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Francis Godfrey (d. 1666/1669)
Elizabeth Unknown (d. aft. 1666)
Frances Godfrey died between 1666 and 29 October 1669. He married Elizabeth ___.
Elizabeth ___ died after 1666.
Francis was a carptenter.
Francis was granted 20 acres in the northwest side of Green Harbor River and a garden place at Stony River on 3 September 1638 and these were laid out for him on 28 October 1640. [1]
Francis is in the Duxbury section of the 1643 list of those able to bear arms in Plymouth Colony. [2]
A 24 January 1643/4 town account of Marshfield has a payment to Francis for “cleaveing lathes.” [3]
Francis took the oath of fidelity at Bridgewater in 1657. [4]
Francis made his will in 1666. He left his wife Elizabeth his house and all his land at Scituate outright. These included 40 acres of upland on the Salisbury Plain, 24 acres of upland on the Johns River, 30 acres of upland on the Towns River and a few small meadow lots. He also left her two axes, a hatchet, chisels, augers, and other tools. He left his grandchild John Cary land, his black mare, tools, a green cloak and other apparel. He left his daughter Elizabeth Cary two cows named Moose and Daisy, two pairs of canvas sheets and his “great bible.” He left his granddaughter Elizabeth Cary a yearling heifer. He left his servant John Pitcher a broad axe. He left his son-in-law John Cary apparel. The residual of his estate was left to his wife. He added that if his servant Richard Ginings lived with his wife and carried himself as he ought, he was to be paid ten pounds at age twenty.
He named his wife his sole executrix. His witnesses were William Brett, James Keith, Nathaniel Willis, and John Hill. The inventory of Francis, an “aged inhabitant” of Bridgewater, was exhibited at the court in Plymouth on 29 October 1669 and his widow Elizabeth took oath to it. The goods at Bridgewater were appraised on 30 July 1669 and amounted to £69-12-11; the goods and cattle at Providence were apprised on 27 July 1669 and amounted to £54-04-06. No real estate was included. [5]
Children of Francis and Elizabeth Godfrey:
i. Elizabeth Godfrey was probably born about 1627. She died on 1 November 1680 in Bridgewater. She married John Cary.
References
1. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640 (Boston: William White, 1855, 1866): 95.
2. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, "List of Those Able to Bear Arms in the Colony of New Plymouth 1643," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 4 (1850): 256.
3. Jeremy D. Bangs, “The Seventeenth-Century Town Records of Marshfield,” The Mayflower Descendant 61 (2012): 121.
4. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, Miscellaneous Records, 1633–1689 (Boston: William White, 1857): 185.
5. Editor, “Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories,” The Mayflower Descendant 17 (1915): 155–6.
21-Apr-2023