The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1924-07-17
CANAAN SETTLER
GOES TO BINGHAM
Cleared Tract In Pre-
sent Village
Some Mothers and GrandmOthers
Who Helped In the Early Set
Element of Somerset COun-
ty Town

Joshua (Goodridge) Goodrich Jr.
was born In Luningburg, Mass. in
1746. Elizabeth (Phelps) Goodrich
his wife, was born in Lancaster
Mass. in 1744. They were married il
Lancaster, Mass. in 1863. He was {
Revolutionary soldier.
About 1882 they moved to Canaan,
now Skowhegan, Me-, where they liY-
ed six or seven years. During his
stay in Skowhegan he went up the
river into the wilderness, where two
or three persons had preceded him,
and took up a tract of land, where
Bingham village now stands, made a
clearing, built log house and howell
and made other improvements, cut
and stacked some bluejoint hay and
IN the early part Of the winter of
1889 moved his family to their new
home in the wilderness, there being
only six families in the settlement at
that time, here they lived and raised
up their family and gave the town a
good boost toward civilization.
At one time Mr. Goodrich returned
to Massachusetts, to visit his. friends,
making the trip on horseback When
he returned, one of his nieces, Lydia
Cummings, whose mother was his sis
ter, wanted to come back home with
him, he said that she might so she
jumped into the car with him-excuse
me, slip of the pen-she jumped
upon the horses back behind Mr..
Goodrich and road all the way from
Luningburg, Mass. to Bingham, dis
lance of three hundred miles. She
made her home in her uncle's family
until she married Calvin Russell of
Bingham. She became the mother of
some of the best women the town of
Bingham ever produced. A. s.
Burke, one of Bingham's business
men of today, is her grandson.
wonder how some of our young ladies
of sixteen or eighteen would like to
take that trip today? But that was
the kind of material the mothers and
grandmothe9s of Bingham were made
of.
While living in Skowhegan their
second son, Levi was of the age when
boys begin to take special notice OF
the girls. That he did so and that
he made occasional visits to Skowhe-
gan after moving to the new home is
evident by the subsequent events, for
in March, 1899, he made trip to
Skowhegan and claimed as his bride
and partner through life, one of
Skowhegans handsome young ladies
Mary (Polly) Jewett, daughter of
Maxy and sister of Piekard Jewett,
late of Skowhegan.
Their wedding trip consisted of a
ride with a horse and pung or trano,
to Bingham, where he had bought a
farm, built new house and barn, and
made ready to begin home of his
own. For several years II Mrs. Good
rich wished to visit her people in
Skowhegan in the summer time she
had to make the trip on foot or on
horseback or go down the river in a
boat, for there were no wagons In
Bingham until about 1915.
We have every reason to believe
that Levi Goodrich and his wife,
Polly, we're contented and prosperous.
They raised family of five boys and
two girls. Their oldest daughter,
Polly, weighed less than two pounds
when she was born they kept her on
a pillow for many weeks not expect
ing her to live. but she disappointed
them. for she lived to be over ninty
years old, hale and hearty all her life
She married Daniel Wilson of Bing-
ham where she lived all her life. She
was the mother of eleven children,
four of whom were born inside of
thirteen months, two sets of twins.
She was another of Bingham's grand
mothers.
About 1922 Levi Goodrich built the
first tavern in Bingham, thus becom-
ing the first landlord and his wife
the first landlady in Bingham, which
position they held for eight or ten
years when they turned their proper
ty over to their son, Pickard. This
tavern was a nucleus of the present
Bingham Hotel.
Polly Jewett Goodrich was a wo-
man of few words. cheerful disposi-
ton, keen sensibilities, commanding
the love and esteem of all who knew
her. She was one of those women
whose husband having once fallen in
love with her always remained so.
Mr.. Goodrich like all landlords of
those days, sold liquor over the bar.
At one time he became rather too
good a customer himself. His wife
noticed one day that he was rather
unsteady in his movements about the
house and that evening when she
gave him a large earthen pan (such
as people used to keep their milk in
before tin dishes were more plenty
filed to the brim and asked him to
carry it down cellar for her. Ira
dition has 1t that he started with the
pan full but does not say how much
milk was in it when he reached the
bottom-perhaps you can imagine, II
not try the trick yourself. No word
was spoken by either of them but he
understood what she meant and she
never had occasion again to remind
him that he was partaking of the
glass too freely.
Mr.. Goodrich's aged mother lived
with them during the last eight or ten
years of her life, part of the time in
an almost helpless condition. 1t has
been said of Mrs. Goodrich that no
daughter could have cared more ten
derby for their own mother than she
did for her husbands mother, until
she died in March, 1910, at the age of
95 years. In just six weeks from the
time this aged mother died, her hus-
bald, after few days illness passed
away at the age of Ga The rest of