The Goes of South Ritter Avenue

      Hezekiah and Cornelia Goe arrived in Irvington in 1884. He was 47 and she was 36. They left their comfortable home and business in Indianapolis for a new chapter in the small town located in eastern Marion County. Few people lived in Irvington when they arrived, but Butler University had been in the community for nine years so the Goes speculated that the area was ripe for a new grocery store. Their gamble paid off. After renting a home for a few years, they moved into their own home designed by Louis Gibson at 128 South Ritter Avenue in 1890. They had five children who lived into adulthood and three of them lived in Irvington for most of their lives. In this post, you will get the opportunity to meet some of the earliest residents of Irvington.

Hezekiah and Cornelia Goe posed for this photograph in 1911. Behind the couple, you can see their neighboring houses at 127, 129, and 128 South Ritter Avenue. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Hezekiah Noble Goe (1837-1919)

     Hezekiah Goe hailed from Madison County, Indiana and married a local woman named Winifred A. Mauzy in 1864. They lived in Indianapolis as Mr. Goe started his various jobs as a clerk. Tragedy struck within one year as both his wife and newborn baby died in 1865. At some point, he met Margaretta "Cornelia" Farnsworth. They married in 1872 and started a family and a life together. 

     Besides running the family grocery store at 130 South Audubon Road, he also managed at least one rental property. In 1891, the Goes built a second home just south of the Pennsylvania Railroad at 220 South Ritter Avenue as an investment. An ad in the Indianapolis News on November 7, 1898, promoted an eight-room cottage for $15 a month. The house was within easy walking distance of their own home nearby. 

     We know from family records that Mr. Goe was active in the Methodist Church and that he loved to garden. Family photographs reveal that besides growing fruit and vegetables, he also raised chickens. The house had a large barn for his horses and later his automobiles. 

     He lived to be 82 years old. At his funeral, Professor Allen R. Benton, read the eulogy composed by Cornelia Goe, his wife of 47 years. 

     He loved the out-of-doors, the flowers, plant life, the work in his garden. Watching the growth of his planting was a source of great pleasure to him. He enjoyed sharing the results of his work with friends and neighbors, and possessed a fund of information which was often sought from him. So he was happy in his nature, liking people, and possessing a forgiving spirit. He did not cherish resentment. Sabbath, the last day of his life, he was very happy with his family, reading and enjoying his home in all that it afforded...When the even-tide came, a messenger hovered near--that unseen power called "death," the reaper, which spares neither young nor old, claimed its victim, after four brief hours...

Hezekiah Goe on December 12, 1912 (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

One of the final photographs taken of Hezekiah Goe was snapped in 1919. Behind him, you can see a neighbor's home located at 5427 Julian Avenue. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

  Margaretta "Cornelia" Farnsworth Goe (1848-1940)

     In an age when most women in Indiana could only dream of a college education, Cornelia Farnsworth of Liberty, Indiana received her diploma from the Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio in 1869. Education remained the hallmark of her life. Newspaper articles reveal that after she married Hezekiah Goe in 1872 she joined numerous clubs for women. In Irvington she belonged to dozens of organizations and frequently hosted book talks, discussions, and lectures. 

     Her crowning professional achievement came when she served on the Irvington School Board in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The State of Indiana allowed women to serve on school boards after 1881, but few did. In fact, she became one of the earliest females to serve on a school board in the state. Many women believed that capable public servants like Cornelia Goe demonstrated to the public that women could hold office and deserved the right to vote in elections. It took a while for the men to catch on, but Cornelia Goe likely cast her first vote in 1920 at the age of 72. 

      She helped to raise her five children into adulthood. All of them received coursework or degrees past high school. She loved to travel and the society pages noted her excursions throughout the United States and to Europe. She lived a long life. Sadly, she had to endure the deaths of her beloved husband and three of her adult children. 

Margaretta "Cornelia" Farnsworth Goe in her later years. She was a pioneer female public servant serving on the Irvington School Board in the late nineteenth century. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Cornelia Farnsworth Goe posed with her daughter Cornelia Goe Kingsbury on May 30, 1920. After her daughter's death in 1923, Mrs. Goe helped to raise her grandchildren. Behind the women, you can see the rear of 128 South Ritter Avenue. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

The Goe Children

Clara Mae Goe (1872-1958)

     Clara Goe, the oldest child of Hezekiah and Cornelia Goe graduated from Butler University and became an elementary teacher in a variety of Indianapolis Public Schools before landing at #57 in 1909. Upon her graduation from Butler, she presented a recommendation note from her French professor, Hugh L. Miller, and the former president of the college, Allen R. Benton. How do we know this? The Irvington Historical possesses the letters. We also have one of her early teaching contracts. Like her mother, Clara immersed herself in local Irvington clubs. She remained at the Ritter Avenue house for decades taking care of her elderly mother and along with her sister, Grace, raised her niece and nephew. To hundreds of former students she was simply known as Miss Goe.  She lived to be 85 years old.

Clara Goe posed for this photograph sometime in the late nineteenth century. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Hugh Miller wrote his letter of recommendation first on May 19, 1897. Allen R. Benton added his on to the same page on November 11, 1898. (courtesy of the Estate of Theodore Kingsbury, Irvington Historical Society)

Clara Goe earned $925 for the year in 1917-1919 as a teacher for Indianapolis Public Schools (courtesy of the Estate of Theodore Kingsbury, Irvington Historical Society)

Edwin "Herbert" Goe (1876-1903)

     Herbert Goe, the second child and first son of Hezekiah and Cornelia Goe, was a talented athlete and student who attended Butler University. While at Butler, he joined Phi Delta Theta fraternity. After graduating, he started his career working for power companies in New York, Wisconsin, and finally Michigan. While working for Consolidated Lake Superior Power Company in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, he had an attack of appendicitis. Hezekiah Goe rushed to northern Michigan to be near his son. Herbert immediately wrote the saddest letter a parent could receive. He posted the letter on January 15, 1903. With his father at his side, he penned:

     My Dear Mother.

