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- As Remembered by Joseph N. Fisher
My grandfather was the first of four Joseph Fishers. He was Joseph Edward, my father was Joseph Mathias, I am Joseph Norman, and Doug Fisher's son is Joseph Richard. Joseph Edward was born February 26, 1869 in Newark, Ohio, the fourth child of Mathias and Catherine Bentz Fisher.
Catherine Goodwin was born in Wishaw Scotland, the daughter of Irish parents, James and Marjorie Goodwin. Catherine was the third child in a family of ten children and emigrated to the United States when she was three years old.
Catherine and Joseph Edward were married on November 24, 1891 in New Straightsville, Ohio. He was 22 years old and Catherine was 21. They lived most of their lives in Toledo, Ohio where he was a tool and die maker.
Joseph Edward and Catherine had four children, three girls and one boy (actually five; one died as an infant). The children were Joseph Mathias, Marjorie, Ellen, and Dorothy.
We lived with my grandparents for about a year during the Depression in 1930. There were ten of us living in the house on 9 Hyde Place; my parents and their four children, Grandpa and Grandma Fisher and their daughters Marjorie and Ellen. I was six years old and I have only happy memories of that period in my life. If there was tension caused by the intrusion of our family in their lives, I wasn't aware of it. The peace and tranquility that I remember was largely due to the great capacity for love that was Catherine Goodwin's strength.
Kate, as Grandpa called her also had a humorous side to her personality. For instance if she didn't remember a neighbor's name she used her own shorthand and would refer to "Mrs. Across the Street" or "Mrs. Behindus."
I only saw Grandpa Fisher angry when he and my Dad argued politics. Grandpa was a dedicated, straight ticket Democrat and Dad was a staunch Republican.
Grandpa Fisher was a tall, slender man. He wore a straw hat in the summer, drove a Model A Ford, and smoked a pipe. I see him now holding a match over the pipe bowl and repeatedly sucking on the stem to be sure the tobacco was fully lit. The ritual seemed endless as I watched, fascinated by the intensity of his concentration. His memory lingers in the silent echoes of my past as I hear his reedy voice: "Blessed, Oh Lord for these thy gifts", a prayer of thanks he said before every meal.
The Toledo Fishers were Catholic but my father left the church because he and the priest had an argument about my mother being Protestant, or so I have been told.
Joseph Edward and Catherine were married for 58 years and during that time saw the United States grow from a nation of 42 to 50 states; they lived under 12 presidents, two world wars, the Spanish American War, Korean War, and Viet Nam war. The benefits of modern electricity were unheard of when they were married and they lived to enjoy all its marvels from radio to television, refrigeration, and washing machines. They saw transportation grow from the horse and buggy, to automobiles to jet airplanes and were alive when the Russian space ship "Sputnik" was launched in 1957.
They raised four children and left 65 descendants. Grandpa was 90 years old when he died and Grandma was 92.
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Fisher-Gunn Families Genealogy
1869 - 1959 (90 years)
