Richard’s first family

Richard Goodhind married the widow CHARLOTTE (MARTIN) COOK, sister to his brother Frederick’s wife Eliza, on January 8, 1865, in Russell, MA. She had been born on September 17, 1841 in Maidstone, Kent, England according to her tombstone in Dalton, MA. At some point thereafter, her family moved to Dartford, Kent.

[but a relative told me she could find no record in Maidstone. However, I have a postcard dated 1909 of a Maidstone church where (her sister Rose wrote) she was christened - AMS].

Charlotte had previously been married to WILLIAM COOK (born about 1839) on November 5, 1860 at St. Mark's Church, Rosherville, Kent. It appears that William died within a short period of time. It is unknown when Charlotte immigrated to America but she likely followed her sister. (A brother George Martin also came to America at some point and remained.) The couple had one son:

A. WILLIAM JAMES COOK was born on February 12, 1861 at Dartford. The infant died there at just 8 months old on October 9 that same year due to "phthisis" (tuberculosis).

Charlotte died at Dalton, MA of typhoid on October 15, 1878 at the age of 37. She is buried in the extreme front right corner of the downtown cemetery. Buried with her is BERTHA MAY GOODHIND, an infant daughter born to Richard and his second wife, MARY L. STICKLES.

[The pulpit in the South Lee Church of the Good Shepherd was given by Grandpa [Richard] in her memory (1901) -AMS] 

In the 1870 census, the Goodhind name is misspelled as "Goodhue." Richard (27) was living in Dalton, MA with his wife Charlotte (28) and children Rose Ida (5) and Marie E. (misspelling of Minnie) (2). The census stated Richard "works in paper mill."
Richard and Charlotte had five daughters:

A. ROSE IDA GOODHIND was born on March 5, 1866 at Russell, she said, but her birth is recorded in the State House as Dalton, with her sisters. She married EDSON WOODRUFF (born July 4, 1857 in Huntington, MA; died January 28, 1930 in Westfield, MA at the age of 72) on April 4, 1883 at Huntington.

[Due to marital problems, Aunt Rose left him. Along with their two boys, Clarence and Howard, as well as with my mother, Lottie, she went to South Lee, to be closer to her father, Richard. Both of her boys worked in the mill. For much of her life, Aunt Rose had no home of her own; she was at everyone's "beck and call." - AMS]

For several years, she lived with her half-brother Murray and his family in Amherst; she had also resided in a Lee, MA nursing home. She died in Kane’s Nursing Home on Lessey Street in Amherst on December 5, 1967 at the age of 101.

[You can read more about Aunt Rose by following this link or at the bottom of the page. - TSG]

Rose and Edson had two sons:

1. CLARENCE EARL WOODRUFF was born in Huntington on October 18, 1884 and died across the street from his South Lee home during a flood on December 31, 1948. He was 64.

[Supposedly, he was trying to save a cat from the flood - TSG] [Because trains were not running, I didn't get there until after the funeral, which was huge; everyone liked him. -AMS]

He married CATHERINE ("KITTIE') INGRAHAM (born October 1, 1885; died on June 27, 1976 in Worcester, MA at the age of 90).

[This was not a fortunate marriage. They had been married several years when we moved into Grandpa's house in 1912. Kittie lived to be very old and I heard they were both buried in Lee. - AMS]

According to the 1920 federal census, Clarence (35) is found living on Main Street in South Lee, MA with his wife Kitty (34). His occupation is listed as a fireman in a paper mill. They had one child:

a. EVELYN MARIE WOODRUFF was born on November 28, 1924 in a Great Barrington hospital. She married GEORGE A. NASSAR (born January 2, 1929; died November 21, 1988 in Worcester, MA), an Armenian, in April of 1956 in Pinellas County, FL. She died in June 9, 1979 at the age of 54 in Worcester, MA; George also died there on November 21, 1988 at the age of 59. They are buried in the Woodruff lot in Fairmont Cemetery in Lee. Their two children:

1) PATRICE EVELYN NASSAR
2) BRUCE EDWARD NASSAR

2. HOWARD WOODRUFF was born on October 5, 1886 in South Hadley Falls, his mother said, but his birth is not recorded.

(I remember that during World War I, he wrote his mother from Canada seeking some sort of proof. Perhaps it is recorded in Cornwall. - AMS)

He married ETHEL HANNAH HARTEL, born July 9, 1882 in Cornwall, Ontario, on November 28 (or 29), 1906. Howard died at London, Ontario, in November of 1975; he was 88 years old. Ethel died in March 1982 at the age of 99.

