When we last left off, the year was 1939. The last members of the Rich family to live at 1620 Fourth Street—Margaret and Rebecca Rich—had died, so there was some uncertainty about who moved into the old house next. Then, Alameda Research Librarian Beth Sibley dug up a World War II draft registration card showing Gerald W. Goggin living at 1620 Fourth Street in 1942. But who was Gerald W. Goggin?
Tracing history
The original owners of 1620 Fourth Street, Abram and Catherine Rich, had four daughters—Rebecca, Margaret, Mary Helen, and Lucy. In 1897, Mary Helen married Gerald E. Goggin, a native of Australia born to Irish parents. The Goggins made their home at 2055 San Jose Avenue and had three children—Katherine L., Gerald W., and Helen Margaret. Their son Gerald W. Goggin married Iola Mary Angeloni in 1932, and it was thought they moved into 1620 Fourth Street as early as 1939 or as late as 1942.
New information comes to light
According to newly discovered voter registration rolls, Gerald W. and Iola Mary were actually living at 1620 Fourth Street by 1936. This new information upends our previous conclusion that the Rich’s grandson Gerald W. didn’t move into 1620 Fourth Street until after the last Rich sister had died in 1939, which had been confirmed only by the 1942 draft card. Now, these 1936 voter rolls suggest that the Goggins moved in just after the death of Margaret Rich (who died in 1935), perhaps because the last sister, Rebecca, needed some help and company in the old house.
A full house once again
As one generation came to a close, another was just getting started. Gerald W. and Iola Mary had their first child, Geraldine Rebecca Goggin in 1933. In 1936, their son William Rich Goggin arrived, and in 1938, another son, Charles Allegrini Goggin was born. The middle name Allegrini is an homage to Iola’s mother (Charles’s grandmother), whose maiden name was Quintilia Jane Allegrini. And so the old farmhouse on the West End of Alameda was once again full of life and children. The property was smaller than it once was, and no longer operated as a farm, but the original house still remained, along with its original furnishings and generations of memories.
The milkman
Gerald W. Goggin worked for the Alameda Dairy Company, then located at 1500 Webster Street, the location of Café Jolie today. On census and voter records, Gerald’s job title appears as “box maker” and “driver,” meaning he may have been seen around town delivering milk, cheese, and other dairy products. Perhaps his occupation also kept his family well fed with fresh dairy products, purchased with his “employee discount”—a much-appreciated bonus when raising three children.
Same home since 1866
The years went on, the children grew up and married, and in 1961 a reporter from the Alameda Times Star visited Down Home and wrote a story headlined, “West End Family Lives in Same Home Since 1866.” The reporter, Kathleen Madison, took a sweeping historic look at the house, going back to original owners Abram and Catherine Rich, and noting that they purchased the land directly from Alameda’s co-founder, William W. Chipman.
The article went on to say, “The house is now occupied by the family of Abram Rich’s grandson, Jerry Goggin.” The Goggins must have had a keen appreciation of their family history in the home, since the writer was invited inside to observe the family antiques, along with all the quirks of the old cottage like a “quaint dip here, and a charming buckle there,” along with “fine old woods and translucent china.” All of the historic contents of the home were being used normally and nothing was set aside as a showpiece. This speaks to the relaxed and comfortable attitude that has been the hallmark of Down Home for so many generations.
An error creeps in
Although the article was a very good overview of the Rich family history at 1620 Fourth Street—touching on the church services once held under a circus tent in the backyard as well as daughter Rebecca’s career with the H. C. Capwell department store—there was some erroneous information in the article that initially threw off my understanding of the timeline of the property.
A paragraph in the article stated, “Jerry Goggin’s family has lived in the old house since 1956. Prior to then, it was occupied by his two spinster aunts, Rebecca and Margaret Rich.” Then, towards the end of the piece, the report stated, “The spinster sisters died in 1956, one quietly following the other.”
The problem with this 1956 date is that subsequent documents found during my research on this family show that Margaret Rich died on May 5, 1935 and her sister Rebecca Rich on May 2, 1939. This is corroborated not only by online ancestry records, but also with published newspaper obituaries. Thus, the article should have stated, “Jerry Goggin’s family has lived in the old house since 1936,” and, “The sisters died in 1935 and 1939.” Also, while the term “spinster” was once used to describe an unmarried woman, particularly an older one, the term is outdated and generally not used now.
Chuck comes home
After the 1961 article came out, Gerald W. Goggin would go on to live five more years before passing away on August 8, 1966. It was after this that Chuck moved back into his boyhood home, presumably with his wife Patricia, to be with his mother Iola in her widowhood. This living situation would continue all the way until 1999 when Chuck decided to sell the family home, after 134 years of continuous Rich family ownership.
Mary Helen comes home
When 1620 Fourth Street participated in the Alameda Architectural Preservation Society (AAPS) Legacy Home tour in 2024, the official tour booklet featured a somewhat confusing (to me, anyway) quote in the “A Family Story” section of the tour booklet: “And lastly, Mary married Gerald E. Goggin, and eventually came back to live in the house with her grandson Charles (Chuck) who was born in 1939. Chuck inherited the house and lived in it with his mother Iola until he sold it in 1999 to the current owners, Steve and Susan Campbell.”
To unpack that a bit, Mary had been living with her husband Gerald E. Goggin at 2055 San Jose Avenue ever since they were married in 1897. Gerald E. Goggin died in 1946, so perhaps at that time Mary moved back into her original family home, 1620 Fourth Street., until her death just two years later in 1948. In so doing, she would indeed have been moving in with her grandson Chuck, who was just eight years old at the time. But she also would have been moving in with her son, Gerald W. Goggin and his wife Iola—Chuck’s parents. Chuck inherited the house much later, after his father Gerald W. Goggin died in 1966, and he lived with his mother Iola in the house until he sold it in 1999. Chuck had married Patricia Faiferek in 1960, so presumably she also was residing at 1620 Fourth Street during that time, although her name isn’t mentioned in the family story section. Could this be because they divorced at some point? I don’t see her name appear in the family history very much, and there is no record of their having had children.
A strange coincidence
A further intriguing detail of this story is that after selling the old house in 1999, Chuck Goggin and his mother Iola—and possibly, his wife Patricia Faiferek—moved to El Dorado County, California. Then, on September 19, 2004, Iola Mary died in Placerville, and just three months later, her son Chuck also died in El Dorado County, on December 13, 2004. Iola lived to 96 years old, but her son only lived 66 years. It is strange that mother and son died within a few months of each other. Patricia went on to live until 2019, and her place of death is listed only as California.
Up next
Well, we’ve reached the end of another deep dive into 1620 Fourth Street and we still haven’t met the current owners, Steve and Susan Campbell, or learned how they came to own this Alameda Treasure. Hint: It involves a dog. There are also more stories to tell, more pictures to show, and even a connection to the Alameda Food Bank, all of which we will explore when the “rich” story of Down Home continues.
Contributing writer Steve Gorman has been a resident of Alameda since 2000, when he fell in love with the history and architecture of this unique town. Contact him via [email protected]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Steve-Gorman.
