Jeremiah Godwin & Sally Wilkinson

Jeremiah Godwin Jr 1766 – 1820 | his parents
& 1784 Sally Wilkinson 17xx – 1843 | her parents
of Stockley Plantation and Suffolk, Nansemond Co VA
& Putnam Co GA


This is my working hypothesis – the way I see it as of this moment!!


thanks go to the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va for the Sharples’ portraits

64.34.6 64.31.1
1809 Sally Wilkinson and Jeremiah Godwin Jr
64.34.6 64.34.1
Attributed to Felix Sharples (American ca. 1786-after 1824)
Chalk/Paper 10 x 8 inches
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
245 West Olney Road, Norfolk, VA 23510

Jeremiah Godwin Jr and Sally Wilkinson were married 30 Sept 1784.
Jeremiah Godwin was born 2 Feb 1766 the son of Jeremiah Sr and wife Mary Holladay;
two days later his mother died 4 Feb 1766.

Sally Wilkinson was the daughter of William Wilkinson of “Shackley Hill” and Suffolk.
Family oral history has it that Sally Wilkinson had an uncle that was Commodore of the British Navy.[from Skip Boyd]

Jeremiah Godwin Jr and Sally first lived at “Stockley Plantation” on the Nansemond River
in 1813 they were living at the Castle Inn in Suffolk VA. [Charles Whitlock’s (the former tavern)]
in 1817 on 135 acres named “Athens” NW of Suffolk below the river’s oxbow.

Jeremiah Godwin Jr died in Putnam Co GA in 1820, and his widow returned to VA.

Children of Jeremiah Godwin Jr and wife Sally Wilkinson:
1. George Godwin 3 Dec 1785 at “Stockley Plantation” – 1866 at “Stockley Plantation.”
he Lived on Main Street in a house built on Dr. Robert H. Fisher’s lot.
Married 1804 Frances [Fanny] Green 1785 – aft 1850
daughter of Thomas and Mary Giles Green

64.34.5 64.34.9 64.34.8
1809 George and Frances Green Godwin, Mary Giles Green
64.34.8 64.34.9 64.34.5
Attributed to Felix Sharples (American ca. 1786-after 1824)
Chalk/Paper 10 x 8 inches
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
245 West Olney Road, Norfolk, VA 23510

  1. Harriet [Harriot] Godwin 17 Sept 1787 Nansemond Co VA – 1825/29 Murfreesboro NC
    married 1805 Thomas Wood Borland M.D. 1770/80 Scotland – 1831/32
  2. William H Godwin Sept 1789 –
  3. Keaton [Rueben] Godwin 5 Dec 1791 – ca 1836
  4. David Godwin 2 Feb 1793 – 1841
    married 1st Best
    a. one child dy
    married 2nd Charity [Cherry] G Kelly
    b. Georgianna Godwin
    married James Robert Maguire of Suffolk
    c. Col. David Jeremiah Godwin 1829 Nansemond Co VA – 18 Jan 1890 DC — CSA
    9th Virginia Infantry, Colonel, a lawyer before the war. Wounded in 1862; resigned and joined the Invalid Corps.
    Obit of David J. Godwin, in the Washington Post 1-20-1890. A judge of the corporation court of Norfolk City, state legislator; lost a race for US Congress and the VA Supreme Court postwar. Buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Portsmouth VA.
    married 1st ca 1858 Lucrecia P Wilson of Portsmouth
    Dau of W H Wilson and Ellen Keeling
    i. George W Godwin ca 1859 Portsmouth VA –
    Married Clara Tebeault of Norfolk
    ii. Ellen Keeling Godwin 26 Oct 1860 Portsmouth VA –
    iii. Lucrecia Wilson Godwin ca 1864 Portsmouth VA –
    Married Theodore Rogers of New Jersey
    iv. Harriott Godwin ca 1867 Portsmouth VA –
    Married Daly of Washington DC
    v. Mary F Godwin ca 1869 Portsmouth VA –
    vi. Sussie Godwin ca 1871 Portsmouth VA –
    Married 2nd Mary Elizabeth Parker of Charleston SC
    iv. Harold Godwin
  5. Nathan Godwin 23 Jan 1795 –
  6. Eliz Godwin 15 Feb 1797 –
  7. Jeremiah Godwin III Feb 1799 – 1827
    married 2 Jan 1823 Mary Rosser [did she die at childbirth?]
    a. Benjamin Franklin Godwin buried AL
    married Sarah Pleasant Caver
    i. James Cicero Godwin buried Salty TX; Milam Co
    married Sarah Elizabeth Williams
    1. Annie Verda Bella Godwin
    married Samuel Albert Smith
    a. Lillian Annie Smith
    married Jack Harris
    parents of Barbara Hensley
  8. child – not named
  9. Albert Godwin Aug 1803 – never married
  10. Elmira Godwin 20 Jan 1807 –
    Married Mr. Murray
  11. Sally Brown Godwin 16 Nov 1808 – 1861 New Kent Co VA
    married Gates Co NC 30 July 1827 John Parker Boyd 1798 – 1861 New Kent Co VA
    a. John Parker Boyd Jr
    22 July 1853 Dallas Co AL – 18 July 1916 Grimstead, Gwynns Island VA
    married K-Q Co 11 May 1876 Ada M Wright
    8 July 1857 King & Queen Co VA – Aug 1885 Matthews Co VA
    Childbirth.
    i. William Arthur Boyd
    19 Mar 1877 Matthews Co VA – 25 Aug 1907 Near Sparrows Point, Baltimore MD
    married Baltimore MD 24 Dec 1899 Lucy Alberta Insley
    20 June 1885 Baltimore – 10 Dec 1972 Baltimore MD
    1. William Earl Boyd 9 Apr 1904 Baltimore MD – 12 Sept 1967 Annapolis MD
    married Alexandria VA 18 Jan 1938 Jane Mildred Boyd 10 Dec 1911 Severn MD – 2 Dec 1997 Annapolis MD
    parents of William E [Skip] Boyd Jr

