Goodman History and Genealogy Introduction

Purpose

The primary focus of this website is on the history and genealogy of early GOODMAN and related families of England and Wales, and in Colonial America through the 1800s, including those in the states of VA, NC, TN, KY from 1600s through early 1800s, and KY, IN, IL, KS, MO, TX from early 1800s thru now. You will also find at least some information on ANDERSON, BLOCHER, BRIGHT, CONWAY, FENTON, FOWLER, FUQUA, HARPER, LEWIS, OVERTON, POND, REYNOLDS, RICHARDSON, ROUTH, TERRELL, THORP/THORPE/THARP, WILLIAMS and many other families related to these early Goodmans.

This site is a "Work In Progress", and contains my own conclusions and surmises based on the documentary evidence and other facts as currently known by me, or by our other wensite contributing authors. Some pages on this site may also contain extracted and interpreted data from various publicly posted EMails, bulletin boards and sources other than my own research. These are referenced, including some URL links, wherever applicable.

New Website and Features!

More than twelve years after first being available to the Goodman genealogy community, I have finally converted my old regoodman.com website (which was originally on AOL) to a new Web 2.0 collaborative format, and have also moved it to this new domain and website at: GoodmanHistory.com. While I have made every effort to insure that all of the old page links will still work, at least temporarily, if you have a link from your own website to my old one, or in one of your "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" lists, please replace it with the new url. After about 12 months, when the old website hosting service expires, those old urls will no longer work. My email address will continue to work, even after that time, so no worries there.

Effective with this new website, you may now post your Goodman and related family queries on our Goodman History and Genealogy Forum. Your Goodman queries can also be sent to the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or posted on applicable family surname web sites, such as GenForum or Ancestry.com. However, I will personally respond to specific questions regarding my direct lines as posted on this site, and welcome any feedback and/or supplemental information. I also monitor posts to the RootsWeb GOODMAN-L, REYNOLDS-L, FUQUA-L, RICHARDSON-L, and several other RootsWeb surname and county lists.

This new website also has the ability to support additional content authors. See "How to Participate" for additional information about how you can contribute and participate. One of the advantages of authoring content here, is that all hosting is free, and you do not have to concern yourself with the technologies of building an advanced, user-friendly website yourself.

Background on Ron Goodman's Goodman Genealogy Research

In 1979, my aunt, Josephine Goodman (nee Routh), published a wonderful, small book about our families. In 1989, she sent a few pages of updates to her immediate family. This information is intended to supplement that book, major portions of which are included here in the section on Socrates Goodman and his descendants. Her work and results have been an inspiration to me, and this work owes much to her efforts. It has also been expanded in scope to include the results of my own researches on even earlier Goodman families in America, not only our own, but many that seem to me to be related. In addition, it includes much about the origins of the Goodman name and lines of Wales and England

In recent years, computer technology, online systems and databases have grown to encompass the area of genealogical research. Personal computers have made genealogical research available to much of the public. A computer CDROM can contain data on up to 1,500,000 individuals. Some institutions and companies, such as Banner Blue software, are collecting genealogy data from their users, as well as public sources, and are publishing large CDROM indexes and databases. Many individuals and organizations are contributing to this effort, and standards have been established for the exchange of genealogical data via computers. Much of these materials have been collected and organized in that way.

In addition, the telecast of Alex Haley’s "Roots" mini-series in the early 1980s has raised the awareness and interest levels of people all over the world about the significance of their family heritage. As a result, many public institutions, including the Public Libraries of many cities, have collected genealogical materials, and made them available to the general public. Many new genealogical books are being published, and many older works are being reprinted. The Jacksonville, Florida Main Library maintains a large genealogy department, primarily for the Southern states. That collection was my first major exposure to the science of genealogy, and provided much important data. Genealogy has recently become the fastest growing hobby in America.

To all of those individuals and institutions that have contributed to this effort, I give thanks in the "Sources" section at the end of this material. And, to all of you who read this, I hope that you will be encouraged to research your own roots, and contribute to this document in the future, especially if you are related to any of the families mentioned in this work. See the Sources section for additional information about how to help with this effort.

Also check out my wife's website and blog, dedicated to her barbershop 4-part harmony quartet, Rush Hour!