Peterson Goodwyn (1745February 21, 1818) was an American planter, lawyer, soldier and politician from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1803 until his death in 1818.

Early and family life

Born at his father's plantation "Martins" near

Petersburg Petersburg, or Petersburgh, may refer to: Places Australia *Petersburg, former name of Peterborough, South Australia Canada * Petersburg, Ontario Russia *Saint Petersburg, sometimes referred to as Petersburg United States *Peterborg, U.S. Virg ...

in the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

to Joseph Goodwyn (1720-1799) and his wife the former Martha Thweatt, Goodwyn had at least 11 siblings, including a brother Joseph Goodwyn Jr. who also served in the American Revolutionary War and Dr. William Boswell Goodwyn who practiced in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and whose son and grandson (both William S. Goodwyn) would serve as the Commonwealth attorney and later judge of Greensville County (on a railroad line linking Petersburg with North Carolina). Educated by private tutors as a child, Peterson Goodwyn later read law. He married Elizabeth Peterson Goodwyn (1757-1817) who bore at least three sons and four daughters.

Career

Goodwyn became a planter and named his plantation "Sweden". He also was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1776, and began his legal practice in Petersburg and surrounding areas.

Military service

During the Revolutionary War, Goodwyn equipped his own company of Virginia militia and rose through the ranks from

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. He was promoted to

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 ...

for gallantry at the Battles of Smithfield and Great Bridge, both in Virginia. After the war, he joined the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

Political career

Voters in Dinwiddie County elected him multiple times as one of their two representatives in of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

(a part-time position). Goodwyn served from 1789 to 1802, except in the 1795-1796 session, when Drury Jones and Alexander McRae, both of whom he had served alongside, became the county's two representatives. Voters elected Goodwyn as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

in 1802. Re-elected numerous times, he served in the 8th through 15th congresses (1803-1818) and died in office. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, his son Edward Osborne Goodwyn (1776-1841) served as a Captain. His district was originally

Virginia's 18th congressional district Virginia's 18th congressional district is an obsolete congressional district. It was eliminated in 1843 after the United States Census, 1840, 1840 U.S. Census. Its last Congressman was George Washington Hopkins, George W. Hopkins. List of mem ...

and after the 1810 census became

Virginia's 19th congressional district Virginia's 19th congressional district is an obsolete congressional district in Virginia. It was created in 1793 after the 1790 U.S. Census and was eliminated in 1843 after the 1840 U.S. Census. Its last Congressman was George W. Summers. Boun ...

, although neither district has existed since the 1840s due to Virginia's relative decline as the western states grew.

Death and legacy

On February 21, 1818, a year after the death of his wife Elizabeth, Peterson Goodwyn died at his estate "Sweden" in

Dinwiddie County, Virginia Dinwiddie County is a county (United States), county located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 27,947. Its county seat is Dinwiddie, Virginia, Dinwidd ...

. He was interred in the family cemetery on the estate. Goodwyn also has a

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In the 1830 U.S. Federal Census, his son Peterson Goodwyn (1802-1838) had a household which included 6 additional white persons and owned 63 enslaved persons; the county at the time included 1048 free white males, 2372 male slaves and 2309 female slaves, as well as 332 free colored persons. In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census his grandson Dr. John P. Goodwyn owned 15 enslaved persons; his holdings in 1850 are listed on a Virginia census not available online. In 1850 Edward "A." Goodwyn owned 20 enslaved persons, and William H. Goodwyn considerably more By 1835, a post office on the stage road in southern Dinwiddie County was called Goodwynsville, which still existed in 1892. A descendant of the same name, Peterson M. Goodwyn, served in the 12th Virginia Infantry during the American Civil War. However, even the tavern which once stood at Goodwynsville has disappeared; after the Civil War, a railroad linked Petersburg to North Carolina through Dinwiddie County, which led to the development of McKinney, Virginia but Goodwynsville languished. The wooden plantation house that Goodwyn called "Sweden" was near collapse by 1900. The nearest town is

Sutherland, Virginia Sutherland is an unincorporated community in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, United States. Sutherland is located on U.S. Route 460 west-southwest of Petersburg. This town was a stop on the Southside Railroad in the mid-nineteenth century. Th ...

, which was the site of a Confederate defeat on April 2, 1865 which led to disruption of the South Side Railroad, the last Confederate supply line in the closing days of the Appomattox Campaign that ended the American Civil War. A chimney, stone foundation and graveyard existed about a mile past the intersection of county roads 613 and 631.Old Homes of Dinwiddie in http://www.vagenweb.org/dinwiddie/misc/homes.htm

Patrick Magruder Patrick Magruder (1768 – December 24, 1819''Dictionary of American Library Biography.'' (1978). Bohdan Wynar, ed. "Magruder, Patrick (1768-1819)." Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. pp. 337–339. ) was an American lawyer, poli ...

(1768-1819) who married Goodwyn's daughter Martha (-1816) and served one term in Congress from Maryland (1805-1807) before becoming both clerk of the House of Representatives and the Second Librarian of Congress until retiring for health reasons in 1815 is also buried in the family graveyard.

References