Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (ATC) Ensen Mason is pleased to present another fascinating story of the many great county residents that have served in his position since 1853.
Henry Goodcell, Jr. was born in Dover, England in 1848. At the age of four, he emigrated with his parents to the United States, arriving in San Bernardino at the age of nine. He resided in San Bernardino for 32 years before moving to San Francisco.
Goodcell graduated from the California State Normal School in 1873, the first graduate of the institution in San Bernardino County.
He served in a variety of public offices, including being elected as the county auditor in 1886. Also, in the fall of 1873, he was elected county superintendent of schools. In addition to holding public office, he studied law so adeptly and meticulously that at the end of two years, he was admitted to practice in 1875.
Soon after his admission to the bar, Goodcell met and married Miss Minnie A. Bennett of El Dorado County in 1879. Within the same year, he became the district attorney of San Bernardino County.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Goodcell died in 1886 at the early age of 36. Three years later, Goodcell married her sister Mary Bennett, who helped raise his and Minnie’s three sons.
A fun fact about Goodcell is that a granite plaque that carries the name “Goodcell Place” can be found on a flight of stairs at Meadowbrook Park off North Sierra Way and 2nd Street in San Bernardino. The plaque is still visible to this day.
After a long and fulfilling life, Goodcell passed away in 1927, and was buried at the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery in San Bernardino.
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