Goodspeed Publishing

Goodspeed Publishing was established by Westin Arthur Goodspeed (1852-1926) [1] in the late 19th censtury and was based in Nashville, Tennessee[2], St Louis, Missouri [3] and Chicago, Illinois.[4] By the early 1880s Goodspeed had found success with a series of state and regional histories in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other northern states, and went on to repeat that success in other areas of the U.S.[5]

The publications were primarily divided into sections for each county they studied, and included descriptions of each area's geography, history, government, and religious institutions. Each edition included biographies of prominent citizens. Local industries, businesses, and agriculture were also described, providing a glimpse of late 19th century life in places often ignored by other histories. Goodspeed's attempt to include of Native American history in many of these volumes was unusual at that time.[6]

The Goodspeed publications are viewed as a significant resource for American historians and genealogists because they contain economic data and personal biographies of both well-known figures and those who played less famous but significant roles in their communities and states.[7][8]