Frank R. Gooding

Who was Frank R. Gooding?

Frank Robert Gooding was a Republican United States Senator and the seventh Governor of Idaho. The city of Gooding and Gooding County, both in southern Idaho, are named for him.

Born in Devonshire, England, Gooding emigrated to the United States with his family in 1867. The family settled on a farm near Paw Paw, Michigan. Gooding attended the common schools there, and moved to Mount Shasta, California in 1877, and engaged in farming and mining.

Gooding moved to the Idaho Territory in 1881, and was one of the largest sheep owners in Idaho. He settled in Ketchum where he worked as a mail carrier, and subsequently engaged in the firewood and charcoal business. In 1888 he settled near present-day Gooding.

After Idaho became a state in 1890, Gooding emerged as a leader of the conservative faction of the Idaho Republican Party. Gooding was a powerful figure in Idaho in the early 20th Century, as demonstrated by the fact that the city of Gooding and Gooding County were both named after him in his lifetime.

Gooding was named chairman of the Idaho Lincoln County Republicans in 1896.