Note: Corrections are on the
bottom of this bio
JUDGE LEVI WOLCOTT GOODRICH
Judge
Levi Wolcott Goodrich, b May 31,1836 in Lorain County, Ohio, d 1911 and buried
in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin, Falls County, Texas - was the son of parents who
moved from Massachusetts to Ohio in 1833, and returned with him to Pittsfield,
Massachusetts in 1845, where they made their permanent home. Levi attended
Norwich University in Vermont for about a year, until November 1855, when he
returned home. In May 1856, he went to Chicago, and from there to Wisconsin,
where he was employed as a civil engineer and surveyor and later returned to the
State of Illinois and continued that work.
In the
Fall of 1859, Levi Wolcott Goodrich traveled overland on horseback through
Missouri and Arkansas, and finally located in Brown County, Texas "on the
frontier of civilization." He initially taught school; but in 1860, he was
elected district surveyor of the district. When the question of secession was
agitated, he joined what was afterward known as McCullough's Regiment, and Levi
was with the command that captured the military posts on the Texas frontier in
February 1861. Shortly afterward, the command was organized into a regiment
under a commission, issued by the Confederate States Government to Ben
McCullough. Henry McCullough became Colonel of the regiment, and T. C. Frost was
made the Lieutenant Colonel, who eventually assumed command - naming Levi
Wolcott Goodrich as Adjutant of the regiment. In 1863, Goodrich was Captain of
Company G, Thirtieth Texas Calvary, and served with that command in that
capacity in Texas, Arkansas, and Indian Territory until the close of the war.
Although wounded and having had two horses shot from under him, he suffered no
permanent injury from his war experience.
Immediately after the end of the Civil War, Levi Wolcott Goodrich taught school
at Robinson, McLennan County, Texas; and simultaneously took up the study of
law. He was admitted to practice in May 1866, in the district court in Waco, and
subsequently had a law practice in McLennan and Falls Counties.
In February 1869, Judge Goodrich was married to Alice Battle, b 1850, d 1938 and
buried by her husband in Calvary Cemetery
in Marlin - a daughter of Judge N. W.
Battle, who settled in Waco, Texas in 1850 from Forsyth, Georgia, and Alice was
born in Waco that same year. Levi's father-in-law had served in the Confederate
States Army with Levi.
The ten
children of Levi Wolcott and Alice (Battle) Goodrich were:
Frank
Battle Goodrich, b January 8, 1870, d May 17, 1902 - was manager of the
Houston E& W & Shreveport Railroad when he died.
Abigail Goodrich, b
1872, d 1966 and buried in
Calvary Cemetery - married Robert Barbour Dickey, b 1859, d 1924. A son, Frank
Goodrich Dickey, b 1896, d 1931, is buried by his parents. No further
information.
Lee W. Goodrich - a marker in Calvary Cemetery states "son of Levi W. and
Alice."
Horace P. Goodrich - a marker in Calvary Cemetery states "son of Levi W. and
Alice."
Nick Whitney Goodrich, b March 6, 1878, d May 13, 1964 and buried in Calvary
Cemetery - married June 10, 1908 to Louise Finks, b June 12, 1885, d August
1977.
Maria Goodrich, b November 5, 1880, d September 24, 1970
-
married first
to Bolivar Clark Nettles, b February 6, 1872, d April 1, 1932, and had Robert
Clark Nettles, b 1909, d 1976 and buried in Calvary Cemetery in Marlin. No
information on any other children. Maria married second to a Mr. Scott, and is
buried by her first husband as "Maria Goodrich Nettles Scott."
Mary Goodrich, b ca 1882 - No further information.
Alice Goodrich, b 1885, d 1968 and buried in Cal- vary Cemetery - married John
Bolivar McNamara, b 1877, d 1960 and buried in Calvary Cemetery.
Levi Wolcott Goodrich, II, b January 15, 1888 in Waco, McLennan County, Texas, d
January 1942- married January 16, 1922 to Miss Byrd Wright - a daughter of
Augustus Robert and Mary (Downes) Wright of Gonzales, Texas.
Thomas E. Goodrich - was named as the youngest child of his parents.
In June 1890, Levi Wolcott Goodrich was appointed Judge of the Nineteenth
District, and in November of that same year, he was elected to that position. He
had been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Texas in 1871, and in the
Supreme Court of the United States in 1875 - appearing in both courts as counsel
in some of the most notable civil suits, involving land titles in the Central
Texas area of the State of Texas. Judge Goodrich was reelected to his second
term for the Nineteenth Judicial District by a large majority, and was supported
by factions of both the Democratic and Republican parties. He was regarded as an
impartial, able, courteous and patient judge, and became one of the most popular
Judges in the State of Texas. It was said that he was "an honor to the Bench,
and to the Bar of Texas."
CORRECTION
Submitted by
Mary Goodrich
I'm a descendant of
Judge Levi Wolcott Goodrich and Alice Battle of Falls County. I was doing
a search and came across the genealogy page and saw that the information needs
to be updated, so here it is!
It actually
picks up with Thomas Eldon Goodrich, Sr., who was my grandfather. My
grandfather's biography reads as follows on the second to last paragraph:
Thomas Eldon
Goodrich, Sr. moved to Dallas, Texas, where he sold automobiles, married second
to Virginia (maiden name unknown), and had two sons: Robert G. Goodrich, and
Albert Dickey Goodrich. No further information on these children.
It SHOULD read:
Thomas Eldon
Goodrich, Sr. moved to Dallas, Texas, where he sold automobiles, married second
to Virginia Irwin, and had two sons: Robert Phillips Goodrich (born 4-11-1935),
and Alfred Dickey Goodrich (born 6-18-1938).
Robert Phillips
Goodrich married Carolyn Lillie Decker on 3-14-1958, they have three children:
Robert Phillips Goodrich, Jr. (born 11-29-1960), Mary Alice Goodrich (born
5-21-1970), and Lillie Rachelle Goodrich (born 12-27-1972). Robert is an
electrical engineer and is founder/president of Satellink, Inc. Robert and
Carolyn reside in Garland, Texas.
Robert Phillips
Goodrich, Jr. married Lorie Suzanne Webb in 1987, they have two daughters:
Katherine Michelle Goodrich (born 12-4-1998) and Kristen Nicole Goodrich (born
3-15-2000). Phillip is an information technology specialist, Lorie is an
electrical engineer and works at Satellink, Inc. They reside in Plano, Texas.
Mary Alice
Goodrich is unmarried. She is an attorney and founder/partner in Vernon
Goodrich, LLP. Mary resides in Dallas, Texas.
Lillie Rachelle
Goodrich has a daughter,
Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of
these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical
Commission, page 196 column 1 and 2 and page 197 column 1.
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.
