MARY SUSAN GOODALE, former president of the Department of Massachusetts, Woman's Relief Corps, is a native of Boston. Descended from early colonial and Revolutionary stock, she inherits patriotism. Her father, Joseph Lorraine Goldthwait, merchant and public- spirited citizen of Boston at the time of the Civil AVar, was a lineal descendant in the eighth generation of Thomas' Goklthwaite, an innnigrant of 1630 or 1631; and through his mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Alden, he traced his ancestry to John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden. The descent from Thomas' Goldthwaite was through his son Sanniel,- who married Elizabeth, daughter of Ezekiel Cheever, the famous master of the Boston Latin School. The line continued through Capt. John’ Goldthwaite, born in Salem in 1678; Major Benjamin born in Boston in 1704; Benjamin^ born in 1743, resided in Maiden and Boston: John", married Sally Morris and resided in Boston; Joseph Gleason', born in 1798, married in 1820, Mrs. Hannah Alden Mansfield, daughter of Solomon Alden (Simeon^ Samuel^ Joseph^-, John') and widow of William Mansheld, to Joseph Lorraine^ above named, who was born in Boston in 1821.
Major lienjamin Goldthwaite is reported to have passed most of his life as a soldier. He was a Captain in the Louisburg expedition of 1745 and Major in that of 1758. His death occurred in 1761 in Milford, Mass. His son Benjamin was one of the volunteers from Lynn who responded to the Lexington alarm. Tradition says he was working in the field when the alarm was given, and threw down his hoe and started at once for Lexington.
Joseph L. Goldthwait during the Civil War organized a society for the care of soldiers' families, eontributinp; liberally to its funds. Being an invalid at that time, he was unable to enlist, but his jjersonal efforts and financial support were of great service. He died in 1868. He married, October 23, 1842, Lydia Ann, daughter of Norton' and Lydia (Christie) Newcomb. Her father was l)orn in Braintree in 1796, was descended from Francis' New- comb through John," ^ Isaac,* Captain Thomas,'^ Remember."
Captain Thomas Newcomb, of Braintree, Mass., a great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Good- ale, was Second Lieutenant, May 8, 1775, in Captain Seth Thomas's independent company. As First Lieutenant of the company he served at barracks in Braintree, January 1 to Novem- ber 1, 1776; also in Captain Seth Turner's com- pany. Colonel Thomas Marshall's regiment, at Hull, October .31, 1776, to January 1, 1777. Li September, 1777, he was enrolled as a ('aptain in Colonel Theophilus Cotton's regiment, which marched on a secret expedition to Rhode Island. Honorably discharged October 31, 1777, he again enlisted and was ccjnnnissioned Captain in a three months company in Colonel Eben- ezer Thayer's regiment, which re-enforced the Continental army, a jiart of the company being stationed at West Point and a part at Rhode Island. On August 15, 1781, he was made Captain in Colonel Joseph Webb's regi- ment, in which he served four months on duty at Peekskill, N.Y. He also saw service in Paul Revere's artillery.
The Newcomb genealogy states that Captain Newcomb offered to receive his pay in potatoes, and that the offer was gladly accepted by the authorities. He was very successful in raising companies for the war, and would accept no higher position than the grade of Captain. This was in accordance with a pledge he had made, that he would remain in charge of the company as long as permitted bj^ his superior officers. With him in the service were his three sons, the youngest entering the army when he was only fourteen years of age. Captain Newcomb's wife cheerfully kept the house, caretl for the little ones, and wished sh(^ had more sons to give to her country. Remember Newcomb, the third son, married Susannah Brackett, daughter of William Brack- ett, a Revolutionary .soldier. William Brack- ett's name appears on the Lexington alarm rolls. In 1777 he is recorded as a member of Captain Thomas Newcomb's independent com- pany, and in 1778 he appears with the rank of gunner in Captain Callender's company, Colonel Crane's regiment. His name was on pay-roll dated January 11, 1781. He served almost continuously until September, 1781, first in Colonel Benjamin Lincoln's regiment and next in Captain Seth Thomas's company. He died a soldier's death at Plattsburg in the War of 1812.
Mary Susan Goldthwait (Mrs. Goodale) re- ceived her early education in the public schools of Boston, and finished her course of study in Medford schools, her parents having removed to that city in 1854. The lessons of loyalty taught her by a patriotic -father were deeply impres.sed upon her mind. Although only a school-girl when the Civil War began, she was interestetl in the sokliers, and solicited money with which she furnished a Thanksgiving din- ner to their families in her neighborhood. On January 7, 1868, she was married to Captain George L. Goodale.
