Gideon Goodrich was born on 19 June 1764 at
Rocky Hill, Connecticut.
2 He has also been reported to have been born 19 January 1764.
1 He was the son of
Ebenezer Goodrich and
Lydia Deming.
1 He married first
Eunice Warner on 22 February 1787.
2 He married second
Sally Bostwick.
2 He died on 13 March 1842 at age 77.
2 Transcribed from Case:
"In his native town of Rocky Hill, Conn., he learned the trade of a tanner, currier, and shoemaker; shortly after his majority, he settled in Milton, Saratoga County, N.Y., where he successfully practised his trade until 1815, when he sold most of his property and purchased several tracts of land in Ripley, Chautauqua County, N.Y., where he established two of his sons in his own trade, and aided in clearing farms for others--himself cultivating a large farm for several years, and afterward, with one of his sons, engaged in the warehouse and forwarding business at what was then known as Portland Harbor; when failing health compelled him to retire from all active pursuits.
He was a man of marked ability, force of character, public spirit, and general information; especially interested in promoting education and its facilities; he was active and liberal in the founding of Milton Academy, where some very prominent men received their early training. He was colonel of militia a number of years, and represented Saratoga County in the State legislature, in association with such men as Samuel Young, ---- Cady, and others. He was ingenious, and a man of resources. One of his sons was born with a club-foot, and at that day surgical science had discovered no remedy for such a malformation. The painful thought that his son should be doomed a cripple for life, induced him to ponder upon a remedy, and he invented an appliance by which the foot was straightened and the defect effectually cured. The knowledge of his success brought numerous like cases to him for treatment from near and remote distances, down to nearly the close of his life, affording him great satisfaction in relieving a large number of children from a similar deformity. He was always prominent in public and political affairs, and possessed the confidence and esteem of his acquaintances."
3