The history of the Goodman Hound should not be told without mention being made of Ben Robinson. He was born in Montgomery County, Kentucky about three miles north of Mount Sterling in 1805. Robinson was a dealer in horses and mules and made many trips to the eastern States. He became friends with and hunted with the Maryland hunters and their Irish hounds. In about 1850 he brought Tickler and Jake to Kentucky. Many other hounds were brought to Kentucky from around 1850 to 1870. Some of these were Fury, Whitie, Wag (a Virginia hound), Eagle, Old May, Highland and Lady. From Whitie and Fury came Cunningham's Ben.
Willis Goodman, he cannot be given full credit for developing this strain of hounds, but he was the guiding influence. Mr. Goodman was born in Albemarle County, Virginia. As a young man he moved to Paris, Kentucky and took with him some of his hounds of Virginia breeding. He served in the Confederate Army and it was after the war between the States was over that he began his strain of hounds. We will begin with what is said to be the first mating that originated this strain of hounds.
Goodman had a female named Goodman's Lizzie. She was of Maupin breeding. You would probably know this particular bloodline as Walker. Her Maupin blood consisted of the imported English breeding crossed with the great Tennessee Lead. Tennessee Lead was a major contributor the the development of the foxhounds as a whole. Lizzie also carried a trace of Ben Robinson breeding. Cunningham's Ben was straight Ben Robinson breeding. Both his sire and dam came from the Irish hounds of Maryland that traced back to the original importation of Mountain and Muse by Governor Ogle in 1812. Mountain and Muse were the famous pair of hounds that were bred extensively from 1812 until their death and are considered to be the single greatest contributing breeding pair to the development of the foxhound breeds. The Robinson hounds were highly regarded all over the country and their reputation as excellent red foxhounds became mythical. About 1876 Lizzie and Ben were bred. These pups are considered to be the first litter of pups born that would later be called Goodman Hounds.
Goodman should be given credit for supplying and supervising the early outcrosses of this breed. He was able to do this effectively because of his vast knowledge of the various bloodlines. Virginia Bolivar was whelped about 1878. He was bred by Sam Yates of Virginia and given as a present to Goodman by his cousin, William Durrett of North Garden, Virginia. Goodman used Bolivar as a stud dog with good results. Goodman later sent him to New England after he was used extensively as a sire in Kentucky. Scully was purchased by Goodman and Colonel Clay from Colonel William Johnson of Nashville, Tennessee. Scully was used with great success on the females having Bolivar as a sire. Their was much debate among the foxhunters of that day on whether or not Scully was a July hound. Scully shows the Durrett and Cole hounds of Virginia up close in his pedigree. In his third and fourth generation pedigree he shows practically the same blood as does Bolivar. Scully was said by Goodman to be, "A good game hound with plenty of speed and guts which he imparted to his pups". Mollie Trevis may be considered to have been one of the foundation brood matrons. She was owned by Asa Spahr of Winchester, Kentucky. She had several crosses of Maupin's Imperial Rifle and Tennessee Lead in her bloodlines and was definitely a hound that represented Goodman's ideas of proper breeding. She is found quite frequently coming into the pedigrees from crosses on Fidler, a son of Cunningham's Ben out of Goodman's Lizzie.
Mr. Goodman made no claims that his hounds were superior to any others. He was not one to brag on hounds of any breeding. Most of the foxhunters of that day believed that speed was the thing to breed for. Goodman was of the opinion that speed alone was not the important thing. He tried to breed for courage, endurance, speed, a good nose and fox sense. He wanted hounds with good feet and plenty of bone. A necessary factor if they were to pass his test of being able and willing to run five consecutive days and give a good race each day. He believed that no other hunters, with the exception of the Walker brothers, put their hounds through such a severe test as did he and his hunting companions.
The honor of naming this strain of hounds does not belong to Goodman, but rather to Dr. W. E. Wyatt of Cyrene, Missouri. Dr. Wyatt had heard of hounds sent by Goodman and his friends to Captain Bowles and Dr. J. W. Norris of Palmyra, Missouri. He wrote Goodman asking for some of these hounds that were making quite a name for themselves in Missouri and did received them. He later secured permission from Goodman to use his name in a letter intended for the American Field. Goodman had no idea that his name would be used for this purpose and was against commercializing the fame of his hounds.
After Goodman became to old to hunt he still secured hounds for hunters from the friends and neighbors who bred his strain. Following the death of Goodman, the breeders of this strain withdrew to themselves and tried to breed for the same high standards as did Willis Goodman. In doing so, they concentrated for many years on line breeding in the different areas of the country. However, they also basically stopped the promotion of the breed and bred only for themselves and close friends. They had a definite fear of what commercial breeders would do to the breed and guarded it jealously. Because of this, the Goodman Hound never really caught on like the Running Walker or July did. Back in the 1970's and 1980's some of these breeders began crossing their strains with great success. They began to again show up and do well in the open competition and field trials. Still, the majority of Goodman Hound breeders would rather give a hound to someone who will handle and hunt it as it was bred to do than to sell one to someone who is interested in selling pups for profit.
To help close the gap between the foundation of the breed and today I have listed below some of the well know hounds of the early 1900's. Gaitskill's Highball was whelped in 1905. Highball carries Bolivar in his bloodlines. Kincaid's Buster was whelped in 1906. Champion King Phillip was whelped in 1909. He is a famous sire that lived until 1921and stood at stud in six differetn states from Oklahoma to Vermont. He is considered to be one of the greatest studs of all time. Willard was whelped in 1917 as well as the famous female Jett's Lillie. Many of the present day hounds carry the blood of these mentioned several times in their pedigree.
