M. W. Brother Levi Crafton Goodale was born Aug. 7, 1843 in Sangamon County, near Springfield, Illinois. Due to the loss of his mother when he was seven, he was sent to his grandparents at Worchester, Massachusetts, where his father left in 1840. Four years later, he returned to his father who had remarried, and moved to Texas. In 1857 he found a home in Cincinnati where he received his education in the old Second Intermediate School and the Woodward High School. In 1862 he enlisted in the U. S. Navy and continued to the end of the war in the recruiting service at Cincinnati with the rank of Master’s Mate.
For a number of years following the war he was actively associated with Hezekiah Bailey and Levi Coffin, prominent Quakers of Cincinnati, in the Foxwell-Buxton School, organized to feed, clothe, and assist the Negro Freemen who flocked to Cincinnati, mostly in a destitute and helpless condition.
It was while in this humanitarian work that he became acquainted with his future wife, Miss Wilhelmina Coates Roberts, a Quakeress whom he married January 4, 1869. They had two children: a son, Colonel William Goodale, U. S. Army, retired, of Los Angeles, and a daughter, Mrs. Grace Keator, of Dayton, Ohio.
In July 1877 Bro. Goodale became superintendent of the Bradstreet Company, continuing in that position until his retirement in 1924. Levi C. Goodale was essentially a great citizen, great in character, great in purpose, and great in achievement. In 1873 he was actively engaged with others in the raising of the Guarantee Fund for the purchase of the site for presentation to the federal authorities for the erection of the federal buildings.
In 1874 he became a member of. The Chamber of Commerce and was its president in 1887 and 1888. He was one of the commissioners appointed to conduct the great “Industrial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States” during 1887 and 1888, being the celebration of the centennial of the settlement of the city of Cincinnati. As chairman of the Cincinnati Flood Relief committee during the floods of 1883 and 1884, his rare executive ability brought him the heartfelt gratitude of many.
He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives during 1895 and 1896, and initiated legislation, which formed the basis for a modern system of finance. In 1903 he was appointed by the superior court of Cincinnati a trustee of the Cincinnati Southern Railway, which office he held at the time of his death, having served since 1921 as president of the Board of Trustees. He was a member of the Cincinnati Rotary Club and the First Unitarian Church.
He was initiated in McMillan Lodge No. 141, Cincinnati, Ohio, February 14, 1867; passed on March 19, 1867, and raised on April 1, 1867. He filled the offices of Senior Deacon, Junior Warden and Senior Warden and was Worshipful Master in 1878 and 1879.
In the Grand Chapter of Ohio he served as Grand Scribe, Grand King, Deputy Grand High Priest, and became Most Excellent Grand High Priest in 1901. He received the degree of Anointed High Priest in 1879. He served the Grand council, R. & S. M. of Ohio as Deputy Grand Master, and as its Grand Master in 1882 and 1883. He received the Order of Knighthood in Cincinnati Commandery No.3 K. T. in 1869, and was Eminent Commander in 1880.
He was crowned a Sovereign Grand Inspector General, Honorary Member, 33rd, September 17, 1889. He served Gibulum Lodge of Perfection as its Deputy Master for 16 years. In 1883 he was received, admitted, and created a Noble of the Mystic Shrine in Syrian Temple, Cincinnati.
In the Grand Lodge of Ohio he served as Junior Grand Warden, Senior Grand Warden, and Deputy Grand Master and in 1890 and 1891 was Grand Master. He had served as Trustee of the Ohio Masonic Home continuously since 1893. He was president of the Society of Past Masters of Cincinnati in 1906.
M. W. Brother Goodale Departed this life on September 26, 1929. Burial was in Spring Grove Cemetery, Section 119, Lot 3, Cincinnati, Ohio.