He is known as Arizona's first serving governor, but he was not originally appointed as governor for the territory. John Goodwin was originally appointed as Chief Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court and after the death of the original appointee, John Addison Gurley, he was appointed to the executive position. Like many of the governors, Goodwin had other interests in mind while serving as governor, he did not hold the office very long and very quickly returned east after his administration. This was typical of most appointees since they may have only taken the position because they had mining and similar financial interests in the area.
John Noble Goodwin was born in South Berwick, Maine on October 18, 1824. He attended Berwick Academy and later entered Dartmouth College where he graduated in 1844. He was admitted to the practice of law in the State of Maine in 1848. He then opened a law office in his hometown of South Berwick. He was elected as a state senator from York County in 1854. He married Susan Howard Robinson on October 2, 1857. He was elected to House of Representatives from Maine from 1861-1863, and was defeated for re-election. This gave him the opportunity for nomination by Abraham Lincoln as Chief Justice of the Arizona Territory on March 6, 1863. However, the original territorial governor appointed, John Addison Gurley, died before taking office and as a result Goodwin ascended to the post August 19, 1863. Goodwin and the appointed government of Arizona entered the territory December 29, 1863. John Goodwin created the town of Prescott as the new territorial capital and helped build the "Old Governor's Mansion" there. Tucson was not chosen because it was known as a Confederate stronghold, this would be felt even after the Civil War, to find out more about why Prescott was Arizona's First Capital click here.
His First Message to the
Arizona Legislature concerned many topics such as the Indian troubles in
the Territory, "A war must be prosecuted until they are compelled to submit
and go upon reservation." The new Governor also opposed many New Mexico
statutes that he thought to be barbarous such as peonage (involuntary labor)
and detention of debtors in jail. Peonage laws were later repealed when
new laws were compiled for the Territory. Goodwin's major goal was to heal
the rift between Unionists of the North and Confederates of the South.
Southern
Arizona was previously under control of the Confederate States of America
from 1861-1862. He enacted the first set of laws for the territory
known as the Howell
Code. The Governor asked for money to create Reservations ($250,000)
on the Colorado River and funds to raise voluntary rangers (350 men, 11
officers) to help maintain them. He created 4 counties out of the territory;
Mohave,
Yuma,
Pima, and Yavapai
counties, and created the first overland mail routes. He wanted to create
a state university, high schools, and other means of formal and public
education in Arizona. Most of those ideas were not followed through by
Governor
McCormick, who was Governor after Goodwin, but were vigorously enacted
by Governor Safford, who served after McCormick.
Goodwin also wanted the mineral wealth of Arizona to be explored. Many
of Arizona's first governors were primarily interested in the mines of
Arizona, and many more sought to make profits off of them. In 1865, Governor
Goodwin ran for the office of delegate of Arizona and won. He left the
governorship in Fall of 1865 and went to the nation's capital to serve.
He did not seek re-election and left office on March 4, 1867. He remained
in New York and had active interests in mine holdings in Arizona, also
establishing a law office there. He was also an official of the Internal
Revenue Service while in New York. He moved to Montereym California for
health reasons in the 1880s. He died April 29, 1887 in Paraiso Springs,
Monterey, California. He is buried in Forest Grave Cemetery, Augusta Maine.
Information from two sources:
Wagoner, Jay J. Arizona Territory, 1863-1912; a political history. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1970
Goff, John S. Arizona
Territorial Officials Volume 2. Arizona Black Mountain
Press, Cave Creek, 1975
Chapter 1
Websites
Biographical Dictionary of the US Congress- Delegate of Arizona John
Noble Goodwin
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000301
Political Graveyard- John Noble Goodwin
http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/goodroads-gorbey.html
Goodwin's Mansion
http://www.sharlot.org/exhibits/Gov_Mansion/Governors_Mansion_2/People.html
Books/Manuscripts
Biography of John N. Goodwin.
HB
HAY BIO GOO,JOH
Biography of John N. Goodwin.
FB SACKS 19/3-19/11
Journals of the First Legislative Assembly of
the Territory of Arizona, 1865.
FE SACKS 3/2
