Benjamin Leon Goodman, E. Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller



**********************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
**********************************************


Benjamin Leon Goodman.  Prominent in public life and active and responsible in business affairs,
no citizen of Amite, Louisiana, stands higher in public esteem than Mayor Benjamin Leon Goodman.
He is a native of Louisiana, born in the capital city of Baton Rouge September 8, 1888, a son of
Benjamin Joseph and Celeste (Mahier) Goodman, both now deceased.

Benjamin Joseph Goodman was born at Memphis, Tennessee, in 1837, spent his early years in New
Orleans, Louisiana, and was educated at Tulane University, removing from there in early manhood
to Baton Rouge, where practically the rest of his life was passed and where he gained
distinction as an architect and builder.  Among the structures still standing that mutely
testify to his talent and skill may be mentioned: The Soldiers' Monument, on Boulevard Street ;
the high school building, on Florida Street the school building on Schwartz Hill; the school
building on Dufrocq Street; many public buildings and some of the finest residences in this
beautiful city.  He was one of the first licensed architects in the state, and at the time of
his death, in February, 1922, was still foremost in his profession, and was serving in the
office of city building and plumbing inspector of Baton Rouge.  Earlier he was interested in
local military affairs, and was captain of the Ogden Light Guards, was a member of the Order of
Odd Fellows and was the organizer of Myrtle Camp No. 30, Woodmen of the World.  He was a member
of the Episcopal Church from youth.  At Baton Rouge he was united in marriage with Celeste
Mahier, born in Iberville Parish, and who died at Baton Rouge in 1908.  They had five children
born to them:  Joseph, who died when twelve years old;  Benjamin Leon;  Myrtle Louise, who is a
public school teacher in the McDonnough 14, New Orleans;  James Ritson, who died in 1918, at the
age of twenty-seven years, was in the United States Radio service at Camp Hancock,  Georgia; and
Robert Hart, an architect, who succeeded his father in the firm of Ben J. Goodman & Son.  He is
a veteran of the World war, during his year of service in the infantry being stationed at Camp
Stafford, Alexandria.

Although he never had collegiate advantages, Mayor Goodman had thorough educational training,
first in St. Vincent's Academy and afterward in the Baton Rouge High School, where during his
senior year he came under the direct instruction of Prof. T. H. Harris, who is now state
superintendent of education.  When seventeen years old he left school and found exercise that
developed muscle as a worker in a boiler shop for the next year, when he entered the office of
Dannenmann & Charlton, architects, at New Orleans.  In 1908, two years later, he came first to
Amite, as an employe in the machine shop of the Gullett Gin Company, eighteen months later
accepting a clerkship in the store of D. H. Sanders, where he continued until 1919.  During this
interval he not only made rapid advance along business lines, but became active in democratic
politics and served on the City Council of Amite during 1914-15, and in 1918 was elected mayor
of Amite, from which office he resigned when, in 1919, he was elected superintendent of streets
and parks at Baton Rouge.  After serving with entire satisfaction for one year Mr. Goodman
decided to return to Amite, in 1920, where he accepted the management of the hardware department
of B. Stern Company, Ltd., a responsible position he still fills.  In July, 1923, his fellow
citizens of Amite testified in a most convincing way as to the confidence and esteem in which
they hold him by again electing him mayor of the city for a term of two years.  He is a valued
member of the Chamber of Commerce, and officially and otherwise has given support to substantial
enterprises of worthy aim that have added to the general welfare here.

Mayor Goodman married Miss Mary Adaleen Sanders, who is a daughter of Daniel H. and Mollie
(Edwards) Sanders, the former of whom is one of the oldest established merchants at Amite.  Mrs.
Goodman is a graduate of Witworth College, Mississippi, and completed her musical education in
the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.  They have an adopted son, Robert.  The family home is a
beautiful resident on Mulberry Street, and the Mayor also owns a garage building on Railroad
Avenue.  With his family he belongs to the Amite Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of which he
has been a steward.  He is a member of Amite City Lodge No. 173, A. F. and A. M., and of Amite
Camp No. 44, Woodmen of the World.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), p. 172, by Henry E. Chambers.  Published by The American
Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.