William Stearns Goodwin
William Stearns Goodwin was born on February 14, 1839, in Brewer, Maine, to Benjamin Goodwin and Clarissa Stearns. His father was a lumber merchant who owned $6,400 of real estate in 1860. Goodwin attended school in Brewer before beginning work as a millman. He enlisted in the Union army on May 28, 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company C of the 2nd Maine Infantry later that day. According to his military records, he was 5 feet, 4¾ inches tall, with dark hair and hazel eyes. He was discharged for disability on September 14, 1861. He eventually recovered his health, and he enlisted in the Union navy on September 1, 1864.
Goodwin returned to Brewer after the war and began working as a railroad station agent. He got married sometime after the war, but they got divorced by 1880. He remained in Brewer for the rest of his life, and he died there of “Senile decay” on September 20, 1922.
DATABASE CONTENT
| (449) | Goodwin, William Stearns | 1839-02-14 | 1922-09-20 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: Private
- Rank out: Private
- Rank highest: Private
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
People - Records: 2
Places - Records: 1
- (246) [birth, death] ~ Brewer, Penobscot County, Maine
Regiments - Records: 1
- (108) [enlisted] [C] ~ 2nd Maine Infantry
SOURCES
1860, 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancesry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Maine Compiled Military Records, 1812-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Maine Death Records, 1761-1922, available from Ancestry.com.
