Goodwin, Fairfield Israel, ca. 1833-1918.

Goodwin, Fairfield Israel

Rank : Captain

Regiment : 1st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment (1861-1865); 8th Michigan Cavalry Regiment, Co. C (1862-1865)

Service : April 15, 1861-1865

Fairfield Israel Goodwin, (ca. 1833-1918) was the third child of Samuel M. Goodwin and Almira Atchison, residents of Lenox, New York. The family settled in rural Pontiac, Michigan, and as a young man, Fairfield worked in Chicago. Goodwin enlisted in the 1st Illinois Light Artillery (Taylor's Chicago Battery) at the outbreak of the Civil War, on April 15, 1861. He fought with the regiment for 19 months and participated in the battles of Belmont, Fort Donelson, Springfield, Pea Ridge, Fort Henry, Shiloh, and Iuka. At the battle of Iuka, Goodwin was wounded and was soon after discharged. He spent most of his recovery in Michigan, where he organized and became captain of Co. C of the 8th Michigan Cavalry. His company was used primarily for scouting but took part in campaigns in East Tennessee and Georgia.

After the Civil War, Goodwin studied medicine at the University of Michigan and graduated with an MD in 1874. He became a prominent citizen in Cassopolis, Michigan, where he practiced medicine, owned land, was the President of the Cass County Medical Society, and was a member of the Free Masons and Knights Templar.

Goodwin married Pontiac, Michigan, native Mary Gordon in 1862; they had three children: Carrie Lidia (1865-1961), Lena Belle (1868-1932), and Charles Luther (1872-1895). Mary died in 1872, and in 1879 Goodwin married Lidia R. Wadsworth. Goodwin died in Cassopolis, Michigan, in 1918.

From the guide to the Fairfield Goodwin papers, Goodwin, Fairfield papers, 1861-1862, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)