John Godwin

     John Godwin was born on 3 November 1783 at Queen Anne's Co., MD.^1,2 He married Elizabeth (?) on 30 March 1813 at Queen Anne's Co., MD.^1,2 John Godwin married Elizabeth Hester Hall, daughter of James Hall, on 18 January 1817 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Church Hill, Queen Anne's Co., MD; The marriage license was recorded on 17 Jan.^1,2,3 John Godwin left a will on 5 February 1825 at Queen Anne's Co., MD.⁴ He died circa March 1825 at Queen Anne's Co., MD.⁴ His estate was inventoried on 12 March 1825 at Queen Anne's Co., MD. John Andrew Hall was the executor of John's estate. Francis A. Rochester and Goldsberry Price inventoried John's estate.⁵
In John's very brief will, written shortly before he did, he only mentioned three sons - Robert, Henry J., and John. However, by 1842 both Robert and John had died. The evidence of this is found in Queen Anne's County deed JT3-520, which partitions the tracts in the estate of James Hall. John had purchased some of those tracts and willed them to his three sons. The deed makes it clear that Henry J. was the only son remaining to inherit this land. John's wife, Elizabeth, also inherited her rightful portion of the land directly from her father. The tracts named were Brotherhood, Fox Hill, Notlar's Delight, and Dangerfield. After the death of Henry J. and his mother Elizabeth, all of this property descended to John Francis Godwin.