[The story goes that while visiting Aunt Minnie in Cornwall, Howard discovered that the climate was better for him than in Berkshire County. - AMS]

They had five children:

a. WILLIS RICHARD WOODRUFF was born on November 1, 1907 in Cornwall. He married DORTHEA LEWIS (born in Aberdeen, Scotland on July 12, 1914) at Knox United Church in Calgary, Alberta on July 12, 1935. He died in November of 1980 at the age of 73.

b. ROBERT STEPHEN WOODRUF was born on February 4, 1909 in Cornwall. He married THELMA YVONNE OAKES on November 21, 1945. Robert died in March of 1973 in Calgary at the age of 63. Their three children:

1) DAWN YVONNE WOODRUFF
2) COLLEEN DAWN WOODRUFF
3) ROBERT THOMAS WOODRUFF 

c. ALBERT RICHARD ("Dick") WOODRUFF was born on December 3, 1911 in Cornwall. He married WILMA NORMA STRANG (born on March 2, 1918 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) on December 3, 1934 in Calgary. He died at London, Ontario on May 19, 1971 at the age of 59 and is buried in Calgary. Their daughter:

1) SANDRA MARLENE WOODRUFF

d. HAROLD EARL WOODRUFF was born on February 23, 1916 in Calgary and married HELEN PEARL CROFT (born on January 14, 1919 in Chester Basin, Nova Scotia) on March 6, 1940. He was a career officer in the Air Force. In December of 1965, he wrote from London, Ontario that he had returned 2 and 1/2 years before from overseas and expected to leave the Air Force on June 30. Harold passed away on February 16, 2000 in London at the age of 83.  Helen died on February 3, 2006 at the age of 87. They had three children:

1) PATRICIA ROSE WOODRUFF was born July 7, 1941.  She married to JAMES FERGUSON in 1961. Two children.
2) LIONEL WILLIAM WOODRUFF was born August 30, 1946 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  He presently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.
3) DONNA LYNN WOODRUFF was born on October 9, 1953 in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada.

[Many thanks to Lionel Woodruff for the above information on his family! (December 2002) - TSG]

e. LIONEL HOWARD WOODRUFF was born on February 28, 1923 in Calgary and died on February 6, 1944, a member of the RAF. He was just 20 years old. His plane crashed while dropping supplies to the French underground resistance movement. Lionel was buried in the town of Cornamont, in the Vasges mountains of eastern France.   He shares a plot with his two crew mates. [View 1, View 2]. The French villagers viewed these fallen airman as heros and provided for their burial in their village cemetery, erecting tombstones to commemorate their sacrifice.

Choose these hyperlinks to view a letter from the Royal Canadian Air Force listing Lionel as "Missing in Action," a letter regarding his presumptive death and a letter of sorrow from King George to the family.

[I have seen his name in the Book of Remembrance in the Capital at Ottawa. - AMS]

[Rose's sisters take much less space! - AMS]

B. MINNIE ELIZA GOODHIND was born on May 11, 1868 in Dalton. She married WILLIS TECUMSEH SHERMAN GERRY (born on August 13, 1864 at East Hardwick, Vermont) on July 7, 1889 in South Hadley, MA.

In the 1900 federal census, Willis Gerry (35) is found living in South Hadley, MA with his wife Minnie (32), son Lester (6) and Minnie's sister Alice E. Goodhind. Willis is listed as a foreman in a paper mill, renting his home.