Sources:
John Bennett Boddie’s “Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County Virginia.”
chapter XXV on the Godwin Family by Mildred M Holladay
Family History: Virginia Genealogies #1, pre-1600 to 1900s
Genealogies of Virginia Families III, Fl-Ha

E-Mail from Barbara Hensley of Houston TX: I descend from the first Thomas Godwin through Thomas whose son married Martha Bridger, Their son Thomas who married Mary, daughter of Capt. Edmond Godwin, through Jeremiah born l727 who married Mary Holliday, through Jeremiah b. l766
who married Sally Wilkinson,
who had Jeremiah, who married Mary Rosser,
through Benjamin Franklin Godwin who married Sarah Pleasant Caver,
through James Cicero Godwin who married Sarah Elizabeth Williams and
through my grandmother Annie Verda Bella Godwin who married Samuel Albert Smith and
Then my Mother, Lillian Annie Smith, who married my Dad, Jack Harris.
That is a mouthful, isn’t it. We live in Houston and have been to Al. , met a Godwin relative and visited the burial site of Benjamin F. Godwin, his wife, and several of his children. I
saw the stone of My great grandfather buried in Salty, Tx., Milam County, Tx.

I have wills and probate of Jeremiah, who married Sally Wilkinson. He died in Putnam Co., Ga., and she went back to Va. I know the Boddie, Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight book, says -the 3rd- Jeremiah died young but not so.
We have also been to Milledgeville, and it is very pretty, lots of trees but didn’t find any information on the Godwins. I have never been able to find the parents of Mary Rosser.


Jeremiah Godwin 1727 – aft 1787 | his parents
& 1748 Mary Holladay 17xx – 1766 | her parents
& 1767 Mary Pedin 17xx – 1769 | her parents
& 1770 Mary Reade 17xx – 1782 | her parents
& 1787 Ann Gray [Blunt] [Blow] 17xx – 1790 | her parents.
of Nansemond Co VA


This is my working hypothesis – the way I see it as of this moment!!


1727 – 22 May – Jeremiah Godwin was born son of Thomas & Mary Godwin.
1748 – 18 May – Jeremiah Godwin married Mary Holladay dau of Col. Anthony Holladay
1766 – 4 Feb – Mrs. Mary Holladay Godwin died.
1767 -March 1 – Jeremiah Godwin married 2nd Mary Pedin.
1769 – Feb 16 – Mrs. Mary Pedin Godwin dies.
1779 – Feb 7 – Jeremiah Godwin married 3rd Mary Reade.
1782 – April 19 – Mrs. Mary Reade Godwin dies.
1787 – Sept 11 – Jeremiah Godwin married 4th Ann Gray Blunt Blow as her 3rd husband.
1790 – Aug – Mrs. Ann Gray Blunt Blow Godwin died
When did this Jeremiah die???

