Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Goodwin, Erwin 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 2:35 pm

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

ERWIN GOODWIN. In the pioneer history of this county the Goodwin family bore 
an honorable part. Of New England ancestry, inheriting the hardihood and 
powers of endurance characteristic of that race, later generations also 
exhibited these qualities and assisted in the development of the great west. 
From New Hampshire Joseph Goodwin removed to Lawrence County, N. Y., in a very 
early day, and his subsequent years were devoted to farm pursuits there. His 
son, William, who was born in that county in 1814, came to Illinois in 1837, 
settling in Will County. All around him were evidences of frontier life. 
Houses were few and poorly constructed, affording but little protection from 
wind and weather. His trade was that of a carpenter and, seeing the need of 
more substantial dwellings, he was careful in the construction of the houses 
that he built, endeavoring to make them comfortable abodes. In those days land 
was owned by the government and was offered for sale at prices within the 
reach of the poorest man. He bought land in Wesley Township, receiving a 
patent from the government for the same. The remainder of his life was spent 
in this township, where he owned about five hundred acres. His beginnings were 
small, but industry gave him returns, and as he was a bard-working man, he 
became very successful in age. His excellent judgment and common sense did 
much for him, and he was honored and respected as a man of worth. In his youth 
he had received no educational advantages, yet, in spite of this, he became 
well- to-do. The primitive log schoolhouse was the university that he attended 
when a boy; its slab benches and puncheon floor were in marked contrast to the 
modern appurtenances with which we are familiar; and its teachers were of a 
grade far inferior to those of the present age. However, in the great school 
of experience he gained a good education, and who shall say that it was less 
valuable to him than one acquired from text-books. He believed that every 
citizen should take an interest in local affairs, and what he expected of 
others he was foremost in doing himself. Politically he was a pronounced 
Republican. Fraternally he was connected with the Masons. After forty years of 
intimate connection with the farm interests of Wesley Township, in 1877 he was 
called from earth. His sixty-three years of life had been filled with deeds of 
generosity and kindness, and his record was that of a good man. He married 
Margaret Rebecca Althouse, a native of Virginia, who died at the homestead in 
1868, at the age of forty-six years. They were the parents of nine children, 
six of whom are living, namely: Hiram, a resident of Wilmington Township; 
Dollie, wife of William H. Cramer; Erwin; John, who cultivates the old home 
place; William, a farmer near by; and Philip, whose home is in Oregon. On the 
homestead opposite his present farm the subject of this sketch was born 
February 24, 1854. His father having been successful as a farmer was able to 
give him good advantages, and he attended the public schools of Chicago and 
Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College. On the completion of his education he 
settled down to a farmer's life; but soon, with a desire for travel and 
contact with the world, he determined to travel in the far west. He was twenty-
one when he went to Colorado and from there to the Pacific Coast. After four 
years he returned to Will County, where he has since remained. He now owns two 
hundred and forty acres of fine land and is engaged in farming and cattle-
raising. In 1898 he caused to be built on his place one of the most 
substantial farm houses in the township, and here, with his wife, he has a 
comfortable and happy home. He has never cared for political prominence, and, 
aside from voting the Republican ticket, takes no part in local affairs. 
Fraternally he is connected with Wilmington Lodge No. 208, A. F. & A. M. His 
marriage took place May 24, 1899, and united him with Clara E. Hanford, 
daughter of Stephen Hanford, of Kankakee County.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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