Early Life
Wilhelm Justus Goebel was born January 4, 1856, in Albany Township, Pennsylvania, the son of Wilhelm and Augusta (Groenkle) Goebel, immigrants from Hannover, Germany. The first of four children, he was born two months premature and weighed less than three pounds. His father served as a private in Company B, 82nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War, and Goebel's mother raised her children alone, teaching them much about their German heritage. Wilhelm spoke only German until the age of six, but embraced the culture of his birth country as well, adopting the English spelling of his name.
Discharged from the army in 1863, Goebel's father moved his family to Covington, Kentucky. William attended school in Covington and was then apprenticed to a jeweler in Cincinnati, Ohio. After a brief time at Hollingsworth Business College, he became an apprentice in the law firm of John W. Stevenson, who had served as governor of Kentucky from 1871 to 1877. Goebel eventually became Stevenson's partner and executor of his estate. Goebel graduated from Cincinnati Law School in 1877, then enrolled at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, but withdrew to support his family on the death of his father. Goebel was in private practice for several years, before partnering with Kentucky state representative John G. Carlisle for five years. He then rejoined Stevenson in Covington as a partner.
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