Edward Allison Godwin, the only child of Joseph Godwin and Elizabeth Royce/Royse, was born 18 May 1850 in Preston County, (W) Virginia. Mrs. Godwin died 27 Feb 1858 in Kingwood, Preston County. Later that year, on 18 Nov 1858, Joseph Godwin married Sarah Elizabeth Stone, the daughter of Claiborne/Claybourne Stone. Joseph Godwin, late captain of Company "O," 6th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, died suddenly on Sunday morning, 14 Oct 1900.

     Edward Godwin's half siblings, according to the pension application of his father, were Alice E., born 2 June 1860 [married name Fortney]; Kate, born 20 Jan 1862 [married name Hawthorne]; Mary C., born 2 Nov 1868; Nellie, born 17 July 1876.

     The wife of Edward Godwin was Elizabeth Jackson Clark, born 28 Mar 1849 (pension application) or 1850 (tombstone), in New York City. They were married 30 Jun 1870 at Englewood, New Jersey. At the time of the 1880 census, Elizabeth was residing in Fort Clark, Kinney County, Texas, with two children: Edward, 6, born in New Mexico, and daughter, Mary, 2, born in Texas. In 1900, Edward, Elizabeth and daughter, Mary. are found in the census of Washington, District of Columbia.

     General Godwin died 13 July 1923 and Elizabeth died 11 Mar 1924; both are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Their son, Edward C. Godwin, who died in 1909, is also interred there. See http://arlingtoncemetery.net/eagodwin.htm

From: History of Preston County, West Virginia,
by S. T. Wiley, with A. W. Frederick, 1882

     Edward Allison Godwin, son of Captain Joseph M. Godwin [Company "O" 6th W. Va. Infantry], of Kingwood, enlisted on the 13th of February, 1865, in Company A, First W. Va. Cavalry, and served with that regiment until July 8, 1865, when the regiment was mustered out of the service. On the 17th of October, 1865, he was appointed a cadet at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point from the second Congressional District of W. Va., by Honorable George R. Latham, then member of Congress from that district, and graduated on the 15th of June 1870, being promoted to second lieutenant and assigned to the Eighth U. S. Cavalry. He joined his regiment in New Mexico and served with it there until 1875, when he was ordered to Texas, in which State he has served ever since, having been promoted to first lieutenant in 1876. At the time of his enlistment he lacked three months of being fifteen years old, and was twenty years and one month old at the time of his graduation from the military academy. His standing in class was creditable, being 31 in a class of 58. He is now stationed at Camp Del Rio, Kinney County, Texas.

     Godwin, Edward Allison. Va. W Va. Pvt A 1 W Va cavalry 13 Feb to 8 July 1865; Cadet Military Academy 17 Oct 1865 (31); 2 lieutenant 8 cavalry 15 June 1870; 1 lieutenant 3 Oct 1876; regimental quartermaster 23 May 1883 to 5 July 1886; captain 5 July 1886; colonel 7 United States volunteers infantry 24 May 1898; honorable mustered out of volunteers 28 Feb 1899; major 7 cavalry 1 July 1899; transferred to 10 cavalry 2 Oct 1902; colonel 40 United States volunteers infantry 17 Aug 1899; honorable mustered out of volunteers 24 June 1901; lieutenant colonel 9 cavalry 16 Jan 1903.

*Note from Nathan Frohne, Frohne & Son Historic Military: "It is an authentic, 1860's image. Back then the cadets had their choice of who to put in their albums, so the Pach Brothers (the West Point photographers at the time) would print up these unmounted albumens, then if the cadet's image was requested, they could easily glue (or "mount") them on an album page. This particular image was actually found loose inside a class of 1869 album we acquired a few years ago. Why it wasn't mounted is unknown, as it was actually in the album."