     This may be my last letter to you. The doctors say so. I want to tell you for all dear mother how I love you with all the fervor of a son. I am so weak. I want to write more. Oh, if you and the children had come up with dear father.

     Don't give up hope, Mother. I am trusting in God. Love Love Love to brothers and sisters--

    Your Dying Son,

     Herbert

The poignant note is still possessed by family members. Herbert Goe, who was only 27 years old, died shortly after writing his mother. As a testimonial to his popularity, 200 power company employees escorted the casket to the train station for the long ride back to Indianapolis. One can only imagine the grief back on Ritter Avenue over the loss of Herbert. 

Herbert Goe shortly before his untimely death in 1903. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Grace Goe (1880-1968)

     Grace Goe was a career woman who followed her mother's footsteps and attended Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio. Upon returning, she worked for a variety of companies as a stenographer. Her longest employment occurred at the Washington Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. She served as stenographer for that organization from 1928 until 1958. She, along with her sister, Clara, lived at 128 South Ritter Avenue for most of their lives. She and Clara cared for their elderly parents and later helped to raise their niece and nephew. She outlived all of her siblings. 

Grace Goe attended Western College for Women like her mother. The photo above is attributed as her dorm room c1896. (Kingsbury family collection)

Grace Goe worked as a stenographer for most of her life. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

   

Grace Goe worked as stenographer for a variety of companies. She can be seen in the white dress in this photograph c1910. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

     

Percy F. Goe (1888-1921)

     Percy Goe was the first child of Hezekiah and Cornelia Goe to be born in Irvington. He attended local schools as well as Butler University where he followed his older brother's footsteps and pledged the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He served his country during World War I, and later worked for several years for National Cash Register in Dayton, Ohio. At a turning point in his life, he decided to switch careers and become an income tax inspector, but that goal was cut short when his tuberculosis returned with a vengeance. Like his brother, he died at an early age likely devastating his poor Mother and sisters. 

Percy and Cornelia Goe, c1894; Both siblings contracted tuberculosis at an early age and succumbed in their early adulthoods. (photo of the Kingsbury family)

Butler University friends, Percy Goe, Harry Browning, Mark Houser, and Theodore Kingsbury posed for this photo c1910. Percy Goe's sister, Cornelia, married Theodore Kingsbury in 1912. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Percy Goe c1915 (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

Cornelia Goe Kingsbury (1890-1923)

     Cornelia Goe Kingsbury lived much of her life in Irvington. She was the only child of Hezekiah and Cornelia Goe to marry and to have children. She graduated from Emmerich Manual Training High School and Butler University where she pledged as a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. Her marriage to Theodore Kingsbury in 1912 united two prominent Irvington families. The Kingsburys briefly lived in Washington D.C., but they returned to Irvington after the death of Hezekiah Goe presumably to be nearer to her family.  She bore two children, Cornelia and Richard, before dying of tuberculosis in 1923 at the age of 33. Her death greatly affected the trajectory of her young family. Her absence weighed upon her husband Theodore, who had to travel for his job as the state geologist. To help him, the Goes stepped up and invited the Kingsbury children to live at their home on Ritter Avenue for extended periods of time. 

Cornelia Goe (left) with her friend, Mayme Potter c1902 in the front yard at 128 South Ritter Avenue (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family) 

Hezekiah Goe posed with his daughter, Cornelia, next to the family home at 128 South Ritter Avenue in 1911. (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

The Goe family home at 128 South Ritter Avenue c1920 (photo courtesy of the Kingsbury family)

I wish to thank Kathy and Dick Meyer and the extended Kingsbury family for their stories and photos about the Goe family. 

Sources:  Hezekiah Goe--Eulogy by Cornelia Goe read at his funeral by Allen R. Benton, September 3, 1919 (possessed by the Kingsbury family); "H.N. Goe, City Grocer Forty Years, is Dead," Indianapolis News, September 1, 1919, p. 7. Rental house construction--"Irvington," Indianapolis Journal, September 18, 1891, p. 6

Cornelia Farnsworth Goe--"Mrs. Goe Rites Wednesday," Indianapolis News, April 29, 1940, p. 12; Western Alumni News--"Personal and Society," Indianapolis Journal, July 3, 1887, p. 5; Irvington School Board--"Irvington," Indianapolis News, September 10, 1891, p. 6  "Women for School Officers," Indianapolis Journal, December 28, 1892, p. 6; Travels--"Irvington Items," Indianapolis Journal, August 4, 1895, p. 11 (European travel)--"Personal and Social," Indianapolis News, April 30, 1897, p. 9

Children--Clara--"Clara Goe, Ex-Teacher, Dies," Indianapolis News, May 30, 1958, p. 18; Edwin Herbert Goe--"Funeral Notice," Indianapolis News, February 12, 1903, p. 8; Letter from Herbert to his mother, January 15, 1903, (Kingsbury family archives); Grace Goe--"Miss Grace Goe Rites Tomorrow," Indianapolis News, August 16, 1968, p. 36; Percy Goe--"Funeral to be Wednesday," Indianapolis News, May 10, 1921, p.15; Cornelia Goe Kingsbury--"Mrs. Cornelia Kingsbury," Indianapolis Star, October 24, 1923, p. 7.