7:1 Golding of New York
The Family Line of John “of Huntington” New York
Louis Thorn Golding, a direct descendant of Arthur Golding the Translator proved the only descendant of William ‘the Clergyman’ Golding was John Golding who settled in Huntington, New York and he spent years in doing so. John Golding, the son of William the Clergyman was not the same person who was either the John Gaulding of New Kent, Virginia or the John Golding who married Elizabeth Ripley and lived in Essex County, Virginia. All three belonged to separate and distinct families.
Louis Golding began his search for the direct descendants of Arthur Golding and the family line of Essex, England by making an assumption based on what he had found in Hotten’s “Original Lists”.
“..It seemed as though the search had ended inconclusively, and that John (Golding) must be accepted as the probable immigrant ancestor. The genealogist was strongly of that opinion, and so stated in his final report. He based his opinion on the proximity and the dates, and above all leaned heavily, and as it proved too heavily upon the circumstance that Ephraim had named his eldest son John, presumably after his father and another son Thomas, presumably after his wife’s father.
The writer was unsatisfied; it might be true that John was the immigrant but he wanted proof. However there seemed no other place in which to continue the search, and therefore the matter rested for a year or so, when chance again intervened. One day the writer ran across Hotten’s “Original Lists,” and as he always did with genealogical books, examined the index and found the name of Golding. It seemed that one John Golding had gone to Barbados in 1631. Then the writer recalled that John of Huntington’s wife was the sister of the wife of Thomas Higbee “a ship captain and merchant trading to the West Indies.” He speculated, perhaps he was the descendant of John of Barbados and had been shipped by Higbee when the latter visited that island, as was probable because Barbados, in the third quarter of the seventeenth century was very prosperous and the seat of a lucrative trade in sugar and rum. Perhaps, when the vessel returned to Long Island, Captain Higbee (or Higbie) took John, who seems to have been a ‘likely’ lad and a favorite with his father-in-law home, and thus he met Grace Skidmore, Mrs. Higbee's sister and married her. Very speculative and not promising but perhaps worth a try since there was nothing else in sight." (Golding, p. 43)
Louis Golding went on to prove that John, the only son mentioned in the will of William “the Clergyman” Golding was indeed John Golding who by 1673 was married to Grace Skidmore and was in Huntington, New York where he left descendants. There are two problems with the above narrative, however. John Golding did not ‘go to Barbados’ in 1631. He was born there, in Smith’s Tribe in 1630. Also the name of Grace Skidmore’s sister was Jedidah Skidmore and she married Captain Edward Higbee, not Thomas Higbee.
The date of John’s baptism was recorded in Mercer’s BERMUDA SETTLERS OF THE 17TH CENTURY:
The notation reads "Goulden Book V (A) p. 351. This is to certify that JOHN GOULDEN son of WILLIAM GOULDEN, Minister, was baptised April 23, 1630 as you will find by the Register Book of Smiths Tribe, THOS WELLS counsellor July 16, 1670." (Mercer, p. 78)
John Golding’s father was WILLIAM "THE CLERGYMAN" GOLDING and he was born about 1600, probably in Suffolk, England. He died in 1648 in Bermuda. His will was signed 24th August 1648,
"I, William Goulding of Summer Islands, minister of God’s word and the gospel of Jesus Christ..". He married ELIZABETH CHADDOCK. She was born about 1600. She died in 1665 in Bermuda (She is named executrix of her husband's will and so was alive in 1648). The immediate question to arise after reading the will of William ‘The Clergyman’ Goulding is what happened to John, the only son of William who was to receive the land in Suffolk, England and property in Devonshire, located on Bermuda all owned by his father.
In seeking to answer that question I encountered some information that was wrong and misleading.
Mercer went on to say that Percival Golding was the son of William ‘the Clergyman’ Goulding and that is not correct. There was some additional speculation from others. This is copied from wdgolden: Notes for William "The Clergyman" GOLDING*?:
The Reverend William Golding of Bermuda, 1630-1648
"A great mystery --- and possibly your ancient grandfather. >> One of the most potentially important and well documented members of our GFolks family is the Rev William Golding of Bermuda. My theory is that he, and his son John Golding, born 1630 in Bermuda, are the origin of many American Goldings, Gauldings and Goldens in the American South.
