Greensville County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Goodwyn, Edward Everard 1874 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 28, 2008, 4:55 pm Author: Leonard Wilson (1916) EDWARD EVERARD GOODWYN GOODWYN, Goodwin, Godwin, are all forms of the same family name which dates from the time of Saxon supremacy in England. The family name, therefore, is now considerably more than a thousand years old. It will be remembered that the great Saxon, Earl Godwin, was the father-in-law of the last Saxon King Harold, and was a most valiant patriot, who, in less strenuous times, would have been a great diplomat or statesman. Descended from one branch of this ancient family, which through the long centuries has made a good record both in the old country and the new, in public and private life, is Colonel Edward Everard Goodwyn, of Emporia, Greenesville County, Virginia. Colonel Goodwyn was born at "Greenwood," the ancestral home of his father, in Greenesville County, September 26, 1874, the eldest son of David Everard and Fanny Hays (Montgomery) Goodwyn. The other children of these parents were Lucy Meade, Miriam Kloman, Albert Norton, Stella Randolph, and Meade Montgomery. The father, although very young at the time of the Civil War, was attached to the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry, and was noted for his splendid horsemanship. The mother was a native of Warsaw, Richmond County, Virginia, was of Scotch origin and a descendant of the famous Montgomery family of which there are so many accounts in history. The Montgomerys, who claim descent from the noble house of Eglinton, authorities tell us, have long been settled in the north of Ireland, and it is from Ireland that the Montgomerys who emigrated to America came. Richard Montgomery, the Continental General who fell so gloriously before Quebec in 1775, was born in County Dublin. John Montgomery, who settled in Pennsylvania, and was a member of the Continental Congress, was also from Ireland. It was a John Montgomery who granted to the City of New York, January 15, 1730, the charter which was in force for a century—he was styled: "Captain-General and Governor in Chief of the Province of New York and territories depending thereon in America, and Vice Admiral of the same." Roger de Montgomery, who was a relative of William, Duke of Normandy, and who came with him to England in 1066, was the ancestor of the English branch of this house. He commanded the van of the army at the battle of Hastings and, as was the case with the whole retinue, the conqueror rewarded him well in grants of estates and honors, among which were the lands of Arundel and the Earldom of Salisbury. His wife was Mabel, daughter of William de Talvoise. Philip, their son, in the reign of Henry I, came into possession of a fine estate in the shire of Renfrew. His descendant, Sir Robert Montgomery, of Eagleham, was distinguished for his valor in 138S, having captured, at the battle of Otterbury, Sir Henry Percy, known as "Harry Hotspur." One of his descendants, Alexander Montgomery, of Eglinton, was Lord of the King's Bed Chamber. "One of the sixteen Peers of Scotland" in 1700 was the father of Archibald Montgomery, colonel of a Highland regiment of foot, who was distinguished for bravery in the English Army during the Revolution in 1776. He was also Governor of Dumbarton Castle. The Arms of the family were: Quarterly first and fourth azure three fleurs de lis or, 2nd and third gules, 3 rings or gemmed azure. Alexander Montgomery, a member of this family who lived between 1550 and 1615, was a Scottish poet. James Montgomery was another poet—who died in 1854. The brothers, William and Joseph Montgomery, came to America shortly before the War of the Revolution. Joseph was in the Continental Army. After the war Joseph went to Virginia. The Montgomery family were well represented in the Continental Army. Joseph Montgomery was a soldier. A Montgomery family which came to Pennsylvania in 1S03 descended from some of those of the name who, in the time of the Stuarts, fled from Scotland and settled in the north of Ireland. These immigrants were William Montgomery, who sold his Irish estate and, with his second wife, nee Margaret Somerville, John, son of his first wife, Margaret, Henry and William, sailed from Londonderry and came to Pennsylvania. The wife died shortly after they arrived and was buried in the cemetery near Lancaster. Not long after the family moved to Augusta County, Virginia, and rented a farm near Staunton. The father subsequently went to Ohio with his sons and died in 1821. It appears that Henry married in Augusta County but he returned to Ohio and lived with his half-brother John. Henry died in 1870, aged eighty-one years, and was buried in Hanover County. The Montgomery family probably took