The Polish Heritage Society has recently received a carved wooden plaque in memory of the Goodusky family of West Suffield. They, like the Maciorowski family, noted in the April 2025 issue of “The Observer,” did not leave a legacy. However, Steve Goodusky, the only surviving Goodusky of his great-grandparents, has maintained some contact here and has donated the plaque to the Suffield Historical Society, parent organization of the Polish Heritage Society. It will be displayed in the tobacco exhibit of the King House Museum & Barn.
Andrew, known initially as Gudsky and by several other variations of the name, immigrated to the United States in 1891. The 1900 census dutifully categorized him as Russian/Polish. He was, however, Lithuanian, a distinction that he was never able to claim legally since he died before his home country regained independence. Andrew and Eva were married in 1885 and had their first child, Nellie, in 1886. Andrew emigrated in 1891. His wife and child came across the Atlantic Ocean four years later.
Shortly after the birth of their second child, Andrew purchased 70 acres of land, known as the “Old Warner Place”, for $2,100 in December 1924. The current address is 2720 Mountain Road. In 1912, the Hartford Courant reported that he planted eight acres of tobacco on his farm. When he died of cancer in 1915 at the age of 55, he was recognized as a prosperous farmer. Andrew was also one of the first Poles to become a registered voter in 1900.
Nellie, the firstborn of seven children, married her nextdoor neighbor, Joseph Bishop, in 1906. The Prekop family continued to live at what is now 2800 Mountain Road. In 1924, the Gooduskys and the Prekops granted an easement to the Hartford Electric Light Company to “erect, construct and maintain a suitable line of poles, towers, electric wires and other necessary appurtenances” to bring electricity to West Suffield. In many ways, granting that right-of-way could be considered the Goodusky family legacy after all. So, the next time you make a trip to the town landfill, think of the Goodusky Family.