General Notes

There are two theories as to the origination of the family name, GOODALE, GOODELL, GOODALL. One is reported by a research bureau in Washington, D.C. and supported by Dr. Robert L. Goodale of Ipswich, Mass.:

      The name is of Norse origin. There was a Goodel de Brixi who came from Normandy with Edward the Confessor before 1066. The Goodalls were a very early family in the British Isles, stemming from members living in Goldale, now Gowdall, a town in the parish of Snaith, Yorkshire. They were of the landed gentry and yeomanry.

      Among the earliest definite records are those of Villa de Goldale, Johannes or John Godhale, Recardus or Richard de Goldall, and Johannes or John Godhall of Yorkshire, in the year 1379. In the class of 1470 at Oxford was a Richard Goodale (recorded in the library of Merton College). Listed at the head of his class, the name was `Godyle.'

It is true that in early times very little attention was given to the spelling of names, and during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, there was no fixed authority for the spelling of either `proper' names or surnames.1

The other theory is advanced by Professor Isaac Goodell of Ft. Worth, Texas, after much study:

      Robert Goodell is claimed to be of French Hugenot descent. `Goodelle' is the French origin of our family name and this spelling is yet found in Paris and a number of smaller towns in France. Later, one of our ancestors emigrated to Scotland, and about 1580, as tradition goes, a Goodelle family (Robert's grandfather) moved from Scotland to London. The name of Goodelle was Anglicized to Goodell, then Goodale and later Goodall in the coastal counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, England. Baptiste Goodell, supposed to be a son of that family and uncle to Robert, made his first appearance as an actor with William Shakespeare in Henry VI before Queen Elizabeth in 1589.

The name is significant of family occupation as may be inferred from the coat-of-arms of the Scottish families, described as follows:

      `Arms: On 3 caps and in the middle fesse point as many ears of barley, two in saltire, and one in pale of the last.

      Crest: A silver cup PPR, motto Good God increase'

1 This was also true in early America. The record of Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolution gives no less than 16 different spellings of the name Goodale, many times with reference to the same man in the same document.

At any rate, to be found recorded in the Parish Records of Dennington, Suffolk County, England, are the following:

      Marriages: 1590 12 June Robert Goodale and Joan Artys

      Baptisms: 1601 15 Aug. Robert, son of Robert and Joan Goodale

Other children of this couple whose baptisms are recorded also are Mary, 1591; Margaret, 1593; William, 1596; Anne, 1599; Edward, 1603; Elizabeth, 1607; and Thomas, 1610.
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The Goodale_Goodell_Goodall Family
especially the Artemus Kimball Goodale Family
Copyright 1999 Merriam Roebuck Wiggins. All Rights Reserved.

King James had succeeded Queen Elizabeth in 1603, followed by King Charles in l625. One of the first acts of King Charles on his ascension to the throne, that caused a storm of indignation throughout the country was the imposition of a forced loan without the grant of Parliament. The imposition of ship money was the final measure that drove thousands to America.

In the 9th year of the reign of King Charles, 1634, Robert Goodell3 and wife Katherine Kilham (daughter probably of Henry and Alice Goodale Kilham) sailed from the port of Ipswich, Suffolk County, England, on April 30 on the ship `Elizabeth,' Capt. William Andrews, Master. With them were daughter Mary, 4, and sons Abraham, 2, and Isaac `age one-half year.'

The Goodall Crest

They landed in Salem, Massachusetts, where Robert purchased 543 acres of land from the town of Salem and Danvers. That same year he received a grant of 40 acres from the town of Salem, between Ipswich River, Redding Road and the Newburyport turnpike. In 1652 the town laid out to him 504 acres.

Children born in Salem to Robert and Katherine were Zachariah, 1638; Jacob, 1640; Hannah, 1642; and Sarah, 1645. In 1646 Katherine died and Robert married Margaret Larraby in 1647, by whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth.

Robert seems to have devoted his life to the development of his large grant for the benefit of his sons and daughters to whom, as they married, he gave generous acreages as wedding gifts, thus creating a family settlement about his own homestead. His firm, clear handwriting would indicate a good education, but he took no part in governmental affairs and his name seldom appears in the records in any capacity except as plaintiff or defendant in suits based on the ownership of his land and stock. On August 30, 1669, he made a settlement on his second wife, Margaret: "12 acres of land, a new dwelling house, two cowes and a horse or mare fitt for her to ride on." He died and his will was proved June 27, 1683—he left his estate to his daughter Elizabeth and his grandson, John Smith. Wife Margaret was mentioned as having already been provided for, as were his other children.