pioneer settler, merchant, founder of Milton and Milton Academy, b. near Hancock, Berkshire County, Mass. In 1838 he moved to Wisconsin and staked a claim at the present site of Milton. For the remainder of his life he directed his efforts toward building up the town he had founded. In 1844 he erected Milton House, a building of cement, gravel, and broken stone, which he operated as an inn and store, and in the same year helped found Milton Academy. He erected the first building for the new academy at his own expense, served as president of the trustees, and actively raised funds for the school. A Whig and later a Republican, he was state assemblyman (1855). Goodrich was an active member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church, and donated land to that denomination for a church and cemetery in Milton. Wis. Mag. Hist., 24; Hist. of Rock Co. (Chicago, 1879); Janesville Gazette, Oct. 16, 1867; WPA MS.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]