>> My theory is that John went to Massachusetts after his father's death in 1648 and was taken in by the Ripley family. John and Richard Ripley, and his sister Elizabeth Ripley, then went to Gloucester, Virginia in 1651 and established a plantation. John married Elizabeth in 1658.
----->> We do not know the parentage of the Rev William Golding, but he was certainly of a 'good family' and well educated. Land owner. He had a personal library that included books in English and Latin. He married the daughter of a governor of Bermuda (Thos. Chaddock) and was partners in many things with another governor (Wm Sayle), and seemed to have some relationship with Capt Josias Forster (Foster) who was yet another governor.
>> WHAT HAPPENED to John Golding? John would be seen as definitely coming from a 'good family'. When the Rev William Golding died in 1648 he left property in Bermuda to his son John. After inheriting the property, John disappears from Bermudan history. HOWEVER, the Rev Golding had a relationship with the churches of Massachusetts, home to the Ripleys. AND the ship that make regular voyages back-and-forth from the Bermudas was captained by Capt Josias Forster (Foster). The John Golding that settled Gloucester, VA in 1651 came from Massachusetts and was transported by the Ripley family in settling Gloucester, Virginia in 1651 as did the Foster family.
----->> So how can John Golding of 1651 be of a 'good family' if he was imported (transported) by the Ripleys. Believe it or not, Richard Ripley was officially imported from England when he migrated to Massachusetts ... even though he came from 'a good family'. This was a bit of a scam in the old days. Whomever imported persons to help populate the colonies usually received 50 acres per imported person. It was not uncommon for these individuals to be able to afford tickets for their passage, but if someone else paid the passage then they were considered 'imported'. As long as you paid your passage back to the person that imported you then they got their 50 acres of land and you regained your freedom from indenture (a common but not necessarily a mandatory aspect of being imported).
>>>> So far, the only thing that I can prove is that John Golding was born in Bermuda in 1630 and was baptized there, that the Rev Golding owned property there and John inherited it when the Reverend died in 1648." (wdgolden, The Reverend William Golding)
Also(wdgolden)
Although a reasonable assumption to make based on the information available, wdgolden is also incorrect. The real accounting of the story of William ‘the Clergyman’ Golding and what happened to the direct descendants of Arthur and Percival Golding is told in the story of the life of John “of Huntington” Golding.
This is copied directly from ENGLISH ORIGINS OF NEW ENGLAND FAMIILIES, Second Series Vol. II: A Twelve Year Hunt for an Immigrant Ancestor by Louis Thorn Golding. Beginning on page 44.
"..This recurrence of the unusual name Percival among the descendants of Ephraim (Golding)indicated at once the advisability of a search for the descendants of Percival of Bermuda, and accordingly the hunt was presently transferred to that deightful seagirt winter resort.
After some difficulty the writer secured the services of a lady in Bermuda, who promptly furnished interesting information. It appeared that there had been two Goldings in Bermuda in the seventeenth century - William, the clergyman, who came about 1630 and Percival, the schoolmaster, who came about 1637 and was living in 1680, but was described as 'very aged'. William died about 1650, leaving a will, in which he mentioned his 'only son John.' No will of Percival or John could be found, but a record of John's baptism in 1631 was found. Also it was found that Ephraim Golding was mentioned in Bermuda history as 'among those who brought ashore treasure from the Spanish wreck' in January 1687. Also it was discovered later that Ephraim was a passenger on the sloop EXPERIENCE, which sailed from Bermuda for Barbados on 3 June 1687. Here was a clear chain of events that connected Ephraim with Bermuda. He was there in January 1687 getting 'treasure' from a wreck, and having received his share, sailed on 3 June 1687 for Barbados and married there 26 June 1687, Rebecca Gibbs whom he must have known previously, probably in Bermuda, as the Gibbs family as at that time numerous and prominent there. The next year, in November, he is found in Hempstead, Long Island, well supplied with money for he bought two farms and the rights of one of the proprietors, assumed a leading place in the town and served on the grand jury.
