As mentioned in the last post, my grandmother was Ida Mae Goodwin Higginson. Her father was Isaac Michael Goodwin, born 26 March 1855 in Greencastle, Putnam, Indiana. He died 17 April 1942 in Decker Lake, British Columbia, Canada. He homesteaded up in Canada and I hope to be able to share some pictures I have collected of him and Ida Ann soon. Her mother was Ida Ann Hough, born 26 April 1862 in Pottawattamie, Iowa. She died 1 February 1945 in Ukiah, Mendocino, California.
I can go back many generations for the Hough line but only two more for the Goodwin line.
Isaac Michael, who everyone called Grandpa Ike, was born to William Jefferson Goodwin who was born 16 February 1825 in Harrison County, West Virginia. This part of West Virginia later became part of the state of Virginia. William died 14 January 1899 in Rantoul, Kansas. His parents were Francis Goodwin, born 1799 in West Virginia and Sarah Greathouse, born 1800 in West Virginia. Francis died in 1871 while living in Putnam County, Indiana. His wife, Sarah, died in 1873, also in Putnam County, Indiana. There are conflicting records as to who Francis Goodwin's parents were but there are friends I know who are working on that line and I will let you know when I get any updated information.
I do have information on Sarah's parents and the Greathouse line back many generations. The name was Grotehausen when they arrived in this country from Germany but they changed it to Greathouse. They came here back in the 1600's, settling in Pennsylvania and one day I will share their history with you.
Back to the Hough line. Ida Ann was born to Joel Riley Hough and Cedelia P. Spinning. This is where the story gets interesting. Both Joel and Cedelia joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832 back in New York where they were both from. They soon after packed up all their belongings, just as our Pulsipher and Burgess ancestors did, and traveled to Kirtland, Ohio to be with the Prophet Joseph Smith and the body of the Church there. They traveled with the saints from Ohio to Missouri to Nauvoo and then when they were all driven out of Illinois by the mobs, they settled in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. So we have LDS ancestors on both mom and dad's sides. Mom's ancestors continued on to Utah with most of the other members of the Church but there were some who stayed in Iowa and the Houghs were among those who stayed. In Joel's obituary it is said that he remained faithful to his religion until his death. He passed away after falling from their windmill and hitting his head. He was home alone at the time and it was his wife, Cedelia who found him lying on the ground, near death. He had climbed up the tower to make repairs and somehow fell. He died a day or two later.
Isn't it interesting to imagine that mom and dad's ancestors probably knew one another or at least knew of each other way back when. When someone says it's a small world they really aren't kidding.
We can go back many generations on both the Hough and Spinning lines. If anyone ever wants that information just let me know and I can direct you as to how to access it on the LDS Church's genealogical web site, familysearch.org. You do not have to be a member of the LDS Church to access the site. It is one of the world's largest genealogical research sites and it grows everyday, gaining more and more names, dates, and places from records it is indexing (thru the work of thousands of volunteers.)
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