Kentucky Unionists of 1861: Address of William Cassius Goodloe of Lexington, Ky., Late Captain and A. A. G., U. S. Vols, Read Before the Society of ... Officers in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 10, 1884
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William Cassius Goodloe was a politician from Madison Country. Devoted his life to the upbuilding of the Republican party in the state.
Background
William Cassius Goodloe was the son of David Short Goodloe and his wife Sallie Ann Lewis Clay Smith. He was born at “Castle Union” in Madison County, Kentucky, the country residence of his grandfather, Col. John Speed Smith.
He came of prominent Kentucky and Virginia ancestry; his grandfather was a congressman and his great-grandfather, Green Clay, a general in the War of 1812.
Some four years after William’s birth his father established himself as a merchant in Lexington, Kentucky; he also served at various times as major-general of the Kentucky militia, United States revenue agent, supervisor of internal revenue, and United States pension agent.
Education
William, after a period in the private schools at Lexington, entered Transylvania University and was about to graduate when he withdrew, in May 1861, to become private secretary to his great-uncle Cassius M. Clay, recently appointed a minister to Russia.
Career
In the summer of 1862, Goodloe returned to the United States and entered the Union army. His military career was “neither extensive nor arduous. ” He was given a commission as captain and served for a time on the staff of his kinsman, Green Clay Smith, who was in command of the post at Lebanon, Kentucky; later, he served on the staff of Gen. Nelson.
He never rose above the rank of captain, his title of “Colonel” being the honorary title quite commonly bestowed upon Kentuckians with and without military experience.
In January 1864, he withdrew from the army, and in the same year, after a brief study of law, was admitted to practice at Lexington.
Goodloe helped to organize the Republican party in Kentucky, and in 1867 began the publication at Lexington of the Kentucky Statesman, a Republican newspaper. Defeated in this year as a candidate for the state House of Representatives, he ran again in 1871 and was elected, although by a very doubtful majority.
In 1873, he was elected to the state Senate. After the close of the readjustment era in Kentucky and the resumption of Democratic control of state politics, Goodloe did not again hold an elective office.
Defeated in 1875 as a candidate for attorney-general and again the following year as a candidate for the United States senator, he was appointed in 1878 minister to Belgium, where he remained for two years.
Resigning in 1880, he returned to Kentucky and devoted the remainder of his life to the upbuilding of the Republican party in the state.
In July 1889, he was appointed a collector of internal revenue and in November of the same year was killed in the post office at Lexington in one of the most sensational fights in the history of Kentucky.
Achievements
Goodloe is known as an outstanding political figure who helped to organize the Republican party in Kentucky, and in 1867 began the publication at Lexington of the Kentucky Statesman, a Republican newspaper.
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Personality
Goodloe was an effective public speaker and his oratorical efforts in the various campaigns undoubtedly contributed to the increase of the Republican vote.
Like his great-uncle, Cassius M. Clay, whom he resembled in many ways and whose career he seems to have consciously imitated, Goodloe was a man of bitter tongue, of arrogant disposition, and of unfailing courage.
He made many enemies even in his own party, and his career was a stormy one, marked by bitter altercation and occasional violence.
One of these personal disputes resulted in his death.
His opponent, Armistead M. Swope, who also was killed in the fight, was Goodloe’s personal and political enemy and his rival for the leadership of the Republican party in the state.
Connections
On June 8, 1865, Goodloe was married to Mary E. Mann of Mannville, Rhode Island, who bore him six children.