Interesting and romantic as all this was, it threw no clear light upon Ephraim's parentage and did nothing to prove that he was the original immigrant. In fact, the theory of the New York genealogist that JOHN OF HUNTINGTON was the original immigrant and Ephraim's father was strengthened. John of Bermuda was of about the right age, and if the writer's theory that John of Huntington came there in Captain Higbie's ship was sound, it was clear that he might have come from Bermuda as well as from Barbados. The writer worked for a year or so on the theory that John of Bermuda and Huntington was the immigrant, and exhausted every source of information he could think of. He made a second visit to Barbados and also went to Bermuda and New Brunswick in the hope of discovering something definite, but without results. It seemed as though the hunt had finally ended inconclusively with the question 'Was Ephraim or John the immigrant?'
The hunt had now been going on for nine years, and had led quite clearly and apparently finally to Bermuda. The recurrence of the name Percival seemed to indicate Ephraim's descent from the 'aged' schoolmaster of that name, but there was no proof, and then there was John of Huntington, who might well be Ephraim's father, but who seemed very likely to have been the 'only son John". (baptized in 1631) of William the clergyman. the writer speculated; perhaps William and Percival were brothers; this might possibly explain the survival of the latter name among Ephraim's descendants, even if he was John's son and not Percival's. This might also explain Ephraim's presence in Bermuda at the salvaging fo the Spanish wreck; he might have gone there to see his relatives and being a sailor like his father, had taken a hand in a nautical enterprise. The brother theory seemd the only way out, and the writer was quite impressed with it and decided to see if a search in England would not throw some light on the question.
The possibility of finding a clue in England had been in his mind since he had seen the first brief transcript of Gideon's will in Barbados a couple of years before. At that time he had been struck with the fact that Gideon had mentioned his brothers Arthur and Percival, for he recalled having encountered those names before.
Several years previously, in pursuance of his long interest in the struggle for Dutch independence, the writer had purchased a book called The Fighting Veres by Sir Clements Markham, an account of the two brothers who commanded the English troops in that long contest against Spain. Markham commenced his story with an account of the Vere family from which came the Earls of Oxford, holders of one of the oldest and proudest titles in England. In 1548 the sixteenth Earl of Oxford, cousin of Francis and Horace Vere (the Fighting Veres) married MARGARET GOLDING, daughter of John golding of the parish of St. Paul, Belchamp, County Essex, an auditor of the exchequer for Henry VIII. Their son Edward, the seventeenth Earl was when about twelve years of age, placed under the tutelage of his mother's brother, the 'learned Arthur Golding', his father being dead. Arthur Golding was a famous scholar of the Elizabethan Age, the friend and literary executor of Sir Philip Sidney, translator of the "Metamorphoses" of Ovid and other classics, and as such, one of the sources of Shakespeare. He was also, oddly enough, translator of Calvin's sermons and many other religious works. The similarity of name had interested the writer, and probably cause him to remember that Markham in a footnote stated that Percival Golding had written a history of the Vere family in 1605. At the time he wondered if Percival were not the son of Arthur. Now these two names appeared again in Gideon's will, and it seemed highly probable that the brothers of Bermuda and Barbados were descended from or at least related to the Elizabethan scholar and author. That the connection appeared to be with the family of a distinguished man seemed to make it probable that the search in England would not be entirely in the dark and was worth trying. If it were discovered that William and Percival were brothers it would greatly strengthen the existing probability that John was Ephraim's father. Then, too, there was the possibility that some direct evidence of Ephraim's parentage might be found.
In June 1929, being in London, the writer called upon Maj. Alfred Trego Butler, Windsor Herald of the College of Arms and laid all the facts before him. Major Butler, impressed by the recurrence and conjunction of the names Arthur and Percival, decided that the English connection was with the Suffolk branch of the Golding family, and kindly undertook to superintend the necessary searches. For over two years the work went on, finally bringing to light the wills of Gideon's nephew and others of that and preceding generations in England and clearly establishing the pedigree in the direct line through Percival, the author of the history of the Vere family, and his father, Arthur Golding, back as far as the fourteenth century. Still nothing definite had been found as to Ephraim's parentage.
Both American and English lines had now been traced to Bermuda, but the link there was yet to be found. Thus the matter stood until Major Butler asked for a full copy of Gideon's will, feeling that the two summaries with the writer had already obtained were unsatisfactory. Application was again made to the United States consul, this time requesting a complete certified copy of Gideon's will, exactly as written and spelled. In due season there came to hand eleven typewritten legal-cap pages, bearing the certificate of the Barbados official. It was a most interesting document, drawn with all the elaborate care and pompous phraseology popular at the time.
