When Ralph L. Goodrich sat down to write a letter to his sister Augusta in March
1878, he used a first generation Sholes
& Glidden typewriter manufactured by the Remington Arms Company. Less
than 5000 of these typewriters were sold during the 4-year period of production.
Sholes & Glidden Typewriter
1874-1878
Clerk’s
Office, U.S. Courts,
Eastern District of Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
March
13, 1878
My Dear Sister
[Augusta] & All,
Yours received
with the your usual degree of punctuality, which is to say the least,
commendable with your cares and duties and so many correspondents. I don’t
have so very many to write to, to be sure, but I don’t write very long
letters, and I am getting sadly out of the habit. I am so used to writing short
business letters of two or three lines that I feel when I get as far as the
fourth or fifth line, I ought to stop. And it is up-hill work to drag myself
along any farther. My work is so confining and I get so tired that all
animation, all spirit is knocked completely out of me, and I get more stupid
than I really am. I get so lazy, or something else, that I cannot read an
exciting novel with much relish. [My wife] Dora takes considerable of the
correspondence off my hands and I make them aware of my being alive by adding a
line or two.
We have gotten
partially settled down in our home – only one or two rooms furnished as yet
– but we hope to complete it in course of time. I have had a photograph taken
of it and will send you one if they are finished when I mail this letter.
Everybody says we have the prettiest place in town and it has not been too, nor
so very expensive either. But it has left me in debt considerably and which I
expect to work out of in good time should the fates permit. [1]
Stereoscopic
View of
Ralph L. Goodrich's Home at 805 South Main Street
in Little Rock, AR
If [your son]
John likes teaching, he is entitled to more credit than I deserved. He doesn’t
intend to make that his profession, does he? I should hope not, unless he has an
iron constitution, an even temper, and a soul above vexations of every kind –
in short, almost a saint.
We had a very
cold spell of a few weeks in January. Since then, the weather has been variable,
but never too cold for our thin blood and bilious natures. The trees are already
trying to leaf and violets are in bloom. And so is other stuff the real
name or botanical name of which I can’t remember.
In the picture
of the house, you will see your brother and sister [near the front steps] if you get a
stereoscope
with magnifying power enough to snatch us out of our apparent littleness. The
architect never left us the plans of the house and he agreed to make us some but
never has. The house is of brick, contains six rooms, halls, kitchen, servants
and storerooms.
Ralph
& Dora in front of Little Rock home
I
couldn’t get along without my writing
machine. I would have been broken down before this without it. I will
send you a sketch of the lower floor of house. Dora sends love to you all. Write
soon.
Affectionately,
-- Ralph L. Goodrich
[1]
According to the 1878 Little Rock Directory, Ralph L. Goodrich worked as Clerk,
U.S. Court, with an office on Main Street at the northeast corner of 4th Street.
His residence is listed on Main Street at the southeast corner of 8th Street.
The
1880 Little Rock Directory lists Ralph's residence at 805 S. Main Street.
The
Arkansas Gazette, 8-15-1897, p14, c.1, reads, "With all the requirements
necessary to a very brilliant life, [Ralph L. Goodrich] lives very quietly in
his beautiful and capacious home at the corner of Eighth & Main Street in
this city which he built in 1870..." He died less than two months
later and was buried in the Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock. See web link
above.
Ralph
Leland Goodrich was married three times. I have newspapers descriptions of two
of the weddings. His first marriage was to Serena Jennie Connett on 25 August
1869; his
second marriage was to Dora Beebe on 18 August 1875; and his third wedding was
to Juliette Churchill on 7 September 1897.
Ralph's
First Wedding:
No
description of wedding. However, I have learned that Serena Jennie Connett was
the daughter of Ira Connett (b. 7 Nov 1812, d. 2 Sep 1894) and Mary C. Wiggins
(b. 7 Nov 1813, d. 21 Sep 1865) of Indian Hill, Hamilton County, Ohio. This
couple had six children:
Mary
Christiana Connett, b. 12 Aug 1837; she married Louis Finch, a fruit farmer in
Hamilton County, Ohio.
Mary
Elizabeth ("Lizzie") Connett, b. ABT 1838; she married Charles H. Cole
of Owego, NY. Charles was born about 1838 and was most likely a friend of Ralph
Goodrich's -- possibly the connection to Ralph's acquaintance with Jennie
Connett.
Thomas
J. Connett, b. 16 Dec 1839; Thomas enlisted in Company C, 2nd Ohio Infantry in
September 1861. It is believe that he was wounded in skirmishes with Kentucky
confederates at West Liberty, KY, or at Piketon, KY. He died 12 Nov 1861 at
Licking Station (now Salyersville), KY.
Sarah
A. Connett, b. 5 Mar 1842. Nothing more found.
William
Marshall Connett, b. 26 Feb 1848, d. 5 May 1849.
