Gooch Family Photographs
Collection
Identifier: P029
Collection Description
This collection contains glass plate negatives related to 11 Fayerweather Street in Cambridge; Harvard University buildings; Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown, MA; and non-Cambridge locations. The collection was not identified initially but through research, it is likely connected to the Gooch family and their time as residents at 11 Fayerweather Street. The content of the negatives also includes images of family members, but the individual identities have not been confirmed at this time. Non-Cambridge locations include seaside beaches, fields, and mountainous landscapes, possibly situated at Marblehead Neck and New York state.
Dates
- ca. 1860-1930s
Language of Materials
Material is in English.
Access
Collection is available for research under the CHC rules of use.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to understand and observe copyright law and to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyright. Questions concerning copyright and permission to publish should be directed to the Cambridge Historical Commission Archives.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to understand and observe copyright law and to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyright. Questions concerning copyright and permission to publish should be directed to the Cambridge Historical Commission Archives.
Historical Note
Nathan Gooding Gooch (1835-1919), a decedent of colonial settler John Gooch, was the head of the Gooch household while the family resided in Cambridge. In the 1850s bachelor Nathan Gooch boarded with John Bridge Dana at 3 Fayerweather Street (renumbered 11 Fayerweather Street by 1930). John B. Dana (1800-1888) worked for the Charles River Bank and later became a Harvard steward. His daughter, Ellen Coolidge Dana, married Nathan Gooch on June 14, 1860. Both generations lived at 3 Fayerweather, presumably with a house partition according to a 1900 remodel plan.
Nathan Gooch initially worked as a bookkeeper for W.T. Richardson near Harvard Square and became a lumber dealer in Brighton in 1857. While working with his brother at their co-owned lumber firm, J.G. & N.G. Gooch, he also became a coal leader on Kilby Street in Boston in 1865. During the Civil War he served in the Massachusetts 12th Company from November 12, 1863 to August 15, 1864. Nathan Gooch was also a Cambridge City Council member from 1865-1866 and a deacon of the Old Cambridge Baptist Church, a position he occupied until 1908. In 1906 he worked for Cox Bros. & Co., anthracite coal dealers in Boston.
Nathan and Ellen Gooch had two children, William D. Gooch and Ellen M. Gooch. The family moved to Watertown in 1900 where their new home was once part of the Adams estate in Watertown. Built in 1900, 35 Adams Avenue (or Fairlawn) was designed by F. Bryant & Co. It would continue to be the family’s home until the 1930s. The Gooch family also owned a summer residence in Marblehead on Marblehead Neck (sometimes called Nanepashment). Their first summer home was at the corner of Harbor and Harvard Streets (formerly Spring Street). In 1892 Nathan Gooch had the house moved 25 feet. He later sold the property to Maria M. Stone and moved to Ocean Avenue in 1901. The new cottage was likely located at what is now 372 Ocean Ave, Marblehead. His brother, Johnson G. Gooch, also had a summer residence in Marblehead on Atlantic Avenue.
Nathan’s daughter Ellen M. Gooch married G.F. Rouillard, and they had sons Robert G. and Clarence D. It is unknown exactly when but sometime after Nathan’s death his wife and son’s family lived with Ellen M. Rouillard at 35 Shattuck Road, formerly 35 Adams Ave. They all resided there by the early 1930s.
Nathan’s son, William D. Gooch worked as a bookkeeper before becoming an auditor for a drug and chemical company. He owned a motorboat Dixie and continued to summer in Marblehead for a few years after his father’s passing in 1916. At some point William D. Gooch married Mary A. P. and they had two children, Dana Appleton Gooch (1897-1972) and Margaret Caroline Gooch. Dana worked as an office clerk but was unemployed by World War I and his subsequent occupations are unknown. In 1934 he married in Beverly, Mass and he died on March 6, 1972 in Florida.
Margaret Caroline Gooch (1891-1988), William’s daughter is likely present in this collection since one of the original glass plate boxes was labeled with her name. While employed as a teacher, she married Eugene Judson Barney on December 10, 1917. Eugene was a refrigerator electrical engineer from Dayton, OH and by 1920 they had moved back to his hometown. According to census records, they lived at 12 Seminary Ave, Dayton in 1920; 1438 Catalpa Drive in 1930; and 1827 Harvard Blvd in 1940. They had a son, Edward Barney.
