THE WADE GOODWIN GOOD-FOR TOKEN

Wade Goodwin was a saloon/poolroom proprietor and beer distributor in Manassas, VA. In October of 1904, Goodwin was shot by his own brother in what appears to have been an early case of alcohol-fueled road rage: he and his brother were returning from a dance on horseback and when Wade tried to pass, his brother fell and became enraged and winged a beer bottle at him. Words were exchanged, a pistol came out, and to quote Ron Burgundy, "Boy, that escalated quickly." So, the lesson there is that road rage has been a problem in Northern Virginia long before I-66, I-95 and the Beltway were gleams in Eisenhower's eye.

Goodwin's saloon/poolroom burned down in December of 1905. Here's how it was told in the Fairfax Herald on the 8th: "Manassas Swept by Fire. Fire broke out about 2 o’clock Tuesday morning, at Manassas, and destroyed one-half of the business section of the town. The loss was something like $200,000. The fire originated from a defective flue in what is known as Blossom’s Row, and spread rapidly to neighboring buildings."

Goodwin was also a distributor of beer for the Robert Portner Brewery in Alexandria. The thing is that Manassas was "dry" at the time, something the County frowned upon. He was arrested and convicted of distributing malt beverages. He appealed on the grounds that the distribution license he received was a state license that trumped Manassas' prohibition and won. But, the Prince William County government disagreed and appealed up to the Virginia State Supreme Court where Goodwin was once again acquitted. This case garnered national attention in the alcoholic beverage industry considering this was a time that the temperance movement was gaining ground. To quote Homer Simpson, "Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

This is the sort of thing that I love about exonumia - the chance to uncover some really interesting tidbits of history out of a token.

Wayne Homren, Editor

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