Children of Jeremiah Godwin and Mary Holladay:
1. Anthony Godwin 14 Sept 1749 – of “Sleepy Hole.”
Married 1770 Ameliora Godwin
a. Thomas Godwin
married Sally Godwin [she later married Major Winn]
b. Edmund Godwin
c. Anthony Godwin
d. Jonathan Godwin
married Emma Hockley
e. Joanna Margaret Godwin
married Dick Wardrop
f. Esther Godwin
married Alfred Hinson of Bermuda
i. Emeline Godwin Hinson
married Gen. Crump as his 2nd wife
g. Charity Godwin
h. Frances [Fannie] Godwin
married 1805 Gen. Francis Marshall Boykin of Isle of Wight
i. Margaret
2. Charity Godwin 3 May 1755 – 1770
3. Lucy Godwin 27 Aug 1757 –
4. Holladay Godwin 4 May 1759 – 1769 a daughter
5. Mary Godwin 17 Oct 1761 – 1763 dy
6. Keaton Godwin Mar 1764 – a daughter
7. Jeremiah Godwin 2 Feb 1766 –
Married 30 Sept 1784 Sally Wilkinson

Children of Jeremiah Godwin and 3rd wife, Mary Reade:
9. William Godwin 31 Dec 1770 –
Married 21 Jan 1790 Ann Blunt
a. Sarah B Godwin 27 Jan 1791 –
b. Joseph B Godwin 18 May 1794 –
c. Anne Godwin d 18 May 1797 –
d. Son.
e. son.
f, three unnamed sons including a set of twins.

10. John Godwin lived at “Poplar Bridge” Isle of Wight VA
married Catherine Dickson
a. Catherine Dickson Godwin
married 1826 Thomas Henry Pitt Godwin as 2nd wife
their children all died young
11. Joseph Godwin
married Amelia Wilkinson
a. Amelia Wilkinson Godwin
married 1819 Thomas H P Godwin
12. Jesse Godwin
married Mary Godwin of Nansemond Co

Sources:
John Bennett Boddie’s “Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County Virginia.”
chapter XXV on the Godwin Family by Mildred M Holladay
Family History: Virginia Genealogies #1, pre-1600 to 1900s
Genealogies of Virginia Families III, Fl-Ha


Col Thomas Godwin III, ca 1680 – 1734/40 | his parents
& 1703/4 Mary Godwin | her parents.
Of Nansemond Co VA


This is my working hypothesis – the way I see it as of this moment!!


This Thomas Godwin was the son of Col Thomas Godwin II.
His wife Mary was the daughter of Edmund Godwin, brother of Col. Thomas Godwin II.

1714 and 1723 – Member of the House of Burgess
1731, 1732, and 1734 sheriff of Nansemond Co VA

His family Bible is with descendants living in New Orleans LA

Children of Col Thomas Godwin and wife Mary Godwin:
1. Thomas Godwin 10 July 1705 – 1749
Vestryman in St John’s Chuckatuck and sheriff in 1749
Married Margaret Reade? Six children
2. Mary Godwin 19 Sept 1707 –
Married Holladay
3. Edmond Godwin 19 Feb 1712 – 1762
Will 31 Jan 1762 – prob 1 July 1762: Edmund Godwin. Leg.-to my wife, the plantation on which Martha Pitt now lives, with reversion to my son Edmund; son Jeremiah, with reversion to my three children, Edmund, Elizabeth, and Millicent; daughter Priscilla; son Brewer; granddaughter Julia Pi
married 1st Ann Brewer
Dau of Thomas Brewer
a. Col. Brewer Godwin d 1799
Married Hannah Wills.
Dau of John Wills

