William Giles Goddard (1740 - 1817)

Born 10 Oct 1740 in New London, Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Abigail (Angell) Goddard — married 25 May 1785 in Providence, Providence, Colony of Rhode Island, British Colonial America

Descendants

Died 23 Dec 1817 at age 77 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Biography

William Goddard is Notable.

William Goddard (1740–1817) was an American patriot and printer born in New London, Connecticut, who lived through the era of the American Revolution. William Goddard served as an apprentice printer under James Parker and then in 1762 he became an early American publisher who eventually founded several newspapers during his lifetime.

William Goddard was the son of Dr. Giles Goddard (a physician and one-time postmaster of New London, Connecticut) and Sarah Updike. William, as a youth, was apprenticed to James Parker, a printer. Upon coming of age, William Goddard moved to Rhode Island and established the first newspaper to be printed out of Providence, the "Providence Gazette and Country Journal". The first issue was produced in October, 1762. In 1765 (possibly earlier), Sarah Goddard became associated with her son in the production of the paper. William Goddard moved to New York after the repeal of the Stamp Act, and his mother, under the business name of "Sarah Goddard & Co.", took over the Gazette with the assistance of John Carter. John Carter took over the paper when Sarah's company was dissolved in 1769.

William Goddard seems to have been somewhat restless; over the length of his newspaper career, he established or was involved with separate publications in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Besides a newspaper, he also started, shortly after arriving in Baltimore, a line of post-riders from New Hampshire to Georgia, thereby establishing what became the United States Postal Service (a service which rivaled the existing English post-office system). Whenever he devoted time to this enterprise (and other business), his sister Mary Katherine Goddard took over management of his newspaper, "The Maryland Journal" and "Baltimore Advertiser" (est. 1773). Mary Katherine also served as Baltimore's post-mistress, from 1775 to 1789, the first woman in the country to hold such office, and published the official copies of the Declaration of Independence.

In 1792, William Goddard sold his long-established newspaper and retired to a farm at Johnston, Rhode Island. His sister Mary Katherine Goddard remained in Baltimore, where she kept a bookshop until 1802, and also retained a share in the newspaper she had helped to manage.

William Goddard had married Abigail Angell on 25 May 1785, and they had five children, four daughters and one son: William Giles Goddard [1794-1846], who was also involved in the newspaper business for a time in his younger years.

Children:

Ann Eliza Goddard 1790–1821

Mary Angell Goddard 1792–1871

William Giles Goddard 1794–1846

Sarah Updike Goddard 1796–1853

Research Notes

Find A Grave: Memorial #21307940 William Goddard

Sources

Connecticut Marriages, 1630-1997; William Goddard; Spouse's Name: Abigail Angell; Marriage Date: 25 May 1786; Marriage Place: Connecticut; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7LF-74Q

Rhode Island, Providence County, Providence, Swan Point Cemetery Records, ca.1846-ca.1950; Wm Goddard; Death Date: 28 December 1817; Death Place: Rhode Island; Birth Date: 1740; Spouse's Name: Abigail Angell; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZQ4Y-QXN2

SECONDARY SOURCE: Family Tree https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L4SY-5V8

Wikipedia biography of William Goddard - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goddard_(U.S._patriot/publisher).

Wikipedia article about the Philadelphia Chronicle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Chronicle.

Jackson, Joseph. America's Most Historic Highway, Market Street, Philadelphia (John Wanamaker, Philadelphia, 1926) Page 100-3.

Miner, Ward L. William Goddard, newspaperman (Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina, 1962).

See Also:

• pages 105-110 "American Insurgents, American Patriots, Revolution of the People." by T H Breen, 2010. Hill and Wang, New York. Call E209 B76.
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/L4SY-5V8
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goddard_(publisher)
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21307940/william-goddard