BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
John Goodenow and Mary Axtell
John Goodenow was born about 1635 in Dunhead, St. Andrew, Wiltshire, England. He was the first of six children of Edmund Goodenow and Anne Hannah Barry.
In 1638, John's family and a significant portion of his extended family sailed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the ship "Confidence," arriving in New England on April 24. They settled in Sudbury, Massachusetts where John would remain for the rest of his life.
Mary Axtell was christened on September 25, 1639 in Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire, England. She was the oldest of three children of Thomas and Mary Axtell. The Axtell family emigrated to Massachusetts about 1643.
John Goodenow and Mary Axtell were married in Sudbury on September 19, 1656. John worked as a farmer and served as a captain in the militia. The couple had twelve children:
Mary (Axtell) Goodenow died in Sudbury on April 14, 1704 at about age 64.
In 1705, John, now about 70 years old, married Mary Stone.
John lived to be about 86. He died in Sudbury on August 6, 1721.
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