Mrs. Goodale is a charter member of S. C. Lawrence Relief Corps, No. 5, of Medford, which was instituted May 27, 1879. She .served that year as senior vice-president, was installed as president January, 1880, and re- elected three successive years. At the annual convention of the Department of Massachusetts, W. R. C, in 1881, she proved very efficient in committee work, and when the board of directors of the Department met in April, 1881, she was chosen a member of the commit- tee on the Soldiers' Home Bazaar, which was held in Mechanics' Building, Boston, in December, 1881. Mrs. Goodale was secretary of the Union table.
She was chosen by the board of directors of the Department W. R. C. to fill a vacancy in the office of Department Conductor in the latter part of 1881, was re-elected to the office at the annual convention in 1882, and a year later was elected senior vice-president. Mrs. (ioodale was cho.sen Department president in January, 1884. During the first year of her ad ministration she instituted sixteen corps. She was unanimously re-elected Department presi- dent at the annual convention in 1885, during which year over one thousand members and sixteen corps were adiled to the roster. In her address to the next convention -(Janu- ary, 1885) she said: —
"I cannot give you full particulars of my labors during the year, but will briefly say that I have represented the Department on seventy- three difTerent occasions, written six hundred and thirty-eight letters and a large number of postal cards, travelled over nineteen hundred miles (not inchuling the weekly trips to head- quarters on Wednesdays).
"The work of the Department has assumed such proportions that I am led to reconunend that this convention adopt measures for the appointment of a corps of aides, corresponding to the aides appointeil by the Department con- vention of the Grand Army of the Republic. It would be the duty of the.se aides to become thoroughly acquainteil with all the workings of the order, holding them.selves in readiness to act in any capacity."
This system of assigning s{)ecial duties to Department aides has since been adojjted in ail the States and also by the National W. R. C. A gold watch, suitably inscribed, was pre- sented to Mrs. Goodale upon her retirement from the presidency.
Mrs. Goodale has participated in national conventions, servetl on special committees by appointment of the national presiilent, and represented Massachusetts one year as national corresponding .secretary. She served as chair- man of the Department table in the Soldiers' Home Carnival, the proceeds of which netted four thousand dollars to the carnival treasury. She rendered efficient service in the kettledrum given under the auspices of the Ladies' Aid Association of the Soldiers' Home, and for sev- eral years has served as a member of the Com- mittee on Department W. R. C. Rooms at the home. From 1893 to 1899 Mrs. Goodale was secretary of the Memorial Fund Conmiittee, having charge of the work for soldiers' widows and arm}' nurses. Since 1899 she has .served continuously as chairman of the Department Relief Coirmiittee. This is a position of re- sponsibility: it not only necessitates the wise expenditure of thousands of dollars, but also a familiarity with pension laws, dealings with the office of the State Aid Commissioner, the Soldiers' Relief Bureau, visits to the sick, the transportation of needy veterans to various cities and towns and to Soldiers' Homes. The relief work incident to the Spanish- American War has also received valuable aid from Mrs. Goodale. She is interested in the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was the first regent of the Sarah Bradlee Fulton Chapter, of Medford, serving two years. She is at present (1902) one of the Board of Direc- tors of the Medford Home for Aged Men and Women. She is an interesting and influential speaker, and has addressed many public gath- erings.
Mrs. Gootlale is prominent in the social and educational afl'airs of Medford. She was one of the earliest members of the Woman's Club of that city. In 1900 she was elected vice- president of the club, but resigned, as she went to Cuba in November of that year, remaining until April, 1901, at Columbia Barracks, Que- mados (eight miles from Havana), where her husband, who had enlisted to serve in the Spanish-American War, was stationed as As- sistant Brigade Quartermaster.
Captain Goodale was in the Forty-third Massachu.setts Reginient during the Civil War. lie is a Past Conunander of S. C. Lawrence Post, No. 66, G. A. R., of Medford, also a Past Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, of Massachusetts. He was chairman of the Executive Committee of Ar- rangements for the national encampment in Boston in 1890, and was Inspector-general on the stafT of Commander-in-chief Weissert in in 1894. In April, 1901, he was appointed by President McKinley a Captain in the regular army and given charg(^ of important work at Fort Washington, Oregon, with headquarters at Astoria.
Captain and Mrs. Goodale have three chil- dren — Agnes, Carrie Louise, and George Mor- timer. They are graduates of the Medford High School, and Agnes also attended the Woman's College in Baltimore, Md. George Mortimer Goodale was a soldier in the Fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, in the Spanish-American War. He is now in business in San Francisco, California. Carrie Louise Goodale was married, April 15, 1903, to Nathaniel Perkins Simonds, and now resides in Salem.