Representative Milo Goodrich

Milo Goodrich (January 3, 1814 – April 15, 1881) was a United States Representative from New York and a member of the Republican Party who served one term in Congress during the early 1870s. He was born in East Homer, Cortland County, New York, and in 1816 moved with his parents to Cortlandville, New York. Growing up in central New York, he attended the South Cortland district school and later Cortland Academy in Homer, institutions that provided him with a foundational education at a time when formal schooling in the region was still developing.

Pursuing further education, Goodrich attended Oberlin College in Ohio, an institution known for its early commitment to coeducation and reformist ideals. Before entering the legal profession, he taught school in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, gaining experience as an educator across several states. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1840. Shortly after his admission, he practiced law for two years in Beloit, Wisconsin, reflecting the broader westward movement of many professionals in the antebellum period.

In 1844, Goodrich returned to New York and settled in Dryden, Tompkins County, where he established himself as a practicing attorney and community figure. His public service began to take more formal shape when he was appointed postmaster of Dryden, serving from October 2, 1849, to June 25, 1853. This federal appointment placed him at the center of local communications and commerce. Later, he participated in state-level governance as a member of the New York Constitutional Convention of 1867–1868, contributing to the revision of the state’s fundamental law during a period of post–Civil War adjustment and reform.

Goodrich’s national political career commenced with his election as a Republican to the Forty-second Congress. He represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1873, a significant period in American history marked by Reconstruction and the continuing realignment of national politics after the Civil War. During his single term in office, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his New York constituents in the House of Representatives. His service in Congress occurred at a time when issues of civil rights, economic development, and federal-state relations were central to the national agenda.

In 1872, Goodrich was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Forty-third Congress and subsequently resumed the practice of law. In 1875, he moved to Auburn, New York, where he continued his legal career. He remained in Auburn until his death on April 15, 1881. Following his death, he was interred in Green Hills Cemetery in Dryden, reflecting his long-standing connection to that community. In later generations, his family line would produce another prominent public official: he is the great-great-great-grandfather of Arne Duncan, who served as U.S. Secretary of Education in the early twenty-first century.