Nathan Gooch initially worked as a bookkeeper for W.T. Richardson near Harvard Square and became a lumber dealer in Brighton in 1857. While working with his brother at their co-owned lumber firm, J.G. & N.G. Gooch, he also became a coal leader on Kilby Street in Boston in 1865. During the Civil War he served in the Massachusetts 12th Company from November 12, 1863 to August 15, 1864. Nathan Gooch was also a Cambridge City Council member from 1865-1866 and a deacon of the Old Cambridge Baptist Church, a position he occupied until 1908. In 1906 he worked for Cox Bros. & Co., anthracite coal dealers in Boston.
Nathan and Ellen Gooch had two children, William D. Gooch and Ellen M. Gooch. The family moved to Watertown in 1900 where their new home was once part of the Adams estate in Watertown. Built in 1900, 35 Adams Avenue (or Fairlawn) was designed by F. Bryant & Co. It would continue to be the family’s home until the 1930s. The Gooch family also owned a summer residence in Marblehead on Marblehead Neck (sometimes called Nanepashment). Their first summer home was at the corner of Harbor and Harvard Streets (formerly Spring Street). In 1892 Nathan Gooch had the house moved 25 feet. He later sold the property to Maria M. Stone and moved to Ocean Avenue in 1901. The new cottage was likely located at what is now 372 Ocean Ave, Marblehead. His brother, Johnson G. Gooch, also had a summer residence in Marblehead on Atlantic Avenue.
Nathan’s daughter Ellen M. Gooch married G.F. Rouillard, and they had sons Robert G. and Clarence D. It is unknown exactly when but sometime after Nathan’s death his wife and son’s family lived with Ellen M. Rouillard at 35 Shattuck Road, formerly 35 Adams Ave. They all resided there by the early 1930s.
Nathan’s son, William D. Gooch worked as a bookkeeper before becoming an auditor for a drug and chemical company. He owned a motorboat Dixie and continued to summer in Marblehead for a few years after his father’s passing in 1916. At some point William D. Gooch married Mary A. P. and they had two children, Dana Appleton Gooch (1897-1972) and Margaret Caroline Gooch. Dana worked as an office clerk but was unemployed by World War I and his subsequent occupations are unknown. In 1934 he married in Beverly, Mass and he died on March 6, 1972 in Florida.
Margaret Caroline Gooch (1891-1988), William’s daughter is likely present in this collection since one of the original glass plate boxes was labeled with her name. While employed as a teacher, she married Eugene Judson Barney on December 10, 1917. Eugene was a refrigerator electrical engineer from Dayton, OH and by 1920 they had moved back to his hometown. According to census records, they lived at 12 Seminary Ave, Dayton in 1920; 1438 Catalpa Drive in 1930; and 1827 Harvard Blvd in 1940. They had a son, Edward Barney.
11 Fayerweather Street
In 1850, 3 Fayerweather Street was built as a 2 ½ story house for John B. Dana. After the Danas and then the Gooches vacated the home, it was purchased by Mrs. Archibald Howe (Arria Sargeant Divwell) in 1900. Archibald Howe (1848-1916), a lawyer and former member of the House of Representatives, was the Vice-Presidential candidate of the "National Party" 1900. His cousin, Lois Lilley Howe (1864-1964), a pioneer female architect, remodeled 3 Fayerweather Street that year. The new design removed an internal partition, extended the house by four feet, and added three dormers to the front façade. It is likely that Lois Howe was the photographer of image G-2161 as it is strikingly similar to her photographs taken on April 30, 1900. For more information on Lois Howe see her Women’s History CHC file. The house was renovated by Lois’s architectural firm Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc. in 1916. At some point in the interim between 1916 and 1930 3 Fayerweather was renumbered 11 Fayerweather Street. The house was later owned by Louise McLennan, who altered the home in 1939.
Stone family
It is uncertain which Stone family is being represented in the family crest of this collection. There are three likely (but not exhaustive) possibilities of who the Stones were. The first is the decedents of Simon Stone. He was a Watertown settler who gained 50 acres of land in Cambridge in the 1640s. His family would go one to expand the property to 150 acres, known as the Stone Farm. Located at Coolidge Hill, most of the land was later parceled out, with most sold to George Brimmer in 1825, Fern Hill sold to William P. Winchester in 1845, and 24 acres sold to the City in 1854 which would become Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Another possibility is the family of Mr. Edmund Stone of New York. Edmund Stone stayed with Nathan Gooch in Marblehead in July 1903, according to the Marblehead Messenger. That same week Nathan had returned from a fishing trip in Maine, which could be an indication of where some of the rural images in this collection were taken.
