Today begins the family sketches of Woodruffs in my husband’s ancestral lines.
There are some indications of a generation or two before this John Woodruff. However, while online records state he was born in 1574, no confirmation of that year has been found, as yet.
Also, sometimes his father is called “Sir” and sometimes not, which makes me very suspicious.
Because of these inconsistencies, this ancestral line will begin with John Woodruff, born c1574, probably in Kent, England. There is a marriage (transcription, no image) recorded at St. Mary the Virgin, Fordwich, Kent, England between John Woodruff and Elizabeth Cartwright on 19 October1601 listed in FindMyPast.
After marriage, John Woodruff moved to the parish of St. Mary Northgate in Canterbury, Kent, England.
However, John was buried on 4 October 1611, at St. Mary Northgate, Kent, England at the young age of 37, leaving his wife and one son, John, who had been born in c1604 (no birth or baptism found, but the date is reasonable.)
John Woodruff left a will written in September 1611 and proved in October 1611. He described himself as husbandman who was “very sick in bodye.” He left his estate to his widow with a small bequest to his son.
Elizabeth (Cartwright) Woodruff quickly married (2) John Gosmer, 19 October 1611 (transcription only at FindMyPast) at St. Mary Bredin, Canterbury, Kent, England. That must have raised some eyebrows at the time. Perhaps the marriage in Canterbury was on purpose, given she had only been widowed for 15 days!
Child:
- John, baptized c1604, reportedly at St. Mary Northgate, Canterbury, Kent, England; died 9 May 1670, Southampton, Suffolk, New York; married Ann Ward, 8 October 1627, Nonington, St. Mary the Virgin, Kent, England. Nonington is about 10 miles southest of Fordwich. There is a John “Woodrife” baptized on 1 January 1604 in Sittingbourne, Kent, England, about 20 miles from Fordwich, but it is unknown if this baptism is the source of our John’s baptism.
John Woodruff accompanied his stepfather, John Gosmer, a joiner, and his mother to the New World, first to Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts and then to Southampton, Suffolk, New York, becoming the immigrant ancestors of thousands of Woodruffs today.
With the death of John Sr. at such an early age and leaving only one surviving son, his life sketch is very short.
I agree, the remarriage is fast, but given the era, I can’t blame a widow with a child for securing someone else to provide for and, more importantly, protect her. It was a tumultuous era…
Canterbury was such a small city at that point, that even moving from St Mary Northgate to St Mary Bredin wouldn’t likely have made much difference.
It’s also possible, I suppose, her husband had been ill for a while so they had set up the remarriage together. Either way, I love that you found all these details so far back!