George Benjamin Goodwin (December 18, 1834 – May 1, 1886) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
lawyer who served one term in the
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...
as a
Republican while living in
Menasha
Menasha () is a city in Calumet and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 18,268 at the 2020 census. Of this, 15,144 were in Winnebago County, and 2,209 were in Calumet County. The city is located mostly in Winne ...
in 1860.
[''Memoirs of Milwaukee County: From the Earliest Historical Days Down to the Present, Including a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families in Milwaukee County'', Vol. 2, Jerome Anthony Watrous, Western Historical Society: 1909, Biographical Sketch of George B. Goodwin, pp. 419–420.]
Background
Goodwin was born on December 18, 1834, in
Livingston County, New York
Livingston County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,834. Its county seat is Geneseo. The county is named after Robert R. Livingston, who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and ...
,
[ ] the second child of Simeon S. Goodwin and Elizabeth (Albright) Goodwin. His father was a blacksmith who later went into
carriage
A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...
making on a large scale. He attended
common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary o ...
in
Mount Morris, New York, then after preparatory study entered
Genesee College
Genesee College was founded as the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, in 1831, by the Methodist Episcopal Church. The college was located in Lima, New York, and eventually relocated to Syracuse, becoming Syracuse University.
Genesee Wesleyan Seminary
...
in the winter of 1851, and remained until 1854,
when, owing to a clash within the faculty, he and several fellow students withdrew and entered the senior class at
Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
in
, at that time run by
Mark Hopkins. At the end of one term, the trouble at Genesee College having been settled, he and some others returned and graduated in the fall of 1854. He taught at a district school at
Cuylerville, New York
Cuylerville is a hamlet in the Town of Leicester, in Livingston County, New York, United States. The population was 297 at the 2010 census, which lists the community as a census-designated place.
History
The community was named for W. T. Cu ...
for a year, then entered the
Albany Law School, and in the winter of that year was admitted to practice. In the spring of 1856 he married Harriet C. Decker, of
Lima, New York, and with money barely sufficient to defray their traveling expenses, removed to the West, settling in May 1856 in Menasha.
Politics and public life
He helped organize the first Republican club of Menasha, and took an active part in the
presidential election of 1856 {{Short description, None
The following elections occurred in the year 1856.
North America
United States
* California's at-large congressional district
* 1856 New York state election
* 1856 and 1857 United States House of Representatives election ...
, stumping for
John C. Fremont
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
. In 1859 he was elected to represent the northern Assembly district of
Winnebago County. He was chairman of the
standing committee on
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
.
After the outbreak of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, in 1862, he helped organize the 2nd Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, which eventually became the
41st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and served as a
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
in it.
After the war he moved to
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
, where he was an
assessor
An assessor may be:
* ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes
* Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate
* Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford
* Assessor (property), an expert who calculates the value of pr ...
of
internal revenue for the United States government.
He was a candidate for
Congressman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
as the nominee of the
Trades Assembly in 1882.
He died from complications of diabetes on May 1, 1886, in Milwaukee.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, George B.
1834 births
1886 deaths
People from Lima, New York
People from Menasha, Wisconsin
Politicians from Milwaukee
Albany Law School alumni
Syracuse University alumni
Williams College alumni
Tax collectors
Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Wisconsin Laborites
Wisconsin lawyers
New York (state) lawyers
People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War
Union Army colonels
People from Mount Morris, New York
Lawyers from Milwaukee
19th-century American lawyers
Deaths from diabetes in the United States