Biography of William Goodwin, pages 793/794/795. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. William Goodwin In the history of DeKalb county, as applying to the agricultural interest, the name of William Goodwin occupies a conspicuous place, for through a number of years he has been one of the representative farmers of Smithfield township, progressive, enterprising and persevering. Such qualities win success, sooner or later, and to Mr. Goodwin they have brought a satisfactory reward for his well-directed efforts, and while he has benefited himself in a material way, he has also been an influential factor in the educational, political and moral uplift of the community favored with his citizenship. William Goodwin was born on August 24, 1856, on the old Goodwin homestead in section 33, Smithfield township, DeKalb County, Indiana, and is the son of Daniel and Susannah (Kiefer) Goodwin. Daniel Goodwin, was a native of Ashland county, Ohio, emigrated to DeKalb county, Indiana, when about thirty years of age, coming with his wife and son in 1854. He bought two hundred and eight acres of land in the fall of the previous year, going than back to Ohio and bringing his family in May of the following year. With the exception of five years, when he lived in Waterloo, Mr. Goodwin gave his undivided attention to the operation of his land, having renter on the place during his absence. After spending five years in Waterloo, Mr. Goodwin moved back to the farm, where his death occurred on July 2, 1903. He was twice married. After the death of his first wife in the fall of 1854, he was married, on April 26, 1855, to Susannah Keifer. By his first union were born two children, Phileman, deceased, and Henry A. Henry, who has never married, no lives with his stepmother on the home place, she being now about eighty-five years of age. By his second marriage Mr. Goodwin became the father of five children: William, the immediate subject of this sketch; Mrs. Eliza Dilgard, Mrs. Elmira Parnell, John and David. Eliza, who became the wife of Simon Dilgard, a farmer of Grant township, this county, is the mother of three children living and two deceased, those living being Raymond Curtis, Jaques and Vera; Elmira, who became the wife of Curtis Parnell, a farmer of Pleasantville, Iowa, is the mother of two children, Mrs. Sivalla Hickenbaugh and Mrs. Vesta McElrea; John, who is a traveling salesman and manager of the T. G. Norwall Company, of Sioux City, Iowa, married Irena Riachart, and they have two children, Odessa and Erwin, both of whom are married; David married Dora Smith, and is a farmer near Cedar Lake, Smithfield township, and they have four children living and one deceased, those living Mrs. Nellie Danner, of Fort Wayne, Raymond, Mrs. Elmira Myers, of Fairfield township, this county, and Virgil. Susannah (Kiefer) Goodwin was a native of Delaware county. Pennsylvania, moving to Ohio with her parents when about eight years of age. After living in Wayne county, Ohio, about ten miles for Wooster, she became the wife of Daniel Goodwin, with whom he came to Indiana, and now makes a home for her stepson, as stated above. William Goodwin was reared on the paternal homestead and has devoted practically his entire life to farming, the only exception being a period of about four years, which he spent as a traveling salesman. In the spring of 1887 Mr. Goodwin bought fifty-seven and one-half acres of the home place, and in April, 1910, he bought one hundred and twenty acres of land in Grant township, near Waterloo, formerly known as the S. P. Klotz farm. Of this he deeded eighty acres to Daunt Updyke, a son-in-law, retaining forty acre in his own name. There were no improvements on the forty-acre tract, although the land had been cleared, and on March 10, 1912, he bought ten acres of the Seery farm adjoining his first purchase. He has tiled and drained his present farm, putting the soil in splendid condition, and has erected all buildings which now render the place one of the most valuable of its kind in the township. The land is practically all now rented, as Mr. Goodwin retired in the spring of 1913, though he lives in the old farm residence. He has bought residence property in Waterloo and expects to move to that place in the spring of 1914. On January 3, 1878, William Goodwin married Emma R. Shaffer, daughter of William and Rebecca (Francis) Shaffer, and to this union have been born six children, namely: Orpha A. became the wife of Daunt Updyke, a farmer in Grant township, near Waterloo, this county, and they have two children living, Carroll and Oliver, and one deceased.; Vesta I. became the wife of Charles White, a farmer near Waterloo in Smithfield township, and they have two children, Francis and Roberta; Lulu E. became to wife of Ward Jackman, a farmer of Grant township; Helen B. lives at home, as does Francis W. Religiously, Mr. Goodwin is an earnest and faithful member of the Evangelical church at Waterloo, to which he gives a liberal support, being interested in its various activities and doing what he can to forward every worthy movement under its auspices. Genial and unassuming in manner, Mr. Goodwin has earned the high regard in which he is held in the community, he and his wife moving in the best social circles and, taking a broad view of men and events, he gives his support to all movements having for their object to advancement of the public welfare. Reverting to the family history of Mrs. Goodwin, it may be stated that William Shaffer was born on July 26, 1827, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. When a young man he moved to Stark county, Ohio, with his parents, Simon and Margaret (Kinnard) Shaffer, and there followed his vocation of wagon-maker, though in later years he became a farmer and thresher. On August 15, 1850, William Shaffer married Rebecca A. Francis, who was born on December 27, 1833, in Madison county, Ohio, where their marriage occurred. From Ohio he removed to Harrison county, Missouri, in 1853, from there to Marion county, Iowa; from there the family came to DeKalb county, where Mr. Shaffer engaged in farming, operating his mother’s farm of eighty acres in Richland township, and also ran a threshing machine outfit. His death occurred on February 3, 1890, and his wife died on January 27, 1864, at Centerville, Iowa. Just prior to his own death, Mr. Shaffer moved into the home of his son Oliver Shaffer, where his death occurred. He was hale and hearty up to the time of his decease, having worked just prior to his death in a carriage factory at Auburn, and also worked in a repair shop run by his cousin, John Shaffer. He was twice married, there being five children born by his union with Rebecca Francis, namely: Isaac N., deceased; Oliver E., Emma R., Clara I., Ida L. Of these, Clara I. married David Dilgard, a railroad engineer at San Antonio, Texas, and they have two children, Mrs. Olive Bateman and Mrs. Flora Anderson; Ida L. became the wife of Charles Lehmbeck, a railroad employe at Sedan, Indiana, and they have two children Della and Milda. Oliver E. married Vesta F. Husselman October 2, 1883, and they had one child, Arthur, deceased. On February 26, 1874, Mr. Shaffer married Mary Ann Rohm, and to them were born two children, Nettie and John, both of whom are deceased. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@cltnet.com