Hi all, I would like to emphasize on the "document" fragment sent earlier (and provided below) that it has not been verified against the county court records. Until verified, I am of the opinion that this transcription may have too many errors for it to be a legitimate link between Richard GOODE and Abraham GOAD. As well, based on name variations found in record transcripts, I am of the opinion that in all likelihood all of the GOAD surnames in the will be found to be GOOD or GOODE instead of GOAD. Richard Goode appears in many records of Old Rappahannock and Essex Counties. His name is invariably transcribed as Good or Goode, but never Goad or Goad. In the Richmond County records, Abraham's last name is always transcribed as Goad, Goade, Gourd, Goard, or Goarde, but never, so far as I have seen Goode or Good. That the name variations found for Richard's and Abraham's surnames never matched the other man's name is evidence that suggests that the pronunciation of the surnames may have been sufficiently different to preclude any common variation of spelling. These men were Englishmen of the 17th century and the accents that they had would have been decidedly different than today's American English. Since variations of the Goad name often carried an "r" even into the 19th century the pronunciation probably originally had an r sound to it. With no similar variations of Richard Goode's name, the"r" sound was probably never a part of his surname. If my conjecture is true, then, based on pronunciation, Goode/Good and Goad/Goad/Goard are sufficently different to reduce the likelyhood of Richard being Abraham's father. The earliest record of an Abraham Goad in Virginia is on a list of tithables in October 1661 in Lancaster County. http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikegoad/html/doc00018.htm In 1651, the transport of a Richard Goode was mentioned in a land grand on the north side of the York River. The north side of the York River is Virginia's "Middle Neck." This is also where Essex County is. Another Richard Good is a transportee in a land grant in 1655 in Lancaster County, the land grant is said to be on the south side of the Rappahannock. Today, Lancaster County is solely on the north side, on the Northern Neck. Another transportee, a Richard Goade, is found in Northumberland County in 1656. There is also a also an Andrew and John Gourd found. All of these transportees are found in "Cavaliers and Pioneers" http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikegoad/html/doc00016.htm The point, of course, is that Richard Good of Essex County is not the only candidate for Abraham's father. Other documented possibilities exist, including, possibly, an earlier (1661) Abraham Goad. Mike At 02:45 AM 7/17/99 +0000, mgoad@cswnet.com wrote: >WILLS AND DEEDS, ESSEX CO, VIRGINIA, 1691-1722, Book 2, page 201, >November 1, 1705. SARAH CURTIS. "all my wearing clothes and household goods >I brought to John Curtis plantation we we was married to go to my dearly >beloved daughters Elizabeth Blake, Mary Dougherty and Sarah Howlett" (list >and division follose) "twenty five acres of land, being a part of a greater >quantity granted to Richard Goad by patent 1 Aug 1670, not to be appraised, >but sold to the highest bidder, also the tack and plantation equipment I >brought with me when I was married to John Curtis. The proceeds to be >divided equally between my dearly beloved sons, ABRAHAM, THOMAS and RICHARD >GOAD". Last week, I stopped by the Essex County, Virginia, Courthouse to see if I could locate anything on this. Unfortunately, the reference is totally messed up. Deeds and Will Book 1 and Book 2 were the Old Rappahannock County books. (Old Rappahannock County was split into Essex and Richmond Counties, with a new Rappahannock County being established later elsewhere.) Also, the date range is really off for that to be one of the books. Deeds and Wills, book 2, for Rappahannock County, had dates in the early 1660s. Essex County numbering picks up at book 3 and November 1, 1705 is found in Deed and Will book 12. Unfortunately, the will of Sarah Curtis was not on page 201 of Book 12. I had stopped there for what I thought was going to be a quick lookup and was not prepared for a longer stop as Karen and I were on our way to Williamsburg from visiting family in McLein, Virginia. The courthouse transcript of the will may very well be in one of the books. However, not being well studied in early 18th century script, I had no chance to find anything in the short time I had available. With the help of one of the clerks, I was able to find one reference to a Sarah Curtis, but that was in an index that told us she was referenced in the will of a Dorothy Henry (which Mona Kennedy has mentioned here previously). I was really hoping to be able to share something new with y'all, but, all I've managed to do is verify that the reference is wrong. Now all we have to do is find the right reference and the will. Maybe I'll be lucky in the future. My sister-in-law and her husband are thinking of building a retirement home on the Potomac side of the Rappahannock. If so, we may be visiting them a bit more often. Mike