Sarah Pamela (Martin) Goode, the second child of Archelaus Stanley Martin and Harriett (Phipps) Martin, was born 9 November 1855 in Fremont County, Iowa.  The Iowa State census of 1856 shows her family in Scott Township of Fremont County, and the 1860 Federal census shows them in Ross Township (later called Green Township), but still in Fremont County.

Sarah grew to adulthood in Fremont County and married Edward Thomas Goode there, in Sidney, 23 December 1875.  Edward had been born 19 February 1854 near Chester Cross Roads, Geauga County, Ohio (shown as “Chesterland” on modern maps).  He was the son of John and Elisheba (Thomson) Goode.

Sarah and Edward were not recorded in the 1880 census, but it seems likely they were still in Fremont County because, according to the Iowa State census of 1885, their children Lillian and Thomas were both born in Fremont County in 1877 and 1879, respectively.  What that census doesn’t show is that Sarah and Edward had had two other children, who had both died before 1885:  Johnnie, a twin to Lillian born 1877, and Earl, born 1880.  These children were buried in the Martin family plot at Mount Zion Cemetery.

That 1885 census places the family in Green Township of Fremont County and shows, specifically, that Edward was farming the NW¼ SW¼ of section 25, T. 70, R. 42; this was a 40-acre plot about 4½ miles south-southeast of the town of Tabor.

All of Sarah and Edward’s children were born in Fremont County and, most likely, right there in Green Township.  These children were:

• Lillian "Lilly" Mae Goode, 1877–1946 (married Samuel Erwin Wheelbarger).
• Johnnie Goode, 1877–1879.
• Thomas Archless Goode, 1879–1964 (married Sarah Anna Cary).
• Earl Goode, 1880–1881.
• Ralph Edward Goode, 1888–1963 (married Zilpah Case Barbour).
• Paul Samuel Goode, 1892–1959 (married Ruth Dudley Rickabaugh).

The 1900 census shows Sarah and Edward still in Green Township with their three surviving sons Thomas, Ralph, and Paul, plus a couple of boarders.  Lillian, by this time, had married and moved, with her husband, to Howard County, Nebraska.  As of 1910, however, Lillian and her husband had returned to Green Township, while Sarah, Edward, and their three sons had all moved to Firesteel Township, Aurora County, South Dakota.  Ralph and Paul were still in the parental household then, whereas Thomas was married and had his own household (listed immediately above Sarah and Edward on the same census page).

By 1920, with all four of their living children having grown, married, and moved out, Sarah and Edward had moved to a home in Plankinton, SD, the seat of Aurora County, while their son Thomas continued to farm out in Firesteel Township.  Son Ralph and his family had moved to Hanson County, SD, about 20 miles to the east; Lillian and her family had moved off to Montana; and the youngest son, Paul, had returned to Fremont County, IA, and settled in the town of Tabor.

Sarah and Edward were still in Plankinton at the time of the 1930 census, and that seems to have been their primary residence.  It happens, though, that Sarah was back in Tabor, Iowa, at the home of her son Paul, when she passed away on 16 February 1936, just a few miles from where she had been born.  I don’t know whether she had been staying with Paul’s family for an extended period, or whether she had just gone there for a brief visit and died unexpectedly.  She was buried at the Tabor Cemetery.

The 1940 census showed that Edward, a widower, was once again in Aurora County, SD, living with his son Thomas in Dudley Township.  He passed away in Plankinton on 25 May 1941.  His body was sent to Tabor, to be buried next to Sarah.

If you can suggest any corrections to the information above or provide any further details about the lives of Sarah, Edward, and their descendants, please contact me at the address shown in the image below: