Anselm Goodman (1802 – 1861)

See him and his family on FamilySearch.org.

Anselm Goodman was born 12 July 1802 in Greene Co., TN, and was the only son of Amos I. Goodman and his first wife, Sarah Conway.

White Co. TN Fall Court, p. 34, Oct 12, 1807: “Ordered by the Court that a child by the name of Ansolum Goodman be permitted to remain in the possession and care of Thomas Little.” This was apparently only a temporary measure, possibly until Amos and Sarah could get moved to and settled in Barren County, KY. From the 1810 Barren Co., KY census, it seems Anselm Goodman had been sent to live with his father Amos I. Goodman in Barren County by that time, possibly after he remarried to Mourning Jones. Thomas Little appears in the Blount Co., TN Tax list of 1800, so could easily have known and/or been related to the Conways and Goodmans of Blount County.

In the 1820 White Co, TN census, Thomas Little and Thomas Conway are immediately adjacent neighbors. This Thomas Conway, age over 45 in this census, and with wife 25-45, could have been the brother of Sarah Conway, 1st wife of Amos I. Goodman, who was Surety for the marriage of Amos and Sarah in Blount Co., TN in 1801. The Thomas Conway family also had three females under 10, one female 10-16, and one male under 10. Thomas Little does not have any children in his household, only he and his wife, both over 45.

Anselm Goodman remained with his father Amos I. Goodman and his step-mother Mourning Jones until he married Nancy Fowler on 2 May 1824 in Madison County, Kentucky. The ceremony was performed by Rev. William Whitman. Nancy was the daughter of Edward and Lucinda Fowler of Madison County.

Itinerant Merchant Travels

After the birth of his eldest son Socrates in Hart County in 1825, Anselm was apparently a traveling merchant for a many years, possibly trading cattle and swine as he traveled around and between Kentucky and various Illinois counties. The Goodman family lived in many different locations between 1825 and 1850, including Hart County Kentucky, where their first son and my direct ancestor Socrates E. Goodman was born, plus Lawrence County, IL, White County, IL, Knox County, IL, Clinton County, Illinois, all locations where at least one of the 9 children listed in their family bible were born, and finally, sometime before the 1850 census, finally settled in Henry County, Illinois, where both Anselm and Nancy Fowler Goodman died. Four of their children died as infants or very young children. He was very difficult to track in US Census records, partly due to many misspellings of his name. In 1830 it was Asolems. In 1840 Anson. In 1850 Anson Eirdinard instead of Anselm Goodman. And in 1860 Ausbern Godman. See his sources in his FamilySearch record, link above.

Anselm Goodman died 27 Aug 1861 in Henry Co., IL.
Nancy Fowler Goodman died on 1 January 1874 in Henry Co., IL.
They are both buried in The Oxford Cemetery in Henry County, IL.

Their children, from the family record pages in the bible of Anselm & Nancy Goodman, were:

• Socrates Euroclydon Goodman, b. 10 July 1825 in Hart Co., KY and d. 26 Feb 1915 in Ravanna, Finney County, KS. “Old Soc” was my direct ancestor.
• Lurana Jane Goodman, b. 11 Oct 1827 in White Co, IL (on the IN / KY border with IL) and d. 3 Sep 1834 in Lawrence Co., IL.
• Benjamin F. Goodman, b. 29 Dec., 1829 in Hart Co., KY. He removed to KS about the same time as his brother Socrates.
• William Christy Goodman, b. 19 Jul 1832 in Lawrence Co., IL (Adjacent to Knox Co., IN). He m. 20 Sep 1859, Luan Dunn of McLean Co., IL. He died June 1894 in McLean, IL. They apparently removed to KS about the same time as Socrates and Benjamin Goodman families, as their son Seth Franklin Goodman, married Hulda Malcom, who was b. 1866 in Junction City, Geary Co., KS., and daughter Sarah Conway Goodman married William A. Morse, 11 Apr 1875 in Junction City, KS.
• Amos Thorpe Goodman, b. 23 Feb 1835 in Lawrence Co., IL and d. 16 Oct 1836 in Knoxville, Knox Co., IL.
• Harriet Beecher Goodman, b. 26 May 1837 in Knox Co., IL. She m. James Epperson on 9 Nov 1859.
• Cyrus Jeptha Goodman, b. 6 June 1839 in Knox Co., IL and d. 27 Jan 1866 in Woodhill, Henry Co., IL.
• Anselm Conway Goodman, b. 20 Mar 1842, Trenton, IL and d. 9 Aug 1847, also in Trenton.
• Nancy Angeline Goodman, b. 21 Dec 1844 in Trenton, IL and d. 25 Sep 1845, also in Trenton.

