The Hotel Fort Gatlin, Orlando, Florida

postmarked May 19, 1946, Saint Petersburg, Fla.

Having a nice trip.  Should like to hear from you.  

B. Napier

Box 5141

New Orleans, 15

La, U.S.A.

Mrs.  Dorris Bremner

Vernon Street

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Canada

The Hotel Fort Gatlin was a place where guests could enjoy the famous "golden fried chicken" dinner as well as a comfortable stay in the mid-century City Beautiful.  Our writer must have been so full that he/she forgot to write to Mrs. Bremner until arriving in St. Petersburg, which before I-4 was a half day trip.  The building along Orange Avenue was bought and demolished in 1965 by the Orlando Sentinel who was expanding their operations.  

Doris Bremner was probably born in 1910, and may have been related to the family owned Bremner's Plumbing and Heating of Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The town of about 400,000 was amalgamated into a regional government in 1995.  

Band Concert in Bayfront Park, Miami, Florida

Bayfront Park, famed as a showplace of tropical landscaping, is on the shore of Bay Biscayne, along the southern terminus of Biscayne Boulevard.  From conveniently placed benches under palm trees, one may gaze across Biscayne Bay, while enjoying daily free band concerts.

Miami, Fla. February 14, 1941

Dear Olga:-

I am down here for a while to get away from the cold.  It is just lovely now.

Anna Rorke?

Mrs. Olga Minor

174 Wentworth Ave.

Edgewood, R. I.

Yet another postcard from Bayfront Park, which I detailed in yesterday's post.  Here's a great essay if you wish to know more about the park.

I've also detailed Edgewood, Rhode Island in an earlier post.  The suburb of Cranston is home to many beautiful old houses, and Mrs. Minor's house at 174 Wentworth is no exception.  Zillow lists the property, built in 1920, sold in 2006, but the Providence County Property Appraisers website lists no records.  Nor are there any records for an Olga Minor is the SSDI.  Strange.  

Scene on Island Waterway between Palm Beach and Miami, Fla.

Palm Beach, Fla, December 15, 1942

Dear Feverfew:-

Greetings from Florida once more- guess it will be for the last season until the war is over so we must make the most of it.  We are at Trailer Garden, W. Palm Beach for the winter and like it here.  Friendly people and a very pretty small camp.  Husband’s sister and her husband are at Lake Worth, seven miles from here, I a home so we shall be with them at Christmas as usual.  We go there for Sun. dinner usually, the only driving we do.  I can if weather is right, walk to shopping center about 1 ½ miles.  The open beach is probably ½ mile further across Lake Worth. 

Best Wishes,

Wanderer

Mrs. Etta Briggs

Pratt St.

Halifax, Mass.


Wistful musings about the war being over from a tin can tourist.  With gas rationing during the war, visitors to Florida found their journeys limited, if they could travel to Florida at all.  The Trailer Garden may still exist, given the rough directions that our Wanderer provides us.  

Etta Briggs was born in 1877 and died at the age of 91 in Halifax, Massachusetts.  The town of 7,000 people has a historical commission, so I have contacted them to shed any more light on Ms. Briggs and perhaps her mysterious "wanderer."

Beautiful Hialeah Race Course, Hialeah, Florida

A rear view of Hialeah Race Course Grandstand, a familiar sight to thouasands of tourists.

Jupiter, Fla., January 29, 1949

I am having a grand time.  Have a good sun tan already.  We also catch a lot of fish.

Marion, Dora send regards. 

Rose

Mrs. Louis Niegel?

756 Irving P.Red. 13

Chicago, Ill.

After seeing the misspelling of “already,” I read the last line as “Me also catch a lot of fish.”

Mcfadden-Deauville Pool, Miami Beach, Florida

Saint Augustine April 8, 1948

Saw a wonderful water show here.

When are you coming to visit us?  We start home Tues.  Should be there in a week or so. 

Mr. and Mrs. Horace L. Campbell

Route 2

Rogersville, Mo.

"A usual crowd at the renowned water carnival held every Sunday during the winter season at Deauville Pool, Miami Beach, Florida."  The MacFadden-Deauville Hotel pool is still in operation, now known as the Deauville Beach resort.

