land that were originally granted to Jonathan Godwin in 1788 were accounted for and sold by his heirs in 1795 and 1801 respectively. This was determined by using original deed and estate records found at the North Carolina State Archives. 

Because Jonathan's widow Rachel was allowed to keep his estate in her possession following his death in 1791, I can assume that the Rachel Godwin who sold the 50 acres of land on the East side of the Little Cohera in 1795 was his widow. I am also surmising that because Nathan and Dred Godwin were listed on the deed as well (actually Nathan was the grantor and Rachel and Dred were co-signers), that the three of them were co-owners of the land and therefore heirs of Jonathan. More specifically, I believe Nathan and Dred were both sons of Rachel and Jonathan Godwin. This belief is further supported by Nathan Godwin selling the 2nd tract of land originally granted to Jonathan Godwin in 1788 lying on the East side of the Black Mingo to Elizabeth Bagley in 1801. Although there is no deed (that I could find) in which Jonathan sold this land to Nathan, I believe Nathan inherited it from his father, Jonathan Godwin either shortly before or after he died in 1791. 

By using original estate and deed records, I am able to hypothesize that Nathan and Dred Godwin were sons of Jonathan and Rachel Godwin. 

Can this be proved? 

Possibly...maybe a DNA test can provide me with more information? What do you think? Have I provided a good enough case to convince you that my family structure is correct?  

The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, Part 1
The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, Part 2
The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, Part 3

The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, part 2

On July 10th, 1788, Jonathan Godwin received two patents from the State of North Carolina for 46 and 47 acres each of land lying in Sampson County on the East side of the Little Cohera River and the East side of the Black Mingo River. 

When Jonathan Godwin died in 1791, his widow, Rachel, was allowed to keep his estate in her possession. No mention, however, was made of what was contained in his estate. In 1792 Richard Godwin took an inventory of Jonathan's estate which included only one tract of land containing 50 acres. You can view the contents of his estate in The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, part 1. No description of the land included in the inventory was provided. If Jonathan Godwin received two tracts of land, each approximately 50 acres from the State of North Carolina in 1788, but only one tract appeared in his estate records, then what happened to the other 50 acre tract of land he received from the State? 

It appears as if one tract of land that was granted to Jonathan Godwin by the State in 1788 was sold by Nathan Godwin in 1795 to John Dormand. Rachel and Dred Godwin were co-signers on the deed. Nathan and Dred Godwin were probably sons of Rachel and Jonathan Godwin and this tract of land was probably the 50 acres of land that was left in Rachel's possession after the death of her husband in 1791 and probably the same 50 acres of land that was mentioned in Jonathan's estate inventory. The tract of land described below was the one that was located on the East side of the Little Cohara (River) on the Mill Branch. (Click each image to make them bigger - Transcripts below)

State of North Carolina, Sampson County Deeds

Nathan Godwin and others to John Dormond, 14 Dec 1795

This Indenture made this 14th day of December one thousand seven hundred and Ninety Five Between Nathan Godwin Junior of Sampson County of the one part and John Dormond of the same County at the other part and State of North Carolina Witnesseth that the said Nathan Godwin for and in consideration of the sum of Seven pounds to him in hand paid By the said John Dormond at and before the unsealing and delivery of these presents the Receipt whereof I as hereby acknowledge myself to be fully satisfied contented and paid Hath given granted bargained and sold unto the said John Dormond his heirs and assigns forever. One parcell or tract of land containing by estimation forty six acres of land be the same more or less it lying in Sampson County on the East side of Little Cohara and on the Mill Branch. Beginning at a pine near the corner of a pond thence South 55 West 86 poles to a Red Oak thence South 35 East 86 poles to a pine thence North 55 East 86 poles to a Stake thence to the Beginning. It being a parcell of land granted to Jonathan Godwin by patent bearing date July one thousand seven hundred and Eighty Eight in the thirteenth year of our Independence to have and to hold the said piece or parcell of land aforesaid with all woods, waters, house, orchards, gardens, advantages, privileages, and appertanances thereto belonging to him the said John Dormond his heirs and assigns forever the said Nathan Godwin for himself his heirs and assigns doth promise and agree to and with the said John Dormond his heirs and assigns forever that the said Nathan Godwin hath in himself rightful power to give grant sell and deliver and convey the said piece of land unto the said John Dormond his heirs and assigns forever and the said Nathan Godwin and my heirs will forever warrant secure and defend the just right and title to the above said tract and parcell of land and priviliges unto the said John Dormond his heirs and assigns forever against all lawful claims of any person _____ and all ____ of my kind whatsoever. 

In witness whereof I the said Nathan Godwin doth hereby hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal the day and year first and before written.

Signed sealed and delivered in the presence of: 

Benjamin Dormond

James Beaman

Nathan Godwin (seal)

Dred Godwin (his mark) (& seal)

Rachel Godwin (seal)

State of North Carolina

Sampson County November Term One thousand Seven hundred and Ninety six then was the within deed from Nathan Godwin and others to John Dormond was proved in open court and ordered to be registered

Hardy Holmes, clk

State of North Carolina

Sampson County Registered in the Registers office at the aforesaid county this the nineteenth day of January anna domino 1798

O. Holmes Regr

There are several important pieces of information included in this deed: 

1)  There are three signatures on the deed - Nathan, Dred, and Rachel Godwin; I believe this is significant and provides evidence that Dred and Nathan Godwin were sons of Rachel and Jonathan Godwin

2) This land was located on the East Side of the Little Cohara on the Mill Branch and contains 46 acres. This is the exact description given of one of the tracts of land that Jonathan Godwin received from the State in 1788. 

3) This land was granted to Jonathan by patent bearing date July 1788, thus further confirming that this is the same tract of land Jonathan received from the State in 1788. 

