Aaron Goodrich

Judge Aaron Goodrich

Aaron Goodrich (6 July 1807 – 2 June 1887) was an American lawyer, jurist and diplomat.

Biography

Goodrich was born in Sempronius, New York, in 1807. In 1815, the family moved to a farm in western New York state, where Aaron attended country school and read law books with enthusiasm. At about age 20, he moved to Stewart County, Tennessee, completed his studies, and began practising the law.[1]

Goodrich, ca. 1860s; photographer noted as being Belgian.

He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1847-1849. He was appointed as Chief Justice of Minnesota Supreme Court on March 19, 1849, by President Zachary Taylor.[2] He presided over the first court session in Stillwater, Minnesota Territory in August 1849, deciding 60 cases in six days.[3] However, he failed to see out his four-year term. Several prominent Minnesota attorneys demanded Goodrich be removed for "incompetency, unfitness and improprieties committed on and off the bench,"[4] in 1851.[5] After a failed attempt at impeachment, President Millard Fillmore used his executive power to remove Goodrich from office;[6] Goodrich subsequently took the matter to court in an attempt to obtain the salary for the remainder of his term.[2] He was a freemason,[7] and in July 1849, became one of the founding members of the local Masonic Lodge (Saint Paul Lodge Number Three http://www.saintpaullodge.org).[8] He was also a unionist, and anti-abolitionist,[9] and a founding member of Minnesota Historical Society[10] and Minnesota Republican Party.[11] Goodrich was a Minnesota delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln, but cast his vote for William H. Seward.[12] At Seward's behest,[13] Goodrich was appointed Secretary of the United States legation in Brussels, Belgium, by President Lincoln in 1861, remaining there until 1868.[9]

He died on 2 June 1887, and his body was interred at a graveyard in Genesee County, Michigan.

Memorials

References

  1. ↑ Biographies of Judges and Justices of the Minnesota Appellate Courts Archived March 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. 1 2 "58 U.S. 284". Archived from the original on 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  3. ↑ Building Location Details
  4. ↑ MPR: Appellate court judge charged with swindling woman
  5. ↑ MPR: For the Record
  6. ↑ "From Washington--Appointments for Minnesota". The New York Times. 25 October 1851. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Grand Lodge Of Minnesota Archived May 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Saint Paul Lodge Number Three - Minnesota's Oldest Masonic Lodge
  9. 1 2 Tennessee State Library and Archives: History and Genealogy - Manuscript Materials on Microfilm 100 - 199
  10. ↑ Minnesota Prehistory Archived October 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. 1 2 Twin Cities Liver: History of St. Paul Street Names Archived August 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ Welcome to the home of the Goodrich Family Association - Person Page 153
  13. ↑ See footnote 45 at http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=470
  14. ↑ Goodrich Cemetery

Sources

  • Biography of Aaron Goodrich
  • Pederson, Kern. Makers of Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Territorial Centennial (1949)
  • Political Graveyard biography
  • "The History of Genesee County, Michigan (Chapter XXVI - The Villages of Genesee County, Part II)". Retrieved 27 December 2007.
  • Greiner, Tony; Howard Mohr (2001). The Minnesota Book of Days: An Almanac of State History. Minnesota Historical Society Press. p. 242. ISBN 0-87351-416-5.
  • "Saint Paul Lodge Number Three". Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
  • Schurz, Carl (1907). Reminiscences. McClure Publ. Co. On pp. 143–147 Carl Schurz, then a Wisconsin politician and a recent (1852) immigrant from Prussia, relates his 1859 experiences campaigning on behalf of state office seekers in Minnesota in partnership with Judge Goodrich, who he referred to as “one of those ‘originals’ who at that time seemed to abound in the new country.”
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