(May 13, 1849 – August 3, 1930)
May Goff was the daughter of Waldo and Harriet Goff who will go on to be the final owner of the Goff house (Waldomore) after her father’s death in 1881. May married Richard Lowndes on February 5, 1896. In 1897 and 1898, May purchased the home and bought out her siblings’ (Hattie and Nathan Jr.) shares ($6,001 each).
May and Richard renovated the house in 1899-1900 adding second-floor additions to the four wings, replacing the windows, adding a vestibule to the front entry, and upgrading the fireplaces and mantles throughout the mansion.
May passed away in 1930, 11 days after her husband (whose funeral was held in the house and the whole town was shut down) and gifted her home to the city of Clarksburg to be used strictly as a museum and library
****This portrait was commissioned after May’s death to honor the former owner of the house who gave the Clarksburg Public Library its first permanent home.
Waldomore 