A Goodrich Family Outing

I love this picture of Grampa Goodrich and his young family out for a spin on a fine summer day, dropping in on Grandma Digons at the upper place.

"Uncle Fred & Aunt Georgia on The Upper Place"

The Family

I don’t know who captioned the picture but the rest, identifying the family, is in my mother’s hand.

This “upper place” is the farm up the hill toward the west end of Clark Road, where Bob Meyer farms now. Grampa’s younger brother Roy was farming it when I was a young kid but I don’t know who was living there when this picture was taken in 1912.

The youngest in this picture is my Mom. She was born at the Birge farm, a 1/2 mile west of this scene. The family was living there at the time of Mom’s birth and I assume were still living there when this picture was taken less than two years later. The other two kids are my mom’s older siblings, Ralph and Myrtle. Behind Uncle Ralph stands my Great Grandma Digons.

These entries in my Great Grandma Ida Goodrich’s diary throw a little light on where Grampa and Grandma were living in those days. Grampa was the oldest of 11 kids and he and his siblings seemed to move around a lot in their younger days.

“May 1915 Fred has moved from Chatham to his father’s tenement and is working on the home farm."

...

“1918 To Fred L. and wife a son Herbert Lorenzo Born Monday June 24. (I was with Georgia) Birge House on Birge Hill Chatham N. Y."

...

“Son Fred moved his family from the Birge farm to the Highland Farm Oct. 5th 1918 and is in the employ of G. S. Fr???himy(? jhc) as superintendent."

...

“Oct. 1918 I spent 3 days with Fred & family helping with the moving while there rec’d telegram from Will that Sadie was sick so Ed. took me over to Lenoxdale in auto.”