Will died at San Diego, California on November 30, 1912 at the age of 48. Minnie died there on February 4, 1934 at the age of 65. They are both buried in Village cemetery, off Main Street in South Hadley Falls.

[I do not know why they wanted to move to California; they had lived in Cornwall, Ontario for several years. They decided to stay as long as Grandpa lived. They had hardly arrived in California when Uncle Will died suddenly. - AMS]

They had one child:

1. LESTER WILLIS GERRY was born on July 9, 1893 and died in September 29, 1904 in Cornwall, Ontario. He was 11 years old..

C. LOTTIE MARY GOODHIND was born September 25, 1870 in Dalton and married CHARLES HENRY MARSH (born on October 15, 1870 in South Lee) on August 7, 1901 in South Lee, MA. Charles was a papermaker. He died on April 4, 1944 at the age of 73 in a Pittsfield hospital, a resident of Dalton. Lottie died at her daughter Alice's home in Hyannis on March 28, 1945 at the age of 74.

[Aunt Rose had lived with them for a few years as their health deteriorated. Without her, they could not have maintained a home for so long. She also came to Hyannis and was a great help to me. - AMS]

Both Charles and Lottie are buried at Lee in Fairmont Cemetery in the Marsh family plot.

1. One child, ALICE ELIZABETH MARSH was born September 17, 1903 in South Lee.

[I married WARREN LIBBEY SPERL (born March 12, 1900 at Newton, MA) in Dalton, MA on July 4, 1930. He died in a nursing home in Brewster on January 24, 1980 (at the age of 79) while I was living in Orleans, MA, having sold our home in Yarmouth Port when he left. Warren was a World War I veteran, and a graduate of Northeastern University, Boston, with a degree in Chemical Engineering but went on to Babsen Institute and turned to finance. He is buried in Lee in the Richard Goodhind family plot. I graduated with a BS in Education from what is now Bridgewater State College in 1926. - AMS]

Alice passed away on September 8, 1996; she was 92. She is also buried in the Goodhind family plot aside her husband. You can read more about Alice by following this link.

D. NETTIE ANN GOODHIND was born on July 1, 1873 in Dalton and died in Holyoke on September 20, 1953 at the age of 80; she is buried in Fairmont Cemetery in Lee.

[In her late teens, she became bedridden upon the advice of her doctor; he said her health was delicate. She remained bedridden for years. There again, Aunt Rose stepped in and occasionally stayed with Aunt Nettie. Upon her doctor's death, her new physician found no reason for her condition and she was able to go out again by the late 1930's. She never married. She worked in the American Writing Paper Company office in Holyoke. While bedridden, she made handmade greeting cards. - AMS]

In the 1880 federal census, Nettie (6) is found living in Dalton, MA with her father Richard (37), his second wife Mary L. (22) and siblings Rose Ida (14), Minnie E. (12), Lottie M. (9), Nettie Ann (6), Alice E. (4) and baby "No name", (1 month). ‘Baby No Name’ became Murray.

In the 1920 census, Nettie (46) is found living in Holyoke, MA. The census states she is the head of her single person household but has occupation listed as "none."

E. ALICE ELIZABETH GOODHIND was born on April 19, 1876 in Dalton, MA and died there on May 24, 1929 at the age of 53. She is also buried in Lee with her father.

[She held business positions in San Diego, CA, Holyoke, MA and Springfield, MA, the last being head bookkeeper at a big insurance agency, Oppenheimer and Field, then Robinson, I think. She had cancer and during her lingering illness, she lived with my parents. - AMS]

In the 1900 federal census, Alice (24) is found living in South Hadley, MA as a boarder with her sister Minnie (32), her husband Willis Gerry (35) and their son Lester (6).

In the 1920 census, Rose (53) is found in Springfield in a rooming house on State Street. Her sister Alice (43) is a roomer in the same house.

Alice also never married.

Richard Goodhind
Richard Goodhind's second family (with Mary L. Stickles)
Richard Goodhind's Pension File

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