H. L. GOODING, PIONEER, PASSES AWAY

The subject of this sketch was born and reared in Choctaw County. The year of his birth was 1844, in the little town of Fort Towson, which at this time was a military post, occupied by federal troops. Mr. Gooding’s father owned and operated a commissary at the Fort, where the son, Henry L. lived until he reached manhood.

At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in a company of soldiers and was mustered into the Confederate army.

At the close of the war he moved to Goodland where he

Page 98

resided until his death, which occurred Monday, October 18, 1926.

He married early in life, a Miss LeFlore, daughter of Governor Basil LeFlore, to whom several children were born, four of whom were living at the time of his death; two daughters, Mrs. W. R. Spring, of McAlester, and Mrs. E. J. Plank, of Hugo, with two sons, Charles Gooding, of California, and B. L. of Grant, Oklahoma, with a fifth child, a daughter by a second marriage, Mrs. Leonard Lewis, with residence in California.

Mr. Gooding for nearly half a century has been a member of the Doaksville Lodge No. 2, A. F. and A. M., which is one of the oldest Masonic lodges in the state. Mr. Gooding at one time served the lodge as Worshipful master. The master of this lodge at the time of Mr. Gooding’s death, and the one who conducted the services at the grave, was a grandson of the deceased. Mr. Gooding was one of the great men of the Indian Territory; a community builder, a leader in all movements for the betterment of conditions among his own people, as well as among all classes. Mr. Gooding took a great interest in the Goodland school, one of the oldest in the Choctaw Nation, and one of the most successful. From its walls have gone out men and women to bless humanity; in their lives the spirit of fidelity, characteristic of Mr. Gooding, will continue for years to come as a mighty force for righteousness.

Taken on September 5, 2016.

Headstone is askew on base. H L GOODING 1844-1926