Three Fourth-Greats With Little Information

Lucy Goodwin had two older sisters and one younger brother who I know existed, but little else. The following is all the information I have on them; all were born in Berwick, York County, Maine:

Anna Goodwin, born January 20, 1828; died October 12, 1833

Mary F. Goodwin, born August 6, 1831; seems to be on the 1840 Census as a tick mark (one of the two females under 10; Lucy would be the other); appears on the 1850 Census with her parents at the age of twenty. In later censuses, there are other Mary F. Goodwins in York County who would match her age, but some preliminary research seem to indicate that they are not the same as my Mary. So far, I have not been able to find any marriage or death records for her.

John Adams Goodwin, born June 28, 1836; died July 12, 1836. At first glance, one might think that this child was named after John Quincy Adams or his father; however, I discovered that one of the leading Methodist ministers in this area of Maine at the time was named John Adams. Being Methodists themselves, Ivory and Jerusha may have named their son after the minister.

Again, there is a need for offline research on this family. Perhaps a genealogy road trip is in order?

Fourth Great-Aunt Ada Jane (Goodwin) Goldsmith: More Questions than Answers

Ada Jane Goodwin (also referred to as Jennie) was born on July 28, 1837 in Berwick, York County, Maine, the sixth child of Ivory Goodwin & Jerusha Taunt. She married Thomas J. Goldsmith, a saloon keeper, on November 19, 1857 in Newmarket, Rockingham County, NH. By 1860 they moved to Dover, Strafford County, NH and there had a daughter, Nellie F., born on January 31, 1863.

First Parish Church in Dover, which was there when the Goldsmiths lived there. Perhaps they attended? Courtesy: Wikipedia.

In 1864, double tragedy struck: on August 8, Thomas died; and daughter Jennie also died in January, June or July 18, 1864 (the photo on FindaGrave is very hard to read).

Ada Jane eventually moved to Lynn, Essex County, MA. She died of peritonitis at 5 Howard Street on April 6, 1882. She is buried with Thomas, Jennie and her parents in Pine Hill Cemetery in Dover, NH.

Other than a couple of possible entries in the Lynn City Directory in the mid-1870’s, that is all I can find online for Ada Jane. There is so obviously a good story to be told (why would she marry a saloon keeper?) and too many unanswered questions (How did Nellie and Thomas die? Were their deaths somehow connected? Were Ada Jane and Lucy close, and is that why Ada Jane moved to Lynn?). This calls for offline research that may or may not turn up my desired answers.

Fourth Great-Uncle Charles W. Goodwin

Pondering who to write about next, I realized that I never completed the story of Lucy Goodwin’s family; I only wrote about Lucy herself and a little about her youngest brother John. Both Lucy and John led tumultuous lives, and I wondered if the rest of the family was similar, so I’ve decided to work my way up through Lucy’s siblings, starting with Charles.

Charles W. Goodwin was born around 1841 in Berwick, York County, Maine, the seventh of the eight children of Ivory Goodwin & Jerusha Taunt.

As an adult, Charles moved to Haverhill, Essex County, MA between 1860 and 1863 and ended up working as a shoemaker. Perhaps he heard from his shoe-making brother-in-law George Colomy that Haverhill would be a good place to settle. Sometime during this period, Charles married Sarah M. Page of either Great Falls (later known as Somersworth) or Milton, Strafford County, New Hampshire . I am not sure whether they married in New Hampshire or Massachusetts.

Charles and Sarah had two children, both born in Haverhill:

• Ellsworth P., born May 31, 1863
• Nellie F., born circa May 1866; died August 6, 1867 of cholera

The family of three moved to Lynn, Essex County, MA, another shoe-making city, between 1867 and 1870, perhaps again following Lucy. There, Charles continued to make a living for quite a few years, at the very least until 1880.

Sometime before 1891, Charles and Sarah seemed to have divorced. Charles is next found marrying younger woman Eliza L. Waite on June 9, 1891 in Manchester, Hillsborough County, NH. A cursory glance in the 1880 Census in Lynn does show twenty-five year old Eliza Waite working in the shoe industry in Lynn. Perhaps the two met at work?

Finally, Charles died on March 5, 1897 of acute meningitis in Manchester. His death record claims that he is buried in Dover, Strafford County, NH; perhaps, like his parents and brother John, he is buried at Pine Hill Cemetery.

As a postscript, Charles’ son Ellsworth went on to have two wives (divorcing the first), and two children with each wife. His descendants live to this day. I only have the very beginnings of Ellsworth’s story, but it appears that this apple did not fall far from the tree!