Born in rural Tioga County, NY, Ralph L. Goodrich attended the local Owego Academy and graduated from Hobart Free College (Geneva, NY) in 1858. He studied law in the office of Nathaniel W. Davis and Willoughby Babcock in Owego after college but when he failed the bar exam in the fall of 1859, he took a position as an instructor in Leslie McCandless' Academy for young boys in Camden, SC. Later, in 1860, he took a position as schoolmaster of a private rural school attended mostly by the children of plantation owners in Leon County, FL. In October 1861, Goodrich relocated to Little Rock, AR, where he also taught a private school and tutored privileged children. He enlisted as a private in Company A (the "Capitol Guards") of the 6th Arkansas (Confederate) Infantry in September 1861, serving six months in Kentucky before receiving a military discharge. He returned to Little Rock and resumed teaching. Following the Civil War, he became deputy clerk, then later clerk, of the U.S. Eastern District Circuit Court and held that post until his death in 1897.
Goodrich was married three times. His first wife was Serena Jeanette "Jennie" Connett (1850-1870) of Hamilton County, Ohio. His second wife was Isadore "Dora" Beebe (1843-1891) of Tioga County, New York. His third wife was Juliette Churchill (1861-1941) of Pulaski County, Arkansas -- the daughter of Arkansas Gov. Thomas J. Churchill.
Goodrich received some notoriety in May 1863 when the Arkansas Gazette reported on an incident that occurred while Goodrich was teaching school in Little Rock. After disciplining Juba Rector, the 15 year-old son of Arkansas Governor Henry M. Rector, Goodrich sent Juba home. Moments later, Gov. Rector appeared at the school and pistol-whipped Goodrich, calling him a "God damned miserable Yankee dog" and other oaths. Goodrich wrote in his diary that the "blows were hard and I felt them severely." Ironically, Goodrich and Rector now slumber peacefully within a few yards of each other in Mt. Holly Cemetery.
Written by Ralph L. Goodrich (1836-1897), my g-g-grandmother's brother, on going to war with the 6th Arkansas Confederate Infantry in 1861:
"After the proclamation of war, the enthusiasm bordered on frenzy. There was the collecting of militia, drilling and arming night and day, bonfires and speeches, illuminations and night marches and parades. People flocked from the country to the town and the streets were crowded and blocked up by motley groups of soldiers, horsemen and foot, sabers and bayonets rattled together. The old ensign was pulled down, or left half-hoisted, while the delicate fingers of the gentler sex were weaving colors to be given to the bands in which a brother, a husband, or a lover was to be found. The first ball was thrown, the first cannon fired on a distant scene in which this grand pageant was to begin.
All was commotion and loud talking, ranting and cursing about liberty, and slavery, and bragging about one's personal courage and heroism. Every town we stopped at had its crowds of eager citizens thirsting to believe them [capable of] military glory... Many, it is true, were actuated with pure motives, honorable in thought and deed, but many, likewise, felt only the passion of hate [and] saw in the coming storms [the] means to defraud, to commit deeds of darkness and iniquity, and some who boasted loudly of their loyalty and courage shrunk like curs in the rear when called upon to help bear the burdens of the field."
Goodrich was married three times. His first wife was Serena Jeanette "Jennie" Connett (1850-1870) of Hamilton County, Ohio. His second wife was Isadore "Dora" Beebe (1843-1891) of Tioga County, New York. His third wife was Juliette Churchill (1861-1941) of Pulaski County, Arkansas -- the daughter of Arkansas Gov. Thomas J. Churchill.
Goodrich received some notoriety in May 1863 when the Arkansas Gazette reported on an incident that occurred while Goodrich was teaching school in Little Rock. After disciplining Juba Rector, the 15 year-old son of Arkansas Governor Henry M. Rector, Goodrich sent Juba home. Moments later, Gov. Rector appeared at the school and pistol-whipped Goodrich, calling him a "God damned miserable Yankee dog" and other oaths. Goodrich wrote in his diary that the "blows were hard and I felt them severely." Ironically, Goodrich and Rector now slumber peacefully within a few yards of each other in Mt. Holly Cemetery.
Written by Ralph L. Goodrich (1836-1897), my g-g-grandmother's brother, on going to war with the 6th Arkansas Confederate Infantry in 1861:
"After the proclamation of war, the enthusiasm bordered on frenzy. There was the collecting of militia, drilling and arming night and day, bonfires and speeches, illuminations and night marches and parades. People flocked from the country to the town and the streets were crowded and blocked up by motley groups of soldiers, horsemen and foot, sabers and bayonets rattled together. The old ensign was pulled down, or left half-hoisted, while the delicate fingers of the gentler sex were weaving colors to be given to the bands in which a brother, a husband, or a lover was to be found. The first ball was thrown, the first cannon fired on a distant scene in which this grand pageant was to begin.
All was commotion and loud talking, ranting and cursing about liberty, and slavery, and bragging about one's personal courage and heroism. Every town we stopped at had its crowds of eager citizens thirsting to believe them [capable of] military glory... Many, it is true, were actuated with pure motives, honorable in thought and deed, but many, likewise, felt only the passion of hate [and] saw in the coming storms [the] means to defraud, to commit deeds of darkness and iniquity, and some who boasted loudly of their loyalty and courage shrunk like curs in the rear when called upon to help bear the burdens of the field."