From the dates and locations of birth of their children as recorded in their family bible, we learn that they removed about 1827 or before, to White Co., IL, possibly via Indiana, and probably in the company of other Goodman and related families. They returned briefly to Hart Co., KY, where son Benjamin was born. Judging by the several locations of their children’s births, Anselm was moving his family around quite a bit! By 1836, the family appears to have finally settled down in Knox Co., IL, then by 1850, in Henry County, IL.

Itinerant Merchant Travels

After 1825, Anselm was apparently an traveling merchant for a many years, possibly trading cattle and swine as he traveled around and between Kentucky and various Illinois counties. The Goodman family lived in many different locations between 1825 and 1850, including Hart County Ky, where their first son and my direct ancestor Socrates E. Goodman was born, plus Lawrence County, IL, White County, IL, Knox County, IL, Clinton County, Illinois, all locations where at least one of the 9 children listed in their family bible were born, and finally, sometime before the 1850 census, finally settled in Henry County, Illinois, where both Anselm and Nancy Fowler Goodman died. Four of their children died as infants or very young children.

Anselm Goodman was very difficult to track in US Census records, partly due to many misspellings of his name. In 1830 it was Asolems. In 1840 Anson. In 1850 Anson Eirdinard instead of Anselm Goodman. And in 1860 Ausbern Godman. See his sources in his FamilySearch record.

In the 1830 Hart Co KY census, he is listed as Ansolem Goodman, age 20-30, with wife 20-30, 2 sons under 5 (Socrates and Benjamin), one daughter under 5 (Lurana Jane), and one other female, 15-20, currently unidentified, but possibly a half-sister of Anselm or a sister of Nancy. This extra female is too young to be a daughter of Amos Goodman and Sarah Conway, but could be a daughter of Amos Goodman and Mourning Jones.

In the 1840 US census, Anson Goodman is recorded in Knox Co., IL, (p.72) with four male children and one female child. The sex and ages of the then surviving children of Anselm Goodman and Nancy Fowler match the sexes and ages of the children of Anson Goodman, as recorded in the census.

In 1849, Anselm Goodman was Administrator of the estate of James Dixon, in Knox Co., IL. File box 36.

In the 1850 census, Anson Goodman, occupation merchant, age 48 and b. in TN, was in Henry Co., IL (p.114/309/309), with wife Nancy, age 48 and b. KY, and with children William, age 18, b. IL; Harriet, age 15, b. IL, and Cyrus, age 10, and b. IL. Two known children, Lurana Jane Goodman and Amos Thorpe Goodman, both born after 1840 and died before 1850, would not have been included in any census records, so our family bible is the only evidence of their existence. The older boys, Socrates E. and Benjamin F., were apparently out of the home by 1850. A Benjamin F. Goodman, probably the son of Anselm/Anson, is in Jersey Co., IL in 1850 census.

In 1850 Anselm’s half brother, George G. Goodman, a tailor, is in Knox County, IL. Immidiately above his family is the family of Stiring Pond, including daughter Mariah Pon,

In the 1860 census, he is still in Henry County, IL, listed as “Ausbern Godman“, with wife Nancy and son Cyrus (sic. Syrus).

In the 1870 census, he is deceased, and wife Nancy is living in Henry County, IL, with daughter Harriet and her husband James Epperson and their children.

Anselm Goodman and Nancy Fowler Bible Page Images:

The cover sheet of this bible indicates a publication date of 1848. From this date, and from consistent handwriting on the entries until 1861, it seems likely that this bible and its family pages may have been owned by Socrates Goodman and his wife Mary, and the family page information copied over from an earlier bible owned by Anselm Goodman and Nancy Fowler Goodman. That earlier bible may have been inherited by Harriet B. Goodman, who married James Epperson. Nancy Fowler Goodman lived with the Eppersons in Henry County, IL from soon after the 1861 death of Anselm Goodman until Nancy died in in 1874. Socrates and Mary Goodman seem to have removed from Henry County, IL to Finney County, KS soon after the 1880 census, and they took this bible with them and it came down to their son, John Anselm Goodman and his family after their death.

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