Monthly Archives: October 2016
Historic Railways in Santa Rosa: Tours of the Station, Presentations and Discussion
The HSSR and the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society (NWPRHS) in celebrated the historical railroads that once crisscrossed the City of Santa Rosa. The event included tours of Santa Rosa’s historic train station and an evening of presentations held at the Sixth Street Theater.
The presentations included a discussion of the historic railways in Santa Rosa, the archaeological study of the “right of way” for rehabilitation of the NWP line and a discussion of impacts to the community. Gaye LeBaron moderated the presentations and discussion.
Third Annual Great Santa Rosa History Hunt
On October 8th, 2016 the HSSR held it’s third History Hunt at the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery. More than 70 participants used clues to locate the graves of 15 different people buried in the grave yard and when finished received a booklet telling about these local celebrities.
Following are the clues and answers from the Hunt.
- This Civil War hero escaped Bloody Bill Anderson in Centralia. He was the Sergeant taken captive and who lived to tell his regiment’s tale.Thomas Morton Goodman
Born February 28, 1829
Died February 5, 1886
Buried Eastern Half Circle Plot 52
In 1864 one of the most infamous events of the Civil War occurred in Centralia, Missouri. Bloody Bill Anderson, a Confederate sympathizer and bushwhacker who did not belong to an organized military force, and his men executed 26 unarmed Union soldiers, who were on leave, only sparring Sergeant Goodman.
Goodman, born in Kentucky, was a sergeant fighting for the Union in 1864. He and his company were granted leave and were headed home when Bloody Bill came across them. (William Anderson has been called a sociopath and was well known for being a brutal and destructive leader who harassed Union troops in Missouri and Kansas. A young Jesses James was part of Anderson’s band and learned how to be an outlaw from him.) It was customary to allow furloughed soldiers from the opposing side to go unmolested as they did not have military weapons, but Bloody Bill executed all the men in Goodman’s company sparing only Goodman, apparently because a sergeant from Anderson’s company had been captured and Anderson was looking for an a prisoner exchange. Goodman showed courage and resourcefulness in surviving for ten days until escaping when his capturers attempted to cross the Missouri River. Goodman later wrote a book to honor his fallen comrades and bring attention to their bravery as they fought on battle fields that were not part of the eastern centered war.
Goodman married Mary Ann Wood in 1849, and they had five children before moving to Santa Rosa.