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Harry and Grace Goddard lived at 190 Salisbury Street, a house
they named
'Elmarion,' linking the names of their two daughters, Eleanor and
Marion.
They were married in Spencer, Massachusetts in 1887, where Mr.
Goddard
worked for Spencer Wire Company. He began at the age of seventeen
and
became its superintendent four years later. The couple lived in
Spencer
before they and the company moved to Worcester. At first, the
Goddards
lived on South Main Street, and after 1905 in their newly built
home on
Salisbury Street across from the lot on which the American
Antiquarian
Society's third home would be built four years later. By then,
Goddard
was president and general manager of Spencer Wire Company.
Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, on September 14, 1863, Harry
Goddard
attended public schools in Worcester through the first two years
of high
school. He then went to work for Washburn & Moen Manufacturing
Company
for two years, after which he attended Wilbraham Academy for a
year. By
1917 he was also the treasurer of the Hobbs Manufacturing Company
and
president of the Mills Woven Cartridge Belt Company, both in
Worcester.
Goddard House, renamed in his honor, was his gift to the city as a
Home
for Aged Men. A leading manufacturer of the city, he served as
president
of the Board of Trade (predecessor to the Chamber of Commerce),
was active
in the Republican Party (hosting President William Howard Taft in
his
home), and served on the boards of the Mechanics National Bank and
People's
Savings Bank. He belonged to the Tatnuck Country Club, the
Worcester Country
Club, and the Commonwealth Club.(1)
Professionally, his success was credited to his 'force of
character,
insight and energy.' His granddaughter said it more simply. 'My
grandfather
must have been a legendary figure in our town.' He was also an
'avid collector,
an avocation which began in his youth with stamps' and continued
with
a large collection of 'dazzling' gems and precious stones that the
two
would look at together on special occasions.(2)
Grace Goddard is remembered by her granddaughter for her
complementary
role as hostess, entertaining business and civic associates in
their home.
She was very active in charitable and philanthropic organizations
in Worcester,
and was one of the chief benefactors of the Camp Fire Girls, even
donating
to them a camp named after her daughter Marion. She and her
husband traveled
extensively in the United States, Europe, Japan and took one trip
around
the world. They planned their philanthropic work together, and
among their
shared interests was establishing the Home for Aged Men. After his
death,
she sent in his memory Christmas gifts to every member of the
home.(3)
These portraits were the first of three painted by Arthur M.
Hazard
for the Goddard and Daniels families.(4) The painting of Harry
Goddard
is closely related to an engraved portrait of Goddard that
appeared in
Charles Nutt's History of Worcester and Its People.(5)
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1) Charles Nutt, History of Worcester and Its People (New
York:
Lewis Publishing Co., 1919), 3: facing p. 23.
2) Eleanor D.B. Hodge, Sojourner: People and Places I
have Loved
(Falmouth, Mass.,: The Village Printer, 1997), 10.
3) "Mrs. Goddard Passes Away at Her Home," May
1935.
AAS clipping file.
4) Arthur Merton Hazard (1872-1930) of Bridgewater,
Mass., studied
with DeCamp and Duveneck in Cincinnati and Prinet and Henri Blanc
in Paris;
Peter H. Falk, Who was Who in American Art, 1507.
5) Nutt, History of Worcester, 3:23 (facing page).
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