their name from their ancient seat in the County of Montgomery in the Pays d'Auge where they held several baronies. Colonel Goodwyn's paternal grandmother was Amelia Meade, of the distinguished Virginia family of that name, which came originally from Ireland, so that in his veins there flows Saxon, English, Scotch and Irish blood. The Everard which appears in his Christian name comes from Sir Richard Everard, who was Governor of North Carolina in 1725. His daughter, Susanna, married David Meade, founder of the famous Virginia family of that name, to which the Right Reverend William Meade, Bishop of Virginia, commonly known as the "Iron Bishop," belonged, and he was a near relative of Colonel Goodwyn's grandmother. Colonel Edward Everard Goodwyn was educated partly in the public schools of Greenesville County, partly in a private school at Emporia, conducted by Rev. William Frost Bishop, and partly at Franklin Academy, Franklin, Virginia. His business record is of the best. Arriving at manhood in 1895, he established an insurance business in Emporia, of which he is the sole owner, and which has grown to be one of the largest general insurance agencies in Southside, Virginia. He now represents more than forty leading companies. He possesses a large measure of energy, sound judgment and persevering application, and his associates in business and colleagues in associations and societies have utilized his abilities very generously. At the age of twenty-two he was elected the first cashier of the Greenesville Bank, at its organization in 1897. This was the first bank to be operated in Emporia or Greenesville County. Finding the duties of this position prevented his giving the proper attention to the Insurance Agency which he had established two years before, he resigned the office. When a second bank, the Merchants and Farmers, was organized, in 1902, he was elected Vice-President, which position he has held continuously since that time. In 1902 he was one of the promoters and organizers of the Emporia Light and Power Company, which gave Emporia its first electric lights and its first ice plant. Thus he is Vice-President of the Virginia Association of Local Fire Association Agents, Vice-President of the Merchants aud Farmers Bank of Emporia, clerk of the Greenesville County School Board, in which he takes much interest, especially in the matter of the rural schools; Secretary-Treasurer and Manager of the Emporia Agricultural and Fair Association, which office he has filled since its organization ten years ago. Under his management. it has grown to be one of the principal fairs of the State. He is also a member of the Emporia Dispensary Board, and both a Mason and an Odd Fellow. He is active in Church work, being Junior Warden and Treasurer of the Episcopal Church. Notwithstanding all these varied activities and his own private business, Colonel Goodwyn has found time to become one of the most prominent military figures in the State Volunteer organization. Enlisting at the age of nineteen as a private in Company I, Fourth Virginia Volunteer Infantry, he has been continuously in the service up to the present. The first enlistment was in Franklin in 1893, and at that time Brigadier-General C. C. Vaughan was second lieutenant of his company. In 1895 he removed to Emporia. On the organization of the Greenesville Guards, Company "M," April 30, 1900, he was elected second lieutenant. August 20, 1901, he was elected captain. February 1, 1907, he was elected major of the Third Battalion, Fourth Regiment, composed of the Suffolk, Franklin and Emporia Companies, "F," "I," and "M." On August 3, 1912, after the return of the regiment from the manoeuvres at Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania, he was, much to his own surprise, elected colonel of the regiment composed of the infantry companies of Norfolk and Tidewater. He was one of the five militia officers of the State detailed by Governor Stuart to serve on his staff. The proper motto for this man who, at forty, is not only a successful business man, but colonel of a regiment of militia, and active in a dozen other directions, would be "thorough." Evidently he puts his whole soul into everything he undertakes. The value of a citizen of this quality in any community cannot be estimated. It is not only what he does himself, but also what he inspires others to do. Colonel Goodwyn was married, June 24, 1908, to Annabelle Jenkins Powell, a native of the County, born January 31, 1881, and daughter of Honorable W. M. and Sue (Maclin) Powell. Mrs. Goodwyn's father is, and has been for fifteen years past, Commonwealth's Attorney for the County, and her mother is a member of one of the oldest and most prominent families in that section. The family history of this branch of the Goodwyn family begins, so far as