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Goodrich, Frank Boott (1826-1894)

Historian, Journalist, Playwright, Translator

Frank Goodrich was born in Hartford, CT to Mary Boott Goodrich and Samuel Griswold Goodrich, the popular author of the "Peter Parley" tales of geography and adventure. After graduating from Harvard in 1845, Goodrich moved to Paris when his father was chosen as the United States consul. Goodrich’s literary career began there when, under the pseudonym of "Dick Tinto," he wrote letters to the New York Times about Paris and its government (J. Derby 123). These letters, which his obituary describes as “remarkable for their perception of character, correct judgment of events, and sagacity in political prediction,” were collectively published as Tricolored Sketches of Paris. Goodrich’s most well known works include The Court of Napoleon, Man upon the Sea, The Tribute Book, and Women of Beauty and Heroism (The Goodrich Family in America).

Following the family’s return to the United States in New York in 1855 , Goodrich became interested in theater and wrote several plays which were produced at Wallack’s “or some other standard theatre” and well-received. Goodrich collaborated on plays such as The Poor of New York with Dion Boucicault, Romance after Marriage with Frank L. Warden, and The Dark Hour Before the Dawn with Pfaff’s regular John Brougham (“Goodrich, Frank Boott”). His return to the U.S. also marking the beginning of Goodrich’s association with Pfaff’s, where he often had lunch and was one of the "brightest and most popular humorous men of the day." (J. Derby 239). In 1860 he began translating the novels of Balzac along with Orlando Williams Wight. Unfortunately, the books were not well-received by American readers, despite that they were considered well done (241). A staunch Republican and supporter of the Union during the Civil War, Goodrich published The Tribute Book, A Record of the Munificence, Sacrifice, and Patriotism of the American People during the War for the Union (1865).

After his eyesight failed him, preventing him from earning a living, Goodrich went abroad for several years before seeking his retirement at a country house on the Hudson. He spend his later years in New York City, retaining a lively interest in politics but living a quiet life due to his eyesight. Goodrich married Ella Schmidt, daughter of a Southern physician in 1859, and the couple never had children. His obituary states, “He was unswerving in his friendships, though not demonstrative, a patriot, and a man of absolute honor, and in the still more private relations of life--unsullied.” He died at the age of sixty-eight in Mooristown, NJ (“Frank Booth Goodrich”).