John Z. Goodrich

John Zacheus Goodrich (September 27, 1804 – April 19, 1885) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the 24th lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.

Early life He was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts on September 27, 1804. He attended the common schools and Lenox Academy. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and engaged in manufacturing; he graduated from Williams College in 1848.

Political career

Goodrich served in the Massachusetts State Senate, and was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses (March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1855).

He was a member of the 1861 Peace Conference held in Washington, D.C., a meeting attempting to prevent the Civil War. Goodrich was later elected as a Republican Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1860 and served from January 1, 1861, until his resignation on March 29, 1861. He also served as the president of the Union Emigration Society, a group dedicated to organizing the North for political action.

Goodrich was appointed collector of customs at Boston on March 13 and served until March 11, 1865, when he retired from public life. Goodrich died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on April 19, 1885, and was intered in Stockbridge Cemetery.

He posthumously received one protest vote for Vice President at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.