Vermont native Isaac Tichenor Goodnow was born in 1818. An academic at heart, he met his future wife Ellen Denison at Wilbraham Academy. After their marriage, they moved to Rhode Island, where Isaac worked as a professor of natural science. Though they never had children of their own, the couple later adopted one of their nieces, Hattie Parkerson, after their move to Kansas.
The Goodnows were staunch Methodists and became involved with the anti-slavery movement in 1840. Isaac was inspired to resettle in Kansas after hearing New England Emigrant Aid Company leader Eli Thayer speak in Rhode Island, after which they spoke until midnight about emigration. Shortly thereafter, Isaac resigned from his job and began planning for a move to Kansas.
The settlement of Boston (soon-to-be Manhattan only months later) was a family affair for the Goodnows. Isaac’s siblings William and Lucinda came to settle with their families. Ellen’s brother Joseph Denison was also an early settler, leaving Boston only a week after Isaac’s party, and he eventually became the first president of Kansas State Agricultural College and after whom Denison Avenue is named.
Through his work, Isaac became a prominent member of Manhattan society. He was one of the founders of Bluemont College, the precursor to Kansas State Agricultural College (today, Kansas State University). He was a devoted public servant until his death in 1894. Just six short years later, Ellen passed away in 1900.
On the topic of moving to Kansas, he wrote in 1888, “There was not a township between this and the Missouri river that I fancied like our own, and not a claim in all the way for which I would exchange mine on the Wild Cat to live on... May the same contentment and appreciation attend the life of every Kansas emigrant.”
To learn more about Isaac and Ellen Goodnow, you can tour their home. Goodnow House is a State Historic Site, and tours are given at the Riley County Historical Museum! Visit their website to learn their hours: https://www.rileychs.org/goodnow-house.cfm
