Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Godfrey, Austin 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 9:43 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

AUSTIN GODFREY. As an example of the helpful lives which men of character and 
perseverance may live, mention may justly be made of Austin Godfrey, the 
prominent farmer and dairyman of Lockport Township. He is a member of a 
pioneer family of this county, and has himself made his home here from a very 
early age. He was born in Erie County, N. Y., August 31, 1822. His father, 
Henry, a native of Vermont, was left an orphan at three years of age. With but 
few advantages in youth, he nevertheless became a man of fine character and 
excellent standing. Settling in Erie County, N. Y., he took up a tract of 
timber land twenty-five miles from Buffalo, and this he cleared and 
cultivated. During the war of 1812 he served as quartermaster, and was in 
Buffalo at the time it was burned. While living in New York he married Candace 
Warren, by whom he had four sons and two daughters, Austin being the youngest 
and the only one now living. Candace Warren was a daughter of Jabez and Hannah 
(Sumner) Warren, the latter of an old family who fought in the Revolutionary 
war. Jabez Warren's mother married a second time, her husband being an 
Englishman who was ever loyal to King George, and in his daily prayers prayed 
for the success of the English. This was more than the patriotic spirit of 
young Jabez could brook, and he ran away from home at the age of sixteen, 
enlisting in the colonial army, and fighting in many of the battles of the 
Revolution. Finally he settled in Vermont and reared his family. From there he 
moved to Aurora, Erie County, N. Y. By occupation he is a surveyor. When our 
subject was a boy of eleven, October 1, 1833, the family came west and settled 
in 24 Will County, Ill. The father and the oldest son took up one hundred and 
sixty acres each, a part of which is in what is now Dupage Township, Will 
County (then Cook). When Austin was fourteen the land was divided, and he and 
the brother next in age to him conducted, together, what was known as the 
Godfrey farm, on the stage line from Chicago to Ottawa. They had charge not 
only of the farm, but also of the tavern and stage horses. The partnership 
continued until our subject was twenty-five, when the property was divided, he 
continuing on the same place. In 1874 he went to Joliet for the purpose of 
giving his children educational advantages. There he built a residence and 
spent two years. On his return to the farm he resumed its management. In 1886 
he bought two hundred and forty-seven acres, comprising the old Hawley farm. 
Here he built a residence, granary and an addition to the barn. The old part 
of the barn, which is still standing, was the first frame barn of any size 
built in Will County. Besides this place, on which he lives, he owns four 
other farms, which he rents. Since coming to his present location he has given 
his attention more especially to the dairy business, in which he has been 
notably successful. On his place he has between fifty and sixty head of milch 
cows, all of the Holstein breed. In order that the cattle may go to either 
side of the main road, without necessitating the opening of gates, he built a 
passage way under the road, an idea that has proved an excellent one. The 
grain raised on the farm is almost wholly used for feed. All the improvements 
on the place are modern and indicate that the owner is a man of intelligence 
and progressive spirit. As a Republican, Mr. Godfrey has been active in local 
politics. He has served as supervisor, highway commissioner, school director 
and trustee, filling each office with the intelligence and energy noticeable 
in his conduct of private affairs. His accumulations are the result of energy 
and industry, intelligently applied. His enterprise and ability have won for 
him a popularity that is a permanent tribute to his merit. During the long 
years spent in this county he has seen the country bloom and blossom as the 
rose, and has taken a deep interest in its progress. As a citizen he has 
always been public- spirited, and as a farmer and dairyman thrifty and 
energetic. By his first wife, Lavinia Warren, Mr. Godfrey had two children, 
one now living, Emma A., wife of George W. Potter, of Joliet. After his first 
wife's death Mr. Godfrey married Miss Lucy Denton, who was born in Henryville, 
Canada, December 3, 1837, a daughter of Capt. John and Sylvina (Harrington) 
Denton. The latter's mother was a sister of Rev. Hosea Ballou, the noted 
Universalist divine, and who was of French-Huguenot descent; her grandfather 
was state surveyor in Vermont, and belonged to a noted family in which were 
many professional men. Capt. John Denton, who was a son of William Denton, a 
Revolutionary soldier, was born in Massachusetts, and became an exhorter and 
local preacher in the Methodist Church. He spent many years in Canada, during 
which time he took part in the Canadian war of 1837, as a captain in the 
British army. From Canada he moved to Dupage County, Ill., in 1847, and 
settled on a farm near Naperville, where he died two years afterward, at the 
age of sixty. His wife, a native of Vermont and a member of an old and 
influential family of that state, died in Lockport when almost eighty-two 
years of age. They were the parents of eight children who reached maturity and 
married, and of these five are living. Miriam is the widow of Samuel Wilson, 
of Lockport; William J., a resident of Lockport for years, died there at the 
age of sixty-six; Leonora married Edward Welch and lives in Iowa; James L. is 
a retired farmer in this township; Lury (a twin of Mrs. Godfrey) is the wife 
of Jonas Beach, of Lockport; and Abigail, who married George Besse, died when 
thirty-five years of age. When Mrs. Godfrey was nine years of age, in 1847, 
she moved with her parents to Dupage County, Ill. Much of the time since then 
she has made her home in Will County. After completing her schooling she 
taught for three years. In religion she is a Congregationalism to which faith 
all of her children also adhere. Her second son, Howard, is deceased. The 
others are named as follows: Herbert A., a farmer of this township; Daisy C., 
wife of Arthur Jones, living in Michigan; Carrie, Mrs. William Monro, also of 
Michigan; Arthur M., who assists in the management of the home place; Guy R. 
and Roy S., both of whom are with their parents. 

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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