William Charles Goudy was the son of Robert Goudy, a printer who had emigrated from County Tyrone, Ireland, to Washington County, Pennsylvania, and there married Jane Ansley, also of Scottish descent.
He was born on May 15, 1824, in Indiana, where his parents had settled shortly after their marriage.
In 1833, the family proceeded to Jacksonville, Illinois, where Goudy attended the public schools and graduated in 1845 from Illinois College.
Although he had worked as a printer in his father’s office, Goudy did not pursue that vocation after leaving college but became a school-teacher at Decatur, Illinois, and read law in his spare moments.
He studied for some months at Springfield in the office of Stephen T. Logan, a partner of Abraham Lincoln.
Goudy was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1847. The following year, he commenced practice at Lewistown, Fulton County, and engaged actively in Democratic politics. He became state’s attorney for the 10th judicial district in 1852 but resigned in 1855 to attend to his growing private practice.
In 1856, he was elected state senator from Fulton and McDonough counties and served till the end of 1861. During this period, he acquired a reputation as a legislative draftsman and became a friend of Stephen A. Douglas, to whom he gave unwavering support in his last political struggles.
He had, in 1859, removed to Chicago, the extent of his law practice and the character of his retainers prompting him to take this step, and at once assumed a leading position at the bar.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for delegate to the constitutional convention of 1862, and in the following year, when the death of Douglas made a vacancy in the Illinois representation in the United States Senate, he was nominated by a large section of the Democratic party but failed of election.
From this time forward, he gradually withdrew from politics and confined himself to the law, though in 1868, he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, and late in life became a friend and adviser of Grover Cleveland.
From 1886 until his death, he was general counsel to the Chicago & North Western Railway.
He was retained in much heavy railroad litigation, particularly when questions of constitutional law were involved.
He was counsel for the defendants in the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company vs. Illinois.
For thirty years, Goudy was one of the most prominent lawyers in the Middle West and held briefs during that period in almost every important case. His initial successes were gained as an expert in real property law, a subject upon which he was later regarded as perhaps the highest authority in the United States. As his practice extended, however, he became equally expert in commercial and constitutional law. Among other notable cases in which he appeared were Kingsbury vs. Buckner, involving the ownership of the Ashland Block in Chicago, in which he received a fee of $75, 000; and the Story Will litigation.
In consultation Goudy was extremely cautious, preferring safety to brilliance and invariably advising against speculative litigation.
As an advocate, he overlooked nothing. His speeches went directly to the salient points, and his arguments, prepared with the utmost care, were extremely compact.
Somewhat reserved in manner, he was never a striking figure, his outward appearance and demeanor giving no indication of his intellectual strength and forensic ability. He was secretive and brevity in his utterance, but enjoyed the unbounded trust of his clients, high and low.
Quotes from others about the person
“Goudy is a sort of a locomotive enigma. ” - F. B. Wilkie
In 1849, Goudy married Helen M. Judd, daughter of S. Corning Judd of Lewistown.
2 November 1785 - 1845
14 August 1790 - 5 December 1865
7 January 1828 - 17 September 1857
2 June 1814 - 6 March 1877
5 February 1816 - 3 February 1842
13 November 1812 - 27 February 1848
Died on 6 December 1892.
2 June 1819 - 6 October 1895
20 November 1822 - 11 February 1903
26 July 1858 - 1937
7 June 1864 - 26 May 1894
