Northumberland-Philadelphia-Dauphin County PA Archives Biographies.....Goodwill, Robert 1827 - 1898 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com July 6, 2005, 11:19 pm Author: Biographical Publishing Co. ROBERT GOODWILL, who, prior to his death, was president of the Goodwill Coal & Coke Company of West Virginia, was one of the most honored and respected citizens of Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pa. The entire stock of the company was owned by Mr. Goodwill and his family and was directed by the following management: Robert Goodwill, president; Anthony G. Goodwill, vice-president; Philip Goodwill, general manager and treasurer; William Goodwill, secretary. The firm was organized, in 1886 by our subject, after having secured a lease of 800 acres of the famous Flat-Top coal lands from the Flat-Top Coal Land Association. Preparatory work was immediately begun by Mr. Goodwill in opening up the mines, erecting the necessary machinery, buildings, coke ovens, etc., and such other improvements as are necessary for the shipment of coal and coke. The business was conducted as a firm until December, 1888, when it was incorporated in accordance with the laws of West Virginia as the Goodwill Coal & Coke Company. The first shipment of coal was made in September, 1887; since that time the capacity of the mines has steadily increased until at- present the colliery is capable of turning out 1,000 tons of coal daily. With the present shipments, from ninety to one hundred men are employed. The plant contains 50 Bee Hive coke ovens, erected in accordance with the requirements of the lease, which have a weekly capacity of from 300 to 350 tons. The mines are systematically as well as advantageously laid out, and are thoroughly-ventilated with a 15-foot fan. There are four main openings, with an excellent track system connecting with two tipples, only one of which is used in ordinary shipments. The company is fully equipped in every particular, having a number of comfortable and suitable dwelling-houses, a convenient and well-arranged store, offices, etc., commodius stables, saw-mills, mine cars, and a fine artesian well which furnishes an excellent water-supply for all requirements. Our subject continued as president of this company until death called him to final rest, December 17, 1898. He was a man of high character, having led a pure and moral life, and his loss was deeply felt by his family and many friends. Robert Goodwill was born October 7, 1827, at Loan End, Northumberland County, England. He was a son of Anthony Goodwill of Northumberland, England, and was the tenth in a family of twelve children. At the early age of nine years he commenced work in the mines of England and was engaged first in removing coal from the mines in something like a tub or sled. At the age of thirteen he began mining coal, was identified more or less in the business of coal mining up to the time when death claimed him. His parents, although they came of humble birth, were industrious and highly respected, being devout members of the Church of England, and through them the son inherited the religious inclinations so characteristic of the man. He was married July 27, 1847, to Catherine Wake, and to them were born five children: three boys and two girls. The girls died in infancy, but the three boys are living. Mr. and Mrs. Goodwill celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedded life on July 27, 1897. In the middle of May, 1852, our subject, with his wife and son, sailed for America, arriving in Philadelphia on June 30, 1852. From there he went to Gold Mine Gap, Dauphin County, Pa., where he worked three years at mining coal. From Gold Mine Gap he moved his family to the Shamokin coal fields, where he was employed at the Lancaster Colliery, better known as the Coal Run Colliery, about three miles east of Shamokin. In 1857 he located in Trevorton, Pa., about eight miles west of Shamokin, working as a miner and contractor. He remained there for eight years, when, in 1865, he leased the tracts of coal land known as the Greenough and Bear Valley tracts, about three miles west of Shamokin, and moved his family there. He operated those two collieries very successfully until 1877, when he sold out his interest to the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company. Although well advanced in years, Mr. Goodwill's active spirit would not permit him to remain idle and, accordingly, he leased a tract of bituminous coal land at Reynoldsville, Jefferson County, Pa., and operated it between four and five years, until the coal on his lease was exhausted. He then leased what is known as the Carson tract, just on the outskirts of Shamokin; that he operated for two years, when he sold out to a New York firm. From that time until 1883 he was engaged in various mining enterprises and next secured a lease in the now famous Flat-Top coal field of West Virginia, being one of the early pioneers of the coal development, with Capt. Welch, J. H. Bramwell, John Cooper, and John Freeman, giving his personal attention for two years to his interests there, when he turned the management over to his son, who is at present the general manager. A. G. Goodwill, vice-president of the company and eldest son of our subject, was born in Scotland in 1848, and accompanied his parents to the United States in 1852. He attended the public schools of Pennsylvania, afterward graduating at Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport, Pa. Returning to Shamokin he accepted a position as bookkeeper, which he held for sixteen years, resigning to engage in the hardware business in Shamokin, which he still carries on successfully. He became a member of the Goodwill Coal & Coke Company at its incorporation, which business connection he still retains. He married Miss R. C. Klase of Ashland, Pa., in 1873, and has one son, Robert, now twenty-one years old. Philip Goodwill, second son of our subject, was born in Dauphin County, Pa., received a common school education and subsequently pursued his studies for two years at Dickinson Seminary. His father, being engaged in mining and shipping coal, naturally brought his sons in contact with every branch of the business from the office to the more responsible positions about the mines. In 1874 Philip left Shamokin for Reynoldsville, Pa., where he took charge of his father's large bituminous coal interests, and remained in that capacity until 1878, when he returned to Shamokin and engaged with his father in the coal business again. Subsequently he entered the law office of Hon. W. H. M. Oram, but never entered upon the practice of his profession, notwithstanding he was duly admitted to the Northumberland County Bar in 1884. Some time after being admitted to the bar he was elected teller of the First National Bank of Shamokin, which position he filled with satisfaction until 1887, when he resigned to assume the management of the Goodwill Coal & Coke Company, which position he still retains. In 1887 he married the eldest daughter of W. H. Douty of Shamokin, and immediately thereafter located in Bramwell, W. Va., where he now resides, having one of the most beautiful and comfortable homes in that pretty little town. Mr. Goodwill is a past commander of Ivanhoe Commandery No. 10, Knights Templar, of Bramwell; also a member of the blue lodge and chapter of that place, as well as a member of Beni-Kedem Temple, U. D., of Charlestown, W. Va. He is secretary of the Pocahontas Company and is associated with other business enterprises. He is an influential member of the Presbyterian Church of Bramwell and member of the board of education of Rock district, in which capacity he was largely instrumental in securing the erection of the handsome new graded-school building recently constructed in Bramwell. W. F. Goodwill, youngest son of our subject, Robert Goodwill, was born in Dauphin County, Pa., and attended the public schools, after which he graduated at Dickinson Seminary in 1875, taking a commercial course at the same institution the following year. His school vacations were spent in working about his father's mines in various capacities. After completing his commercial course he returned to Shamokin and was employed in his father's office as bookkeeper, in which capacity he remained until the colliery was sold to the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company. He was next employed by L. M. Shuman & Company, grocers, for about one year; then engaged in business at Shamokin as a member of the firm of Derby & Goodwill, in which he continued for some time; disposed of his interest to enter the mail service, which occupation he followed for about three years, leaving the service to accept a position as bookkeeper with J. Langdon & Company, at Neilson Colliery, Shamokin, where he remained until 1889, when he went to Goodwill, W. Va., as secretary and buyer for the Goodwill Coal & Coke Company, the position he still holds. In 1879 Mr. Goodwill chose for his wife and life companion Ida R. Klase of Ashland, Pa. His home is in Shamokin, where his family resides. Mr. Goodwill has never taken an active part in politics, but was elected in 1888 to the Shamokin borough council, and now holds the position of notary public for Mercer County, W. Va. The publishers of this volume take pleasure in announcing that a portrait of Robert Goodwill appears on a previous page, in connection with the above life history. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District Published by Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899) This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/ File size: 9.9 Kb