Sadly, the SSDI lists a Horace Campbell as deceased in Rogersville, MO on September 1, 1972.  Since the small town has a population today of a little over 3,000 people , I feel pretty confident that this Horace is the same as the recipient.  I was hoping to find him in these historical photos.

Indian Creek, Miami Beach, FL

Indian Creek, Miami BeachMany luxurious homes border on this tropical waterway.  Over its smooth surface Gar Wood races his famous “Miss Americas”

Miami, Fla January 23, 1944

Pvt. D. E. Phelps

912^th Tr. Gp. Sq. 121 Flt A

AAF Training Center #1

Miami Beach, Fla

1/23/44

Dear Dad,

Haven’t got time to write a letter home today.  I’m trying to get caught up on both my letter writing and sleep.  We had a big parade & review this afternoon.  By the sun was hot and in a parade you can’t wear sun glasses.  Well take it easy.  I’ll write later.

Love, Dan

Mr. H.S. Phelps

54 Willow Ave

W. Somerville, Mass

Notice that this postcard is without a stamp, and our Private Phelps auspiciously wrote “FREE” where the stamp should go?  That’s how we won WWII, through audacious acts such as this, and writing “FREE” everywhere our troops went in Europe and the Pacific.

Private Phelps was part of Army Air Forces 5th district, activated in 1943, headquarters in Miami Beach.  In addition to training U.S. pilots, the center trained Royal Air Force pilots as part of the lend-lease agreement with Great Britain.  The 912th Training Group was a squadron of refueling planes that saw plenty of action in support of bombers in World War 2, and is still active today.  

What became of Private Dan Phelps is a mystery.  The town of Somerville, first settled in 1630, has about 75,000 people.  The Middlesex County Registry of Deeds goes back to 1974, and the only listing for a Phelps in Somerville is a 1993 bankruptcy for someone who may or may not be a direct descendant.  Thankfully, the National Archives List of Army and Air Force World War Two Casualties lists an Ernest Phelps, so as far as I can tell, Dan survived long enough to go back to his home on 54 Willow St.

"Sausage Tree" (Kigella Pinetta), Florida

Sausage Tree (Kigellia Pinatta) Florida

Saint Petersburg, Fla

April 13, 1943

We saw this strange tree 4 years ago in Miami.  Can’t do much driving this year on account scarcity of gasoline.  If I could see my friend in Hyde Park, bet you I could have all I want.  We will be seeing you before long.  Weather like summer here and hate to leave it. 

George Schryver

Mr. C Kisselbrach

Pine Plains, N.Y.


As I sit outside 10 days and 59 years from the date on this card, I am reminded that it is very much like summer already, although not quite as oppressive as July and August can be here in Florida.

I discussed the Kigellia Pinatta a little yesterday, and found a more recent study using the bark extract as an anticonvulsant.  I should also add that this species is not quite invasive, as it only thrives in south Florida, much like its native habitat of tropical Africa, so its fairly scarce when considering Florida as a whole.

Gasoline was scarce during World War Two, and scarce enough that Mr. Schryver decided against taking the near 20 mile trip across the Gandy Bridge to his friend in Hyde Park, Tampa.  Tampa has the largest port facility in Florida, especially when it concerns bulk freight such as fertilizer and gasoline, so maybe George's friend worked for the harbormaster.  

Pine Plains, NY is a town of about 2,500 people.  The surname Kisselbrach appears in some archived papers in a 1930 story about the widow of George Kisselbrach getting married at age 78 to an 83 year old widower and a 1970 story about Lulu Kisselbrach's trip to Europe.

The Sausage Tree, Miami, Florida

Sausage Tree (Kigella Pinatta), Native of AfricaThis strange tree fruit closely resembling huge bologna sausages is the Mecca of Metropolitan Miami sightseers.

Miami Beach, FL  June 3, 1948

Hello Katie Dear,

We are having such a lovely vacation. 

Wouldn’t this tree come in handy if we have a meat shortage?

Mabel

Miss K. Olsen

129 W 11^th Street

Davenport, Iowa

Yes, Mabel.  A meat tree would be great for a meat shortage, but so would elderly Florida winter residents.  Solyent Green, baby!

