Representative Robert Goodenow

Robert Goodenow (April 19, 1800 – May 15, 1874) was a U.S. Representative from Maine and a prominent lawyer and public official in that state. He was the brother of Rufus King Goodenow, who also served in Congress. Born in Henniker, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Goodenow moved with his parents in 1802 to Brownfield, in what was then the District of Maine, where he spent his childhood and early youth.

Goodenow attended the common schools in Brownfield and later at Sanford, Maine, in 1815 and 1816, receiving the basic education typical of rural New England in the early nineteenth century. He subsequently pursued professional studies, first in medicine and then in law, reflecting a broad intellectual interest before settling on a legal career. After completing his legal studies, he was admitted to the bar in 1822.

Upon admission to the bar, Goodenow commenced the practice of law in Wilton, Maine, where he quickly established himself in the local legal community. His abilities as an attorney led to his appointment as county attorney, a position he held from 1828 to 1834. In 1832 he moved to Farmington, Maine, which would remain his principal residence and the center of his professional and political activities. In Farmington he continued the active practice of law and became a well-known figure in Franklin County legal and civic affairs.

Goodenow’s public career extended beyond local legal office into state and national politics. A member of the Whig Party, he was elected to the Thirty-second Congress as a Whig Representative from Maine, serving from March 4, 1851, to March 3, 1853. During this single term in the U.S. House of Representatives he participated in the legislative work of a period marked by sectional tensions and debates over national economic policy. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination at the close of his term, and his service in the Thirty-second Congress constituted his only tenure in federal elective office.

After leaving Congress, Goodenow continued to hold important positions in Maine’s financial and county administration. In 1857 he was appointed State Bank Commissioner, a role in which he was responsible for overseeing and examining the condition of banking institutions in the state at a time when banking regulation was primarily a state function. He later served as County Treasurer of Franklin County from 1866 to 1868, managing county finances during the immediate post–Civil War years.

Goodenow’s later career combined legal responsibilities with financial stewardship. He again held the office of county attorney in 1869 and 1870, returning to the prosecutorial duties he had first exercised decades earlier. At the same time, he was active in local banking, serving as Treasurer of the Franklin County Savings Bank from 1868 until his death in 1874. In this capacity he contributed to the development of local financial institutions that supported the economic life of Farmington and the surrounding region.

Robert Goodenow died in Farmington, Maine, on May 15, 1874. He was interred in Riverside Cemetery in Farmington, leaving a record of long service as a lawyer, county official, state banking regulator, and one-term member of the United States House of Representatives.