Alfred Goodwill

(Opened the largest general store in the state of Louisiana in 1880)

* * *

Born |  November 7, 1830
London, England
Died |  November 27, 1905
(aged 75)
Minden, Louisiana, USA

Resting place:
Minden Cemetery

Spouse |  (1) Elizabeth Ford Farley (died)

(2) Ida Victoria Hill Goodwill
Children:
From first marriage:
Alfred Jasper Goodwill
Alice Goodwill Bryce
Algernon Sidney Goodwill (died in infancy)
Edgar Goodwill
Kate Goodwill
Christopher Goodwill
From second marriage:
Olive Goodwill Roberts
Harry G. Goodwill
Susan Goodwill
Donald Goodwill
Parents:
John and Susannah Goodwill
Relatives:
Murphy James Foster, Jr.
(great-grandson)
Jasper Goodwill (grandson)
Robert Roberts, Jr. (son-in-law)

Religion |  Methodist

* * *

Military Service

Service/branch  |  Confederate States of America Army
Rank  |  Captain

Alfred Goodwill, known as Captain Goodwill (November 7, 1830 - November 27, 1905),[1] was a native of London, England, and a pioneer in the settlement of Claiborne and Webster parishes in northwestern Louisiana, USA. In 1880, he established the largest general store in the state of Louisiana in Minden, the seat of government for Webster Parish.[2]

He was the maternal great-grandfather of former Louisiana Governor Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr.

## Biography[edit]

Goodwill left England after the death of his parents, John and Susannah Goodwill. in the 1850 census, he was listed as a tailor and boarder in Shreveport in Caddo Parish. He was later a clerk in a store in Webster Parish. He fought in the Confederate States of America Army during the American Civil War, during which he acquired the title "Captain" which followed him for the remainder of his life. From his first wife, Elizabeth Ford Farley (1834-1869), he had five children, the oldest of which was Alfred Jasper Goodwill (1855-1937), the father of Jasper Goodwill, who from 1955 to 1958 was the mayor. The other children were Alice G. Bryce (1858-1947), Edgar (1862-1913), Kate l (1864-1879), and Christopher (1867-1901). In 1873, four years after Elizabeth's death, Captain Goodwill relocated from Claiborne Parish, where he was a large property owner, to Minden. He was joined by his second wife, the former Ida Victoria Hill (1838-1937), a native of Arkansas. In 1882, Goodwill opened an 18,000-square foot general store in Minden, a "superstore" believed at the time to be the largest such enterprise in the state. One could purchase from this store groceries, candies, pharmaceutical supplies, dry goods, hardware, a buggies, and even a coffin and embalming fluid.[1][3]

Goodwill served on the Minden Railroad and Compress Company, which pushed successfully for the construction of a railroad link with the main depot, called Lane's Station, in Sibley, a community south of Minden. Without this link, Minden could have been seriously harmed economically.[1] The Goodwill Building had been constructed on the premise that the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railway would stop in Minden. The line was instead absorbed by the Illinois Central Railroad, and the operation was reduced in scope. The Goodwill Building, which contained a 169-foot row of stores, was in time subdivided into seven units. The downtown structure was burned to the ground in the fire which swept through Minden in May 1933.[4] As early as 1859, Goodwill served periodically on the Minden City Council.[5]

In his second marriage Goodwill had four children, Olive, Harry (1878-1916), Susan, and Donald (1881-1966). Olive Goodwill (born c. 1875; date of death missing) married Robert Roberts, Jr. (born 1872; date of death also missing), an attorney who was the mayor of, first, Farmerville in Union Parish, and then Minden (1905-1906), a state representative for Webster Parish (1908-1914), an appeal court judge and a state district judge in Minden, and finally an attorney in private practice in Shreveport. Their daughter, Olive Roberts (1904-1990),[6] married Murphy J. Foster, a sugar planter in St. Mary Parish and a son of Governor Murphy J. Foster, Sr. The second Olive Roberts (1904-1990) was the mother of former Governor Mike Foster. Captain Goodwill was hence the maternal great-grandfather of the second Governor Foster; Alfred Jasper Goodwill, the great-uncle, and Jasper Goodwill, a cousin.[3]

Ida Goodwill and her stepson, Alfred Jasper Goodwill, died three days apart in March 1937, more than thirty years after the death of their husband and father, respectively.[7][8]

Goodwill Street in Minden, which connects the Minden Cemetery with the Webster Parish Fairgrounds, and Goodwill Road near the former Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant in western Webster Parish, are named for Captain Goodwill.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Capt. Alfred Goodwill. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on December 9, 2020.
2. ↑ John Agan, "The Legacy of Captain Alfred Goodwill," North Louisiana History, Vol. 27, Nos. 2-3 (Spring-Summer 1996), pp. 103-109.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 John Agan, "Captain Alfred Goodwill's Descendant (Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr.) Makes News," Minden Press-Herald, November 3, 1995.
4. ↑ John Agan (2013). Minden 1933. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-300-92634-4. Retrieved on December 9, 2020.
5. ↑ "Webster Parish History," The Southern Publishing Company, 1890.
6. ↑ Henry E. Chambers, "Robert Roberts, Jr.", A History of Louisiana, Vol. 2 (Chicago and New York City, American Historical Society, Inc., 1925), pp. 21-22.
7. ↑ Ida Victoria Hill Goodwill. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on December 9, 2020.
8. ↑ Funeral Services for A. J. Goodwill Held Here Thursday: Member of Pioneer Family Dies Wednesday of Heart Attack. The Minden Democrat through Findagrave.com (March 12, 1937). Retrieved on December 8, 2020.