John Francis Godwin

     John Francis Godwin was born on 19 November 1851 at Queen Anne's Co., MD.^2,3,4,5,1 Samuel Stevens Francis Rochester was appointed as the guardian of John Francis Godwin on 6 May 1862 at Queen Anne's Co., MD.⁶ He signed a deed of release for James F. Hall on 25 November 1873 at Queen Anne's Co., MD. He was released from his roles as guardian and administrator of the estates of Samuel Rochester and Julianna Godwin.⁷ John Francis Godwin was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1892 at Queen Anne's Co., MD.⁸ He married May Stevens Rochester, daughter of Samuel Stevens Francis Rochester and Jane L. McCleary, on 23 February 1905 at Baltimore, MD.^2,3,1 John Francis Godwin left a will on 5 January 1907 at Queen Anne's Co., MD. W. J. Chambers and Madison Brown witnessed the will.⁹ John Francis Godwin left a will on 20 October 1931 at Baltimore, MD. Bessie Heath and Anna Bell L. Adams witnessed the will.⁹ John Francis Godwin lived on 21 October 1931 at 3906 Maine Ave., Baltimore, MD.⁴ He died on 21 October 1931 at Baltimore, MD, at age 79.^9,2,4,3,5 He was buried on 23 October 1931 at Loudon Park Cemetery, Baltimore, MD.
His death notice was published in the Baltimore Sun on 22 Oct 1931.

His obituary was published on 24 October.

John's early life must have been very difficult. Born the last of four children, he is apparently the only one who survived. His father died before John's second birthday. His paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Hall Godwin, who resided with the family, died when he was 7. Then at the age of 10 his mother died. Samuel S. F. Rochester, and uncle on his mother's side of the family, became his guardian. Samuel died before John's 14th birthday. John's new guardian was James F. Hall, a second cousin on his father's side of the family. In 1873 John signed a release to James Hall as administrator of the estates of both Samuel Rochester (his guardian) and Julianna Godwin (his mother).

When he arrived of age, John inherited several tracts of land in Queen Anne's County. His father and mother acquired several tracts from the Hall family. John's great-grandfather, James Hall, willed the following tracts to his five children: Brotherhood, Fox Hill, Notlar's Delight, and Dangerfield. According to deed JT3-522 of 1842, two of those children had already died. Two of the others had sold their share to John Godwin, John's grandfather. John Godwin died in 1825, having willed the property to his three sons. However, two of those died before 1842, leaving only Henry J. Godwin, John's father. The remaining heirs were John A. Hall, Elizabeth Hall Godwin and her son Henry J. Godwin. The deed above and another, JT5-41, partitioned the four tracts between John Hall on the one hand, and Elizabeth and her son on the other. Elizabeth willed her portion of the tracts to her grandson John when he reached the age of 21.

John's father, Henry J. Godwin, had also inherited a tract named White Marsh Addition. This tract was acquired by Henry's grandfather Nathan Godwin in 1790. It was originally surveyed for Charles Wright in 1719 and expanded in 1746. Nathan willed it on his death in 1805 to John Godwin, Henry's father. It descended to Henry as the only surviving son, then to Julianna and their son John. I believe that Henry and Julianna lived on a portion of the White Marsh Addition tract. Their family cemetery is located on this property, today owned by John and Lauren Taylor. It is possible that John and Elizabeth Godwin also lived on this tract. In Nathan's will, he specifically gave White Marsh Addition to his son John Godwin, describing it as "...the house farm on which I now dwell..."

John and his mother Julianna most likely continued living on their farm until Julianna's death. However, I was not able to find them in the 1860 census of Queen Anne's County. In 1870 John was attending school at St. Clement's Hall, an Episcopal boy's school in Ellicott City, Maryland. After accepting his inheritance in 1873, John was unmarried and remained in Queen Anne's county until after 1900. There is evidence that he managed his several farms and became a horse breeder, with an interest in racing. See the attached articles. In 1889 he mortgaged several of his properties. They were sold by the creditors in 1890.

The mortgaged properties included the following:

In 1891 John was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates representing Queen Anne's County. He only served for one term from 6 January through 4 April 1892.

Sometime between 1900 and 1905 John apparently moved to Baltimore. Several of his Rochester family members had lived there for years after the death of their father Samuel S. F. Rochester. In 1905 he married Samuel's daughter, May (sometimes Minnie) Rochester. Incidentally, she was also his first cousin. At the time John was 53 years old and May was at least 40. They remained in Baltimore until their deaths. According to one census record, John was a cashier at a race track. Could it have been Pimlico?

May died in June 1930. John died a year and a half later. At the time he was living with May's niece, Bessie Hartge. John made a will soon after his marriage leaving his estate to May. Since she died before him, he apparently realized the need to make another. On the day before he died, he scribbled a handwritten will on a small piece of paper. He left the bulk of his estate to Bessie's sons, Vernon, Calvin, and Sudler. It is not clear what his estate was worth.