Again, we have a featured area attraction based on invasive species.  “Ha, ha, crazy African tree…it looks like bologna- where did all our native plants go?” The sausage tree, or Kigella Pinatta, produces fruit that is unpalatable for humans, but there are recent studies exploring the possibility of using the plant's bark to treat amoebic infections.

Davenport is a fairly large city and filled with many Olsens, whether they be Katie’s or Katherine’s.  The house at 129 W. 11^th Street is still standing, but the property built in 1900 apparently has no records in the time frame provided by the Scott County Recorders Office. 

Park Lake, Orlando, Florida, Showing Park Lake Presbyterian Church, "The City Beautiful"

Park Lake, Orlando, Florida, showing Park Lake Presbyterian ChurchSurrounded by beautiful homes and a palm-lined boulevard.  Park Lakes is one of the thirty-three beautiful lakes within Orlando’s city limits.  There are 1,500 fresh water lakes of varying size in Orange County of which the city is the county seat.

Orlando, Fla. August 18, 1943

We are having a fine time.  Both Luella & Carroll look fine.  Enjoyed our trip very much. 

Sadie & Ralph

Mrs. Ida Shofe?

Aberlin, Pa.


The Park Lake neighborhood in Orlando is nearly as old as the city itself, and features the home used as an office by the renowned architect Ida Annah Ryan.  Working in the Prairie School under Frank Lloyd Wright, Ms. Ryan and her partner Isabel Roberts designed many buildings in central Florida, some of which are still standing today.

Sunshine Park, Orlando, Florida

Sunshine Park, Orlando, FL

Orlando, Fla.  February 2, 1940

We have not played as much shuffleboard as we did before the cold.  Even with the sun beaming on you, you could freeze to death.  Today was lovely and in a few days well will have forgotten the cold.  All the flowers are gone but soon there will be others to take their place.  Carolyn Mara is entertaining us tomorrow night.

Love,

S. Downing

Mrs. Harold Holbrook

Arch Street

Dover, N.H.


Google Maps will show a Sunshine Park in Orlando, but it was a National Guard Armory from 1938 to 1983, and is officially known as the Orlando Downtown Recreation Complex, with no shuffleboard courts in sight.  Shuffleboard as a sport started in Daytona in 1913, reaching its peak in the 1940's, especially among the growing retired population in Florida.  According to the Florida Shuffleboard Association, there are no teams currently playing in Orlando anymore, and I can't recall any surviving courts within the city limits.  If you want to know more about the sport, the blog Visual Epherma tackles the question of preserving this sport seriously and thoughtfully, along with photos of existing (and sadly deteriorating) courts around central and south Florida.

Dover, New Hampshire has been a thriving commercial center since the 1700's.  Through shipbuilding, cotton and brick manufacture, and the University of New Hampshire, the city has flourished for centuries.  (at least that's what the city's website implies.)    The Social Security Death Index lists a number of Harold Holbrooks who would be an appropriate age to receive this postcard in 1940, and there is a Harold Holbrook scholarship at the University of New Hamsphire's Whittemore Business School that started in 1972 in a memorial to the former banker.  There's also an honorable mention of a Harold Holbrook in minutes from the city in 1945 that praise Mr. Holbrook for his war bond efforts.

Coincidentally, there is a prominent photographer in south Florida named Carolyn Mara.  She is most likely way to young to have entertained our writer.

Over a Garden Wall, Miami Beach, Fla.

Plant City, Fla, Friday, February 9, 1940

In car in Zolfo Springs, Fla waiting. 

Glad to know the teeth problem is over.

Citrus fruit hurt badly in this section.

Ate lunch in Ft. Myers.

Be in St. Pete Saturday morning.  

All well.  Love to all.

Edgar and Elziabeth

Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Davis

Kings Highway

Swedesboro, New Jersey

This postcard looks like a Walter Carlos Williams poem, and could probably be read in a coffee shop.  I’ll let everyone know how “The First Annual Postcard Poetry Slam” goes as soon as I find the proper venue.

Service Club, Camp Grant, Illinois

Private Roland D. Miller

Area A BKS-148

Serial No. 364008105

Camp Grant, Ill.

U.S. Army

Postmarked Rockford, Ill, November 24, 1942

Dear Kids:  
Here I am in the good old Army & having a great time.  They feed us very good, all we can eat.  See you sometime.

Love, Roland

How is the big baby?

