Janis Vodden  brock.vodden@tcc.on.ca Great great granddaughter of Sarah Gooderham Skelton

We have very different information about Sarah Gooderham, daughter of Ezekiel G. and Harriet Juby.

This is what we have: 

Sarah Gooderham b. 1839;  married June 29, 1858 at Toronto to John Skelton of Scarborough, son of Robert Skelton. Died Feb. 5, 1881 Buried in Brussels Cemetery, Brussels, Ontario.

As documentation, we have the marriage certificate for Sarah and John Skelton, signed by R. A. Fyfe, Pastor of Bond Street Church and indicating Rev. Ezekiel Gooderham and Robert Skelton as witnesses to the marriage. We also have a photo of  the tombstone for Johns Skelton and Sarah confirming the above date of her death and indicating her age as 42 years.

We have as well, a letter written by the wife of William E. Gooderham to Sarah’s daughter, Betsy Louisa (Skelton) Marshall, dated from Wexford, Ontario January 13, 1909. Mrs. Gooderham addresses Betsy as “My dear niece” . We have a photo of William Ezekiel G. as well.

We received this message last evening. Janis has been wondering for some time about the origin of this park’s name, and apparently someone whom she asked passed our address on to Ms. Heinbuch. Goderich is just 30 km from where we live.

We thought you might have some knowledge of Judith and/or her grandfather, Mr. Knight, or might be able to find someone with that information.

Jan has been in contact with a lady from the Ontario Historical Society who is looking up information about Ezekiel Gooderham. She’ll likely have some info to pass on to you before too long.

Regards,

Brock Vodden

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom & Rose Heinbuch [mailto:heinbuch@hurontel.on.ca]
Sent: June 28, 2004 5:59 PM
To: brock.vodden@tcc.on.ca
Subject:

Greetings from Goderich, On,

    My name is Rose Heinbuch and I am writing to you on behalf of the friends of the  Judith Gooderham Memorial Park and pool.  I am desperately trying to locate any family that may be related to the Knight or Gooderham family.  I will fill you in on what I have found out about the Gooderham family.  The Judith Gooderham Memorial Park and outdoor pool located in Goderich was donated by a man named Mr. Henry Knight.  He dedicated and named the park in loving memory of his granddaughter Judith Gooderham.  Judith Gooderham died at the age of ten of a tragic accidental electrocution.  Mr Knight donated the land and the entire pool to the town of Goderich .  The Judith Gooderham pool is celebrating it's fiftieth anniversary this week.  The pool has been in operation from July 4th 1954 -2004.  The pool has been a blessing to this town.  We have planned a fun filled day on Canada Day.  If you can forward this to any family members that may be still living or if you can contact me at any time, I would love to talk to anyone in the Gooderham family.  The neighbour and friends have fought long and hard as well to keep the pool open.  A YMCA recreation facility was built and opened in Goderich this year and the Judith Gooderham pool was slated to close.  We fought town hall to keep it open and they voted in favour of keeping the pool alive.  We would love to hear the thoughts from any family that may remember the Judith Gooderham pool.  Mr Knight had a summer vacation home in Huron County and that is his connection to Goderich.  The Judith Gooderham memorial park will always be a park because if they close the doors to the pool they can not build on it as it  the pool is located on an old cemetery.  The town hasn't maintained the pool in recent years but the community is determined to raise funds for necessary repairs and keep the pool operational for many years to come.  Please contact me with any information you may have even if it seems small.  It would be such an honour to touch base with anyone from the Gooderham family.  We would like the Gooderham legacy and piece of History located here in Goderich to live on.

Sincerely,

Rose Heinbuch

Goderich, On

heinbuch@hurontel.on.ca

(519) 524-2655