Ozias Goodwin, Hartford Founder

Compiled by Timothy Lester Jacobs, SDFH Genealogist

OZIAS¹ GOODWIN, HARTFORD FOUNDER (POSSIBLY OZIAS^A) was born abt. 1596 in prob Essex County, England, and died bef. 03 Apr 1683 in Hartford, CT (inventory). He married MARY WOODWARD abt. 1621 in Essex County, England, daughter of ROBERT WOODWARD and JOANE? _______. She was born abt. 1600 in Braintree, Essex, England, and died bef. Apr 1683 in prob Hartford, CT (not mentioned in husband’s probate).

It is unknown when Ozias Goodwin, probably of Black Notley or Braintree, Essex, England, came to the American colonies, but he was certainly in Hartford by 1639. He was an inhabitant “at the town’s courtesie” and held two parcels in the Hartford land inventory of February 1639/40: four acres on which his dwelling house stood with yards or gardens on the road from Founder Seth Grant’s to Centinel Hill; and four acres of swamp on the east side of the Great River. He was one of those who signed the agreement to remove to Hadley, Massachusetts on 18 April 1659, but he did not remove to Hadley.

He was the brother of Hartford Founder Elder William Goodwin.

His name was on a list of freeman dwelling on the north side of Hartford 18 October 1669. It does not appear that he ever held any public office. The inventory of his estate was taken 3 April 1683 and presented in court 4 April 1683.

Genealogies:

• “The Goodwins of Hartford, Connecticut: Descendants of William and Ozias Goodwin”, Frank Farnsworth Starr, Hartford, 1891 (this genealogy unfortunately suffers from a lack of citation, and often neglects to state where births, marriages, and deaths occurred, but it was compiled by Frank Farnsworth Starr, a respected genealogist, who was a frequent contributor to The American Genealogist.)
• “English Goodwin Family Papers: being material collected in the search for the ancestry of William and Ozias Goodwin,” Frank Farnsworth Starr, Hartford, 1921