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Miller

232 Cobrain St., S.W.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

I looked up Private Miller's serial number in the National Archives, as well as posting on this wonderful site run by volunteers for World War II vets to reconnect with friends.  There is no match for the serial number Roland gives in this card, but there is a match for an enlistment of Roland Miller in May of 1942 in Omaha, Nebraska.  Unfortunately, this Roland Miller was born in 1914, making the likelihood of him still being with us today small.  I will update this post with any responses to my posting on the WW2 vets website.

I will find who this Miller family is!

Suicide Oak in City Park, New Orleans, La.

Suicide oak in City Park is one of the old monarchs of the forest, which add so much to the beauty of New Orleans’ Parks with their drapery of gray Spanish Moss.  The story of the tree is that in 12 years 16 men committed suicide under its branches.

New Orleans, La., December 10, 1945

December 10, 1945

Dear Irene,

Hi!  Guess who!  I’m down in New Orleans with Steve while he gets his discharge, but it isn’t going very fast and I guess we won’t be back for Christmas like we planned.  The weather is warm but damp. 

Love, Audrey and Steve

Mrs. Donald Miller

232 Cobrain St., S.W.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Only New Orleans could make a tourist attraction from a natural suicide assisting device.  City Park in New Orleans also has the Dueling Oak, so homicide is included as well.  During World War II, the city was home to a large Personnel Separation Center for the U.S. Navy, so perhaps Steve was returning from a Pacific Theatre Tour.   If Audrey is thinking that the process will take 15 more days, did the sheer numbers of returning servicemen jam up the system, or was the process always this slow?

Maybe this postcard was a subtle cry for help.

Lummus Park and Public Bathing Beach at Miami Beach, Florida

Warm, sparkling waters of the blue Atlantic and golden sun-drenched sand shaded by cocoanut palms tempt the bather daily at Lummus Park and Public Bathing Beach.  Here is a typical mid-winter scene with the beach thronged with happy bathers.

Miami, Fla July 31, 1947

7/30/47

Dear Mother:

It’s plenty warm and rainy down here but I can take it.  Thanks for the birthday present.  Your lawn wasn’t mowed.  It was a foot high.  It has rained everyday.  I still have my job and they were glad to see me.  Chellis.  We are going to school again.

Mrs. Alfred Scott

RFD 2

Groton, Vt.

Thank you, Chellis, for being a real tough guy and taking the warm rainy season in Miami, as well as braving your mother’s foot-high grass.  Too bad your handwriting is so poor, we may have found a Chellis or Chelis Scott much easier.

However he spells his name, Chelis' father, Alfred Scott shows up in a few places.  He could be a haberdasher in Montpelier, VT, which is not too far from Groton.  Or he could be the single barber staying at Carlos and Katie Welch's boarding house in the 1930 Groton Census, making Mrs. Scott's husband 64 at the time of this postcard.  According to this family tree, Alfred Scott, the barber married an Effie Byse in 1939, but finding descendants, including Chellis, is proving to be difficult.

Groton, Vermont is a small town incorporated in 1798, just east of Montpelier and the Groton State Forest.  Coincidentally, the town is home to a William Scott, known as the "Sleeping Sentinel" when in 1861, he was courtmartialed for sleeping at his post, sentenced to death, pardoned by Abraham Lincoln, then died in battle two years later.

Lummus Park, named after the Lummus Brothers whose banks financed most of the development of Miami Beach is still open on Ocean Drive.  Although I would recommend against any public bathing, you can leave your shower cap and washcloth behind and still take a dip in the "blue Atlantic" with all your happy bathing friends.

War Department Theatre, Camp Grant, Illinois

Rockford, Ill, May 14, 1942

Pvt Don W. Rich

Co. A 29^th BR 3^rd Pl

Camp Grant, Ill

Hello Kids:

How is the farming coming along.  Is your garden producing yet.  Leo Everst add. Is co. A 29 BR ist Pl.  He is just a couple of bldgs from me. 

So Long,

Don

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Miller

232 Colrain St., S.W.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

I'm not certain if our military got franking privileges in 1942, but I do like Private Miller scrawling the word "free" where the stamp goes.  That's just the sort of Moxie Uncle Sam needs, Private!  In all serious, I am not familiar with World War II era Army structure, so I ask any readers to see if Private Miller's address contains more than just where his mail was delivered.

