Ivan Wilbur Goodner Biography This biography appears on page 1760 in "History of South Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. IVAN WILBUR GOODNER, of Pierre. a representative member of the bar of the state and president of the state board of regents of education, is a native of the state of Illinois, having been born in Washington county, on the 24th of July, 1858, and being a son of Rev. William Milton and Margaret Nancy (Edmiston) Goodner, natives respectively of the states of Tennessee and Kentucky, the former being of Holland Dutch lineage and the latter of English. Rev. William M. Goodner was a clergyman of the Methodist church for many years, and later was a Swedenborgian missionary in the western states, being a marl of ripe scholarship and exalted integrity of character. The subject of this review received his early educational training in the public schools of the states of Illinois and Michigan, later attended Graham's Academy, in New York City, while he completed his technical law course in the law department of the University of Nebraska, at Lincoln, where he was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1897. He had previously become an expert shorthand reporter, and to this vocation devoted his attention for a number of years. He came to what is now the state of South Dakota in 1884, and from 1880 to 1889 he followed the vocation noted. He was the first clerk of the supreme court of the state, resigning the office in 1896 to enter the practice of law. He was the official reporter of debates in the South Dakota constitutional conventions of 1885 and 1889, in 1898-9 was city attorney of Pierre, while he rendered most efficient service as state's attorney for Hughes county from 1900 to 1904. In 1901 he was appointed, by Governor Charles N. Herreid, a member of the state board of regents of education, being elected president of the board in 1903 and being, still incumbent of that important office, in which connection his efforts have proved of great value in forwarding and con- serving the educational interests of the state. He was admitted to the bar in 1885 and has won marked distinction both as a trial lawyer and a counsellor, having been identified with a large amount of important litigation, notably the long line of bond litigations in which the city of Pierre was involved. He carried these cases through the federal courts and to the supreme court of the United States, before which he was admitted to practice in April, 1901. In politics Mr. Goodner has ever been staunchly aligned as a radical Republican and has been an active worker in its cause in South Dakota. In the Masonic fraternity he has attained to the degrees of the commandery, was deputy grand master of the Masonic grand lodge of the state, and this year (1904) was elected grand master. He is also past grandmaster of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in South Dakota and is also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America. On the 16th of September, 1880, Mr. Goodner was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Ada Perry, who was born in Bolton, Vermont on the 24th of May, 1860, being a daughter of David and Emma (LeGro) Perry. Of their six children four are living, namely: Ivan E., Milton P., Grace E. and Ernest F. Those deceased are Mabel and Ruth.