The final but most cursory connection is that Nathan Gooch sold his first Marblehead summer cottage to Maria M. Stone on May 24, 1901, according to the Salem Deeds index. Little is known about her and her family.
Another possibility is the family of Mr. Edmund Stone of New York. Edmund Stone stayed with Nathan Gooch in Marblehead in July 1903, according to the Marblehead Messenger. That same week Nathan had returned from a fishing trip in Maine, which could be an indication of where some of the rural images in this collection were taken.
The final but most cursory connection is that Nathan Gooch sold his first Marblehead summer cottage to Maria M. Stone on May 24, 1901, according to the Salem Deeds index. Little is known about her and her family.
Extent
49 glass plate negatives
Abstract
This collection contains glass plate negatives related to 11 Fayerweather Street in Cambridge; Harvard University buildings; Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown, MA; and non-Cambridge locations. The collection was not identified initially but through research, it is likely connected to the Gooch family and their time as residents at 11 Fayerweather Street. The content of the negatives also includes images of family members, but the individual identities have not been confirmed at this time. Non-Cambridge locations include seaside beaches, fields, and mountainous landscapes, possibly situated at Marblehead Neck and New York state.
Physical Location
Collection is stored on-site
Provenance
Donated by Hope Mann, October 2020.
Processing and Arrangement Notes:
The glass plate negatives were originally housed in four cardboard boxes. They were labeled: “Fayerweather St”, “[horse?]head trip”, “Margaret’s”, and “Watertown/ 1902 4th of July.” The final box also contained an original handwritten note that stated: “Our house negs etc. Law school arches. Groups on lawn. Law school [? ?] class. Hemingway Gym. Fayerweather Street.” The box labels and the written note do not have any significant correlation to the items in the boxes since it seems that they had been rearranged at some point.
For preservation purposes, the glass plate negatives were removed from their cardboard boxes and housed in paper sleeves. The negatives have been added to the existing numbering system for glass plate negatives and range from G-2134 to G-2182. For ease of findability, the numbering system has been included in the item-level description of this finding aid. The accompanying image descriptions were added during the processing of the collection and are not original identifiers.
Note from the donor: “My husband bought and sold photography related items on Ebay and some specialty photographic sites. He bought odd lots of stuff and I believe these 4 boxes of negatives were probably in one of those odd lots. I have no idea how long they were in the basement. I found them as I am trying to clean out a basement full of darkroom equipment, framing materials and other miscellaneous items. I thought the negatives might be important to the history of an area and want to give them so that this history can be saved.”
For preservation purposes, the glass plate negatives were removed from their cardboard boxes and housed in paper sleeves. The negatives have been added to the existing numbering system for glass plate negatives and range from G-2134 to G-2182. For ease of findability, the numbering system has been included in the item-level description of this finding aid. The accompanying image descriptions were added during the processing of the collection and are not original identifiers.
Note from the donor: “My husband bought and sold photography related items on Ebay and some specialty photographic sites. He bought odd lots of stuff and I believe these 4 boxes of negatives were probably in one of those odd lots. I have no idea how long they were in the basement. I found them as I am trying to clean out a basement full of darkroom equipment, framing materials and other miscellaneous items. I thought the negatives might be important to the history of an area and want to give them so that this history can be saved.”
Processing Information
Processing, finding aid, and encoding by Brittany Fox, November 2020.
- Title
- Inventory of the Gooch Family Photographs, ca. 1860-1930s
- Author
- Processing and machine-readable finding aid by Brittany Fox, November 2020.
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Was Prepared Using Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Cambridge Historical Commission Archives Repository
Contact:
831 Massachusetts Avenue
2nd Floor
Cambridge Massachusetts 02139 US
617-349-4683
histcomm@cambridgema.gov
831 Massachusetts Avenue
2nd Floor
Cambridge Massachusetts 02139 US
617-349-4683
histcomm@cambridgema.gov