admin THE GOODYEAR FAMILY. The ancient home of the English Goodyears was the Parish of Monken Hadley, in the County of Middlesex. The American Goodyears trace their lineage to Stephen Goodyear, Governor of New Haven Colony from 1643 to 1658, who was one of the merchants who, on June 26, 1637, came from London to this country with the Rev. John Davenport in the ship Hector. In 1638 most of these immigrants made their way to the site of New Haven, Conn. Gov. Stephen Goodyear of the New Haven Colony stood high among the English Colonial governors of his time. His judgment determined the location of the colony and the plan of the town of New Haven. He took a leading part in the development of the infant state and is, historically, the most conspicuous personage in its early annals. Long before Yale College was founded he was one of the first to advocate such an institution. John Goodyear, son of Governor Stephen Goodyear, was a lieutenant in the Colonial militia. He had a son, Andrew, who married Jane Gilbert, daughter of Deputy Governor Matthew Gilbert. Their son, Titus, had a son, John Goodyear, who removed to Geneva, N. Y., and died in Barre, Orleans County in 1826.
SOURCE: Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York; Volume I