Chauncey Goodrich

For the clergyman and lexicographer, see Chauncey A. Goodrich.

"Senator Goodrich" redirects here. For the Massachusetts State Senate member, see Samuel Griswold Goodrich.

Chauncey Goodrich (October 20, 1759 – August 18, 1815) was an American lawyer and politician from Connecticut who represented that state in the United States Congress as both a senator (1807 to 1813) and a representative (1795 to 1801).

Chauncey Goodrich
United States Senator from Connecticut
In office October 25, 1807 – May 13, 1813
Preceded by	Uriah Tracy
Succeeded by	David Daggett
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's at-large district
In office March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1801
Preceded by	Amasa Learned
Succeeded by	Elias Perkins
28th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut
In office 1813–1815
Governor	John Cotton Smith
Preceded by	John Cotton Smith
Succeeded by	Jonathan Ingersoll
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives
In office 1793-1794
Personal details
Born	(1759-10-20)October 20, 1759 Durham, Connecticut Colony, British America
Died	August 18, 1815(1815-08-18) (aged 55) Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Political party	Federalist
Spouse	Mary Ann Wolcott Goodrich
Parent	Elizur Goodrich (father)
Relatives	Elizur Goodrich (brother)

Biography

Goodrich was born in Durham in the Connecticut Colony, the brother of Elizur Goodrich.^[1] His father was Congregational minister Elizur Goodrich.^[2] He graduated from Yale in 1776 and taught school afterward.^[1] From 1779 to 1781, he taught at Yale.^[1] After studying law, he was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1781, practicing in Hartford.^[1]

Political career

He served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1793 to 1794, when he was elected as a Federalist to the Fourth Congress from the Second District of Connecticut following an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 1793.^[1][3] He was re-elected to the Fifth and Sixth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1795, to March 3, 1801. In the Sixth Congress, he served with his brother Elizur Goodrich.^[1]

Returning to Connecticut, he resumed his law practice and was on the Governor's Council from 1802 to 1807,^[1] simultaneously service as a judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors.^[4] The Connecticut General Assembly elected him to the United States Senate to complete the term of Uriah Tracy, who died, and re-elected him to a full term.^[1] On June 17, 1812, he voted against war with Britain, but the vote for war was 19 to 13.

He served in the Senate in the Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Congresses from October 25, 1807, to May 1813.^[1]

He elected Mayor of Hartford in 1812 and became Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut. He held both offices until his death.^[1] In 1814 and 1815, he was a Connecticut delegate to the Hartford Convention.^[1]

Family

Mary Ann Wolcott, portrait by Ralph Earl

Goodrich was married to Mary Ann Wolcott, daughter of Oliver Wolcott, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.^[2] His nephew Chauncey Allen Goodrich was the son-in-law of Noah Webster and edited his Dictionary after Webster's death.^[2]

Death

Goodrich died on August 18, 1815, in Hartford and was buried in Old North Cemetery.^[1]