Hoping for a DNA Link

I got great news this Christmas season. My maternal uncle has already sent in his Ancestry DNA test and I am awaiting the results. Better still is a descendant of Hugh Goodwin(1842-1926) has agreed to test. I will drop that kit in tomorrow’s mail. 

I have been searching Hugh Goodwin for a long time now. I know that my great-grandfather was John Goodwin(1860-1897). I know that both John and his brother Peter Goodwin(c.1855-1901) emigrated from Ireland and settled in Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan. They each had several children baptized there at Holy Cross and St Raphael. They both purchased their graves at Calvary Cemetery across the East River in Woodside, Queens within days of each other in Feb 1893 to bury their 5 month-old sons, who had been baptized the same day at Holy Cross in Sep 1892. 

What I noticed from the sponsors on the baptismal certificates for Peter Goodwin’s sons in 1891 and 1892 were their names; Owen Goodwin in 1891 and Peter Goodwin in 1892. I was unaware who these men might have been. Most peculiar was the name Francis in 1892. The father was named Peter as was the baby baptized. The godfather would have to have been a second Peter Goodwin. A parent cannot be the baptismal sponsor for his own child. 

Trying to answer this question led me to my first discovery of the Hugh Goodwin family in the 1880 US Census. Living on West 38th Street and born in Ireland, Hugh Goodwin was married and listed with four children: Margaret, Owen, Peter and Sarah and an adult male with an unspecified relationship named Owen Goodwin. I had found a likely sponsor for the 1892 Peter and two potential Owens for the 1891 Owen. Working from knowns to unknowns I started down the Hugh Goodwin trail. I was unable to find a Hugh Goodwin in the 1900 or 1905 census records that matched him. I was able to find one living in almshouses in the 1910-1925 census trail. He died at the Staten Island Farm Colony in 1926. His parents were listed as Patrick Goodwin and Catherine Rogers on the death certificate. 

Government institutions are often excellent repositories of data. Over his long history of poor house living he recorded more than once that his parents were Patrick Goodwin and Catherine Rogers. His son Peter Goodwin was listed as his next of kin as late as 1912. 

A check of the International Genealogical Index many years ago, revealed that Hugh had married his first wife, the widow Ellen Rafferty, in 1872. His parents were listed as Patrick Goodwin and Catherine Rogers. This also cleared up why such a large gap existed between Owen and Peter in the 1880 census. They were not full brothers but half-brothers. Owen Rafferty was enumerated correctly with his mother and sister as Rafferty in the 1870 census. 

Hugh and Ellen had three children: Patrick(1874-1876), Peter(1877-aft 1911) and Sarah(1879-1904). Patrick’s godfather was named Owen Goodwin, suggesting the possibility that the Owen Goodwin from the 1880 census might be a relative , possibly a brother. 

I learned that Hugh Goodwin was buried at Calvary Cemetery in a grave purchased in 1901 by Martin English. I found that Hugh had purchased a grave in 1876 that contained three burials; his son Patrick in 1876, his wife Ellen in 1890 and a Helen Flaherty in 1901. 

I found the 1890 Police census for Hugh with his two surviving children on West 46th Street. He remarried a widow Helen Connigham in 1894 but no sign of her appears after the wedding. 

As I searched I found that my ancestor and his brother Peter were the sons of Patrick and Catherine Goodwin. I wondered if Hugh and possibly Owen might be their cousins but they also could have been full brothers. That would reveal a maiden name for Peter and John’s mother, which I do not have. 

These four men live within blocks of each other for a decade. All of the circumstantial evidence points to a connection. Both Hugh and John had daughters named Sarah Goodwin. I know that John and Peter had a sister named Sarah Goodwin(1850-1925) back in Ireland. 

My test target is the great grandchild of Sarah Goodwin Flaherty(1879-1904). She had three children in 1899, 1901 and 1902 but only her eldest survived infancy. That son had issue and my target is from that line. If we match it will point further to a connection but not definitively link the four Goodwin men as brothers. Margaret Rafferty Moons English(1864-1920) was Hugh's stepdaughter and Martin English was her second husband. That explained why Hugh was buried in the grave he was. 

My uncle and potential cousin did both test and got the ethnicity results. Neither would change their settings and allow a comparison of their DNA to mine and others.