This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: MarilynRoth58 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.goff/962.10/mb.ashx Message Board Post: I'm trying to determine if the first John GOFF of Cape May, NJ, was this one: John GOFF m. 22 May 1701, East Hampton, Suffolk, NY, Ann EDWARDS. There are many records of East Hampton for the EDWARDS family. The first was William EDWARDS, who left a will, pr. 21 Oct. 1685. He named wife Anne, ex., son John and John's sons Josiah and William, and son Thomas & his sons Ephraim & William; daughters Ann SQUIRE & Elizabeth BAKER and Elizabeth's children Richard, Thomas, Isaac, Benjamin & Elizabeth STRAT[T]ON. [Elizabeth had m1. Richard STRATTON who d. 1675, & m2. 1678, Thomas BAKER.] Wm. also mentioned that ownership of the land he had given to his daughter Sarah was being debated with Nathaniel DOMINY. Ephraim EDWARDS sold land in East Hampton, NY, 8 Sep. 1701, with dower released by wf. Sarah, & quitclaim by Thomas EDWARDS, heir and eldest son of the eldest son of William EDWARDS. Ephraim EDWARDS was named tax collector in Cape May Co., NJ, in 1713, and his estate was inventoried 2 Jan. 1715/6 Cape May Co. but not closed until 1726, administrator Humphrey HUGHES. Some do not think Ephraim left issue, though he did have two daughters bpt. 1699 & 1701, East Hampton, where he "owned the covenant" 31 Dec. 1699, as did William & Josiah, 17 Mar. 1699/1700. There were others in Cape May Co., NJ, including Josiah EDWARDS, who had land there in 1733, & Ephraim, who had land in 1737. Josiah EDWARDS ( b. 1699, NY, s/o Josiah) had dau. Martha, b. 1732, who m. 1757, Peter CORSON. Some say that the wife of the first John GOFF died in 1702. However, there was a marriage of John CORSON to Mary GOFF, m. lic. 4 June 1731, Secretary's Office, Burlington, NJ. They had children 1732 through 1742. Mary must have been daughter of the first John GOFF. If Mary married at a normal age, she was born after John, b. 1702. Either the first wife was living after 1702, or John [1] remarried. Have you found proof that John of New Jersey was grandson of Edward of Massachusetts? I do not think that Edward was a brother of William, the regicide. Oxford Alumni Bulletin has Stephen GOFFE, matriculated Oct. 1691, aged 16, M. A., 1699; sons Stephen, Nov. 1621, 16; John, 1627, 17; Nathaniel, Mar. 1642, ae. 16; & Wm., created M.A., 1649. There was also a James of St. Clements Lane, East Cheap, London, whose will of 17 Jan. 1656, named brother, Maj. Gen. Wm., and brothers-in-law Edward BOVERY & Nicholas ADY. Thus, we have Stephen, b. ca. 1575, with sons Stephen, James, John, Wm., & Nathaniel. The advanced education date & the sons' birth dates seem to verify the marriage in 1604 of Stephen GOFFE to Deborah WEST. Edward GOFFE of Cambridge, MA, was b. ca. 1593 & married Joyce FROST, 6 Mar. 1624, St. Mary's, Wherstead (on the south edge of Ipswich, also listed in BOYD's Marriage Index for Suffolk). Do you have any further clues about these people? Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board. <br>