Background
Goodwin was the brother of Daniel Raynes Goodwin. He was born on October 8, 1794, on a farm in North Berwick, Maine. His parents, Samuel and Anna Thompson (Gerrish) Goodwin, were of old colonial stock, but without large means.
Goodwin was the brother of Daniel Raynes Goodwin. He was born on October 8, 1794, on a farm in North Berwick, Maine. His parents, Samuel and Anna Thompson (Gerrish) Goodwin, were of old colonial stock, but without large means.
Goodwin attended an academy in South Berwick.
Ichabod became a clerk in the office of Samuel Lord, a merchant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Later, he was promoted to the post of supercargo on a merchant vessel, where he learned navigation.
For some years, he followed the sea as master and part owner of various craft. About 1832, after twelve years at sea, he became a merchant in Portsmouth, engaging in the foreign carrying-trade with considerable financial success.
Since New Hampshire was entering a period of important internal development, there were opportunities in various fields for a man of Goodwin’s resources and ability.
In addition to engaging in sundry local manufacturing and financial enterprises, he became an active participant in early railroad enterprises.
He was the first president of the Eastern Railroad, holding office for about twenty-five years, and a member of the first board of directors of the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad Company, serving as president of the latter from 1847 to 1871.
When the war opened in the spring of 1861, he acted with great promptness and vigor. Confronted with an almost empty treasury, and reluctant to summon the legislature in special session because of further expense and the danger of delay, he borrowed $680, 000 on his personal responsibility, gathered men and supplies to meet the first call for troops, and in addition exerted an inspiring influence on the people of his own and neighboring states.
His acts, many of them undoubtedly extra-legal, were validated by the next legislature (June 1861), and he was able to turn over the machinery of government to his successor, Nathaniel S. Berry, in good running order.
After his retirement from office, he continued in business for some time. With advancing age, he gradually curtailed his activities although he retained the presidency of several Portsmouth enterprises, including two banks, to the end.
Goodwin's work as war governor, together with his various public services in Portsmouth, account for the high reputation he enjoyed for many years throughout the state and New England generally. In 1888, zinc a monument to New Hampshire soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War was dedicated in a new park. The park was named Goodwin Park in honor of Goodwin's service during the war. The park and statue were located across from the Goodwin family mansion on Islington Street.
Like a majority of New England business leaders of the period, Goodwin was a stalwart Whig. He took an active part in politics and attended several national conventions as delegate-at-large from New Hampshire.
Between 1838 and 1856, he served six terms in the legislature as representative of Portsmouth, was a member of the constitutional convention of 1850, and several times an unsuccessful candidate for Congress.
A natural conservative, he remained with the Whig party during its moribund years and in 1856, as its last candidate for the governorship, polled some 2, 000 scattered votes. He then joined the Republican party and was elected governor in 1859 and 1860.
Goodwin's inaugural message, especially those sections dealing with the transportation problems of the state, shows a wide acquaintance with business affairs. In his second message, he suggested that railroad consolidation would be necessary for the relief of both stockholders and the public, a remedy he lived to see generally applied throughout New England.
The crisis of 1860-61 gave Goodwin an opportunity to perform notable services for both state and nation. In his message of 1860, though he was inclined to make light of threats of disunion as of common occurrence in presidential election years, he announced that New Hampshire, at any cost, would stand by the Union and the Constitution.
On September 3, 1827, Goodwin married Sarah Parker Rice, the daughter of William Rice, a wealthy Portsmouth merchant.
15 May 1805 - 12 October 1896
1 July 1832 - 20 December 1867
29 December 1834 - 24 February 1864
23 September 1830 - 3 July 1909
3 March 1844 - 28 December 1872
19 February 1829 - 9 May 1906
1837 - 1838
11 November 1841 - 7 June 1912
