Chosen Families #6: Godown Family - RELATIVE FOUND
John A Godown
Susan “Susie” H (Godown) Lambert
Hello again! I am so excited to announce that I was able to send out two photographs belonging to the same family out to relatives today! It’s so exciting to make progress with this project and I hope I can bring more of them to families.
Walking into the post office today, I sparked a conversation with the female postal worker. As I was placing the photographs into their respective packages, she grabbed the bag I placed them inside and took a look. She said “I love looking at old photographs." I then explained to her my project, and what I set out to do. Exchanging further remarks ,we also talked about the old photographs her mother had, with faces of names long forgotten. We also shared sentiments over the loss of her family photographs, her mother having simply given them away. Hearing stories like this drives me further to do what I do; with all the work I do, I try to put faces to names, people parts of family trees long into the past.
These two cabinet card photographs were recovered in the same consignment store local to me. Whenever I am in the process of going through stacks of old photographs in these stores, I always check for photographs belonging to the same family or part of a set of photographs. Often times, these photographs are bought in lots from the same person (to the person who eventually sells them), and sometimes they will be multiple photographs belonging to a set or possible family group.
These two cabinet card photographs belong to father and daughter, and here are their stories:
John Alexander Godown was born 31 December 1825 in Dilts Corner, Hunterdon, New Jersey to parents Jacob Godown (1796-1848) & Evelyn Ann Coryell (1796-1859). He worked as a farm laborer, and lived in the Lambertville, New Jersey area for most of his life. He married Rebecca Ann Housel (1835-1921) on 16 Dec 1865, and had 5 children. These children are Catherine W. Godown (1868-1952), Harrison R. Godown (1870-1941), Susan H. Godown (1871-1905) (who is in the other photograph), Gideon B. Godown (1873-1958), and Mary “Mamie” E. Godown (1877-1957). He died on the 11 October 1910 in Lambertville, New Jersey, and is buried in Sandy Ridge Cemetery with his wife and daughter Mamie. On the back of his photograph has his name John A. Godown listed. It was taken at Fritz’s , a photographer in Lambertville, New Jersey during the late 1880s-1890s. (FindaGrave Memorial Found Here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19018967/john-alexander-godown)
Susan “Susie” H. (Godown) Lambert was born on the 8 of August, 1871 in Amwell, Hunterdon, New Jersey. She married her husband Wilfred Lambert on the 1 Jan 1889 in Lambertville, New Jersey. She had 5 children including Dora, Fred, Frank, Orville, and Hannah Lambert. She died on the 28 of July 1905 in Philadelphia, PA and is buried in Sandy Ridge Cemetery with her husband Wilfred. Her chief cause of death was listed as “Primary Hemorrhage.” (Death Certificate Found Here: https://tinyurl.com/y2w2splo , FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67770419/susie-h-lambert) . On the back of her photograph it states “From Susie to Mamie E. Godown” addressing this photograph to her sister. Piecing together John A. Godown and his two daughter was essential in connecting the two photographs to the same family. The photograph was taken at Tibbels in Lambertville, New Jersey and dates likely from the late 1800s.
Back of Cabinet Card Portrait of John A Godown
Back of Cabinet Card Portrait of Susan “Susie” Godown, Addressed to Sister Mamie E. Godown
The relative I reached out to had stated that they are the keeper of the collection of family photographs. They stated their research and materials will eventually be donated to the Hunterdon County Historical Society. I am so happy to return to them to this relative; as someone who volunteers in a museum myself, it is exciting to know that these will be now available online as well preserved by an organization in the future for generations to come. I cannot wait to be able to return more photographs to more families and am so excited at the current progress of the Chosen Families Project from where I started months ago
