Porter Goudy aka Acel Downey
Image courtesy of the Northwest Room, Everett Public Library.
Acel Downey (also Axel Downey and Accel Douney) was born Porter Earl Goudy (1900-1963) on 6 April 1900 in Ottumwa, Iowa. He was the youngest of eight children born to Aldon Dewin Goudy (1848-1924) and Eliza Ellen Creamer (1858-1901).
The U.S. Veterans Administration Master Index lists Acel’s birthdate as 6 July 1899 in Floris, Iowa. On his World War II draft card, Porter lists his birthday as 6 April 1900. His Iowa birth certificate lists it as 24 April 1900, but this may have been filled out soon after his birth.
Porter’s mother, Eliza, died on 10 December 1901, before Porter turned two. On 17 February 1908, he was surrendered by his father to American Home Finding Association in Floris, Iowa. In school records from the 1909 Iowa winter term (30 November 1908-19 March 1909), Porter was listed as being age 8 and in first grade in a combined 1-6 school. They also show that Porter only spent 14 days in school because he was placed with Archibald Thomas Downey (1876-1947) and Lurana Mary Stanley Downey (1884-1979), who brought him to live on their farm near Lamoni, Iowa. On 11 December 1909, they adopted him and renamed him, “Acel Downey” (J.A. Seabrook for American Home Finding Association, letter, Ottumwa, IA, 18 April 1958).
According to the article “Quiet Prevails in Local Markets,” in the 16 February 1915 Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier, the annual session of the Jefferson County Farmers’ institute saw both a lecture by Dr. Carl R. Gamrath on “Simultaneous Treatment of Hog Cholera” as well as a prize going to Acel in Class G, Lot 2, “Best 10 ears pop corn any variety.”
Despite this, the Downeys surrendered Acel back to the American Home Finding Association on 16 June 1915.
I don’t know what Acel did after being returned to the American Home Finding Association until 5 November 1916 when he boarded the Verona. He may have runaway from the adoption agency home to follow the harvest into the fall, possibly ending up in Central Washington to pick apples. He may have left to hop freight trains, picking up enough work to feed himself, ending up in Seattle along with other transient laborers.
But he was arrested after the shootout. While the arrest book lists him as being 17, it appears he was only 16. And during legal proceedings regarding a change in venue, Acel informed the court that his name wasn’t Axel, but Acel.
After the Tracy trial was finished and he was released from jail on 7 May 1917, Acel enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 12 July 1917. He was discharged 23 August 1919 as seaman, 1st class, and returned to using his birth name: Porter Goudy.
Porter’s father, Aldon Dewin Goudy died on 6 February 1924 in Ottumwa, Wapello, Iowa. Over a year later, Porter married Nora Viola Morris (1907-1989) on 22 August 1925, in Ottumwa. They had four daughters. According to his World War II registration card, by 16 February 1942, Porter was working in roundhouse of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (CMStP&P) railroad, better known as the Milwaukee Railroad, in Ottumwa.
Porter Goudy died 9 October 1963 in Ottumwa, Iowa. His obituary reports he was a member of Barracks 1510 of the Veterans of World War I and the Church of the Brethren (Ottumwa Courier, 10 October 1963). Church of the Brethren, one of the three historic peace churches, alongside the Mennonites and Quakers, are more commonly known as Dunkers.
Acel’s adoptive father, Archibald Downey, died on 28 April 1946 and his adoptive mother, Lurana, died in May 1979.
I think Porter Goudy’s life is a testament to his strength. Aldon Goudy surrendered him when he was 8 years old and then the Downeys when he was 14. Perhaps he was given up because of poverty; perhaps he was a tough kid to raise. Whatever the reason, it takes courage and resilience to overcome the loss of a home, something that happened to him not once but twice. But Porter built a life, home, and family, and I hope he found some peace in that.
