Portrait of Chicago lumber tycoon William O

William Owen Goodman (1848–1936) was an American lumber tycoon. He was born in

Wellsboro, Pennsylvania Wellsboro is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. The borough was founded by Benjamin Wistar Morris. It is located northwest of Williamsport. The population was 3,472 at the 2020 census. Early in the 20th century, Wellsboro was the shipp ...

to Owen and Susan (Barber) Goodman in 1848. His parents died at an early age and he was raised by various members of his family living in different areas throughout Pennsylvania, such as Columbia and

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. He moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

at the age of 20 in 1868. He first worked as a bookkeeper and then a salesman for the Menominee River Lumber Company. He began investing in lumber on his own. In 1878 he married Erna Sawyer and, with his new brother-in-law, formed the Sawyer-Goodman Company, of which he eventually became president. Goodman is famous for helping to found the

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the lan ...

through a gift of $250,000 made to

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. The donation was made in memory of his son Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, a playwright who died at the age of 35 during the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

. His son had written and produced a number of different plays throughout Chicago and had envisioned a theater which embraced the best professional training and performance standards. He is also notable for employing architect

Howard Van Doren Shaw Howard Van Doren Shaw AIA (May 7, 1869 – May 7, 1926) was an architect in Chicago, Illinois. Shaw was a leader in the American Craftsman movement, best exemplified in his 1900 remodel of Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago. He designed ...

to build both a tomb memorializing his son as well as his mansion in the expensive Gold Coast District. His former residence is on Astor Street, which was given landmark status in 1975 by then mayor

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...

.Astor Street District - The William Goodman House

References

External links

Goodman Family Papers
at

The Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, William O. 1848 births 1936 deaths American businesspeople American patrons of the arts People from Wellsboro, Pennsylvania