Edwin Abijah Goodwin

Edwin Abijah Goodwin
By Joyce Richardson

Edwin Abijah Goodwin or Abijah, as he was known, was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1839. Edwin's parents, Isaac Goodwin and Laura Hotchkiss, had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints soon after their marriage after being visited by the missionaries.

When Abijah was six old, his parents and six brothers and sisters set sail on the Ship Brooklyn around the cape of South America to San Francisco. They were bound for California with a large group of the saints. The Salt Lake Valley had not yet been settled, and the group hoped to form a Latter-Day Saint community in California. During a violent storm at sea, Laura Hotchkiss fell, and later died of her injuries. The rest of the family sorrowfully continued their journey to California.

The family made a home in California and lived there for several years, but eventually they settled in Lehi, Utah. In 1855 when Abijah was 14 years old, his father married his second wife, Mary Cox.

In 1860 just before his 20^th birthday, Abijah was married to Anna Harwood in the Endowment House. They eventually had six children.

Their fifth child, Samuel Isaac Goodwin, is my great-grandfather. Sadly in 1871 when Samuel was only three years old, his mother, Anna Harwood, died in childbirth. After their mother’s death, the children were sent to live with different relatives. Samuel was sent to live with his Grandfather, Isaac Goodwin, and his wife Mary Cox.

In 1877 when Abijah was 37 years old, he married his second wife, Hannah Peterson, a 19 year-old immigrant from Denmark. They had four children in Lehi. In 1881, they moved to Ruby Valley near Elko, Nevada where two more children were born to them. Eventually Abijah returned to Lehi. In 1891, he was elected the sheriff of Lehi and served for a short time. He later resigned.

In 1902 at the age of 70, he died in Lehi and was buried in Lehi Cemetery.

From Lehi History:
"He was an upright, stalwart and honorable citizen, and did much toward the development of Lehi. Mr. Goodwin served in the Black Hawk Indian War. He was elected city marshal, and held other positions of trust.

He was much interested in mining, being the original locator of the famous "Blue Rock Mine" in Eureka and other producing properties. Working at several of the big ranches in Ruby Valley as a foreman, his services were always in demand, and he was ever ready to extend a helping hand to his fellow man. He was greatly beloved by all of this fellow citizens."

Weigh Station at the Lehi Sugar Factory in 1891. Lehi Marshall Abijah Goodwin is on the left. (Beckstead) (Click to enlarge this image.)