Goodyear
Select
Goodyear Surname Genealogy
Goodyear, as its name suggests, means "good year" and was initially a greeting like "good day" or "good bye." Early spellings of the name were variable. In the will of Zacharye Goodyeare of London, for instance, the name was spelt in three different ways in the one document: Goodyeare, Goodyere, and Goodyeere.
England. The Goodyear name appeared in England as early as the late 13th century, as Henry Godyar in Essex and William Godeyer in Surrey. The Goodyere name was recorded in Monken Hadley near Barnet in the 15th century and it was from this community that Stephen Goodyear, the emigrant to America, came. Grace Goodyear Kirkman's 1899 book Genealogy of the Goodyear Family traced this lineage. Sir Henry Goodyer of Polesworth in Warwickshire was a close friend and patron of the metaphysical poet John Donne.
Some think the Goodyear name originated in Cheshire. It is to be found in the north of England as well as the south. The Goodyear name cropped up frequently in Yorkshire in the 19th century.
America. Stephen Goodyear was one of the founders of the New Haven colony in Connecticut in 1638.
Charles Goodyear, a descendant via Theophilus Goodyear, was born in New Haven in 1800. He was the first to vulcanize rubber, a process which he discovered in 1839 and patented in 1844. Although he died in 1860 after collapsing on the street in New York, his name has lived on. In 1898, almost four decades after his death, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company was founded and named after Goodyear by Frank Seiberling. Unlike their rivals Firestone there were no real Goodyears at the helm of this company.
Another line, via Andrew Goodyear, was to be found in upstate New York. Here Frank Goodyear developed an extensive lumber and coal mining business in the late 1800's.
Some of these Goodyears founded the small town of Bogalusa in Louisiana in 1906 by building a sawmill there (their history was told in C.W. Goodyear's 1950 book Bogalusa Story). Chip Goodyear, who has worked for the Australian company BHP and the Singapore holding company Temasek, came from the Buffalo family.
There were also German Goodjahrs who came to America, such as Johann Christian Goodjahr from Saxony who was in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania by the 1740's. Within a couple of generations their name had changed to Goodyear.
Select Goodyear Names
Stephen Goodyear was one of the founders of the New Haven colony in 1638.
Charles Goodyear discovered and patented the process for vulcanizing rubber in the 1840's.
Julie Goodyear is well-known on British TV as the actress playing Bet Lynch in Coronation Street.
Select Goodyears Today
Goodyear, as its name suggests, means "good year" and was initially a greeting like "good day" or "good bye." Early spellings of the name were variable. In the will of Zacharye Goodyeare of London, for instance, the name was spelt in three different ways in the one document: Goodyeare, Goodyere, and Goodyeere.
Select
Goodyear Resources on
The
Internet
- Gutjahr/Goodyear Genealogy. Goodyear genealogy in England and America.
- The Charles Goodyear Story. Charles Goodyear and his discovery.
England. The Goodyear name appeared in England as early as the late 13th century, as Henry Godyar in Essex and William Godeyer in Surrey. The Goodyere name was recorded in Monken Hadley near Barnet in the 15th century and it was from this community that Stephen Goodyear, the emigrant to America, came. Grace Goodyear Kirkman's 1899 book Genealogy of the Goodyear Family traced this lineage. Sir Henry Goodyer of Polesworth in Warwickshire was a close friend and patron of the metaphysical poet John Donne.
Some think the Goodyear name originated in Cheshire. It is to be found in the north of England as well as the south. The Goodyear name cropped up frequently in Yorkshire in the 19th century.
America. Stephen Goodyear was one of the founders of the New Haven colony in Connecticut in 1638.
Charles Goodyear, a descendant via Theophilus Goodyear, was born in New Haven in 1800. He was the first to vulcanize rubber, a process which he discovered in 1839 and patented in 1844. Although he died in 1860 after collapsing on the street in New York, his name has lived on. In 1898, almost four decades after his death, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company was founded and named after Goodyear by Frank Seiberling. Unlike their rivals Firestone there were no real Goodyears at the helm of this company.
Another line, via Andrew Goodyear, was to be found in upstate New York. Here Frank Goodyear developed an extensive lumber and coal mining business in the late 1800's.
"To get lumber and coal to market, the
Goodyears built the Buffalo and Susquehanna
railway north from Wellsville to Buffalo. This line was completed
in 1906 and linked their lumber and coal lands to the ships at Buffalo."
Some of these Goodyears founded the small town of Bogalusa in Louisiana in 1906 by building a sawmill there (their history was told in C.W. Goodyear's 1950 book Bogalusa Story). Chip Goodyear, who has worked for the Australian company BHP and the Singapore holding company Temasek, came from the Buffalo family.
There were also German Goodjahrs who came to America, such as Johann Christian Goodjahr from Saxony who was in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania by the 1740's. Within a couple of generations their name had changed to Goodyear.
Select Goodyear Names
Stephen Goodyear was one of the founders of the New Haven colony in 1638.
Charles Goodyear discovered and patented the process for vulcanizing rubber in the 1840's.
Julie Goodyear is well-known on British TV as the actress playing Bet Lynch in Coronation Street.
Select Goodyears Today
Select Surname List
For other surnames check the select surname page where there are to be found the history and genealogy of more than 500 common and notable surnames in the English-speaking world.