J. Floyd Goodson was the mayor of Morristown for one term of office, 1895-96. He was born on February 11, 1850 in Franklin, North Carolina, and moved to East Tennessee with his widowed mother shortly after the Civil War. He married Harriet Elizabeth Turley (b. June 17, 1857, / d. March 5, 1937) The Goodsons had at least three children:
Mr. Goodson, having little money, started in the grocery and general merchandise business where he achieved a large measure of success. At one time, his grocery store was in the McFarland Opera House building, at the north east corner of Cumberland and Main Streets, and it took up two floors of that building. J. F. Goodson is perhaps today the best known of the old mayors of Morristown, because of his initials. In his grocery business, Mr. Goodson sold his own brand of coffee, J.F.G. Coffee, a brand well known today.
Mr. Goodson, in poor health, travelled to St. Petersburg, Florida, accompanied by his daughter, Meta, in December of 1913. His health worsened there, and on the way home, he was compelled to stop at Jacksonville, Florida, where he died on December 9, 1913. His body was returned to Morristown by train, and he was laid to rest at Jarnigan Cemetery.