Jasper Goodwill served from 1955 to 1958 as the Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of the small city of Minden

Minden, Louisiana

Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...

, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. During his tenure, the municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 implemented health insurance

Health insurance

Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...

 and a pension

Pension

In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...

 plan for its employees.

Career

Goodwill prevailed in a special election on May 10, 1955, to fill the remaining three years in the term of John T. David

John T. David

John Thomas David, Sr. was the Democratic mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, from 1946-1955...

, who resigned amid scandal after nine years in the position. Goodwill defeated Paul Wallace (1896–1969), a furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

 store operator and a former member of the Minden City Council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

, 944 (52.4 percent) to 858 (47.6 percent).

David had also narrowly defeated Wallace in the regular Democratic primary

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

 in 1954. Goodwill did not seek a full term in the 1958 primary, which brought Democrat Frank T. Norman

Frank T. Norman

Francis Toadvin Norman, known as Frank T. Norman , was a Democratic mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, from 1958-1966. From 1952-1958, Norman had served on the Minden City Council as the then public safety commissioner under the since disbanded...

, a sitting council member, to the mayor's chair for the first of two four-year terms.

Life

Goodwill was one of five children born to Alfred Jasper Goodwill (1855–1937) and the former Sallie Fort (1859–1934). Goodwill's paternal grandfather, Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 Captain Alfred Goodwill, who maintained a large general store

General store

A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...

 in downtown Minden, was first married, until her death, to a grandmother of former Louisiana Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.

Murphy J. Foster, Jr.

Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...

 Goodwill Road in Minden is named for Captain Goodwill, Mayor Goodwill's grandfather.

Jasper Goodwill graduated from Minden High School

Minden High School (Minden, Louisiana)

Minden High School is the public secondary educational institution in Minden, a small city of 13,000 and the seat of Webster Parish located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana...

, probably in 1906. When he entered the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he had no middle name. The Army required at least a middle initial if no middle name, and he was hence assigned a "K", which stood otherwise for nothing. He remained in the United States throughout the war. An older brother, Christopher Goodwill (1867–1901), was shot to death while making an arrest. Ralph Goodwill, another brother, was the co-owner of a clothing store in Minden known as Brown-Goodwill, which closed early in 1987.

Goodwill was assistant postmaster

Postmaster

A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...

 in Minden from after his military service until 1923, when joined the staff of Empire Southern Gas Company, having retired as the manager in 1954. He and his younger son, Robert Eldredge Goodwill (born June 21, 1928), started a hardware

Hardware

Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....

 and sporting goods store on Broadway Street in 1952, which closed in 1978.

Goodwill was a president of the Minden Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 (1943–1944), a director of the Minden Building and Loan Association, a past director of the former Minden Bank and Trust Company, and a member of both the civil defense

Civil defense

Civil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...

 and Selective Service boards. He was a member of the Lions Club, the National Wildlife Association, American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

, Knights of Pythias

Knights of Pythias

The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded at Washington, DC, on 19 February 1864.The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been...

, and the board of the First United Methodist Church of Minden.

Goodwill was married to the former Annie Eldredge (July 2, 1889 – June 18, 1959), a medical secretary originally from Abbeville

Abbeville, Louisiana

Abbeville is a town in and the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States, 150 miles west of New Orleans. The population was 12,257 at the 2010 census...

, the seat of Vermilion Parish in south Louisiana. In addition to Robert, who resides in Minden, the couple had an older son, Marion Jasper Goodwill (born January 2, 1925) of Shreveport

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

. Daughter Gloria died a few months into infancy. The couple also had four grandchildren. Goodwill was also survived by a sister, Alice Turnley (1901–1991) of Plain Dealing

Plain Dealing, Louisiana

Plain Dealing is a town in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States best known as the birthplace of former U.S. Representative Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. The population was 1,071 at the 2000 census...

 in Bossier Parish. Services were held in the Rose-Neath Funeral Home chapel in Minden. Interment was at Minden Cemetery

Minden Cemetery

The Minden Cemetery, located in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States, has graves dating from 1843, seven years after the founding of the city in 1836...

.