Benjamin Goodhue

Benjamin Goodhue was born in Salem in the Province of Massachusetts Bay to Benjamin and Martha (Hardy) Goodue.{{sfn|Goodhue|1891|p=20}} His father was a blacksmith by trade, but later became a successful merchant. The younger Benjamin graduated from Harvard College in 1766{{sfn|Goodhue|1891|p=34}} and joined his father in the merchant business. He remained active as a merchant during the American Revolutionary War, and was a member of the state constitutional conventions of 1779 and 1780, the latter one producing the present Constitution of Massachusetts. He then won election as a state representative to the inaugural Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1780, and was later elected to the state senate, serving in 1783 and 1786–1788. After adoption of the United States Constitution, Goodhue was elected to the First and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1789, until his resignation in June 1796.{{sfn|Goodhue|1891|p=34}}

Goodhue was a supporter of the strong central government, and joined the Federalist Party when it was organized. He was one of a number of prominent Federalists from Essex County that were described by John Hancock as the "Essex Junto". He was one of two Congressmen who drafted the nation's first revenue code. He served as chairman of the Committee on Commerce and Manufactures in the Fourth United States Congress. He was elected in 1796 to the United States Senate, filling a vacancy caused by the resignation of George Cabot. He was reelected and served from June 11, 1796, to November 8, 1800, when he resigned and retired from public service. He died in Salem{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94924164/obituary-for-iydia-norton-aged-67/| title=Died| newspaper=Hartford Courant| location=Hartford, CT| date=August 9, 1814| page=3| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}} on July 28, 1814.{{sfn|Goodhue|1891|p=34}}{{Cite web| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9knf6i0TOYAC&pg=PA488| via=Google Books| title=Journal and letters of ... Samuel Curwen, 1775-1784. To which are added, biographical notices of many American loyalists and other eminent persons| first=G.A.| last=Ward| year=1842}}

A World War II Liberty ship was named in his honor.{{cite web| url=http://www.usmm.org/libertyships.html| title=Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II| website=American Merchant Marine at War| date=May 4, 2002| access-date=February 13, 2022}}{{cite web| url=http://shipbuildinghistory.com/merchantships/2libertyships1.htm| title= EC2 General Cargo Ships (Liberty Ships); Part 1: EMC #s 1 thru 417| website=Shipbuilding History| access-date=February 13, 2022}}{{cite web| url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8sq92kr/entire_text/| title=Guide to the Charles T. Lewis California Shipbuilding Corporation (CalShip) Collection| website=Online Archive of California| access-date=February 13, 2022}}

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• {{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/historygenealogy00byugood/page/34/mode/2up| via=Archive.org| title=History and Genealogy of the Goodhue Family in England and America to the Year 1890| first=Rev. Jonathan E.| last=Goodhue| location=Rochester, NY| publisher=E.R. Andrews, Printer and Bookbinder| year=1891}}

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Category:1748 births

Category:1814 deaths

Category:Harvard College alumni

Category:Massachusetts state senators

Category:Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Category:United States senators from Massachusetts

Category:Federalist Party United States senators

Category:Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts

Category:Politicians from Salem, Massachusetts

Category:Burials at Broad Street Cemetery

Category:People from colonial Massachusetts

Category:18th-century Massachusetts politicians

Category:18th-century United States senators

Category:18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives