Pierre Floreval Goudeau was born Christmas Eve 1845 on the Goudeau plantation at Bayou Rouge Prairie in southern Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. He was the ninth of ten children of Julien Jules Goudeau and Marceline Decuir. His father died when Pierre was only six years of age. But, fortunately, the family was left in very good financial condition. As a result, his mother was able to send Pierre and his older brother, Marcelin, to Centenary College at Jackson, Louisiana. They appear in the list of students in the Preparatory Department in the yearbook for the 1859-60 academic year. However, in 1861, when the War started, the vast majority of students enlisted in the Confederate Army and school was suspended.

In 1863, as the foreign army closed in on central Louisiana, Pierre enlisted in Company C, "Avoyelles Rangers," part of the 1st Cavalry Regiment, Louisiana State Guards Battalion. Company C later became Company G, "Murdock Rangers," in honor of their Captain, W. H. Murdock, who died in September 1863. Company G was part of the 8th Louisiana Cavalry Regiment, Confederate States Army.

After the War, on 21 January 1869, at the church of St. Hyacinthe at Moreauville, Avoyelles Parish, Pierre F. Goudeau married Eugenie Estelle Gauthier, daughter of Leon F. Gauthier II and Clarisse Gremillion. After their marriage, they lived in the large home of Estelle's parents, on the Cedar Grove Plantation at Choupique, just across the road from Bayou des Glaises, where Pierre owned a general merchandise store. There, at the Cedar Grove Plantation, ten of their eleven children were born.

In 1894, Pierre and Estelle moved their family to Lake Charles, where they remained the rest of their lives. Their three residences in Lake Charles were at 328 Hodges Street, 106 South Ryan Street, and 1737 Elm Street.

Pierre F. Goudeau died on Thursday, 1 December 1927, in Lake Charles, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Homer Bailey. At the time of his death, he was survived by one son, 8 daughters, 16 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren.