William Owen Goodman (1848–1936) was an American lumber tycoon. He was born in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania to Owen and Susan (Barber) Goodman in 1848. 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. He moved to Chicago at the age of 20 in 1868. He first worked as a bookkeeper and then a salesman for the Menominee River Lumber Company. He began investing in lumber on his own. In 1878 he married Erna Sawyer and, with his new brother-in-law, formed the Sawyer-Goodman Company, of which he eventually became president.