i. Brewer Godwin
1. Alexander H Godwin
ii. Dr. Josiah Godwin
iii. John Godwin
iv. Dolly Godwin
v. Priscilla Godwin
b. Edmund Godwin
married Ann King
daughter of Henry King and Martha Browne
married Holland Wills
Daughter of General Wills 1794 will
c. Jeremiah Godwin d. 1782
Married Martha.
i. Jeremiah Godwin
married 1787 Ann Blow
ii. Mary Godwin
iii. Elizabeth Godwin
Martha married 2nd 1787 Rowland Reynolds
d. Elizabeth Godwin
e. Millicent Godwin
f. Priscilla Godwin
married bef 1746 Ann Applewhaite
daughter of Henry Applewhaite Will 1741
4. Joseph Godwin 8 Sept 1713 – 1749
from his Will dated 12 Oct 1747 “Item, I give to my sisters Mary Holladay, Patience Gregory, and brother Jeremiah each fifty shilling to buy them a mourning ring.”
Married Johanna Margaret Jackson?
a. Mary Godwin
b. Ann Godwin
c. Sophia Godwin
d. Christopher Godwin d ca 8 Sept 1781
Capt in the Rev. Army killed at the Battle of Eutaw Springs.
Married Clotilda Godwin
dau of Jonathan Godwin and wife Charity Holladay

About Clotilda Godwin by Mildred M Holladay [ca 1938]
Clotilda was a great beauty and belle. She visited relatives in Williamsburg and was on friendly terms with the statesmen and prominent men of the period. A brilliant woman, whose family made her marry a wealthy cousin much older than herself. According to family tradition, she led him a dance. During the Revolution she enjoyed herself riding about on her fine horse; she wore a blue velvet riding habit that has become historical in the family circle. Thus attired one day she met some American soldiers trying to elude the British, who were pursuing them. Among them were perhaps many of her friends and relatives. Advising them as to the road they should take, for the main road forked at the spot, she hurried them on their way. The dust from the horses hoofs had hardly cleared when the Red Coats appeared. Clotilda knew she could not foil them by giving the wrong path. But she determined to save her friends and what “Madame Clo,” undertook to do, she did. An officer approached her with the expected question. Madame Clo was fascinating. The officer was in a hurry to go, but Madame Clo held him, and he was no longer keen on the trail. Increasing her spell until she was sure that the pursued had had full time to get ahead she then told the courteous gentleman the way the men had gone, but in such a way that they thought she was fooling them. So they did not go that way, thereby losing their prey.
Towards the latter part of the war, Clotilda Godwin raised a great scandal in the county. An English officer fell in love with her, and she encouraged his attentions, and some said she eloped with him. It would be interesting to know if he was the officer who pursued the Americans and was so charmed by her. Family tradition, however, has never said more of Clotilda than was necessary as a rule, and when her uncle, Thomas Holladay, spoke of her in angry scorn, his young son Andrew, one of her devoted followers, reproved him for his strictures. Father and son quarreled —Andrew’s ears were boxed by his irate father and the youth, then about 18, left home swearing that his family should never hear of him again. His fate has always been a mystery and from that day to this, nothing has been heard of him by them.
Many years ago one of the old Godwin Homesteads in Chuckatuck was sold and left in the house was the portrait of Clotilda Godwin. None of the family wanted Madame Clo though a lady living in Chuckatuck told me that it was of a stunning woman.
Clotilda lived to a great age. She and her husband had spent their fortune in their early days. When timeworn she opened a school for girls at Chuckatuck, and many in the country were horrified and declared that Madame Godwin should never teach their children. A rival school ma’am appeared on the scene, but Clotilda Godwin never booked a rival. Her very advanced pedagogy left the other lady, not a leg to stand on. Unfortunately, her ideas, in general, have not come down to us, but some of her spelling methods still linger–among them that dairy delicacy bonny clabber, which she spelled b-a-u-g-h N-a-u-g-h c-l-a-u-g-h b-a-u-g-h. In a short while, she reigned alone, and the doors of the other school were closed. My father remembers having been sent to her school when he was five years old. The school being near the gates of the home, he was carried over each day on the back of a man servant. He could remember nothing of her methods; but the woman herself made a great impression on him, he thought her “the oldest thing he had ever seen.”
5. Martha Godwin 1 July 1715 –

