Welcome to the home of the Goodrich Family Association

About Us

History of the GFA:
The Goodrich Family Association was founded in 1978 by George W. Farrell, a descendant of Harry Clinton Goodrich and an avid Goodrich researcher. Little is known about the first two years. In 1980, Farrell published the association’s first periodical, called the Goodrich Gospel (Gospel = Goodspell=Good News.) The newsletter was first printed on a 10-year-old Smith-Corona electric, then a new one, but the printing was still a source of frustration for Farrell because the inflexible machine would not always produce the forms and documents Farrell needed. In the Fall 1982 Goodrich Gospel, Farrell reported big news. At last he had access to a computer.

Under George Farrell’s leadership, the family association continued to grow. Farrell shared research work with Victor Burton Goodrich, a Professional Genealogist from Hamilton, NY and worked with Dr. Joyce Goodrich from 1984 on.

The Goodrich Family Association held their first national reunion October 5, 6, and 7, 1984 at Wethersfield, CT to coincide with the celebration commemorating the 350th Anniversary of the town that Goodriches helped found and fought to protect; and to commemorate also the arrival in the colonies of the Goodrich brothers, William and John.

Business and family health demands arose in the Farrell family. Victor B. Goodrich died in September, 1995. The Goodrich Family Association lapsed, but not George Farrell’s dream.

In 1997, Farrell was back on the genealogy internet message boards, “After being in limbo for several years I am able to start the Association again...” He sent Dr. Joyce Goodrich a letter and thanked her for information she’d contributed, “...looks like just what we need to help get the association going again... should have our own web site soon.”

A Goodrich Surname DNA Project was begun in 2005. To date the project has verified the lineages of two immigrant ancestors among the Goodrich, Goodrick, and variant branches, and is seeking to identify more.

George Farrell’s Goodrich Family Association dream was nearing completion when he was unexpectedly stricken and died following surgery. Today, the Goodrich Family Association’s trustees continue to carry on his work. The association web site, under Matthew Goodrich, webmaster, went active on March 15, 2006.

-Delores Goodrick Beggs, March 18, 2006

Sources:
Goodrich Gospel, 9 Issues, Autumn 1980 – Winter 1983
George W. Farrell, letter to Dr. Joyce Goodrich, April 15, 1997
George W. Farrell, Family Tree Maker Genealogy Message Board posting about reactivating Goodrich Family Association, April 4,1997

Trustees:
Carole McCarty
Joyce Goodrich
David Goodrich
Kathleen Waterloo, Treasurer
Delores Goodrick Beggs, Genealogist/Historian and Goodrich Surname DNA Project Group Manager
Matthew Goodrich, Webmaster - GFA and Goodrich DNA web sites

If you would like to join the GFA, there is a membership application here. Just download the pdf file (or open in your browser) and follow the mailing instructions at the bottom of the app.

Database copyright 2006 The Goodrich Family Association. The information in these Goodrich immigrant files was compiled by many persons through the years. While every effort has been made to check for accuracy, you should verify any information against available records.

Please report any problems with this site to our Database Compiler and Webmaster:
Matthew Goodrich

This page was created by John Cardinal's Second Site v1.9.16.
Site updated on 19 Apr 2007 at 3:43:05 PM; 6,443 people