ministration she instituted sixteen corps. She was unanimously re-elected Department president at the annual convention in 1885, during which year over one thousand members and sixteen corps were added to the roster.
In her address to the next convention (January, 1885) she said:—
"I cannot give you full particulars of my labors during the year, but will briefly say that I have represented the Department on seventy-three different occasions, written six hundred and thirty-eight letters and a large number of postal cards, travelled over nineteen hundred miles (not including the weekly trips to headquarters on Wednesdays).
"The work of the Department has assumed such proportions that I am led to recommend that this convention adopt measures for the appointment of a corps of aides, corresponding to the aides appointed by the Department convention of the Grand Army of the Republic. It would be the duty of these aides to become thoroughly acquainted with all the workings of the order, holding themselves in readiness to act in any capacity."
This system of assigning special duties to Department aides has since been adopted in all the States and also by the National W. R. C.
A gold watch, suitably inscribed, was presented to Mrs. Goodale upon her retirement from the presidency.
Mrs. Goodale has participated in national conventions, served on special committees by appointment of the national president, and represented Massachusetts one year as national corresponding secretary. She served as chairman of the Department table in the Soldiers' Home Carnival, the proceeds of which netted four thousand dollars to the carnival treasury. She rendered efficient service in the kettledrum given under the auspices of the Ladies' Aid Association of the Soldiers' Home, and for several years has served as a member of the Committee on Department W. R. C. Rooms at the home. From 1893 to 1899 Mrs. Goodale was secretary of the Memorial Fund Committee, having charge of the work for soldiers' widows and army nurses. Since 1899 she has served continuously as chairman of the Department Relief Committee. This is a position of responsibility: it not only necessitates the wise expenditure of thousands of dollars, but also a familiarity with pension laws, dealings with the office of the State Aid Commissioner, the Soldiers' Relief Bureau, visits to the sick, the transportation of needy veterans to various cities and towns and to Soldiers' Homes.
The relief work incident to the Spanish-American War has also received valuable aid from Mrs. Goodale. She is interested in the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was the first regent of the Sarah Bradlee Fulton Chapter, of Medford, serving two years. She is at present (1902) one of the Board of Directors of the Medford Home for Aged Men and Women. She is an interesting and influential speaker, and has addressed many public gatherings.
Mrs. Goodale is prominent in the social and educational affairs of Medford. She was one of the earliest members of the Woman's Club of that city. In 1900 she was elected vice-president of the club, but resigned, as she went to Cuba in November of that year, remaining until April, 1901, at Columbia Barracks, Quemados (eight miles from Havana), where her husband, who had enlisted to serve in the Spanish-American War, was stationed as Assistant Brigade Quartermaster.
Captain Goodale was in the Forty-third Massachusetts Regiment during the Civil War. He is a Past Commander of S. C. Lawrence Post, No. 66, G. A. R., of Medford, also a Past Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, of Massachusetts. He was chairman of the Executive Committee of Arrangements for the national encampment in Boston in 1890, and was Inspector-general on the staff of Commander-in-chief Weissert in in 1894. In April, 1901, he was appointed by President McKinley a Captain in the regular army and given charge of important work at Fort Washington, Oregon, with headquarters at Astoria.
Captain and Mrs. Goodale have three children—Agnes, Carrie Louise, and George Mortimer. They are graduates of the Medford High School, and Agnes also attended the Woman's College in Baltimore, Md. George Mortimer Goodale was a soldier in the Fifth
