John Goodman
of Georgia
Three Families of John Goodman
Source: Georgia Bible Records, Jeannette Holland Austin, compiler. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1985. p. 281-282:
John Goodman Bible
Owner Mrs. Montague Tuttle
691 Peoples St., Atlanta GA.
John Goodman b. 10/31/1772
Sarah Goodman b. 9/29/1778
Mary Goodman b. 2/29/1800
Betsy Goodman b. 12/12/1806
John Tharp Goodman b. 3/22/1810
Kiziah Goodman b. 5/10/1812
Sarah Goodman b. 4/5/1779
Nancy Goodman b. 3/3/1815
Robert Hope Goodman b. 2/12/1819
Susannah Goodman b. 2/11/1823
Stephen Goodman b. 3/19/1777
John Goodman, his book, this 8/13/1815
Sally Goodman, her hand and pen this 8/13/1815
Polly (Mary?) Goodman
Remarks on the Bible Records:
The birth date of Mary Goodman, 1800, seems to indicate that Sarah Goodman, b. 1778, was a 1st wife, not mentioned in the Robert Hope Goodman letter, or perhaps unknown to him.
Note Tharp / Thorpe middle name for John Tharp Goodman b. 3/22/1810.
Sarah Goodman b. 1779, listed later, is John's 3rd wife, Sarah Martin.Susannah was possibly named after John Goodman's sister Susannah, who married Joseph Richardson in Greene Co., TN.
Sally Elsworth, originator of the bible records, was John Goodman's 2nd wife. Her birth date is not given. Her name appears only as the writer, and the date the bible record started and brought up to date as 8/13/1815. Her last entry was probably that of Kisiah Goodman. Nancy, b 1850, may not have lived long, and Sally may not have entered her name for that reason, listing only Betsy, John and Kisiah, the surviving children. This is further confirmed in Robert Hope Goodman's letter in which he says that only 3 children were born to this couple. This would indicate that only 3 of those were still living when he was a young boy. Nancy's name, appearing after 3rd wife Sarah's, may indicate that this name was added after Sally died, ca 1816-18, and 3rd wife Sarah took over the bible and record. The handwriting of the original record would need to be examined to confirm this.
Stephen Goodman, separated from others in family in this record, is probably brother Stephen Goodman, of Barren / Hart Co., KY. Why his name appears at all is curious.
Polly Goodman cannot yet be identified by this researcher. However, Polly was a common nickname for Mary, and could be daughter Mary Goodman b 1800.
It is unfortunate that no maiden names are shown, and no death or marriage records are included in the abstract that I found.
Other Records:
John Goodman was in Oglethorpe
Co., GA in or before 1794. Source: "List of Tax Defaulters year 1794, Oglethorpe
County", in the 12/4/1794 issue of Southern Sentinel & Universal Gazette,
Augusta, GA.
1800 US Census, Oglethorpe Co., GA: John Goodman, Capt. McCarlyle's Dist.,
00010-20100-00
1 male, 26-44, 2 females under 10, 1 female 16-25.
The census entry would seem to
indicate that John Goodman had an otherwise unnamed 1st wife, most likely the
Sarah Goodman b. 9/29/1778 of the bible record above, who was the mother of Mary
Goodman b. 2/29/1800, and one other daughter that died young, and that she died
or they divorced before John Goodman married Sally Elsbury in 1806.
