'Trouble is, the vast majority of men in colonial New England (including other William Carpenters) were husbandmen and yeomen. "Goodman" and "goodwife" were thus only slightly more distinctive than the church-related "brother" and "sister" (church membership was virtually universal).' Gene's equivalency of goodman and goodwife is a mistake. A woman would never be refereed to as yeowoman. Don't forget the all important factor of CLASS. Husbandmen and yeoman were different animals. They certainly were in England in the 1600s. I am sure a husbandman could refer to himself as yeoman, but I am sure his neighbors were acutely aware of class differences and would have snickered at him. I think the all important matter for Rehoboth was where in English society the planters had come from. William's designation as "goodman" was probably not so much of his status in Rehoboth, but of his origins in England. If William's family could be identified in England, I am sure they would be yeoman and would have referred to themselves in their wills as such etc. The 1577 description of yeoman is by William Harrison. BC