Representative John L. Good View All Years

HON. JOHN L. GOOD

MR. SPEAKER: Your committee appointed to prepare and present to this House proper resolutions, commemorating the life and service of the Honorable John L. Good, late of Boone county, Iowa, beg leave to submit the following memorial:

John L. Good was born in Gratz, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, on April 9, 1845, a son of Daniel and Margaret (Reedy) Good, who were also natives of the Keystone State. His father was a tanner by trade, but followed farming in his later years.

Through the period of his boyhood and youth, John L. Good attended the public schools and remained at home until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when his patriotic spirit prompted his enlistment and he became a private in Company I, 177th Pennsylvania Infantry, with which he served for nine months in the Army of the Potomac. His command was stationed at Deep Creek, Virginia, at the time of the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania in 1863, and was sent by rail to Frederick, Maryland, whence they marched to the battlefield of Gettysburg, arriving there on the evening of July 3rd.

During the night the rebel forces retreated and on the morning of July 4th, Mr. Good's command was sent on a forced march to Harpers Ferry to cut off the retreat. On the 5th of August, 1863, they were discharged at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as the term of nine months for which they had enlisted had expired. Mr. Good then reenlisted, becoming corporal of Company H, 210th Pennsylvania Infantry, which was also a part of the Army of the Potomac. He participated in a number of skirmishes and the battle of Deep Creek, Dabney Mills, Hatchies Run and Gravel Run, and during the latter engagement was wounded by a gunshot through the thigh on the 31st day of March, 1865. Being thus disabled, he was sent to the hospital, where he remained until discharged from service on the 30th day of May, 1865, at the United States General Hospital at Chester, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Leonard Reedy, served in the War of 1812.

Following his return home from the war Mr. Good attended school for a time and later engaged in teaching for about a year, or until after his marriage, which occurred in 1867. He subsequently clerked in a store for about two years, but in April, 1869, he came west, having resigned his position in the store upon the advice of his physician. He made his way to Boone county, Iowa, settling at Pilot Mound. There he engaged in farming and stock raising and for many years carefully tilled his fields and raised his stock, both branches of his business proving profitable. His affairs were conducted along most practical and progressive lines, and his energy and determination brought him success. He moved to Boone in 1903.

On the 17th of January, 1867, Mr. Good was united in marriage to Miss Cassiah Schreffler, a native of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, who died January 4, 1910, at the age of sixty-one years. Nine children were born of that marriage: Annie M., the wife of Henry Dockey, of Pilot Mound; Hattie A., deceased; Daniel and Grant, who are residents of Ogden; Minnie E., the wife of Henry Wolf of Fort Dodge; Mary E., deceased; Katie D., the deceased wife of Orlando Zunkle; a son who died in infancy, and Lucile Mae, deceased.

In his political views Mr. Good was a Republican, and for six years he served as a member of the board of county supervisors. For two terms he represented this district in the State Legislature, where he gave close consideration to the vital questions which came up for settlement. He belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his religious faith was manifested in his membership in the Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Good was a man among men in the community where he lived, and was best known. He reared a good family and left them a competence. He was active in every phase of private and public enterprise. He left with his friends the memory of a life, honest, fearless and strong in every line of endeavor. In short, he was a good citizen, a wise legislator and a real asset to the state in which his lot was cast.

Therefore, Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Forty-third General Assembly of the State of Iowa, That the foregoing memorial be adopted as its appreciation of the life, character and public service of the Honorable John L. Good.

Be It Further Resolved, That these resolutions be spread on the records of this House, and an enrolled copy thereof be sent to the family of the deceased.

FRANK HOLLINGSWORTH,

R. M. BUCHMILLER,

REYBURN L. RUTLEDGE,

Committee.

Unanimously adopted April 8, 1929.