The testator, after making a number of other bequests, being himself childless, left to each of the eight children of his brother Percival in Bermuda, who were also children of his wife's sister, on thousand pounds of Muscovy sugar, when they should come to Barbados to claim it. This proved to be the long-looked-for proof by which Ephraim's father was determined to have been Percival, and the two lines were linked up in Bermuda. This explained the presence in Barbados, as indicated by the records, of five young Goldings. They had come to Barbados in a year or so after Gideon's death, to receive their rich sugar-planter uncle's bequest. That thousand pounds of Muscovy sugar, then the currency of Barbados, as tobacco was of Virginia, was probably equivalent to $1000 today- a tidy sum, which furnished dowries for Dorothy and Eliza, made it easier for Abraham to marry and formed a comfortable addition to the fortunes of Ephraim, already founded on his share of the 'treasure from the Spanish wreck.' All the children of Percival who were old enough seemed to have hurried to Barbados, as Uncle Gideon evidently intended, and all seemed to have embarked upon matrimony except William, the sea captain, who died.
Thus reconstructed out of the past, the Golding pedigree was laid by Major Butler before the examining committee of the College of Arms and by them accepted and recorded.
The search in England had developed that the writer's 'brother' theory was wrong. WILLIAM AND PERCIVAL WERE NOT BROTHERS, ALTHOUGH PROBABLY RELATED, AS IN A COLLATERAL BRANCH OF THE GOLDINGS THE NAME WILLIAM WAS FREQUENT. However, this did not entirely eliminate John of Huntington from the picture. THE WRITER THINKS THAT HE WAS WILLIAM'S SON, that Higbie brought him to Long Island and that it was through him that Ephraim decided to go there after his marriage. Ephraim had doubtless heard about it from John, whom he probably knew in Bermuda as a boy, or perhaps he had made a voyage there. At any rate, whether through John's influence or not, he did come to Long Island in 1688 and thus became the immigrant ancestor for whom the long search had been made.
This search had been most interesting, embracing as it did both hemispheres and the 'islands of the sea'. It furnished the writer with leisure occupation, took him on many journeys and left with him as material souvenirs the sword carried by Captain Joseph Golding in the French and Indian War and in the Revolution and a bound volume of the sermons of Calvin, translated by Arthur Golding and published by him in 1584. it also cleared up the mystery of the ignorance of his father's generation as to the family history. His father's mother's father and grandfather had been soldiers in Washington's army, hence a policy of silence as to the Loyalist Goldings, which finally resulted in burying the family history in oblivion.
A by-product of the hunt was the right to the arms of the Golding family of Cavendish, confirmed to them at the Herald's Visitation of 1577, as set forth in the certificate of arms issued to the writer by Major Butler, Windsor Herald and genealogist of the Order of the Bath.
The pedigree thus established by Mr. Golding's twelve-year hunt shows that Ephraim Golding of Hempstead, Long Island, the immigrant ancestor of this Golding family in America, who bought land at Hempstead in 1688 and lived there until his death in 1707, was a son of Percival Golding of Bermuda, schoolmaster, who had come to Bermuda about 1637 and was living 'very aged' in 1680 and that Percival Golding of Bermuda was a son of Percival Golding of County Suffolk and London, whose father was the illustrious Arthur Golding, one of the scholars of the Elizabethan Age, whose ancestry has been traced to the fourteenth century. From Ephraim Golding of Hempstead the line of descent runs through Thomas of Northcastle, Westchester, NY who died in 1759; Joseph of Northcastle, the Loyalist, whose will was filed at Gagetown, N.B. in 1789; Abraham 1748-1801 of Somers, Westchester County; Joseph of Somers who died in 1813; Abraham, who was born at Somers in 1805 and died at Perth Amboy, NJ in 1847 and Isaac Thorn Golding, who was born at Perth Amboy in 1835 and died there in 1909, the father of the writer of this article.."
