Dwight Goss, who has been engaged in the practice of law in Grand Rapids, Mich., since 1887, was born in Portage county, Ohio, February 19, 1857, the only child of Sidney and Sarah (Gilmore) Goss, the latter of whom died July 27, 1859.

Sidney Goss is also a native of the Buckeye state, and his deceased wife was born in Connecticut. They were married in Ravenna, Ohio, March 17, 1856, and located in Randolph township, Portage county, where Mrs. Goss passed away at the date mentioned above. Mr. Goss, who is a farmer by vocation, continued to reside on the homestead until July, 1892, and then came to Grand Rapids, where he has since made his home.

Dwight Goss attended school in Portage county, Ohio, until ten years of age, and then his father having moved to Clinton county, Mich., he entered the common schools, which he attended until eighteen, and then attended Ionia high school, from which he graduated in the Latin and scientific courses in 1879. The following year he occupied himself in farming and school-teaching, then entered the literary department of the Michigan university, and studied two years; was then employed a year and a half as a commercial traveler, after which he returned to the university and took a course in law studies. After graduating, he came to Grand Rapids and for a year and a half passed his time as a student and clerk in the law office of Smiley & Earle. In 1886 he was admitted to the bar by Judge Montgomery, and January 1, 1887, began practice on his individual account, and has been alone ever since, with the exception of the years 1888, 1889 and 1890, when he was associated with Police Judge Haggerty. His career has been a most successful one, and his standing at the bar is cordially recognized by his fellow practitioners, as well as by the court and the public at large, as being that of a legal light in the settlement of affairs of litigants in Kent county. So able has he proved to be in the exercise of his legal abilities, that he was appointed in May, 1897, as assistant United States attorney for the western district of Michigan, and still fills the position to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Mr. Goss was united in marriage, July 7, 1891, at Muskegon, Mich., with Miss Josephine Ahnefeldt, a native of Canada, and a daughter of August and Faith (Elston) Ahnefeldt, the result of the marriage being two children--Faith and Henry. In their church relations, Mr. Goss adheres to the Universalist faith, while Mrs. Goss worships with the Lutheran congregation. In politics Mr. Goss is a republican, and fraternally, is a knight templar Mason. His professional earnings have placed him in good circumstances, and his charming home is the resort of the best members of the society of the city of Grand Rapids.