William Godbey & Nancy Dickerson
As a new and strictly online researcher of the Godby/Godbey and Dickenson/Dickerson lines, I’ve been stunned at the amount of information available. I’m also curious about the amount of contradiction and misinformation that I’ve found. I’ve got one generation (where these two lines meet) that leaves me with many questions. Perhaps someone has information to resolve these?
1. Children:William Godbey (b. 6 Jun 1775, Montgomery County, VA) married Nancy Dickerson (b. 16 Mar 1778, Fayette County, VA) in 1798 in Montgomery County, VA. They are listed variously has having one child, Nancy (see “Descendants of Thomas Godbey (1587-1622) of England,” http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~swva/The%20Godbey%20Generations3.htm)http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~swva/The%20Godbey%20Generations3.htm), one child Mary Polly (see “The Family History of John W. Pritchett,” http://www.virginians.com/redirect.htm?topics&1624.http://www.virginians.com/redirect.htm?topics&1624.) or 8-9 children (see “NOTES ON THE GODBEY FAMILY,” http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~swva/The%20Godbey%20Generations2.htmhttp://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~swva/The%20Godbey%20Generations2.htm and “Joel Hager’s Research November 2002,” http://www.gencircles.com/users/hagerj/2http://www.gencircles.com/users/hagerj/2) Most of the children listed are supported by the 1820 census in Cabell County, VA, where William and Nancy moved in 1800. I assume this means that the first two accounts are incomplete. Does anyone know why the births have not been found and recorded by these otherwise extensive genealogies? Were William and Nancy not of a persuasion to have their children baptized? Was Cabell County too much of a wilderness without record-keeping capabilities? Was there a rift between William and Nancy and their families? Were records lost? It just seems odd that both family lines stop investigations at this point.
2. Nancy Godbey. The only evidence that I’ve found that Nancy b. 1801 is the daughter of William and Nancy Dickerson is the 1850 census in Logan Co. VA in which William, age 74, is listed with Nancy, age 49, 5 Godby children aged 6-16, and a boarder. Other records of daughter Nancy show her birth in 1818, making her age 32 in 1850, not 49. I have a strong hunch that the Nancy in the census record is William’s second wife, Nancy Workman, and the children are theirs. This would mean that the youngest child was born when William was 68. A stretch, but not impossible (especially when you consider that William’s son Russell’s last child was born when Russell was 66, and Russell’s daughter Margaret gave birth when her husband was 62. It seems to run in the family.)Does anyone have any evidence to support or reject the assertion that this Nancy is his wife, not daughter? I could not find a marriage record for William and Nancy Workman, but I do know that first wife Nancy Dickerson died in 1823. One source lists Nancy Workman’s birth in about 1775, but gives no documentation.
Any further information would be most appreciated.
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Re: William Godbey & Nancy Dickerson
Nancy Snow 5/07/03