Source: (Golding, p. 44)
In US, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 for John Golding there are several dates of marriages recorded for GOLDING
● Golding, Ephraim & Rebecca Gibbs, 26 June 1689, Barbados; Hempstead, Long Island
● Goulding, Jacob and Elizabeth __; b. 1699 (1700?); Boston
● Golding, JOHN & GRACE (SKIDMORE); b. 1674, b 1683/4; Huntington, Long Island
● Golding, Joseph & Eleanor ___; b 1664; Gravesend, Long Island
● Golding, Peter (1635, 1630-1703) & 1 wife Jane __; b. 1665 (6?); Boston/Sudbury
● Golding, Peter (1635-1703 & 2 wife Sarah (Palmer)(Smith?); b 1673; Boston/Sudbury/Marlboro/Hadley
● Goulding, Roger (- 1694/5) & Penelope Arnold, m/2 __ Cutler; 1 Jan 1672, 1 Jan 1673, 1672/3; Newport
● Golding, William (1613-) & ___ Gravesend, Long Island/Cape May, New Jersey
● Golding, William & Margaret Lake; 7 April 1676, 2 April; Gravesend, Long Island
● Goulding, William, Gravesend & Deborah Quimby, Westchester County, 18 June 1689, 1689; Gravesend, Long Island
● Golden, Winsor (1675-) & Elizabeth Inbolsby; 14 may 1698; Boston
John "of Huntington" Golding married Grace Skidmore, the daughter of Thomas Skidmore and Ellen Whitehead.
"Thomas Skidmore, a descendant of Sir Thomas Scudamore, of Holme Lacy Herefordshire, England was born about 1600. About 1635 he was of Westerly, County Gloucester, England and he sailed to America in the latter part of 1635. In 1636 he was of Cambridge, Massachusetts and in 1640 he sent to England for his wife and family. In 1648 he owned a home lot in New London, Connecticut, in 1650 had land in Stratford, Connecticut and from then on he moved to Fairfield, Connecticut and in 1672 to Huntington, Long Island. He became town clerk of Huntington, representative to the General Assembly in 1673 and served in King Philip's War in 1676. He married first in England, Ellen __. He married second Mrs. Joanna Baldwin, widow of Daniel Baldwin. He married third Mrs. Sarah Treadwell, widow of Edward Treadwell. (Skidmore, 1924)
Children of first marriage:
1. Thomas, of whom further.
2. Dorothy, married Hugh Griffin
3. Jedidah, married Captain EDWARD HIGBEE
4. John
5. GRACE MARRIED JOHN GOULDING
6. Joseph
The common thread in this story is the relationship between Edward Higbee and John "of Huntington" Goulding who married Grace Skidmore, the sister of Jedidah Skidmore. This account is about Thomas Skidmore, whose daughter Jedidah was the first wife of Edward Higbee. Higbee was in business with Jonas Wood and he is probably the person who first brought John "of Huntington" Golding to America from his home in Bermuda after the death of his father, William "the Clergyman" Golding.
"Little is known about the stay of Thomas Skidmore in Stratford except that he was required to build 'in the old field 12 roads 3 ft of fence'. He therefore was a resident for at least some period of time. Edward (Higbee) and Thomas (Skidmore) frequented landing places on Long Island during their trading. Edward's name appears as one of the early inhabitants and land owners of Cow Harbor in the town of Huntington and then a short time later he is given as an inhabitant of Cold Springs Harbor about eight miles west. It appears that Edward WAS IN BUSINESS WITH JONAS WOOD, carrying barrel staves to the West Indies and bringing back rum, sack and other goods. In 1659 he failed to return from one of his voyages and was thought to be lost at sea and Thomas Skidmore, Jr. served as guardian of his children. However, he did return from his voyage arriving on a Sunday. He immediately returned home and embraced and kissed his wife. On the Sabbath!. For breaking the law he was arrested and fined! It appears that about 1663 Edward moved to Middletown, CT. His first wife Jedidah died and he married Lydia, probably not later than 1662. A record in the clerk's office records his purchase of a tract of land from Scankeet, an Indian on 15 October 1664. This land was just west of the town of Middletown on which was 'Higby Mountain' which contained the reservoir of the town water supply. The church records in Middletown record that the Higby's joined the church on 20 September 1674. On May 8, 1667 Edward took the freeman's oath in Hartford thus becoming fully qualified as a citizen. It is known by church records that Edward and Lydia moved to Jamaica, Long Island, New York after 14 October 1677 when the church released them. He traded his land and buildings in Middletown to Abraham Smith and acquired from him 26 acres of land and 13 head of cattle in Jamaica. He resided there until his death just before 23 September 1699, the date his will was probated. (Deed Book A p 145) The widow Lydia and son Nathaniel were authorized and empowered by the court to act as Joint executors. The date of Lydia's death is unknown." Source: Edward Higbee and His Descendants,
US, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 records the name of Edward Higbee's second wife as Lydia Smith (US, New England Marriages Prior to 1700)
Higby, Edward (- 1699) & 1/wf Jedidah (Skidmore); b 1649, New London, CT/Jamaica, Long Island
Higby, Edward (-1699) & 2 wf Lydia (Smith) ca 1661
But what about the time Edward Higbee spent in the West Indies and the opportunity he might have had to meet John, the son of William “the Clergyman” Golding. The text above states he was in the business of the Triangular Trade in the West Indies with Jonas Wood and the time for this would have been before 1659 and ending in about 1663 when he moved to Middletown, CT.
