Goodrich, Grant

Born: 1811-08-07 New York

Died: 1889-03-15 Chicago, Illinois

Goodrich began the practice of law in New York with Dixon & Smith. He remained with them until 1834 when he left for Illinois. In 1835, Goodrich was admitted to the Illinois bar in Jacksonville and moved to Chicago, where he formed a law partnership with A. N. Fullerton. The following year, Goodrich formed a partnership with Giles Spring that lasted until 1849. After Abraham Lincoln finished his two-year service in Congress, Goodrich asked Lincoln to become his law partner, but Lincoln declined the offer. Goodrich formed a law partnership with William Farwell in 1854. In 1856, Sidney Smith was made a partner, and the firm became Goodrich, Farwell & Smith. In 1858 Goodrich left for Europe on the advice of his physician. He returned to Chicago in 1859, and was elected to the Chicago Superior Court, a position he held for one term. After his term expired, Goodrich returned to the firm of Goodrich, Farwell & Smith where he remained until it was dissolved in 1869. Originally a Whig, he joined the Republican Party after its formation and supported Abraham Lincoln's bid for the presidency. In August 1836, Goodrich married Juliet A. Atwater, with whom he would have five children.

Lafayette W. Case, The Goodrich Family in America (Chicago: Fergus, 1889), 200-203; Frederic B. Crossley, Courts and Lawyers of Illinois (Chicago: American Historical Society, 1916), 1:288; John J. Duff, A. Lincoln: Prairie Lawyer (New York: Bramhall House, 1960), 163; John M. Palmer, ed., The Bench and Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent (Chicago: Lewis, 1899), 2:610-11; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Cook County, 3 August 1836, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Gravestone, Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum, Chicago, IL.