The Goodwillie Box Factory on Manistique’s west side.
Robert Walter Goodwillie was born on March 13, 1850 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the oldest of six children born to David and Cecelia Goodwillie. David Goodwillie was the proprietor of a box factory in Chicago where Robert and his younger brother James found employment and learned the business.
In about 1873, while still residing in Chicago, Goodwillie married Pennsylvania native, Agnes Jones. At least three children were born to this union including Grace. Lillian and Agnes. In 1889, Goodwillie, in partnership with his brother James, opened a box factory in Wausau, Wisconsin, which employed 70 men and produced 6,000 wooden boxes per day. By 1892, the box factory had expanded and employed approximately 220 men.
Sometime during the 1890s, Goodwillie and his first wife Agnes were divorced. He remarried on August 6, 1901, to Ada Jackson Marks at a ceremony in Port Huron, Michigan.
Goodwillie Bros. opened a new box factory in Manistique, Michigan during the fall of 1907, prompting Robert W. Goodwillie to move here to manage the plant. The firm was located on Manistique’s west side and manufactured custom wooden boxes, crates and shooks. The plant employed 260 workers at its peak production during World War I. It employed 196 workers in 1919, one year prior to the flood.
April 1920 flood damage to the Goodwillie Box Factory plant.
Goodwillie Bros. Box Factory was completely destroyed in the Manistique’s great flood of April, 1920 with losses estimated at $125,000.00. The factory was rebuilt on a smaller scale and reopened in July of 1920, employing 138 workers. Goodwillie Bros’s. Manistique plant was controlled by the Goodwillie Green Box Company of Chicago. Economic factors led to the closure of the factory in 1922. It was sold and dismantled in 1923. Workers in Manistique were offered a transfer to a plant in Illinois.
Robert W. Goodwillie resided in Manistique until 1925 when he and his wife relocated to Port Huron, Michigan. While living in Manistique, “Bob” Goodwillie was a great booster for Manistique and was especially active in supporting the local baseball teams. Goodwillie passed away on March 9, 1930 in Port Huron, Michigan, just four days prior to his 80th birthday.