George B. Goodwin

George Benjamin Goodwin(December 18, 1834 – May 1, 1886) was anAmericanlawyer who served one term in theWisconsin State Assemblyas aRepublicanwhile living inMenashain 1860.

Background

Goodwin was born on December 18, 1834, inLivingston County, New York,the second child of Simeon S. Goodwin and Elizabeth (Albright) Goodwin. His father was a blacksmith who later went intocarriagemakingon a large scale. He attendedcommon schoolinMount Morris, New York,then after preparatory study enteredGenesee Collegein the winter of 1851, and remained until 1854,when, owing to a clash within the faculty, he and several fellow students withdrew and entered the senior class atWilliams CollegeinMassachusetts,at that time run byMark Hopkins.At the end of one term, the trouble at Genesee College having been settled, he and some others returned and graduated in the fall of 1854. He taught at a district school atCuylerville, New Yorkfor a year, then entered theAlbany Law School,and in the winter of that year was admitted to practice. In the spring of 1856 he married Harriet C. Decker, ofLima, New York,and with money barely sufficient to defray their traveling expenses, removed to the West, settling in May 1856 in Menasha.

Politics and public life

He helped organize the first Republican club of Menasha, and took an active part in thepresidential election of 1856,stumping forJohn C. Fremont.In 1859 he was elected to represent the northern Assembly district ofWinnebago County.He was chairman of thestanding committeeonprinting.

After the outbreak of theAmerican Civil War,in 1862, he helped organize the 2nd Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers, which eventually became the41st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment,and served as acolonelin it.

After the war he moved toMilwaukee,where he was anassessorofinternal revenuefor the United States government.He was a candidate forCongressmanas the nominee of theTrades Assemblyin 1882.

He died from complications of diabetes on May 1, 1886, in Milwaukee.