Donald and Irene must have moved in 1942, since since their Floridian winter resident friend Vicki was sending her correspondence to a different address.  Unfortunately, again this residence is home to more empty lots and redevelopment.  The Miller's new address is now the home of a branch of Cofessco Fire Protection Systems, which has only been in business for the last 41 years.  There are plenty of houses in the 100 block of Colrain Street, which leads one to believe that the warehouse development in the 200 block happened sometime after 1942.

Camp Grant is also a place no more as well.  Used as an induction center for draftees during both World Wars and the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, most of the Camp was razed to become the Chicago Rockford Airport.   There is a museum (listing only-no website), a great website with photos of the camp during World War One and a restaurant called "The Command Post" in one of the few remaining buildings.

It is also very probable that the Millers, like an estimated 20 million other patriotic Americans had planted a Victory Garden.

Florida Moon

Lake Worth, Fla.  February 11, 1942

407 N. “M” Ave., Lake Worth, Fla.

I would like to hear from you if you have time.  c/o Mrs. Camp

Dear Irene & Dear-


Well I got here fine & on time.  Are having loads of fun but still can’t believe we are ourselves.  Went swimming in the salty brine Tuesday & got in our eyes, nose and mouth.  It smarts too.

Gee the town is just beautiful.  Palm trees with coconuts, hibiscus in bloom & several other flowers.  Are going to drive to Palm Beach this P.M.

Gee this card doesn’t hold much.

Love Vicki

P.S.  We will see no full moon while here now.  Shucks!

Mr. and Mrs. D.W. Miller

141 Goldsboro Pl. N.E.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Vicki, tantalized by the beautiful full moon on the front of her inadequately spaced postcard, suddenly realized that she came to Florida for the moon!  Vicki-  it's called "the Sunshine State" for a reason!  Still, Vicki's style of writing calls to mind some fast-talking dame of a 1940's movie, with just the right balance of poetry and interjections.

Sadly, Vicki's winter getaway is now a parking lot for the Sacred Heart School which opened about two years after this postcard was sent.  As discovered in previous posts, the Miller's residence suffered a similar fate, so it's difficult to discover exactly who the Millers were, even though we now know Mr. Miller's wife's name.

Municipal Auditorium, Lake Worth, Florida

Lake Worth, Fla., February 17, 1942

Dear Irene:

I am a lovely shade of pink today- just mild case of sunburn.  No matter how careful I am, I manage to resemble a well-cooked lobster.  I was going to write before, but I couldn’t because I didn’t get sunburned until today.  We’re still enjoying every minute here.

Love- Ubendeer?

Mr. and Mrs. D.W. Miller

141 Goldsboro Pl. N.E.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

This is on the top of the list for the lamest excuse for not writing.  I didn’t get sunburned, no obviously I couldn’t write.  I can only put pen to paper unless I am going through horrific agony with lasting and perhaps permanent damage to my skin.  At least she's not "Great Balls of Fire" like Vicki was in yesterday's post.

By now, the Millers are probably horrified that the unforgiving sun is charring and disfiguring their friends in Florida.  Since Miller is a common surname, and Grand Rapids is a fairly large town, I still have not found any credible clues to their identity.

The Municipal Auditiorium in Lake Worth, FL (incorporated as Lucerne in 1912 by the Palm Beach Farms Company) is now home to City Hall and is one of the prominent points of their Historic District.

Florida's Stately Royal Palms

Lake Worth, Fla. February 17, 1942

The palms are beauts!  You are good.  You get 2 cards from me.  Lucky devils

L.W. Fla. 2-16-42

Dear Irene & D.

Well, Irene how does it see, to be a stay-at-home for a change.  On the 13^th I remarked that was the last day you worked.  Al wouldn’t write what I told her to write you so I will say it.  Right now I feel like great balls of fire but am as brown as a potato. Ran into Theda Koeze? Waolker? This P.M. at the beach.  The only day she expects to spend in Lake Worth.  Strange?

82 degrees here today- still zero up there?

Love Vicki

Mr. and Mrs. D.W. Miller

141 Goldsboro Pl. N.E.

Grand Rapids, Michigan


I don't know if I've ever described a sunburn as "Great Balls of Fire," but Vicki must have had a deep tan from that burn.

