Captain Edmund Goodenow   "Immigration: 24 April 1638 (age 27 of Dunhead, on manifest of Confidence of London, cc tons). Occupation yeoman.  Held an official position as church warden of the parish at Donhead St. Andrew.   Nevertheless he was fined in 1636 and sentenced to do public penance for attending "nonconforming" sermons outside his parish. Also reprimanded in 1637 for going to church in Shaftesbury, where his brother, Thomas, lived.  Donald Robert Goodenough, "I imagine he was among those Englishman who came to America in search of greater religous freedom.'  Very active in Sudbury affairs."  (Goodenows who Originated in Sudbury, Massachusetts 1638 A.D.- Theodore James Fleming Banvard)

1638:  Came in the "Confidence". The house-lot assigned to him was on the north street, the third east of the meeting-house, and adjacent to that of John Haynes. He was an early inhabitant on the west side, and probably built the "Goodnow Garrison."   (History of Sudbury, Massachusetts - Hudson)

"Having briefly examined fifty candidates for citizenship, each one of whom had come from a very distinct English background, the committee ranked all of these men in an economic heirarchy that was to be fixed and final.  The minister, Edmund Brown, was first man; Brian Pendleton, second; Thomas Cakebread, a miller who had been lured from Watertown, third; William
Pelham, brother of an important investor and government official, fourth; Peter Noyes, fifth; Edmund Goodnow, sixth; John Knight, a wealthy Watertown man, seventh; Edmund Rice, eight; George Munnings, ninth; William Ward, tenth; Walter Haines, eleventh - and so on down the list." (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

1639;  Edmund first constable of Sudbury, MA.  Rated 6th on list of economic heirarchy in Sudbury.  (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town  - Powell)

1640;  Edmund Goodnow and John Bent appointed to assign all timber to cut for any man's need with power to fine anyone who either failed to get permission before felling a tree or who disobeyed his towns's timber keepers.   (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

"Both John Goodnow and his brother Edmund opposed a policy which made the Sudbury commons freely available to new citizens, once the "due proportions" of the original settlers had been drawn up.  Both men were appointed, in 1644, by the town to a committee given power "to dispose of so much land to any [person], as they shall see each occasion, provided they decree not to any above six acres."
"The resources of the commons could not be used indiscriminately either. The townsmen, as early as 1640, authorized Edmund Goodnow and John Bent to "assign all timber to befallen to any man's necessity", with power to fine anyone who either failed to get permission before felling a tree or who disobeyed his town's timber keepers."
"Following the significant order of 1640, pledging money to go to law against the colony in behalf of the town, the townsmen were content to have their land committee divide up and stake out the land and to obey their Court-appointed constable, Edmund Goodnow, in his effort to maintain peace and order."   (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

May 1640;  Edmund signed law to tax town occupants to bear all charges that may arise.  Chosen with Brian Pendleton to distribute the third division of upland in Sudbury.  (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

May 13, 1640;  Freeman   (Goodenows who Originated in Sudbury, Massachusetts
1638 A.D.- Theodore James Fleming Banvard)

1641;  Edmund on committee with Peter Noyes, Brian Pendleton, Walter Haines, Parmenter, and John Bent to order wage and price restrictions in Sudbury.  (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

"In the summer of 1644, power was "granted by the town" to Peter Noyes, Walter Haines, Edmund Rice, Brian Pendleton, William Ward, and John and Edmund Goodnow "to dispose of town affairs for one year." This was the seven man council to which the town also gave authority to grant plots of upland."  (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

August 12, 1645:  "By 1645, Sudbury assumed direction of its own troops, and as an outpost agreed to send scouts into the woods daily and to have thirty soldiers ready within a half an hour after notice.  The town elected William Pelham as captain and Edmund Goodnow as ensign, and in the next four years levied special taxes to cover the purchases of powder and ammunition."
(Goodenows who Originated in Sudbury, Massachusetts 1638 A.D.- Theodore James Fleming Banvard; Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

