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He was my father's father's father's father's father, and lived most of his life in Camden Co., NC, with the exception of few years in Norfolk and/or Princess Anne Co., VA, in his thirties and forties. Due to the burning of Camden County's records in the 1860's, I have had difficulty proving his ancestry, except that he was the son of Manliff and Hester Portlock Godfrey, both of whom died before he was grown. More than likely his mother's first husband was a Portlock, but it could have been her maiden name. I feel sure he was the grandson of a Samuel Godfrey who served in the War of 1812 from Camden County, and that his great-grandfather was a William Godfrey. For many years I wondered whether he was descended from the John Godfrey family of Norfolk Co., VA or the Francis Godfrey family of Perquimans Co., NC (from whom my paternal grandmother descends; both my dad's parents were Godfreys). In February, 2007, I received one of the surprises of my life when, a month after submitting a DNA sample from my grandmother's brother Marvin Godfrey and a year after learning my male-line DNA does not match a descendant of the Norfolk Godfreys, I learned that my Uncle Marvin and I are a perfect match on the 12 markers tested! I immediately upgraded the test to 67 markers which differed by only two markers, giving a better idea of how many generations ago the common Godfrey ancestor of my grandparents lived. This means that not only do both my grandparents (and the Godfrey ancestors of Samuel Godfrey) have a legitimate, biological Godfrey line back many generations, but also that Samuel probably descends from the Francis Godfrey family of Perquimans Co., NC, and is not related to the John Godfrey family of Norfolk Co., VA.
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