Biography
Goodell was born in October 21,1825 in Abington,Connecticut to Roswell and Olive Goodell. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] His father was a farmer. [7] His great-great-great grandfather had settled in Abington in 1699,and had been one of the early settlers of the area. [9]
In 1834,he moved with his parents to Ottawa,Illinois. [4] [6] [7] [9] He was educated in public schools in Ottawa. [5] Goodell's father died in 1838. [7] To support the family,until the age of 15,Goodell worked on a farm in the summers. [6] [7]
At the age of fifteen,he became Deputy Postmaster of Ottawa. [7] [8] He then clerked at the J. Y. Sanger &Company general store in Chicago,before returning to Ottawa and becoming Deputy LaSalle County Recorder. [6] [7]
From 1846 to 1847 he served in the Mexican–American War. [5] [6] He served in the company headed by Theophilus Lyle Dickey. [6] [7] He was appointed by John J. Hardin to serve as secretary of the First Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. [7] While stationed at Buena Vista,he was appointed postmaster of the Northern Division of the United States Army. [7] During the Battle of Buena Vista,he closed his postoffice and joined his regiment to fight on the battlefield. [7]
Politically,Goodell was a Democrat. [6] [10]
In 1848,he served as Deputy Sheriff of LaSalle County. [6]
In 1850 he was elected LaSalle County Sheriff,serving from that year until 1852. [4] His brother-in-law (the husband of his sister) Alson Woodruff had previously held the same position from 1836 through 1838. [4]
Goodell served as the Secretary of the Illinois Senate from January 3,1853 through 1854. [4] [5] [6] [11] His confirmation had been unanimous,20–0. [11]
While working as Secretary of the Illinois Senate,he met the Mary Jane Matteson,daughter of Governor Joel Aldrich Matteson,who he married on November 1,1853 in Springfield,Illinois. [4] [7] [9] [10] Mary changed her name to Mary Matteson Goodell after their marriage. [9] He and Mary would have six children. [7] They had five daughters,the eldest of which,also named Mary,would be born on July 9,1857,and would marry James Benton Grant. [7] [9] The other daughters were Jennie (who married Albert Allmand Blow),Clara (who married John Clark Mitchell),Olive (who married Zeph Turner Hill). [7] They also had a son named Roswell Eaton Goodell,Jr (who married the former Mabel Atkinson). [7]
In 1854 he served as the Secretary of the Illinois Canal Commission,after being appointed by Governor Matteson,by now his father-in-law. [5] [6] [7] [8] The task of the commission was to record testimony of canal claims against the state. [7] He worked alongside Abraham Lincoln in this capacity,as Lincoln was Commissioner of the Illinois Canal Commission. [7] The two became friends during this experience,despite belonging to different political parties. [7] [8] Their friendship was strong and long lasting. [7]
He moved to Joliet,Illinois. [4] He worked in 1854 as the cashier at Joliet's Merchants' and Drovers' Bank. [6] [12]
He served as treasurer of the Chicago and Alton Railroad from 1854 through 1856,and director from 1856 through 1859. [4] [6] [7] In 1858 he also became the railroad's superintendent,and,in this capacity,he placed the first-ever order for a Pullman Company coach. [5] [6]
In 1858,he was a member of the Illinois Board of Visitors to West Point. [6] [7]
In February 1859,he testified to the Illinois State Senate Finance Committee during its investigation of the Canal Scrip Fraud. Goodell testified on behalf of his father-in-law,ex-Governor Matteson,who had been found to have illegally redeemed thousands of dollars worth of canal scrip. [13]
In 1861,he organized the Twentieth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry. [5] [6] For the duration of the American Civil War,he worked to fill government contracts for war supplies. [5] [6]
In June 1864,he served as a secretary at the Democratic State Convention in Springfield. [14]
After the end of the Civil War,he lived for a while with his family in Europe to provide his daughters with. finishing education in France and Germany. [7]
He amassed significant wealth from real estate investments. [7]
In 1871,he formally moved to Chicago. [6] He soon lost much of wealth in the financial crash Chicago experienced in the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire. [4] [7] In Chicago he became prominent in banking. [4] He served as president of the Fourth National Bank of Chicago from 1874 through 1875. [6] From November 22,1975 through June 5,1876,he co-headed the Chicago Police Department as Chicago City Marshall. [3] During the Samuel Tilden 1876 presidential campaign,he served as the acting chairman of the Illinois State Democratic Committee. [7] In 1876 and 1877,he was chairman of the Chicago city and Cook County Democratic Party commissions. [6] [7]
In 1878 he moved to Leadville,Colorado amid a mining rush there. [6] [7] His family joined him in Leadville the following year. [7] In Leadville,he was involved in mining and other investments and was a booster for local improvements. [7] In Colorado,he and his wife were well-involved in social clubs,philanthropy,and politics. [7] He was a prominent figure in Colorado. [7]
On January 19,1881,his eldest daughter Mary married James Benton Grant. [9] Two years later,Grant would be sworn-in as Governor of Colorado,making Goodell's daughter,now named Mary Goodell Grant,the First Lady of Colorado. [9]
From April 15,1886 through April 15,1890,he served as postmaster of Leadville,Colorado. [1] [5] [7] [15]
He was involved in getting the federal government to establish a national fish hatchery at the base of Mount Massive in Leadville,which was established in 1889 by executive order of President Benjamin Harrison. [6] [7] [16] He then ran the fish hatchery. [6]
In 1891,he lost his daughter Olive,who died in Denver. [7]
He was one of the Commissioners from Colorado for Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition from 1890 through 1893. [6] [17] [18] He was nominated for the position by Governor Job Adams Cooper and appointed by President Benjamin Harrison. [17] He was also on the board of managers from Colorado for the World's Columbian Exposition. [7]
He moved to Denver in 1894. [6] He was elected president of the Denver Stock Exchange. [5] [6] [7] While in Denver,he continued to be involved in mining enterprises. [6]
In 1899,his daughter Jennie Blow,while in London,was involved in an effort to send the Maine as a hospital ship to serve in the Second Boer War. [7]
Goodell died in October 19,1903 in Denver of Bright's disease. [3] [4] [8] He was 77 years old at the time of his death,and was less than two weeks shy of what would have been his 78th birthday [3]
