Aaron Goodrich

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

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 Tennessee, completed his studies, and began practising the law [ [http://www.lawlibrary.state.mn.us/judgebio.html#goodrich Biographies of Judges and Justices of the Minnesota Appellate Courts ] ] .

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 [ [http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/58/58.US.284.html 58 U.S. 284 ] ] . He presided over the first court session in Stillwater, Minnesota Territory in August 1849, deciding 60 cases in six days [ [http://www.mncourts.gov/?page=CourtHouseProfile&ID=40084 Building Location Details ] ] . 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" [ [http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200202/26_stawickie_coajudge/ MPR: Appellate court judge charged with swindling woman ] ] in 1851 [ [http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199908/13_stawickie_fortherecord/ MPR: For the Record ] ] . After a failed attempt at impeachment, President Millard Fillmore used his executive power to remove Goodrich from office [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B01EEDD1431E13BBC4D51DFB667838A649FDE From Washington-Appointments for Minnesota. - Article Preview - The New York Times ] ] ; Goodrich subsequently took the matter to court in an attempt to obtain the salary for the remainder of his term [ [http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/58/58.US.284.html 58 U.S. 284 ] ] . He was a freemason [ [http://www.mpls19.org/grand_lodge Grand Lodge Of Minnesota ] ] and in July 1849, became one of the founding members of the local Masonic Lodge (Saint Paul Lodge Number Three) [ [http://www.saintpaulthree.org/lodge.html Saint Paul Lodge Number Three - Minnesota's Oldest Masonic Lodge ] ] . He was also a unionist and anti-abolitionist [ [http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/manuscripts/mguide02.htm Tennessee State Library and Archives: History and Genealogy - Manuscript Materials on Microfilm 100 - 199 ] ] and a founding member of Minnesota Historical Society [ [http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/minnesota/minnesotaarchaeology/minnesotahistoricalsociety.html Minnesota Prehistory ] ] and Minnesota Republican Party [ [http://www.monkeyouttanowhere.com/twincities/archives/2005/06/history_of_st_p.html Twin Cities Liver: History of St. Paul Street Names ] ] . Goodrich was a Minnesota delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln, but cast his vote for William H. Seward [ [http://www.goodrichfamilyassoc.org/p153.htm#i3825 Welcome to the home of the Goodrich Family Association - Person Page 153 ] ] . At Seward's behest [See footnote 45 at http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=470] , Goodrich was appointed Secretary of the United States legation in Brussels, Belgium, by President Lincoln in 1861, remaining there until 1868 [ [http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/manuscripts/mguide02.htm Tennessee State Library and Archives: History and Genealogy - Manuscript Materials on Microfilm 100 - 199 ] ] .

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

Memorials

* Goodrich Avenue, St Paul, Minnesota [ [http://www.monkeyouttanowhere.com/twincities/archives/2005/06/history_of_st_p.html Twin Cities Liver: History of St. Paul Street Names ] ] . F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald lived at 626 Goodrich Avenue from 1921-22 during which time their daughter was born and F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote his novel The Beautiful and the Damned.
* The Goodrich campus at St. Paul Academy and Summit School, located at 1150 Goodrich Avenue, St Paul, Minnesota.
*Goodrich cemetery in Genesee County, Michigan [ [http://www.hooker-ancestors.com/Goodrich_Cemetery/Goodrich_Cemetery_DG.htm Goodrich Cemetery ] ]

References

ources

* [http://www.goodrichfamilyassoc.org/p153.htm#i3825 Biography of Aaron Goodrich]
* Pederson, Kern. "Makers of Minnesota". St. Paul: Minnesota Territorial Centennial (1949)
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/goodrich.html#SBE0561QZ Political Graveyard biography]
* cite web | url = http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mi/county/lapeer/gen/ch26/pt2.html
title = The History of Genesee County, Michigan (Chapter XXVI - The Villages of Genesee County, Part II) | accessdate = 27 December | accessyear = 2007
* cite book | last = Greiner | first = Tony | coauthors = Howard Mohr
title = The Minnesota Book of Days: An Almanac of State History
publisher = Minnesota Historical Society Press
date = 2001 | pages = 242 | isbn = 0873514165
* cite web | url = http://www.saintpaulthree.org/lodge.html
title = Saint Paul Lodge Number Three | accessdate = 27 December | accessyear = 2007