 Godfrey read law in the offices of Allen & Meeker in Greenville, Ohio, and graduated from Cincinnati Law School in 1857.He was admitted to the bar, and began a practice in Celina, Ohio.He was elected prosecuting attorney of Mercer County in 1863, and was nominated for the Ohio Senate for the 32nd district, then Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Mercer, Paulding, Van Wert and Williams counties in 1865.