Alive and Well but Lost the Accent

Several months ago I was traveling in Maine and came upon an article about a Goddard being the founder of a local funeral home in Rumford, ME. It got my attention and I was reminded that my family came to Georgia in the early 1800’s from Massachusetts.

It took us a little over 200 years, but we've pretty much lost the New England accent.

I know my folks came from there because my great great grandfather is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, GA. The city of Macon erected a monument to memorialize James Goddard long before his son moved to Reynolds to start a business. He was a local Macon merchant and river boat captain and the fact that he was from Athol MA is inscribed on that monument. I’ve seen it many times.

Anyway I discovered I was only a couple of hundred miles away from Athol when I was in Rumford and I knew I would be much closer than that when I visited New Hampshire in the then near future.

So a few months later in August, and after I had done a little genealogical research, I stayed an extra day in New England to search for my roots. My co-worker dropped me off at Logan International Airport in Boston and I rented a car and headed out through the tunnels of Boston.

I’ll have to admit there was at least a couple of moments I wondered what in the heck I was doing. I was in rush hour traffic and pouring down rain by myself driving through and out of Boston. I had invited my two brothers to meet me there but they came up with pretty good excuses as to why they could not join me.

But I am a hard-headed guy and I wanted to see where I came from.

Athol is located about 85 miles west of Boston. I found a hotel for the night somewhere on the outskirts of Boston and struck out for Athol the next morning.

Not only did I visit the beautiful city of Athol, but I also visited with some local folks. I was not surprised that the Goddard name is rather common there. It was a surreal experience walking around the city of Athol and knowing my ancestors grew up and made a living there many years ago before moving to Georgia.

That evening , I drove back toward Boston to Cambridge MA and checked in another hotel. I had a noon flight out of Boston so I went to bed knowing I needed to find “The Old Burying Ground” at Harvard University rather quickly the next morning. I knew from my research that my first ancestors born in the United States were buried there.

The next morning, I found the old cemetery. I walked around in the cemetery for at least an hour. Being an undertaker that has had to find a few graves before, I knew if they were buried at that cemetery, there was a fighting chance I would find the grave.

But I almost gave up. The markers were hard to read. I felt positive that Benjamin and Mary Goddard were buried there because I had seen it in my genealogical research. At least I gave it a shot.

I was about to leave and decided to look at one more section. Incredibly I saw the name Goddard on a marker... and another Goddard.

And then I saw the graves I had come to see. My great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents.

I am quite sure I am the only Goddard to come from Georgia to visit Athol. And I am also positive I am the only Goddard from Georgia to visit our ancestor’s graves at the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge.

But I found the graves. And I even said a few things to them. I know they couldn’t hear me but I could hear me. I told them how thankful I am that their parents chose to come to America.

And though at least some of us have lost the accent, their descendants are still alive and well.

Below is a 6 minute video I put together of my findings. I produced this video for my siblings and our kids and for kids to come.

But if you want to watch, you sure can.

Athol Mass from Bruce Goddard on Vimeo.