Born in rural Tioga County, NY, Ralph L. Goodrich attended the local Owego Academy and graduated from Hobart Free College (Geneva, NY) in 1858. He studied law in the office of Nathaniel W. Davis and Willoughby Babcock in Owego after college but when he failed the bar exam in the fall of 1859, he took a position as an instructor in Leslie McCandless' Academy for young boys in Camden, SC. Later, in 1860, he took a position as schoolmaster of a private rural school attended mostly by the children of plantation owners in Leon County, FL. In October 1861, Goodrich relocated to Little Rock, AR, where he also taught a private school and tutored privileged children. He enlisted as a private in Company A (the "Capitol Guards") of the 6th Arkansas (Confederate) Infantry in September 1861, serving six months in Kentucky before receiving a military discharge. He returned to Little Rock and resumed teaching. Following the Civil War, he became deputy clerk, then later clerk, of the U.S. Eastern District Circuit Court and held that post until his death in 1897.
Goodrich was married three times. His first wife was Serena Jeanette "Jennie" Connett (1850-1870) of Hamilton County, Ohio. His second wife was Isadore "Dora" Beebe (1843-1891) of Tioga County, New York. His third wife was Juliette Churchill (1861-1941) of Pulaski County, Arkansas -- the daughter of Arkansas Gov. Thomas J. Churchill.
Goodrich received some notoriety in May 1863 when the Arkansas Gazette reported on an incident that occurred while Goodrich was teaching school in Little Rock. After disciplining Juba Rector, the 15 year-old son of Arkansas Governor Henry M. Rector, Goodrich sent Juba home. Moments later, Gov. Rector appeared at the school and pistol-whipped Goodrich, calling him a "God damned miserable Yankee dog" and other oaths. Goodrich wrote in his diary that the "blows were hard and I felt them severely." Ironically, Goodrich and Rector now slumber peacefully within a few yards of each other in Mt. Holly Cemetery.
Written by Ralph L. Goodrich (1836-1897), my g-g-grandmother's brother, on going to war with the 6th Arkansas Confederate Infantry in 1861:
"After the proclamation of war, the enthusiasm bordered on frenzy. There was the collecting of militia, drilling and arming night and day, bonfires and speeches, illuminations and night marches and parades. People flocked from the country to the town and the streets were crowded and blocked up by motley groups of soldiers, horsemen and foot, sabers and bayonets rattled together. The old ensign was pulled down, or left half-hoisted, while the delicate fingers of the gentler sex were weaving colors to be given to the bands in which a brother, a husband, or a lover was to be found. The first ball was thrown, the first cannon fired on a distant scene in which this grand pageant was to begin.
All was commotion and loud talking, ranting and cursing about liberty, and slavery, and bragging about one's personal courage and heroism. Every town we stopped at had its crowds of eager citizens thirsting to believe them [capable of] military glory... Many, it is true, were actuated with pure motives, honorable in thought and deed, but many, likewise, felt only the passion of hate [and] saw in the coming storms [the] means to defraud, to commit deeds of darkness and iniquity, and some who boasted loudly of their loyalty and courage shrunk like curs in the rear when called upon to help bear the burdens of the field."
Goodrich was married three times. His first wife was Serena Jeanette "Jennie" Connett (1850-1870) of Hamilton County, Ohio. His second wife was Isadore "Dora" Beebe (1843-1891) of Tioga County, New York. His third wife was Juliette Churchill (1861-1941) of Pulaski County, Arkansas -- the daughter of Arkansas Gov. Thomas J. Churchill.
Goodrich received some notoriety in May 1863 when the Arkansas Gazette reported on an incident that occurred while Goodrich was teaching school in Little Rock. After disciplining Juba Rector, the 15 year-old son of Arkansas Governor Henry M. Rector, Goodrich sent Juba home. Moments later, Gov. Rector appeared at the school and pistol-whipped Goodrich, calling him a "God damned miserable Yankee dog" and other oaths. Goodrich wrote in his diary that the "blows were hard and I felt them severely." Ironically, Goodrich and Rector now slumber peacefully within a few yards of each other in Mt. Holly Cemetery.
Written by Ralph L. Goodrich (1836-1897), my g-g-grandmother's brother, on going to war with the 6th Arkansas Confederate Infantry in 1861:
"After the proclamation of war, the enthusiasm bordered on frenzy. There was the collecting of militia, drilling and arming night and day, bonfires and speeches, illuminations and night marches and parades. People flocked from the country to the town and the streets were crowded and blocked up by motley groups of soldiers, horsemen and foot, sabers and bayonets rattled together. The old ensign was pulled down, or left half-hoisted, while the delicate fingers of the gentler sex were weaving colors to be given to the bands in which a brother, a husband, or a lover was to be found. The first ball was thrown, the first cannon fired on a distant scene in which this grand pageant was to begin.
All was commotion and loud talking, ranting and cursing about liberty, and slavery, and bragging about one's personal courage and heroism. Every town we stopped at had its crowds of eager citizens thirsting to believe them [capable of] military glory... Many, it is true, were actuated with pure motives, honorable in thought and deed, but many, likewise, felt only the passion of hate [and] saw in the coming storms [the] means to defraud, to commit deeds of darkness and iniquity, and some who boasted loudly of their loyalty and courage shrunk like curs in the rear when called upon to help bear the burdens of the field."
Gravesite Details
Clerk of the U.S. District Court. Husband of (1) Siena J. "Dora" Connett and (2) Juliette Churchill.
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