Joab Goodall was born in Orange County, Virginia, September 15, 1800 to Parke Goodall and Francis Cox. At an early age the family moved to Wilson County, Tennessee.
In 1823, Joab married Nancy Palmer at Lebanon, Tennessee in Wilson County.
In 1828, they packed up the small family and moved to Williamson County settling just southeast of Marion, Illinois.
Joab chose a site where travelers passed on the road from Marion to Creal Springs (Old Creal Road) at the Crab Orchard Creek crossing. It is here that he built a horse mill in 1830 to accommodate their needs. He claimed their land entry in 1836. (This area can be found today at Goodall Bridge, the first bridge encountered when you drive south on Old Creal Road from Old Route 13, east of Marion. This is also the site of the Goodall Bridge Fiasco which took place at the onset of the Civil War.)
When Williamson County was formed from Franklin in 1839 and Marion was located and platted in the original survey, the sheriff was ordered to sell the town lots on a credit of six, twelve and eighteen months credit. The purchaser giving bond with approved security. The sale of lots began on the 17th of November, 1839, and continued three days, during which time thirty-eight lots were sold. Lot 4 of block 9 was sold to Joab Goodall for $67.00. This lot today is where the Hudspeth building sits in the location of the old Stylart Shoppe in the southeast corner of the square.
Joab Goodall and Oliver S. Tippy shortly after the town’s formation operated Goodall & Tippy, which were dealers in general merchandise in Marion.
Goodall was named overseer of the poor in 1840 and elected a member of the Williamson County Commissioner’s Court in 1841, a time when all county business was transacted by the three members of the court. His service was ended with his death on October 28, 1845. He was buried in the Goodall family cemetery.
The Goodall Cemetery for the family is located down the Old Creal Road south from the Goodall Bridge. Drive past the bridge until the road curves east then travel approximately another 1/2 mile and it is on the left. It is a very small family cemetery and easy to miss but it is right next to the road.
Mr. Goodall was the first member of the Christian Church to come to the county. Mrs. Goodall became a member of the Christian Church organized at Marion about 1843. Mrs. Goodall used to ride horseback to the meetings of the church when it was initially formed at the home of Elijah N. Spiller at Spillertown.
Nancy Palmer Goodall continued operating the family farm after Joab’s death and in the 1850 census shortly after his death she has eight children still living at home on the farm ranging in age from 22 to 8. Nancy passed away on August 29, 1877 and was buried at Goodall Cemetery.
As best I can tell, Joab and Nancy had about 11 children. Since all births and deaths weren’t recorded in those days and many children died young or in infancy, you often have to rely on census, church and cemetery records to draw conclusions.
Sam’ Notes:
John Goodall was born in Tennessee on May 16, 1824. He moved into Marion after his father’s death and was elected Williamson County Sheriff in 1850. He became the county’s largest dealer in livestock and tobacco. John Goodall and M. C. Campbell in 1858 established a dry goods firm under the name of Goodall & Campbell until 1874, when S. W. Dunaway became a partner. This business was continued under the name of Goodall & Tippy, started by Joab Goodall, John’s son, and O. S. Tippy. Since 1858 he has also been associated with Mr. Campbell in stock dealing, the firm owning a fine stock farm of 700 acres adjoining Marion on the north. He has also been in the tobacco business since 1853, one of the largest dealers in this county. Goodall and Campbell operated a tobacco barn in Marion. John served on the Williamson County Agricultural Society that ran the County Fair and in 1872 he was a member of the board of directors for the Carbondale and Shawneetown Railroad. In 1894 he served as postmaster for the Marion postoffice.
In 1856, he married Sarah Ann (Scates) Thorn, a daughter of Zebulon B. Scates. Among their five sons was Samuel Henry Goodall, a member of the legislature, Marion city attorney, and operator of coal mines in the county. John and Sarah had one daughter who married Dr. Henry C. Mitchell of Corinth and was a social belle. John Goodall’s son was Joab Goodall (1858-1930) who was involved in almost every element of Marion life including banking, real estate, the first telephone company, and operated the largest mule sales business in Southern Illinois on N. Van Buren Street. John died in November 1897.
For more information, see the post John Goodall
William Parke Goodall (1827-1897) was a school teacher and built the first Goodall house at Marion and his son George H. Goodall built the Goodall Hotel in addition to being involved in business, real estate and banking. William was a City Trustee in 1865 when Marion received its third charter and his son succeeded him as alderman of the city thirty years later.
Francis Marion Goodall followed his father as a miller, but with very different machinery. His flour mills were on West Main Street in Marion and he built the woolen mills there. Mrs. Goodall was a daughter of Samuel Dunaway, the merchant at Bainbridge and Marion. Frank , as he was called, built the Goodall building that still stands on the north side of the Public Square. Frank was born November 5, 1839 and died December 31, 1908.
John Rankin Goodall married Louisa M. Harrison in 1853, the daughter of Harrison’s mill owner. He died July 19, 1854, from the effects of fighting a prairie fire on Herrin’s Prairie. His widow remarried, and on her farm the first coal prospecting was done in the Herrin coal field. He was born July 26, 1828 and died July 19, 1854.
Hardin Goodall (1834-1895) whose business was a dry goods store in partnership with James M. Burkhart at 600 Public Square, was County Sheriff in 1868 and 1870, the trying period after the Civil War. Hardin was married to a Harriet who died in 1906, they had one child named Meta Goodall Warder (1864-1935). See also the post, Hardin Goodall
Mary A. Goodall married Henry Gray in 1904 and had three children; John W. Gray, a livestock dealer, Joab Gray, County Sheriff from 1898-1902, livestock dealer and livery operator, and Nannie Gray Parks, local librarian, genealogist and historian. Mary was born October 10 1844 and died April 12, 1934.
Henry Goodall was born April 26, 1834 and died on July 15, 1849 at 11 years old. Burial is at Goodall Cemetery.
Sarah Ann Goodall was born February 19, 1838 and died August 10, 1847 at age 9. Burial is at Goodall Cemetery.
Susan Elizabeth Goodall was born on January 8, 1836. She married William J. Spiller on March 30, 1853. They had fifteen children, not all surviving. William J. Spiller was a prominent business man and tobacco farmer who operated a number of business enterprises in Marion and the local area. Susan Goodall Spiller died on May 28, 1919 and was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery.
Thomas Jefferson Goodall was born September 9, 1842. He married Mary Elizabeth Aikman (1848-1911) on December 8, 1859. In the 1870 census he listed himself as a livery operator and appeared to be living in the same area as his parent’s farm. He served as Marion Alderman from 1879 to 1883. He died on January 18, 1884. Both he and his wife share a monument at Rose Hill. Thomas J. Goodall was the first person to be buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in 1884.
Turner Goodall was born in 1832. Not sure about this child. His first name was almost indecipherable on 1850 census record and couldn’t find anything else on him. I am only noting him for posterity here.
(Data from Pioneer Folks and Places, Barbara Barr Hubbs; Goodspeed’s History of Williamson County; History of Williamson County, Milo Irwin; Federal Census Records; Marion City Cemetery Records; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 05/05/2013)