Parke Godwin (February 28, 1816 – January 7, 1904) was an American journalist associated with New York.

Biography

Godwin was born on February 28, 1816, in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Abraham Godwin Abraham Godwin (July 16, 1763 – October 5, 1835) was a representative in the New Jersey General Assembly, former fife major in the American Revolutionary War, and brigadier general during the War of 1812. Personal life Abraham Godwin was b ...

was a Lieutenant in 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 ...

, and his grandfather

Abraham Godwin Abraham Godwin (July 16, 1763 – October 5, 1835) was a representative in the New Jersey General Assembly, former fife major in the American Revolutionary War, and brigadier general during the War of 1812. Personal life Abraham Godwin was b ...

a Fife Major in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. He graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1834, studied law, and was admitted to the bar of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, but did not practice. He married the eldest daughter of

William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...

, and moved to New York City in 1837.Guarneri, Carl J. ''The Utopian Alternative: Fourierism in Nineteenth Century America''. New York: Cornell University Press, 1991: 40. He became interested in journalism and by the 1830s was writing for the '' Evening Post'' and ''

The United States Magazine and Democratic Review ''The United States Magazine and Democratic Review'' was a periodical published from 1837 to 1859 by John L. O'Sullivan. Its motto, "The best government is that which governs least", was famously paraphrased by Henry David Thoreau in "Resistance ...

'' under

John L. O'Sullivan John Louis O'Sullivan (November 15, 1813 – March 24, 1895) was an American columnist, editor, and diplomat who used the term "manifest destiny" in 1845 to promote the annexation of Texas and the Oregon Country to the United States. O'Sullivan ...

. The reforms he advocated in the ''Democratic Review'' were subsequently introduced into the constitution and code of New York. Except for one year, he was connected with the ''Evening Post'' from 1837 to 1853. In 1843 he ran a weekly called ''Pathfinder'', but it only lasted three months. He was deputy collector in the New York Custom House under President

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

, an early member of the Republican Party, and a consistent advocate of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

. He supported the Republicans with speeches and writing. He became a supporter of

Fourierism Fourierism () is the systematic set of economic, political, and social beliefs first espoused by French intellectual Charles Fourier (1772–1837). Based upon a belief in the inevitability of communal associations of people who worked and lived to ...

and wrote a book which became an authority on the movement. However, in 1845, he was critical of the work of

Albert Brisbane Albert Brisbane (August 22, 1809 – May 1, 1890) was an American utopian socialist and is remembered as the chief popularizer of the theories of Charles Fourier in the United States. Brisbane was the author of several books, notably ''Social D ...

and his view of Associationism (

), though he still contributed to the new incarnation of Brisbane's journal ''

The Phalanx ''The Phalanx; or Journal of Social Science'' was a Fourierist journal published in New York City, edited by Albert Brisbane and Osborne Macdaniel from 1843 to 1845. ''The Phalanx'' was eventually moved, along with another publication called '' ...

'' printed at

Brook Farm Brook Farm, also called the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and EducationFelton, 124 or the Brook Farm Association for Industry and Education,Rose, 140 was a utopian experiment in communal living in the United States in the 1840s. It was f ...

in Massachusetts. Godwin saw these sorts of communities as embracing the democratic ideals and equal rights. Further, he believed there was a connection between democracy and religion; as he said "Christianity and Democracy are one." In May 1846, Godwin was elected Foreign Corresponding Secretary of the New England Fourier Society. In 1850, Godwin and his family allowed Catharine Forrest to stay with them during the public scandal that erupted surrounding her divorce from actor

Edwin Forrest Edwin Forrest (March 9, 1806December 12, 1872) was a prominent nineteenth-century American Shakespearean actor. His feud with the British actor William Macready was the cause of the deadly Astor Place Riot of 1849. Early life Forrest was born i ...

. Also in the 1850s, Godwin became an ardent

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and felt that slavery diluted the American concept. In 1855, he asked: "What is America, and who are Americans? ...The real American gives his mind and heart to the grand constituent ideas of the republic... no matter whether his corporeal chemistry was first ignited in Kamschatka or the moon". Godwin was against slavery, but ridiculed the New England reform movements for not attempting to impact the rest of the country. He said, "If the Deity should consult New England about making a new world, they would advise that it should be made the size of Massachusetts, have no city but Boston and insist in making an occasional donation to a charitable institution and uttering shallow anti-slavery sentiments." Godwin became an associate editor of ''

Putnam's Magazine ''Putnam's Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art'' was a monthly periodical published by G. P. Putnam's Sons featuring American literature and articles on science, art, and politics. Series The magazine had three incarnations ...

'' with

George William Curtis George William Curtis (February 24, 1824 – August 31, 1892) was an American writer and public speaker born in Providence, Rhode Island. An early Republican, he spoke in favor of African-American equality and civil rights both before and after ...

under managing editor

Charles Frederick Briggs Charles Frederick Briggs (December 30, 1804 – June 20, 1877), also called C. F. Briggs, was an American journalist, author and editor, born in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He was also known under the pseudonym "Harry Franco", having written ''The A ...

; the three also collaborated on a

gift book Gift books, literary annuals, or keepsakes were 19th-century books, often lavishly decorated, which collected essays, short fiction, and poetry. They were primarily published in the autumn, in time for the holiday season and were intended to be g ...

called ''The Homes of American Authors'' (1852). Godwin expressed his antislavery sentiments in ''Putnam's'' and criticized then-president

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

; backlash from Democrats hurt the circulation of the magazine, especially after November 1854, when Godwin published his essay "American Despotisms". In 1857, he and fellow editor Curtis supported

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

as designer of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

. In 1865, Godwin returned to the ''Evening Post''. He became sole editor of ''Putnam's'' from January 1868 to November 1870. Later, he edited the posthumous works of

as ''Poetical Works'' (1883) and ''Complete Prose Writings'' (1884) as well as ''A Biography of William Cullen Bryant, with Extracts from his private Correspondence'' (1883). Godwin died of an illness at 5:30 a.m. on January 7, 1904, at his New York home, surrounded by several of his daughters.Baker, Carlos. "Parke Godwin: Pathfinder in Politics and Journalism",
Lives of Eighteen from Princeton
'. Willard Thorp, editor. Princeton University Press, 1946: 230.

Works

Besides the works mentioned above, he wrote: * ''Popular View of the Doctrines of Charles Fourier'' (New York, 1844) * ''Constructive Democracy'' (1851) * ''Vala, a Mythological Tale'' (1851) * ''A Handbook of Universal Biography'' (1851; new ed., entitled ''Cyclopedia of Biography'', 1871) * ''Political Essays'' (1856) * ''History of France'' (1st vol., 1861) * ''Out of the Past'', a volume of essays (1870) * ''New Study of Shakespeare's Sonnets'' (1901) He made translations from the prose of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

, Fouqué, and

Zschokke Zschokke is a Swiss-German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Friedrich Zschokke (1860–1936), Swiss zoologist and parasitologist *Heinrich Zschokke Johann Heinrich Daniel Zschokke (22 March 177127 June 1848) was a German, late ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin, Parke 1816 births 1904 deaths American abolitionists American male journalists American people of English descent Fourierists P Journalists from New York City People from Paterson, New Jersey Utopian socialists