Charles A. Goodall

Charles A. Goodall (20 December 1824—12 July 1899) was an English-born American businessman and politician. Along with George Clement Perkins and Christopher Nelson, he founded the Pacific Coast Steamship Company.

Goodall was born on December 20, 1824, in Draycott, Somerset, England, to George Goodall and Ann (Starr) Goodall. His siblings were: Edwin Goodall, Mary Ann (Goodall) Hill, John Goodall, Matilda Elizabeth (Goodall) Downing, William Goodall, Ellen (Goodall) Cooper, and Edwin Goodall.

After completing his basic education, he did farming for the family for two years. He then left England and sailed from Liverpool on the ship Adirondack to New York, arriving on May 11, 1841. He then went to Syracuse, where he found work on farms for two years. He then made his way to New Bedford, Massachusetts, and enlisted for a three-year whaling voyage on the ship. He traveled to Western and Cape Verde Islands, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Alaska, the Sandwich Islands, Society Isles, Masafuero, Juan Fernandez, and many other places.

In January 1850, Goodall arrived in San Francisco, where he began working in the gold mines. Later that year, he returned to sea visiting Panama, Fiji, Friendly, New Hebrides, and other islands, as well as Australia and the commercial ports of China. While voyaging, he became friends with Christopher Nelson—his future business partner.

In 1953, Goodall and Nelson founded a shipping firm, initially known as Goodall & Nelson. In 1867, San Francisco politician George Clement Perkins (14th Governor of California from 1880-1883), joined the company and it was renamed Goodall, Nelson & Perkins. Their steamship company was an important early shipping company that operated steamships on the west coast of North America. In February 1875, the company was renamed The Goodall, Nelson & Perkins Steamship Company, and a year later, it was reorganized as the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. The company controlled much of the shipping industry from Alaska to Mexico during the mid-19th century. After the company took on the Seattle-Alaska route in 1881, Henry Villard's Oregon Improvement Company purchased a controlling interest in Pacific Coast Steamship Company.

In 1916, the Admiral Line bought the shipping interests of the company.

Goodall served as Harbor Master of the port of San Francisco from 1861 to 1865, for three terms. From 1871–1873, he served in the California State Assembly 8th District. From 1878 to 1881 and again from 1887 to 1890, he was a trustee of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. At the time of his death, Goodall was a trustee of Stanford University, Stanford, California, and also of the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California.

Goodall married his first wife Serena Miner Thayer Goodall (1832–1893) on February 20, 1856, in San Francisco, California. They had five children—Samuel Edward Goodall (1857–1909), Charles Miner Goodall (1859–1922), Flora Ann Goodall Bland (1861–1927), Serena Thayer Goodall Keil (1867–1922), and Harry Walter Goodall (1873–1930). After Serena's death, he married Caroline Jane Roberts on September 7, 1895.

Goodall died on July 12, 1899, at the age of 74. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. His wife, Serena M. Goodall is also buried there.

Charles Goodall Lee, the first licensed Chinese-American dentist in California, was named in honor of Charles Goodall. Lee's mother was set free from a probable life of slavery in California by Goodall in Monterey, California, at a Methodist site.