Charles Goodman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of John and Mary (Roach) Goodman. His father, a whitesmith, became a member of the Pennsylvania legislature and later prothonotary of the district court of Philadelphia.
Goodman studied law.
Charles Goodman’s career as an engraver was brief but distinguished. In his youth, he was placed with David Edwin, under whom he became an accomplished stipple-engraver.
One of his early works, a portrait of Charles Stewart, appeared in the Analectic Magazine for December 1815. When not quite of age he formed a partnership with Robert Piggot, and although most of the plates produced by the pair were inscribed “C. Goodman & R. Piggott, ” making it difficult to differentiate their work, some were inscribed by Goodman alone.
Among the earliest works engraved by the partners were the portraits of Peyton Randolph, after Peale, and Samuel Adams, after Copley, which appeared in Delaplaine’s Repository of the Lives and Portraits of Distinguished American Characters.
While they concerned themselves mainly with small plates, a few larger engravings are known to have been made by them, among them a folio print of President Monroe, published December 15, 1817. Their other works included portraits of the Rev. G. H. Muhlenberg, after Peale; Rev. Joseph Pil- more, after Neagle; Dr. N. Chapman, after Sully; a plate after J. L. Krimmel’s picture ‘‘Departure for Boarding School”; and another, after Alexander Rider, entitled “Kidnapping. ”
Many of their plates appeared in the Port Folio as well as the Analectic. In 1819, the partners, both still young, decided to change their professions. Goodman was admitted to the bar on May 14, 1822.
He died, at a relatively early age, in Philadelphia.
After he began the practice of law, Goodman took an active interest in movements for the improvement of his native city, his interest arising from the fact that his father was a popular politician, and prominently identified with similar works.
As an engraver, Goodman reflected considerable credit upon his preceptor, Edwin. His work displayed a great deal of the delicacy and skill observable in Edwin’s productions, and he was adventurous enough to aspire to engrave something more than mere heads.
On December 14, 1824, Goodman was married to Margaret Thatcher, in St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Philadelphia.