Higbee had a lawsuit about a boat which he bought on Long Island, and the case was tried at New Haven before a court held by the magistrates l8 Oct. 1654:
"Goodman Higby of Stratford informed the Court that he bought a boate of the wife of Jonas Wood of Southampton [Long Island] and had it in possession, and coming to Southhold [Long Island] he met with Jonas Wood who attached the boate, and by order from the constable there had it delivered to him, Jonas Wood being bound to prosecute his attachment at this Court, for which cause Goodman Higby now appeared, but Jonas Wood appeared not, nor any for him. But to prove he bought the boate, he presented a bill of sale dated July the 28th 1654, also a testimony of Henry Easton upon oath before Goodman Grove of Stratford, to prove that Wood's wife had formerly told her husband that she would sell the boate, and he contradicted it not, and that she sould a paire of ezen in his absence wth other goods, & received paye, Sac. Richard Mills of Stratford, now in Court, testyfieth upon oath, that he had bought of the wife of Jonas Wood, called Halifax Jonas, several goods in her husbands absence, which her husband hath aloud of and received of him for them, also he hath bought goods of the said Jonas and in his absence, upon her demand, hee hath paide her for them, which he hath alowed also.
As Jonas Wood was not present the case was postponed. It was again taken up in May 1655. Wood not being prepared to proceed, Higby agreed to a further postponement on Wood's giving bond for £30 as security. The case was again taken up 28 Sept. 1655, and both parties to the suit put in all their evidence; but as the court found, and stated in the record, "in ye pleading ye case both plaintiff and defendant saw themselves defective in dealing the case, whereupon they both consented to issue the matter betwixt themselves." In bringing the parties to an amicable settlement the court no doubt did right. Whether Higby and Wood actually gained the knowledge of court practice which the court so happily discovered at this point is a question. However, Higby and Wood talked the matter over and settled the case. It is probable that Higby either got his boat back, or the money was refunded. Higby was in business later with a Jonas Wood, but it was not this "Halifax Jonas."…
Capt. Thomas Matthews, Higby's cousin, was not a partner with Higby and Wood… It is evident from this affidavit that Higby and Wood, at least, were associated in business; but in the record of a matter before the court of Huntington 29 July 1662, when Thomas Matthews brought an action against Joanna (Strickland) Wood, widow and administratrix of the estate of Jonas Wood, deceased, it appears from the books of account of Capt. Matthews that "six pipes of wine and pipe of rum were delivered aboad the boate upon account of Edward Higbee, Jonas Wood" and himself. (Edward Higbee-Detailed Biography)
John Golding was in Huntington in 1673. There is little that would give any indication of exactly when Higbee and Wood were when they knew John Golding.
"V. Grace Skidmore, daughter of Thomas the pioneer and his wife Ellen Skidmore married John Golding. The town records at Huntington show that he lived in that town and was a taxpayer there in 1673. In 1683-84 he received from his father-in-law Thomas Skidmore, Sr. a farm; the conveyance was by 'turfe and twig' according to the English custom. He lost this farm, in consideration whereof the town of Huntington, by request of Governor Andros, gave him another farm near "Crab Meadow" of forty acres, also twelve acres of meadow near the beach.