Married bef 1749 James Godwin db8p308
6. John Godwin 23 Sept 1716 – dy
7. James Godwin 3 Oct 1717 – untraced
8. Elizabeth Godwin 3 Nov 1720 –
9. Patience Godwin 14 Mar 1723 –
Married James Gregory
10. Jeremiah Godwin 22 Mar 1727 –
Married 18 May 1748 Mary Holladay 17xx – 4 Feb 1766
dau of Col. Anthony Holladay
married 1767 Mary Pedin d. 1769
married 1770 Mary Reade d 1782
married 1786 Ann Gray [Blunt] [Blow] as her third husband

– – – – – – – – – – – – –
re Col. Brewer Godwin – d. 1801 Isle of Wight
married Hannah Wills
Dau of John Wills

e-mails from Tim Riley –
I live on land originally deeded to Johnathan Brewer and left to his relative Brewer Godwin and Hannah Godwin, who apparently left the land to their son, Dr. Josiah Godwin who supposedly built the home approx. In 1789ish. He, in turn, left it back to his mother and then his nephew Alexander H Godwin.
The tract of land on which this two-story house stands was part of a grant of John Brewer, who died in Va. in 1635. On the south chimney of the house are three dates which appear to be 1716, 1766, and 1789. One has to assume that the house standing now was built or restored at the latest date given. In that case, Dr. Josiah Godwin put his home on land given by his father and mother, Brewer and Hannah Godwin in 1795. Brewer Godwin’s will, probated 1800 “…to my son Josiah – the plantation on which he now lives, the lands which lie on the south side of the road to the Brick Church (St. Lukes).”
Dr. Josiah Godwin died shortly after his father and left “the plantation I now live on called Mount Airdere” to his mother for her life and then to his nephew, Alexander H. Godwin, son of Brewer II.
The home lies on the banks of Brewer’s Creek in Isle of Wight Co., Va.
We have no more information than that above and tidbits found on sites like yours,
If anyone out there has info, please contact me.
Thank you, Tim Riley

Sources:
John Bennett Boddie’s “Seventeenth Century Isle of Wight County Virginia.”
chapter XXV on the Godwin Family by Mildred M Holladay
Family History: Virginia Genealogies #1, pre-1600 to 1900s
Genealogies of Virginia Families III, Fl-Ha

4 thoughts on “Jeremiah Godwin & Sally Wilkinson”

  1. Sally Godwin Wilkinson 1766-1843
    And
    Jerimiah Godwin jr 1766-1820

    Are both my 5th great grandparents ,
    My line is ⬇️

    Sally godwin wilikson
    Elmira wilkinson godwin
    James murray
    Robert wallace murray
    Isom murray
    Cauley jackson murray
    Then my mother
    And me

  2. This is so much fun. Yes, I discovered the Bridger Society last winter and verified my qualifications for membership. I had planned to go to VA (from California) to explore all this and even participate in their reunion in May, but alas, COVID. It will have to wait…but I continue to learn more and will probably have a richer experience when I do get to visit. Warmly, Alisa Moore

  3. This has been such a wonderful discovery, thank you! I’m a DAR through Anthony Godwin, but have followed my ancestry line back to Joseph Bridger DOB 1627. I’d love to attach a screenshot here. I don’t have a website. Thank you so much for all your research – you helped me break through a brick wall!
    Joseph Bridger 1627
    Samuel Bridger 1584
    Martha Bridger 1646
    Thomas Godwin 1680
    Jeremiah Maj Godwin 1727
    Anthony Godwin 1749
    Margaret Joanna Godwin 1851
    Catherina Ann Dick 1811
    Emily James Wescott 1854
    Ora Landon Fields 1893
    Vivian Lennox Gordon Harrison 1915
    Melinda Harrison 1941
    Alisa Moore 1962
    Jack Moore 1994
    Clyde Moore 2019

    Warmly, Alisa Moore

  4. I am also descended from Thomas Bridger II and Martha Bridger by way of their son, James. I was born and raised within two miles of where our Godwin, Pitt and Bridger ancestors settled in VA. My great aunt indicated that the Bible of Thomas Godwin was in the possession of Mrs. Olyve Borland. This I found your name. Are you aware of the Bridger Society which is very active and involved with the archaeological search going on at White Marsh, the Bridger home in isle of Wight county, VA.

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