Rufus King Goodenow

Rufus King Goodenow (April 24, 1790 – March 24, 1863) was a United States representative from Maine and a prominent nineteenth-century lawyer, local official, and Whig politician. He was born in Henniker, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, on April 24, 1790. In 1802 he moved with his parents to Brownfield, in what was then the District of Maine, where the family settled as part of the region’s early inland development. His formal education was limited, and in his youth he engaged primarily in agricultural pursuits, working on the family farm and gaining familiarity with the rural economy that would characterize much of his later constituency.

As a young man, Goodenow broadened his experience beyond New England, making several voyages to European ports. These journeys, undertaken in the early nineteenth century when transatlantic commerce was expanding, exposed him to maritime trade and international affairs at an early stage in his life. During the War of 1812 he entered military service and was commissioned a captain in the Thirty-third Regiment, United States Infantry. In that capacity he participated in the nation’s second conflict with Great Britain, gaining leadership experience and a measure of public standing that would support his later civic and political roles.

After the war, Goodenow returned to Maine and in 1821 moved to Paris, then the shire town of Oxford County. That same year he began a long association with the county courts, being appointed clerk of the Oxford County Courts in 1821. He held this position until 1837, overseeing court records and proceedings during a period when Maine, having achieved statehood in 1820, was organizing and consolidating its judicial institutions. His work as clerk placed him at the center of local legal affairs and helped to establish his reputation in the community. He was part of a politically active family; his brother, Robert Goodenow, would also become a member of Congress from Maine.

While serving as clerk, Goodenow studied law, taking advantage of his proximity to the courts to read law in the traditional manner under practicing attorneys. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in the courts of Maine, building a legal career that complemented his administrative duties. His growing prominence led to election to the Maine House of Representatives, where he participated in state legislative affairs during the formative decades of Maine’s statehood. In 1839 he was chosen as a delegate to the Whig National Convention at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which nominated William Henry Harrison for the presidency. His role at the convention reflected his alignment with Whig principles, including support for legislative supremacy, economic development, and internal improvements.

Goodenow’s state-level service and party activity culminated in his election to the national legislature. He was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first Congress and served a single term from March 4, 1849, to March 3, 1851, representing a Maine district in the U.S. House of Representatives. His tenure in Congress coincided with a period of sectional tension and debate over the status of slavery in the territories acquired after the Mexican–American War, including consideration of the Compromise of 1850. As a Whig from a New England state, he served during a time when questions of federal authority, economic policy, and territorial expansion were central to the national agenda, although the detailed record of his committee assignments and floor activity is limited in surviving summaries.

After leaving Congress at the close of his term in 1851, Goodenow returned to Paris, Maine, where he resumed his legal practice and remained a respected figure in local civic life. He continued to live in Paris through the 1850s and early 1860s as the Whig Party declined and the national political system realigned in the years leading up to and including the Civil War. He died in Paris, Oxford County, Maine, on March 24, 1863. Rufus King Goodenow was interred in Riverside Cemetery in Paris, leaving a record of service that spanned military duty in the War of 1812, long tenure in county administration, participation in state government, and representation of Maine in the United States Congress.