Arthur E. Goshorn

GOSHORN, HUDSON, PAXSON, RHODES, SHRIVER, STIFFLER, TATE

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 6/29/2006 at 10:42:47

“History of Madison County Iowa and Its People”
Herman A. Mueller, Supervising Editor
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1915

The Winterset News holds a position of influence in the life, of Madison county and is known to the press of the state as a progressive and well edited paper, its proprietor and editor, Arthur E. Goshorn, being a man of large experience in journalism and of excellent ability along that line. He is also postmaster of Winterset and has thoroughly identified his interests with those of the city, which is his birthplace. He was born on the 18th of September, 1859, a son of John S. and Hattie (Stiffler) Goshorn, both of whom were natives of Blair county, Pennsylvania. The father was born on the 25th of May, 1830, and is still living at Hubbell, Nebraska, but the mother, who was born in 1836, passed away in June, 1882.

John S. Goshorn was a nail cutter in the steel works at Pittsburg, but being desirous of taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the new and growing west, he removed to Morning Sun, Louisa county, Iowa, in 1851. He taught in a log schoolhouse in that town but in 1854 removed to Winterset, where he conducted a select school and engaged in teaching until 1861. Then the great need of the country dwarfed all other considerations and he, like so many other citizens of Iowa, offered his services to the Federal government. He was made second lieutenant of Company F, Fourth Iowa Infantry, and served with his command until the 22nd of April, 1862, when he resigned. He later recruited Company E of the Forty-seventh Iowa Infantry, of which he was made captain. He participated in the battle of Pea Ridge and also did guard duty at Helena, Arkansas. Abe Stiffler, his brother-in-law, was second lieutenant of Company E. Following the close of hostilities Mr. Goshorn returned to Winterset and again engaged in teaching. In 1866 he was elected county superintendent of schools and proved a capable official. About that time he also entered the insurance field and in 1868 he was made special representative and adjuster of the Farmers Insurance Company of Cedar Rapids. In 1884 he resigned that position and went to Lincoln, Nebraska, as secretary of a Nebraska insurance company. He has since made his home in that state and has acquired quite extensive landed holdings. In 1900 he retired from active life and is now living with his daughter, Mrs. Laura Hudson. He has always taken an active part in political affairs and represented Thayer county in the Nebraska state legislature. While a resident of Winterset he was a leading member of the Presbyterian church here. To him and his wife were born four children: Robert M., who is a newspaper man of Calispell, Montana; Arthur E., of this review; Mrs. Laura Hudson; and Mrs. Nell Paxson, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Arthur E. Goshorn first attended his father's school and then the Winterset high school, from which he was graduated under Professor Zeiler. He continued his education in the State University of Iowa, which conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1880. In that year he went to Helena, Montana, and was employed at various things until 1881, when he returned to Winterset. He was elected teacher of the sixth grade in the city schools and made such an excellent record in that capacity that in the following year he was made principal of the South ward school and eighth grade teacher. In the same year he was a candidate for county superintendent of schools and was defeated by but one vote. In 1883 he removed to Pierce, Nebraska, and established the Pierce Times, a democratic newspaper. He disposed of his paper in 1887 and returned to Winterset. On the 4th of February of the following year he purchased the Winterset News, which he has ably conducted for more than a quarter of a century. It is the official organ of the Democratic party in Madison county and the only democratic paper in the county. It has a large circulation and gives its readers not only all the local news of interest but also brief accounts of the more important events in the world at large. It is a force in securing community progress and advancement, as it often initiates movements for the public welfare and is whole-hearted in its support of all efforts to promote the general good. Mr. Goshorn gave his undivided attention to his journalistic work until the 2nd of June, 1913, when he was appointed postmaster of Winterset by President Wilson. He is the present incumbent in that position and is proving systematic and capable, performing with accuracy and dispatch the duties devolving upon him.

Mr. Goshorn was married in 1883 to Miss Kate Shriver, a native of this county. More detailed mention of the Shriver family is found elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Goshorn passed away in July, 1911, leaving four children. Mabel is the wife of Horace G. Tate, who is in the electrical department of a large garage in Cedar Rapids. Mrs. Tate received an excellent education as after graduating from the Winterset high school she was for one year a student in Western College at Oxford, Ohio. Robert, who was born May 8, l890, graduated from the Winterset high school and attended the State University of Iowa for one year. He is manager of the Winterset News and part owner of the Iowa Theatre. Katharine is a graduate of the Winterset high school and is now taking a course in domestic science at Ames. Martha, the youngest, is at home and is attending school. In July, 1914, Mr. Goshorn married Miss Gertrude Rhodes, of Grinnell, Iowa, who previous to her marriage taught science in the Winterset high school.

Mr. Goshorn is a member of the Masonic order, having joined that organization at Pierce, Nebraska. For twenty years or more he was chairman of the county democratic central committee and has done much to strengthen his party throughout the county. His interest in manly outdoor sports is attested by the fact that he was for a number of years catcher of the Winterset baseball team and was only beaten once from 1877 to 1884. While a student at the State University he was catcher on the university team. He invariably caught with his bare hand, never using a glove, and his fingers still show marks. He is very fond of hunting and has one of the finest dogs in the state. He often goes to Canada or to the American Rocky mountains for big game and has mounted specimens which he has killed of deer, elk, mountain lions, Rocky mountain sheep and goats, in fact, practically all kinds of big game save the grizzly bear. He is also an enthusiastic fisherman and was the first to go from this county to Northern Minnesota for bass. Many others have since followed his example.

From his boyhood he has been much interested in the out-of-doors and while in the State University specialized in geology and zoology. For many years he has made a specialty of the study of the geology of Madison county and was employed by a Chicago syndicate to make a special report on the available quarry sites on all the streams in the county, which he considers the finest piece of work that he has done along that line. His life has been one of well directed activity and Madison county is the richer in many ways for his having lived in it, and the high regard in which he is held is fully merited.

Madison Biographies maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen