This Photo Called to Me and Now I Know Why

I discovered this photo last week as I was doing some research at my office. Those pictured are not my family members but I was immediately drawn to the photograph. I set it up on my desk so I could enjoy it as I continued working through the day. The small group is standing on the front steps of Christ Episcopal Church in Canon City, CO where I work as the Parish Administrator. 
Fortunately, three of the four people were identified on the back side of the photo. The woman is Mrs. Hart (Harriette) Goodloe (1881-1949), at her left is Robert Palmer and on her right is Lyman Morey Robison. The young man at our far left is unidentified. I found records in the church’s old Parish Registers that date the photo to 18 March 1917 on the occasion of the Confirmation of the 13 and 14 year old boys.
One reason I was so drawn to this picture is that I’m currently residing in the house that young Lyman M. Robison was living in at the time this picture was taken. His grandfather Lyman Robison built what is known as the “Robison Mansion” (pictured below) in 1886, which sits across the street from my house.

Lyman built the house my husband and I now own (pictured below) in 1902 as a wedding present for his son David Robison and new daughter-in-law Goldie Maude Morey Robison. David and Goldie were the parents of young Lyman M. Robison who is in the confirmation photograph.

I realize that as I sit in my recliner, typing this post on my laptop, I’m most likely sitting in the room that served as young Lyman’s bedroom. It’s wonderful to have a picture of him that was taken at the time he lived here.
As I researched Mrs. Hart Goodloe on the internet, I discovered a Family Tree that a great grandson of hers had submitted. He’s provided pdf files of wonderful documents she authored during her lifetime. Of course I printed those and reviewed them before I went to bed the same day I discovered this photo. I was surprised to read that Mr. and Mrs Hart Goodloe had traveled to Europe in 1902 as passengers on the ship “Umbria”. It was the “Umbria” that brought my paternal grandmother, her brothers and parents to Ellis Island from the Saratov Province of Russia in 1904!
I’ve recently corresponded with Patrick L. Bauer, the great grandson of ‘Hattie’ Goodloe, whose Family Tree I initially found on Ancestry.com. He’s the author of “GOODLOE, Blood Stains the Fury of the Coming Storm”, which is an Historical Novel published in 2007, based on the life and stories of Dr. Hart Goodloe.

Of course I immediately ordered his book and am looking forward to reading it in the next couple of weeks.
The Goodloe family is not related to me, but often those who are connected in some way feel more like ‘family’ and our hearts are drawn to them in a powerful way. Such is the case with me and my new Goodloe family friends. I’m grateful to Patrick Bauer for bringing his ancestors alive in this novel and for sharing  the genealogical research on Ancestry.com, which includes the wonderful handwritten/transcribed notes and journals of his great-grandmother, the beautiful Harriette Armstrong Mannen Goodloe, pictured on the front steps of Christ Episcopal Church in Canon City, CO, where I’ve been employed for the past 14+ years!