Varied and important business interests claim the attention and
profit
by the
broad experience and keen
sagacity of George H. Goodman, who has
achieved success
as a journalist, liquor dealer, tobacco dealer,
realtor, agriculturist
and breeder of
racing stock. He is a personality in business circles of
Paducah and
represents the
fourth generation of the family in Kentucky. He was born
March 28,
1876, in Big
Clifty,
Grayson county, Kentucky, and his parents, Samuel and Martha E.
(Hill)
Goodman, were natives of Hardin county, this state. His father was a
railroad contractor
and later in life engaged in the retail whiskey
business. He voted the
democratic
ticket but was not active in politics. He passed away in Paducah but
his
widow is still a resident of the city.
Her parents were John and Mary
Jane (Glasscock)
Hill, the former a well-to-do planter and a life-long
resident of
Hardin county,
who was a son of John Hill, Sr., one of the earliest settlers of Hardin
county,
in
which he built the first brick house, and reserved a room in his
home
for religious
services. In pioneer
times he would load a boat with merchandise and
trade his
stock at points between Pittsburgh and New
Orleans. After disposing of
his supply of
goods he would sell the boat and return to his home on horseback.
Subsequently he
engaged in farming and also operated a mill. He was a man of deeply
religious
nature and possessed the true spirit of Christianity.
Both he and his
wife passed the
century mark and on the one hundredth anniversary of his birth he rode
to
a family
reunion three miles distant, driving the horse himself. He experienced
every phase of
frontier life.
His wife was a member of one of the old families of
Tennessee and her
parents, who lived near Nashville,
were massacred by the Indians but
the little daughter
escaped, concealing herself behind a pile of brush from which she
witnessed the
tragedy. Dr. James S. Goodman, the grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, was
one of the well known physicians of Hardin county and his political
support was
given to the democratic party.
His wife was a member of the Haycraft
family,
prominent in the social and political history of Kentucky.
Mr. Goodman attended the public schools of Paducah and when a
boy of
twelve
became a wage earner. He
was a clerk in shoe and drug stores and worked
in various
capacities, eventually becoming a traveling salesman.
In 1900 he
embarked in
the mail order whiskey business and was thus engaged until the
establishment of
prohibition in 1918. In January, 1922, he purchased the News-Democrat
of Paducah,
which he has since conducted and under his wise management the paper is
growing
steadily in power and usefulness. It is a
valuable advertising medium
and embodies
the best elements of modern journalism.
Mr. Goodman is president of the
Smith & Scott Tobacco Company of Paducah and ably assists in the
direction of its
operations He has a well developed farm of three hundred acres, on
which he has
built a
modern dairy, and has also found hog raising a profitable
occupation. He has
large real estate interests
in Paducah and derives a good income from
his investments.
He possesses the power of scattering his energies without lessening
their force and
is actuated at all times
by an accurate sense of business exigency.
In June, 1910, Mr. Goodman was married in Dyersville,
Tennessee, to
Miss Margery
L. Crumbaugh, a
daughter of George C. and Evelyn (Parker) Crumbaugh,
both
of whom are deceased. Her father was a dealer
in ice and was also
connected with navigation affairs. He gave his political support to the
democratic
party
and was
very active in the work of the Methodist Episcopal church of Paducah.
He entered
the ministry as a young man and was a sincere follower of the faith he
preached.
Mrs. Goodman was born in 1886 at Paducah and is a graduate of Ward
College at
Nashville, Tennessee.
She is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal
church and
gives a large portion of her time to religious, philanthropic and
cultural affairs. She
has been a tireless worker in behalf of the Paducah Home of the
Friendless and is a
member of the executive board of the Woman's Club. Mr. and Mrs. Goodman
have
become the parents of three daughters, two of whom are now living,
namely: Evelyn
L.,whose birth
occurred in January, 1912; and Mary Jane, born in 1916.
Martha E.
was born in August, 1913, and died
in February, 1917.
During the World war Mr. Goodman was chairman of the McCracken
County
Council of Defense and was
also at the head of the committee in charge
of the sale
of Liberty bonds throughout the county. He belongs
to Paducah Lodge,
No. 217, B. P. O. E., and is governor of the local Country Club. He is
a
Rotarian and for
five
years was president of the Paducah Board of Trade. He is an adherent of
the
democratic party and finds diversion in golf. Mr. Goodman is one of
western Kentucky's prominent turfmen and the first trotting horse
in the county to make a
record of 2:10 was bred and developed on his farm.
From an early age he
has depended
upon his own efforts for a livelihood and what he has accomplished
represents
the fit utilization of his innate powers and talents. He has made his
paper an effective
exponent
of local interests and his influence is strong and
far-reaching.