Serena
Jeannette Connett, b. 27 Feb 1850; married Ralph Goodrich of Tioga, New
York.
Ralph's
Second Wedding:
Ralph's
second marriage was to Dora Beebe, born about 1843. Dora was the daughter of
Hiram A. Beebe (1817--1897) and Mary C. Ellis (1819
-- ) who were married 14 November 1838 in Towanda, Susquehanna
County, Pennsylvania. Dora had an older sister, born about 1840, named Georgia
and a younger sister, born about 1856, named Nettie. According to Kingman's
book, Early Owego, Hiram Beebe "learned the printers' trade at which
he worked as a journeyman until 1838, when he became editor of the Bradford
Democrat at Towanda PA. In January 1843, he came to Owego [NY] and was editor of
the [Owego] Gazette thirty-seven years. He was president of the village of Owego
in 1852, 1861, and 1871, and in 1874 and 1875 he had charge of the state
department of public records at Albany."
[18
August 1875] Fashionable
Wedding.
Goodrich-Beebe.
At the residence of the bride's father, on the evening of the 18th inst., by the
Rev. J. H. Kidder, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Ralph Goodrich, Esq., Clerk of
the U.S. Circuit Court, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Miss Dora A. Beebe, second
daughter of Hon. Hiram A. Beebe, senior editor of the Owego Gazette.
The
family residence was exceedingly tastefully arranged. The lawn and shrubbery
were adorned with numerous Chinese lanterns, while the portico was gay with
flags and flowers, and the interior of the mansion was a blaze of light. Rich
natural flowers in profusion perfumed the air, while the array of youth and
beauty did ample honor to the bride and bridegroom.
Among
the prominent guests present, we observed the following: Hon. Stephen B. Leonard
and lady, Hon. John J. Taylor, Hon. A. H. Miller and daughter, Hon. Joseph
Powell, M. C., of Towanda, uncle of the bride, Mr. and Mrs. Porter, and Mrs.
Brayton, of Glen Mary, Frank E. Platt, Esq. and daughter, Mrs. Charles Platt,
Mrs. A. P. Storrs, Jr., Miss Fanny Platt, Stephen Goodrich, Esq. and lady, Dr.
Charles Eastman and wife, Mrs. and Miss Peck, W. L. Hoskins and lady, David
Easton, wife and daughter, Arba Campbell, Esq., and daughter, Charles Campbell,
Esq. and wife, Mr. and Mrs. W. Isbell, Miss Jennie Stone, Hon. T. I. Chatfield
and lady, John R. Chatfield and lady, Rev. Wm Leonard and lady, of Brooklyn, Mr.
and Mrs. Mabee, of Owego, Mrs. Couton of New York [City], Mr. and Mrs. Fred
Hovey, of Troy, Pa., Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Skinner, of Owego, Mr. and Mrs. Baker,
of Bath, uncle and aunt of the bride, H. N. Hubbard, wife and son, Mrs. Lynde
and Mrs. Trull, of New York [City], Miss Packhauser, of Brooklyn, Mrs. E. S.
Sweet, and Mrs. Col. N. W. Davis.
After
the interesting ceremony, the central event of the evening, a rich and varied
repast, was served, consisting of all the luxuries and delicacies of the season,
prepared in the most appetizing manner. Outside, from amid the shrubbery, a
brass band discoursed most excellent music, while Smith & Paris's Cotillion Band in the back parlor, at intervals delighted the audience. About ten o'clock
the carriages began to arrive and adieus were spoken. -- The happy pair started
on their bridal tour on No. 12, intending to visit several of the more important
eastern cities and watering places, among them Albany, Saratoga, New York, Long
Branch, and Boston.
We
wish the happy pair long life, and as much bliss as can be enjoyed on this
terrestrial sphere.
Ralph's
third wedding (one month before his death):
"--
Hon. Ralph Leland Goodrich, Clerk of the United States District Court, was
married at Little Rock, Ark., on Tuesday last at 9 o'clock P.M., to Miss
Juliette Churchill, daughter of ex-Governor and Mrs. Thomas
J. Churchill, the Rev. John Gass, rector of Christ's
Episcopal Church, officiating. Miss Churchill is a niece of Col.
John and Henry Churchill, establishers of Churchill Downs, near Louisville,
Ky., and of Col. Sam Churchill, ex-Secretary of the State of Kentucky, and of
Mrs. Luke [P.]
Blackburn, of Kentucky. Mr. Goodrich was born in Tioga and is a brother of
Miss Sarah Goodrich and Stephen Goodrich, of Tioga. His first wife was a
daughter of the late Hiram A. Beebe, of this village [Owego, New
York]."
For
Biography of Col. Sam Churchill, see page 89 of the following article on
Governor Helm of Kentucky: http://www.hellolouisville.com/BookFiles/JOHN_L_HELM_PAGE_86-1011.pdf