1647; "The first controversy occurred in 1647 when Pendleton, who had returned to Watertown, sent down a "warrant of complaine," and threatened to sue the town. William Pelham and Edmund Goodnow were instructed to answer in behalf of Sudbury, but to attempt to avoid a legal suit by "pressing a reform" on Pendleton. Since the Middlesex County Court shows no record of this case, the three men must have come to an amicable agreement."   (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

1648; "The oath for a Massachusetts judge of small causes required that he judge cases under forty shillings according to the "laws of this jurisdiction" and that he give "true judgement" without any favors or affection according to his "best light."  Prominent selectman such as Peter Noyes, Edmund Goodnow, Edmund Rice, Walter Haines, and William Ward held the court from 1641 to 1648, and after 1648, Sudbury was given the power to elect its own civil judges.  William Brown, Edmund Goodnow, and Edmund Rice were elected in that year; and Peter Noyes, Walter Haines, and Edmund Rice in 1654."   (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

March 1652 - "The Sudbury constable was ordered to "call the Freeman to choose one fit and able man" to serve each jury for the April court, and Edmund Goodnow and Henry Rice were chosen....Goodnow and Rice appeared before the court to find that their town had been "presented for having a defective bridge between Sudbury and Concord," but there is no record of action taken or fines levied."  (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

1655 - "The selectman controlled the town land within the old plot, and they intended to maintain control. Edmund Goodnow wanted to use the hay on the plot of river meadow near his house, "formerly reserved for the minister."  The selectman agreed to his request and in June, 1655, rented it to him for five shillings."  (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

January 1656; "The selectman well understood the gravity of moving against the will of the majority. But Peter Noyes, his eldest son Thomas, Edmund Goodnow, and Walter Haines were proud and resourceful men. They called a special "solemn selectman's meeting," in January 1655-1656, to debate a new question - was the town herd of cattle too large for the Sudbury commons?".   (Puritan Village The Formation of a New England Town - Powell)

May 27, 1674:  Deputy Lieutenant and Captain of Foot Co. of Sudbury in King Philip's Indian War.  (Goodenows who Originated in Sudbury, Massachusetts 1638 A.D.- Theodore James Fleming Banvard)

Along with Thomas Noyes and William Kerley, commissioned to lay out a highway known as the Road to Nashuaway, later known as the Lancaster Old Road.  (Goodenows who Originated in Sudbury, Massachusetts 1638 A.D.- Theodore James Fleming Banvard)

Deputy to the General Court from Sudbury 1645, 1649, 1650, 1660, 1673, 1674, 1679 and 1680  (Goodenows who Originated in Sudbury, Massachusetts 1638 A.D.- Theodore James Fleming Banvard)

Served in all government posts (30 in all) in Sudbury, where he had been a founder.   (Goodenows who Originated in Sudbury, Massachusetts 1638 A.D.- Theodore James Fleming Banvard)

The Goodnow family has had a prominent position in town from an early date. It has largely dwelt on the west side of the river, and to quite and extent in the south part of the town. One of the descendants was John Goodnow, the donor of the Goodnow Library, who was for many years a well-known merchant of Boston; as was also George Goodnow, who gave a fund for the aid of the poor of Sudbury. Their father, John Goodnow, lived to be over a hundred years old, and was the last survivor in Sudbury of those who did service in the Revolutionary War. He was born on the Noah Clapp farm, about half way between Sudbury Centre and South Sudbury, from which he went in early life to lands in Lanham, formerly owned and occupied by Thomas Read and his descendants.

Military Service: leader of the militia58

"A state marker at the intersection of Old County Road and the Boston Post Road (Route 20) designates the site of the Goodenow garrison. The marker reads:
The Goodenow Garrison House
Portion of the Goodenow Garrison House in which the settlers took refuge from King Philip's Indians during the battle of April 18-21, 1676."
Depite the sign, no remains of the Goodenow garrison remain. The house was standing as late as about 1815, but was moved or destoyed shortly therafter."  (King Philip's War - Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias

Town Offices: 1645, representative and 1650  General Court, & was appointed to lay out land58