In 1684 John Golding conveyed to Nicholas Smith his house and lot in Huntington, Long Island. December 1684 John Golding purchased a house and lot of John Matthews. In 1687 he sold to Richard Gildersleeve, Jr. of Hempstead 22 acres of 'upland and 6 acres of meadow.' In 1686 John Golding and wife Grace deeded to John Skidmore, Jr. 18 acres of upland on "Fresh Pond Neck". (Hawley, 1911, p. 32)
Also recorded on p 30 of the same source is "In 1660 Captain Edward Higbee was engaged in the West India trade, being associated with Captain Matthews and Jonas Wood." (Hawley, 1911, p. 30)
The bio of Captain Thomas Matthews was published on WikiTree:
“Thomas was born about 1620. He passed away about 1686. Thomas Mathews, sometimes called Captain Matthews, was at Flushing L.I. in 1649, trading with John Bowne delivering goods, &c. Captain Thomas Mathews was probably the first merchant in Huntington. He located on the East side of Huntington Harbor before 1660. In 1659 he was bringing goods in partnership with Jonas Wood and Edward Higbie.
"At a Court held in Huntington July 29, 1662. Thomas Matthus plaintiff against Joanna Wood widow and administratrix to Jonas Wood. An action of debt for fifty-four pounds 2 shillings and two pence. Mr. John Simmons of Hempstead appeared in the case as attorney for Joanna Wood. After relating the circumstances of the case Thomas Powell gave testimony in writing that, "What was in my Master's book--that particular about Master's Good Wood and Good Higbie touching the six pipes of wine and three hhds of rum,--when it was writ my Master read it to him or them and asked if it was well, and one of them answered it was. This was at Oysterbay in Daniel Whitehead's store. living with my Master almost nine years I never knew my master's books questioned in the least." J. Matthews produced his books in Court and the case was decided in his favor." JAMES CHICHESTER, RICHARD WILLIAMS, THOMAS JONES, SAMUEL TITUS, Jurymen.
In 1669. Thomas Powell, Attorney for Mr. Thomas Matthews, sold land in Oysterbay to Joseph Ludlam. In 1667."
Edward Higbee was in Huntington as early as 1658, probably earlier. He resided at the head of Huntington Harbor. He was interested with his cousin Thomas Mathews in trade with the Bermuda Islands.” (Matthews)
If John Golding was born in 1630 in Smith's Tribe, Bermuda and his father died in Eleuthera in 1648 when John was 17, where was he and what was he doing between 1648 and 1673 when according to the Huntington Town Records he was married to Grace Skidmore and was given a farm by his father-in-law Thomas Skidmore? In 1673 John Golding would have been 42 years old.
I have a note that says "He may have been in Jamaica in 1670 when Skidmore met him", but I don't know where that information came from.
References
Edward Higbee-Detailed Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved from Johnson and Fisher Family Website: https://johnsonfamily.talldude.net/edward-higby-2852/genstory/246/edward-higbee-detailed-biography
Golding, L. T. (n.d.). In English Origins of New England Families. Retrieved from https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/48087/images/EnglishOrigins2Vol2-003936-40?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=191492
Hawley, E. C. (1911). A Genealogical and Biographical Record of the Pioneer Thomas Skidmore of the Massachusetts and Connecticut colonies in New England and of Huntington, Long Island. Retrieved from https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/14341/images/dvm_GenMono000503-00034-0?pId=50
Matthews, D. (n.d.). Thomas Matthews. Retrieved from WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Matthews-14750
Mercer, J. E. (n.d.). In Bermuda Settlers of the 17th Century: Genealogical Notes from Bermuda. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=y_MRB6Ze1FUC&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=captain+william+waylett&source=bl&ots=cG-pihbrLO&sig=DxP-oP7DBwo5_Iui_YEZxoqxrWM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DzfHUdiEHO610QHxjYD4Aw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Golding&f=false
Skidmore. (1924). In Genealogical and Biographical Records of the Banning and Allied Families. New York, New York, USA: The American Historical Society. Retrieved from https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/16421/images/dvm_GenMono002963-00079-0?pId=76
US, New England Marriages Prior to 1700. (n.d.). Retrieved from ancestry.com: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/3824/images/gpc_newenglandmarriages-0385?pId=53551
wdgolden. (n.d.). Retrieved from facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoldenGenealogy/posts/593103967491910
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