Goddard and Townsend
The Goddard and Townsend families of Newport lend their name to an extensive body of New England furniture associated with Newport, Rhode Island in the second half of the 18th century.
Family of artisans
The Townsend and Goddard families were two Quaker families that were part of a large cabinetmaking community centered in The Point neighborhood of Newport, a predominantly Quaker neighborhood. The founders of this cabinetmaking dynasty immigrated to Newport from other New England towns. Christopher Townsend and Job Townsend of Oyster Bay, New York, came to Newport in 1707 with their parents Solomon Townsend and Catherine Townsend. Both brothers would become cabinetmakers in Newport. Carpenter and cabinetmaker Daniel Goddard was born in Jamestown, Rhode Island to Henry Goddard and Mary Goddard. He moved from Jamestown first to Dartmouth, Massachusetts, before settling in Newport by 1727.The second generation of Newport cabinetmakers from these families are perhaps the best known. John Townsend was the son of Christopher Townsend and Patience Townsend. He would marry Philadelphia Feke, daughter of famed portrait painter Robert Feke. John Goddard was the son of Daniel Goddard and apprentice of Job Townsend. He married Job's daughter Hannah Townsend.
Twenty-one members of successive generations of these two intermarried families worked as cabinetmakers over a period of 120 years, selling their products not only in New England but also in the coastal trade and in the West Indies.