definite information is available, with Henry Goodwyn, of Buckinghamshire, England. This Henry had a son Robert, who settled in Westminster, and in the "Visitation of London in 1633 and 1634," published by the Harleian Society, Vol. I, page 325, it is stated that Robert Goodwyn, of Westminster and of Tower Streets, had married Jane, daughter of Anthony Dollin, of Hainault, in Flanders, and they had an issue, Peter, who was a salter in 1633, and who married Sara, daughter of John Hellard, alias Highlord, a merchant of London. They had issue: Gertrude, who married John Pigot; Susanna, Elizabeth, Sara, John, Mathew, Peter and James. James was the immigrant to America. He settled in York County, Virginia, in 1648, and also had land grants in Westmoreland County. He was a Justice of the Peace and also had the title of major. He served as Justice from 1657 until 1661. In 1658 he represented his county in the House of Burgesses. He lived on Back Creek. His father, Peter Goodwyn, of London, died about 1661, and he returned to England on that account. His first wife, whose name was Rachel, was born in 1030, and died May 23, 1666. She was buried on Back Creek. She appears to have had five sons and two daughters. "Genealogical Gleanings in England," published in the "New England Historical and Genealogical Register," Vol. 48, page 385, gives numerous details about the will of Peter Goodwyn, of London, from which it appears that his sons, James, Peter and Mathew, were his executors. Major Goodwyn was married twice, but presumably all his children were by the first wife. The records are incomplete as to these children, and as to what became of them. The sons are said to have been: Robert, who married one Anne; John, who married Elizabeth Moore; Peter, who married Rebecca Toplady; Matthew Martin, who married one Barbara; Susanna, who married a Duke, and Elizabeth, who married a Blinkhorn. One of these sons, but it cannot be definitely stated which, was the father of Thomas, who was the father of Joseph, who was the father of Peterson, who was the father of Albert Thweat, who was the father of David Everard, who was the father of Edward Everard, the subject of this sketch. This makes Colonel Goodwyn in the eleventh generation from Henry of Buckinghamshire, whose life probably covered the period between 1550 and 1660. James, a very old man, grandfather of a lady who was interested in tracing up this matter, told his granddaughter that James Goodwyn was the grandfather of Thomas Goodwyn, but he did not know which one of the sons was the father of Thomas. Thomas lived in Dinwiddie County, in which he took up land grants. Joseph, son of Thomas, was born in Isle of Wight County, but lived at "The Martins" in Dinwiddie. He married a Miss Peterson, and was the father of Colonel Peterson Goodwyn, who was born about 1745 in Dinwiddie. The late Judge William Samuel Goodwyn, a cousin to the subject of this sketch, and a descendant of Joseph Goodwyn above referred to, is a member of another branch of the Goodwyn family residing in Greenesville County. Colonel Peterson Goodwyn married Elizabeth Peterson in 1775. He was a planter and lawyer, an Episcopalian, lived at "Sweden," in Dinwiddie County, rose to the rank of colonel in the Revolutionary War, for many years represented his County in the Legislature, was elected to the Eighth Congress and served continuously for nearly sixteen years, dying on February 21, 1818, while a member of the Fifteenth Congress. Sweden, the property of Mr. Joseph Goodwyn, is still in the possession of the Goodwyn family, being now owned and occupied by sons of the late Dr. John Goodwyn, who was a prominent physician and planter. He had seven children. His youngest son, Albert Thweat Goodwyn, was twice married, first to Martha King, and second, about 1833, to Amelia Meade, who was first cousin of the famous Bishop of Virginia, William Meade. Albert Thweat Goodwyn was, like others of his family, a planter by occupation, a Whig in politics and an Episcopalian in religion. The Coat of Arms of Major James Goodwyn, of York County, Virginia, is thus described: "Per Pale Gules and Or, a Lion rampant between three fleurs-de-lis counterchanged." Additional Comments: Extracted from: MAKERS OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHIES OF LEADING MEN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION THE MEN WHO CONSTITUTE THE BONE AND SINEW OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY AND LIFE VOLUME II By LEONARD WILSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSISTED BY PROMINENT HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS Illustrated with many full page engravings B. F. JOHNSON, INC. CITY OF WASHINGTON, U. S. A. 1916 Copyright, 1916 by B. F. Johnson, Inc. 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