One the favorable results of my trip to Leicester to photograph the plaque at the Town Hall was that it put me in contact with Don Lennerton and Patrick McKeon, members of the Leicester Historical Commission.  After a couple of lengthy telephone calls and some email exchanges, I made another trip to Leicester to meet up with Patrick in person, who had gone way above and beyond to gather pertinent materials about George W. Gould and his family for me. Gifted with strong intellectual curiosity and a passion for history, Patrick invested time online and on foot to assist me with my research.  He assembled a biography of George W. Gould as well as a concise regimental history of the Mass 25th, and presented me with a typed document plus a sheaf of other papers containing a wealth of materials when I met him at a local doughnut shop on July 26, 2016.  It was Patrick who solved for me the mystery of George’s missing daughter Clarra Etta; it turns out that after George’s death she was adopted by Charles and Sarah Hatch and given a new name, Nellie Elizabeth Hatch, which is why I ran into a dead end researching her. Patrick also volunteered his afternoon to give me a tour of historic Leicester, regale me with tales of Civil War lore, and serve as a guide to the grave-sites of both Cora Gould McKinstry and Nelle Hatch Stillman.

I am grateful to Patrick for his kind assistance! Some of his materials will be added to this website in the near future. And I expect we will continue to stay in touch going forward as we each continue to pursue our shared passion for history.