We still do not know what happened to the other tract of land that Jonathan received from the State in 1788. My next step is to look through the Sampson County deeds to see if it was bought of sold. Because Rachel was his widow and Nathan and Dred were presumed to be sons of Jonathan, I started by looking at deeds carried out by them. 

I will discuss this process in Part 3. 

Afterword: 

The Sampson County deeds are all online now at the Sampson County Register of Deeds. They can be downloaded for free! Check it out!

The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, Part 1
The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, Part 2
The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, Part 3

The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, part 1

In this series of posts, I show how I used original estate and deed records to track the distribution of land originally patented by Jonathan Godwin in Sampson County, North Carolina in 1788; I also try to build a case to suggest that Nathan and Dred Godwin were the sons of Jonathan and Rachel Godwin.

In this post, I will look at the estate record of Jonathan Godwin of Sampson County, North Carolina who died intestate about 1791. (Intestate means he did not leave a will). He left behind a widow, Rachel Godwin, who is believed to be the sister of Thomas Bullard and daughter of Jeremiah Bullard. His estate record, however, was only a single page and did not mention either his widow Rachel, or any of his children. The only clues I was able to glean from this record were the following:

1. Richard Godwin was the administrator of the estate 
2. There was only 50 acres of land in the possession of the estate

Estate records are housed at the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, North Carolina. They can be requested by call number in the form of a two digit county code (Sampson County's code is 87), followed by a "508" which is the 3-digit code for estate records, followed by the number of the box in which the folder is housed that contains the surname of interest. The box number is not  known when you request the file, but should be noted for future reference.

The estate file of Jonathan Godwin[1] contained only a single page with writing on both sides. One side stated that it was an inventory of his estate recorded in that court's term; The other side is an actual inventory taken by the administrator, Richard Godwin. Here are the scans of the front and back copies of the single page. (Click on the image to make it bigger). The transcript follows below:

Back side:

"Inventory of the Estate of John Godwin dec’d, May Term 1791"

Front side:

"Sampson County the 15^th of Feb 1792

An inventory of the Estate of Jonathan Godwin Deceased
50 Acres of Land
3 Head of Horses
1 Heifer
12 Head of Sheep
48 Head of Hog
3 Beds and Furniture
4 Dishes, 5 Basons
6 Spoons and 4 Plates
3 Knives and 7 Forks
2 Pots and 1 Kettle
2 Spinning Wheels
2 Pairs of Cards

1 Chest 12 Bottles
2 Jugs 1 Hackle
2 Chairs 2 Ploughs
2 Axes 1 Iron wedge
3 Weeding Hoes 1 Grubbing Hoe
2 Augers 1 chissel and Gouge
1 Griddle and fire Tongs
1 Box Iron and Heater
1 Mares Saddle

Richard Godwin" (signed)

[End of Transcript]

There was actually another document included in this file at one time pertaining to Jonathan's widow. Supposedly, it got lost when it was sent off for microfilming [2] 

In an estate record of 15 February 1791, Rachel Godwin, the “widow of Jonathan Godwin, deceased,” was allowed to keep the estate in her hands, "she entering into bond with good security for 250 pounds." Tenders Richard Godwin and Philip Tew were approved as sureties. This is a crucial piece of evidence tying both Jonathan and Rachel together as husband and wife.  

Jonathan actually owned two tracts of land, both 50 acres a piece, however only one of these tracts of land was included in his estate inventory. He may have given the other tract of land to one of his sons prior to his death.  Nathan Godwin, presumed to be a son of Jonathan and Rachel Godwin, sold a 50 acre tract of land to Elizabeth Bagley in 1801, it being a tract of land "granted to Jonathan Godwin by patent bearing the 10th day of July 1788." This could be the other 50 acre tract of land and will be discussed in Part 3 of this post series. 

The 50 acres tract of land that WAS included in his inventory above was sold by his widow Rachel Godwin, along with Nathan and Dred Godwin, in 1795 to John Dormond. This deed of sale will be discussed in Part 2 of this post series. I believe the Nathan and Dred Godwin who were included on this deed with Rachel Godwin were sons of Jonathan and Rachel Godwin. This land was a "parcel...granted to Jonathan Godwin by patent bearing date July 1788." Jonathan Godwin was only granted a total of two tracts of land and the descriptions match up, so I believe these two tracts of land to be those originally belonging to Jonathan, one of which was given to his son Nathan prior to his death and the other passed down to his widow Rachel and sold between Rachel and her sons Dred and Nathan to John Dormond after Jonathan's death. 

I had to use a combination of original deed and estate records in order to start piecing together this family. The family of Jonathan and Rachel Bullard Godwin is a very controversial one and my construction of their family is actually very different than what has been previously portrayed and accepted as fact by other researchers. However, I am confident that I have sufficient evidence and I have already written up several proof statements backing up my claims. Living in North Carolina where my Godwin family originated from has been very helpful; in addition, having such easy access to the North Carolina State Archives has also been a tremendous help in my research. 

Sources: 

[1] Estate Records of Jonathan Godwin, 1791, North Carolina State Archives, Sampson County, NC, Series of Original Loose Documents of Estate Records, 1784-1923; Call No. 087.508.23; Copied 20 January 2007;

[2] Bizzell, Oscar. Sampson County Court Minute Abstracts, 1784-1800, p. 117. This information was included in Bizzell’s Abstracts, however, the Raleigh archives does not have the actual documents from 1784 to 1794. The microfilmed court records start at 1794. Jerome Tew said these records were removed from Clinton for publishing, however, they were never returned, thus lost. Bizzell copied this abstracted information from an earlier typed abstract of the court minutes.

The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, Part 1
The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, Part 2
The Distribution of Jonathan Godwin's Estate, Part 3