[1] His parents died at an early age and he was raised by various members of his family living in different areas throughout Pennsylvania, such as Columbia and Athens.

In 1878 he married Erna Sawyer, the daughter of U.S. representative (later U.S. senator) Philetus Sawyer, who had also made his wealth in the lumber industry and was one of the major stakeholders in the Menominee River Lumber Company, where Goodman had previously been employed.

The donation was made in memory of his son Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, a playwright who died at the age of 35 during the 1918 flu pandemic while serving as a lieutenant at the Great Lakes Naval Station.

[3] His son had written and produced a number of different plays throughout Chicago and had envisioned a theater which embraced the best professional training and performance standards.

[4] He is also notable for employing architect Howard Van Doren Shaw to build both a tomb memorializing his son [5] as well as his expansive mansion in the Gold Coast District.