 While Goode claimed to have been born in Pennsylvania, his uncle George Myres claimed that Goode was born in Baltimore, Maryland and was 28 years of age in 1849 which would have made his birth year 1821.His uncle also claimed that 15-year-old Washington accompanied him to Boston in 1836 and after settling among the city's small black population, began working as a servant on board ships that sailed from Boston.Myers rarely saw his nephew while he was in port in Boston as Goode preferred to hang out in the North End section of Boston known as the "Black Sea".