Ventura County
Biographies
EDGAR
D. GOODENOUGH
Known
and esteemed throughout Ventura County, Edgar D. Goodenough has spent
practically his entire life within its borders, taking an important part in the
work of developing and upbuilding. He is
a prosperous rancher, has long occupied a place of leadership in business
circles of Fillmore, and is serving for the third term on the county board of
supervisors. He was born in Logan,
Harrison County, Iowa, August 5, 1868, a son of O. J. Goodenough, who was a
native of Watertown, New York, born on the 9th of February,
1836. Leaving Watertown when a young man
of twenty, he traveled westward to Galesburg, Illinois, where he engaged in the
nursery business, and later taught school at Magnolia, Iowa. In 1861 he enlisted for service in the Civil
War and was a soldier in the Union Army until 1863, when he was detailed for
duty as a wagonmaster, in charge of a government train of sixty wagons, utilized
for hauling supplies to various western military posts. Afterward he was engaged in the freighting
business on his own account between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Virginia City,
Montana. Eventually he returned to Iowa
and as a contractor was closely identified with building operations at Logan,
while he also cultivated a farm which he owned near Pigeon, that state. Coming to southern California as a pioneer of
1875, he located in Ventura, where he followed the trade of a carpenter for
about six months. At the end of that
time he removed to Saticoy, buying a tract of forty-two acres, which he farmed
until 1883. He then purchased three
hundred twenty acres of the Sespe grant and spent the remainder of his life on
that ranch, engaging in farming and stock raising. Thoroughly experienced in that line of work,
he brought his land to a high state of development and at the same time
materially aided in bringing to light the rich agricultural resources of this
region. He was also a skilled artisan
and while following the trade of a carpenter constructed some of the first
buildings in Fillmore. While residing at
Saticoy he filled the office of justice of the peace and was an influential
factor in the life of every community in which he made his home. His fraternal affiliations were with the Masons
and the Foresters of America. He was an
elder of the Frist Presbyterian Church of Fillmore and lived up to its
teachings.
At
Magnolia, Iowa, on the 6th of September, 1866, was solemnized the
marriage of O. J. Goodenough and Zedora H. Tietsost, a native of Michigan. Three sons and two daughters were born to
them, namely: Edgar D.; Mrs. R. A.
Holly; Glen C., who died September 14, 1908; Mrs. Harry W. Hiller and Earl O.
Goodenough. The father of these children
passed away June 11, 1895, at the age of fifty-nine years, leaving to his
family the rich heritage of an honored name and to his community the record and
example of an upright, well ordered life.
As
a lad of six Edgar D. Goodenough came with his parents to California and, in
the public schools of Ventura County, obtained an education. He worked on his father’s farm, thus gaining
a practical knowledge of agricultural pursuits, and assisted in the subdivision
of the Sespe Ranch, after which he did teaming to the stone quarry in Sespe
Canyon. He then bought and developed a
lemon ranch in that canyon, as well as a bean ranch. Turning his attention to real estate
development, he put on the market the Stowe-Goodenough subdivision to Fillmore,
comprising eleven acres, which was the first addition to that town. Later he removed to Santa Paula, and in 1909
with J. G. Leavans, he purchased seven hundred fifty
acres of land near Piru. The major portion of this large and valuable
ranch is under cultivation and produces citrus fruits, apricots, walnuts, hay
and alfalfa. It is now owned and
operated by the Goodenough Ranch Company, consisting of Edgar D. Goodenough,
his brother, Earl O. Goodenough, and Paul Goodenough, a son of the former. In length of service Edgar D. Goodenough is
one of the oldest directors of the Fillmore Irrigation Company, for he has
occupied a place on its board for thirty-seven years. He was one of the original stockholders of
the Herald; the first newspaper published in Fillmore, and is always found in
the van of movements for the advancement and betterment of his town.
On
February 13, 1890, Mr. Goodenough was married to Miss Mattie Akers, a native of
Utah, where she was born in a covered wagon while her parents, John and Sarah
Akers, were crossing the plains with an ox team in the early days. Paul, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Goodenough, was
married to Miss Rosabel Mayhew in 1913 and their
children are Dwight and Donald.
Mr.
Goodenough belongs to the Woodmen of the World, and he adheres to the religious
faith of his father, being an elder of the Presbyterian Church. Appreciative of the duties and
responsibilities as well as the privileges of citizenship, he has exerted his
efforts as readily for the general good as for his own aggrandizement and his
record as a public servant redounds to his credit. He was a member of the board of trustees of
Santa Paula from 1910 to 1916 and its chairman for two years of that
period. From 1903 to 1906 he acted as
road overseer at Fillmore and since 1927 has been supervisor for this district,
having been reelected in 1931 for another term of four years. Following the example of his father, Mr.
Goodenough has led an industrious, useful and serviceable life, steadfastly
adhering to the course sanctioned by conscience, honor and sound judgment, and
well merits the respect that is uniformly accorded him.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 699-701,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S VENTURA BIOGRAPHIES