The Royal Palms pictured here are native Florida species, and were planted to line the streets in many south Florida communities.  I'm sitting under one right now.

As to the Miller family- we ran across Beatrice Miller yesterday, living in Lebanon, PA.  The Michigan Geneaologist from the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries lists a Miller and Cochran Furniture Store from 1894.  Their house no longer stands, most of it developed into a large campus of an unknown organization.  Another interesting coincidence is that a Dr. D.W. Miller, Jr. wrote a recent paper against water fluoridation that began in Grand Rapids, MI in 1945.  

The Singing Tower, Mountain Lake Sanctuary, Lake Wales, Florida

THE SINGING TOWERThe Singing Tower is located on the highest spot in Florida and is surrounded by beautifully landscaped grounds.  –The Sanctuary.  The Tower is built of Florida coquina stone and Georgia pink marble, weight 5,500 tons, and took over two years to complete.  It contains one of the largest and finest Carillons in the world, consisting of 71 bells the smallest bell weighing 17 pounds, while the largest weighs 12 tons.  This beautiful Sanctuary and wonderful Singing Tower were given to the people by Mr. Edward W. Bok as a symbol of beauty, and as an expression of his thanks to the American Flag.  The place has been rightfully called “The Most Beautiful Spot in America.”

July 1944

Dear Davie:

Be a good boy and here’s a big kiss Honey X

Love Mommie and Daddy

Master David Topinka

2331 Charney Rd.

U. Hts. 18

Cleveland, Ohio

There’s no postmark or stamp on this postcard from the mysterious Honey X, but July 1944 is written in pencil with a December 1944 stamp.  Did this card take half a year to arrive in Cleveland?  Thinking that Master David Topinka was probably a child when he received this card, it's very probable he is still alive.  Just not in Cleveland.  His house, built in 1942 is still standing, and recently sold in a transaction that featured no one from the Topinka family.

It is very odd that this postcard declares the bells' weight to be more than the previous card from 13 years ago.  The Great Depression must have had some perverse effect on the laws of gravity.  No matter what the bells weigh these days, you can hear them this weekend if you attend the International Carillon Festival this weekend at Bok Tower Gardens?  (Again, I am not a paid sponsor.)

Beautiful Water Liles

Miami, Fla, March 18, 1948

Florida sure is a beautiful place.  If you ever get a chance to see it don’t miss it.  I haven’t had a chance to take many pictures, at a lot of places cameras aren’t allowed.

Minerva

Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow Good

West Main St.

New Holland, Pa.

Oh, Minerva.  The 1% don’t want your plebian camera taking pictures of their estates.  But points for a slogan that the Florida Visitors Bureau would love_ “If you ever get a chance to see it, don’t miss it.”

New Holland, PA is a borough of about 5,000 people founded in 1728 by Germans in what would become Pennsylvania's Amish Country.  They have a vibrant historical society, as do most Northeastern towns and boroughs.  Thankfully, the name Woodrow Good is an unusual name, and there's a few clues on the internet as to his identity:

From the Internet Archive, a transcribed (no photos) yearbook from William Jennings Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee shows a member of the 1955 Sophomore Class named Woodrow Good, sponsored by a Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow Good.  This would suggest that Junior was home when the folks got this card from Minerva.

Three years earlier, the Indiana (PA) Evening Gazette listed at newspaperarchive.com lists a Woodrow Good as a 4-h Club winner in the Livestock Competition at the State Fair.  This would seem to solidify the existence of the Good's son.

In 1974, the Reading Eagle (archived at GoogleNewspapers) announces the retirement of a Woodrow Good, who started working at Sperry's New Holland branch as a truck driver in 1941.  So now we know where Mr. Good worked.  That might be why Minerva is so paranoid about the camera situation.

Lastly, and more mysterious, I keep getting a hit on paid "people search" sites of a 99 year-old Woodrow Good still living in New Holland, PA.  If Mr. Good is still living, and if this is the same Mr. Good, he would have been born around 1913, starting his job in his late thirties, and retiring in his early seventies.  There's a handful of age-appropriate Woodrow Goods that could be the son, but until the New Holland Historical Society replies, his identity is still just conjecture.