The son of English parents who left their native land early in their married life and came to seek their fortunes in this country, George H. Goodrich, of Garfield county, has well exemplified the pluck and determination for which they were noted, and by his own persistence and systematic industry has wrung from adverse conditions a comfortable estate and a secure place in the regard and good will of his fellow men. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1859, and is the son of John and Mary (Iliff) Goodrich, who followed farming in England for a few years after their marriage there, then in 1853 came to the United States and engaged in the same pursuit in Pennsylvania. Some years later they removed to West Virginia, where they continued farming, and where the father died in July, 1903, aged seventy-nine. The mother is still living there at an advanced age.
Their offspring numbered eleven, George being the fifth.
The greater part of his boyhood was passed in West Virginia, and in the public schools there he received his education. He learned practical farming on the paternal homestead, remaining there until he reached the age of twenty-two when he came to Colorado, arriving in the state of 1881 and locating at Silver Cliff.
After a short residence there he moved to Leadville where he was employed eight years hauling ore. In 1889 he took up a fine body of land on the Grand river, in Garfield county, and on this he has since made his home, developing and improving it, adding to its value by judicious husbandry and well arranged buildings, and bringing it to an advanced condition of productiveness. He was married in 1898 to Mrs. Emma E. (Ward) Doughten, a widow with three children, Emmet, Dora and Wilson, the last named having since died at the age of thirteen.
The condition and appearance of Mr. Goodrich’s ranch proclaims him as an enterprising and progressive farmer, and his public-spirited and breadth of view make him a valuable factor in the public life of the community. He is regarded as a representative man of high character, and has the esteem and good will of all classes.
Source: Bowen, A. W. Progressive Men of Western Colorado. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co., Publishers. 1905.