European Origins

It is known of course that the first Goodner family, the descendants of whom are being traced in this genealogy, came from Germany, but we do not know from what part, although it is the prevailing tradition that they came from the Palatinate, which is a province in the kingdom of Bavaria, lying west of the Rhine river.  It is bordered on the north by the Prussian Rhine province and the Hessian province of Rhein-Hessen; on the east by Baden, from which it is separated by the Rhine river; on the south by Alsace-Lorraine, and on the west by the districts of Trier and Coblenz.  It includes that rich area known as the Saar. This is the province from which came the so-called "Palatinates", the Germans who settled large areas in Pennsylvania and who settled in Orange and Rowan counties in North Carolina.  It is the area from ".which came the Scherrers, their residence having been in the village of Ober-bets-bach in the Saar, which village lay close to the town of Ottweiler, and within a short distance of Zweibrucken.

Hugh C. Goodner, a great grandson of Conrad Goodner, is said to have been told by his father that the Goodners came from Homburg, near Frankfort-on-Main.  This is the only known instance where any definite locale was given as the seat of the family in the old country , and while we have no assurance that it is correct, still we must give it consideration.  There is no other evidence, .written or verbal, shedding any light on this matter, nor is their any information on any members of the family who remained in Germany.  Why this is so we do not know, but we can all say with a great deal of finality that this omission is most frustrating.

There are two Homburgs within a relatively short distance of Frankfort-on-Main, the nearest being about twelve miles away.  This is the town formerly known as Homburg-Von-Der-Hohe, but which is more recently known as Bad Homburg, it being a great watering place. It is in the Prussian province of Hesse-Kassau, and lies at the foot of the Taunus Mountains.  Industries around the turn of the century were iron works, leather and hats.  In the neighborhood of Bad Homburg is the ancient Roman castle of Saalburg.

The second Homburg, located about twenty to twenty-five miles from Frankfort-on-Main, lies within that portion of the Palatinate known as the Saar, and is but a short distance, possibly five miles, from Ober-bets-bach, the home of the Scherrer family, into which Conrad Goodner later married.  The towns of Ottsville and Zweibrucken are close by. In the immediate neighborhood of this Homburg lie the ruins of the castles Karlsberg and Hohenburg, and these may be situated on the Rhine which at its nearest point is only about a mile and a half away. Mention is made of the castles in both places because of a statement Conrad Goodner is said to ha ye made to his grandson, George Washington Goodner, who while a very young lad, was sitting in front of his grandfather on a stool, that "when he was a boy of his age, he was living in a castle on the Rhine."

In later years it was thought by Mrs. Lenna Goodner Goit, daughter of George Washington Goodner, that Conrad may have said "Main", that name in German being pronounced much the same as "Rhine", and thus sounding alike to the ears of a small boy. However, it would seem logical to believe that the second Homburg mentioned above was the home of the Goodners, since it ties in more closely to the statement of Conrad, and since the Palatinate in which it is located furnished the great mass of Germans who settled in Pennsylvania, and in Orange & Rowan counties, North Carolina, some of whom were neighbors and friends to the Goodners in the latter place. It is most unfortunate that the Ship's List, which included the emigrant Goodners, is not in existence.

Of what class of society were the Goodners?  Were they of the lesser nobility, as tradition among some branches of the family indicate, were they of peasant stock, or were they of the so-called "middle class," composed of merchants, tradesmen, land owners, and the professions?  No one knows.  The first two generations of the family in America were farmers, which was the one avenue of livelihood open to all.  In the third generation, at least in the in the case of some of the sons of Conrad, the tanning of leather was the source of livelihood in addition to farming.  One wonders .here they. served their apprenticeship and learned that trade.  Some of the sons of Conrad also became preachers in the Methodist Church, showing a religious inclination.

A tradition in one branch of the family is to the effect that the Goodners were connected with the royal house of Hohenzollern, the family to which Kaiser Wilhelm belonged.  It is hard to imagine where and how such a tradition originated. The tradition that the original Goodner, "Von Gűttener" as he would have been known, was a Baron is quite general, but there appears no evidence to substantiate it; there is not even a crest for the family.

Since all sources of information in this country have been exhausted, it is evident that if we are to secure answers to the above questions that research will have to be made in Germany, with church records in the two Homburgs the most likely ones to produce results, providing such records are still intact.