A Narrative History
of
The People of Iowa
with
SPECIAL TREATMENT OF THEIR CHIEF ENTERPRISES IN 
EDUCATION, RELIGION, VALOR, INDUSTRY, 
BUSINESS, ETC.
by
EDGAR RUBEY HARLAN, LL. B., A. M.
Curator of the 
Historical, Memorial and Art Department of Iowa
Volume IV
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Inc.
Chicago and New York
1931
 
GEORGE W. GODFREY has the always honorable distinction of being a 
native son 
of Iowa. His active life in the state, covering a period of nearly 
half a 
century, has been filled with good works, teaching, farming, 
merchandising, 
and since 1901 his home and interests have been centered at Albia in 
Monroe 
County.
 
Mr. Godfrey was born in Mahaska County, Iowa, November 6, 1861, son of 
Benjamin and Ellen Jane (Reynolds) Godfrey. His father was a native of 
the State 
of Maine, of English ancestry, and came out to Iowa from Ohio. In 
1849 he 
entered Government land in Mahaska County. For several years he 
conducted a 
ferry at Belfountain on the Des Moines River, and over this ferry 
crossed 
hundreds of people bound for the California gold fields. In 1871 he 
purchased the 
Eveland Ferry, and continued its operation until 1876, when the first 
bridge 
over the river was constructed at that point. Ellen Jane Reynolds was 
a 
native of Ohio and came out to Iowa in 1850. She was of German stock. 
Both 
parents possessed the qualities of the sturdy pioneers.
 
George W. Godfrey grew up in Mahaska County, attended school there, and 
for 
about ten years his time was divided between teaching in the winters 
and 
farming in summers. In 1888 he left the farm and moved his family to 
Oskaloosa, 
where he engaged in the wholesale fruit and commission business. While 
at 
Oskaloosa he was honored with election to the city council and is a 
member of 
the school board. On selling his local business holdings in 1896 he 
was on the 
road as a traveling salesman for five years.
 
Mr. Godfrey in 1901 bought the Gray ice plant at Albia. To the ice 
interests he added that of coal, and for a quarter of a century has 
been one of the 
leading coal and ice dealers of Monroe County. He is a successful man 
of 
large interests, prominent in business affairs, and always responsive 
to calls 
upon his public spirit. Mr. Godfrey is a Knight Templar Mason and 
Shriner, 
being a member of Kaaba Temple of Davenport. He is a Democrat and in 
1928 was 
chosen a delegate to the national Democratic convention at Houston.
Mr. Godfrey built his very attractive home near the southern limits of 
Albia, at 1320 South Main Street, in 1914.
 
He married at Oskaloosa in March, 1883, Miss Matilda E. Hoopes, member 
of an 
early Mahaska County family and daughter of Andrew L. and Bersheba 
(Darling) 
Hoopes. Her father's people came from Pennsylvania and her mother 
from 
Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey have two children: Miss Lulu May and 
Clarence 
Edward. The son, now in partnership with his father in the ice and 
coal business, 
married Katharine Gant, of Albia, and their three daughters are named 
Marian, 
Kathryn and Betty Lu.