About us
We hope to establish the DNA pattern associated with each branch of the family. By determining the associated DNA patterns we hope to be able to estimate when the various branches diverged.
October 2011
Pedigree Puzzle: Who was Hugh?
Hugh Goddard married Mary Avis in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1787; they raised their family in Greene and McMinn Counties, Tennessee.
Goddards from nearby Sullivan County have wondered for generations if Hugh (roughly the same age as William, their own patriarch) was related to them in some way. No conclusive records have ever been found, but there is tantalizing documentation of business transactions between William's son Joseph (1780-1825), and at least two of Hugh's sons, John ( -1826) and William (1788-1836) in Knox County, TN. Several of Hugh's children married Campbells, well known in Knoxville.
Jane Crouch Williams, the lead researcher for Sullivan County Goddards, says, "The Hugh Goddard family is one I have researched since the 1960s, hoping to connect to our William Goddard-Elinor Muncy family. In 2011, we still believe there may be a connection but have been unable to prove it."
Now Jane has joined forces with the Goddard DNA Project to try and resolve the question with the aid of genetic testing.
If your family includes a male Goddard descendant of Hugh and Mary Avis Goddard, we encourage Y chromosome testing for him. According to Jane's research, likely candidates would be direct-line paternal descendants of one of these grandsons:
October 2011
Pedigree Puzzle: Who was Hugh?
Hugh Goddard married Mary Avis in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1787; they raised their family in Greene and McMinn Counties, Tennessee.
Goddards from nearby Sullivan County have wondered for generations if Hugh (roughly the same age as William, their own patriarch) was related to them in some way. No conclusive records have ever been found, but there is tantalizing documentation of business transactions between William's son Joseph (1780-1825), and at least two of Hugh's sons, John ( -1826) and William (1788-1836) in Knox County, TN. Several of Hugh's children married Campbells, well known in Knoxville.
Jane Crouch Williams, the lead researcher for Sullivan County Goddards, says, "The Hugh Goddard family is one I have researched since the 1960s, hoping to connect to our William Goddard-Elinor Muncy family. In 2011, we still believe there may be a connection but have been unable to prove it."
Now Jane has joined forces with the Goddard DNA Project to try and resolve the question with the aid of genetic testing.
If your family includes a male Goddard descendant of Hugh and Mary Avis Goddard, we encourage Y chromosome testing for him. According to Jane's research, likely candidates would be direct-line paternal descendants of one of these grandsons:
- William Henry Goddard, 1817-1900
- Hugh Goddard (son of Thornton), 1819-1873
- William LaFayette Goddard, 1822-1894
- Hugh Avis Goddard, 1824-1880
- John William Goddard, 1825-1896
- Marcus Bearden Goddard, 1834-1910
- Frank Pierce Goddard, 1852-1930