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  Like many of the Goodridge Brothers'
customers, William and his second wife, Gertrude Watson, began a family
album filled with photographs of their children—first William O., Jr.,
then John. (Photo,
left: Gertrude Watson Goodridge and William O. Goodridge Jr., 1883, tintype;
photo, right: William O. Goodridge, Jr. November 9, 1883
8 months old.)
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Above left: William O., Gertrude W., William O. Jr.,
and John Goodridge, 1887, tintype; right: William O. Jr., and John, 1887.
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 On August 17, 1890, almost six months
before their third child, Alta, was born, William, Sr., died. His death
certificate lists the cause as blood poisoning. He was 44 years old.
(Photo: William O., Jr., Alta and John F. Goodridge, 1898,
cabinet card.)
Wallace Goodridge married Margaret
Jacques in the winter of 1889/90. They were active leaders of Zion
Baptist Church. Margaret was involved in the other family enterprise, a
hairdressing business that at various times included Wallace's sister
Mary and William's widow, Gertrude.
Wallace ran the studio after his
brother's death, employing various members of his extended family. He
continued to fill Gertrude and William's album with his pictures of
their children.
Wallace was the first president of
the committee organized in 1900 "to work for the betterment of the
black race." He was also an officer in Masonic Eastern Star Lodge
No. 6.
Governor Woodbridge N. Ferris chose
Wallace as one of 57 African American citizens representing the state at
the 1915 "Lincoln Jubilee and Celebration of the Half-Century
Anniversary of Negro Freedom" in Chicago. The delegation produced
both an exhibit and the Michigan Manual of Freedmen's Progress.
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